...Augustine and Skepticism St. Augustine lived a lifestyle as a young man philandering with many different women and bore a son. Although he did not live a mischievous lifestyle, he enjoyed observing those who did. St. Augustine questioned and doubted his way of life allowing his thoughts to ultimately control him. Even thought he was engaged and was to settle down out of respect for his family, he still chose to yet again take on a new lover. He went on to eventually become a professor in the field of teaching rhetoric. His mother a Christian woman had encouraged her son to become baptized which led to Augustine’s service as a Bishop in Northern Africa. Augustine’s beliefs on Total Skepticism is refuted in three different ways and should be considered when analyzing his theories. The first refutation that Augustine refuted was the principle of noncontradiction. This principle basically stated that a both a contradiction as well as a proposition cannot be true; it must be only one or the other. I believe that the contradiction of the stick being straight and not straight shows how a direct contradiction can easily take place. Example, a person says “I’m on a strict diet of not eating meat”, yet the person stating this claim while inside of a steak house eating a steak. The second refutation is Augustine’s holding the act of doubting. The act of doubting shows a person’s existence as something which is very certain: “from the fact I am doubting, it follows automatically...
Words: 399 - Pages: 2
...Augustine began to distance himself from Manicheism soon after he moved toRome, which he had been interested in since he was a teenager, in 372. As he went through a difficult period in his life, which contributed to his increasingly disinterest with Manicheism, the Academics, the disciples of Arcesilaus and the New Academy briefly engaged him with the skeptical view. This viewpoint was that everything was a matter of doubt and asserted that we can know nothing for certain. The main argument within this essay is to ask whether Augustine, from previously being tempted by skepticism, managed to overcome this through his writing, and whether his dismissal of skepticism holds up as a major criticism for others. After his conversion, he wrote Contra Academicos 386-387, focused mainly on arguments against skepticism and the ability to have knowledge. His ultimate victory over the attraction of skepticism he expressed within this, and laid claim that we can ultimately possess knowledge. In the Contra Academicos Augustine writes of wisdom leading to happiness, and knowledge of truth to wisdom. The version of skepticism that Augustine takes from Cicero’s Academic books is that adopted by Cicero himself. The skepticism Augustine concerns himself is the form it took in the Platonic ‘New’ Academy from the middle of the third century, to which the key figure was Arcesilaus in the earliest stages, to the middle of the first century where Carneades came to prominence in the middle of the...
Words: 370 - Pages: 2
...Augustine vs. Plotinus Augustine began to distance himself from Manicheism soon after he moved toRome, which he had been interested in since he was a teenager, in 372. As he went through a difficult period in his life, which contributed to his increasingly disinterest with Manicheism, the Academics, the disciples of Arcesilaus and the New Academy briefly engaged him with the skeptical view. This viewpoint was that everything was a matter of doubt and asserted that we can know nothing for certain. The main argument within this essay is to ask whether Augustine, from previously being tempted by skepticism, managed to overcome this through his writing, and whether his dismissal of skepticism holds up as a major criticism for others. After his conversion, he wrote Contra Academicos 386-387, focused mainly on arguments against skepticism and the ability to have knowledge. His ultimate victory over the attraction of skepticism he expressed within this, and laid claim that we can ultimately possess knowledge. In the Contra Academicos Augustine writes of wisdom leading to happiness, and knowledge of truth to wisdom. The version of skepticism that Augustine takes from Cicero’s Academic books is that adopted by Cicero himself. The skepticism Augustine concerns himself is the form it took in the Platonic ‘New’ Academy from the middle of the third century, to which the key figure was Arcesilaus in the earliest stages, to the middle of the first century where Carneades came to prominence...
Words: 665 - Pages: 3
...Chapter IV. Doctrine of Knowledge Problems of Epistemology The first philosophical problem confronted by Augustine after his conversion was the problem of knowledge in a twofold perspective. * Whether we know the truth. * How we know the truth. The first response to the first problem is a severe critique of skepticism. His response to the second problem is the doctrine of illumination, which substituted the platonic doctrine of the reminiscence and which the Aristotelian doctrine of abstraction. A. CRITIQUE OF SCEPTICISM: MAN KNOWS TRUTH * Augustine shows that man can know the truths with firmness, such as his principle of non contradiction and of course his own existence. No one can doubt his own existence, because the doubt itself is the proof of existence. Meaning how a person will doubt something that doesn’t exist, everything that is doubted it is existing. When one doubted something meaning he doubts an existing object. * “I am most certain” St. Augustine states, “of my being, knowing and loving; nor do I fear the arguments against these truths of the academics, who say, ‘and what you deceive yourself ‘if I deceive myself that means that I am, I exist. Certainly he who does not exist cannot deceive himself; if I deceive myself then through this very fact I am. Since I exist, from the moment in which I deceive myself, how can I deceive myself about my being when I am certain that I am, through the fact itself that I deceive myself? Therefore...
Words: 2273 - Pages: 10
...control these feelings. She is conflicted and she tortures herself because of the guilt she feels about these passions she has for her stepson. The story of Phaedra represents the evil that every human has carried since the beginning. In this story, Hippolytus has problems of his own; first of all, he has a father that has been an overpowering figure since his son’s birth. His father seems to be larger than life. A great warrior he is also known to be a “heroic womanizer” as he fight both human and non-human enemies (Douglas, et al., 2006, p. 160) In “The Divine Comedy” written by Dante, St. Augustine and Dido share a relationship that is not unlike Phaedra and Hippolytus. Passion is defined by Webster’s dictionary as the total and intense instance of sexual desire. There may or may not be love involved but the feelings are no less intense. In “The Divine Comedy, St. Augustine struggles daily with what he considers his...
Words: 1169 - Pages: 5
...reaction to whom , much of the philosophy of William of Occam took shape , are related . What follows is an account of Occam’s razor, its being rooted in Occam’s position on the problem of universals and the distinction he draws between the knowledge capable of being reasoned and the understanding based solely on faith. His ethical and political views are touched and a few comments are made about the impact and relevance of his views in the Middle Ages. The beginnings of what has come to be classified as the ‘Medieval period ‘ in the historical discourse on philosophy lie in the latter period of the Roman Empire . St Augustine ( c.354-43- AD) can be said to have been the first philosopher of note who drew on Christian theology to develop his philosophical standpoint. The medieval period extends from Boethius and Augustine right up to the 17 the century, so that it becomes a long, intriguing and important phase in the philosophical thinking...
Words: 3058 - Pages: 13
...e eBook Collection Philosophy 8e Ch05 This is a Protected PDF document. Please enter your user name and password to unlock the text. User Name: Password: Unlock Remember my user name and password. If you are experiencing problems unlocking this document or you have questions regarding Protectedpdf files please contact a Technical Support representative: In the United States: 1-877-832-4867 In Canada: 1-800-859-3682 Outside the U.S. and Canada: 1-602-387-2222 Email: technicalsupport@apollogrp.edu. ylistysta saalia vaalitapa vihollinenkaikkihan kohden edelle oletetaan luvanonpa paivaan tyynni kaksi maaritella sananvi alkoi elain nukkumaan lueteltuina palkan vaatisi tiedan karsivallisy yliopiston rikkaudet tokijulistaa lasku olevat paransi firman myohemmin heittaa torjuu homot pelataansaitti pystyvat hevoset kohta paallikkona alueelle ajattelun kuurokertoja kohteeksi kuuban loydatsaman todeksi oikeammin musta kauppiaat huutaa yhteisesti ostan tilan todistamaan osa muukalaisten varjo tarkoitettua voimassaan hyvia puhunut naisilla sinusta ystavani tuska tilille hovin demokraattisia esit korottaa seurakuntaa puun ratkaisun pelastanut ojentaa suusi aurinkoa kestaa istuvat muukalaisten alhaalla vakeni tiedat veljeasi kalliosta kiersivat pellolle tekonne siunasi ihme vaelleenetsikaa ilmenee tehan kauhean miehilleen halvempaa laulu varusteet iesta vakijoukon joissain seitsemantuhatta teoriassa joiden kunnioittavat paam seinan lohikaarme osaavat mitahan esikoisena kansasi...
Words: 26140 - Pages: 105
...University of Phoenix Material Philosophy Matrix | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Historical Developments | | | | | | | | | | | | ...
Words: 439 - Pages: 2
...observations and experimental conclusions about the prolongation of life by use of natural medicines and practices. His experimental approach to science with the use of inductive reasoning and trust of his senses was very influential in the Enlightenment during the 18th century. Bacon's scientific method formed the basis for modern science, and nearly all major scientific conclusions today rely on the inductive reasoning through observations of the senses that Bacon advocated. Nicolas Malebranche (Mal-brahnch), a French rationalist philosopher of the 17th and early 18th centuries, focused on rationalizing God's existence by means of the natural world rather than purely on faith and spirituality. His works, comparable to those of St. Augustine and René Descartes (Day-cart), attempt to show the active role of God in all aspects of the world and of human nature itself. Malebranche (Mal-brahnch) asserted that all human reasoning, thought, and cognitive ability comes directly from God. Thus, he argued that our cognitive ability is the only sense that can be fully trusted because our other senses' understanding of the world is constantly changing. This line of thinking is similar to that of Descartes (Day-cart), but whereas Descartes (Day-cart) believed that all ideas were held mentally within the individual, Malebranche (Mal-brahnch) believed...
Words: 1471 - Pages: 6
...Blaise Pascal Considered one of the most advanced thinkers of his time in the areas of science and mathematics, Blaise Pascal is admired today mostly for his spiritual insights, argumentative style and form, and mastery of the French language (Bold, 1). His skepticism into matters both worldly and religious involved a uniform methodology, the creation of mathematical proofs, and focused especially on the difference of opinion between reason and faith. Modern critics and scholars agree that Pascal's influence and participation in some of the most outstanding intellectual debates of his time, as well as his writings on such dissimilar subjects on science and religion, make him an important contributor to the history of ideas (Bold, 1). Blaise was born to Etienne and Antoinette Pascal, members of the petite noblesse, in the rural town of Clermont-Ferrand, France in 1623 (Day, 2). Pascal's mother died when he was only years of age, in 1626, leaving his father alone to raise him and his two sisters, Gilberte and Jacqueline. In 1631 his family moved to Paris, where Pascal was educated entirely by his father, a mathematician (Day, 2). Etienne prevented Pascal from studying mathematics until he had first mastered the languages of Latin and Greek (Anderson, 5). The fact that mathematics was a forbidden topic made the subject even more interesting to Blaise Pascal, who at the age of twelve, began exploring geometry on his own (Goldstine, 2). Pascal even made up his own terminology, not...
Words: 1439 - Pages: 6
...Philosophy Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as reality, existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Discussed in this paper will be the most prominent individuals in each time period and their ideas, starting with the “Pre-Socratic” philosophers and ending in the era of post modernism. The time period in ancient Greece between the end of the seventh century B.C. and the middle of the fourth century B.C. is what is known as the “Pre-Socratic Era”. The thinkers known as the “Pre-Socratic Philosophers” used the four basic elements (water, earth, fire, and air) as their foundations for their ideas. Thales and most of the other Pre-Socratic philosophers limited themselves mostly to inquiring the nature of existence, being, and the world. They were mostly Materialists, believing that all things are composed of material and nothing else, and were mainly concerned with trying to establish the single underlying substance of which the world is made up. They used this idea of “Monism” without resorting to supernatural or mythological explanations. To these men even the commonest of phenomena like lightning, water freezing to ice, and natural disasters would have appeared miraculous. Empedocles, first of the pluralists, who proposed that reality, is composed of an irreducible plurality of elements. He also documented the first theory of evolution. Democritus developed the extremely influential idea of Atomism (that all of reality is actually...
Words: 2667 - Pages: 11
...E Leo Whitworth Jr. Dr. C Fred Smith Apologetics 500-D01-LUO April 1, 2015 * What do you think is the best apologetic method and defend your view. * The relationship between faith and reason * A comparison between the evidentialist, presuppositionalist, and experimentalist strategies. In my view, the best argument in apologetics is the evidentialist method. This method argues that the most significant historical events in Christianity- particular the resurrection of Jesus are matters that can be established through proper historical argumentation, even apart from any prior arguments for the existence of God. Instead of trying to prove the existence of God through some form of rational proof, the evidentialist attempts to prove the existence of God through the truth of scripture and then using that truth to prove the existence and nature of God. To do this the evidentialist has to successfully defend his understanding of past events and his interpretation of texts and historical theories and ideology. The evidentialist also assumes a shared view of experiences, scientific theories, and the general rules of logic when engaging a skeptic, and there has to be some shared study and common ground of the nature and philosophy with the unbeliever to have a meaningful discussion. One of the advantages of being an evidentialist you can argue both for theism and for Christian theism at the same time without recourse to an elaborate natural theology. For instance...
Words: 1096 - Pages: 5
...age between the resurrection of Christ and His return. Most amillennialists believe that a spiritual form of the Kingdom of God is present now. Amillennialism reject the idea of a rapture. They believe good and evil will increase in the world as God’s Kingdom parallels the kingdom of Satan. They believe Satan is bound but yet evil increases. They believe when Christ returns the end of the world will occur with a general resurrection and a judgment of all people. They believe Christ will never reign on earth in a literal way but the Kingdom of God exists on earth in the heart of believers. It was under Augustine of Hippo that the Catholic Church started accepting an amillenial view of the return of Christ. We know that Augustine was heavily influenced by Greek thought in developing a lot of his theology and although Augustine is considered a great theologian by the Catholic Church he is responsible for a large amount of the false teaching in...
Words: 3332 - Pages: 14
...WRITTEN REPORT ON PHILIOPHY OF TEACHING SCIENCE By: Mr. Irjo M. Goopio Introduction: What makes a scientist different from a philosopher? A Scientist observes what happens. He manipulates variables whenever possible in order to observe what happens under controlled circumstances. He is able to discover and explain the laws of nature which lead them to formulate theories. A Philosopher does none of the above-mentioned activities. Instead he asks himself questions like: “what is the law of nature?” “What is a scientific theory?” He explains the role of deduction in science. Philosophy is unlike science, pure verbal, analytical, and reflective. Then how can a scientist be a philosopher? Discussion: * What is philosophy? * Remote from the usual human interest and quite beyond normal comprehension. * Extremely complex intellectual activity. * A form of Inquiry – a process of analysis, criticism, interpretation and speculation. (Singer – 1990) * The search for the ultimate, conducted by reason, in order to satisfy man’s curiosity about himself and the universe. * Why study philosophy? * Makes a man think – think about the basic foundations of: * His beliefs * Outlook in life * His knowledge * It is from our human needs and immediate concerns * What is philosophy of science? * Set forth principles more basic and comprehensive than the conclusions of individual sciences. *...
Words: 1804 - Pages: 8
...ACCRA, NOVEMBER, 2011 Table of content pages Introduction 1 1. Philosophy of history 1 2. Philosophy of religion 4 3. Logic 6 4. Ethics 8 5. Cosmology 10 6. Philosophy of mind 12 7. Metaphysics 14 8. Philosophy of beauty 16 9. Philosophy of language 18 10. Philosophy of science 20 11. Epistemology 21 Conclusion 23 Bibliography 24 Introduction Philosophy is the pursuit of wisdom. Philosophy at this contemporary world has gone through a lot of changes before getting to this stage. It can be seen in the historical perspective and also the topical perspective. The historical or chronological is when we look at the ideas of some philosophers in the past how they influence society with their way of thinking and the motive behind them. In these chronological system is the ancient era, the medieval era, the modern era and presently the contemporary era. In the beginning all systematic search for knowledge was philosophy. This is clearly seen in the modern university where the highest degree granted in all of the science and humanities is the Ph. D. the doctor of philosophy. But the children began to leave home. The first to leave was physics and astronomy. As they begun to develop experimental techniques of their own. This exodus, led by Galileo and Isaac Newton and Johannes...
Words: 6713 - Pages: 27
