...vary from a different period. However, many philosophers have different arguments on culture in various time periods. This term paper will explain the life, times, and critical theories of Rene Descartes who is one of the most significant thinkers who ever inquired into the connection between mind and body. It will also explain how culture and period influenced his ideas. Also, it will identify and evaluate the key concepts and analyzes that comprised Descartes' theories. Furthermore, it will detect and describe Descartes' contributions to the field of philosophy as discussed below. The key concepts and analysis that comprises his theories that include the theory of sense perception and the theory of ideas which he mostly concentrates on. According to Descartes' ontology, there are three levels of being which are mode attribute and substance.. The levels of being are agreed regarding ontological requirement, Modes rely on attributes of their being in a way that those same attributes do not depend on methods used and but to rely on the substances for their being in a way that elements do not depend on characteristics. The spirit or nature of a mind, Descartes says, is to think. If a thing does not have faith in, it is not a mind. In his analytical, this very feature of Descartes' theory of ideas, Vere Chappell introduced the terminology of “counterparts” (Chappell, 1986). The sun as symbolized in an approach, which might be taken to be the “objective sun”, “this would...
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...Michael Hafner Dr. Samantha Langsdale PHIL 1800 December 2nd, 2015 The Delusion Dilemma Rene Descartes once proposed a tedious accusation about dreaming, and how our senses that we use to perceive what is considered reality should not be trusted fully. In the Meditations on First Philosophy, Descartes attempts to convey the fascinating illusion of always being in a dream without a certain ability to distinguish what is actually reality or what is a dream, or at bare minimum prove that there are no certain marks to prove otherwise. He states, “…as I think about this more carefully, I see plainly that there are never any sure signs by means of which being awake can be distinguished from being asleep. The result is that I begin to feel dazed, and this very feeling only reinforces the notion that I may be asleep” (First Meditation). In my attempts to contrast what Descartes argument was comprised of and what certain illusions made him feel this way about our perception of physical existence. I turned my attention to his famous dream argument originally brought forth in his Mediation on First Philosophy, and will be using different ideologies between a John Locke and Thomas Hobbes, two famous English philosophers who have attempted to refute Rene Descartes’s dream argument by providing useful and insightful situations to further explain against the idea, as well as provide my own insight in concluding that we are not dreaming right now. It should be noted that within the...
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...HubPages exploresign injoin now flag Explore »Education and Science (65,836) »Psychology and Psychiatry (3,569) by shazwellyn 1,094 Followers Psychology 101, What Are The Historical Perspectives In Psychology? In this Psychology 101 article, we ask what are the historical perspectives in psychology? Now, this question provokes a thesis on its own, but here we evaluate specific times of extraordinary turning points leading to where we are today. We are all psychologists in our own right. We have the innate ability to draw conclusions by watching the behaviours of others. So, where, whom and what legitimizes psychology as a science and how did we arrive there? It is through history, that we have built and drawn from our own evaluations as a species. So, what is psychology? Psychology Definition As this is a psychology 101 based article, as always, we will start by providing a ‘working definition’ of psychology as a term: ‘Psychology is the scientific study of the mind and behaviour of humans and animals.’ Psychologists concentrate on what is observable and measurable in a person’s behaviour. This includes the biological processes in the body, although, the mind is central to the subject. ψ - This is the Greek letter pronounced as 'Sigh' and spelled as 'Psi'. It is now used as the International symbol of Psychology. Psychologists think it is important to be scientific in their study. This is to avoid confused thinking. What Is Psychology...
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...Learning Goals 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Explain what psychology is and how it developed. Describe six contemporary approaches to psychology. Describe two movements that reflect a positive approach to psychology. Evaluate careers and areas of specialization in psychology. Apply some strategies that will help you succeed in psychology. After studying Chapter 1, you will be able to: Define psychology. Describe the influence that philosophy, biology, and physiology had on the beginnings of psychology as a science. Compare the two early scientific approaches in psychology: structuralism and functionalism. Describe the focus of each of the six contemporary approaches to psychology. Describe the positive psychology movement, and discuss why this movement recently emerged in psychology. Discuss career opportunities in psychology. Profile the main areas of specialization in psychology. Say how studying habits may be optimized. Understand how to be a critical thinker. CHAPTER 1: OUTLINE Psychology is a science dedicated to the study of behavior and mental processes. In this chapter you are introduced to the history of this science, a variety of contemporary perspectives in psychology, the positive psychology movement, and an overview of psychology-related careers. At the end of the chapter, the reader learns about the most effective methods of studying and learning. There are three concepts important to the definition of psychology: science, behavior, and mental processes. Psychologists use scientific...
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...3. 4. 5. Explain what psychology is and how it developed. Describe six contemporary approaches to psychology. Describe two movements that reflect a positive approach to psychology. Evaluate careers and areas of specialization in psychology. Apply some strategies that will help you succeed in psychology. After studying Chapter 1, you will be able to: Define psychology. Describe the influence that philosophy, biology, and physiology had on the beginnings of psychology as a science. Compare the two early scientific approaches in psychology: structuralism and functionalism. Describe the focus of each of the six contemporary approaches to psychology. Describe the positive psychology movement, and discuss why this movement recently emerged in psychology. Discuss career opportunities in psychology. Profile the main areas of specialization in psychology. Say how studying habits may be optimized. Understand how to be a critical thinker. CHAPTER 1: OUTLINE Psychology is a science dedicated to the study of behavior and mental processes. In this chapter you are introduced to the history of this science, a variety of contemporary perspectives in psychology, the positive psychology movement, and an overview of psychology-related careers. At the end of the chapter, the reader learns about the most effective methods of studying and learning. There are three concepts important to the definition of psychology: science, behavior, and mental processes. Psychologists...
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...matters pertaining to human mental issues that begin right from birth and continue until the death of the person. So, by gaining full understanding of the history of psychology, you will be able to better understand how the individual topics are studied and what has been learned so far. Doubts, Questions at the Beginning Right from the beginning, the study of psychology has been faced with a number of difficult questions. The first question of how is psychology defined established it as a separate science, separate from philosophy and physiology. Other additional questions that psychologists were also faced with throughout the history of the subject were: What issues and topics should the subject of psychology deal with? What methods of research should be used when studying psychology? Should research be used in order to influence education, public policy and other aspects of human behavior? Is psychology a science? Should psychology focus on internal mental processes or on observable behavior? Physiology and Philosophy While psychology did not really emerge as a separate science until the latter half of the 19th century, its initial history can be traced right back to the ancient Greeks. During the 1600's, the famous French philosopher, Rene Descartes, introduced the concept of dualism, which stressed on the fact the body and the mind were basically two separate entities that interacted together to form the normal human experience. Many of the other issues that are...
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... Abstract Since one major branch in psychology cannot contribute strongly enough to the greater understanding of human kind, there came many others that were developed and had to follow. However, each of these specific disciplines has had their own purpose and area that uses its tools and knowledge that can properly explain their many different actions. In taking into consideration all these aspects and views from each individual discipline can help one to grasp many different behaviors better including the causes of an action. Take for instance, an action say as a thought grants to seeing something as a whole instead of only from one perspective. Being able to perform this way leads to an overall better comprehension of one’s world, which is significant to the quality of life. While understanding requires thinking, the occurrence of cognitive psychology was never one of a doubt but more one of a timely fashion. Cognitive Psychology Definition Foundation of Cognitive Psychology As simple cognitive psychology might appear for many these days, the same cannot be applied to its past. Due to a more primitive way of thinking in ancient times, the cognitive perspective was somehow rejected at first and experienced a rather difficult time being understood. How can something one cannot see, explain what it does? Further defining cognitive psychology and describing the...
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...contradictoriness and logical inconsistency of propositions which deny them (Davidson, 93). Truths of fact have their sufficient reason in being more perfect than propositions which deny them. The Priori on pre-established harmony in so far as such harmony demands an author, and this is God. The posteriori explains everything that exists must have sufficient reason for existing, and this reason is God. (Davidson, 96) Leibniz used the Monads to expedite his theory of God’s instilled harmony. His best known contribution to metaphysics is his theory of monads, as exposited in Monadologie (Monads). Monads are to the metaphysical realm what atoms are to the physical/phenomenal. They can also be compared to the corpuscles of the Mechanical Philosophy of René Descartes and others...
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...Pre-Socratic Period Thales of Miletus Background: Thales of Miletus (fl. c. 585 BC) is regarded as the father of philosophy. Thales of Miletus was considered one of the Seven Wise Men of ancient Greece. Thales was the first of the Greek natural philosophers and founder of the Ionian school of ancient Greek thinkers. Works/Writings/Philosophy: His is said to have measured the Egyptian pyramids and to have calculated the distance from shore of ships at sea using his knowledge of geometry. He also predicted an eclipse of the sun. In geometry Thales has been credited with the discovery of five theorems like the one that a triangle inscribed in a semicircle has a right angle. He tried to discover the substance from which everything in nature is made off and suggested water. Thales is important in bridging the worlds of myth and reason. He initiated the revolutionary notion that to understand the world one needed to know its nature and that there was an explanation for all phenomena in natural terms. That was a giant step from the assumptions of the old world that supernatural forces determined almost everything. While considering the effects of magnetism and static electricity, he concluded that the power to move other things without the mover itself changing was a characteristic of "life", so that a magnet and amber must therefore be alive in some way (in that they have animation or the power to act). If so, he argued, there is no difference between the living and the dead...
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...mTELECOURSE STUDY GUIDE FOR The Examined Life FOURTH EDITION author J. P. White Chair, Department of Philosophy Santa Barbara City College contributing author Manuel Velasquez Professor of Philosophy Santa Clara University This Telecourse Study Guide for The Examined Life is part of a collegelevel introduction to philosophy telecourse developed in conjunction with the video series The Examined Life, and the text Philosophy: A Text with Readings, tenth edition, by Manuel Velasquez, The Charles Dirksen Professor, Santa Clara University. The television series The Examined Life was designed and produced by INTELECOM Intelligent Telecommunications, Netherlands Educational Broadcasting Corporation (TELEAC/NOT), and Swedish Educational Broadcasting Company (UR) Copyright © 2007, 2005, 2002, 1999 by INTELECOM Intelligent Telecommunications All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of INTELECOM Intelligent Telecommunications, 150 E. Colorado Blvd., Suite 300, Pasadena, California 91105-1937. ISBN: 0-495-10302-0 Contents Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v Lesson One — What is Philosophy? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....
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...marketplace of ideas that can give answers to matters that one nation cannot solve by itself. There will not be a free and equal generation of answers, however, unless there is a global agreement on censorship. It should be clear whether censorship should be enforced or not and to what degree. Secondly, it has never been more important to have the ability to think critically and be tolerant than now. It is vital for the well-being of an individual in today's society. This social development has become evident on the online marketplace of ideas. When there is an increasing amount of input, there will undoubtedly be a lot more opinions to take into consideration, which will blur the definition of free speech. Finally, this way of life contributes to the necessary transformation of laws and constitutions. Since the establishment of freedom of speech as a right, there have been many changes enforcing more and less protection for speech. This has, in the meantime, been accompanied by the development of a more openminded world, in which there are many voices that feel the need to be heard. (Puddephatt, A. (2011,...
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...Seeking Truth in the Field of Science René Descartes ************* Introduction The cultural turn that symbolically and philosophically separates Aristotle/Medieval views from the "modern" era can be found in Descartes' writings. Born just before 1600, he witnessed and participated in the beginnings of modern science, especially with its empirical [The method of philosophical inquiry that holds that the human mind can only understand the world by beginning with the experiences of the senses.], mechanistic [ The description of the motion of the universe in terms of the scientific notion of cause and effect alone. The image of the universe is that of a machine or mechanism that runs according to its construction and cannot deviate from it.] and mathematical under-girding. This Discourse on Method is, to some extent, an autobiography of an individual's evolution from the old system to the new. This text was formally the first of his publications, around mid-1637, however it shows indications of being written perhaps ten years earlier. He claims he is not intending to reveal the "method" but only to "reveal how I have tried to direct my own [mind]." Much of the method is applied in the Meditations. But, here it is more historically positioned. It is important to remember that this text contains elements that were highly controversial at the time-views which even contributed to Galileo's house arrest under the Inquisition in 1633. Commentary In Part One, Descartes humbly begins by asserting...
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...QUESTION 1 (B) - Students who go to class half an hour later than the prescribed start time for eight classes in a semester lost every desirable privileges (breaks during class, no football games, graduation dinner etc.). After the rule was implemented, there seemed to be a marked improvement in student attendance in class. How does operant conditioning explain the students’ behavior? Introduction Operant conditioning was thoroughly studied by Burrhus Frederick Skinner (B.F. Skinner), which he confirmed that someone learning ability is displayed by his or her behavior. When a factor in the person’s environment changes the consequences that they endure from their learning, can cause a positive or a negative impact on their behavior, which he categorize as reinforcers or punishments. Therefore, Operant Conditioning is a tool that can influence a person’s increasing or decrease his or her behavior by the consequences of their behavior. Operant conditioning will be illustrated by the behavior of the students when removing negative reinforcement or punishment or adding positive reinforcement or punishment (Robins et al, 2013). In this paragraph, the student’s behavior will be explained using Negative Reinforcement with the illustration of their behavior being increased frequently, towards the termination of the unfavorable consequence, which is, not having the privileges. From the question, the students attended to class early, which is their behavior, in order to avoid...
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...BOOKS New York Contents The Presocratics Thales of Miletus . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Pythagoras of Samos . . . . . 10 Xenophanes of Colophon 12 Heraclitus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 The Scholastics St Anselm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 St Thomas Aquinas . . . . . . . 50 John Duns Scotus . . . . . . . . . 52 William of Occam . . . . . . . . . 54 The Liberals Adam Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 Mary Wollstonecraft . . . . 108 Thomas Paine . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 Jeremy Bentham . . . . . . . . . 112 John Stuart Mill . . . . . . . . . . 114 Auguste Comte . . . . . . . . . . . 116 The Eleatics Parmenides of Elea . . . . . . . 16 Zeno of Elea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 The Age of Science Nicolaus Copernicus . . . . . . 56 Niccolò Machiavelli . . . . . . . 58 Desiderus Erasmus . . . . . . . . 60 Thomas More . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Francis Bacon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Galileo Galilei . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 Thomas Hobbes . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Sir Isaac Newton . . . . . . . . . . 70 The Evolutionists Charles Darwin . . . . . . . . . . . 118 Henri Louis Bergson . . . . 120 A. N. Whitehead . . . . . . ....
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...photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher. For information, address State University of New York Press, 90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany, NY 12207 Production, Laurie Searl Marketing, Fran Keneston Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Mason, Richard, 1948– Understanding understanding / Richard Mason. p. cm. — (SUNY series in philosophy) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7914-5871-7 (alk. paper) — ISBN 0-7914-5872-5 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Comprehension (Theory of knowledge) I. Title. II. Series. BD181.5.M27 2003 121—dc21 2003042557 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 for Margie Contents INTRODUCTION, 1 CHAPTER ONE WHAT WE UNDERSTAND, 7 CHAPTER TWO HOW WE UNDERSTAND, 21 CHAPTER THREE UNDERSTANDING AND KNOWLEDGE, 39 CHAPTER FOUR INTELLIGIBILITY, 51 CHAPTER FIVE FAILURES OF UNDERSTANDING, 67 CHAPTER SIX BEYOND UNDERSTANDING, 89 viii CONTENTS CHAPTER SEVEN WISDOM, 105 NOTES, 115 BIBLIOGRAPHY, 125 INDEX OF NAMES, 131 Introduction A physicist tries to understand quantum mechanics. A parent tries to understand a child. A critic tries to understand a new style of painting. A...
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