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- KEY PHILOSOPHICAL CONCEPTS -
CONCEPT DEFINITION
MEANING OF LIFE
Some pursue the meaning of life as discovering the core truth regarding the self. So it can be considered a way of ‘who am I?’ to find self discloser. Most commonly, one ask to seek the purpose or point of life itself and what defines a ‘good life’ ABSURDITY THESIS The absurdity thesis was constructed by philosopher Thomas Nagel (1937). This thesis refers to a “conspicuous discrepancy between pretension or aspiration and reality’ the absurdity thesis at the core claims that there is “objective meaningless of human life” and an overall lack of rational justification USUAL AND TRANSCENDENTAL Transcendental encourages the intuitive and spiritual above the empirical and material. God or the Gods above are beyond ourselves Usual is the specific attitude or manner through which a person thinks about something FUTURE SIGNIFICANCE “nothing we do will matter in a million years” means that he believes that figuratively nothing we do has proper justification, that all our deeds, relationships ect will have no difference to whether we have lived at all. DWARFING ARGUMENT “Our lives are mere instants even on a geological time scale” Nagel argues that we are mere specs in the cosmos. It was meant to disclose cosmically speaking we as humans are insignificant DEATH ARGUMENT Nagel discloses that in summary “we are all going to die…it is all an elaborate journey leading nowhere” The thought here seems to say that life is deprived of meaning or rational justification ONTOLOGICAL ARGUMENT The ontological argument for gods existence begins with a foundational definition of god, then the attributes, followed by the conclusion. Composed in the pattern ‘D, A1, A2, C’ COSMOLOGICAL ARGUMENT The cosmological argument starts from the fact that there is a cosmos and argues that this reality alone points towards the necessity of God PROBLEM OF IDENTITY It is split into four major claims; morality, law, relationships and survival beyond death. Personal identity fits into this theory as overall each person experiences this but rather in different ways.
FIRST V THIRD PERSON
First person concept refers to the point of view of “i” as the way in which the human subject has access to their world and experiences. Third person view looks at consciousness as it exists in others. SOUL/MIND THEORY Our innermost self that which a person most essentially is, the soul remains constant throughout MEMORY THEORY OF IDENTITY Locke argues that personal identity is based on the relationship between a person's present and past consciousness. He believes that a person's identity is maintained as long as their memories and experiences are connected by a chain of direct or indirect recollection. MIND/BODY RELATIONSHIP PROBLEMS WITH IT The philosophical view that mind and body (or matter) are fundamentally distinct kinds of substances or natures. The problem arises because the mind is considered to be non-physical, while the body is physical, and it is unclear how the two can interact or be connected. PROPOSITION KNOWLEGE Concept in epistemology refers to knowledge that is expressed in the form of propositions or statements. It is the "justified true belief," which means that for a person to have knowledge of a proposition, they must believe it to be true, have a good justification for their belief, and the proposition must actually be true. GETTIER CASES What they all share is the capacity to show that someone could hold a justified true belief and still lack knowledge. They function as challenges to the philosophical tradition of defining knowledge of a proposition as justified true belief in that proposition. VIRTUE EPISTEMOLOGY The fundamental idea of virtue epistemology is, Knowledge is a true belief that is gained as a result of the operation of reliable epistemic virtues or cognitive faculties. CORRESPONDENCE THEORY OF TRUTH correspondence theory, truth is a relationship. It is a relationship of correspondence between a proposition and a fact COHERENCE THEORY OF TRUTH The truth of a statement is a function of its coherence with other statements we already believe to be true PRAGMATIST THEORY OF TRUTH The pragmatic theory of truth states that: the truth of an idea is to be assessed in the light of its usefulness; its utility or ‘cash value’ example: the mark of a successful scientific theory is that it enables us to manipulate nature in new ways. Truth ‘works.’
NORMATIVE ETHICS
There are three approaches to normative ethics: Denontolgoy: Deontology is concerned with notions of duty, or moral obligation; According to Kant, an action is moral only if the principle it implies is universalisable as a general moral law. Universalisability is both necessary and sufficient for a moral action→ Freedom is not in doing what you want, but in giving yourself to the moral law. Consequenntialism: concerned with the consequences of our actions; achieve “the greatest good [i.e., happiness/ pleasure] for the greatest number of people”. Virtue ethics: It defines good actions as ones that display embody virtuous character traits, like courage, loyalty, or wisdom. POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY the study of the foundations and the nature of society and the state; an attempt to formulate a vision of the ideal society and implement ideas and reforms in our own society to better achieve this” (Solomon & Higgins, 2014, pg. 7). political philosophy asks what kind of life is proper, good and just for a person amongst people “NATURAL CONDITION” OF HUMANKIND THOMAS HOBBES IDEA what would exist if there were no government, no civilization, no laws, and no common power to restrain human nature for civilization to be possible, there must be co-operation between individuals: Trust is impossible in the chaos of the ‘natural condition‛ in which the kinder and gentler sides of human nature are all but obliterated. authoritative superior power (the state) – which enforces the law, and has at its disposal serious sanctions for law-breakers – is able to provide the kind of basic security within which trust (and even kindness) is able to flourish. DISRUPTIVE JUSTICE Three major themes:
- Retributive justice: the theory of just legal punishment for violations of the law;
- Just war theory: elaborating the principles of the just conduct of war
- Distributive justice: the theory of the just distribution of the benefits and burdens of social cooperation. MONARCHY political system based upon the undivided sovereignty or rule of a single person. CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY system of government in which a monarch (see monarchy) shares power with a constitutionally organized government.
ARISTOCRACY ‘Rule by self / one (person, group) OLIGARCHY ‘Rule by the few’ DEMOCRACY Rule by the people RAWL’S VIEW OF JUSTICE begins from the premise that society is a cooperative endeavour for the mutual benefit of individuals. The overriding concern here is that such cooperation should benefit and burden each member fairly. Fairness is arrived at through mutual agreement or consent: two major assumptions
- That the circumstances of one’s birth (e.g. one’s sex, race, genetic abilities, the level of wealth one is born into, etc.) are irrelevant to what one deserves in life.
- That all goods are to be distributed equally unless it is clear that an unequal distribution would be to everyone's advantage. But equality is the default position. NOZICK’S VIEW OF JUSTICE Nozick’s rights-based theory: begins from the idea that individuals are the bearers of certain inalienable rights. The role and value of justice is to secure and maintain these rights: Libertarianism is a position in political philosophy that maintains that the liberty or freedom of the individual is the only fundamental political value
