- humanity is moral - we should know what is good

-whatever is not good is useless and wrong

-we are not as good as we should be

people do not do jobs that match their skill set

there is a dimension of reality that people are not aware of

ideal/perfection of a thing

understood by the mind

permanent

Plato: Hierarchy of forms

(perfection of a form is defined/limited by what it is)

-good

-moral qualities

- math, entities

-sensory characteristics

-physical things

non-physical

diversity

eternal

corruptible

attached to a body

-economy

-military/police (strength)

- leadership (wisdom)

Guardian - wisdom

auxiliary - courage

artisans - temperance/moderation

upper levels should not have property or family

All is Brahman

Atman is what we perceive to be our individual selves

Atman is part of Brahman

The illusion that I am distinct from other objects

What keeps us from salvation

must be overcome

son to father

then patriarch to town official up to emperor

The ones in charge are to require obedience in a benevolent way that correctly forms the ones obeying them

if not, obedience is still required

no matter how we are treated, we are still in control of our own response

Tradition is accumulated wisdom of the past

not just the living matter

-self-discipline (with the help of a guide)

-virtue ethics

-putting will/selfishness aside

The quality of life depends on what you love

we are incapable of not loving

God cannot be a creator because creator implies a change from (less perfect) not creator to creator

Instead, it emanates

MInd: radiation out of pure being

universal/world psyche - soul (logic of the universe)

individual psyche - comprehension of world psyche

physical bodies

inanimate objects

Augustin: Why would God create?

(We create out of desire/need, but God lacks nothing)

humans are finite

God has desires that grow out of fullness

creation can be seen as an overflow of God's love

Evil is a perverse (misdirected )love

Aristotle v. Plato

Forms

A: within the form

P: transcendental realm

Aristotle v. Plato

Soul

A: soul is the form of a human (mortal)

P: soul is immortal

Aristotle v. Plato

Reason

Both say that the most important aspect of a human is reason

A: knowledge begins with the senses

P: reason is inhibited by the senses

Aristotle v Plato

Knowledge

A: A Posteriori - putting together details in order to generalize

P: A Priori - concepts are prior to knowledge of specifics

Reason is a gift from God that opints toward the truth about God

God is a rational being

Pure reason - tangible

practical reason - intangible (God, morality, soul/self, freedom, etc)

Coherence theory of truth

(order of logic)

-self

-freedom (we behave as though we are free)

-ethics (ethics don't make sense without freedom)

-immortality (in life, some people get away with being unethical, so there must be an afterlife)

God (there must be a judge to carry out afterlife judgment)

Deontological approach

-Duty is at the base of ethics

-a duty for one is a duty for all (categorical imperative)

- People must always be ends, never means

-we should act on the maxim that we would be willing to universalize

- violating the categorical imperative creates an illogical world (ex: lying)

Fallacy: fact leads to ought

truth: ethics begins with ought, not with facts

Des Cartes

Three main conclusions

-He exists (or at least his mind must exist)

-God exists

-Body and soul are differnent things

Des Cartes

Objects are characterized by:

Minds are characterized by:

God is characterized by:

-they take up space

-thought

-perfection

-selfish/egoistic

-pleasure seeking (animalistic)

-behave like animals in terms of survival

has to be enforced because of human nature

Third party must enforce the contract - leviathan

third party in place to judicate conflicts

has complete freedom and authority - the only limit is taking life

A cause is not a thing in itself

we can understand causation, but cannot see cause

cause/effect: habit of the mind

Facts about perception

Truth of logic

God/miracles

Ethics/good

Beauty (judgments/opinions)

Philosopher of pessimism

protests the idea that the most important thing about humans is rationality

believes that the world is an irrational place

-ideas are connected to perception

-the mind creates the world we perceive

reality = will to love (noumena)

-always frustrated (everybody dies)

-not rational

-Sympathy - recognition that all life is connected in desire

Art - attempt to describe/express that which is universal