Plato
- Was a dualist whereby there was a world of forms (the purest representation of an object)
vs the world of being (what is seen) i.e the materialistic world
- Nativist & rationalist: we were born with the truth but in order to find it out we need to
rationalize to reach it
Learning is a process of recollecting memories of forms
- 2 characteristics of truth and knowledge for plato
o Truth is in all time and places**
o Truth is justified rationally (thinking)
- Since ‘forms’ are the purest quintessential embodiment of the material version it cannot
be displayed – it is out of reach. It can only be described through metaphors
o ‘Simile of the sun’: where the sun is the 3rrd needed element for people to see
The eyes have the light which helps us see
What the sun is to our eyes is what the good is in our lives helps us see
o ‘Analogy of the divided
line’: represents the
hierarchy of knowledge
Images: looking and
imagining objects
(poor)
Belief: looking at
the imagined object
(poor)
Thinking: quick
maffs not
entirely true (poor)
The forms: ideal,
perfect never been
done before
o ‘Allegory of the cave’
The human soul is
trapped in the cave (cave is our meat bags and the culture we know)
We must escape the cave to see the truth (form)
Good news: we eventually can see the truth through education
Bad news: it is a difficult and dangerous path also not everyone is down
for that
o ‘Ladder of love’: easiest path to the world of the truth
We move from physical love (lust) to loving the soul
We lust over a beautiful body
Realization that all bodies are the same (flesh and bone)
Love of the soul/knowledge (go deeper)
- There are different classes (castes) therefore different/hierarchy souls
o Rational soul: in the head soul of the guardian (fit to rule) and always strives
to learn more
o Spirited soul: in the chest motivated by glory and fame (commodorus)
o Desire soul: located in the belly desire: hunger money, lust, no interest in
philosophy (the productive class) hard to tame
- Chariot analogy kind of like freud’s ego etc.
, o Essentially, we have all three, but our rational soul is the chariot, and we need to
control the other 2 horses for a balanced role
- Learning according to plato: as mentioned we learn through recollection/remembering
o The soul is born in heaven we have already seen the world of forms
o But when we are born, we forget it all
o Therefore, learning is a journey to recollect these memories of the forms (gotta
catch em all)
Aristotle
- From forms he birthed matter
o Think of a statue where matter is the material it is made of, and form is what the
statue is supposed to be (what it’s supposed to be is not materialistic nor a form)
o Can have different forms from the same matter or a different matter but the same
form
- Different cause of the form
o Essential cause: what it is essentially
o Efficient cause: how the form was created
o Final cause: the purpose
- Difference between plato and Aristotle is that for Aristotle the form needs matter for it to
exist unlike plato where the form is untouchable
- Focuses on observing nature and not interfering
- Potentiality v. actuality
o Everything has both (the potentiality and the actuality)
o Potentiality what it could potentially be lump of bronze can potentially be a
statue
o Actuality what the thing is this is acc a lump of bronze
o The exceptions to the rule
Sheer matter: pure potential (the one after the big bang)
Unmoved mover (God) he has already reached his potential and actuality
- 3 levels of the soul: every living thing has a type of soul
o Nutritive soul: in
plants
o Sensitive soul: in
animals (has senses)
o Rational soul: in
humans (has a
mind)
- How we gain knowledge in
our rational souls?
o ‘Common sense’
integrates
information from
senses
o ‘Binding
problem’**
o Memory: to store
memory/lifestory of
the organism and
there are 3 ways to organize memory (similarity, continuity, and contrast)
- The mind according to Aristotle: it can form a generalization from specific memories
, o Passive mind: dies after death, just using your experiences
o Active mind: pure thought, thinking process, capacity of thoughts and transcends
after death ‘entelechy’
- Not a dualist he thinks body cannot exist without soul and vice versa
Descartes “cogito ergo sum” “I think therefore I am”
- One true belief: “I am a thinking being”
- Still a true believer of God ‘clockwork view’** only god has the power
- Everything around us is mechanistic except for our souls (it is spiritual)
- What makes us superior from animals?
o Language: able to articulate the thoughts
o Experience: we are self-aware and can rationalize
o Flexibility: in complex situations we can react (v simple stop and go) think of
traffic lights
- He was a dualist: there are 2 worlds the mechanical world v. the spiritual world
(kinda like plato except there is no ominous truth)
- Cartesian theatre:
o Where the soul and body interact apparently the pineal gland
o The soul never truly sees the object but just a mere image of it
o The soul is a viewer in said theatre
o The screen is showing the projection of image
Enables us to take a step back and reflect on our thoughts and feelings (to
be meta)
‘Radical reflexivity’ a scientific way of reflecting on your thoughts
- Criticisms:
o How tf can a spiritual soul interact with the material body
o “Other mind problem” how do I know I am not the only soul in the universe
(WTF!?) how do I know the others are real and this isn’t a simulation!!!!
Language counters this. If any creature can communicate their minds,
then by default they have their own souls
Locke ‘tabula rassa’
- An empiricist: where knowledge is gained through experience bc we are initially a
blank slate we write on out minds through experiencing
- Nativist to an extent: some of our knowledge is innate: language, basic motives
- Sees the mind as an information processing machine
o Input: experience
o Output: knowledge
- Believes in free will doesn’t matter if you eat the apple in a closed room. You are still
eating the apple as you please
o Freedom of action, not freedom of will**
- There is a fountain of knowledge in which ideas come from:
o Sensation: what we feel through our sense
o Reflection: reflecting our own mental process
- Simple ideas v. complex ideas (mult. Simple ideas)
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