Social Science 2: Critical Thinking & Ideas

Social Sciences 2 Overview

• Social, economic, and political thought serves as a foundation to understand how ideas develop within politics, economics, and society.
• Critical thinking involves context, content, and constructive criticism.
• The purpose of Social Science 2 helps broaden intellectual and cultural horizons, hones creative and critical thinking, encourages a passion for learning, and fosters nationalism and social justice.

Aspects of Critical Thinking and Philosophy

• Ontology - explores what can be known and what knowledge entails, examining foundationalist and anti-foundationalist perspectives.
• Foundationalists rely on observation and realistic experience, considering the empirical and abstract.
• Anti-foundationalists prioritize perception, including paper and pen experiences.
• Epistemology explores how we know, contrasting experience and observation-based positivism with interpretation-focused interpretivism.

Challenges in Thinking & Ideas

• Critical thinking faces challenges, including preconceptions, over or under analysis, language problems, and fear of criticism.
• Ideas evolve and innovate through time, interaction, trial and error, complexity, spontaneity, and simultaneous consideration.
• Western political thought's epicenters are questioned regarding geographical location, gender bias, and historical focus.

Pre-Socratic Thinkers

• Knowledge and opinion are refined by thinkers like Socrates and Plato.
• Skepticism questions everything, while cynicism anticipates the worst.
• Empiricism learns from experience, while rationalism reasons without firsthand experience.
• Reasoning can be deductive, moving from general to specific, or inductive, moving from specific to general.
• Pre-Socratic Ancient Greece saw the Ionian and Milesian schools of natural philosophers like Thales, Anaximenes, Heraclitus, and Anaximander.

Key Philosophers & Schools

• Empedocles saw elements bound by love and divided by strife, while Democritus focused on atoms.
• Pythagoras emphasized perception, while the Eleatic School questioned gods.
• Protagoras saw a role for gods, while Parmenides viewed the world as illusory.
• Heraclitus believed only change was constant
• Xenophanes questioned the anthropomorphic nature of Gods.

Sophists and Socrates

• Sophists taught wonder-based learning and knowledge-building, but sometimes used unethical instrumentalist means.
• Socrates challenged Athenian Democracy, refusing tribute to King Xerxes.
• The Fall of Athens led to power struggles.
• Socrates opposed Sophistry due to its superficiality.
• Normative Philosophy emerged through ethical implications.
• A new era occurred with philosophical thought, pursuing knowledge.

Socrates Method & Legacy

• The Socratic Method involves questioning students to arrive at answers.
• Socrates was accused of corrupting minds by questioning authority and sentenced to death.
• Socrates' legacy emphasized virtue-seeking through justice.
• "Arete" considers excellence complete with virtue and morality.
• Plato born into an aristocratic family became inspired by Socrates and founded the Academy.
• Plato wrote dialogues, including "Apology and Crito", "Symposium", "Phaedo", "Theatetus", "Statesman", and "Timaeus."

Plato's Republic: Justice Explored

• Plato's Republic examines justice through Socrates' discussions.
• Cephalus views justice as compliance, while Polemarchus emphasizes reciprocity.
• Glaucon sees justice as compromise to maintain power, and Adeimantus questions corruption.
• Thrasymachus argues justice is defined by the powerful.

Plato's Republic: Structure of Society

• Plato suggests justice involves instrumentally saving lives and intrinsically knowing right.
• The Republic is an organic analogy.
• Society comprises producers, auxiliaries, and guardians, vital and having principles.
• Producers need temperance, auxiliaries need courage, and guardians need wisdom.

Plato on Roles & Education

• Philosophers must want to do roles without incentive reflecting arrogance.
• A philosopher-king/queen balances vision and action while also acting as a standard of excellence.
• Justice means applying virtuous behavior, with appetites controlled by spirit and mind.
• Justice is harmony when each role avoids conflict.
• Plato proposes state censorship with the "myth of metals."

Critiques of Plato

• Plato faces criticism, particularly for limited equality and restricted mobility.
• Aristotle critiques Plato's impractical normative realism and excessive state unity.
• Moral passivity of property and a simplified society are concerns.
• The Allegory of the Cave explores social realities.

The Allegory of the Cave Explained

• The cave constructs social realities with shadows and comforts.
• Light sources represent the pursuit of education to inform and gain knowledge.
• Seeking intellect makes questioning easier, but returning to the cave to teach is challenging.
• Creating a new comfort zone requires supporting those still in the cave.

Political Decay of the State

• Political decay starts with Monarchy.
• It moves to Aristocracy, Timocracy, Oligarchy, Democracy, and Tyranny.
• Justice seeks equilibrium, guided by virtue.
• People should do virtuous acts habitually
• As a minimum, actions should be in-between being deficient or excessive.

Augustine's City of God: Historical Context

• Augustine's "The City of God" reflects the medieval period.
• It sought to address insecurity, disease, socio-economic decline, and feudalism.
• Light comes through art, literature, and preservation of knowledge.
• Functional social relations, hierarchy, and a landlord comprise feudalism.
• Historical Rome, expansion, and triumvirate inform understanding.

Augustine's City of God

• The text responds to the Roman Empire's transition.
• Early Christianity, its rise, and issue of monotheism informed Augustine's work.
• The Fall of Rome, Imperial divide, and Germanic tribes' impact are key to the work.
• There are also early converts of Christianity.

Augustine's Two Cities

• The City of Man is characterized by self-love, damnation, the curse of Cain, and false peace.
• The City of God promotes selfless love, salvation, truth, the blessing of Abel, and everlasting peace.
• In order to enter it, one must be of selfless love and have faith.
• Worldly life (sojourn) and predestination vs. divinity.
• Sojourn: journey to the City of God.

Sin & Attributes of a Christian Leader

• Original sin leads to political injustice and oppressed people.
• Private property belongs to God, teaching responsibility.
• Human slavery subdues the Earth, which humanity must tend to.
• Punishment for sin involves hierarchy, and partial remedy involves order.
• A Christian leader needs humility, piety, selflessness, forgiveness, fairness, temperance and service.

Augustine's View on Government

• There needs to be justification when something is not so clear.
• Piety/God-fearing is like St. Thomas' Republic.
• There needs to be temperance (Plato).
• You have to control your appetite, your desires.
• There are four justifications for war(macro level): self-defense, a last attempt, rescue the innocent, and it not being for power.

4 Points to a Long Peace

• False peace leads to Earthy peace plus hope which results in true love and everlasting peace.
• Personal peace and a balance between the two.
• The original sins caused the Earth to go a certain way and be a certain way.
• The point of Christian Forbearance is to endure suffering, like a relationship and through bad times.

3 Components of Society

• There should not be a focus on how bad things are.
• Christian Humility entails understanding even the wicked.
• We must use our rationality.
• When making rational decisions, one must go beyond reason and try to understand God
• Transendentalism.
• Constant reminder of love.
• Life is not 4ever: Be a steward 4G.

Views on Governance, Wealth & the State

• One cannot be like God, although they might tell you the same thing.
• St. Augustine was never trying to tell people that they have to remain in suffering, so endure.
• What makes the leaders good?
• One cannot achieve it even if it is said that it is needed to always believe in that.
• The state is in control!
• It creates general chaos when a bunch of people dies over an idea, as that is useless.

Moving to the Church

• There was the push to establish the church in the middle ages.
• There were 3 ways to become state with the church: St. Augustine, Quintus & St. Thomas of Aquinas
• When the perfect can be more and more.
• Some may try to come and make something to become a great part or be important.
• People wanted you to do well for their faith.
• When doing acts of service and wanting to be good from there
• "From power to power" Power is both the means and the end
• The more that all you need

Machiavelli's & other's Perspectives

• Machiavelli had perspectives that he wanted to get across.
• Man is a social and political animal.
• There should be a political community also.
• The main key is to protect people.
• Also must not be from wealth or anything like that.
• "Just is important"
• Also, both lions and foxs is one aspect.

Politics, Citizenship & Goodness

• Must not be a super codependent for 2 people.
• There are many different types or ways that one believes also.
• Each action made is important and is put into actions.
• Both is not the best, not only, but may help and grow you and help you in the journey
• "I dont know that we can all feel.
• Must know what to do and the many ideas
• Two paths to do

The City of God Vs people and how the world has came to be

• The historical roman for the olden roman period and how Rome will become what it is after
• And to build an army and go and attack is the mindset that will continue The main idea is for it to come around
• The last one that must think over what happens to that day and the people
• What is going to become after of building it
• Did he ask the question of unity?
• And should aristiotle have supported slavery