Philosophical Perspectives on Knowledge, Ethics, and Politics
Plato
Plato believed that the corruption in political life stemmed from the Sophists’ skepticism and relativism. He argued that their focus on violence as the basis of politics undermined the possibility of scientific knowledge. Plato posited a “world of ideas” containing immutable and universal realities, of which the sensible world is merely a copy. He emphasized the spiritual nature of the human being, with the rational soul directing both the body and the irascible and concupiscible souls. Plato envisioned a just society composed of rulers, guardians, and producers, where righteous living is facilitated by a well-organized state.
Aristotle
For Aristotle, the pursuit of truth was the primary purpose of human life. He sought to understand universal principles and causes, focusing on both being and movement, including natural and artificial transformations. Aristotle’s hylomorphism explains reality as a combination of matter (hyle) and form (morphe). He identified intrinsic (material and formal) and extrinsic (efficient and final) causes of movement. Aristotle distinguished between theoretical knowledge of immutable things and practical knowledge of contingent things. He believed that practical knowledge involves achieving excellence (arete) in individual (ethics) and social (political) life.
Saint Augustine
Saint Augustine posited divine illumination as the source of universal knowledge, with God illuminating the human mind from within. He believed that God, as an infinitely perfect being, embodies the divine ideas that serve as the basis for creation. Augustine emphasized human free will and the possibility of turning away from God to pursue mutable actions, identifying this as the origin of evil. He distinguished between the Earthly City (those who love themselves to the contempt of God) and the City of God (those who love God to the contempt of themselves).
Aquinas
Aquinas differentiated between philosophy and theology, acknowledging their distinct methods and criteria. He believed that philosophy and faith could complement each other. Aquinas sought to prove God’s existence philosophically, arguing that the existence of a sensitive world requires an explanation through a causal series ultimately leading to God. He viewed the human being as a substantial unity of body and soul, related as matter and form. Aquinas emphasized natural law, which reflects both the eternal law and the demands of human nature.
Descartes
Descartes contrasted scholastic philosophy’s passive experience with the active role of the subject in mathematics. His method of knowledge involved evidence, analysis, synthesis, and enumeration, utilizing intuition (grasping simple elements of knowledge) and deduction (moving from one statement to another). Descartes’s metaphysics emphasized the subject’s clear and distinct perception of thinking experience.
Hume
Hume, a proponent of psychological empiricism, focused on the immediate experience of one’s mind as the basis of knowledge. He distinguished between vivid impressions and duller ideas. Hume attributed order and regularity to the laws of association (resemblance, contiguity, and causation). He differentiated between knowledge of relationships between ideas and knowledge of facts, arguing that causality is a belief derived from habit and not a necessary connection. By questioning the principle of causality, Hume challenged the foundations of substantial reality, including the self, the external world, and God.