Lyalko S

Cue Cards

Confucianism .Traditional Chinese ethics with its practical social precepts challenged by the supernatural religious systems. Confucianism was a system of ethical principles for the management of society, based on the practice of jen–sympathy or “human-heartedness” – as shown in one's relations with others and demonstrated through adherence to li, a combination of etiquette and ritual. A person who wishes to be properly treated when in a subordinate role must, according to the Confucian Golden Rule, treat his own inferiors with propriety.

Socrates and his question-and-answer method of teaching as a means of achieving self-knowledge. Using a method now known as the Socratic dialogue, or dialectic, he drew forth knowledge from his students by pursuing a series of questions and examining the implications of their answers. Socrates equated virtue with the knowledge of one's true self, holding that no one knowingly does wrong. He looked upon the soul as the seat of both waking consciousness and moral character, and held the universe to be purposively mind-ordered.
Plato’s dialogues and his intention to show the rational relationship between the soul, the state, and the cosmos. Plato regarded the rational soul as immortal, and he believed in a world soul and a Demiurge ['di:mIE:dZ, 'demIE:dZ], the creator of the physical world. Virtue consists in the harmony of the human soul with the universe of Ideas, which assure order, intelligence, and pattern to a world in constant flux. Supreme among them is the Idea of the Good, analogous to the sun in the physical world. Only the philosopher, who understands the harmony of all parts of the universe with the Idea of the Good, is capable of ruling the just state.
Aristotle:theory follows empirical observation and logic,based on the syllogism, is the essential method of rational inquiry. In contrast to the Platonic belief that a concrete reality partakes of a form but does not embody it, the Aristotelian system holds that, with the exception of the Prime Mover (God), form has no separate existence but is immanent in matter. Aristotle's work – the basis of medieval scholasticism.

Zeno of Citium and his strict ethical doctrine. Greek philosopher who founded the Stoic school, teaching that virtue is necessarily good and that objects of desire are morally ambiguous. Moral obligation, self-control, and living in harmony with nature were some of the principles with which Zeno was chiefly concerned. He was publicly honored for his upright manner of living.
Cicero – greatest Roman orator, a stoical philosopher. His mastery of Latin prose.In his writings Cicero created a rich prose style that has influenced all the literary languages of Europe. Nearly all of his philosophical works were borrowed from Greek sources and, apart from their intrinsic merit, are valuable in preserving much of Greek philosophy that might otherwise have remained unknown.

Marcus Aurelius – Roman emperor and philosopher. His spiritual reflections, the Meditations, are considered a classic work of stoicism. Throughout his reign he engaged in defensive wars on the northern and eastern frontiers of the empire. In his domestic policy Marcus Aurelius was a champion of the poor.
Epictetus – Stoic philosopher, whose stoicism taught that the true good is within oneself and is not dependent on external things, and he emphasized the doctrine of brotherhood. Epictetus asserted that humans are limited and irrational beings, but that the universe, ruled by God through pure reason, is perfect. Because human beings can neither know nor control their destiny, they must cease striving for the attainment of worldly ends & calmly accept their powerlessness before fate. He believed that one should act in life as one would at a banquet, by taking a polite portion of all that is offered.
Epicurus: pleasure as the only good and the end of all morality, but a genuine life of pleasure must be a life of prudence, honor, and justice. He also prescribed a code of social conduct that advocated honesty, prudence, and justice in dealing with others (because such conduct would save the individual from society's retribution, or pain).
An ancient Greek school of skepticism of Pyrrho of Elis . He taught that the real nature of things can never be truly comprehended, and hence objective knowledge is impossible to attain. He held that the correct attitude for the philosopher is imperturbability and complete suspension of judgment.
Plotinus – the founder of neoplatonism. Plotinus taught a doctrine of emanation. This doctrine supposes a transmission of powers from the Absolute Being through a series of agencies, the last of which is matter. The object of life is to escape the material world of the senses. Therefore people should abandon all earthly interests for those of intellectual meditation. Plotinus taught that by purification people can gradually lift themselves to a complete and ecstatic union with the Absolute Being.

12. St. Augustine's influence on Christianity was immense, and theologians, both Roman Catholic and Protestant, look upon him as the founder of theology. His polemics against Manichaeism, Donatism, and Pelagianism are well known, and his autobiographical Confessions is a classic of Christian mysticism. On the Trinity systematized Christian doctrine, and The City of God, his monumental defense of Christianity against paganism, is famous for its Christian view of history.
13. Peter Lombard and his influence on official Catholic doctrine. His work is a systematic compilation of the teachings of the Fathers of the Church and opinions of earlier theologians. It is especially important for its clarification of the theology of the sacraments.

Following Plato in theology, Peter Abelard espoused the method of Aristotle's dialectic, holding that the system of logic could be applied to the truths of faith. His view of universals anticipated the conceptualism of St. Thomas Aquinas. He asserted that truth must be attained by carefully weighing all sides of any issue.His concept of ethics maintains that an act is to be judged by the intention of the doer.
St.Albertus Magnus. A dominican, he attempted to reconcile Aristotelianism with Christian thought. Albert was a key figure in the assimilation of Aristotelian philosophy into medieval Scholasticism and the revival of natural science that it inspired. He attempted to reconcile Aristotelianism and Christian teachings, maintaining that human reason could not contradict revelation butt defending the philosopher's right to investigate divine mysteries.
Alexander of Hales – the only franciscan who held a chair of theology at the University of Paris. Alexander introduced Aristotelian principles into Christian theological discussion.
Thomas Aquinas - the founder of the system declared (1879) by Pope Leo XIII the official Catholic philosophy. Unlike the Platonists, to whom truth was a matter of faith, St. Thomas held that faith and reason constitute two harmonious realms; theology and science cannot contradict each other. Likewise, there can be no conflict between philosophy and theology. In his universe, everything is arranged in ascending order to God, the only necessary, self-sufficient being. St. Thomas succeeded in synthesizing the naturalistic philosophy of Aristotle and Christian belief, perhaps the greatest achievement of medieval philosophy.
Roger Bacon, English friar, scientist, and philosopher whose Opus Majus (1267) argued that Christian studies should encompass the sciences. ‘Argument is conclusive but it does not remove doubt, so that the mind may rest in the sure knowledge of the truth, unless it finds it by the method of experiment. For if any man who never saw fire proved by satisfactory arguments that fire burns his hearer’s mind would never be satisfied, nor would he avoid the fire until he put his hand in it that he might learn by experiment what argument taught.’
Saint Bonaventure. His writings reconcile Aristotle's learning with Augustinian Christianity.He taught that the goal of all the arts and sciences is the direct contemplation of God. His Journey of the Mind to God (1259) reflects his concern with the way in which the soul recognizes and unites with God.
Robert Grosseteste, English prelate. A founder of the Oxford Franciscan school, he made Oxford a center of learning. His writings include treatises on the sciences, pastoral works, and poems. His studies of Aristotle were the basis for the scholasticism of Thomas Aquinas and Albertus Magnus.
John Duns Scotus, Scottish scholastic philosopher. A Franciscan, he adapted Aristotelian thought to Christian theology and founded the school of scholasticism known as Scotism, which opposed the Thomism of the followers of Thomas Aquinas. Duns Scotus denied that individuality comes from matter. He argued that God's possible existence must be demonstrable from sense experience.
William of Ockham, English scholastic philosopher who rejected the reality of universal concepts. Occam's teachings mark an important break with previous medieval philosophy. Adhering to the position of nominalism, he rejected the Aristotelian realism of St. Thomas Aquinas, specifically denying the existence of universals except in people's minds and language. He disputed the self-evidence of the Aristotelian final cause and of the existence of God, denying the competence of reason in matters of faith. This led him to hold that logic can be studied outside the province of metaphysics, a position that proved important in the development of scientific enquiry. In logic, Occam is remembered for his use of the principle of parsimony, formulated as “Occam's razor,” which enjoined economy in explanation with the axiom “It is vain to do with more what can be done with less.”
Francis Bacon proposed a theory of scientific knowledge based on observation and experiment that came to be known as the inductive method. His major contribution to philosophy was his application of induction, the approach used by modern science, rather than the a priori method of medieval scholasticism.
Rene Descartes, often called the father of modern philosophy, he is regarded as the bridge between scholasticism and all philosophy that followed him. Intending to extend mathematical method to all areas of human knowledge, Descartes discarded the authoritarian systems of the scholastic philosophers and began with universal doubt. Only one thing cannot be doubted: doubt itself. Therefore, the doubter must exist. This is the kernel of his famous assertion Cogito, ergo sum [I think, therefore I am]. From this certainty Descartes expanded knowledge, step by step, to admit the existence of God (as the first cause) and the reality of the physical world, which he held to be mechanistic and entirely divorced from the mind; the only connection between the two is the intervention of God. This is almost complete dualism.
Baruch Spinoza, whose controversial pantheistic doctrine advocated an intellectual love of God. Spinoza shared with Descartes an intensely mathematical appreciation of the universe: truth, like geometry, follows from first principles, and is accessible to the logical mind. Unlike Descartes, however, he regarded mind and body (or ideas and the physical universe) as merely different aspects of a single substance, which he called alternately God and Nature, God being Nature in its fullness.
Leibniz G.W. proposed the metaphysical theory that we live in “the best of all possible worlds”. In Leibniz's philosophy, the universe is composed of countless conscious centers of spiritual force or energy, known as monads. The universe that these monads constitute is the harmonious result of a divine plan. Humans, however, with their limited vision, cannot accept such evils as disease and death as part of a universal harmony.
Sir Isaac Newton- natural philosopher (physicist), considered by many the greatest scientist of all time. Newton is probably best known for this discovery, which explains that all objects in space and on earth are affected by the force called gravity

28.John Locke, founder of British empiricism. Locke's empiricism emphasizes the importance of the senses in pursuit of knowledge rather than intuitive speculation or deduction. He also believed in religious freedom and separation of church and state.
29.George Berkeley's subjective idealism holds that there is no existence of matter independent of perception; the observing mind of God makes possible the continued apparent existence of material objects.

David Hume carried the empiricism of Locke and Berkeley to the logical extreme of radical skepticism. He rejected the validity of the possibility of certain knowledge, finding in the mind nothing but a series of sensations, and held that cause-and-effect in the natural world derives solely from the conjunction of two impressions.

31.J.J.Rousseau and the theory of the ‘natural man’. French philosopher, social and political theorist, musician, botanist, and one of the most eloquent writers of the Age of Enlightenment. He introduced a new style of extreme emotional expression, concern with intense personal experience, and exploration of the conflicts between moral and sensual values. Rousseau's writings also affected 20th-century psychological literature, psychoanalytic theory, and philosophy.
32.Voltaire and the French Enlightenment. Essentially, he rejected everything irrational and incomprehensible and called upon his contemporaries to act against intolerance, tyranny, and superstition. His morality was founded on a belief in freedom of thought and respect for all individuals, and he maintained that literature should be useful and concerned with the problems of the day.
33. Denis Diderot was enormously influential in shaping the rationalist thought of the 18th century.As an editor, he used the Encyclopedia as a powerful propaganda weapon against ecclesiastical authority and the superstition, conservatism, and semifeudal social forms of the time.
34.Immanuel Kant, who argued that reason is the means by which the phenomena of experience are translated into understanding. He put forward his system of ethics based on the categorical imperative. Kant's philosophical position is usually known as transcendentalism. He regarded the objects of the material world as fundamentally unknowable; they serve merely as the raw material from which sensations are formed. Objects of themselves have no existence, and space and time exist only as part of the mind, as “intuitions” by which perceptions are measured and judged.
35.Hegel and his supposition that truth is reached by a continuing dialectic. According to Hegel, a thesis (idea) contains incompleteness that reveals an antithesis (opposition), which is a conflicting idea. As a result of the conflict a third point of view arises, a synthesis, which overcomes the conflict by reconciling at a higher level the truth contained in both the thesis and antithesis. This synthesis becomes a new thesis that generates another antithesis, giving rise to a new synthesis. In this way intellectual or historical development progresses.

Karl Marx, German philosopher, economist, and revolutionary. His works explain historical development in terms of the interaction of contradictory economic forces, form the basis of all communist theory, and have had a profound influence on the social sciences.

37.Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, an individualistic moralist rather than a systematic philosopher, he passionately rejected the 'slave morality’ of Christianity for a new, heroic morality that would affirm life. Leading this new society would be a breed of supermen whose will to power would set them off from the herd of inferior humanity.
38.Jeremy Bentham,who systematically analyzed law and legislation,thereby laying the foundations of utilitarianism. Bentham worked on a thorough reform of the legal system and on a general theory of law and morality, publishing short works on aspects of his thought. He claimed that one could scientifically ascertain what was morally justifiable by applying the principle of utility. Actions were right if they tended to produce the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people.

John Stuart Mill and his interpretations of empiricism and utilitarianism. He advocated economic policies consistent with individual liberty, and he emphasized that liberty is threatened by both social and political tyranny. He is probably most famous for his essay “On Liberty” (1859). Politically and socially, Mill was considered a radical because he supported such measures as public ownership of natural resources, equality for women, compulsory education, and birth control.
Jean-Paul Sartre, – a leading exponent of existentialism. His writings examine the individual as a responsible but lonely being, adrift in a meaningless universe with a terrifying freedom to choose. In his major philosophic work, Being and Nothingness (1943), Sartre conceived of humans as beings who create their own world by rebelling against authority and by accepting personal responsibility for their actions.
Edmund Husserl, founder of phenomenology. Husserl offered a descriptive study of consciousness for the purpose of discovering the laws by which experiences are had, whether of the objective world or of pure imagination. He concluded that consciousness has no life apart from the objects it considers. He had a major influence on the existentialists.
William James – a founder of pragmatism and the psychological movement of functionalism. In philosophy, James maintained that the meaning of ideas is found only in terms of their possible consequences. He held that most metaphysical theories are meaningless, because they entail no testable predictions and do not deal with problems that arise in experience.
John Dewey, american philosopher and educator who was a leading exponent of philosophical pragmatism and rejected traditional methods of teaching by rote (a memorizing process using routine or repetition, often without full attention or comprehension: e.g.learn by rote) in favor of a broad-based system of practical experience.
Bertrand Russell and his profound influence on the development of symbolic logic, logical positivism, and the set theory of mathematics. He believed that objects perceived by the senses have an inherent reality independent of the mind.

Содержание