Think by Simon Blackburn. Chapter 7c The World

Size: px
Start display at page:

Download "Think by Simon Blackburn. Chapter 7c The World"

Transcription

1 Think by Simon Blackburn Chapter 7c The World

2 Idealism Despite the power of Berkeley s critique, his resulting metaphysical view is highly problematic. Essentially, Berkeley concludes that there is no such thing as an objective physical reality at all. Reality is ideas and nothing more. This view is called idealism.

3 Avoiding subjective idealism Berkeley s view seems to be equivalent to the kind of solipsism or subjective idealism that Descartes was left with after the failure of his project in the Meditations. Moreover, it seems to imply that in absence of any sentient beings there would be no universe at all, which strongly conflicts with scientific view that sentient beings evolved from a pre-existing universe and that this universe will continue to exist when we are gone. Berkeley tried to solve this problem by invoking God as an infinite mental or spiritual substance, that is constantly perceiving everything.

4 2 limericks Critique There was a young man who said God, must find it exceedingly odd when he finds that the tree continues to be when noone's about in the Quad. Reply Dear Sir, your astonishment's odd I'm always about in the Quad And that's why the tree continues to be Since observed by, yours faithfully, God

5 George Berkeley was A. a skeptic B. an idealist C. a rationalist D. a realist

6 Berkeley s own views are no less problematic than Locke s because they seem to imply that A. God does not exist. B. The external world does not exist in the absence of sentient beings. C. Primary and secondary qualities are both purely physical in nature.

7 Idealism vs. Realism Berkeley, as we have already noted, is an idealist. He believes that there is literally no such thing as a physical world existing apart from our idea of it. Locke, by contrast, is a realist. A realist is someone who believes that the world does exist independently of our (or any other being s) idea of it. For review: Regarding the nature of knowledge, the two main classifications are: rationalism vs. empiricism. Regarding the nature of reality, the two main classifications are: realism vs. idealism.

8 A table Realist Idealist Rationalist Descartes Leibniz Empiricist Locke Berkeley

9 Hume You may have noticed that neither Kant nor Hume are on the preceding table. Hume is definitely an empiricist, but he can not be classified as either a realist or an idealist in any simple sense. In some ways Hume is a metaphysical skeptic, meaning that he does not think it is ultimately possible to have knowledge of an independent, or transcendent reality. In other ways Hume is a pragmatic realist, because he thinks that it is still perfectly reasonable to treat science as a source of reliable knowledge for practical purposes.

10 Kant 1 Kant is also difficult to classify because in many ways he is trying to solve the problem that arises from accepting the traditional categories. Traditionally, both the rationalist and the empiricist agree that is possible to have knowledge of an independent reality. They disagreed only on whether reason or experience was the ultimate foundation for such knowledge.

11 Kant 2 But Kant thought Berkeley had established that knowledge of a truly independent reality is incoherent. When we talk about reality as it is in-itself, we mean as it is independent of any particular conception of it. And it simply makes no sense to speak of our conception of an unconceptualized reality.

12 Kant with Berkeley s claim that ideas can not resemble an independent reality. A. agreed B. disagreed

13 Kant 3 But Kant rejected the subjective idealism that seems to result from Berkeley s critique of Locke. Subjective idealism is the view that the world is constituted by ideas alone. Kant thought this view was manifestly false. Kant thought it was clear that there is something corresponding to objective knowledge of the world, a kind of knowledge that independently existing people were capable of sharing. But he needed to articulate the concept of objective knowledge in such a way that he did not fall victim to Locke s apparently incoherent transcendental realism (the view that our true ideas match or resemble a transcendent reality.)

14 Hume 1 You may recall that Hume had argued that there are only two kinds of truths. analytic truths true by definition, or by virtue of the meanings of the terms alone. e.g., Parallel lines never meet. Circles have no corners. It ain t over till it s over < 7 synthetic truths true by virtue of the way the world is. Bob is hungry. The earth orbits the sun. There are three chickens on the porch. E=mc 2

15 Hume 2 Hume had also claimed that Analytic truths are simply relations of ideas, and therefore can be known a priori, on the basis of reason alone. Synthetic truths, being about the world, could only be known a posteriori, or on the basis of experience. Hume had argued that rationalists like Descartes had made a serious error in trying to deduce substantial truths about an independent reality on the basis of reason alone. Kant agreed with Hume, and he thought this mistake was just as serious, involving the same degree of incoherence as Locke s mistake of identifying ideas that resembled an unconceptualized reality.

16 Hume 3 However, while Kant mostly agreed with Hume s skepticism about the nature of an independently existing reality, he still thought reason could teach us quite a bit more than Hume allowed. Hence, Kant also desired to avoid the skepticism, or merely pragmatic realism of Hume.

17 Kant s task So Kant s task was to try to develop a view that avoided. Berkeley s subjective idealism. which denied an objective reality altogether. Locke s transcendental realism. which was properly criticized by Berkeley as incoherent. Descartes rationalism which was properly criticized by Hume as incoherent. Hume s skepticism which did not fully credit the power of human rationality.

18 Kant s approach As Adrian Moore explained in the interview, Kant identified a kind of truth that he believed Hume and others had overlooked. Hume had said that analytic truths were known a priori. synthetic truths were a posteriori. But Kant made the surprising claim that there could be synthetic truths that could be known a priori.

19 Synthetic a priori truths Synthetic a priori truths are necessary truths about the world itself. They are not simply true by definition. They are not based on experience. Some examples of synthetic a priori truths are: Two objects can t be in the same place at the same time. An object can t be completely red and completely green. Time doesn t flow backwards. Causes determine their effects. There are three spatial dimensions. Again, the distinctive quality of these statements is that they seem necessarily true, but also seem to be about the world in a way that analytic truths are not.

20 Another table A priori A posteriori Analytic There are 60 seconds in a minute. Synthetic Time does not flow backwards. The final exam lasts 2 hours

21 How are synthetic a priori truths possible? For Kant, then, the key question is: How are synthetic a priori truths possible? His answer is that synthetic a priori truths are not about an external reality at all, but about the conditions of experience itself.

22 The key move in Kant s metaphysics is to explain how A. subjective idealism is possible. B. synthetic a priori truths are possible. C. transcendental realism is possible. D. empirical a posteriori truths are possible.

23 What does that mean? To see what this means, think about a concept like space. We are accustomed to thinking of space as something that is external to us, in the sense of being part of reality itself. Kant, however would say that space is not part of reality itself, but the form in which reality is presented to us. He says the same thing about other fundamental concepts like time, causation, and mathematical and geometrical relations.

24 The Lockean picture So, whereas Locke saw the world in terms of our ideas either resembling or not resembling reality, like this: Ideas Reality Shape is a primary quality that matches reality, color a secondary quality that does not.

25 The Kantian picture Kant saw reality as being filtered through a kind of grid, the necessary forms of experience, that everyone shares in common. Subjective reality or inner experience Empirical Reality or outer experience Transcendent Reality? Forms of experience

26 The Kantian picture On the Kantian picture, there is a transcendent reality about which we can know nothing except that it exists. Reality is conditioned by the forms of experience, the nature of which can be known on the basis of reason alone. Subjective reality or inner experience Empirical teality or outer experience Transcendent Reality? Forms of experience

27 For Kant, the only thing we can know about transcendent reality is that A. it is a form of experience. B. it is conditioned by the forms of experience. C. it resembles our outer experience. D. it matches our inner experience.

28 The Kantian picture Empirical reality is what science studies, and it corresponds roughly to Locke s primary qualities. Importantly, however, it is not independent of experience; it has been filtered through the forms of experience. It is objective, however, in the sense that everyone shares the same grid. Locke s secondary qualities remain subjective. Subjective reality or inner experience Empirical reality or outer experience Transcendent Reality? Forms of experience

29 The Kantian picture Note that on Kant s scheme we can now make sense of the question whether our idea of a circle resembles empirical reality, because empirical reality is not independent reality. It is already conceptualized. Subjective reality or Inner experience Empirical reality or Outer Experience Transcendent Reality? Forms of experience

30 Was Kant right? Kant s view of the world was very powerful, and there is no question that it helped to articulate the foundations of what we now call cognitive science. It is now well-established that our mind is not a blank slate at birth, but imposes a certain structure on the world. However, Kant was probably not correct in thinking that the forms of experience could be determined by reason alone, or that they constrained inquiry quite as rigidly as Kant believed. For example, Kant believed that science was constrained to conceive of space as 3-dimensional and causality as deterministic. But neither of these has turned out to be true. Hence, there may still be some coherent sense in which the purely mathematical models of science are describing a transcendental reality.

Think by Simon Blackburn. Chapter 7b The World

Think by Simon Blackburn. Chapter 7b The World Think by Simon Blackburn Chapter 7b The World Kant s metaphysics rested on identifying a kind of truth that Hume and other did not acknowledge. It is called A. synthetic a priori B. analytic a priori C.

More information

PHILOSOPHY OF KNOWLEDGE & REALITY W E E K 7 : E P I S T E M O L O G Y - K A N T

PHILOSOPHY OF KNOWLEDGE & REALITY W E E K 7 : E P I S T E M O L O G Y - K A N T PHILOSOPHY OF KNOWLEDGE & REALITY W E E K 7 : E P I S T E M O L O G Y - K A N T AGENDA 1. Review of Epistemology 2. Kant Kant s Compromise Kant s Copernican Revolution 3. The Nature of Truth KNOWLEDGE:

More information

PHILOSOPHY OF KNOWLEDGE & REALITY W E E K 7 : E P I S T E M O L O G Y - K A N T

PHILOSOPHY OF KNOWLEDGE & REALITY W E E K 7 : E P I S T E M O L O G Y - K A N T PHILOSOPHY OF KNOWLEDGE & REALITY W E E K 7 : E P I S T E M O L O G Y - K A N T AGENDA 1. Review of Epistemology 2. Kant Kant s Compromise Kant s Copernican Revolution 3. The Nature of Truth REVIEW: THREE

More information

Important dates. PSY 3360 / CGS 3325 Historical Perspectives on Psychology Minds and Machines since David Hume ( )

Important dates. PSY 3360 / CGS 3325 Historical Perspectives on Psychology Minds and Machines since David Hume ( ) PSY 3360 / CGS 3325 Historical Perspectives on Psychology Minds and Machines since 1600 Dr. Peter Assmann Spring 2018 Important dates Feb 14 Term paper draft due Upload paper to E-Learning https://elearning.utdallas.edu

More information

Intro to Philosophy. Review for Exam 2

Intro to Philosophy. Review for Exam 2 Intro to Philosophy Review for Exam 2 Epistemology Theory of Knowledge What is knowledge? What is the structure of knowledge? What particular things can I know? What particular things do I know? Do I know

More information

Kant Lecture 4 Review Synthetic a priori knowledge

Kant Lecture 4 Review Synthetic a priori knowledge Kant Lecture 4 Review Synthetic a priori knowledge Statements involving necessity or strict universality could never be known on the basis of sense experience, and are thus known (if known at all) a priori.

More information

The British Empiricism

The British Empiricism The British Empiricism Locke, Berkeley and Hume copyleft: nicolazuin.2018 nowxhere.wordpress.com The terrible heritage of Descartes: Skepticism, Empiricism, Rationalism The problem originates from the

More information

24.01 Classics of Western Philosophy

24.01 Classics of Western Philosophy 1 Plan: Kant Lecture #2: How are pure mathematics and pure natural science possible? 1. Review: Problem of Metaphysics 2. Kantian Commitments 3. Pure Mathematics 4. Transcendental Idealism 5. Pure Natural

More information

Philosophy 203 History of Modern Western Philosophy. Russell Marcus Hamilton College Spring 2014

Philosophy 203 History of Modern Western Philosophy. Russell Marcus Hamilton College Spring 2014 Philosophy 203 History of Modern Western Philosophy Russell Marcus Hamilton College Spring 2014 Class #26 Kant s Copernican Revolution The Synthetic A Priori Forms of Intuition Marcus, Modern Philosophy,

More information

Aspects of Western Philosophy Dr. Sreekumar Nellickappilly Department of Humanities and Social Sciences Indian Institute of Technology, Madras

Aspects of Western Philosophy Dr. Sreekumar Nellickappilly Department of Humanities and Social Sciences Indian Institute of Technology, Madras Aspects of Western Philosophy Dr. Sreekumar Nellickappilly Department of Humanities and Social Sciences Indian Institute of Technology, Madras Module - 21 Lecture - 21 Kant Forms of sensibility Categories

More information

WHAT IS HUME S FORK? Certainty does not exist in science.

WHAT IS HUME S FORK?  Certainty does not exist in science. WHAT IS HUME S FORK? www.prshockley.org Certainty does not exist in science. I. Introduction: A. Hume divides all objects of human reason into two different kinds: Relation of Ideas & Matters of Fact.

More information

Of Skepticism with Regard to the Senses. David Hume

Of Skepticism with Regard to the Senses. David Hume Of Skepticism with Regard to the Senses David Hume General Points about Hume's Project The rationalist method used by Descartes cannot provide justification for any substantial, interesting claims about

More information

KANT S EXPLANATION OF THE NECESSITY OF GEOMETRICAL TRUTHS. John Watling

KANT S EXPLANATION OF THE NECESSITY OF GEOMETRICAL TRUTHS. John Watling KANT S EXPLANATION OF THE NECESSITY OF GEOMETRICAL TRUTHS John Watling Kant was an idealist. His idealism was in some ways, it is true, less extreme than that of Berkeley. He distinguished his own by calling

More information

Introduction to Philosophy PHL 221, York College Revised, Spring 2017

Introduction to Philosophy PHL 221, York College Revised, Spring 2017 Introduction to Philosophy PHL 221, York College Revised, Spring 2017 Beginnings of Philosophy: Overview of Course (1) The Origins of Philosophy and Relativism Knowledge Are you a self? Ethics: What is

More information

George Berkeley. The Principles of Human Knowledge. Review

George Berkeley. The Principles of Human Knowledge. Review George Berkeley The Principles of Human Knowledge Review To be is to be perceived Obvious to the Mind all those bodies which compose the earth have no subsistence without a mind, their being is to be perceived

More information

Kant s Transcendental Idealism

Kant s Transcendental Idealism Kant s Transcendental Idealism Critique of Pure Reason Immanuel Kant Copernicus Kant s Copernican Revolution Rationalists: universality and necessity require synthetic a priori knowledge knowledge of the

More information

1/10. The Fourth Paralogism and the Refutation of Idealism

1/10. The Fourth Paralogism and the Refutation of Idealism 1/10 The Fourth Paralogism and the Refutation of Idealism The Fourth Paralogism is quite different from the three that preceded it because, although it is treated as a part of rational psychology, it main

More information

John Locke. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding

John Locke. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding John Locke An Essay Concerning Human Understanding From Rationalism to Empiricism Empiricism vs. Rationalism Empiricism: All knowledge ultimately rests upon sense experience. All justification (our reasons

More information

Review Tutorial (A Whirlwind Tour of Metaphysics, Epistemology and Philosophy of Religion)

Review Tutorial (A Whirlwind Tour of Metaphysics, Epistemology and Philosophy of Religion) Review Tutorial (A Whirlwind Tour of Metaphysics, Epistemology and Philosophy of Religion) Arguably, the main task of philosophy is to seek the truth. We seek genuine knowledge. This is why epistemology

More information

Kant On The A Priority of Space: A Critique Arjun Sawhney - The University of Toronto pp. 4-7

Kant On The A Priority of Space: A Critique Arjun Sawhney - The University of Toronto pp. 4-7 Issue 1 Spring 2016 Undergraduate Journal of Philosophy Kant On The A Priority of Space: A Critique Arjun Sawhney - The University of Toronto pp. 4-7 For details of submission dates and guidelines please

More information

To appear in The Journal of Philosophy.

To appear in The Journal of Philosophy. To appear in The Journal of Philosophy. Lucy Allais: Manifest Reality: Kant s Idealism and his Realism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015, pp. xi + 329. 40.00 (hb). ISBN: 9780198747130. Kant s doctrine

More information

Aspects of Western Philosophy Dr. Sreekumar Nellickappilly Department of Humanities and Social Sciences Indian Institute of Technology, Madras

Aspects of Western Philosophy Dr. Sreekumar Nellickappilly Department of Humanities and Social Sciences Indian Institute of Technology, Madras Aspects of Western Philosophy Dr. Sreekumar Nellickappilly Department of Humanities and Social Sciences Indian Institute of Technology, Madras Module - 20 Lecture - 20 Critical Philosophy: Kant s objectives

More information

Reid Against Skepticism

Reid Against Skepticism Thus we see, that Descartes and Locke take the road that leads to skepticism without knowing the end of it, but they stop short for want of light to carry them farther. Berkeley, frightened at the appearance

More information

Empiricism. HZT4U1 - Mr. Wittmann - Unit 3 - Lecture 3

Empiricism. HZT4U1 - Mr. Wittmann - Unit 3 - Lecture 3 Empiricism HZT4U1 - Mr. Wittmann - Unit 3 - Lecture 3 What can give us more sure knowledge than our senses? How else can we distinguish between the true & the false? -Lucretius The Dream by Henri Rousseau

More information

Excerpt from J. Garvey, The Twenty Greatest Philosophy Books (Continuum, 2007): Immanuel Kant s Critique of Pure Reason

Excerpt from J. Garvey, The Twenty Greatest Philosophy Books (Continuum, 2007): Immanuel Kant s Critique of Pure Reason Excerpt from J. Garvey, The Twenty Greatest Philosophy Books (Continuum, 2007): Immanuel Kant s Critique of Pure Reason In a letter to Moses Mendelssohn, Kant says this about the Critique of Pure Reason:

More information

Introductory Kant Seminar Lecture

Introductory Kant Seminar Lecture Introductory Kant Seminar Lecture Intentionality It is not unusual to begin a discussion of Kant with a brief review of some history of philosophy. What is perhaps less usual is to start with a review

More information

A. Aristotle D. Descartes B. Plato E. Hume

A. Aristotle D. Descartes B. Plato E. Hume A. Aristotle D. Kant B. Plato E. Mill C. Confucius 1....pleasure, and freedom from pain, are the only things desirable as ends. 2. Courage is not only the knowledge of the hopeful and the fearful, but

More information

Philosophy Quiz 12 The Age of Descartes

Philosophy Quiz 12 The Age of Descartes Philosophy Quiz 12 The Age of Descartes Name (in Romaji): Student Number: Grade: / 8 (12.1) What is dualism? [A] The metaphysical view that reality ultimately consists of two kinds of things, basically,

More information

FIL 4600/10/20: KANT S CRITIQUE AND CRITICAL METAPHYSICS

FIL 4600/10/20: KANT S CRITIQUE AND CRITICAL METAPHYSICS FIL 4600/10/20: KANT S CRITIQUE AND CRITICAL METAPHYSICS Autumn 2012, University of Oslo Thursdays, 14 16, Georg Morgenstiernes hus 219, Blindern Toni Kannisto t.t.kannisto@ifikk.uio.no SHORT PLAN 1 23/8:

More information

The CopernicanRevolution

The CopernicanRevolution Immanuel Kant: The Copernican Revolution The CopernicanRevolution Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) The Critique of Pure Reason (1781) is Kant s best known work. In this monumental work, he begins a Copernican-like

More information

! Jumping ahead 2000 years:! Consider the theory of the self.! What am I? What certain knowledge do I have?! Key figure: René Descartes.

! Jumping ahead 2000 years:! Consider the theory of the self.! What am I? What certain knowledge do I have?! Key figure: René Descartes. ! Jumping ahead 2000 years:! Consider the theory of the self.! What am I? What certain knowledge do I have?! What is the relation between that knowledge and that given in the sciences?! Key figure: René

More information

Kant and his Successors

Kant and his Successors Kant and his Successors G. J. Mattey Winter, 2011 / Philosophy 151 The Sorry State of Metaphysics Kant s Critique of Pure Reason (1781) was an attempt to put metaphysics on a scientific basis. Metaphysics

More information

Ayer s linguistic theory of the a priori

Ayer s linguistic theory of the a priori Ayer s linguistic theory of the a priori phil 43904 Jeff Speaks December 4, 2007 1 The problem of a priori knowledge....................... 1 2 Necessity and the a priori............................ 2

More information

PHILOSOPHICAL RAMIFICATIONS: THEORY, EXPERIMENT, & EMPIRICAL TRUTH

PHILOSOPHICAL RAMIFICATIONS: THEORY, EXPERIMENT, & EMPIRICAL TRUTH PHILOSOPHICAL RAMIFICATIONS: THEORY, EXPERIMENT, & EMPIRICAL TRUTH PCES 3.42 Even before Newton published his revolutionary work, philosophers had already been trying to come to grips with the questions

More information

From Transcendental Logic to Transcendental Deduction

From Transcendental Logic to Transcendental Deduction From Transcendental Logic to Transcendental Deduction Let me see if I can say a few things to re-cap our first discussion of the Transcendental Logic, and help you get a foothold for what follows. Kant

More information

Immanuel Kant, Analytic and Synthetic. Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics Preface and Preamble

Immanuel Kant, Analytic and Synthetic. Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics Preface and Preamble + Immanuel Kant, Analytic and Synthetic Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics Preface and Preamble + Innate vs. a priori n Philosophers today usually distinguish psychological from epistemological questions.

More information

Rationalism. A. He, like others at the time, was obsessed with questions of truth and doubt

Rationalism. A. He, like others at the time, was obsessed with questions of truth and doubt Rationalism I. Descartes (1596-1650) A. He, like others at the time, was obsessed with questions of truth and doubt 1. How could one be certain in the absence of religious guidance and trustworthy senses

More information

This handout follows the handout on The nature of the sceptic s challenge. You should read that handout first.

This handout follows the handout on The nature of the sceptic s challenge. You should read that handout first. Michael Lacewing Three responses to scepticism This handout follows the handout on The nature of the sceptic s challenge. You should read that handout first. MITIGATED SCEPTICISM The term mitigated scepticism

More information

1/12. The A Paralogisms

1/12. The A Paralogisms 1/12 The A Paralogisms The character of the Paralogisms is described early in the chapter. Kant describes them as being syllogisms which contain no empirical premises and states that in them we conclude

More information

Introduction to Philosophy. Instructor: Jason Sheley

Introduction to Philosophy. Instructor: Jason Sheley Introduction to Philosophy Instructor: Jason Sheley Quiz: True or False? (if false, explain why) 1. Descartes investigates whether there is a God because he needs to rule out a source for his doubts concerning

More information

Realism and its competitors. Scepticism, idealism, phenomenalism

Realism and its competitors. Scepticism, idealism, phenomenalism Realism and its competitors Scepticism, idealism, phenomenalism Perceptual Subjectivism Bonjour gives the term perceptual subjectivism to the conclusion of the argument from illusion. Perceptual subjectivism

More information

Hume on Ideas, Impressions, and Knowledge

Hume on Ideas, Impressions, and Knowledge Hume on Ideas, Impressions, and Knowledge in class. Let my try one more time to make clear the ideas we discussed today Ideas and Impressions First off, Hume, like Descartes, Locke, and Berkeley, believes

More information

CHAPTER III KANT S APPROACH TO A PRIORI AND A POSTERIORI

CHAPTER III KANT S APPROACH TO A PRIORI AND A POSTERIORI CHAPTER III KANT S APPROACH TO A PRIORI AND A POSTERIORI Introduction One could easily find out two most influential epistemological doctrines, namely, rationalism and empiricism that have inadequate solutions

More information

Reading Questions for Phil , Fall 2012 (Daniel)

Reading Questions for Phil , Fall 2012 (Daniel) Reading Questions for Phil 251.200, Fall 2012 (Daniel) Class One: What is Philosophy? (Aug. 28) How is philosophy different from mythology? How is philosophy different from religion? How is philosophy

More information

Unit 2. WoK 1 - Perception. Tuesday, October 7, 14

Unit 2. WoK 1 - Perception. Tuesday, October 7, 14 Unit 2 WoK 1 - Perception Russell Reading - Appearance and Reality The Russell document provides a basic framework for looking at the limitations of our senses. In small groups, discuss and record what

More information

Intro. The need for a philosophical vocabulary

Intro. The need for a philosophical vocabulary Critical Realism & Philosophy Webinar Ruth Groff August 5, 2015 Intro. The need for a philosophical vocabulary You don t have to become a philosopher, but just as philosophers should know their way around

More information

Idealism. Contents EMPIRICISM. George Berkeley and Idealism. Preview: Hume. Idealism: other versions. Idealism: simplest definition

Idealism. Contents EMPIRICISM. George Berkeley and Idealism. Preview: Hume. Idealism: other versions. Idealism: simplest definition Contents EMPIRICISM PHIL3072, ANU, 2015 Jason Grossman http://empiricism.xeny.net preview & recap idealism Berkeley lecture 5: 11 August George Berkeley and Idealism Preview: Hume Not very original on

More information

Instructor Information Larry M. Jorgensen Office: Ladd Hall, room Office Hours: Mon-Thu, 1-2 p.m.

Instructor Information Larry M. Jorgensen Office: Ladd Hall, room Office Hours: Mon-Thu, 1-2 p.m. Fall 2010 The Scientific Revolution generated discoveries and inventions that went well beyond what the human eye had ever before seen extending outward to distant planets and moons and downward to cellular

More information

Reading Questions for Phil , Fall 2016 (Daniel)

Reading Questions for Phil , Fall 2016 (Daniel) Reading Questions for Phil 251.501, Fall 2016 (Daniel) Class One (Aug. 30): Philosophy Up to Plato (SW 3-78) 1. What does it mean to say that philosophy replaces myth as an explanatory device starting

More information

Immanuel Kant. Retirado de: https://www.iep.utm.edu/kantview/ (25/01/2018)

Immanuel Kant. Retirado de: https://www.iep.utm.edu/kantview/ (25/01/2018) Retirado de: https://www.iep.utm.edu/kantview/ (25/01/2018) Immanuel Kant Towards the end of his most influential work, Critique of Pure Reason(1781/1787), Kant argues that all philosophy ultimately aims

More information

Think by Simon Blackburn. Chapter 1b Knowledge

Think by Simon Blackburn. Chapter 1b Knowledge Think by Simon Blackburn Chapter 1b Knowledge According to A.C. Grayling, if cogito ergo sum is an argument, it is missing a premise. This premise is: A. Everything that exists thinks. B. Everything that

More information

- We might, now, wonder whether the resulting concept of justification is sufficiently strong. According to BonJour, apparent rational insight is

- We might, now, wonder whether the resulting concept of justification is sufficiently strong. According to BonJour, apparent rational insight is BonJour I PHIL410 BonJour s Moderate Rationalism - BonJour develops and defends a moderate form of Rationalism. - Rationalism, generally (as used here), is the view according to which the primary tool

More information

Syllabus. Primary Sources, 2 edition. Hackett, Various supplementary handouts, available in class and on the course website.

Syllabus. Primary Sources, 2 edition. Hackett, Various supplementary handouts, available in class and on the course website. Philosophy 203: History of Modern Western Philosophy Spring 2012 Tuesdays, Thursdays: 9am - 10:15am SC G041 Hamilton College Russell Marcus Office: 202 College Hill Road, Upstairs email: rmarcus1@hamilton.edu

More information

In The California Undergraduate Philosophy Review, vol. 1, pp Fresno, CA: California State University, Fresno.

In The California Undergraduate Philosophy Review, vol. 1, pp Fresno, CA: California State University, Fresno. A Distinction Without a Difference? The Analytic-Synthetic Distinction and Immanuel Kant s Critique of Metaphysics Brandon Clark Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo Abstract: In this paper I pose and answer the

More information

New Chapter: Epistemology: The Theory and Nature of Knowledge

New Chapter: Epistemology: The Theory and Nature of Knowledge Intro to Philosophy Phil 110 Lecture 14: 2-22 Daniel Kelly I. Mechanics A. Upcoming Readings 1. Today we ll discuss a. Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding b. Berkeley, Three Dialogues Between

More information

PHILOSOPHY OF KNOWLEDGE & REALITY

PHILOSOPHY OF KNOWLEDGE & REALITY PHILOSOPHY OF KNOWLEDGE & REALITY W E E K 7 - D A Y 2 ( T / T H ) : E P I S T E M O L O G Y E M P I R I C I S M, R A T I O N A L I S M, M I D T E R M D I S C U S S I O N REVIEW: EPISTEMOLOGY How do We

More information

Kant & Transcendental Idealism

Kant & Transcendental Idealism Kant & Transcendental Idealism HZT4U1 - Mr. Wittmann - Unit 3 - Lecture 4 Empiricists and rationalists alike are dupes of the same illusion. Both take partial notions for real parts. -Henri Bergson Enlightenment

More information

UNIVERSITY OF CALICUT QUESTION BANK

UNIVERSITY OF CALICUT QUESTION BANK UNIVERSITY OF CALICUT SCHOOL OF DISTANCE EDUCATION B.A PHILOSOPHY (2011 ADMISSION ONWARDS) VI SEMESTER CORE COURSE MODERN WESTERN PHILOSOPHY QUESTION BANK Unit-1: Spirit of Modern Philosophy 1. Who among

More information

1/8. Introduction to Kant: The Project of Critique

1/8. Introduction to Kant: The Project of Critique 1/8 Introduction to Kant: The Project of Critique This course is focused on the interpretation of one book: The Critique of Pure Reason and we will, during the course, read the majority of the key sections

More information

PHILOSOPHY IAS MAINS: QUESTIONS TREND ANALYSIS

PHILOSOPHY IAS MAINS: QUESTIONS TREND ANALYSIS VISION IAS www.visionias.wordpress.com www.visionias.cfsites.org www.visioniasonline.com Under the Guidance of Ajay Kumar Singh ( B.Tech. IIT Roorkee, Director & Founder : Vision IAS ) PHILOSOPHY IAS MAINS:

More information

Previous Final Examinations Philosophy 1

Previous Final Examinations Philosophy 1 Previous Final Examinations Philosophy 1 For each question, please write a short answer of about one paragraph in length. The answer should be written out in full sentences, not simple phrases. No books,

More information

Think by Simon Blackburn. Chapter 2b Mind

Think by Simon Blackburn. Chapter 2b Mind Think by Simon Blackburn Chapter 2b Mind According to Blackburn, the argument from analogy to the existence of other minds: A. is only available to the Cartesian dualist. B. is not available to the Cartesian

More information

1/8. Descartes 3: Proofs of the Existence of God

1/8. Descartes 3: Proofs of the Existence of God 1/8 Descartes 3: Proofs of the Existence of God Descartes opens the Third Meditation by reminding himself that nothing that is purely sensory is reliable. The one thing that is certain is the cogito. He

More information

A Priori Knowledge: Analytic? Synthetic A Priori (again) Is All A Priori Knowledge Analytic?

A Priori Knowledge: Analytic? Synthetic A Priori (again) Is All A Priori Knowledge Analytic? A Priori Knowledge: Analytic? Synthetic A Priori (again) Is All A Priori Knowledge Analytic? Recap A Priori Knowledge Knowledge independent of experience Kant: necessary and universal A Posteriori Knowledge

More information

Mind s Eye Idea Object

Mind s Eye Idea Object Do the ideas in our mind resemble the qualities in the objects that caused these ideas in our minds? Mind s Eye Idea Object Does this resemble this? In Locke s Terms Even if we accept that the ideas in

More information

Tuesday, September 2, Idealism

Tuesday, September 2, Idealism Idealism Enlightenment Puzzle How do these fit into a scientific picture of the world? Norms Necessity Universality Mind Idealism The dominant 19th-century response: often today called anti-realism Everything

More information

Course Description and Objectives:

Course Description and Objectives: Course Description and Objectives: Philosophy 4120: History of Modern Philosophy Fall 2011 Meeting time and location: MWF 11:50 AM-12:40 PM MEB 2325 Instructor: Anya Plutynski email: plutynski@philosophy.utah.edu

More information

Fr. Copleston vs. Bertrand Russell: The Famous 1948 BBC Radio Debate on the Existence of God

Fr. Copleston vs. Bertrand Russell: The Famous 1948 BBC Radio Debate on the Existence of God Fr. Copleston vs. Bertrand Russell: The Famous 1948 BBC Radio Debate on the Existence of God Father Frederick C. Copleston (Jesuit Catholic priest) versus Bertrand Russell (agnostic philosopher) Copleston:

More information

Syllabus. Primary Sources, 2 edition. Hackett, Various supplementary handouts, available in class and on the course website.

Syllabus. Primary Sources, 2 edition. Hackett, Various supplementary handouts, available in class and on the course website. Philosophy 203: History of Modern Western Philosophy Spring 2011 Tuesdays, Thursdays: 9am - 10:15am Benedict 105 Hamilton College Russell Marcus Office: 210 College Hill Road, Room 201 email: rmarcus1@hamilton.edu

More information

Kantian Realism. Jake Quilty-Dunn. Kantian Realism 75

Kantian Realism. Jake Quilty-Dunn. Kantian Realism 75 Kantian Realism Kantian Realism 75 ant's claims that the objects of perception are appearances, "mere representations," and that we can never K perceive things in themselves, seem to mark him as some sort

More information

Chapter 18 David Hume: Theory of Knowledge

Chapter 18 David Hume: Theory of Knowledge Key Words Chapter 18 David Hume: Theory of Knowledge Empiricism, skepticism, personal identity, necessary connection, causal connection, induction, impressions, ideas. DAVID HUME (1711-76) is one of the

More information

Kant s Transcendental Exposition of Space and Time in the Transcendental Aesthetic : A Critique

Kant s Transcendental Exposition of Space and Time in the Transcendental Aesthetic : A Critique 34 An International Multidisciplinary Journal, Ethiopia Vol. 10(1), Serial No.40, January, 2016: 34-45 ISSN 1994-9057 (Print) ISSN 2070--0083 (Online) Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/afrrev.v10i1.4 Kant

More information

Berkeley, Three dialogues between Hylas and Philonous focus on p. 86 (chapter 9) to the end (p. 93).

Berkeley, Three dialogues between Hylas and Philonous focus on p. 86 (chapter 9) to the end (p. 93). TOPIC: Lecture 7.2 Berkeley Lecture Berkeley will discuss why we only have access to our sense-data, rather than the real world. He will then explain why we can trust our senses. He gives an argument for

More information

Logic, Truth & Epistemology. Ross Arnold, Summer 2014 Lakeside institute of Theology

Logic, Truth & Epistemology. Ross Arnold, Summer 2014 Lakeside institute of Theology Logic, Truth & Epistemology Ross Arnold, Summer 2014 Lakeside institute of Theology Philosophical Theology 1 (TH5) Aug. 15 Intro to Philosophical Theology; Logic Aug. 22 Truth & Epistemology Aug. 29 Metaphysics

More information

Philosophy 18: Early Modern Philosophy

Philosophy 18: Early Modern Philosophy Philosophy 18: Early Modern Philosophy Matthew Silverstein Spring 2009 Contact Information Office: 204 Cooper House Office Hours: Wednesday, 2:00 5:00 pm, and by appointment Email: mesilverstein@amherst.edu

More information

COURSE GOALS: PROFESSOR: Chris Latiolais Philosophy Department Kalamazoo College Humphrey House #202 Telephone # Offices Hours:

COURSE GOALS: PROFESSOR: Chris Latiolais Philosophy Department Kalamazoo College Humphrey House #202 Telephone # Offices Hours: PROFESSOR: Chris Latiolais Philosophy Department Kalamazoo College Humphrey House #202 Telephone # 337-7076 Offices Hours: 1) Mon. 11:30-1:30. 2) Tues. 11:30-12:30. 3) By Appointment. COURSE GOALS: As

More information

Philosophy 203 History of Modern Western Philosophy. Russell Marcus Hamilton College Spring 2011

Philosophy 203 History of Modern Western Philosophy. Russell Marcus Hamilton College Spring 2011 Philosophy 203 History of Modern Western Philosophy Russell Marcus Hamilton College Spring 2011 Class 19 - April 5 Finishing Berkeley Marcus, Modern Philosophy, Slide 1 Three Main Berkeley Topics 1. Arguments

More information

1/7. The Postulates of Empirical Thought

1/7. The Postulates of Empirical Thought 1/7 The Postulates of Empirical Thought This week we are focusing on the final section of the Analytic of Principles in which Kant schematizes the last set of categories. This set of categories are what

More information

From Rationalism to Empiricism

From Rationalism to Empiricism From Rationalism to Empiricism Rationalism vs. Empiricism Empiricism: All knowledge ultimately rests upon sense experience. All justification (our reasons for thinking our beliefs are true) ultimately

More information

PHI2391: Logical Empiricism I 8.0

PHI2391: Logical Empiricism I 8.0 1 2 3 4 5 PHI2391: Logical Empiricism I 8.0 Hume and Kant! Remember Hume s question:! Are we rationally justified in inferring causes from experimental observations?! Kant s answer: we can give a transcendental

More information

Think by Simon Blackburn. Chapter 7a The World

Think by Simon Blackburn. Chapter 7a The World Think by Simon Blackburn Chapter 7a The World What s real? This chapter basically concern the question: What is real? Of course, everything is real in some sense of the word. Your dreams, hallucinations,

More information

1/9. The First Analogy

1/9. The First Analogy 1/9 The First Analogy So far we have looked at the mathematical principles but now we are going to turn to the dynamical principles, of which there are two sorts, the Analogies of Experience and the Postulates

More information

Hume s An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding

Hume s An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding Hume s An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding G. J. Mattey Spring, 2017 / Philosophy 1 After Descartes The greatest success of the philosophy of Descartes was that it helped pave the way for the mathematical

More information

Philosophy 125 Day 1: Overview

Philosophy 125 Day 1: Overview Branden Fitelson Philosophy 125 Lecture 1 Philosophy 125 Day 1: Overview Welcome! Are you in the right place? PHIL 125 (Metaphysics) Overview of Today s Class 1. Us: Branden (Professor), Vanessa & Josh

More information

KANT, MORAL DUTY AND THE DEMANDS OF PURE PRACTICAL REASON. The law is reason unaffected by desire.

KANT, MORAL DUTY AND THE DEMANDS OF PURE PRACTICAL REASON. The law is reason unaffected by desire. KANT, MORAL DUTY AND THE DEMANDS OF PURE PRACTICAL REASON The law is reason unaffected by desire. Aristotle, Politics Book III (1287a32) THE BIG IDEAS TO MASTER Kantian formalism Kantian constructivism

More information

GROUP A WESTERN PHILOSOPHY (40 marks)

GROUP A WESTERN PHILOSOPHY (40 marks) GROUP A WESTERN PHILOSOPHY (40 marks) Chapter 1 CONCEPT OF PHILOSOPHY (4 marks allotted) MCQ 1X2 = 2 SAQ -- 1X2 = 2 (a) Nature of Philosophy: The word Philosophy is originated from two Greek words Philos

More information

FACULTY OF ARTS B.A. Part II Examination,

FACULTY OF ARTS B.A. Part II Examination, FACULTY OF ARTS B.A. Part II Examination, 2015-16 8. PHILOSOPHY SCHEME Two Papers Min. pass marks 72 Max. Marks 200 Paper - I 3 hrs duration 100 Marks Paper - II 3 hrs duration 100 Marks PAPER - I: HISTORY

More information

From Brains in Vats.

From Brains in Vats. From Brains in Vats. To God; And even to Myself, To a Malicious Demon; But, with I am, I exist (or Cogito ergo sum, i.e., I think therefore I am ), we have found the ultimate foundation. The place where

More information

All philosophical debates not due to ignorance of base truths or our imperfect rationality are indeterminate.

All philosophical debates not due to ignorance of base truths or our imperfect rationality are indeterminate. PHIL 5983: Naturalness and Fundamentality Seminar Prof. Funkhouser Spring 2017 Week 11: Chalmers, Constructing the World Notes (Chapters 6-7, Twelfth Excursus) Chapter 6 6.1 * This chapter is about the

More information

Aspects of Western Philosophy Dr. Sreekumar Nellickappilly Department of Humanities and Social Sciences Indian Institute of Technology, Madras

Aspects of Western Philosophy Dr. Sreekumar Nellickappilly Department of Humanities and Social Sciences Indian Institute of Technology, Madras Aspects of Western Philosophy Dr. Sreekumar Nellickappilly Department of Humanities and Social Sciences Indian Institute of Technology, Madras Module - 22 Lecture - 22 Kant The idea of Reason Soul, God

More information

Philosophy 301L: Early Modern Philosophy, Spring 2011

Philosophy 301L: Early Modern Philosophy, Spring 2011 Philosophy 301L: Early Modern Philosophy, Spring 2011 Topic: Five Figures in the History of Modern Philosophy: Descartes, Locke, Berkeley, Leibniz, and Kant. Instructor: Prof. Ian Proops Office: 209 Waggener

More information

Supplemental Material 2a: The Proto-psychologists. In this presentation, we will have a short review of the Scientific Revolution and the

Supplemental Material 2a: The Proto-psychologists. In this presentation, we will have a short review of the Scientific Revolution and the Supplemental Material 2a: The Proto-psychologists Introduction In this presentation, we will have a short review of the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment period. Thus, we will briefly examine

More information

Treatise I,iii,14: Hume offers an account of all five causes: matter, form, efficient, exemplary, and final cause.

Treatise I,iii,14: Hume offers an account of all five causes: matter, form, efficient, exemplary, and final cause. HUME Treatise I,iii,14: Hume offers an account of all five causes: matter, form, efficient, exemplary, and final cause. Beauchamp / Rosenberg, Hume and the Problem of Causation, start with: David Hume

More information

I SEMESTER B. A. PHILOSOPHY PHL1B 01- INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY QUESTION BANK FOR INTERNAL ASSESSMENT. Multiple Choice Questions

I SEMESTER B. A. PHILOSOPHY PHL1B 01- INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY QUESTION BANK FOR INTERNAL ASSESSMENT. Multiple Choice Questions I SEMESTER B. A. PHILOSOPHY PHL1B 01- INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY QUESTION BANK FOR INTERNAL ASSESSMENT Multiple Choice Questions 1. The total number of Vedas is. a) One b) Two c) Three d) Four 2. Philosophy

More information

From Descartes to Locke. Consciousness Knowledge Science Reality

From Descartes to Locke. Consciousness Knowledge Science Reality From Descartes to Locke Consciousness Knowledge Science Reality Brains in Vats What is the point? The point of the brain in a vat story is not to convince us that we might actually be brains in vats, But

More information

Philosophy 431 Macallister 5055 Course Syllabus Office:

Philosophy 431 Macallister 5055 Course Syllabus Office: Seminar in Rationalism and Empiricism Dr. James A. Stieb Philosophy 431 Macallister 5055 Course Syllabus Office: 215-895-4900 Spring 2007 stiebja@drexel.edu Hours: MWF 11-12pm Course Information: Seminar

More information

Dualism: What s at stake?

Dualism: What s at stake? Dualism: What s at stake? Dualists posit that reality is comprised of two fundamental, irreducible types of stuff : Material and non-material Material Stuff: Includes all the familiar elements of the physical

More information

does. All reality is mental, consisting only of minds and their ideas. Ideas are passive, whereas minds are active. Every idea needs a mind to be in.

does. All reality is mental, consisting only of minds and their ideas. Ideas are passive, whereas minds are active. Every idea needs a mind to be in. Berkeley s Idealism Idealism Matter doesn t exist, but the external world still does. All reality is mental, consisting only of minds and their ideas. Ideas are passive, whereas minds are active. Every

More information

Contents EMPIRICISM. Logical Atomism and the beginnings of pluralist empiricism. Recap: Russell s reductionism: from maths to physics

Contents EMPIRICISM. Logical Atomism and the beginnings of pluralist empiricism. Recap: Russell s reductionism: from maths to physics Contents EMPIRICISM PHIL3072, ANU, 2015 Jason Grossman http://empiricism.xeny.net lecture 9: 22 September Recap Bertrand Russell: reductionism in physics Common sense is self-refuting Acquaintance versus

More information

From Descartes to Locke. Sense Perception And The External World

From Descartes to Locke. Sense Perception And The External World From Descartes to Locke Sense Perception And The External World Descartes Third Meditation Descartes aim in the third Meditation is to demonstrate the existence of God, using only what (after Med. s 1

More information