...24 April 2010 Philosophy 1010 Assignment 3 Descartes theory of doubt rest on the Latin phrase Cogito Ergo Sum. Translated into English the phrase means “I think, therefore I am”. This theory hinges on what is real and what is false; and mimics the branch of philosophy called Metaphysics. Metaphysics questions the reality of environment as does the method of doubt. Descartes skepticism (method of doubt) is termed methodological, because it presents a process which is used to deduce information to arrive at appropriate conclusions which determines or distinguishes reality from fantasy or a state of confusion. Descartes believed that some outcomes were very clear. He provided an analogy utilizing numbers. With numbers there is a pure outcome once the formula is applied or understood correctly. However, with environment or physical movement it becomes difficult to predict the end result. Therefore, to gain a better understanding of reality, Descartes formulates the theory of doubt and creates a check list of three requirements which must be indubitable fulfilled when applied to the method of doubt. The three requirements are 1) impossibility to doubt – meaning something is absolute 2) independent certainty – a theory which cannot be supported by another and 3) an item which exists so that data can be deduced to confirm existence. “Thinking includes doubting, understanding, denying, willing, refusing, and feeling” all key components in analytic phases of questioning surroundings...
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...and exist forever is immortality. Continuer is not the same person as the original deceased person , it is just a fissioned one,which lives in another space,is the continue existence of the deceased. Spatial-temporal continuity is the necessary condition of personal identity. Also,it provides the possibility for the immortality. 3.(1)From wikipedia,Peter van Inwagen (born September 21, 1942, United States) is an American analytic philosopher and the John Cardinal O'Hara Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame. He previously taught at Syracuse University and earned his PhD from the University of Rochester under the direction of Richard Taylor and Keith Lehrer. Van Inwagen is one of the leading figures in contemporary metaphysics, philosophy of religion, and philosophy of action. (2)In this article,Peter van Inwagen introduced the readers the causal relevant matter of immortality.he refers to it as the “naked kernel”,the seed that continues to exist until God "clothes it in a festal garment of new flesh".He also...
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...universal ways, is to classify things as being either material or immaterial. It seems fairly easy to distinguish between the two. If we cannot touch, feel or see something, then it becomes the notion of the immaterial world. The rest belongs to the material things, which we can own, trade, purchase, possess, lose or give away. When Rene Descartes, one of the founders of the modern-day western philosophical science, laid the groundwork for his epistemological perspective called Cartesian Dualism, he was coming exactly from the same universal idea. The thoughts and hypotheses that Descartes tried so hard, throughout his lifetime’s work, to develop into axioms and prove to be fundamentally true, surprisingly remain highly debatable and are still largely in question. Philosophy is very much about the question of certainty. To a great extent, from the epistemological perspective, knowledge is certainty (Harris, 2009). Just as the case is with Plato, whose quest for certainty has driven his metaphysics to take it, as a prerequisite, that if something is known, then it cannot change (Frank et al., 2011), Descartes too attempted to deduce the formula that would be true for all cases. However, while for Plato, it was the Form that was the thing we could consider to be unchanging and constant forever; the form as immutable, timeless, indivisible, indestructible, transcendent object of pure thought, Descartes...
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...thousands of years by philosophers. Today I am going to explore it with one of the most well-known perspective of this question, dualism. In this case, mind-body dualism specifically. The origin of dualism can be traced back to Plato and Aristotle, Ancient Greece. But when people talk about modern dualism, the French philosopher Rene Descartes is the person couldn’t be ignored. He is the one who modified and made dualism a complete philosophical theory. Descartes thinks that there are two sides of the activity of people, the physical side and the spiritual side, therefore people are constituted by two different...
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...Chapter 1-3 Question Assignment 1. Explain some of the benefits a student may gain by studying philosophy. Knowing philosophy can be very beneficial. It can help a student develop knowledge between knowing how and understanding how. Knowing helps comprehend questions, from different perspectives. Someone learning philosophy can improve their critical thinking skills and create their own thoughts, not just the thoughts of others. Reaching from within and providing your own ideas can help create and understand your own personality. Students will be able to improve their analytical, reasoning and evaluation skills. Overall any student studying philosophy can benefit greatly from it. 2. Explain the Socratic Method of Teaching. Is this a useful way for students to learn? The Socratic Method of Teaching dates back to ancient Athenian times. Socrates was the wisest man states the Oracle. Socrates replied saying “he was wise because he admitted his ignorance.” Sadly Socrates never wrote down any of his thoughts however, Pluto wrote dialogue that reflected his views. His method is a good way for students to learn because it helps them develop critical thinking skills. It helps students improve their skills in analysis and opening up to thoughts and ideas. This method helps provide a foundation for answers we are looking for and puts those answers into perspective. 3. Explain how critical thinking can be used to analyze a philosophical issue. Critical...
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...Terms and Definitions Worksheet SCI/362 – Environmental Issues and Ethics University of Phoenix University of Phoenix Material Terms and Definitions Worksheet Write brief descriptions for each of the terms below. If you use an outside source to define them, include the citation for the source. Scientific method | The scientific method is a process that is used to answer questions and solve problems. Although there are different variations of the scientific method, it contains 5 basic steps. (1) Recognize a question or an unexplained occurrence in the natural world. Once this question has been developed examine scientific literature to determine what is already known about the subject matter. (2) Develop a hypothesis. A hypothesis is an educated guess that will serve as a possible solution to the problem that is define in step (1). A good hypothesis is can be tested to either be approved or disapproved. The evidence that is presented that is factual is used to develop other alternative hypothesis which are also then tested and proved to be factual or disapproved. (3) Create and preform and experiment to test the hypothesis that was developed in step (2). This is done by collecting data through observation and careful measurements. This step never proves anything, instead is disproves each alternative hypothesis until only a reasonable hypothesis is left. (4) Analyze and interpret data to reach a conclusion. This step is used to determine if the evidence supports the hypothesis...
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...While there are many views of the mind and body I find that I dualism and emergentism seem to be the most suitable possibility. However, in Star Trek many types of the mind/body behaviors were presented. I would say Maddox appeared to demonstrate the dualism behavior the most. For the reason that he seemed to be certain of a distinct deference between man and the robot “Data.” He was sure that Data was nothing more than a machine, it had no mind or soul. For an A.I. like that the best mind-body description would be pre-established harmony. He believed there was neither one or the other; referring to just body or mind. But instead he understood that we are much greater than the machine. Our minds our interconnected with our brainWith man taking...
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...THE GREAT PHILOSOPHER Student’s name Institution affiliation Professor’s name Course title Date Every culture tends to vary from a different period. However, many philosophers have different arguments on culture in various time periods. This term paper will explain the life, times, and critical theories of Rene Descartes who is one of the most significant thinkers who ever inquired into the connection between mind and body. It will also explain how culture and period influenced his ideas. Also, it will identify and evaluate the key concepts and analyzes that comprised Descartes' theories. Furthermore, it will detect and describe Descartes' contributions to the field of philosophy as discussed below. The key concepts and analysis that comprises his theories that include the theory of sense perception and the theory of ideas which he mostly concentrates on. According to Descartes' ontology, there are three levels of being which are mode attribute and substance.. The levels of being are agreed regarding ontological requirement, Modes rely on attributes of their being in a way that those same attributes do not depend on methods used and but to rely on the substances for their being in a way that elements do not depend on characteristics. The spirit or nature of a mind, Descartes says, is to think. If a thing does not have faith in, it is not a mind. In his analytical, this very feature of Descartes' theory of ideas, Vere Chappell introduced the terminology...
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...Most of what is known about Plutarch is reconstructed from his personal references in his written work. His writings are encompassed in 227 known works, with a series of 60 essays written in dialogues. His dialogues focused on ethics, religion, and the politics of Greek society. Most of his biographies highlighted common virtues and vices of their behavior rather than on the history of the times they lived. As a philosopher, Plutarch’s notoriety lies within his expanding upon Plato’s philosophies “to create a coherent and credible philosophical system” (Stanford.edu) from them. Plutarch supposed that the world was created from a dualism of both a god, which is a rational soul, and from disorder, the non-rational soul. Through god the disorder of matter becomes organized and the perfect form can exist (the study of metaphysics). The recognition of the duality from god and disorder allowed Plutarch to recognize that there can be evil in the world. Further, the human soul has both a rational and non-rational facets, and can be conflicted between emotions and logic. This strife formed the exploration into ethics and virtues, seen in his aforementioned works. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/plutarch/...
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...that what he thinks of as his perceptions of the world are not dreams (Cress 36). Because there is no mechanism for distinguishing sleep from wake, Descartes says that he is also uncertain about the existence of the body. In addition, he argues that an evil demon may be deceiving him about the existence of the sky, air, colors, sounds, and bodies yet such things are illusions of dreams (Cress 41). By reflecting on the scenario of the evil demon and dreaming, Descartes doubts whether external things such as the body exists. In the second Mediation, Descartes argues that the nature of the mind is different from the body. However, he does not present a premise for the existence of bodies until the sixth meditation when he supports substance dualism. In the fifth Meditation, he claims that he knows that clear and separate ideas are true, and in the sixth meditation, he says, “I know that all things I...
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...logical structure. (Self-)Contradiction – a proposition which is always false, due to its logical structure. Contingent proposition – a proposition which can be either true or false, due to its logical structure. reductio ad absurdum – (“reduction to the absurd”), proof by contradiction – a form of argument in which we attempt to reach a contradiction, which is then used to deny the supposition that led to the contradiction. Necessary and sufficient conditions A condition is said to be necessary for something when that condition must be satisfied in order for that something to exist or happen. A condition is said to be sufficient for something when that condition guarantees or suffices for that something to exist or happen. Metaphysics – the branch of philosophy that investigates the fundamental nature of all reality. Ontology – the investigation of existence; of what exists. Epistemology – the study of...
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...0. What two assumptions constitute the "Enlightenment Vision"? The universe was completely intelligible and that the universe and that we were capable of a systematic understanding of its nature. 1. What six theoretical developments starting in the early 20th century challenged the Enlightenment vision? The relativity theory, which challenged assumptions about space, time, matter, and energy. Second, discovery of the set theoretical paradoxes seemed to challenge the rationality of that very citadel of rationality, mathematics. Third, Freudian psychology was taken not as a gateway to an improved rationality but as a proof of the impossibility of rationality. Fourth, Kurt Gödel’s incompleteness proof seemed to deliver another blow to math. Fifth, on certain interpretations, quantum mechanics seemed simply unassimilable to our traditional conceptions of the determinacy and independent existence of the physical universe. Sixth, in late 20th century the rationality of science itself came under attack from authors such as Kuhn and Feyerabend, who argued that science itself was infected with arbitrariness and irrationality. 2. Does Searle accept the enlightenment vision? Yes 3. What are Searle's three objectives in his book? First, advance a series of theoretical claims, both about nature of mind, language, and society and about interrelations among them. Second, exemplify a certain style of philosophical analysis. Third, pass a series of observations about...
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...University of Phoenix Material Philosophy Matrix | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Historical Developments | | | | | | | | | | | | ...
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...are possible. Environmental science “The interdisciplinary study of how humanity interacts with other organisms and the nonliving physical environment” (Raven, Berg, & Hassenzahl, 2010, p. G-6). An analysis of the interconnections between living and nonliving species. Anthropocentrism “Focusing primarily or exclusively on human needs and interests” (Raven, Berg, & Hassenzahl, 2010, p. G-1). This means that an individual is self-centered, only worried about their needs or the needs of the humans. Biocentrism “Focusing on all life-forms as equally important” (Raven, Berg, & Hassenzahl, 2010, p. G-2). This means that an individual believes that all species are one, and that all live is valuable. Dualism “The state of being dual or consisting of two parts; division into two” (Dualism, 2012). This means that one was split into two equal parts. Ecocentrism “The view or belief that environmental concerns should take precedence over the needs and rights of human beings considered in isolation” (Ecocentrism, n.d.). This theory means the environment, to some individuals, is more important than other species and should be held at a higher value than others. Ecology “The study of systems that includes interrelationships among organisms and between organisms and their environment” (Raven, Berg, & Hassenzahl, 2010, p. G-5). This is a study of how all species are intertwined and how these...
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...'lack belief' in god(s) and/or deny that god(s) exist. 3. Circular argument- argument in which the conclusion of an argument is one of its premises; argument assuming something that would ordinarily not be assumed by someone who didn’t believe the conclusion 4. Coventalism- or Covenant theology; is an interpretive framework for understanding the overall flow of the Bible, focusing on the covenants God made. 5. Deduction-A system of logic, inference, and conclusion drawn from examination of 6. Dispensationalism-a method of interpreting the Bible that divides history into periods of time called “dispensations.” 7. Empiricism-The belief that real knowledge is only acquired through sense experience. 8. Epistemological Dualism-Knowledge consists of a mind that knows and ideas that are known. 9. Epistemology--The branch of philosophy that deals with knowing and the methods of obtaining knowledge. 10. Ethics-Study of right and wrong, good and bad, moral judgment, etc. 11. Evidential Apologetics-An apologetic approach emphasizing individual facts and arguments, including: archaeology, effects on society, historical evidences, miracles, prophecy, and the uniqueness of Christianity and/or Scripture. 12. Faith-Acceptance of ideals, beliefs, etc., which are not necessarily demonstrable through experimentation or reason. 13. Free will-Freedom of self-determination and action independent of external causes. 14. Humanism-The system of philosophy...
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