Intro to Philosophy

Midterm
1. Philosophy is the study of ultimacy through reason. Ultimacy is
the study of ultimate questions regarding human existence. The
origin of the word is philos and sophia which means love of
wisdom. Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. Dialectic is the concern
with content rather than appeal. We get the first attempt to
answer ultimate questions from Ancient Greece. Some specific
examples of philosophical questions are: Does God exist?
What are the boundaries of human knowledge? What is
beauty? Where does the universe come from? What is love?
Mythos is a mythical account. Logos is a rational account. There
is a transition between the two, because mythology is an
inadequate way to explain the world. An argument is a series of
declarative statements that lead to a conclusion.
2. The problem of evil is that theres a logical contradiction between
Gods attributes and the existence of evil. The qualities that
Gods has in most theistic traditions are Omnipotent, Omniscient,
and Omnibenevolent. The difference between natural evil and
human action is that, human action is anything bad done by
human beings; natural evil is the evil of nature, volcanoes,
hurricanes, and earthquakes. The three major positions regarding
belief in God are: Theism, which is the belief in God; Atheism,
which is disbelief in God; and Agnosticism, which neither affirms
nor denies Gods existence. Devotional atheism is the refusal to
worship God. Deism is the view of God where God creates the
universe but has no further interaction with it. A theodicy is a
response to the problem of evil. What Descartes means when he
says that the existence of God can no more be separated from
existence than three sides can be separated from a triangle is
that the fact theres a universe is proof theres a God. The three
classical arguments for the existence of God are: Teleological
argument, which states that the universe shows remarkable
sophistication, and that sophistication suggests intelligence that
matches such sophistication. The Ontological argument, states
that God contains all perfection; therefore, for God to be perfect
he must exist in reality since existence is perfection. Lastly is the
Cosmological argument, the argument from causation, it states

that everything that exist has a cause, the universe exists

therefore has a cause.
3. Friendship according to Aristotle is a bond between two people.
Friendship is important according to Aristotle because a
friendless life would be a meaningless existence. Philia is the
Greek word for love. Philein is the Greek word for friendship. The
three different levels of friendship are: the friendship of utility
which is the lowest form; secondly is the friendship of pleasure,
where theres a commonality; and lastly theres the friendship of
virtue which is the most important kind and the most difficult to
have. The critical differences have to do with the motivations for
the friendship. We cannot be friends with inanimate objects due
to the lack of reciprocity. We cannot be friends with an infinite
number of people because there isnt enough time to interact
with everyone. The highest form of friendship is the friendship of
virtue; it is significant because it requires the highest principles.
Bad people are not capable of friendship because friendship at
the highest level requires honesty and the highest level of
integrity. What Nietschze means when he says that One must
not only be able to love his enemies but also hate his friends is
that friendship requires struggle, pain and difficulty.