...that the Greeks managed to advance their mathematical knowledge to the point that it became superior to the Egyptians, a civilization far older? As early as 3500 BCE Egyptian (and also Babylonian) calculations were the finest in the world. Egyptians used their mathematical knowledge largely for engineering purposes; without it, building the great pyramids and other breathtaking monuments would have been impossible. What the Greeks derived from Egyptian mathematics were mainly rules of thumb with specific applications. Egyptians knew, for example, that a triangle whose sides are in a 3:4:5 ratio is a right triangle. This was because in order to form right angles, the practical minded Egyptian land surveyors used a rope divided into twelve equal parts, forming a triangle with three parts on one side, four parts on the second side, and five parts on the remaining side. The right angle was to be found where the...
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...Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with reality, existence, knowledge, values,reason, mind, and language.[1][2] Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational argument.[3] In more casual speech, by extension, "philosophy" can refer to "the most basic beliefs, concepts, and attitudes of an individual or group".[4] The word "philosophy" comes from the Ancient Greek φιλοσοφία (philosophia), which literally means "love of wisdom".[5][6][7] The introduction of the terms "philosopher" and "philosophy" has been ascribed to the Greek thinker Pythagoras.[ Epistemology is concerned with the nature and scope of knowledge,[11] such as the relationships between truth, belief, and theories of justification. Logic is the study of the principles of correct reasoning. Arguments use either deductive reasoning or inductive reasoning. Deductive reasoning is when, given certain statements (called premises), other statements (called conclusions) are unavoidably implied. Ethics Ethics is one of the major branches of philosophy and an ethical theory is part and parcel of all philosophies broadly conceived. The aim of ethics has been viewed in different ways: according to some, it is the discernment of right from wrong actions; to others, ethics separates that which is morally good from what is morally bad;... Metaphysics is one of the core branches...
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...Thales of Miletus was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher from Miletus in Asia Minor, and one of the Seven Sages of Greece. Many, most notably Aristotle, regard him as the first philosopher in the Greek tradition. According to Bertrand Russell, "Western philosophy begins with Thales." Thales attempted to explain natural phenomena without reference to mythology and was tremendously influential in this respect. Almost all of the other Pre-Socratic philosophers follow him in attempting to provide an explanation of ultimate substance, change, and the existence of the world without reference to mythology. Those philosophers were also influential and eventually Thales' rejection of mythological explanations became an essential idea for the scientific revolution. He was also the first to define general principles and set forth hypotheses, and as a result has been dubbed the "Father of Science". In mathematics, Thales used geometry to solve problems such as calculating the height of pyramids and the distance of ships from the shore. He is credited with the first use of deductive reasoning applied to geometry, by deriving four corollaries to Thales' Theorem. As a result, he has been hailed as the first true mathematician and is the first known individual to whom a mathematical discovery has been attributed. In the long sojourn of philosophy there has existed hardly a philosopher or historian of philosophy who did not mention Thales and try to characterize him in some way. He is generally...
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...1. the intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment. Science (from Latin scientia, meaning "knowledge"[1]) is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe.[2][3][4] In an older and closely related meaning, "science" also refers to a body of knowledge itself, of the type that can be rationally explained and reliably applied. A practitioner of science is known as ascientist. 2. This study examines differences in standards of research publications between the physical sciences and the social sciences. The results of the first two hypotheses tested indicate that the predominant form of publication in the physical sciences are articles, whereas books predominate in the social sciences. Furthermore, differences were found in the relevant dimension of publication between faculties in more prestigious departments and faculties in less prestigious departments. The policy implications of these findings to university administration are discussed. Physical Science is an encompassing term for the branches of natural science and science that study non-living systems, in contrast to the life sciences. However, the term "physical" creates an unintended, somewhat arbitrary distinction, since many branches of physical science also study biological phenomena. There is a difference...
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...or more valid than someone else's. The Greek philosopher Aristotle divided the means of persuasion, appeals, into three categories--Ethos, Pathos, Logos. Ethos (Credibility), or ethical appeal, means convincing by the character of the author. We tend to believe people whom we respect. One of the central problems of argumentation is to project an impression to the reader that you are someone worth listening to, in other words making yourself as author into an authority on the subject of the paper, as well as someone who is likable and worthy of respect. Pathos (Emotional) means persuading by appealing to the reader's emotions. We can look at texts ranging from classic essays to contemporary advertisements to see how pathos, emotional appeals, are used to persuade. Language choice affects the audience's emotional response, and emotional appeal can effectively be used to enhance an argument. Logos (Logical) means persuading by the use of reasoning. This will be the most important technique we will study, and Aristotle's favorite. We'll look at deductive and inductive reasoning, and discuss what makes an effective, persuasive reason to back up your claims. Giving reasons is the heart of argumentation, and cannot be emphasized enough. We'll study the types of support you can use to substantiate your thesis, and look at some of the common logical fallacies, in order to avoid them in your writing. [pic]Ethos, Pathos, and Logos. Ethos (Greek for 'character') refers to the trustworthiness...
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...originating from Greek verb “skeptomai” meaning to look carefully, to reflect, plays a huge part in our day to day lives. Many people assume that skepticism has to have to deal with doubt or disbelief but in philosophy it is described as the practice of using critical thinking and reasoning to find justification in a supported assumption. David Hume was a supporter of skepticism, and was said to make “skeptical attacks” and to “offer positive theories based on natural beliefs”. To me it seems that Hume uses abductive argumentation because of his use of incomplete observations, he questions statements and theories. An example of this would be Hume’s view change multiple times through the years. Hume acknowledges that he discards extreme skepticism (Pyrrhonian Skepticism) but agrees with the moderate form of skepticism (Academic Skepticism), declaring that “no durable good can ever result from it [extreme skepticism]. Nevertheless, Hume recommended Academic Skepticism which tones down Pyrrohonism by utilizing caution and modesty in our decisions along with limiting our assumptions to intellectual reasoning and matters of fact. With Hume’s thoughts of skepticism, he has inclined Immanuel Kant to give his opinions on the matter. Kant states “Hume awoke him from “dogmatic slumber”” and that he was “heavily influenced by the empiricist philosophy of Hume”. Dogmatism, a person who asserts his or her opinion in an overconfident manner, would associate with deductive argumentation from...
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...Thinking and Decision Making NAME University of Phoenix COURSE/NUMBER PROF. NAME DATE Thinking and Decision Making In today’s society thinking styles and decision making are numerous and a decision- maker must have the skill set of thinking clearly and applying them to arrive at an equitable decision that is right for the purpose intended. Diverse people think differently and as such different ways in coming to a decision. However, thinking styles are as different as are people and as such there many different ways to think and come to the decisions. Thinking styles are many, but three styles that will be written about are: creative, logical, and scientific, these methods are commonly used at arriving to a decision, whether in personal or in business situations. Individuals approach various methods of thinking in ways that are somewhat inherent to their teaching or the skills that have been reinforced in formal schooling or other setting. This paper will examine similarities and differences between the three thinking styles such as creative, logical and scientific. By learning more about these thinking styles one will be able to learn more about the differences so that a workforce or an individual can be better equipped to analyze situations and make decisions. Creative Thinking To stimulate curiosity and promote divergence, clever business people think creatively. Creative thinking involves creatively generating something new or original then critically evaluating...
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...COMMUNICATION THEORY A review of Stephen Mailloux’s (1995, ed) discussion of “Sophistry and Rhetorical pragmatism” (pp1-30) and West and Turner’s (2010, pp.312-327) discussion of “Rhetoric”. This essay is a review of Stephen Mailloux’s discussion of Sophistry and Rhetorical pragmatism (Mailloux, 1995) and West and Turner’s discussion of Rhetoric (West & Turner, 2010). The writings in question discuss the origins and evolution of Rhetoric, with Mailloux introduce a historical and philosophical criticism of “sophistic Rhetoric as applied in the modern American context” (for example, neopragmatism and poststructuralism), and evaluated in the rest of the book, whilst West and Turner enlighten the reader about the heurism and globalism of Aristotle’s Rhetorical theory with a focus on the discipline of public speaking. Mailloux introduces sophistic Rhetoric as founded on the pragmatic doctrine that “Man is the measure of all things: of things which are, that they are, and of things which are not, that they are not”, a phrase attributed to the Sophist Protagoras (Patrick, 2006). Others Sophists of note include Gorgias, Prodicus, Hippias and Thrasymachus – quoted in Plato’s Republic as saying “… ‘Just’ or ‘right’ means nothing but what is to the interest of the stronger party” (Plato & Lane, 2007)). West and Turner’s account of the Rhetoric show that the first teachers of Rhetoric were the "Sophists”, who were nomadic teachers of public speaking that were respected for their intellect...
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...the Ancient Greek (philosophia), which literally means "love of wisdom Explain Modes of persuasion Persuasion is clearly a sort of demonstration, since we are most fully persuaded when we consider a thing to have been demonstrated. Of the modes of persuasion furnished by the spoken word there are three kinds. Persuasion is achieved by the speaker's personal character when the speech is so spoken as to make us think him credible. Secondly, persuasion may come through the hearers, when the speech stirs their emotions. Thirdly, persuasion is effected through the speech itself when we have proved a truth or an apparent truth by means of the persuasive arguments suitable to the case in question. MYTHOS: a set of beliefs or assumptions about something. LOGOS: Logos (Logical) means persuading by the use of reasoning. This will be the most important technique we will study, and Aristotle's favorite. We'll look at deductive and inductive reasoning, and discuss what makes an effective, persuasive reason to back up your claims. Giving reasons is the heart of argumentation, and cannot be emphasized enough. We'll study the types of support you can use to substantiate your thesis, and look at some of the common logical fallacies, in order to avoid them in your writing. Who was THALES? Was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher from Miletus in Asia Minor and one of the Seven Sages of Greece. What separated Thales from others? Empedocles Compare Logos versus mythos: The Greek words from...
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...requires reasoning. The word logic is from ancient Greek. Logic is a science that studies the principles of correct reasoning. There are two types of logical reasoning induction and deduction. Inductive reasoning is also known as inductive logic is the process of reasoning for specific evidence, observation, or experimentation. Inductive reasoning individuals do every day in his or her lives. Deductive thinking is also known as deductive logic the process of reasoning based on common knowledge. A logical thinker needs to recognize illogical thinking. Critical thinkers will ask questions to determine if the issue is logical or illogical for instance; do the pieces fit together logically? Are you really sure this makes sense? Are you certain it is in the publication? It is imperative the questions that are asked needs to be specific and precise to the situation or issue. If there is any inconsistences exist when finish asking the questions it is more likely the thinking path is illogical. It is important for logical thinkers to follow the facts for creditability to the situation or issue. In another words “When the combined thoughts are mutually supporting and make sense in combination, the thinking is logical” (Paul & Elder, 2006, p. 95). It is clear logical thinking is the foundation to critical thinking; effective critical thinkers will apply variety of different thinking styles to analyze, assess, and handle different types of situations. In my personal life I use logical...
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... his thoughts became more and more interesting, which is why I chose him for this philosophy project. Thales of Miletus, was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher from Miletus in Asia Minor (Anatolia) and one of the Seven Sages of Greece (or Seven Wise Men). He was born estimated 624 BC and died estimated at 546 BC. A lot of people, especially Aristotle, claimed him to be the first philosopher in Greek tradition. He is well-known for his hypothesis that all matters in this world is originated from one substance: water. He was also the first to define general principles and set forth hypotheses, and as a result has been called the "Father of Science”. Besides being the first Greek philosopher and called as the “Father of Science”, Thales also considered as “the first Greek mathematicians”. He once used geometry to solve problems such as calculating the height of pyramids and the distance of ships from the shore. He is credited with the first use of deductive reasoning applied to geometry, by deriving four analogies to Thales' Theorem. As a result, he has been called as the first true mathematician and is the first known individual to whom a mathematical discovery has been attributed. Thales Theorem states that if A, B and C are points on a circle where the line AC is a diameter of the circle, then the angle ∠ABC is a right angle. The Greeks often explained the natural phenomena...
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...epistemology, which is also known in the theory of knowledge. Psychology in its early times was devote and mainly focused to understanding the mind, as well as measuring it. After this later on in time, psychology focused on understanding behavior. In the beginning the ancient Greek philosophers had learned a lot about their surroundings due to this they made an attempt to arrange the way they learn in a much organized way. As knowledge increased specialties were developed in the field. Psychology was then termed “Mental Philosophy”; this was concerned more with the principles in psychology. Psychology has evolved greatly in both the intellect and consciousness levels. It was in the late 19th century that psychology became an independent discipline which was divided separately. In Ancient Greek reasoning was referred to as rationalism which as we know is the search for the care essence of things. This is known today as the deductive method. In ancient Greek times they viewed the world in a macrocosm and man was viewed as a macrocosm. Amongst the scientist that contributed to psychology in this period were, Heraclitus, who believed that individuals had the ability to reason but that they did not make use of it. To his beliefs introspection was the way to understanding. Thales is another; He contributed to psychology through his discussions of the “nature of matter”. Another was Democritus, who was a member of the school of...
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...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. *...
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...the major contributions of Plato, Socrates and Aristotle? Why do you think we still focus on their ideas today (in philosophy classes)? Please support your information with references and explain their ideas in "plain English" rather than using phrases from Wikipedia or elsewhere those don't really explain what the ideas mean. Three Athenian philosophers flourish in Greece from 470 B. C. until 320 B. C. These philosophers were famous for their "schools of thought." The first Socrates he didn't leave his writing behind, he explained his way of thinking, and people learned that from the people whom he taught. His method of instruction called the Socratic is being used still today in this method, the teacher allows students to use their own deductive reasoning to see things for themselves through a series of questions and answers. You than had the people that didn't believe in is method, they felt that he was not setting a good example for the kids. Then he was sentenced to death. Plata was one of Socrates student and he established a second school. He believed that a higher world of unchanging forms and ideas existed. If a person knew these forms, then he knew the truth. The third school of thought was that of Aristotle. He felt that form and matter were one, not two separate concepts. The philosophy that has interest me is the Aristotle's ideal on friends. He believed that there are three different kinds of friendship virtuous, utility and pleasure. He argues that friendship should...
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...discipline, and the development of the science of psychology during the 19th century. History of Psychology Psychology was not well known as a separate discipline until the late 1800’s, its initial history can be traced back to the era of the early Greeks. All throughout the 17th century, Rena Descartes, a French philosopher, introduced the first idea of dualism, which is the explanation that the mind and body are separate parts that work together to create the human experience. “Many other issues still debated by psychologists today, such as relative contributions of nature vs. nurture are rooted in these early philosophical traditions” (Citizendium, 2010). Psychology has been often mistakenly viewed as a young discipline, in all actuality Psychology has roots extending from ancient Greece. The father of psychology is known as Aristotle, he wrote his thesis “ De Anima, Parva Naturalia approximately around 350 CE. Aristotle’s thesis is commonly regarded to as the first codification of psychology as a formal discipline. “ The foundations of modern psychology were laid by the 17th century philosopher Thomas Hobbes, who argued that scientific causes could be established for every sort of phenomenon through deductive reasoning” (Citizendium, 2010). Rene Descartes, Baruch Spinoza and G.W....
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