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Summary RS notes Philosophy of RelIgion - H573
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Very detailed and presentable notes outlining all the course information needed for OCR Religious A- Level, H573, Philosophy of Religion. 142 pages.
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Religious StudiesPhilosophical Language and Thought
Topic 1: Ancient Philosophical Infuences
Background informaton (P1 – P8)
Plato (P19)
(a)The Forms (P19 – 20)
Universals: Shared features of an object type
Particulars: Individual instances of a universal
Bertrand Russell: Cats + Form of the Cat – Ideal Cat
Could get rid of all particulars in the world (Cats) but universal will always remain
Plato’s Theory of the Forms (Republic Book V)
Two Realms:
Realm of the Forms – inhabited by spiritual souls and true beings in themselves
Realm of Appearances – this world – things look similar to their originals in Realm of the
Forms
Particulars – ‘participate’/’imitate’ in the form – opposite of criteria for forms
Form – universal ideal – criteria:
Perfect and Independent Simple Eternal and spiritual
unchanging (non-physical)
Interaction is change E.g. if there was no Just one thing Souls belong naturally in
and would cause the beautiful thing on Earth Realm of Forms which is
form to deviate from there would still be the realm of reality
perfection concept/form of beauty
Everything on earth We recognise imperfect One can participate We long for permanence
changes circles because we see in different forms at of Forms and are
it in Realm of Forms the same time dissatisfied with
transience of the world
“It is not possible to Equal sticks Forms can
step into the same participate within
river twice.” another
Every form
participates in good
Bad action doesn’t
participate in any
good forms
1
,Plato suggests (at some points) that there are only forms of concepts
Not a form for everything only concepts like justicee love and beauty
Hard to describe a chair with only concepts but chair theology described how world works
Form of the bed – Republic Book X – uncleare mostly just forms of concepts
World isn’t important because our world is augmented reality or shadows of the cave (see later)
Knowledge and particulars
Particulars are what they are only relatively and transiently and there isn’t knowledge of them –
needs more permanence and certainty
Forms knowledge is episteme – particulars are doxa (opinion)
Epistemé is infallible – doxa can be mistaken so cannot be knowledge
Epistemé is only of what is real – forms
(b) Hierarchy of the Forms/the Form of the Good (P20 – 21)
Hierarchy in Formse Realm of Forms is superior to Realm of Appearances
Among Forms also a hierarchye with Form of Good above all
Republic Book VI – ‘The metaphor of sight’
In Realm of Formse we need ‘mind’s eye’ or the force of intellect to appreciate Forms –
understanding of forms is noesis (understandinge intellect)
We use Sun to illuminate our understanding
‘Sun equivalent’ is Form of the Good – highest of forms
Below this – ‘higher forms’e beauty etc.
Below these – ‘individual forms’, chairse tablese cakes etc.
Eye dependant on lighte without light – no hope in seeing the object (the sun)
Plato compares light to ‘Form of the Good’ – light allows the eyes (soul) ‘power of understanding’
(to gain real understanding) – see it in real
Without Form of Good we could not have knowledge
The Demiurge
If Forms don’t actively do anything – problem over how Earth was created
Demiurge limited by its materials and created in accordance with forms
Deity resembles crafsman
Timaeus is where Demiurge is found
2
,(c) The Simile of the Divided Line (P21e 22)
Plato develops his case for Forms with three linked similes:
The Sune the Divided Linee and the Cave
The Divided Line is very helpful in understanding the Cave
Lef part represents world of appearancese right part represents Realm of Forms
World works in two wayse we aren’t focussing on objects as they are but on other things which are
less than reality
3
,(d) The Simile of the Cave (P22e 23)
Underground cave – connected to surface by a steep tunnel. In the cavee there is a road which runs
across its width
One side of the road is a walle running parallel with both the road and the far surface of the cave.
Prisoners are chained to the walle with the road behind them and on the other side of the wall
They’ve been there all their lives and are chained so they can only look towards the wall in front of
them. They have never been able to see the road
Opposite side of the road from the walle and higher upe is a fire. Fire means that shadows are cast
on the wall which the prisoners are facing.
People walk along the roade carrying various objects. Shadows of these objects appear on the wall in
front of the prisoners.
Prisoners hear voices of those passing along the road
Result is the only ‘reality’ the prisoners ever know is the shadow world.
They devise competitions between themselves to guess which shadows will appear next
Represents the images (A) on the Divided Line – lowest level of awareness
Plato asks us to imagine that a prisoner is released. He stands upe turns arounde and sees the real
objects carried by the men on the road.
He learns that what he had previously believed was illusion.
Represents seeing of the objects of this world (‘looking at’ rather than his previous ‘looking
away’) – B on the Divided Line.
At last he is able to look at the fire. Difficult at frst as his eyes would be used to seeing only
shadowse but gradually he’d be able to look at it.
Fire represents the Sun in our visible world.
The prisoner is forced to make the difficult ascent to the outside world.
This represents the hard road of philosophical enlightenment.
At frste the sheer brightness of the outside world would be painful and dazzlinge and the prisoner
would be able to look only at the shadows of objects in the outside world
‘looking away’ representing mathematical reasoning (C) on the Divided Line
As his eyes become accustomede he would gradually be able to look directly at the objects
themselves
‘Looking at’e (D) on the Divided Line. These real objects represent the Forms in themselves.
4
,Last of alle he’d be able to see the Sune the brightest objecte which gives the light that enables seeing
and understandinge and which enables the life of everything else.
The Sun in the simile represents the Form of the Good.
Plato speculates on what would happen if the prisoner were forced to return to the cave. Those in
the cave would be unimpressed by his adventures. They wouldn’t believe him; they would deny that
there was a more real world.
After alle the returned prisoner would no longer appreciate the games they playede having seen the
truthe and his eyes would find it difficult to readjust to the shadow world. The others would mock
him and might even kill him
Plato is trying to show how those with true philosophical insight are not understood by
those unable to see beyond the world of appearancese unaware of the true nature of
things.
Reference to the possibility that the enlightened one might even be killed by the ignorant is
an obvious reference to Socrates and his fate.
5
,(e) Objections to the theory of the Forms
Aristotle’s Objections
We use terms like ‘good’ in many different ways – simply no simple good.
A good human doesn’t have the same good qualities as a good horse. A good harpist plays
the harp well; she may be a good harpist but in another sense a bad person. Playing a harp
well isn’t the same as living well. Furthere a good rife isn’t morally good – good because it’s
good for shooting withe not because it has moral qualities
If Forms were so essential to true understandinge why does no one study them?
Odd that carpenterse doctorse politicians and others have no need to study Forms if they are
as necessary to clear thought as Plato thinks
Parmenides Dialogue – Plato offers his own self-criticism through Parmenides
What is the exact relationship between the form and the particular?
How does a particular partake in the form? How is the form incarnated in the particular?
How does the perfect ideal intermingle with its imperfect copy?
Some things have no form (Platonists argue this too)
Is there a form of haire mud or dirt?
The nature of participation
Do we participate in whole forms or part of a form
If we participate in part of a form then it is divisible (and not simple)
Bertrand Russell’s criticism
Plato has no understanding of philosophical syntax
He fails altogether to realize how great the gap is between universals and particulars
Plato assumes the word 'human' has exactly the same meaning
But it is an adjective and it which is not of the same kind as Socratese Platoe and the rest of
the individuals who compose the human race
Nonsense to say 'human is human
6
,Other Objections
Empiricists object assumptions that we know anything about the world a priorie other than by
sense experience
Plato argues knowledge cannot change but it doesn’t mean the object of knowledge can’t change
Does knowledge have the high standards of certainty that Plato gives it?
How can we be certain that knowledge has absolute certainty?
No empirical evidence for the Forms – how do we achieve noesis?
Surely Plato needs a Form of the Forms to explain what the Forms have in common and so on
7
,Aristotle (P19, 29-30)
(a) The philosophical views of Aristotle (P30-31)
Four philosophical questions:
What makes people happy?
11 virtuese in between two vices (two extremes)
What is an art for?
Catharsise we should have more compassion
What are feelings for?
Strategic acquaintancese similar friendse true friends
How can ideas cut through a busy world?
See emotional sidese humoure use illustration
Lode of fear
Plato’s rationalism versus Aristotle’s empiricism
Aristotle – very different approach of philosophy to Plato
First empiricist (knowledge through senses)
A posteriori – knowledge that comes after sense experience
He didn’t look to another realm for understanding of our existence – insteade he explored the world
and found understanding through a detailed examination of our world
What makes xe x (What makes a chaire a chair?) (What makes a bede a bed?)
Method is per genus et per differentia, meaning by typee by difference
For examplee you look at guinea pig and see what type of animal it is
Compare it to other types of rodents and the more closely you examine their differences the
more you learn about the guinea pig
We are taught skills (such as maths) through practice – Plato thought education was drawing out of
the mind knowledge that lay dormant within
Knowledge is based on careful observations on what we have seene we learn from the outside world
and our knowledge isn’t innate
Knowledge can be gained in more than one way
We learn to play instruments through practicee some things are learnt best by experiencee
others by practicee book-learninge or being taught
Knowledge of art is different to that of a mathematician
8
,(b) The four causes (scientifc knowledge (scienta)) (P31-33) (found in Physics II 3 and V 2)
Material – substance it’s made of
Without the mater something is made frome there would be nothing
Aristotle: “that out of which a thing comes to exist and which contnues, is called ‘cause’, for
example, the bronze of the statue, the silver of the bowl...”(Physics II, 3)
Efficient – process that made the thing (maker or builder)
Formal – shape/essence
Final – purpose/telos/function
True for everything
Teological theory
Aristotle uses fnal cause to say nature and humans have a purpose
Aristotle’s Examples
Bronze statue
Material – bronze
Efficient – workmanshipe carvinge casting
Formal – statue shape
Final – look goode inspire people
Silver bowl
Why the four causes mater?
In (arts of Animals – Aristotle explains only through final cause can telos be explained
Teeth
Regularity in teeth is only explained through it purpose
Foetus
Not a fully grown humane you need to explain that to get a foetus
9
, Actuality and Potentiality
Everything has actuality and potentiality
Sticks (potentiality) can turn into fre or a table (actuality)
Has to be done by something else
Efficient cause moves things from actuality to potentiality
Prime Mover is pure actuality (cannot change) – no potentiality
No materiale efficient or formal cause
The fnal cause
Substance Categories
Physical
Affected by the four causes
Universe and time
Changee but they’re eternale four causes could apply
Maths and Prime Mover
Don’t changee eternal and four causes apply
10
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