Ethics, Philosophy, and Metaphysics

• Ethics studies what is right and wrong in human actions.
• Ethical principles do not apply when actions are driven by survival needs.
• Actions related to survival necessities still adhere to ethical standards, such as asking for money versus stealing to obtain food.
• Ethical principles are based on the intent and the action taken.

Amoral, Moral and Immoral actions

• Amoral actions are free of ethical principles and seen as meaningless if not tied to an event.
• Moral actions are considered good.
• Immoral actions are considered bad or evil.

Philosophy

• Philosophy combines "philo" (love) and "sophia" (wisdom).
• It's a methodical examination of reality and human experience.
• Philosophers are continuously seeking answers to key life questions.

Metaphysics

• Metaphysics comes from "meta" (after) and "phusika" (physics).
• It studies the fundamental nature of reality and existence.
• Metaphysics explores concepts beyond the physical world and causality.
• Key questions in metaphysics include:

Key Metaphysics Questions

• What is the nature of reality?
• What exists?
• What is the relationship between mind and matter?
• What are time and space?
• What is real?
• Why are we here?

Sub-Branches of Metaphysics

• Considers the study of "being" itself.
• Examines the universe's origins, evolution, and structure.
• Explores both physical and beyond-physical materials.
• Theodicy addresses evil with the existence of God using human intellect and reason.
• The concept of God should be singular and objective.
• Theodicy contrasts with Theology which uses religious texts to explore God's existence.
• Studies man as an embodied spirit.
• Studies the concept of humans as both body and spirit.

Appetite, Passion & Reason

• Appetite includes bodily needs like hunger and thirst.
• Passion represents emotions.
• Reason signifies logic and reasoning.

Three Kinds of Being in relation to Time

• Mortal beings have a beginning and an end and are material.
• Immortal beings have a beginning but no end.
• Eternal beings have neither a beginning nor an end, with the ability to create and annihilate.
• Creation involves making something from nothing, coming from the Latin word 'creare'.
• Inventing, however, involves materials that are already present/existing.
• Annihilation is complete obliteration, causing something to cease to exist, making nothing out of something.

Contrary vs Contradictory

• "Contrary" describes opposites sharing similarities, graded on a spectrum (e.g., old-young; hot-cold).
• "Contradictory" describes complete negation with no middle ground (e.g., honest-dishonest; alive-dead).

The "Omni's"

• Omniscient: knowing all.
• Omnipresent: present everywhere.
• Omnipotent: all-powerful.

Types of Existence

• Actual is existing in reality.
• Ideal is existing in imagination.
• Potential is existing as a possibility.

Epistemology

• Epistemology comes from "episteme" (knowledge) and "logos" (reason).
• Epistemology studies knowledge, its sources, and validity.
• It validates if knowledge corresponds with reality.
• Key questions in epistemology:

Key Epistemology questions

• What is knowledge?
• How do we acquire knowledge?
• How can we distinguish between true knowledge and mere belief?
• What makes belief justified?
• What is truth?

Ethics

• Ethics addresses morality, defining good/bad actions and basis for ethical judgments.
• It deals with how we should live and what values to hold.

Temperance, Courage and Wisdom

• Temperance is self-control and knowing when enough is enough.
• Courage is defending what is right, and moral courage is doing so even if it is inconvenient.
• Wisdom is making good judgements.

Key Ethics questions

• What is the nature of morality?
• How do we determine what is right or wrong?
• Are moral principles universal or subjective?
• What is the role of reason in ethics?
• How do emotions influence moral decisions?

Logic

• Logic looks at the structure of arguments and reasoning.
• Fallacy: A statement that appears to be correct, but isn't.

Key Logic questions

• What constitutes a valid argument?
• How do we differentiate between sound and unsound reasoning?
• How do language and logic intersect?
• What is the role of formal and informal logic?

Axiology

• Axiology is the study of values, derived from 'Axios' (value) and 'logos' (study).
• Axiology explores what is good, valuable, and worthy.
• It is also referred to as the theory of value.

Key Axiology questions:

• How do we determine what is valuable?
• Are values objective or subjective?
• What is the relationship between ethics and aesthetics?
• How do cultural contexts influence values?

Sub-branches of Axiology: Ethics and Aesthetics

• Ethics values what is right, good, and truthful.
• Aesthetics values beauty and art.

Political Philosophy

• This area studies the core ideas and rules that shape political systems and actions.
• It looks at government, laws, rights, and fairness.
• It explores governments and their roles and examines human rights and leadership.

Key Political philosophy questions

• What is the nature of justice?
• What is the ideal form of government?
• How should power and authority be distributed?
• What is the role of citizens in a democracy?

Aesthetics

• Aesthetics looks at beauty, art, and what we value in experiences.
• It also tries to scientifically answer questions about personal tastes.

Key Aesthetics questions

• What is beauty?
• How do we define art?
• Are aesthetic judgments objective or subjective?
• How do cultural contexts influence our perceptions of beauty?

Mythology

• Mythology involves ancient stories explaining events, nature, and gods which are passed down through generations.

Norse Mythology

• Norse mythology involves god of thunder and fertility
• People believed that Thor rode across the sky in a chariot drawn by two goats.
• Mjolnir is Thor's hammer and symbolizes protection against chaos, and bringing significant rainfall for crops.
• Freyja is goddess of fertility.
• The giants demanded Freyja marry their king to stop the gods without her to produce offspring.
• Thor dressed as Freyja and killed all of the giants

Norse realms

• Midgard is the world of humans.
• Asgard is the world of the gods.
• Utgard is the realm of treacherous giants, seeking destruction.
• Greek Pantheon: gods personify different aspects of life.

Greek Mythology

• Homer and Hesiod documented myths, which led to questioning and discussion.
• Early philosophers were critical of the Greek gods, and said they resembled mortals.
• Xenophanes states that the gods that have been created possess bodies and clothes and language just as we have

Shift from Mythology to Philosophy

• Greek philosophers moved away from myths, seeking rational explanations for the universe.

History of Philosophy

• Western philosophy has four eras: Ancient, Medieval, Modern, Contemporary.

Ancient Greek Philosophers

• Ancient Greek Philosophers follow Pre-Socratic Philosophy

The Arche

• It is the basic substance or cause of everything in the universe.
• Originated from Thales' philosophy, which translates to "beginning," "origin," or "principle."

Natural Philosophers

• Natural Philosophers looked for natural processes.
• Thales determined water was the basic substance.
• Water is the origin of life and everything is full of gods.
• Anaximander believed the boundless was the basic substance.
• Anaximenes determined air/vapor was the origin of life and the origin of earth, water and fire..
• Parmenides was an Eleatic, who believed nothing changes and senses cannot be trusted.
• Rationalism is a belief that human reason is the source of knowledge of the world.
• Heraclitus said change is constant.
• There is nothing permanent, everything flows.
• There must be a "universal reason" to guide everything.
• Empedocles stated nature consists of four elements: love-binds and strife-separates.
• Anaxagoras believed all things are made up of smaller things.
• Force of nature includes the force of the mind and the intelligence of people.
• Democritus believed that everything is made up of tiny particles, atoms means indivisible.

Three Ports/Schools of Ancient Philosophy

• Sophism derives from wisdom (sophia) and wise (sophos) means the statement 'wise men'.
• What is good and true is that 'man is the measure'.
• Hedonists concerned with what's good believe that goodness equals pleasure.
• Two ultimate experiences include: pain and pleasure
• Skepticism involves doubtful of everything.
• Moral relativism refers to the view that moral judgments are true or false relative to a culture.
• There is no universal set of moral principles

Classical Greek Philosophy

• Socrates did not agree with moral relativism.
• He believed that knowledge begins with questioning, and was known for his method and humility.
• "The unexamined life is not worth living".

Socratic Method and Humility

• The Socratic Method establishes knowledge by questioning assumptions.
• Socratic Humility states knowledge involves recognizing the limits to gain understanding.
• Common sense: Everyone has it, regardless of status.
• Socrates was executed for "corrupting the youth" and was sentenced to death willingly.
• Plato founded the Academy and wrote the Republic and stated the physical world is just a shadow.

Plato Forms and Allegory of the Cave

• The material world is imperfect as the world of Forms is perfect.
• Allegory describes prisoners in a cave seeing only shadows, mistaking them for reality.
• One escapee is blinded by the sunlight, but adjusts and see the truth.
• Plato's Cave represents perceived reality.
• The cave shadows symbolize distorted truths.
• Sunlight shows the Form of Goodness.
• Adjustment is the philosophical journey to true knowledge.

Allegory of the Chariot

• Chariot represents the soul with reason (charioteer) and two horses: one noble, one base.

The Horses

• First horse: represents rationale and virtuous qualities, and the pursuit of ideals.
• Second horse: represents irrational wants and immediate gratification.
• The Chariot serves as a way in the search for truth and enlightenment.

Plato's Idea of State

• Divided society into Reason (rulers), Spirit (warriors), Appetite (producers).
• Women regarded as the same as men.

Aristotle

• Aristotle wanted to understand the premise of arguments.
• Organized collection of six works formed cornerstone of Aristotelian logic.

Aristotle "Organon"

• Categories classifies things, qualities, actions.
• On Interpretation: treatise on language.
• Prior Analytics introduces syllogisms.
• Posterior Analytics deals with scientific deduction.
• Topics is a guide to argumentation.
• On Sophistical Refutations outlines logical fallacies.

Syllogisms and what they include

• Deductive reasoning with premises and conclusion.
• Premises give evidence.
• Conclusions follow necessarily.
• Ex: All humans are mortal. Socrates is human. Therefore, Socrates is mortal.
• Rejection of Plato's Theory of Forms: knowledge comes from observation.
• Four Causes explain why things exist.

The Four Causes:

• Material Cause: what it's made of
• Formal Cause: its shape
• Efficient Cause: what created it
• Final Cause (Telos): its purpose
• Everything in nature divided into nonliving and living.

Happiness

• Three forms of happiness: pleasure, responsibility, thinking.
• Golden Mean: virtue is balance.
• Aristotle: "Man is a 'political animal'."

three Good forms of Constitution

• Monarchy
• Aristocracy
• and Polity (democracy)

Hellenistic/Roman Philosophy

• Hellenistic kingdoms prevailed in Macedonia, Syria, and Egypt
• Rome secured the upper hand.

Middle Ages Philosophy

• A fusion of philosophy, finding salvation and serenity.
• The library became a center for multiple sciences.
• Cynicism involves rejecting material wealth.

The Stoics

• Control emotions.
• Accept fate.
• Deny conflict.
• Cicero formed concept of humanisms.
• Epicureanism: seek moderation and avoid pain.
• Neoplatonism seeks unity.
• The world is a span between God and darkness.

End Days and The Church

• Barbarian invasions, political instability, decline except for the church.
• Rise of feudalism and church authority.
• They combined philosophy and Christianity, preserving knowledge.

Other Philosophers

• St. Augustine combined philosophy + Christianity, defended Christianity, and made Plato's ideas the foundation.
• Aquinas blended Aristotle + Christianity.
• There was a shift to faith over reason.
• He believed faith should be supplied by intellect.

St. Anselm of Canterbury

• Believed in the ontological Argument.
• "You cannot give what you do not have"
• Must be a real God to give that

Logic

• Aristotelian logic aimed at how conclusions follow from premises.
• He formed cornerstone of logic, with categories of actions.
• Categories are ways of classifying things.
• The Modern Era saw faith being deteriorated.
• Great Schism involved the Greek parting with the Orthodox.

Rene Descartes

• Wanted to know through reason, and doubted to prove the Skeptics wrong.

The mind

• He said that moment of doub, there is thinking and also existing called the cogito
• Used to use the concept of not really experimenting the subject

John Locke

• Believes in the blank state.

Hume

• Through experience we do not know
• Just because it says that god is not real
• So we have to know god is now there

Kant

• He used different approach from god
• Said that we has knowledge.
• So now through both knowledge and logic, our world is unfiltered