Term 1: Ancient and Modern Cosmological and Biological Concepts, Quizzes of Introduction to Philosophy

Download Term 1: Ancient and Modern Cosmological and Biological Concepts and more Quizzes Introduction to Philosophy in PDF only on Docsity! TERM 1 epicycle DEFINITION 1 A small circle, the center of which moves on the circumference of a larger circle at whose center is the earth and the circumference of which describes the orbit of one of the planets around the earth. This was developed to account for the irregular orbits and motions observed in the Ptolemaic model of the universe. TERM 2 Platonic Form DEFINITION 2 Things exist in a perfect form inside of the realm of forms that things in the real world merely approximate. TERM 3 Lamarck DEFINITION 3 - Evolutionary theorist with a few differences from Darwin. e.g.1. Purported that offspring inherited acquired characteristics2. Provided an explanation for the origin of life. 3. There was guaranteed progression 4. There were no common ancestors of all living things TERM 4 violent motion DEFINITION 4 Any motion that requires a force and goes against an objects natural motion (e.g. picking up a rock). TERM 5 retrograde motion DEFINITION 5 The apparent backwards motion of planets as observed from earth. During retrograde motion, the planets appear brighter than normal. TERM 6 geocentric DEFINITION 6 Relating to, measured from, or as if observed from the earth's center. TERM 7 principle of sufficient reason DEFINITION 7 Philosophical principle stipulating that everything must have a reason or a cause. For every entity X, if X exists, then there is a sufficient explanation for why X exists. For every event E, if E occurs, then there is a sufficient explanation for why E occurs. For every proposition P, if P is true, then there is a sufficient explanation for why P is true TERM 8 natural motions DEFINITION 8 Included the apparent movements of celestial objects, the falling of objects, and the notion that substances have a natural place or level (e.g. air above, water below) and they proceed in the most direct way, along straight vertical paths to their natural places; except for ether, which tends towards uniform circular motion. TERM 9 species DEFINITION 9 In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. TERM 10 natural kind DEFINITION 10 In analytic philosophy, a natural kind is a "natural" grouping, not an artificial one. Or, it is something that a set of things has in common which distinguishes it from other things as a real set rather than as a group of things arbitrarily lumped together by a person or group of people. TERM 21 Uncertainty principle DEFINITION 21 any of a variety of mathematical inequalities asserting a fundamental limit to the precision with which certain pairs of physical properties of a particle known as complementary variables, such as position x and momentum p, can be known simultaneously. For instance, the more precisely the position of some particle is determined, the less precisely its momentum can be known, and vice versa TERM 22 Aristotles four causes DEFINITION 22 Material cause: the stuff out of which something is made Formal cause: the structure or form that something has Efficient cause: what produced the thing Final cause: the purpose or end of the thing TERM 23 reductionism DEFINITION 23 A complex system is nothing but the sum of its parts. A single phenomena is really just the result of a phenomena of a different sort. eg life, thought, feeling etc are really just physical phenomena. TERM 24 mitochondrial Eve DEFINITION 24 Matrileneal most recent common ancestor of all currently living humans. Est 140,000-200,000 years ago. TERM 25 meme DEFINITION 25 an idea, behavior, or style that spreads from person to person within a culture. eg. lolcats.Carries cultural ideas, symbols, or practices that can be transmitted from one mind to another TERM 26 stellar parallax DEFINITION 26 The difference in direction of a celestial object as seen by an observer from two widely separated points. Earth is not in motion. TERM 27 twin paradox DEFINITION 27 If one of a set of twins travels near the speed of light to some star 15 light-years away and the other twin remains on earth, when the astronaut twin returns, she will be nearly as young as when she left, whereas her twin will have aged 30 years. TERM 28 horror vacui DEFINITION 28 Fear of empty space; notion that nature contains no vacuums because the denser surrounding material continuum would immediately fill the rarity of an incipient void. TERM 29 relationism DEFINITION 29 a theory of space-time (attributed to Leibniz) which describes space and time as systems of relations existing between objects (as opposed to substantivalisms view of space-time as independent of objects). Leibniz argued that if space is simply a large container as Newtonians claimed, then God could have made at least two different, yet indistinguishable worlds.One world is our own, and another is just like the one we inhabit, but shifted over by one mile.Since all regions of space are the same according to Newtonians, there would be no observable difference between the two sorts of worlds.Since the two worlds would be indistinguishable, there would be no possible reason for God to create one rather than the other.Since God cannot act arbitrarily, the Newtonian conception must be false. TERM 30 instrumentalism DEFINITION 30 Idea that theories should be accepted on their usefulness to predict future outcomes rather than if they are objectively true. Newtonian physics is an example that today seems incomplete but is used instrumentally to predict certain outcomes. Quantum mechanics is another example that seems incomplete but is still beneficial TERM 31 1. Explain the two-slit experiment, and why it is puzzling. DEFINITION 31 The two slit experiment showed that when there is just one slit, electron 'pelots' generally tend to pile up at the point where they enter the slit and hit the backboard. However, when a second slit was introduced the 'pelots' demonstrated another pattern that resembled the motion of waves. This arises the question, why if electrons are supposed to be pelots, do they show up in patterns resembling the motion of waves. (feel free to add to this) TERM 32 2. Summarize Lamarick's theory of evolution. Stress similarities and differences with Darwin's DEFINITION 32 Lamark1. chain of being; offspring tend to be higher on the chain than their parents 2. Use effects form and acquired traits are passed on; no common ancestorBoth 1. they both think species evolve over time, from generation to generation the creatures on the earth express some sort of differences over time; 2. species adapt to their environment; they think these things need to be explainedDarwin1. no chain of being 2. Random variation and natural selection; probably all living things share a common ancestor