...Massachusetts Lowell Philosophy Department Introduction to Philosophy Philosophy 45. 201.201/02S Spring 2013 Syllabusi Conference Time and Location Tu & Th 3:30-4:45PM Class meet at SOU 403 NC Instructor: Andrés Paniagua andres_paniagua@uml.edu Office Hours T&R 3:00-3:25PM & W. 6:00-6:25 Office TBD Course Description. The practice and study of philosophy constitute one of the most distinctive strands of Western intellectual tradition. In order to understand-even simply recognize-the deepest assumptions we make as a culture we must turn to philosophy and to those thinkers whose ideas have shaped our assumptions. We will approach the study of philosophy as a conversation among the greatest thinkers of all the time, Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Locke, Hume, Kant, Hegel, Marx, Nietzsche, Heidegger and Sartre. Our focus will be on each philosopher’s ideas and their impact on Western Civilization. We will also delve briefly into the cultural and historical context of each philosopher, evaluate weather their ideas are still relevant and some of their argument remain compelling. Course outline. The approach of this class is hybrid. The first part following an historical and chronological sequence, the second part follows a topical approach. Part I (a), Ancient philosophy, with our main focus on Plato and Aristotle. Part 1 (b) Late Renaissance and to Kant. Part II Empiricism and Positivism and part II (b) Existentialism. We will wrap the class pointing to some recent issues in philosophy:...
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...questions regarding logic, knowledge, truth, and even human existence itself. It can be defined as love of wisdom. Philosophy goes beyond facts, measurements, and scientific findings and it depends on judgment, reflection, and intuition, by this definition we can gather that philosophy is, essentially, the pursuit of knowledge or understanding on a much higher level than usual. In this paper I will present my views on philosophy as a whole by reviewing and evaluating myself as a philosopher during the duration of this course and how I believe this course has affected the way I think, as well as how I benefited from it. This was my first major introduction into the study of philosophy, and I can honestly say that it has had a major impact on my belief system. Many of my views have changed and my overall view on life is much different than it was before I started this class. I come from a culture where I was taught never to ask questions, and to always believe whatever I was told, especially if someone much older said it, but taking this course has expanded my thinking capacity, and just like Descartes, who was a rationalist, someone who believed that true knowledge is produced by logical and critical thinking, I have upgrade my thinking to a whole new level. This course has helped me to view situations in a subjective manner where I don’t have to use data to determine what is right or wrong; I instead use my feelings as a guide to my judgment of that situation. I also learned that...
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...This week’s paper we were to research and identify three prevailing philosophical perspectives at work during the 20th Century. To begin I will research the history of a few new tendencies in contemporary philosophy. Then I will discuss the Tom Rockmore interpretation of such tendencies. Tom Rockmore is Professor of Philosophy and a McAnulty College Distinguished Professor, Dr. Rockmore's current research interests encompass all of modern philosophy, with special emphasis on selected problems as well as figures in German idealism (Kant, Fichte, Hegel, Marx) and recent continental philosophy (Heidegger, Habermas, Lukacs). He is continuing to explore the epistemology of German idealism as well as the relation between philosophy and politics. His most recent work concerns a new theory of knowledge as intrinsically historical. Tom Rockmore believes that there are approximately three tendencies that govern the 20th Century‘s philosophy dispute. These three tendencies according to Tom Rockmore are the Continental philosophy, Anglo- American analytical philosophy and the American (neo) pragmatism. According to answer.com, continental philosophy is a cluster of 20th-century European philosophical movements that see themselves as the ongoing legacy of Hegel, Husserl, and Heidegger and which encompasses phenomenology, existentialism, hermeneutics, structuralism, and deconstructionism, mainly as different with analytic philosophy (answer, 2010). The Anglo- American analytical philosophy...
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...Social Sciences and Humanities prof. Coleridge Chris Final essay “Brain vs Mind” [pic] Alessandro Acquaviva E060478 INDEX The Mind-Brain Problem 3 Background of the problem 4 Evaluating the three proposed solutions 6 Weak Dualism 7 Strong Dualism 9 The relevance of Parapsychology 11 Conclusions 12 The Mind-Brain Problem The mind-brain problem raises the question as to whether the mind is no more than the idle side-effect of our brain processes or whether the mind can, in some degree, influence behaviour. Here we rehearse the arguments on both sides plus some recent attempts to eliminate mind altogether. However contentious, the philosophical problem, as distinct from the physiological problem, can be stated quite simply as follows: What, essentially, is the relationship between events in the brain and those private, subjective experiences that together constitute our inner mental life? We need not assume here that consciousness is synonymous with mind - consciousness may well be no more than just one aspect of mind - but, with respect to the problem at issue, it is the existence of consciousness that is critical. Stated thus, the problem admits of only three basic answers: 1) Events in the brain, operating in accordance with the laws of physics, determine completely both our behaviour and our subjective experiences. 2) Mental events may be elicited by events in the brain or they may, in turn, elicit brain events and so influence...
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...The Mind-Brain Problem JOHN BELOFF Department of psycho log^, George Square, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9JZ, Scotland Abstract-The mind-brain problem, which is still with us, raises the question as to whether the mind is no more than the idle side-effect of our brain processes or whether the mind can, in some degree, influence behavior. Here we rehearse the arguments on both sides plus some desperate recent attempts to eliminate mind altogether. What is the Problem? However contentious, the philosophical problem, as distinct from the physiological problem, can be stated quite simply as follows: What, essentially, is the relationship between events in the brain and those private, subjective, introspectible experiences that together constitute our inner mental life? We need not assume here that consciousness is synonymous with mind-consciousness may well be no more than just one aspect of mind-but, with respect to the problem at issue, it is the existence of consciousness that is critical. Stated thus, the problem admits of only three basic answers: (1) Events in the brain, operating in accordance with the laws of physics, determine completely both our behavior and our subjective experiences. (2) Mental events may be elicited by events in the brain or they may, in turn, elicit brain events and so influence the course of our behavior (I use here the word 'elicit' rather than 'cause' advisedly since the kind of causation here envisaged is so unlike ...
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...A618C90F-C2C6-4FD6-BDDB-9D35FE504CB3 First American paperback edition published in 2006 by Enchanted Lion Books, 45 Main Street, Suite 519, Brooklyn, NY 11201 Copyright © 2002 Philip Stokes/Arcturus Publishing Limted 26/27 Bickels Yard, 151-153 Bermondsey Street, London SE1 3HA Glossary © 2003 Enchanted Lion Books All Rights Reserved. The Library of Congress has cataloged an earlier hardcover edtion of this title for which a CIP record is on file. ISBN-13: 978-1-59270-046-2 ISBN-10: 1-59270-046-2 Printed in China Edited by Paul Whittle Cover and book design by Alex Ingr A618C90F-C2C6-4FD6-BDDB-9D35FE504CB3 Philip Stokes A618C90F-C2C6-4FD6-BDDB-9D35FE504CB3 ENCHANTED LION BOOKS New York Contents The Presocratics Thales of Miletus . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Pythagoras of Samos . . . . . 10 Xenophanes of Colophon 12 Heraclitus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 The Scholastics St Anselm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 St Thomas Aquinas . . . . . . . 50 John Duns Scotus . . . . . . . . . 52 William of Occam . . . . . . . . . 54 The Liberals Adam Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 Mary Wollstonecraft . . . . 108 Thomas Paine . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 Jeremy Bentham . . . . . . . . . 112 John Stuart Mill . . . . . . . . . . 114 Auguste Comte . . . . . . . . . . . 116 The Eleatics Parmenides of Elea . . . . . . . 16 Zeno of Elea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 The Age of Science Nicolaus Copernicus . . . . . . 56 Niccolò Machiavelli...
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...might be challenged, that without some guidance from our preconceptions one could do nothing at all. It is just that philosophical principles have not generally provided us with the right preconceptions. In our hunt for the final theory, physicists are more like hounds than hawks; we have become good at sniffing around on the ground for traces of the beauty we expect in the laws of nature, but we do not seem to be able to see the path to the truth from the heights of philosophy. Physicists do of course carry around with them a working philosophy. For most of us, it is a rough-and-ready realism, a belief in the objective reality of the ingredients of our scientific theories. But this has been learned through the experience of scientific research and rarely from the teachings of philosophers. This is not to deny all value to philosophy, much of which has nothing to do with science....
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...used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher. For information, address State University of New York Press, 90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany, NY 12207 Production, Laurie Searl Marketing, Fran Keneston Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Mason, Richard, 1948– Understanding understanding / Richard Mason. p. cm. — (SUNY series in philosophy) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7914-5871-7 (alk. paper) — ISBN 0-7914-5872-5 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Comprehension (Theory of knowledge) I. Title. II. Series. BD181.5.M27 2003 121—dc21 2003042557 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 for Margie Contents INTRODUCTION, 1 CHAPTER ONE WHAT WE UNDERSTAND, 7 CHAPTER TWO HOW WE UNDERSTAND, 21 CHAPTER THREE UNDERSTANDING AND KNOWLEDGE, 39 CHAPTER FOUR INTELLIGIBILITY, 51 CHAPTER FIVE FAILURES OF UNDERSTANDING, 67 CHAPTER SIX BEYOND UNDERSTANDING, 89 viii CONTENTS CHAPTER SEVEN WISDOM, 105 NOTES, 115 BIBLIOGRAPHY, 125 INDEX OF NAMES, 131 Introduction A physicist tries to understand quantum mechanics. A parent tries to understand a child. A critic tries to understand a new style of painting. A...
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...Pre-Socratic Period Thales of Miletus Background: Thales of Miletus (fl. c. 585 BC) is regarded as the father of philosophy. Thales of Miletus was considered one of the Seven Wise Men of ancient Greece. Thales was the first of the Greek natural philosophers and founder of the Ionian school of ancient Greek thinkers. Works/Writings/Philosophy: His is said to have measured the Egyptian pyramids and to have calculated the distance from shore of ships at sea using his knowledge of geometry. He also predicted an eclipse of the sun. In geometry Thales has been credited with the discovery of five theorems like the one that a triangle inscribed in a semicircle has a right angle. He tried to discover the substance from which everything in nature is made off and suggested water. Thales is important in bridging the worlds of myth and reason. He initiated the revolutionary notion that to understand the world one needed to know its nature and that there was an explanation for all phenomena in natural terms. That was a giant step from the assumptions of the old world that supernatural forces determined almost everything. While considering the effects of magnetism and static electricity, he concluded that the power to move other things without the mover itself changing was a characteristic of "life", so that a magnet and amber must therefore be alive in some way (in that they have animation or the power to act). If so, he argued, there is no difference between the living and the dead...
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...mTELECOURSE STUDY GUIDE FOR The Examined Life FOURTH EDITION author J. P. White Chair, Department of Philosophy Santa Barbara City College contributing author Manuel Velasquez Professor of Philosophy Santa Clara University This Telecourse Study Guide for The Examined Life is part of a collegelevel introduction to philosophy telecourse developed in conjunction with the video series The Examined Life, and the text Philosophy: A Text with Readings, tenth edition, by Manuel Velasquez, The Charles Dirksen Professor, Santa Clara University. The television series The Examined Life was designed and produced by INTELECOM Intelligent Telecommunications, Netherlands Educational Broadcasting Corporation (TELEAC/NOT), and Swedish Educational Broadcasting Company (UR) Copyright © 2007, 2005, 2002, 1999 by INTELECOM Intelligent Telecommunications All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of INTELECOM Intelligent Telecommunications, 150 E. Colorado Blvd., Suite 300, Pasadena, California 91105-1937. ISBN: 0-495-10302-0 Contents Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v Lesson One — What is Philosophy? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....
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...Institute of Philosophy and Religious studies. Affiliated to The Catholic University of Malawi PHILOSOPHY OF KNOWLEDGE (Epistemology) Student: OTIENO STEPHEN MBAKA Class Notes INTRODUCTION Fundamental Notions THE "PHILOSOPHY OF KNOWLEDGE" is that branch of philosophy which tries to determine in a general way what the nature and scope of man's capacity to know are. Precisely what this determi-nation will turn out to be cannot be foreseen at the beginning of our investigation since the very reason for undertaking such a project is to find that out in a methodical and systematic way. Nonetheless, even at this point, we do have a vague sense of what we are after, and, presumably, we have had enough experi-ence of our ignorance and capacity for error to motivate us to take up this arduous task. Our common-sense notion of nature tells us that an investigation into the "nature" of anything means at least that we are ask-ing "what sort of thing is it?" To be sure, this question is none too precise, but it will do for a beginning. Again, our common-sense notion of "scope" tells us that an inquiry into the "scope" of any-thing means at least that we are asking "how far does it extend?" Again, this imprecise query will do for the moment. Notice that we are not asking whether we know anything at all. The reason is, as we shall see in detail later that this question cannot be asked at all, because to have asked it is to have answered...
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...of ideas / Marc A. Hight. p. cm. Summary: ‘‘Provides an interpretation of the development of the ontology of ideas from Descartes to Hume that reaffirms the vital role metaphysical concerns played in early modern thinking’’—Provided by publisher. Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978–0-271–03383–9 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Ontology. 2. Idea (Philosophy). 3. Metaphysics. I. Title. BD301.H54 2008 110.9—dc22 2008002466 2008 The Pennsylvania State University All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America Published by The Pennsylvania State University Press, University Park, PA 16802–1003 Copyright The Pennsylvania State University Press is a member of the Association of American University Presses. It is the policy of The Pennsylvania State University Press to use acid-free paper. This book is printed on Natures Natural, containing 50% post-consumer waste, and meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Material, ansi z39.48–1992. For ict and snj and `e in memory of rene elizabeth hight (1968–2006) contents Acknowledgments xi List of Abbreviations xiii Introduction: Idea Ontology and the Early Modern Tale 1 1 the traditional ontology 11 1.1 Substance 12 1.2 Modes 20 1.3 What Is an Idea? 22 1.4 Stretching Idea Ontologies 34 2 descartes 37 2.1 Representation 38 2.2 Perception,...
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...nonexistent (“delusive”), as reducible, as emergent, or as a basic property of a substance (a “differentiating” attribute). The physical might be seen in one of the same four ways. So a fourby-four matrix of views results. (The seventeenth entry arises from Broad’s division of the substance/substance view according to whether one substance or two is involved.) At the end, three views are left standing: those on which mentality is an emergent characteristic of either a physical substance or a neutral substance, where in the latter case, the physical might be either emergent or delusive. 1 Published in S. Stich & T. Warfield, eds, Blackwell Guide to Philosophy of Mind (Blackwell, 2003). This paper is an overview of issues concerning the metaphysics of consciousness. Much of the discussion in this paper (especially the first part) recapitulates discussion in Chalmers (1995; 1996; 1997), although it...
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...Truth and Reality: Are our versions mere mind-created, or real ? Can we ever distinguish actual reality from the synthetic models that mind create ? Or, can we ever know any reality other than what our minds create ? If we clinically analyse the total contents of our mind, we will find that it is a mix of many things that we consider as real, and equal number of things that we know as mere manufactured products of we,or that of the human community in general. What we naively consider as real are objects and relations that we have seen, heard, touched,tasted or smelt. We had learned this criterion of assessing reality from our primeval days when mind was not developed to perceive anything beyond what were just in-front the sense-organs. Animals are still in worlds of reality. Now, man's this category of reality also consists the various scientific facts,that we believe, our prestigious men of science must have either directly observed through their special instruments, or inferred over strong evidences they must have collected through their various false-proof methods. For example, the moon-rocks are real because NASA has its samples displayed at their facilities, or it is Sun there at the center of solar system, and earth and other planets are revolving around it. We believe that Science has adequate proof of these real physical facts. Though these scientific facts are quite different from the reality of a horse or a mountain that we actually see, we generally...
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...Licensed to: iChapters User Research Method and Methodology in Finance and Accounting Second Edition Bob Ryan Robert W. Scapens Michael Theobold Australia . Canada . Mexico . Singapore . Spain . United Kingdom . United States Licensed to: iChapters User Research Method and Methodology in Finance and Accounting Copyright © Bob Ryan, Robert W. Scapens and Michael Theobold 2002 _______________________________________________________________________ The text of this publication, or any part thereof, may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without prior permission of the publisher. While the publisher has taken all reasonable care in the preparation of this book the publisher makes no representation, express or implied, with regard to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and cannot accept any legal responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions from the book or the consequences thereof. Products and services that are referred to in this book may be either trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners. The publisher and author/s make no claim to these trademarks. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library _______________________________________________________________________ ISBN: 978-1-86152-881-0...
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