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Philosophy (Plato (The Forms (The Forms are concepts, they are ideals and…
Philosophy
Plato
Plato was a rationalist and believed that we gain knowledge primarily from our reason, he believed that the world could be divided into two, physical world and world of forms.
The physical world is known through sense experience but the sense can be misleading, the world of forms is known through reason which gives more certainty.
The physical world is always changing but the world of forms is unchanging, so knowledge about the world of Forms will have lasting certainty that knowledge about the physical world will never have.
The physical world is given its reality by the Forms; physical objects participate in their Ideal Forms.
The Forms
The Forms are concepts, they are ideals and universals that we use to help us understand the world. For example if we know the form of Justice then we can recognise examples of justice.
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The Forms are the objects of certain knowledge, because they are unchanging.
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Philosophy leads us to a recognition of true goodness, and so philosophers should rule the state.
We know about the forms from birth and so we must have encountered them before we were born. We must therefore have immortal souls that are separate from our bodies.
The Analogy of the Cave
Plato uses the analogy to show how knowledge gained through experience of the senses is inferior to knowledge gained through the Forms.
Plato compares the physical world with a dark and shadowy cave, and the World of the Forms as a 'sun-filled' real world.
He asks us to imagine prisoners in the cave who have never known anything else but their imprisonment. They have sense experiences which are only shadows of the truth, but they accept these at face value.
A prisoner leaves the cave and is enlightened by the Form of the Good, giving him knowledge of the world as it really is.
We mistake the knowledge that we gain from our senses as being the real truth, but real truth is found through philosophy which leads us to the Forms.
Criticisms of Plato
Richard Dawkins argues that it makes no sense to talk about another world beyond the physical world.
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The physical world is worth studying even if the knowledge we gain from our sense experience is not completely accurate.
The theory of Forms is unclear, we do not know if each species of plant has its own Form, or if there is one Form of Plant in general
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The Problem of Evil
Logical Problem
The inconsistent triad argues that three beliefs cannot all be held at the same time without contradiction.
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The logical formulation of the problem of evil is that an all loving and all powerful God would not want any evil and suffering in the world. It concludes therefore, that if there is evil in the world then a God with these attributes cannot exist.
Solutions to this problem include that God is not totally loving, that God is not totally powerful, evil is an illusion or is actually good for us in spite of appearing to be bad.
Evidential Problem
The argument states that there is too much evil and suffering in the world for the belief 'there is an all good, all powerful God'.
John Stuart Mill also argued that the extent of evil and suffering in the world does not suggest a good God, but instead suggests that if there is a creator, it must be malevolent.
Natural and Moral Evil
Natural evil is said to be that which causes suffering but does not come from any human wrongdoing, for example earthquakes.
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Augustinian Theodicy
Augustine was influenced by his earlier Manichean beliefs, who believed that the world is divided between good and evil.
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Variety is the rich goodness of God's creation, if things are varied then naturally there will be strengths and weakness'.
Augustine believed that God created angels who were varied in their characters, some angels received less grace than others and so were less able to worship God and were more likely to fall into sin. Some angels fell away from God and became sinful as they misused their free will.
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Aristotle
Understanding of Reality
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Reality can be explained in four different ways, the four causes, which all explain the phenomena of the natural world.
The Four Causes
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The Formal Cause - explains what shape something takes, or what its identifying features are.
The Efficient Cause - this explains the activity that makes something happen. It brings about change and 'actualises potential', turning something from what it could be into what it is.
The Final Cause - this is something's purpose or reason for existing at all. Aristotle used the term, 'telos' or 'end'. He thought something is good if it achieved or fulfilled its telos.
Prime Mover
Aristotle believed that there must be some kind of Prime Mover to account for the fact that everything in the physical world in unchanging.
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The Prime Mover is the first of all substances and depends on nothing else for existence, it exists necessarily.
It causes change in motion through attraction, everything else in the universe is drawn towards its perfection.
It must be perfectly good, because it is unchangeable and cannot be corrupted.
Criticisms of Aristotle
Aristotle's writing often lacks clarity, partly due to the fact that we only have fragments of it.
Aristotle could be criticised for discarding his teachers beliefs on another world beyond the physical, and his reliance on sense experience could be another weakness.
Philosophers such as Bertrand Russell and Richard Dawkins all criticise the view that the universe has a telos, they argue that it exists without explanation or purpose.
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Aristotle's use of reason and sense experience to gain knowledge about the physical world could be seen as the best way to learn about the world.
The Problem of Evil
Iranaen Theodicy
Iraneaus was an early Christian that accepted evil and suffering existed in the world and that God appears to allow them to continue.
He argued that God allows evil and suffering to enable people to develop into freely chosen, mature relationships with God.
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There have to be fewer good things in the world in order for virtues such as kindness, bravery and generosity to exist at all
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We could not have a free relationship with God unless we have genuine options to choose otherwise. Evil has to be an option.
We cannot grow totally into the likeness of God in this world, and there is a life after death in which we can complete our spiritual development.
John Hicks Theodicy
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Evil and suffering are not an unfortunate accident but a part of God's loving plan to help us grow into a free relationship
God deliberately keeps himself partly hidden from us so that there is 'epistemic distance' - we can make free choices if God does not force himself on us in an immediate way.
Hick thought that after death, we continue in our spiritual journeys towards a free choice for God, and this option is open to people of any belief.
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Arguments for God, reason