Unit 2: Humans and Naturalism

Lesson 1 ❖​ Freedom: the human potential, the capacity and the power to act. ➢​ Use freedom to make changes. ❖​ Action: the realization of the power (freed). ❖​ Agent: person who acts freely and knowingly. Chooses to do or not to do something, assuming responsibility for his actions. ➢​ For every action there is an agent. ➢​ Agent has the power of intention. Allowing to shape your future. How does human freedom connect to possibilities? ❖​ A person is free because he has possibilities that are made through promises and commitments to others. ❖​ People’s freedom comes from Adam and Eve (God makes them free to eat the apple). ❖​ Freedom has the capacity to turn away, it's known as; sin (transgression). Freedom and catholic faith ●​ Makes humans responsible for acts of which the agent voluntarily does. ●​ Freedom is the power to act or do not act. ●​ Freedom attains perfection in its acts when directed to God. Is there Freedom? ❖​ ❖​ ❖​ ❖​ Philosophers argue that there is no freedom and that everything is explained. Everything is explained by physical and biological processes. As humans we can act and those actions are what make us humans. Actions give us our identity. ➢​ Our identity is constructed by what we think and believe, do and say. Freedom related to morality and ethics ●​ Morality is after the way we act out or apply our ethics. ●​ Ethics examines our capacity as an individual. Lesson 2 ●​ A person is a moral agent with: ○​ A degree of autonomy, Self direction, Act according to his conscience, Act freely and knowingly Soul, actions and identity ●​ Our identity is shaped by what we do. ●​ The soul is the center of our relationship with God. ●​ According to the Catechism, our innermost aspect, the part of us that exists. ○​ It is created by God and gives life to us and wasn’t created by our parents; it is immortal. ●​ Link between actions and soul. ○​ Actions: expression of who we are. ○​ Expression of love: express our best actions and are eternal. Framework of Action ●​ Action theory: provide a framework for investigation in behaviours. ○​ Who? What? Why? How? With whom? ○​ Again Whom? Circumstances? Outcome? ●​ Answering this question allows us to understand the action indirectly. ●​ As observers we can only guess the reasoning. ●​ Good actions must meet certain conditions to be considered good. Who? The Agent ●​ The agent is the person who makes things happen. ●​ Each person has the capacity to act. ●​ Each person is able to self intend to do things. ●​ Actions shape a person. You are who you are based on what you have done. What? The Action ●​ Actions are what the agent does. ●​ Intentional actions are actions intended by the agent. ●​ Meaningful actions are actions that are freely and knowingly chosen. Why? The motive? ●​ Motive = reason for an action. It can explain the action by telling why it was done. ●​ Reasons for doing something always appear as good. ○​ To give a reason for an action is to say why it is worth doing it. How? With what means? ●​ Whichever means you use in a given situation affects you as an agent. ○​ Example: you can deal with an argument by violence. ○​ The end doesn't justify the means. Under what circumstance? ●​ Every action has its mitigating or aggravating circumstances. ●​ What you do under threat affects your motive. ●​ Circumstances affect how much the action is yours. With or against whom? ●​ When you justify your actions, you seek approval to prevent disapproval. ●​ Assign praise or blame for an action in relation with others. ●​ Every action is also an intention. With what outcome? ●​ You are responsible for the outcome of your actions. ●​ The outcome of your actions (intended or not) affect the self and others for good or bad. Lesson 3 ●​ Naturalism suggest: that everything can be explained by physical,biological, psychological, social and/or environmental processes. ●​ Naturalism states: the material universe is a unified and interconnected system. ●​ Humans are part of the scientific model (genetically organism). ○​ There is no human spirit or culture. Humans and Naturalism ●​ Humans are part of the evolutionary process and are part of the material universe. ●​ Humans are connected by cause and effect. ●​ Everything must be explained by experiments. ●​ If something is true it must be proved with concrete evidence (ie. DNA) ●​ Everything that is complex (life, freedom, reality) is assembled from the very beginnings of science. Humans Genome Project ●​ Claim that all is in our genes. ●​ The project shows that the human itself is not an intended self, but we are genetically modified. AI and Naturalism ●​ AI is deep-rooted in the idea of Naturalism. ●​ Naturalism and Ai: both focus on the brain and neural pathways. ●​ Both hold that the body and the brain are objects that are separable from the self. Catholicism on the Mind and Brain ●​ Human mind is more than the physical functioning of the brain. ●​ Our minds are the heart of ourselves and our capacity to receive God’s message and to understand it. Naturalism and freedom ●​ Freedom is an illusion because actions are not free; tey are the result of brain processes ●​ Naturalism denies human freedom, promises and commitments come from genetic disposition (DNA). ●​ Naturalism denies the possibility of ethics and morality. Chapter 2: Test Review - Knowledge (matching) 1.​ What is freedom? ➢​ Human potential, the capacity, the power to act. Comes from Adam and Eve. 2.​ What is action? ➢​ The realization of the power of human freedom. 3.​ Who is the agent? ➢​ A person who acts freely and knowingly; who is accountable for his or her actions on omissions. 4.​ Artificial intelligence ➢​ They focus on the brain and neural pathways. Ai created by McCarthy. 5.​ What is social determinism? ➢​ A point of view that holds human behaviours as a product, not of free will, but made of a complex content of physical, cultural,psychological and historical factors. 6.​ What does it mean to aggravate or mitigate a situation? ➢​ Aggravate: to make worse ➢​ Mitigate: To make it less severe. 7.​ What is Naturalism? ➢​ Everything can be explained by physical, biological, social and environmental processes. Material universe is an interconnected system. 8.​ What is the Conceptual Framework of Action? Who created this theory? ➢​ Is to understand human actions and determine their rightness or wrongness ➢​ Created by Paul Ricoueur 9.​ What is predeterminism? ➢​ The view that my behaviour is influenced by God or by other causes. Knowledge (multiple choice) 1.​ Catholicism and freedom ➢​ They don’t believe that freedom is not possible. 2.​ Catholic Tradition teaches: ➢​ Human mind is more than the physical functioning of the brain. The brain provides freedom. 3.​ What is the purpose of the Conceptual Framework of Action? What are the key questions asked? ➢​ Allow us to know the reasoning behind a person’s actions. ➢​ who, what, why, how, with whom, against whom, circumstances, outcome? 4.​ What are 5 aspects of being a moral agent? ➢​ Acts with knowledge, acts freely, lack autonomy 5.​ According to Catholicism, the soul is: ➢​ At the heart of the self, is immortal, is connected to our identity and actions. 6.​ Social determinism might argue: ➢​ I committed this action because I was abused as a child. 7.​ Who created Naturalism: ➢​ G.E Moore 8.​ What was the Human Genome Project? Another way of referring to it? ➢​ Was to prove that all genes, and that humans do not intend for itself. Named Human Blueprint. 9.​ What does Freud say drives human behavior? ➢​ Repressed memories and desires. Thinking (identify) Naturalism: (evidence, humanity, natural, Turing, DNA, universe, widely) ●​ Everything, including humanity, is part of one grand chain of being connected by cause and effect. ●​ If we want to show that something is true, it must be proven using concrete evidence. ●​ Humans and human activity are the result of the natural selection process. ●​ Alan Turning, a British mathematician, is known for the Turing Test. ●​ If DNA defines who you are, then your genes rule supreme! ●​ Understands the material universe as a unified system. ●​ The most widely held philosophy. Religious Determinism: (eternal damnation, Calvin, God, St. Augustine) ●​ The Puritan tradition strongly believes that sin has so totally depraved humans that humans are born and live their entire lives deserving eternal damnation. ●​ According to John Calvin, freedom and ethics have no place in the doctrine of predestination. ●​ Providence, that is, God’s influence upon events and actions. ●​ St. Augustine was the first great theologian. Social Determinism: (guilt, culture, no freedom, sublimation, Freud, past, instinct, ego). ●​ The superego is the internal ticketmaster that imposes feelings of shame and guilt if you do not follow the rules. ●​ Your parents, culture, psychological state, history and social background influence your identity. ●​ Your actions can be explained by what you have undergone at the hand of others. ●​ Sublimation is the creative use of memories and desires to perform the right action. ●​ You are not free because you are the product of what others have done to you. ●​ Sigmund Freud’s and the development of the unconscious mind. ●​ The past, your past, determines who you are. ●​ The life (Eros) and death (thanatos) instinct. ●​ The ig, ego and superego