Philosophy Cheat Sheet by [deleted]

What does Kierke­gaard mean by false Christ­ianity? What does he mean by the teleol­ogical suspension of the ethical? What does he mean when he says that truth is subjec­tivity?

Kierke­gaard believed that christians in his time did not take their belief seriously. Kierke­gaard believed that having a passionate faith in the lord was a number one priority, and that reasoning came second. He believed that some christians were not putting God as the number one priority in their lives, and that they were just going through the motions of christ­ianity. The teleol­ogical suspen­sionon of the ethical means that it is okay to make a decision that is considered unethical in the name of the lord. Kierke­gaard believed that the truth was entirely subjective and that it did not matter what you believed, it only mattered how passio­nately you did believe in it.

Name 2 of the 5 proofs of Saint Thomas Aquinas for the existence of God. What are the strengths and weaknesses of each argument?

Saint Thomas Aquinas' first argument is the argument from motion. The world must have been created by a God because something had to set the world in motion. This is not a bad argument because according to Newton's first law of physics, objects do need to be set in motion. A opponent of this could say that the big bang caused the Earth to be set in motion, or that the Earth was already in motion before the arrival of God. His second states that God is the first cause. The strength is that most people can use common sense to understand this argument, and that it is clear. The question atheists ask is "­well, then who created God"?

What does Charles Sanders Peirce mean he says that "the only difference between words is how they test out in experi­enc­e?" Thus our ideas of anything are our ideas of sensible effects?'

This goes back to pragmatism and how whatever choice has the most practical conseq­uences is the best choice. If one set of words does not lead to practical results, and another set does, then you should use the second set because it is the most practical. In the second statement, he says that our ideas come what we believe is possible by taking a action. If we believe that we will become healthier by exerci­sing, then we will do that because it has practical conseq­uences.

What does Heidegger mean when he says that "we have forgotten to ask the question concerning the meaning of being, and in what way does it relate to techno­logy?

Heidegger meant that humans have forgotten what it means to be alive. We take it for granted everyday, and we fail to notice it because we are constantly distracted by tasks. He believes that we are scared of nothin­gness, and that one can only be at peace when they accept nothin­gness. Technology comes into play here by distra­cting even further from other human beings, such as people constantly being on their cell phones. People are ignoring their friends and loved ones for the purpose of using techno­logy.

Explain the viewpoint of the Buddha of Confucius from chapter 1 of Archetypes of wisdom. What is their import­anc­e/s­ign­ifi­cance and what role does detachment play in their presen­tation?

Buddha believed that we should lower our expect­ations to increase our happiness. He believed in compassion and unders­tan­ding, and that there was no singular God. he believed that all things were created equal. He believed that you needed a calm and pure mind in order for wisdom to emerge. He believed that we should not attach our happiness to material objects because material objects can be taken away, along with our happiness.

What does Soccio mean when hey says "­Acc­ording to Nietzsche, aesthetic vision (art or taste) is the basis of meaning (not science, not religion, not morality)? And as for Nietzsche, art is a matter of semblance , a pose, techni­cally a matter of masks and lies?

Soccio was talking about Nietzs­che's mindset about the world. Nietzsche believed that we should view the world the way a artist views his work. He believes that we have beauty inside of us and that we need to reflect it out onto the world. Nietzsche believed that beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, and that all beauty begins and ends with man. A man should praise himself the same way an artist praises his work. Semblance is the basic human element found in human existence.

What role does Nietzsche mean by slave morality? What role does resentment play in its's creation?

According to Nietzsche master morality is the morality slave masters held. They idolized traits such are "­bra­ve" and "­aud­aci­ous­", and resented traits such as "­mee­k" or "­pas­siv­e". Slave morality is the mindset that slaves held and it is the complete opposite of master morality. Eventu­ally, slaves began to resent their masters so they began to hate traits such as "­bra­ve" or "­aud­aci­ous­" and reward traits such as "­mee­k" or "­pas­siv­e".

What is pragma­tism, and what does William James mean when he says that "our conception of reality is simply a man-made langua­ge?­"

Pragmatism is the philos­ophical belief that whatever choice has the most practical conseq­uences should be chosen. It is closely associated with utilit­ari­anism (the most useful choice is the best choice). I believe William James was saying that each scientific field and each scientific theory is right when viewed from a certain perspe­ctive. The theories are similar to languages in that the theory can be expressed and interp­reted differ­ently many different ways, and the commun­ication can still be unders­tood.

Wittge­nstein attempts to show the underlying structure of language. What is this structure for Wittge­nstein? What is the difference between "­say­ing­" and "­utt­eri­ng"?

For WIttge­nstien, there was no structure of language. He believed that words and their usage depended mostly on social factors such as where you are from. He did not believe it was necessary to analyze and break down lingui­stics because people can already understand each other regardless of word choice. It doesn't matter whether I "­say­" or "­utt­er" words as long as the other party unders­tands my message.