Philosophy flashcards

What this deck covers

• Epistemology (16 cards, 5 dot points)

  • Knowledge and the Gettier Problem (SACE Stage 2 Philosophy) (3)
  • Perception and the External World (SACE Stage 2 Philosophy) (3)
  • Rationalism, Empiricism and Scepticism (SACE Stage 2 Philosophy) (3)
  • The Problem of Induction (SACE Stage 2 Philosophy) (4)
  • Theories of Truth (SACE Stage 2 Philosophy) (3)
• Ethics (13 cards, 4 dot points)

  • Applied Ethics: Life and Death Issues (SACE Stage 2 Philosophy) (3)
  • Metaethics and Moral Relativism (SACE Stage 2 Philosophy) (3)
  • Normative Ethical Theories (SACE Stage 2 Philosophy) (4)
  • The Is-Ought Problem and the Naturalistic Fallacy (SACE Stage 2 Philosophy) (3)
• Metaphysics (21 cards, 6 dot points)

  • Arguments for the Existence of God (SACE Stage 2 Philosophy) (4)
  • Causation and Compatibilist Free Will (SACE Stage 2 Philosophy) (4)
  • Free Will and Determinism (SACE Stage 2 Philosophy) (4)
  • Personal Identity Over Time (SACE Stage 2 Philosophy) (3)
  • The Mind-Body Problem (SACE Stage 2 Philosophy) (3)
  • The Problem of Evil (SACE Stage 2 Philosophy) (3)
• Philosophy of Mind (6 cards, 2 dot points)

  • Consciousness and the Hard Problem (SACE Stage 2 Philosophy) (3)
  • Functionalism and Artificial Intelligence (SACE Stage 2 Philosophy) (3)
• Political Philosophy (12 cards, 4 dot points)

  • Distributive Justice: Rawls and Nozick (SACE Stage 2 Philosophy) (3)
  • Justice and the Social Contract (SACE Stage 2 Philosophy) (3)
  • Liberty and the Harm Principle (SACE Stage 2 Philosophy) (3)
  • Political Authority and the Duty to Obey (SACE Stage 2 Philosophy) (3)
• Reasoning and Argument Analysis (10 cards, 3 dot points)

  • Argument Analysis and Fallacies (SACE Stage 2 Philosophy) (3)
  • Deductive and Inductive Reasoning (SACE Stage 2 Philosophy) (3)
  • Formal Logic: Syllogisms and Truth Tables (SACE Stage 2 Philosophy) (4)

Sample cards from this deck

1. Definition

   The Problem of Induction (SACE Stage 2 Philosophy)

   Define Induction

   Induction is reasoning from observed cases to a general conclusion or to a prediction about unobserved cases. We rely on it constantly: bread has nourished us before, so it will nourish us again. Hume asked what justifies this. He argued that any such inference depends on the principle of the uniformity of nature, the assumption that the future will resemble the past and that unobserved cases resemble observed ones.

2. Definition

   Normative Ethical Theories (SACE Stage 2 Philosophy)

   Define Aristotle's

   Nicomachean Ethics, asks not what makes an act right but what makes a good person. The aim of life is eudaimonia, usually translated as flourishing. We achieve it by cultivating virtues, which are stable traits lying at the mean between extremes. Courage, for example, sits between cowardice and recklessness. The virtuous person uses phronesis, or practical wisdom, to judge what a situation demands.

3. Definition

   Arguments for the Existence of God (SACE Stage 2 Philosophy)

   Define Cosmological arguments

   Cosmological arguments are a posteriori: they start from a general fact about the world. Thomas Aquinas offered several. The argument from motion holds that everything in motion is moved by another, and since this cannot regress infinitely there must be a first unmoved mover. The argument from causation runs parallel for efficient causes, ending in a first uncaused cause. The Kalam cosmological argument, revived by William Lane Craig, states that whatever begins to exist has a cause, the universe began to exist, so the universe has a cause.

4. Fill the gap

   Consciousness and the Hard Problem (SACE Stage 2 Philosophy)

   ___ distinguished the easy problems of consciousness from the hard problem.

   David Chalmers distinguished the easy problems of consciousness from the hard problem.

5. Fill the gap

   Distributive Justice: Rawls and Nozick (SACE Stage 2 Philosophy)

   ___, in A Theory of Justice, seeks principles of justice that free and equal people would agree to under fair conditions.

   John Rawls, in A Theory of Justice, seeks principles of justice that free and equal people would agree to under fair conditions.

6. Definition

   Formal Logic: Syllogisms and Truth Tables (SACE Stage 2 Philosophy)

   Define Modus ponens

   Modus ponens (if P then Q; P; therefore Q) is valid. Modus tollens (if P then Q; not Q; therefore not P) is valid. The two classic invalid look-alikes are affirming the consequent (if P then Q; Q; therefore P) and denying the antecedent (if P then Q; not P; therefore not Q). Recognising these forms lets you judge many everyday arguments at a glance, while the truth table provides the underlying justification for why the valid ones cannot lead from truth to falsehood.

7. Fill the gap

   Knowledge and the Gettier Problem (SACE Stage 2 Philosophy)

   This ___ (JTB) analysis goes back to Plato's Theaetetus and was the default view for centuries.

   This justified true belief (JTB) analysis goes back to Plato's Theaetetus and was the default view for centuries.

8. Fill the gap

   Applied Ethics: Life and Death Issues (SACE Stage 2 Philosophy)

   The central clash is between ___ and the sanctity of life.

   The central clash is between autonomy and the sanctity of life.

9. Definition

   Free Will and Determinism (SACE Stage 2 Philosophy)

   Define Determinism

   Determinism is the view that the state of the world at any moment, together with the laws of nature, fixes every later state. Applied to human action, it implies that each choice is the inevitable product of prior causes reaching back before our birth. This seems to threaten free will, the capacity to have done otherwise, and with it moral responsibility, since we do not normally blame people for what they could not help.

10. Fill the gap

    Functionalism and Artificial Intelligence (SACE Stage 2 Philosophy)

    ___ arose from dissatisfaction with both dualism and the identity theory.

    Functionalism arose from dissatisfaction with both dualism and the identity theory.