...things as being either material or immaterial. It seems fairly easy to distinguish between the two. If we cannot touch, feel or see something, then it becomes the notion of the immaterial world. The rest belongs to the material things, which we can own, trade, purchase, possess, lose or give away. When Rene Descartes, one of the founders of the modern-day western philosophical science, laid the groundwork for his epistemological perspective called Cartesian Dualism, he was coming exactly from the same universal idea. The thoughts and hypotheses that Descartes tried so hard, throughout his lifetime’s work, to develop into axioms and prove to be fundamentally true, surprisingly remain highly debatable and are still largely in question. Philosophy is very much about the question of certainty. To a great extent, from the epistemological perspective, knowledge is certainty (Harris, 2009). Just as the case is with Plato, whose quest for certainty has driven his metaphysics to take it, as a prerequisite, that if something is known, then it cannot change (Frank et al., 2011), Descartes too attempted to deduce the formula that would be true for all cases. However, while for Plato, it was the Form that was the thing we could consider to be unchanging and constant forever; the form as immutable, timeless, indivisible, indestructible, transcendent object of pure thought, Descartes...
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...The Problems of Philosophy, by Bertrand Russell 8/4/14, 13:49 Project Gutenberg's The Problems of Philosophy, by Bertrand Russell This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: The Problems of Philosophy Author: Bertrand Russell Release Date: May 2, 2009 [EBook #5827] Last Updated: February 7, 2013 Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PROBLEMS OF PHILOSOPHY *** Produced by Gordon Keener, and David Widger THE PROBLEMS OF PHILOSOPHY By Bertrand Russell http://www.gutenberg.org/files/5827/5827-h/5827-h.htm Page 1 of 68 The Problems of Philosophy, by Bertrand Russell 8/4/14, 13:49 Contents . CHAPTER I. CHAPTER II. CHAPTER III. CHAPTER IV. PREFACE APPEARANCE AND REALITY THE EXISTENCE OF MATTER THE NATURE OF MATTER IDEALISM KNOWLEDGE BY ACQUAINTANCE AND KNOWLEDGE CHAPTER V. DESCRIPTION CHAPTER VI. ON INDUCTION CHAPTER VII. ON OUR KNOWLEDGE OF GENERAL PRINCIPLES CHAPTER VIII. HOW A PRIORI KNOWLEDGE IS POSSIBLE CHAPTER IX. THE WORLD OF UNIVERSALS CHAPTER X. ON OUR KNOWLEDGE OF UNIVERSALS CHAPTER XI. ON INTUITIVE KNOWLEDGE CHAPTER XII. TRUTH AND FALSEHOOD CHAPTER XIII. KNOWLEDGE, ERROR, AND PROBABLE OPINION CHAPTER XIV. CHAPTER XV. . BY THE LIMITS...
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...Philosophy vs. Science by Joseph Rowlands The historical relationship between science and philosophy has not been a friendly one. Philosophers like to start with their conclusions, and work to prove them. When it came to trying to figure out what the world was like, philosophers tended to argue about what the world should be like. Science was born as a rejection of this method. Its goal was to figure out what the world was really all about, and its primary tool was actual experimentation. We've all seen philosophy at its worst. Philosophers are often completely disconnected from reality and, more recently, don't care. Rationalism, the view that only deductive knowledge is really reliable, is commonplace. Philosophers often expound their ideas from armchairs and ivory towers, where the facts of reality don't concern them. It's not surprising science would want to distance itself from philosophy. It becomes even more personal for the scientist when he's told that he must conform to preconceived views of the world. It started with Galileo having to renounce his scientific views on astronomy, but continued through the ages. Countless other scientists have had to hide their views on topics like evolution, the age of the earth and the existence of glaciers, with a range of punishments from the inquisition and burning at the stake to losing their jobs or financing. Philosophy, often in the form of religion, does not seek the truth. It seeks believers, and the truth is an...
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...engineering and follow his father in the family business. For one year, he was a pupil at the same school as a younger boy named Adolf Hitler. Wittgenstein developed an interest in the nascent field of aeronautics and went to the University of Manchester to study aeronautical engineering. While he was there, he became increasingly preoccupied by mathematical and philosophical questions. Understanding that the highest authority on these questions at the time was Bertrand Russell, Wittgenstein impulsively traveled to Cambridge in 1911 and requested that Russell take him on as a student. Russell was hesitant at first but was soon impressed by Wittgenstein’s intelligence. Wittgenstein was brought into philosophy by Bertrand Russell, who was one of the founders of the analytic movement in philosophy. In the Investigations, Wittgenstein is concerned primarily with the very impulse to think philosophically more than he is with any particular philosophical views. Nevertheless, we find in the Investigations a preoccupation with language, and we can see the enduring influence of Frege and Russell in Wittgenstein’s conviction that a proper understanding of language will expose the hidden flaws in philosophical reasoning. Wittgenstein takes the example of game, showing that there is no rigid definition that includes everything we consider a game and excludes everything we do not consider a game, but we nevertheless have no difficulty in using the word game correctly. As far as Wittgenstein is...
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...Introduction Philosophy of religion is a branch of philosophy concerned with questions regarding religion, including the nature and existence of God, the examination of religious experience, analysis of religious vocabulary and texts, and the relationship of religion and science. It is an ancient discipline, being found in the earliest known manuscripts concerning philosophy, and relates to many other branches of philosophy and general thought, including metaphysics, logic, and history. Philosophy of religion is frequently discussed outside of academia through popular books and debates, mostly regarding the existence of God and problem of evil. The philosophy of religion differs from religious philosophy in that it seeks to discuss questions regarding the nature of religion as a whole, rather than examining the problems brought forth by a particular belief system. It is designed such that it can be carried out dispassionately by those who identify as believers or non-believers. Religion: A Part of Metaphysics Philosophy of religion has classically been regarded as a part of metaphysics. In Aristotle's Metaphysics, the necessarily prior cause of eternal motion was an unmoved mover, who, like the object of desire, or of thought, inspires motion without itself being moved. This, according to Aristotle, is God, the subject of study in theology. Today, however, philosophers have adopted the term philosophy of religion for the subject, and typically it is regarded...
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...My Philosophy in Education A teacher’s philosophy effects many things, including their teaching style, rules, and grading scale, as well as how they react to students’s problems. Every teacher holds a philosophy about what they feel is important in the classroom, whether they acknowledge it or not. Philosophies are neither right nor wrong, it is simply what the teacher feels is most important for the students to learn. The philosophies that I hold to as I am preparing to become a teacher are a combination of two philosophies, essentialism and progressivism. Essentialism is refered to as “an educational philosophy suggesting that specific knowledge and skills exsis that all people should possess” (Kauchan, Eggen, p155). I believe that without the knowledge of certain things, such as reading, writing, and simple math, it becomes eccedingly difficult to excel in society. I also feel that there is information, that while not necessary, is important to be a well rounded person. These topics include subjects such as the nations history, literature, and any other culture shaping information. While essentialism deals with gaining knowledge, progressivism adds application. Progressivism is a philosophy that “emphasizes real-world problem solving, and individual development” (Kauchan, Eggen, p158). I believe that if a student leaves school with extensive knowledge, but no application in the real world the teacher has set them up to fail. In the same way, if a student leaves with many...
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...Before we can consider some of the questions studied by philosophy it makes sense to ask what philosophy is in the first place, although this is itself subject to much debate. In this first part of a series introducing philosophy and philosophical ideas, we begin by looking at the word and some of the historical answers given before moving on to more recent opinions, also setting out the divisions typically made and the methods employed. Historical interpretations of philosophy The word philosophy has meant different things at different times, often reflecting the culture of the day. Usually we understand the term to denote the love of wisdom, from the Greek; in this sense, as it was apparently used by the famous philosopher Socrates, it gives the impression of someone who is seeking wisdom, rather than having found it. We would only call someone a physicist, say, if he or she actually had some knowledge of physics, but we describe as a philosopher someone who is aiming at wisdom without necessarily achieving it. On the other hand, philosophy has also had the negative sense of a subject full of idle speculation, useless to the practical business of finding things out and consisting mostly in irrelevant theorising. Over the course of the history of philosophy its meaning seems to have shifted depending on the cultural climate. At some stages it was thought that the ideal state of human affairs could only come to pass when philosophers are kings or vice versa; conversely...
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...ACCRA, NOVEMBER, 2011 Table of content pages Introduction 1 1. Philosophy of history 1 2. Philosophy of religion 4 3. Logic 6 4. Ethics 8 5. Cosmology 10 6. Philosophy of mind 12 7. Metaphysics 14 8. Philosophy of beauty 16 9. Philosophy of language 18 10. Philosophy of science 20 11. Epistemology 21 Conclusion 23 Bibliography 24 Introduction Philosophy is the pursuit of wisdom. Philosophy at this contemporary world has gone through a lot of changes before getting to this stage. It can be seen in the historical perspective and also the topical perspective. The historical or chronological is when we look at the ideas of some philosophers in the past how they influence society with their way of thinking and the motive behind them. In these chronological system is the ancient era, the medieval era, the modern era and presently the contemporary era. In the beginning all systematic search for knowledge was philosophy. This is clearly seen in the modern university where the highest degree granted in all of the science and humanities is the Ph. D. the doctor of philosophy. But the children began to leave home. The first to leave was physics and astronomy. As they begun to develop experimental techniques of their own. This exodus, led by Galileo and Isaac Newton and Johannes...
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...Philosophy and Psychology The links in the table on the left take you to sub-headings on this page. |. |Philosophy can mean different things | | |Sometimes philosophers deal with questions of truth and sometimes with questions of goodness ; | | |sometimes they offer consolation for life’s sorrows and sometimes they are purely pragmatic. In | | |the philosophy of science, a theory may be valued only for its predictive capability ; its truth | | |or falsity may be immaterial. In ethics, philosophy may have a prescriptive function, offering a | | |preferred set of values ; but where those values originate from is a debatable question. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ...
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...students. The most important aspect of teaching is to help students to reach their full potential through high expectations. My educational philosophy is that all students can learn. But with differentiating instructional strategies they can meet the standards. It is imperative that teachers use various instructional strategies to accommodate students’ multiple intelligences. I believe that every child has right to an equal opportunity for a quality education. And it is the responsibility of every teacher to ensure that quality education for all students. The four major educational philosophies that I will integrate in my classroom are perennialism, essentialism, progressivism, and social reconstructionism. First and foremost, I believe that the teacher should be in control of the classroom. Students are young, and they do not usually know what is best for them. Therefore, the teacher should be the one to choose the lessons and decide what is going to be taught each day. This traditional practice of orienting the class around the teacher is one of the main principles of the essentialist philosophy. Essentialists believe that classrooms should be oriented around the teacher, who ideally serves as an intellectual and moral role model for the students. I will also integrate perennialism philosophy in my teaching. Perennialism is an education philosophy suggesting that nature including human nature is constant and that schools should teach classic knowledge. I believe that when teaching...
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...Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with reality, existence, knowledge, values,reason, mind, and language.[1][2] Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational argument.[3] In more casual speech, by extension, "philosophy" can refer to "the most basic beliefs, concepts, and attitudes of an individual or group".[4] The word "philosophy" comes from the Ancient Greek φιλοσοφία (philosophia), which literally means "love of wisdom".[5][6][7] The introduction of the terms "philosopher" and "philosophy" has been ascribed to the Greek thinker Pythagoras.[ Epistemology is concerned with the nature and scope of knowledge,[11] such as the relationships between truth, belief, and theories of justification. Logic is the study of the principles of correct reasoning. Arguments use either deductive reasoning or inductive reasoning. Deductive reasoning is when, given certain statements (called premises), other statements (called conclusions) are unavoidably implied. Ethics Ethics is one of the major branches of philosophy and an ethical theory is part and parcel of all philosophies broadly conceived. The aim of ethics has been viewed in different ways: according to some, it is the discernment of right from wrong actions; to others, ethics separates that which is morally good from what is morally bad;... Metaphysics is one of the core branches...
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...Moraine Park technical college | Philosophy of Quality - | [Quality Philosophy Paper] | ------------------------------------------------- Jessica Gallo Managing for Quality (196-192) ------------------------------------------------- Moraine Park Technical College February 1, 2013 ------------------------------------------------- Jessica Gallo Managing for Quality (196-192) ------------------------------------------------- Moraine Park Technical College February 1, 2013 | Philosophy of Quality Introduction Organizations and people are in competition with one another, therefore having quality is vital to its success. Quality can be defined by me and others as a business that makes reliable products that are made to last or a business that makes a product at reasonable price to its consumer. Quality can also be defined by receiving...
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...Decision-Making Philosophy on Health Education Bryan K. Hooper Jr. Principles of Behavioral Science and Health Education 2/20/2013 In attempts to discern what Health Education Philosophy an individual subscribes to, it is imperative to first address the preliminary question, what is philosophy? There are two parts to the word philosophy as it comes to us from the Greek, “Philo” meaning brother or lover and “Sophia” meaning wisdom or wise. Thus, a philosopher is called a “lover of wisdom. ” The true origin of “Sophia” rests in Mdu Ntr, the language of ancient Egypt, where the word “Seba,” meaning “the wise” appears first in 2052 BC in the tomb of Antef I, long before the existence of Greece or Greek. The word became “Sebo” in Coptic and “Sophia” in Greek. As to the philosopher, the lover of wisdom, precisely what is meant by “Seba,” the Wise (Longo, 2011). For the purposes of this paper, the true origin of Philosophy will be referenced. The Ancient Egyptians, serving as predecessors and pedagogues to the “Greek” school of thought, defined philosophy as the centrifugal force of life, around which all steps are to be patterned. Philosophy is further described as a civilized system of behavior, self-control and kindness. Much emphasis was placed on the value and significance of Enlightenment , or education, and how knowledge and understanding led one out of the darkness of ignorance into one’s own being (Obenga, 2009). Philosophy, as defined in modern terms; is the study...
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...Bulacan Agricultural State College Institute of Graduate Studies Pinaod, San Ildefonso, Bulacan A paper presented to Joseph Bareng, Ph. D. Professor In partial fulfillment of the requirements of the subject PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION MATEO, ALDWIN CRUZ MAED E 31 MARCH 2015 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION “Life must be understood backwards but must be lived forward” -Soren Kierkegaard “Education is not preparation for life… it is life itself…” -John Dewey In the eve of the Philippine Formal Education, Filipinos were already following a system of “training” for the young ones especially in preparing them for life in their communities or tribes. The belief of the “anitos” had given them some sort of “direction” in living their lives. Nature became their “friend and enemy” in honing their young ones’ readiness in facing a new stage of life…Parenthood and Survival. These changed when the Spaniards together with their friars taught them about spirituality and “civilized” culture inclined to the 14th-15kth century beliefs, traditions and practices. Thus, they made the Filipinos memorize and practice these. So, somehow, these Friars seemingly “taught” them to remember through memorization and acculturation. After the First World War, the Americans came bringing with them the system of teaching and education that Philippine society started to embrace. According to historians, this “Formal Education” started in the Philippines with the Americans...
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...by providing an environment that supports risk-taking, diversity, and encourages dialogue (sharing of ideas). The implications of my philosophy of education will manifest in the development of the students, because I am prepared to overcome any limitations to bring the students together around a subject. The classroom will foster the concepts of communication, listening, cooperative learning, and the respect of differences. I will create a productive and inclusive learning environment ensuring that I contribute more than simply transmitting information. I hope the students will gain a perspective that goes beyond oneself or one's own community. I hope the students gain the ability of self-expression, self-knowledge, self-discipline, and a deep understanding of the subjects they have all gathered around. The skills I hope the students will take from my method of teaching are discovery, problem-solving, inquiry, and discussion skills. I will implement the social context of cooperative learning. I will teach on the principles of diversity and inclusion. I will encourage the students to practice human relations and address problems. It is my belief that students who learn from a process of cooperative learning will gain more than just knowledge. The students will gain a better social complex that fosters inclusive meritocracy. The philosophy of incorporating a social context of cooperative learning should ultimately...
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