Zain's Guide to Overthinking Everything

Ibn Taymiyya’s Critique of the Syllogism              Before we discuss Ibn Taymiyya’s critique of syllogisms, the background knowledge of Ibn Sina and Aristotelian epistemology needs to be established. Like the Thomists, Ibn Sina was a foundationalist. Foundationalism builds new knowledge on a base of primary knowledge. Without this base, reasoning would lead to an infinite regress (constantly needing to justify each step with another, prior step). Furthermore, Ibn Sina divided knowledge into conceptualization and assent with the former being concepts of the mind such as primary and acquired concepts. Primary concepts are known immediately without the need for reasoning. Examples include fundamental notions like “thing” and “existent”. Acquired concepts, on the other hand, are obtained by forming real definitions. These definitions specify the essence of a species by indicating its genus and specific difference. For example, the conce...

Aristotle’s Metaphysics Book Alpha Overview     According to Aristotle, there are four types of causes which all work together:   1. Formal Cause: It is the essence of a thing which makes it the type of thing that it is. It can also refer to the whole of the thing or its form. The form is the act which gives it its shape and identity while the matter is the potency which the thing is made out of. 2. Material Cause: The matter a thing is made out of. He criticized earlier philosophers like Thales and Heraclitus for limiting their explanations to only a material cause such as water and fire respectively. Relying solely on a material cause does not explain why or how something is the way it is. 3. Efficient Cause: What brings something into existence or produces it. A substrate itself does not cause itself to change or motion. There cannot be an infinite regress of efficient causes therefore there must be a prime mover or uncaused cause, God. Some poets like Hesiod...

Aristotelian Ethics Explained     Aristotle, one of the most influential philosophers in Western history, developed a comprehensive ethical theory in his work, Nicomachean Ethics . Aristotle distinguishes two kinds of virtue. There are those that pertain to the part of the soul that engages in reasoning and those capable of following reason. Intellectual virtues are in turn divided into two sorts which are those that pertain to theoretical reasoning, and those that pertain to practical thinking. He organizes his material by first studying ethical virtue in general, then moving to a discussion of particular ethical virtues, and finally completing his survey by considering the intellectual virtues such as practical and theoretical wisdom. Virtue is the proper function of a thing and people as rational creatures; their function is fulfilled through reason which informs good character and this is finalized through eudaimonia which will be explained later. This is why his ethics ar...

Notes on the Basics of Kant 4: Kantian Ethics Explained According to Kant, in his, Groundwork on the Metaphysics of Morals , there is only one thing that is good in itself which is The Good Will. Everything else has to be qualified, The Good Will is the only good without qualification. While other things can be good, The Good Will is good in itself. Being intelligent can be a good thing but one could also use their intelligence for evil if The Good Will is not present. Courage can be good to save someone out of a burning building but a thief can have courage when robbing a bank. Being healthy can be good but without having a Good Will they can spoil the individual with pride. Having good virtues such as moderation is a step in the right direction but they need to be directed by having a Good Will. Jeremy Bentham would say that the Good Will is that which leads to the best consequences or utility for the greatest number of people. However, according to Kant it is not about the effect b...