A Guide to Key Philosophical Concepts and Arguments

Posted on Aug 5, 2024 in Philosophy and ethics

Matching Brief Descriptions of Terms

Philosophy: Critical reasoning about ultimate questions.

Argument: A set of propositions consisting of premises and a conclusion.

Deduction: Arguments where the conclusion follows necessarily from the premises.

Induction: Arguments where the conclusion follows from the premises with some degree of probability.

Validity: When it is impossible for a deductive argument to have all true premises and a false conclusion.

Soundness: When a deductive argument is valid and all the premises are actually true.

Strength: When the conclusion is probable/likely relative to the premises in an inductive argument.

Reliability: When an inductive argument is strong and all the premises are actually true.

Modus Ponens: If A then B. A. Therefore, B.

Modus Tollens: If A then B. Not B. Therefore, not A.

Analogy: An argument that moves from one specific example to another, reasoning that because the two examples are alike in many ways, they are also alike in one further specific way.

Epistemology: The subfield of philosophy that concentrates on what we can know.

Metaphysics: The subfield of philosophy that concentrates on what is ultimately real.

Relativism: The view that truth and goodness are solely relative to a human individual or culture; that a person or a culture is the sole arbiter of what is true and right.

Socialism: Form of rule intended to bring about a socio-economic order structured on common ownership of the means of production and the absence of social classes.

Capitalism: Socio-economic system structured on private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit.

Asceticism: Abstention from all forms of self-indulgence; highly self-disciplined for the sake of achieving some single goal.

Validity of Deductive Arguments

Two arguments: You must decide whether to use term or propositional logic.

Remember:

  • Only Bs are As = All A is B
  • As are Bs = All A is B
  • As aren’t Bs = No A is B

The Square of Contradiction:

  • All A is B, Some A is not B: contradictories
  • No A is B, Some A is B: contradictories
  • Contradictory: If one is false, the other MUST be true

Fill in the Missing Terms/Propositions in Key Arguments:

Three Waves of Criticism against Socrates’ Just City

  1. Men and women will have the same education.
  2. No private marriages or child-rearing among the citizens.
  3. The city will be ruled by philosopher king(s)/queen(s).

First Wave Arguments

  1. All things that can have the same natural inclinations can have the same pursuits.
  2. Male and female humans can have the same natural inclinations.
  3. Therefore, male and female humans can have the same pursuits.
  1. Anything that makes the best possible men and women is best for the city.
  2. The law that proposes men and women be trained with the same musical and physical training makes the best possible men and women.
  3. Therefore, the law that proposes men and women be trained with the same musical and physical training is best for the city.

Second Wave Arguments

  1. If the relationships between men and women guardians were not governed properly, then they will inevitably have a lot of sex with one another.
  2. It wouldn’t be good for them to have a lot of sex with one another. (This would be distracting, unjust, “impious,” etc.)
  3. Therefore, men and women guardians must have their relationships governed properly.
  1. Any governed relationship between guardians will have to be beneficial to the city.
  2. What’s beneficial to the city is that the best guardians reproduce and the weaker guardians do not reproduce (those in their prime, who fight the best, the smartest, etc.).
  3. Therefore, any governed relationship between guardians will have the best guardians reproduce and the weaker guardians not reproduce.
  1. What is best for the city is what binds it together (making it “one” rather than “many”).
  2. Privatization tears it apart (making the city “many” rather than “one”).
  3. Therefore, privatization is not best for the city.

Third Wave Arguments

  1. Those who grasp justice itself are fit to rule.
  2. The philosopher (is the only one who) grasps justice itself.
  3. Therefore, the philosopher (is the only one who) is fit to rule.
  1. Pleasure can be bad.
  2. Goodness cannot be bad.
  3. Therefore, pleasure cannot be goodness.

The Analogy of the Sun

  • The act of seeing something requires three things: the eye, the object seen, and the sun, which is the light that illuminates the object in order for the eye to see.
  • Likewise, the act of knowing something requires three things: the soul (mind), the object known (abstract intellectual truths), and the form of the Good, which is the rational light that illuminates the rational object in order for the soul to know.
  1. The act of seeing is LIKE the act of knowing.
  2. The sun is the condition of possibility for sight.
  3. Therefore, the form of the Good is the condition of possibility for knowledge.