Epistemology PHL 215: Philosophy Methods and Applications November 21, 2011 Epistemology is a branch of study in philosophy that studies knowledge. “The broad definition accords the derivation of the term empiricism from the ancient Greek work empeira, “experience”.” (Empiricism, 2011) Epistemology consist of many elements surrounding justified belief such as what constitutes a justified belief; a belief could be justified because certain factors are present, or “what we experience
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DESCARTES: Information: Born in France in 1596 Got an education at the hands of the Jesuits, which included maths and philosophy. He took his law degree at the university of Pioters, in his hometown. He became obsessed by the question whether there was anything we could be sure of, anything we could know for certain. Key Works: Discourse on method – published in 1634 Meditations – published in 1641 Key Terms: “I think therefore I am” “Common sense is the best distributed
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Plato and Descartes. What are some similarities and differences? All three; “The Matrix”, “The Allegory of the Cave” the more eloquent “Meditation 1 of the Things of Which We May Doubt” all seem to center on the same metaphysical question of; what is real? The Matrix is much like a modern version of The Allegory of the Cave in which both the perception based reality is explored with their costs and limitations involved. It seems to me that Rene’ Descartes “Meditations on first philosophy 1641 is simply
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The Matrix, Plato, and Descartes Whether one elects for the “red pill of truth”, or the “blue pill of deception”, the battle for the human mind is being waged. Similarities between the motion picture, The Matrix, “The Allegory of the Cave” from Plato, the Republic, Book VII, 514A1-518D8, and Meditation 1 of The Things of Which We May Doubt, from Rene’s Descartes, Meditations on the First Philosophy 1641, include the existence of the opposing force that seeks to deceive the human (mind) soul,
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The Matrix, Plato, and Descartes For centuries, man has embarked on a relentless, philosophical journey to unearth a necessary answer to the question—what is real? The megahit film, The Matrix, ingeniously created by the Wachowski brothers, brings the world’s most celebrated, philosophical theories to light as they attempt to postulate a binding remedy. The first of these theories dates past 380 BC, when Plato crafted his allegorical masterpiece, “The Cave,” which denotes a metaphor contrasting
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Fate, Mistakes or Something Else? Is there such a thing as a mistake? We all talk about how everything happens for a reason. I believe in the idea of timing. I realize that our experiences shape us. They make us who we are, and we would not be who we are without them. In life, we learn to accept the decisions we make, and we call them decisions rather than mistakes because they are all part of the master plan that develop us into who we will eventually be when we die? I do not know. When do we become
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Running head: Plato, Descartes, and The Matrix Plato, Descartes, and The Matrix Plato, Descartes, and The Matrix After reading the Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, I realized that it endures a significant similarity to The Matrix whereas the two share nearly identical metaphysical themes and hypothetical assumptions regarding the reality of nature, the experience in the world, and the chance of illusion. At first, the ‘two world’ theory is the main theme that goes through The Matrix and the
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Descartes and Rationalism René Descartes, 1596-1650 (Latin Renatus Cartesius, hence the term Cartesian) Descartes’ Project Descartes was a contemporary of Galileo and Kepler. He was born about 50 years after the publication of Copernicus’ De Revolutionibus. Thus he lived right at the beginning of the scientific revolution, as the medieval world view was beginning to collapse. Descartes was a mathematician and physicist, as well as a philosopher. He was the first to offer a system of mechanics that
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natural philosophy, and by the middle of the century, both the Cartesian and Newtonian mechanical systems had placed mathematics at center stage, disdaining qualitative physics as irrelevant, unknowable, and misleading. Consistent with their methodology, the mechanists tended to reduce the ontological reality of the natural world to its quantitative aspects, implicitly or explicitly eliminating all categories other than extension, time, space, and motion. In this interpretation, Descartes’ treatment
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Rene Descartes, like many philosophers immersed himself in many aspects of life including both art and science. One major topic he addressed in great deal regarding philosophy was whether or not we could have absolute knowledge, including that of the external world. He is considered by many people to be a foundational rationalist. He used both the aspects of foundationalism and reason to prove it was possible to possess true knowledge. After finishing his meditations he felt he had indeed accomplished
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