...theory of transcendental idealist space with that if one of the philosophers (Newton/Clarke) that Kant claims have a transcendental realist conception of space. Which conception if space is more true and why? The ontological nature of space is one of the fundamental questions in Kant’s metaphysics and is the foundation around which he constructs his notion of transcendental idealism laid out in his Critique of Pure Reason. Written in response to the previous ‘realist’ conceptions of space Kant challenged strongly the view of its ultimate reality and served to shift the scope of the ontological argument from one of ‘absolutism’ versus ‘relationalism’ to a more developed debate of ‘realism’ against ‘idealism’ as he brought the relationship between space and time, and the mind strongly to the fore. In this essay I am going to contrast this Kantian notion of space as being ‘transcendentally ideal’ against the branded ‘transcendental realism’ of Newton and Clarke. Starting with the latter I’ll go on to bring in the former then proceed to analyse the developments Kant forges past his predecessors. I will then conclude by assessing how and why his view holds more metaphysical depth than that put forward in the Newtonian model by looking at how he accounts for the scope and perspective of human consciousness and the epistemological limits inherent within it. To begin however I will now go to the absolutist models put forward by Newton and Clarke. Prior to Kant, the arguments with regards...
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... as philosophers it is the only question that one asks. Since the birth of man kind, the question has been asked “where do we come from”; and since the birth of man kind the answer was simple, someone put us here, a person of higher being, a person often referred to as God. As a philosopher and thinker one can not simply believe in the existence of God, but ask the question why; why does God exist. There are many philosophers who dare to answer the “Why” including Rene Descartes, Immanuel Kant, and Thomas Aquinas. In answering this question there has developed three main arguments that focus on the proof for the existence of God; the Teleological, Cosmological, and Ontological arguments. The most difficult of the three arguments to understand is the Ontological argument, for it is purely logical proof; it attempts to argue from the idea of God to His necessary existence. Simply put the ontological argument attempts to prove the existence of God by stating God exists because he must. “While from the fact that I cannot conceive God without existence, it follows that existence is inseparable from Him, and hence that He really exists. For it is not within my power to think of God without existence.”(Descartes 135) Simply put, in the entire world there is a greatest, a number one, in every aspect of competition there is someone in which never loses. God must exist because there has to be a perfect being, that is almighty, omnipotent, and which non-greater can exist. And thus this...
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...In Critique of Pure Reason and Critique of Practical Reason Immanuel Kant attempts to reconcile causal determinism on the one hand and human freedom on the other. Kant’s unique argument centers around a distinction between human reason, which originates spontaneously from itself with no previous cause, and its effect on the external world which always has a cause and is part of a causal chain of events. In essence human beings have the freedom to choose a response regardless of the effects of events in the external world. Kant presents cogent and comprehensive argument that is difficult to write off. I will argue in favor or Kant’s position as he does a masterful job in removing what appears to be an obvious contradiction of compatibilism. Kant identifies two forms of causality: causality via the laws of nature, or determinism and causality from freedom of will (Critique of Pure Reason, A532 / B560). Causality from nature is...
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...centuries. However, in this paper only four notable theories (dualism, materialism, idealism and transcendental idealism) will be explored. Each theories provide adequate explanation of reality but there are limitations and shortcomings when one contemplate carefully. The theories will be explored and critique by using the mind body problem, The Chinese room, the radical emergence theory. Moreover, one should consider which theory describes the nature of reality with least logical incoherencies. Substance Dualism is a theory that describes “mind and matter” as “two distinct things” (Nagel Thomas 206). Furthermore, substance dualism categorize matter as “physical or material substance” and mind or soul as “non-physical or immaterial substance” (Lacewing Michael) “Substance Dualism”). So, dualism is the proposal that human being as a living, thinking entity not only includes brain and physical matter but also a non-physical substance to account for the mind. The famous seventeenth century French philosopher René Descartes claimed that as “a subject of conscious thought and experience, he cannot consist of spatially extended matter”. He therefore states that “his essential nature must be non-material, even if in fact his soul is intimately connected with his body” (qtd in.Nagel Thomas 206). Here, we will explore the arguments that tries to support the claim. The Conceivability Argument shows that one can “imagine a robot that resembles a human with no consciousness or inner life”...
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...3.2 God in the Critique of Pure Reason's Transcendental Dialectic 3.2.1 The Ens Realissimum The Transcendental Dialectic's “Ideal of Reason” contains the best known and most frequently anthologized components of Kant's philosophy of religion. In addition to its portrayal of the ens realissimum, one finds within it Kant's objections to the Ontological, Cosmological and Physico-theological (Design) arguments for God's existence. It is thus the text most central to the negative elements of Kant's philosophy of religion and is integral to the widely held view that Kant is deeply hostile to faith. The general aim of the Transcendental Dialectic is to expose reason's excesses, its drive to move beyond the limits of possible experience, and to bring all concepts into a systematic unity under an “unconditioned condition.” The Transcendental Dialectic begins with a critique of reason's illusions and errors within the sphere of Rational Psychology. It then moves on to a critique of cosmological metaphysics, and then to the “Ideal of Reason” where Kant turns to Rational Theology and its pursuit of religious knowledge. As Kant explains, underlying all the traditional proofs for God's existence is the concept of the ens realissimum, the most real being. Reason comes to the idea of this being through the principle that every individuated object is subject to the “principle of complete determination.” While the generality of concepts allow them to be less than fully determined (e.g...
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...Kant's transcendental idealism has the dual aspect of being difficult to interpret and widely discredited. Kant's relevancy has been on the decline since his day, largely due to a wide variety of attacks from modern analytic philosophy. One of their main targets has been Kant's distinction between appearances and things in themselves. This distinction is integral to Kant's entire transcendental idealism; their attacks risk undermining the entire critical philosophy. These attacks are largely based on the two world interpretation of Kant's philosophy. This perspective is the most common of Kant's viewpoint; appearances and things in-themselves occupy distinct metaphysical realms. Noumena exist independently of phenomena and cause some of them,...
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...In Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience, his argument is “It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right. The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at any time what I think right.” Revolutionary writing characteristics would be finding a voice of your own and being independent. Some evidence of that in this quote would be that the quote is saying to be independent and do what you believe is right and screw the law. Even though the Stamp Act was the law it wasn’t right so the people of Boston had a Revolutionary idea to fight back. That was what gave our independence. We followed what we believed was right and started a revolution with it. Romantic writing was started when there was this shift from faith in reason to faith in feelings, senses, and imagination. It was about being free and trusting your instinct. Like in Moulin Rouge, the main character wanted to be a writer so he followed his gut, moved to France, and believed in love to inspire his righting. Evidence of Romantic writing characteristics in the quote would be that you follow your gut and do what you have faith in as right. The law was reason. Following what you believed as right instead was the shift. Transcendental writing was belief in nature, less need for objects, more focus on the inner self, and self-reliance. Transcendentalism was the belief that knowledge could be derived not just trust through the senses, but through intuition and contemplation of the internal...
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...appearances (empirical) then they were dependent upon prior events and so cannot possibly be a result of free agency. (Am I repeating myself or shall I keep it to big up my word count?) Also, the fact that the thing in itself is able to begin a causal chain in the empirical world seems strange since we cannot expect an object to cause an event in a closed causal chain nor can we begin to accept it if it were even to happen. In addition, the concept of the thing in itself brings with it another problem that makes it harder to fully accept Kant’s compatibilist view. Since the noumena cannot be known it does little to help Kant’s explanation of the origin of reason for it cannot be proven or disproven and so introducing the unknown into his argument makes it infallible but also at the same time useless since we cannot properly explore...
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...Eric Melino Professor Ndovie PHI 101 3/7/13 Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher born in 1724 in Königsberg, Prussia. Kant was a solid albeit unspectacular, student. He was brought up in a Pietist household that stressed education that preferred Latin and religious instruction instead of mathematics and science. Kant lived a predictable life. He never married. Kant was a popular teacher and a modestly successful author before starting on his major philosophical works. He studied at the University of Königsberg. He is best known for his work in philosophy of ethics and metaphysics. Immanuel Kant “rejected the empiricists blank slate hypothesis on the grounds that the mind was not simply a passive receptacle of neutral sense data (Palmer 102).” He replaced some of these ideas with categories, which were formal and active features of the mind. Kant’s model of the mind can be broken down into three categories: the mind is complex set of abilities, the functions crucial for mental, knowledge-generating activity, and these functions called synthesis. “Kant held surprisingly strong and not entirely consistent views on the empirical study of the mind. The empirical method for doing psychology that Kant discussed was introspection (Brook).” Kant’s synthesis is broken down into three parts: apprehending in intuition, reproducing in imagination, and recognizing in concepts. Each of these three concepts relates to a different aspect of fundamental duality of intuition...
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...15.2011 Meditation the Real Medicine Writing an argument paper can be difficult, but my topic that I have chosen makes it somewhat easier since it is one that is used every day of my life. With it I can meet the daily challenges that most everyone take for granted. Like, eating and drinking we think nothing of those skills, well for me it is the same as eating and drinking. It has to be or I won't be able to function throughout my day. In 1981 I broke my lower lumbar spine in 4 places, a fall that accrued during a Special OP’s training exercise. I fell four stories and landed in water, but it felt like cement. For the next year my life was in a hospital traction bed and told I would never walk again. I walk today but the pain remains, a constant reminder of a day that changed my life forever and started me in the world of pain management. As one starts thinking about the argument topic they want to write about, this was a no brainier for me in choosing the topic to write about. A practice that is, as routine as eating or brushing one's teeth for most people. This routine is as important to me as to the daily challenges that most everyone take for granted. My argument topic is on meditation vs. alpha-medicine drug treatments. Let’s get some clearly to the facts about meditation this might be helpful in an argument against some of the assumptions on meditation, which is something I practice in my life every single day...
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...Transcendental Philosophy One needs specific initiation into the classics of transcendental philosophy (Kant’s "Criticism," Descartes’s "Metaphysics," and Fichte’s "Doctrine of Science") because all say farewell to the common sense view of things. The three types of transcendental thinking converge in conceiving rational autonomy as the ultimate ground for justification. Correspondingly, the philosophical pedagogy of all three thinkers is focused on how to seize and make that very autonomy (or active self-determination) intellectually and existentially available. In the concrete way of proceeding, however, the three models diverge. Descartes expects one to become master of oneself and "the world" by methodologically suspending his judgement on what cannot qualify itself to be undoubtable. Kant leads us to the point where we can triangulate universal conditions of the possibility of knowledge through individually acquiring the competence to judge the legitimacy of encountered propositional claims. Finally, Fichte confronts us with the idea of the identity of self-consciousness and objectivity. (1) Transcending ordinary life and experience to a somewhat higher being is surely not the scope of transcendental philosophy. What the revolutionary achievements of Descartes, Kant, and Fichte have generically in common is to account for the legitimacy of our knowledge claims or, in other words, for the possibility of autonomy. The business of that kind of philosophy is to rationally...
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...THE MIND IN IDEALISM Philosophy of mind is widely considered a branch of philosophy that studies the nature of the mind, mental events, mental functions, mental properties, consciousness, and their relationship to the physical body, particularly the brain. The mind–body problem, i.e. the relationship of the mind to the body, is commonly seen as one key issue in philosophy of mind, although there are other issues concerning the nature of the mind that do not involve its relation to the physical body, such as how consciousness is possible and the nature of particular mental states. One of these issues that do not presume a relationship of a mind and body is the conception of mind in Idealism. Philosophically, idealism is the view that fundamental reality is the make-up of mind and ideas only. This essay will discuss at length what the mind generally means to the idealist especially in the classical sense as espoused by George Berkeley and then proceed to analyse the concept of mind or self in the radical transcendentalism of Joseph von Schelling and conclude with Edmund Husserl, a 20th century philosopher and reputed founder of Phenomenology Idealism is the form of monism that sees the world as consisting of minds, mental contents and or consciousness, according to Stoljar (2005). Idealists are not faced with explaining how minds arise from bodies: rather, the world, bodies and objects are regarded as mere appearances held by minds. According to Stoljar, accounting for the mind–body...
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...In 2000 David Batchelor produced a literary intervention upon the notion of Chromophobia[1], literally fear of colour or hue, and proposed an argument that societal structures and power relations which have enabled the development of a “virtuous whiteness of the West”[2] with this whiteness “woven into the fabric of culture”[3]. In this state of Chromophobia colour is observed as a negative “other” in comparison to the properties and associated value of white-ness. As Batchelor explains: “the other that is colour is everywhere: around and in and of us… it can only be imagined away.”[4] From the earliest cultural documents Batchelor observed reference to the dangerous, excessive qualities of colour. As the immediate association of colour and sin in this passage in the bible indicates: “though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow”[5] Furthermore Batchelor proposes that there is no area of mainstream culture that is not marked by this societal need to denigrate colour for the safety and idealisation of monochrome. He draws examples from theorists in education to the work place, from art to politics, in order to support his argument that the language of marginalising colour is entrenched in the fabric of society[6]. That tradition dictates that colour be contained and subjugated by line and form and done so most completely. There is an apparent opposing notion, termed as Chromophilia, which Batchelor claims plays upon very different associations to...
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...Karman Khanna MA (Communication and Journalism) Communication Theory – Literature Review Topic : Is Transpersonal communication a stand-alone type of communication or a subtype of Intrapersonal communication? Department of Communication and Journalism, Mumbai University (2013) Abstract: Transpersonal communication is principally defined as a communication between a person and God, spirits, ancestors, or other divine entities. However, their existence is debatable and depends on the individual’s beliefs. It is his mind which believes in their existence or absence which ultimately leads to the question of whether the person actually communicated with a second entity or himself. This raises the question as to whether transpersonal communication can be regarded as a stand-alone type of communication or a subtype of intrapersonal communication which is principally defined as communication within an individual. Hypothesis: * Transpersonal communication is a stand-alone type of communication * Transpersonal communication is a subtype of intrapersonal communication * Transpersonal communication is maybe a subtype of intrapersonal communication Objective: To know the degree up to which transpersonal communication can be regarded as a stand-alone type of communication Literature Review: “Levels of communication are determined on the basis of the number of people involved in the process of communication as well as on the purpose of communication...
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...Utilitarianism is based on a person’s measure of happiness from a utility prospective. The belief is the moral value is determined by its measured utility in providing someone with pleasure or happiness. Utility is described in the text as property in any object that tends to produce advantage, pleasure, good or happiness is to prevent mischief or evil doing to the individual or community. Kantianism is Kant’s view that that moral value was based on an individual using his or her own rational faculties as described in the text chapter nine. Faculties are reference to our intellectual minds. Kant believed a person needed to develop a clear understanding of the universal morals that are shared by all people with in all circumstances. His argument for defense is good will is irreducible source of moral value as stated in the text. Virtue ethics give emphasis to one’s disposition of self morals. The text describes a “virtuous character” to state that people achieve their moral base through making moral choices in time as our daily lives advance. The text refers that acting natural expressing moral principles is virtue ethics or a virtuous character. Utilitarianism vs. Kantianism is complete opposites. Kant is more believe that if a person practices good will and follows certain standards or moral laws they will have done well. He believed that good will is good due to its intentions not necessarily its outcome. A person who tries to follow the Ten Commandments and fails occasionally...
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