...Epistemology: How do we know what is true? Aleisha Roche 11/9/12 Empirist those of the philosophers who believe that it is not rationalism but your senses that tell us the truth about knowledge. Philosophy could be something no one, not even philosophers, could actually agree on how to view life. Philosophy is divided into multiple branches and Epistemology deals with the “theory of knowledge.” A philosopher’s job is to figure out what is truth, weather relevant or irrelevant and discover how it is that we know something and if it is true. Epistemology of Philosophy shows how truth fits into life. We will be looking into the Western and Asian views on truth from Aristotle to Plato to Kant. This philosopher is known for his study of matter being reality. Plato’s epistemology is that we can have guiene knowledge only on things that are perfect and unchanging. We have knowledge about the forms, but not the material things. Beliefs and opinions are the only thing we can have in a material world. Plato says that before we are born our souls live in a realm of the forms and have complete knowledge of the form but we don’t realize it. We can only recall when in difficulty. Now this philosopher’s theory is the view that all Knowledge originates from experience bases his study on question and answer. Aristotle believes that the object of real existence is the ones that we encounter through our sense perception. Humans, according to Aristotle, do not acquire knowledge all...
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...Quiz Metaphysics and Epistemology 1: We all know the philosophical views of the world and of human life relate closely. In one hand, Brahman, Tao, Christianity are similar, they have delicate relationship. In the eastern, is the Tao. And in western, is Christianity. The fundamental reality of the universe is Brahman. 2: I think both western and Chinese philosophical are a kind of belief. But they focus the thinking is different. One is god, and another is Chuang tzu. And the reason why they are important today is the philosophical is more and more popular in our world. People use believe to relax their heart and be happiness. 3: I hope to understand the true meaning of the philosophy. I hope to know why we should to study philosophy. I will use my message and my thinking, my knowledge to tell. And I think the grade is not the only indicator, the most important is what I study and what I know from philosophy. I wish I can study well in this course. 4: After I study metaphysics, I am interested in it’s classification. Metaphysics can also look as Tao. It can date from Chinese JIN century. The most fascinating I find is the thinking of metaphysics. Metaphysics mainly involved with and without, life and death, dynamic and static, the crime and the nature, the saint sentient beings or ruthless, sorrows, could you mind waiting for metaphysical problem. I think it is Chinese traditional pursuit of the mind. So I like it. 5: I ask the question is Is love real? So What...
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...To some, philosophy may seem like an ambiguous course with no real focus, and can be hard to differentiate from other studies and fields, sciences and religion in particular. However, philosophy is the study of human intellect and reasoning, or in other words, thinking about thinking. The word philosophy derives from the Greek words “philo” (meaning “love of”) and “Sophia” (meaning “wisdom”), so together it literally means “the love of wisdom.” Those who use philosophy seek total knowledge, meaning understanding and knowing everything. In order to obtain total knowledge, new knowledge must be created, which is what philosophy allows philosophers to do. The creation of new knowledge yields power, power yields freedom, and freedom yields survival. So, in a sense, the key to our survival is to use philosophy. Philosophy is used in every field of study and all aspects of life, separating it from other disciplines and faiths that it is so often confused with. There are distinct attributes about philosophy that allows it to stand on its own. Religion and philosophy are different entities, however, philosophy does impact religion. Religion can be defined as the rules for the direction of life under conditions of maximum certainty. For comparison, philosophy can be defined as the rules for the direction of maximum uncertainty. In simpler terms, philosophy is use to provide answers that we don’t know (i.e. what happens when we die). Religion, on the other hand provides those answers...
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...Intro to Philosophy. Essay 1 What am I doing in this class? And how if at all. Do I think studying philosophy might benefit me. An introduction to Western Philosophy by Donald Palmer. I will attempt to answer three basic questions with this essay. What is Philosophy, What are the origins of Philosophy and why am I studying Philosophy today. Therefore my main reason for studying philosophy is to expand my knowledge and live the good life. What is philosophy? Philosophy, the Greek Word for "love of wisdom," has been defined in a variety of ways, one of which is the notion that philosophy is the rational attempt to formulate, understand, and answer fundamental questions (Voices of Wisdom). What makes people partake in philosophy. It is philosophy that we turn to when we have the need to seek out a guiding principle for our lives. Therefore, philosophy holds a prominent place in society and in the world. Basically, everyone is a philosopher, but it takes the creative genius and reasoning of brilliant thinkers to bring about earth-shattering concepts. Like Thales,Socrates,Plato and Aristotle to name a few. What are the origins of Philosophy? Philosophy started when human beings started to ask questions, about how and what things are actually, due to curiosity. The things that caused these questions to come about were the people started to realize that everything is not exactly what it appears to be. Philosophy started...
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...The Branches of Philosophy Transcript S1: Hello, and welcome to another presentation in Philosophy 201: Philosophy and Contemporary Ideas. In this presentation, I want to introduce you to three major branches of philosophy, and talk about each branch a little bit separately, and then I’ll finish off by talking about some miscellaneous branches of philosophy that are kind of an overlap of those three branches. S2: The first major branch of philosophy is the branch of metaphysics. The word metaphysics means, ‘above or beyond physics.’ It investigates questions of reality and existence. But as the word implies, it’s not just simply the existence that we see or the things that we experience with our senses, but what’s beyond those. What’s beyond this real world that we see here? Why does it work the way that it works? Why is it here? How did it get here? Those are some metaphysical areas that we deal with here. We can break metaphysics into four sub-categories here. The first sub-category is cosmological metaphysics, and this deals specifically with the origin and purpose of reality. Why does anything exist at all? That’s often been called the first philosophical question. Why does anything exist? Where did reality come from? How did it develop the way that it was? What is its purpose—why is it here? Those are all cosmological questions. A second area of metaphysics is theological metaphysics, and this deals with the reality of something beyond the natural reality...
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...AFRICA’S DEVELOPMENT: THE IMPERATIVES OF INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE AND VALUES by MARTIN ODEI AJEI submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in the subject PHILOSOPHY at the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA PROMOTER: PROFESSOR M. B. RAMOSE AUGUST 2007 Contents Declaration Acknowledgement List of Acronyms Key terms Summary vi vii viii x xi INTRODUCTION: DEVELOPMENT AND PHILOSOPHY i. Statement of the Problem ii. Against Economism iii. Critique of Competition iv. Poverty is Unnatural v. Thesis Statement vi. Methodology vii. Structure of Dissertation 1 1 1 5 6 9 10 15 CHAPTER ONE: DIMENSIONS OF DEVELOPMENT AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON AFRICA 1.1. What is Development 1.2. Development and Economic Growth 1.3. Schools of Development Thought and their Influence in Africa 1.3.1. The Modernization School and its Essential Claims 1.3.1.1. Growth Theory under Economic Liberalism 1.3.1.2. Evolutionary Theory 1.3.1.3. Functionalist Theory 1.3.1.4. Common Assumptions and Methodology 1.3.1.5 The Influence of Modernization on Development Practice in Africa 1.3.1.6. Critique of Modernization 1.3.2 Dependency Theory and its Essential Claims 21 21 25 27 27 28 29 30 32 34 36 39 i 1.3.3. The Theoretical Heritage of Dependency Theory 1.3.3.1. Structuralist Economics and the ‘Prebisch Thesis’ 1.3.3.2. Marxism 1.3.4. Common Assumptions of Dependency Theory 1.3.5. Criticisms of Dependency Theory 1.3.6. The Influence of Dependency Theory on African Development Practice...
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...Bulletin is made available on-line by Samanvaya (www.samanvaya.com). All the rights of the article rest with the authors and any enquiries and clarifications may be directed to them. These are made available in an as-is basis, please report any mistakes to knowledge@samanvaya.com. TOWARDS A NON-WESTERN PERSPECTIVE ON SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE I The available studies on the phenomenon and institution of science suffer from a curious limitation. It is as if all those who analyse the subject were overawed by the grandeur of modern science, and their studies were in the nature of tributes laid at the feet of this great saviour. All analysis starts from the assumption that modern science is a set of value-free theories that uniquely explain reality. After the scientists in the early 20th century started overhauling their theories in a big way, it was granted that the value-free theories of science that explain reality may do so only partially at a given time, but as science progresses, its theories explain more and more of reality and the process converges towards the ‘ultimate’, ‘unique’ law that explains everything. Committed to this idealist picture of a unique value free science, the philosophy of science is reduced to a set of attempts at finding the epistemological criterion, internal to science, that allows the scientist, unencumbered by any extraneous considerations, to choose the true theory out of a competing set; the sociology of science is reduced to writing down the set of social...
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...1: Philosophy, sophism/sophistry, “pilosopo” 1 [Published in Rolando M. Gripaldo, ed. 2004. Philosophical landscape. Manila: Philippine National Philosophical Research Society.] PHILOSOPHY, SOPHISM/SOPHISTRY, “PILOSOPO” Rolando M. Gripaldo PHILOSOPHY: Ancient Philosophy literally means “love of wisdom.” In contemporary philosophy there are as many definitions of philosophy as there are schools of philosophy.1 What is interesting is that one school defines philosophy to the exclusion of other schools. For instance, the analytic school defines philosophy as the clarification of the meanings of words, phrases, and sentences, and it rejects metaphysical propositions as cognitively meaningless. Its emphasis is logic and language. On the other hand, the continental school defines philosophy in terms of the meaning of life and one’s relationship with the world and the Other (other human beings and/ or God). It considers the activities of the analytic tradition as meaningless to one’s life. Its emphasis is life. It is therefore advisable to just leave the definition of philosophy in its original etymological meaning, although even this is not safe. Quite recently, Hans-Georg Gadamer (1989), an hermeneute, has rejected epistemic wisdom as within the realm of human control. The ancient Greeks defined philosophy as love of (epistemic) wisdom. Thales, who is traditionally considered the father of philosophy, was interested in “knowing” the ultimate reality,...
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...10/18/2006 7:42 PM Page 36 5 FEMINIST METHODOLOGIES AND EPISTEMOLOGY ANDREA DOUCET Carleton University, Canada NATASHA S. MAUTHNER University of Aberdeen, Scotland O ver the past 10 years of teaching courses on research methods and feminist approaches to methodologies and epistemologies, a recurring question from our students concerns the distinctiveness of feminist approaches to methods, methodologies, and epistemologies. This key question is posed in different ways: Is there a specifically feminist method? Are there feminist methodologies and epistemologies, or simply feminist approaches to these? Given diversity and debates in feminist theory, how can there be a consensus on what constitutes “feminist” methodologies and epistemologies? Answers to these questions are far from straightforward given the continually evolving nature of feminist reflections on the methodological and epistemological dimensions and dilemmas of research. This chapter on feminist methodologies and epistemologies attempts to address these questions by tracing historical developments in this area, by considering what may be unique about feminist epistemologies and feminist methodologies, by reviewing some of sociology’s key contributions to this area of scholarship and by highlighting some key emergent trends. The chapter begins with a brief overview of the theoretical and historical development of feminist epistemologies, followed by a similar overview of feminist methodologies. The...
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...Philosophers sometimes view the idea of human freedom of action as the real problem of free will, but this classification is one of the main misunderstandings in both subject matters. The misunderstanding between freedom and free will may have begun as early as the time when Thomas Hobbes and David Hume, argued their cases to support the theory of the modern concept of compatibilism. From both Hobbes’ and Hume’s perspective, to be free to act on one's will is basically to be free of external restrictions, limitations, constraints, and controls. From their perspective, the absence any external constraint gives makes the agent freedom to do as he or she wills, even if the person’s will itself is determined (or predetermined) by causal laws of nature. Factors That Affect Personal Development Take a moment to consider all of the genetic and environmental factors that have shaped who you are today, and you will quickly become overwhelmed. From gender, race, and socioeconomic background—to family dynamics, education, and genetics—there are millions of factors that have converged to make you who you are. Most people believe that humans are responsible for their own actions and that they all have the opportunity to make the right choices. But when you consider how large a role race, gender, wealth, and family upbringing all play in shaping an individual, can you truly believe that everyone has the same opportunities? Furthermore, are there some conditions under which people cannot...
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...INDIAN PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION AND PEDAGOGY: AN ESSENTIAL PROPOSITION Prof. N.B. Biswas1 Epistemology and pedagogy both the concepts are philosophical in its origin. The present century demands an integrated teacher who can shape the inner potentiality of a learner through an integrated approach of knowledge of the content area and of the philosophy of teaching. Since, India won Independence; attempt has been made to formulate a national education policy. It has been essential to evolve an Indian philosophy of education in the light of the tradition and culture upheld by Swami Vivekananda, Rabindra Nath Tagore, M. K. Gandhi, Sri Aurobinda and others. Every nation needs an educational philosophy for building up a sound system of education. India has passed through various stages of development during different periods. Since Brahmanistic education it has followed the monastic scholastic, realistic, idealistic and pragmatic trends when values changed and new priorities emerged. India is a land where values have emerged and influenced the cultural life of the land. The cross-cultural studies of modern values show an increasing tendency towards materialistic and self-centered outlook. The world in which we live today is shrinking every day, but every nation is busy in building a wall of prejudice. This is why we need to develop an Indian Philosophy of Education. Since 1944 and uptil now about 150 philosophical studies have been carried out on education, out of which only 10 studies...
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...Plato was a philosopher from Greece who lived from 424BC until the time of his death in 347BC. Plato belonged to an aristocratic and influential lineage. His father was Artiston, a descent of king Dorus of Athens. Plato’s mother was Peritonea from a lineage of famous lawmakers and poets in Athens. Plato was, however, raised with difficulty after his father died. As a student, Plato studied under the guidance of his teacher, Socrates. Plato played an essential role of laying the foundation for western philosophy and science. Socrates taught Plato about basic philosophy and dialectic methods of inquiry in the quest for truth. The basic learning acquired form Plato formed a basis from where Plato established his philosophies (Benjamin, 2007). During the time of Plato, there are many events that took place. Amongst them is the Peloponnesian war. The war lasted for approximately 27 years i.e. from 431BC to 404 BC. The Peloponnesian war was a war fought by Athens and Sparta. As a result of the war, the Athenian imperial system and Greek military history was changed. The powers of Athens were subdued after the war as Sparta took over as a leading state whose powers were felt all across Greece. In 399BC Plato witnessed his teacher, Socrates, being tried and executed by the authorities in Athens. Socrates was charged for corrupting the minds of youths. Socrates was despised by the authority because of his persistency in criticizing the government established after...
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...Until taking philosophy class and carefully dipping my toes into the realm of epistemology, I thought of knowledge as something pretentious. Something that studious people would keep in their arsenal, something that seldom gave teachers their undeserved arrogance. After my first philosophy class, I was not proven wrong but I was proven to be oblivious. The word "Knowledge" bared so many meanings and implications that it left me hanging clueless. The best I could do was simply read great philosopher's writings on theory of knowledge and attempt to get a grasp on the fundamentals of epistemology. One of those great minds were Plato, the ancient greek, the epitome of western philosophy whose ideologies still stands tall up to this date. In Theaetetus, Plato succeeds in proving the Dream Theory of knowledge to be false, yet does not to give his own definition of knowledge. Where as in the Republic, during constructing Kallipolis, Plato discusses knowledge, and expresses his explicit views on epistemology. After careful inspection of Plato's two different ideas on the nature of knowledge, I was able to come up with my own definition of knowledge and suggest the possibility to know what knowledge is. As a matter of process, my theory of knowledge is heavily influenced...
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...SIX BRANCHES OF PHILOSOPHY Adrienne Byrd AIU Introduction to Philosophy: PHIL201 - 1404A – 12 Jerry Nwonye February 21, 2015 Abstract The term Logic begins from two Greek words Philos and Sophia which means Adoration for Knowledge or Quest for Learning. Theory is deciphered in a wide range of routes by various savants. Plato is a widely acclaimed scholar known for his numerous philosophical studies says that, "reasoning is the securing of learning." While an alternate celebrated logician by the name of Karl Marx's states that, "logic is an understanding of the world to change." In fundamental terms rationality is the investigation of information and it is separated into six limbs known as transcendentalism, epistemology, Ethics, Aesthetics, political theory, and social theory. These extensions solicit the confusing inquiries from the world. Today we will talk about these distinctive limbs and what they intend to the world. SIX BRANCHES OF PHILOSOPHY Metaphysics is the investigation of what's genuine and it doubts our presence and reason in life. It is thought to be the establishment of logic and without it we would be left with no clarification in respect to how we ought to manage reality. Metaphysics ask the "What is" inquiries of the world. Case in point: "Do you have a spirit?" or "Do you trust in God?" It is my conviction that we live in both a physical and otherworldly world and I say...
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...albeit unspectacular, student. He was brought up in a Pietistic household that emphasized intense religious devotion, personal humility, and interpretation of the Bible. Kant received a stern education that preferred Latin and religious instruction over mathematics and science. Kant attended college at the University of Königsberg, where his early interest in classics was quickly overtaken by philosophy, which all first year students studied and which encompassed mathematics and physics as well as logic, metaphysics, ethics, and natural law. Kant's philosophy professors exposed him to the approach of Christian Wolff. But Kant was also exposed to a range of German and British critics of Wolff, and there were threads of Aristotelian and Pietism represented in the philosophy faculty as well. Kant's favorite teacher was Martin Knutzen, a Pietistic follower who was influenced by Christian Wolff and the British philosopher John Locke. Kant released his first work, Thoughts on the True Estimation of Living Forces in 1747, which was a critical attempt to mediate a dispute in natural philosophy between Lebinizians and Newtonians over the proper measurement of force. After college Kant spent six years as a private tutor to young children outside Königsberg. By this time both of his parents had died and Kant's finances were not yet secure enough for him to pursue an academic career. He finally returned to Königsberg in 1754...
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