Plato and Aristotle
Aristotle
body and soul
4 causes
The Good
The Prime Mover
formal (shape)
efficient (creator)
material
final (purpose)
monist - soul and body intertwined - once cannot live without the other
hierarchy of souls : vegetative, animal, human
"we are what we repeatedly do" - practise makes perfect - "excellence is not an act but a habit"
good habits allow us to reach eudimonia
Archer analogy
likens acting virtually to an archer - must take conditions into account when aiming for the middle
golden mean : right action is imbetween extremes of deficiency and excess
ref. virtue ethics and criticisms
series of cause and effect chain initially caused by necessary PM, exists independently from us - perfect being - only thinks of itself
final cause as not subject to change
we are drawn towards PM
what allows us to develop
things in potential form need efficient cause to reach actual form
rejected Plato world of forms - rejected idea that form is separate and something objects try to imitate, form of an object is intrinsic to it
BUT : does our universe really have a purpose
BUT : why are people drawn to evil id PM is perfect
BUT : does not explain creation, how are things drawn out of nothing
BUT : why should we have to make an effort to be good if naturally drawn towards PM
BUT : free will
human telos is eudimonia
soul is formal cause
ax analogy : body is metal and wood, soul is ability to chop
BUT : disanalagous - can not equate physical to metaphysical
cannot commit physical actions as would need to change
BUT : discredited by scientific developments in quantum physics , matter can change without efficient cause
Hume : we can not be truly certain anything causes anything else
correlation can not certainly denote causation
just because observed P caused Q in past can not confirm it will in all future scenarios
deduced from empiricism
BUT : empiricism criticisms, eg. Descartes argument from deception : possibility our senses deceive us --> should not use empiricism as fundamental ground of argument
not a creator God - reason for worlds existence - so separate from potentilaity-actuality arc
BUT : seems like A is just making a logical exception that allows God to exist
evolution : the way we develop is random, not driving for a particular purpose
PM is one case A moves from empiricist argument to rationalist in order to explain metaphysical - is this problematic?
Plato
Theory of the forms
Analogies
the sun
the divided line
the cave
body and soul
Form of the good
combination of soul and matter - soul lives eternally in realm of forms
forms are unchanging and perfect
everything in world is representation of a form - what we see (particulars - changing, material, imperfect) are shadows of forms
learning is a recollection of what our soulds know in realm of forms
idea of perfection - as all form are perfect they participate in forms which participate in form of good
hierarchy in world of the forms - form of the good is superior - transcends all over forms
dualist
soul preexists in realm of forms - given to us by demiurge
soul split into rational, spirited and appetitive
CHARIOTEER analogy
charioteer : rational
two horses : spirited then appetitive (as lower down)
evidence
recollection argument - soul must exist before birth otherwise we would not be able to learn anything - all have idea of perfect justice even if it does not exist in this world - must have come from realm of forms
affinity argument - assuming immaterial world exists, soul must live there when body dies
cyclical - every process has a reverse eg. all dead things were once living - cycle so soul must live on after body
everything is in a hierarchy - rationality is superior - visible realm (opinions) inferior to intelligible realm (knowledge)
people can only see shadows of real objects, as they are immobile can never fully grasp idea of "perfect object"
sun is the form of the good
like sun, form of the good is needed to see - illuminates rational part of the soul - "gives knowing to the knower"
everything contingent on FoG
STRENGTHS
idea of striving for best form is beneficial for sculpting society - ref. Plato 'Ideal state' - regardless of truth value
BUT : Plato's ideal state was very totalitarian, idea pf 'philosopher kings' seems elitist
BUT : if we are conscious beings - how do we access ideas in heavenly state - how do body and soul communicate
BUT : Plato - Parminidines : there could be an infinite amount of forms from dust to beauty, all equally specific to particular - no practical value
Aristotle questioned idea of infinite regress
Parmenideines : how can they interact with particulars if one is changing and one is unchanging in nature. - ideal of beauty constantly changing so how can this be linked to one form
Whitehead : "modern philosophy is a series of footnotes to Plato"
many types of chair - only one perfect chair - how can indivisible form be present in multiple particulars
set grounds for Religion - metaphysical philosophy has practical application as giving values/moral rule book
but Plato disagreed with Aristotelian idea that particulars can not be separated from form - purely shadows - separate entities - if no link seems illogical we can access them in realm of forms
convincing analogy as we can have no comprehension outside our senses
BUT : seems disanalagous as prisoners could understand what is outside of cave if they had the chance, we cannot comprehend anything beyond sensoty input
BUT : no a posteriori evidence - is a priori proof around recollection, opposities enough?
COUNTER : differing views nighlight worldly imperfection - all converge to form X in some way
BUT : Hume : reason is slave of the passions, is placing reason above all actual good, against human nature
not convincing as opposites do not always exist within things i.e. hard table was not once soft
how does brain obtain information to recall forms - why do we not recall everything immediately
Russel : "bottomless pit of nonsense" - where do we stop assigning forms
abstract ideas just help us understand physical world - Russel - does the ideal form of cat have any real meaning outside physical installations. of 'cat'