The document provides an overview of several major philosophers in the history of philosophy, including Augustine, Boethius, Anselm, Thomas Aquinas, and Ockham. It summarizes some of their key philosophical ideas and arguments, such as Augustine's views on time, free will, and the city of God. It also outlines Thomas Aquinas' five proofs for the existence of God and Ockham's principle of parsimony known as Ockham's razor.

1. Introduction to Philosophy IS-VNU Mr. Mike Lecture 5

2. Introduction to Philosophy Augustine Boethius Anselm Thomas Aquinas Ockham

3. Augustine 354-430 A.D. Born in Hippo (North Africa) Heavily Influenced by Platonism Prior to Christianity he believed Manichaeism Universe is the battle ground of two equal forces of good and evil Matter is Evil – Spirit is Good

4. Augustine Metaphysics What is Time? We can think about the past and the future BUT, We cannot experience the past or the future We can only experience the continuous flow of the present The present is the inescapable mode of all existence The Past The Future The Present Existence

5. Augustine Metaphysics What is Time? Flow of time is a reality for all living beings Flow of time is something we experience Time has no existence outside the realm of experience God is outside of experience (unchanging) and Time Time Realm of Experience God

6. Augustine Metaphysics Scepticism To doubt anything, I must exist In order to doubt “I” must be the one doubting Therefore, It is impossible to doubt my own existence My own existence is something I can know with absolute certainty It is also possible to know other things with absolute certainty I Think Therefore I am

7. Augustine Metaphysics Problem of Freewill God knows everything that will happen in the future I can't do anything that God doesn't already know It is impossible for me to do something that God doesn't know will happen Therefore, what I do is determined by God – Freewill is impossible

8. Augustine Metaphysics Augustine's Solution Knowledge of Events is not the same as Cause of Events As a human, I can finite knowledge that an event will happen, but that does not necessarily make me the cause of the event Finite Knowledge ≠ Cause God has infinite knowledge of all events (past, present and future) Infinite Knowledge ≠ Cause

9. Augustine Metaphysics The City of God Reality consists of two Kingdoms The Kingdom of God The kingdoms of this World In this age, we exist in both Kingdoms at the same time Similar to Plato's Metaphysics Augustine's Kingdom of God ≠ Plato's Realm of Forms

10. Augustine Epistemology Testimony Knowledge that we gain from the words of other people Not as certain as knowledge gained from personal experience or reason BUT, Testimony is a legitimate source of knowledge (though not infallible)

11. Augustine Epistemology Conceptual Knowledge Can you have knowledge of something you can't perceive through your senses? Example: Can you know about God or God's attributes?

12. Augustine Epistemology Conceptual Knowledge You can know of many things that you cannot perceive through your senses? Octagon 8 Sides We can perceive all 8 sides Chiliagon 1000 Sides Cannot perceive the sides – We only perceive a circle We can “conceive” of the sides

13. Augustine Religion Original Sin Sin (evil) has been passed down from Adam and Eve to all humanity Human are born with an inclination to selfishness and doing evil Though we still posses the freewill to choose good our desires are inclined toward evil

14. Augustine Religion Religion and Science The Bible should not always be interpreted literally The Bible often employs metaphors If there is a seeming contradiction between science (or logic) and the Bible, perhaps the Bible is employing a metaphor Ex. “God causes the sun to rise...”

15. Augustine Ethics Just War In general, PACIFISM is the only position compatible with the teachings of Jesus Violence is only permissible in PROTECTION of the innocent or in order to RESTORE peace Violence should never be PREEMPTIVE only DEFENSIVE

16. The Dark Ages Collapse of Roman Empire Ancient Philosophical Works Disappear Western Europe: War, Famine and Disease Most Europeans were illiterate

17. The Dark Ages Islamic Golden Age: Western Philosophy preserved by Islam China: Tang Dynasty Japan: Beginning of Classical Period

18. Boethius Preservation of Philosophy Translated Aristotle's works on Logic into Latin Planned to translate all of the works of Plato and Aristotle but died before he was able Wrote The Consolation of Philosophy One of the only serious philosophers during the Dark Ages

19. Boethius Ethics/Metaphysics Despite Inequality in the world, there exists a Divine Providence Justice Why do Evil men prosper? Why do Good men fall into ruin? Predestination vs. Freewill

20. Boethius Ethics Justice Criminals ought to be treated like patients with a disease The goal of prison should be to reform the criminal not to punish

21. Anslem 1033 AD – 1109 AD Archbishop of Canterbury Founder of Scholasticism strong emphasis on dialectical reasoning extend knowledge by inference resolve contradictions in theology

22. Anslem Proof of God's Existence Ontological Argument God is the sum of all perfections (justice, goodness...) God is Greatest Being we can think of Existence is better than non-existence If God does not exist, then He is not the Greatest being we can think of Therefore God must exist by definition of God

23. Thomas Aquinas Theology and Philosophy Augustine synthesized Plato with Christian Theology Aquinas Synthesized Aristotle with Christian Theology

24. Thomas Aquinas Proof of God's Existence 1. Argument from Motion All motion requires a mover Each “mover” must have been moved by something else To avoid an infinite regress (a logical fallacy) we need a First Mover who does not change The First Mover is God “ If the hand does not move the stick the stick will not move anything else”

25. Thomas Aquinas Proof of God's Existence 2. Cause and Effect Every Cause must have and Effect There must be a First Cause otherwise we end up with an infinite regress The First Cause cannot be caused by something else God is necessarily the First Cause

26. Thomas Aquinas Proof of God's Existence 3. Cosmological Argument The existence of the Universe necessitates the existence of God The Universe could not have come into existence by itself out of nothing Nothing cannot produce Something There must be a First Cause to the Universe otherwise we end up with 2 possible contradictions Infinite Regress Nothing creates Something

27. Thomas Aquinas Proof of God's Existence Cosmological Argument Modern Support The “Big Bang” Theory What caused the Big Bang?

28. Thomas Aquinas Proof of God's Existence 4. Ontological Argument Slightly different version of Anselm's argument Things vary in degree of quality (hot, good) There must me something that is the perfect degree of quality from which all things get their lesser quality The sun is the hottest thing which provides heat to everything else God is the perfect Good which provides good to everything else

29. Thomas Aquinas Proof of God's Existence 5. Teleological Argument The Universe is full of order and complexity The order and complexity of the universe indicates an Intelligent Designer behind the universe Randomness and Chance cannot bring about Order and Complexity

30. Thomas Aquinas Proof of God's Existence Teleological Argument Modern Scientific Support Life on Earth is Improbable Irreducible Complexity in Biochemistry

31. Ockham Ockham's Razor “ Entities are not to be multiplied beyond necessity” Given 2 ideas which both explain the data/evidence satisfactory, you should choose the one which introduces the least number of entities The “razor” is used to cut out unnecessary elements in any explanation Why postulate 2 things when 1 will do? Simplicity is better

32. Ockham Metaphysics No Universals Universals help us organize individual things Universals are merely a rational organizing tool In reality, only individual things exist – there is no universal connection between the individual things Rejection of Platonic metaphysics