Speaking of innate and universal "truths," Locke argues: "If therefore children and idiots have souls, have minds, with those impressions upon them, they must unavoidably perceive them, and necessarily know and assent to these truths; which, since t Continue Reading...
5. Kant's "Copernican Revolution" in philosophy is in his genius use of the positive aspects of Rationalism (Descartes and so on) and Empiricism (Locke, Berkeley and Hume). How can you argue this out with the help of the "Critique of Pure Reason"? Continue Reading...
The fifth chapter turns from metaphysics to physics and applies his universal laws to scientific pursuits. The fifth chapter offers the reader one of the most challenging of applications, the superiority of man over beast, as the beast contains no Continue Reading...
Marx, however, took the reverse view of this approach to the topic of human reality. He held that human knowledge automatically begins from our experiences with the outside world -- from our sensations and perceptions -- consequently, interaction be Continue Reading...
Hypothetical Scenario: The creation of a "sensory bar" and the First Meditation of Rene Descartes At the beginning of the "First Meditation" the French philosopher Rene Descartes takes a philosophical posture known as radical skepticism: he resolv Continue Reading...
Plato, Descartes, And the Matrix The Matrix can be compared with Plato and Descartes. While that might seem like a very odd comparison, there are many similarities. In each scenario, there is the concept of reality and how to determine what is real Continue Reading...
82) because he had to find a bridge from the old paradigm to the new one. He argued that science could restore man to the dominion he enjoyed before the "Fall" (caused by ignorance). Some scholars argue that Bacon never saw any environmental change Continue Reading...
Plato and Descartes Cephalus defines morality and justice as praying to the gods in the correct manner. However, Socrates argues that, rather than an active practice of goodness or justice, Cephalus is merely trying to morally shield himself from il Continue Reading...
A reductive explanation of consciousness will explain this wholly on the basis of physical principles that do not themselves make any appeal to consciousness. According to materialism, consciousness is the direct result of brain activity. Nonreducti Continue Reading...
It is the mind that is the source of ideas, even those which we are very certain of, and not the senses or the imagination. From our mind, we learn about our bodies and every other material thing in the world. In my opinion, Descartes was right in Continue Reading...
Philosophy and Psychology of the Mind and Body Throughout human history, philosophers, doctors, and most recently, psychologists, have attempted to understand the relationship between the mind and body and how it results in human beings' awareness a Continue Reading...
As mentioned in the introduction to this study, Hans-Georg Godamer is making both an epistemological claim and an ideological claim in his formulation of faith. Epistemological, because is discussing the extent and ways of knowing, but also ideolog Continue Reading...
Mental Representations and the Mind-Brain Relationship MENTAL REPRESENTATIONS AND THE MIND-BRAIN The Dualism Argument Pure Materialist Viewpoint Theories Visual Stimuli vs. Speech stimuli Descartes Point-of-View Neurons and Synapses Mental Re Continue Reading...
Human interactions with nonhuman animals should be guided solely by the impact of these interactions with other human beings, and not upon any perceived impact upon nonhuman animals themselves. This argument is based largely upon Descartes' understan Continue Reading...
Aquinas argues that the fact that man can perceive himself to be true serves as a validation for God's existence; however this is dissimilar to Descartes impressions of the Mediator who, according to the philosopher, is capable of mistaking that whi Continue Reading...
Conceptions of an Enduring Issue Relationship between Body and Mind/Soul - Aristotle and Descartes Aristotle modeled hylomorphism as a fusion of form and matter or soul and body as two elements of one solid being. Aristotle viewed the body's form Continue Reading...
Metaphysical Methods of Inquiry The philosopher Rene Descartes adopted what he called a 'metaphysical' or rationalist approach to understanding the world and the relationship of the human to the divine. In contrast to a physical approach a 'meta-ph Continue Reading...
Matrix and Descartes The film The Matrix represents many of the ideas of Descartes regarding perception and reality, truth and selfhood, knowledge and falsehood. The film is about a man who is awakened from a simulated world and shown the reality of Continue Reading...
Phantom Limbs When we ask ourselves what is knowledge (as we do when we are engaged in the process of philosophy) we are effectively asking what is our relationship with the world. V.S. Ramachandran - as is the norm for philosophers - asks the quest Continue Reading...
Ideals of Fantasy and Reality According to Descarte and Hume This paper considers what is real and what is fantasy by understanding the ideals of philosophers such as Descarte and Hume. Bibliography cites seven sources. The reality of croquet and t Continue Reading...
Republic, Plato's allegory of the cave is included as a way of describing the path from ignorance to enlightenment. Plato describes a group of people chained inside a cave, who cannot see anything except for the shadows cast on the wall in front of Continue Reading...
existence or non-existence of God forms a very central basis to the philosophies of some thinkers. This paper examines the philosophies of Descartes, Kant and Sartre in order to determine the significance and connection of belief in existence and no Continue Reading...
Besides this, one can, as a separate undertaking, show these people later the way of reasoning about these things. In this metaphysics, it will be useful for there to be added here and there the authoritative utterances of great men, who have reason Continue Reading...
An Ontological Argument for the Existence of God 1. Introduction As the epigraph makes clear, one of the irrefutable facts about the history of humankind has been the existence of various types of religions since time immemorial. Indeed, ancient peop Continue Reading...
The following abstract demonstrates the different aspects of the scientific method: PROBLEM STATEMENT: Study of relationship between folates-B-vitamins and Alzheimer's disease. Adults who eat the daily recommended allowance of folates-B-vitamin n Continue Reading...
This is pantheism defined cinematically. Pantheism is a departure from Christianity or other theisms as it does not have at its center a God, but suggests that all things, people, animals, creatures, elements, are of the collective; that the collec Continue Reading...
Enlightenment on the French Revolution Revolutionary changes in the leadership of 18th Century France did not occur overnight or with some sudden spark of defiance by citizens. The events and ideals which led to the French Revolution were part of a Continue Reading...
Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz are often accurately portrayed as the key figures representing the Continental rationalism. Continental rationalism is characterized by a belief that truth can be deduced from human reason, and that certain innate, or Continue Reading...
Locke v. Berkeley The philosophers John Locke and George Berkeley offer stark contrasts on the issue of various matters. Locke's whose viewpoint can best be classified as based in relativism. He believed that all knowledge come from the senses. As e Continue Reading...
Two belief systems, then -- true believe, and justified true belief (Hauser, 1992). Humans, however, according to Pierce, turn justified true beliefs into true beliefs by converting them into axioms. Once we have proven something there is no need t Continue Reading...
Of course Marx and Russell are radically different on certain aspects of materialism in the physical world. Indeed, Russell spent volumes on taking issue with various aspects of Marx's dialectical materialism (Ironside, 1996, p. 26). Russell comes f Continue Reading...
Knowledge and truth were considered absolute and immutable by these two, though for very different reasons, which is the complete antithesis to the empirical theories of Popper, Peirce, Kuhn, and James. The progression of knowledge in the face of su Continue Reading...
Our modern world has also shown us that human actions have much more far-reaching and complex effects than have been previously thought. We have become so aware of these complexities, in fact, that in our most rational moments we human beings can a Continue Reading...
Relationship of Certainty to God From Descartes Compare With Gassedi, Pascal, and Spinoza The French philosopher Rene Descartes was one of the most transformational figures of his time and his work is now considered one of the pillars of modern West Continue Reading...
Epistemological Belief in the External World Can We Know the External World Through Our Limited Sensory Perceptions? (1) Our senses are limited. (2) We can only perceive the world through our senses. (3) Therefore, our understanding of the extern Continue Reading...
Free Will" Exist and if so, to What Extent does it Exist? The concept of "Free Will" has been debated by many philosophers over a period of centuries, not only regarding its very existence but also regarding its elements, the extent to which it may Continue Reading...
Philosophy While there is plenty to criticize in the work of Descartes, Locke, and Hume, one cannot justifiably claim that Jose Vasconcelos criticisms of traditional Western views on the nature of knowledge apply to these theorists if only because V Continue Reading...
How is it possible, then, that we can come to know anything? Methodological doubt is best represented in the first of the Meditations, "What can be called into doubt." In this meditation, the meditator is forced to think about everything that he h Continue Reading...
Philosophy The roots of modern philosophy lie in Greek philosophy, which was based on logic, metaphysics, ethics and epistemology. Modern philosophy began with the works of philosopher Rene Descartes, who founded and led the intellectual revolution Continue Reading...
self" is difficult to define but usually involves the inner life of the individual, the psychological dimension of human existence as opposed to the outward, physical form. The self is conceived as a creature of consciousness, a mind capable of thou Continue Reading...
