Problemata
What is an Umwelt? Who introduced this term? How does this concept help us understand what makes human special?
Umwelt: the sensory world of a being.
Ed Yong.
We are the only creatures who can try to appreciate other Umwelten.
For Aquinas, why does God create anything at all?
To "communicate His goodness," not out of need or lack.
What major European conflict set the stage for Bacon and Descartes to seek a new foundation for all knowledge? Approximately how many people died in that conflict?
The 30 Years War 1618-1648: approximately 5-8 million dead.
For Darwin, the lower animals are different in _______, not __________ from the higher animals (like us).
The lower animals are different in Degree, not Kind from the higher animals (like us).
"Thus, from the war of nature, from famine and death, the most exalted object which we are capable of conceiving, namely, the production of the higher animals, directly follows. There is grandeur in this view of life..."
Darwin, conclusion to On the Origin of Species
Fill in the blank: "It is as if the subject were to find itself in the presence of something _______, completely open to manipulation. Men and women have constantly intervened in nature, but for a long time this meant being in tune with and respecting the possibilities offered by the things themselves."
"It is as if the subject were to find itself in the presence of something formless, completely open to manipulation. Men and women have constantly intervened in nature, but for a long time this meant being in tune with and respecting the possibilities offered by the things themselves."
In the late Middle Ages, why did we notice a shift in animal hierarchies from Lions at the top to Sheep? What principle organized each hierarchy?
Principle of Usefulness: Sheep at the top (anthropomorphism).
What is an experiment, for Bacon?
If our senses are fallible, why trust them at all?
Experiment: observation of Nature under controlled conditions.
Because senses can correct themselves (with help).
What "hope" does Darwin offer that the human species will gradually improve?
That "inferior" individuals will either die off or not reproduce (because they are ugly or weak).
"When media and the digital world become omnipresent, their influence can stop people from learning how to live wisely, to think deeply and to love generously. In this context, the great sages of the past run the risk of going unheard amid the noise and distractions of an information overload."
Pope Francis, Laudato Si
What slogan did Michael Pollan use to promote his work? What would its inverse be?
"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."
"Eat nutrients. A lot. Mostly meats."
For Aquinas, what does it mean to say that X has being "by participation"? What is the alternative view?
That X has no existence of its own, but only by participating in the existence of God, the Supreme Good.
Nothing is self-sufficient/existing without God.
Unlike Bacon, why does Descartes preserve a role for deduction in his approach?
Because he assumes that facts of nature are related geometrically, so that by discovering one we can logically deduce others.
What are three possible candidates that Natural Selection can work on?
The Species
The Individual (person)
The Genes
"This is the case even though a hundred million years from now, all that we consider to be the great works of man—the sculptures and the libraries, the monuments and the museums, the cities and the factories—will be compressed into a layer of sediment not much thicker than a cigarette paper."
Elizabeth Kolbert, "The Sixth Extinction"
Who wrote this? What is the title of the poem?
"... For this, for everything, we are out of tune;
It moves us not. Great God! I’d rather be
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn..."
William Wordsworth
"The World is Too much with Us."
In the late Middle Ages, what spiritual/theological lesson was interpreted from the clam/scallop shell?
The doctrine of the immaculate Virgin Mary (who enclosed the "Pearl of Great Price" i.e. Christ) and the Hypostatic Union of Christ's divine and human natures.
Explain the difference between deduction and induction, using an example.
Why was Bacon dissatisfied with deduction?
Deduction: All humans are mortal. Socrates is human. Therefore, Socrates is mortal.
Induction: The sun has risen everyday until now. It will probably rise tomorrow.
Because it preserves truth rather than discovers new facts about the world.
(1) it's supra-social: above ordinary/mundane life
(2) it's truth is not publicly correctable (infallible)(3) it has its own clergy/specialists
Is there a meaning to life? What are we for? What is man? After posing the last of these questions, the eminent zoologist G. G. Simpson put it thus: 'The point I want to make now is that all attempts to answer that question before 1859 are worthless and that we will be better off if we ignore them completely.'
Dawkins, the Selfish Gene
What are the 4 dimensions of Controllability, for Rosa?
(Hint: Sophia's Acronym)
To make something VAMU
(1) Visible/Knowable
(2) Accessible/Reachable
(3) Manageable
(4) Useful
What were the 4 (overlapping) causes Aquinas inherited from Aristotle?
Use a wooden table as an example.
Material cause: wood
Efficient cause: carpenter
Formal cause: the form/shape/pattern of a table
Final cause: to eat/dine properly.
What are the 4 rules to Descartes method?
(1) Skepticism: accept nothing as true until proven otherwise
(2) reductionism: break complexity all the way down
(3) start with simple parts, build up to complex
(4) be as comprehensive as possible
For Lewontin, what's the difference between agents and causes?
Agents: "how" x happens (local delivery mechanisms)
Causes: "why" x (really) happens
E.g. Tuberculosis =
Agent: Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Causes: Low wages, poor nutrition, and crowded housing.
"we shall, if you please, assume in addition that God will never perform a miracle in the new world, and that the intelligences, or rational souls, which we might later suppose to be there, will not disrupt the ordinary course of nature in any way."
Descartes