IB Philosophy Terms Flashcards

The study of the nature of reality, or the nature of being.

Reason is the foundation of knowledge (opposite of empiricism)

Experience and experimentation is the foundation of knowledge (opposite of rationalism)

Descartes; mind and body are two entities and substances; how mind and body interact (contradiction)

Mind and body are distinct

mind and body are the same

Daniel Dennett; All that exists is purely material/physical.

Knowledge without evidence from experience

Knowledge based on evidence from sensory experience

Inherent mental capacity

Empiricist and political liberist; identity is memories; immaterial nonsubstance theory

"The Meditations on First Philosophy"; "Cogito Ergo Sum"; Cartesian dualism; skeptic

Certain knowledge is impossible; raise doubt to defeat doubt;

Descartes; I think, therefore I am"

source of consciousness; responsible for thoughts and actions

The self remains the same over time

Theory of knowledge and the mind's relation to reality; How do we know that we know?

internal self found through introspection and self-consciousness; essence precedes existence; Plato and Descartes

external self found through actions and interactions with others; existence precedes essence; Sartre

Intersection between people's cognitive perspectives; saves Descartes' solipsism; "I think" inherently assumes the other; knowing self requires knowing other

Awareness or experience of the world

Intrinsic properties that characterize an entity

Substance out of which something is made

Condition of being bounded in time

Condition of being involved in or having the nature of space

Plato; rational, spirited, and appetitive parts of the soul; Unity through reason's ability to lead the spirit and appetite

Immaterial substance

Material substance

Self is the only thing that can be known to exist

mental states are reducible to brain states; abilities come from physical processes of the brain

Notion that mind and body are two different substances

knowledge from experience

capacity for sensation or feeling

fundamental difficulty we have in perceiving the consciousness of others

Mind-Body problem is unsolvable by human beings; not enough cognitive ability

the mind exists as a property of all matter; all matter has consciousness

thought experiment; an object that has had all its components replaced remains fundamentally the same object; addresses the problem of identity over time

indistinguishable from humans but lacks conscious awareness of itself or surroundings; David Chalmers; physicalism is an insufficient approach to hard problem of consciousness

how brain processes result in our personal conscious experience (qualia). How does physical processes give rise to subjective experience?

Theory of Identity that asserts the self as an immaterial substance like a mind or soul; Plato and Descartes

Theory of Identity that asserts the self as a purely material being. Supported by the brain function or even DNA; Thomas Nagel

Theory of Identity that asserts the self is sourced from psychological continuity, such as memories; Continuation of psychological state; John Locke

Plato's description of individuals who live their lives in accordance with the shadows of reality provided by sensory experience instead of in accordance with the true reality beyond sensory experience

Composed of eternal things which are permanent and perfect. It is the source of all reality and true knowledge.

The physical realm that we exist in as bodies. This realm is what makes up the external world as being composed of particular instances of objects that correlate to a perfect and true form in the realm of forms.

Every event, action, and decision results from something independent of the human will

John Locke's concept of the mind as a blank slate ultimately bombarded by sense impressions that, aided by human reasoning, formulate ideas

epistemological view that all knowledge ultimately rests upon a firm base of self evident truth

belief that a person's knowledge is based entirely on (and limited by) his perspective; thus it is impossible to achieve any absolute truth

Instinctual desires are what makes us who we are, and the only way to obtain true potential is to understand and follow the desires to completion; Free will focuses on needs and becomes a true version of self

the ideal superior man of the future who could rise above conventional morality to create and impose his own values

The study of individuals' own unique, first-person, conscious experience. Use of experiences proves something.

an application of mathematical methods to the processes of thought; uses conventional symbols to represent terms, propositions and relations among them

if a statement is true, then it is true

A statement cannot be both true and false

Any statement is either true or false

English materialist and political philosopher who advocated absolute sovereignty as the only kind of government that could resolve problems caused by the selfishness of human beings

Scottish philosopher whose skeptical philosophy restricted human knowledge to that which can be perceived by the senses.

everything must have a reason or cause

true by definition; contains its own evidence or proof, and doesn't need further demonstration; universal

not influenced by person feelings or opinions

based on personal feelings, tastes, or opinions

human beings are free to make their own choices

existence of individual is free; person is responsible agent determining their own development through acts of the will

existential response to the burden of responsibility

the recognition that life has no absolute value or meaning, that any meaning that does exist we create for ourselves, and that, ultimately, we all face death

realization that there is no god and therefore no moral code to abide by