Background Knowledge - Philosophy came from greece and they realized there is biased, illogical, and inaccurate thinking - Purpose of philosophy is to stop that and do logical, accurate thinking - Top philosophers: Socrates, Plato, Aristotle - 3 traditional branches of philosophy Include 1. Epistemology (the study of knowledge) 2. Metaphysics (meta means above or beyond; beyond science like God, free will) 3. Ethics (what’s right and wrong, good and bad) - All of philosophy is beyond science Socrates - Typical to divide history into ancient, medieval, and modern times - Socrates falls under the ancient times (Greeks and Romans) - The most important question to him in life is: - What is required to live a good, happy life? - Follow up: Is emotional maturity (virtue) required to live a good, happy life? (yes) - Socrates thinks emotional maturity is required. To live a good life, develop virtue (core message) - Virtue is a characteristic that an emotionally mature person has and it includes patience, integrity, courage Three Aspects of Socrates’ Philosophy 1) Core Message: a) Developing virtue is more important than anything else i) Example from Steve’s life: Should I remain silent and let Johnny take the blame (develop virtues like integrity, honesty, and compassion) or should I own up to my mistakes (save reputation) (what was steve’s choice in the apple core case and how does virtue apply to it?) ii) Example from the text: Does Socrates live according to his core message in The Apology? Does he develop virtue through honesty and benefiting people (and die) or lie and harm them (to live)? (In class, described an example of how socrates does in fact live according to his own core message in the apology. Please describe that example. He has a choice of developing virtue or saving his life, but he chooses to stick with developing his virtue. If you do not do this, then you are going to live a miserable live)iii) If one chooses reputation, money, or anything else above virtue, then according to Socrates they are not living a good, happy life. They are living a miserable life. b) Opposing theory of Happiness/ Good Life i) Developmentalism: (Socrates believes in this) (1) The view that being emotionally mature is the essence of being happy. (2) Can an emotionally immature person be happy here? NO. ii) Subjectivism: (1) The view that happiness is getting what you want (satisfying desires) (2) Can an emotionally mature person be happy here? YES. c) According to Subjectivism, who determines what makes you happy? YOU. According to developmentalism, what determines what makes you happy? d) Can a very emotionally immature person be happy? According to developmentalism, no, but according to subjectivism, if that have whatever else they want they can be happy. e) Does each person determine for him or herself what is required to be happy? For subjectivism, yes and for developmentalism, no. f) Example Case: You have a heroin addict that only wants an infinite supply of heroine. That is subjective. You have a grass counter that counts the blades of grass all day. That is subjective. g) Is it possible for a person to get what he or she wants? They think they are happy but they are not. i) According to subjectivism, no ii) Developmentalism, yes like the addict. Even if you are happy and getting what you want, your life sucks iii) How can somebody get what they want, believe they are happy, but still are not?? PLATO says: 2) Plato’s Version of Developmentalism a) Wrote the best dialogues, and the most studied was the republic b) To understand what it takes for a human to be happy, we need to understand how the human mind works i) The human mind (psyche) has 3 parts: (1) Reason/ Rationality (a) Use in math class, is responsible for self control and regulating the two other parts (2) Spirited Part (a) Achievement, wanting to accomplish not for please but just wanting to accomplish it (3) Appeditive Part (Appetites) (a) Hunger, thirst, lust, sexual desire, etc ii) There are 4 cardinal (most essential) virtues:(1) Wisdom (if you are strong in reason) (2) Moderate and Temperance (you do not have excessive or deficient desires, you have just the right amount) If you are strong in the appetitive part (3) Courage (if you are strong in the spirited part) (4) Justice (All three working together as a team and interact): Justice is when all the parts of the psyche work well individually and harmoniously, without interfering with the other parts (a) If you are just, you are virtuous and mature, thus implying that you are psychologically healthy and that means you are as happy as a human can get (b) SO a happy and mature human mind is just Sample test question: State Socrates’ core message. Does Socrates actually live according to this message? What does an unhappy human mind look like? Uneven distribution of the happy mind. It is not equally balanced and does not fit the definition of being virtuous and happy. Appetites are interfering with the proper functioning of the other parts. SOOOO HOW is it possible for a person to get what she wants, think she is happy, but actually is not? - According to plato, it is possible because they think they are happy because __they satisfy all of their appetites___ but they are not really happy because ___your appetites are interfering with other important parts of your psyche___. TEST REVIEW - Notes on Socrates (16 points/20) - Read the Apology By Plato (4/20) - 20 MC questions worth 10 points **Bring a Scantron and Pencil** - Written worth 10 points “Describe Plato’s use of developmentalism and use it to answer this question: Describe if it’s possible to be happy when you are not” - 4 point of writing from apology The Apology Notes __________________________________________________________________________ - Says Gods like Apollo and Zeus are wise, no human is. He mentions he is wiser than everyone else and is the wisest in the city, BUT he did not say he is wise Socrates runs around the city and talks to people, in the apology he mentions groups of people he has talked to prior to coming into court: the three groups of people are poets, politicians, and artisansQuestion: What happened when Socrates conversed with those three groups? Answer: Say something about each group because he mentioned something dif in each one.