Philosophy knowledge overview

Plato

Reason/ rationalism

Understanding of reality

The Forms

Analogy of the cave

Aristotle

Use of the senses (empiricism

Understanding of reality

4 causes

Prime mover

the philosophical language
of soul,

Plato’s view of the soul as the essential and
immaterial part of a human, temporarily united
with the body

Aristotle’s view of the soul as the form of the
body; the way the body behaves and lives;
something which cannot be separated from
the body

metaphysics of
consciousness

substance dualism

mind and body are distinct
substances

Descartes’ proposal of material and spiritual
substances

materialism

the idea that mind and consciousness can be
fully explained by physical or material
interactions

the rejection of a soul as a spiritual substance

whether the concept of ‘soul’ is best understood metaphorically or as a reality

any discussion about the mind-body distinction is a category error

Teleological argument

Aquinas’ Fifth Way

Paley

Cosmological argument

Aquinas’ first three ways

Mover (actuality/ potentiality)

Cause

Contingency

challenges to arguments
from observation

Hume

Evolution

Logical fallacies?

Ontological argument

Anselm

Gaunilo's criticisms

Kant's criticisms

whether or not existence can be treated as a predicate

whether a posteriori or a priori is the more persuasive style of argument

Different presentations

logical (the inconsistency between
divine attributes and the presence of evil)

evidential (the evidence of so much terrible evil
in the world)

theodicies

Augustine’s use of original perfection and
the Fall

spare God from blame?

Hick’s reworking of the Irenaean theodicy which
gives some purpose to natural evil in enabling
human beings to reach divine likeness

a ‘vale of soul-making’ can justify extent of evil?

which of the logical or evidential aspects of the problem of evil pose the greater
challenge to belief

whether or not it is possible to successfully defend monotheism in the face of evil

mystical experience

William James, views & conclusions

Conversion, including examples of

different ways in which
individual religious
experiences can be
understood

union with a greater power

psychological effect such as illusion

the product of a physiological effect

whether personal testimony or witness is enough to support the validity of religious
experiences

whether or not corporate religious experiences might be considered more reliable or
valid than individual experiences

whether or not religious experience provides a basis for belief in God or a greater
power