Metaphysics Essays (Examples)

" (Ibid) the term cosmology is derived from the Greek word 'kosmos' meaning order and refers to the world and the universe. (Ibid, paraphrased) the cosmologic philosopher is stated to be on who "contemplates the nature of this order and is concerned with the relationships between the plants, the stars and the earth. The laws of the universe are important topics to cosmologic philosophers. They consider the laws of thermodynamics, the laws of gravity, etc. They are also concerned with time and space, with power and motion, disintegration, and preservation." (Ibid)

The third component of metaphysics or that of psychology is a word derived from the Greek language which is stated to refer to "the nature of the psyche or soul." (Ibid) There is a great debate among philosophers about how to define the word soul as some believe that soul and spirit can be used interchangeably and others believe…

Besides this, one can, as a separate undertaking, show these people later the way of reasoning about these things. In this metaphysics, it will be useful for there to be added here and there the authoritative utterances of great men, who have reasoned in a similar way; especially when these utterances contain something that seems to have some possible relevance to the illustration of a view. (13)

By contrast, Mercer uses Leibniz's hetoric of Attraction to explain the discrepancies between different descriptions of his intellectual evolution and philosophical system, statements that ultimately served to "lead wayward souls to the philosophical truth" (2001, p. 37). Consequently, Mercer regards Leibniz as a "conciliatory eclectic par excellence," who was one of a group of teachers and scholars with whom he worked early in his intellectual career, from 1661-68.

Hassing notes that Jakob Thomasius was Leibnez's primary inspiration; however, Johann Adam Scherzer, Johann Christoph…

Absolute reality thus is impossible in the world of Descartes. The way Kant began argument for his form of metaphysics began with the critique of pure reason. That involves the realm of the unknown -- moving to the unknown from the known, and this can be determined only by small steps. (Heidegger; Churchill, 9)

Thus as per Kant "critique requires knowledge of the sources, and reason must know itself." And thus the pure reason may have to know first of itself. (Heidegger; Churchill, 133) Kant attempted to reach the origin of things by discarding the earlier metaphysics and relying on his own insight, with which he created the foundation of his analysis. As between them Kant leans more to the Greek forms and enhances the thought while Descartes would not have any of that. In the end both have succeeded in the emphasis of the thought that perceptions of these…

Metaphysics presumes some kind of perfection somewhere, but there is no reason to presume this. Further, it presumes free will in the capacity to strive for the ideal. ut Nietzsche writes, "ecoming is robbed of its innocence when any particular condition of things is traced to a will, to intentions and to responsible actions" (p. 31). People exist from fate. There is no ideal happiness or morality. There is nothing outside the whole by which a judgment could be formed or administered. There is no tracing existence to a first cause. In other words, the moral rationale by which metaphysics creates an eternal, immutable world need not be valid.

In sum, this essay has briefly analyzed Plato's theory of forms and Aristotle's prime mover. It has argued that such metaphysical notions are based as much on moral and theological concerns as on logic. Furthermore, they operate acceptably only by subordinating…

If free will is an illusion, then a "science of behavior" is necessary to "show us how to manipulate the causes of human behavior," (p. 401). A science of human behavior would be based on observations of how people act under certain conditions, or on how their ancestors acted. Changing destructive behaviors would require discovering the cause of those behaviors: either in a person's genetic code or in a person's environment. The intervention would target those factors, rather than encouraging the person to use willpower.

3. Blatchford believes that human conscience is practically nonexistent: it is a product of experience, of lessons learned about right and wrong behaviors. Human beings need to be taught right from wrong, and hence, human beings lack an innate ability to choose right over wrong. Of course, Blatchford presupposes that human beings would choose right over wrong rather than wrong over right if their free…

We still understand within ourselves what greatness consists of. We still make our tallies relevant to ethical considerations. We can base our society on rules and order. We can prosecute the murderers. But is all we ever do is tally and rule and prosecute, and we don't allow for the possibility of purifying ourselves in the leap into the void of greatness, we miss having the connection with greatness that makes much of life worthwhile.

In this essay, I have argued that Kant's view of ethics is insufficient to account for all realms of human behavior, and most important, it is insufficient for dealing with actions that derive from faith. I believe that by resorting to a kind of universalized law for action, Kant has suppressed the very individuality that he claims to respect as the basis for his formulation of the Categorical Imperative. He, in effect, resorts to a…

However, that should not suggest that its pursuit is wholly worthless. There is some value in striving to attain this ideal, even if it can never be realized.

Despite the appeal of the categorical imperative, follows its dictates proves to be seemingly impossible, and even in some instances, undesirable. When adhering to the principles of Kantian morality, it is clear that moral reasoning is reduced to a strict moral calculus, whereby there is only one correct answer to the question, "What am I to do?" This process, moreover, does not allow for any deviations from this strict normative standard, and morally ambiguous areas become non-existent. However, in some situations, certain actions that are in violation of the categorical imperative might be morally necessary. For example, during the Holocaust, people often had to lie to the Nazi SS when harboring Jews in their home. It seems obvious that lying violates at…

Given that archetypes appear consistent across dreamers, the impact that culture has on the meaning of archetypes and dreams, and the fact that mourners consistently have the four types of grief dreams, it seems logical that culture would impact the appearance and interpretation of archetypes in dreams. For example, given that, culturally, the mother plays a more central role in the African-American family than the father, it would seem that archetypal appearances of the Mother and the Father would have a different meaning for African-American dreamers than for non-African-American dreamers. One of the unique aspects of the United States is that, while people may have similar day-to-day experiences, they are influenced by a wide variety of cultural backgrounds, which suggests that the dream experience of Americans may be non-homogeneous. It is the intent of this paper to examine the role that archetypes play in the grief dreams of members of…

Aristotle & Metaphysics

Aristotle calls the science he is seeking 'first philosophy or theology'. The objective of this study is to answer the question of what does first philosophy or theology consist and what is its object. In addition, this study will ask in what ways that it differs from other sciences and in what sense is it first? In the final analysis this study will answer if Aristotle's 'first philosophy is an ontology or a study of beings or a theology or a study of first or highest beings?

Metaphysics

Madison (2008) writes that metaphysics was a word that Aristotle did not actually use but that the word "does employ a cluster of phrases and words to designate the content of its fourteen books: wisdom, first philosophy, theology, the science of being qua being, the science of the highest causes and principles, and the science of truth." (p.5) The…

Foundation of Metaphysics
By Kant’s metaphysics of morals is meant the idea that there is a moral duty determined by the motive with which one engages in any behavior. The motive to do one’s duty is what determines its morality. Aristotle’s understanding of teleological ethics is a bit different in that motive is not central, rather the act in and of itself is determinant of its moral quality in so far it is aligned with a good end. Thus, if the friend who dives into the icy waters to save another ends up causing the other’s death because of failing to take certain precautions or considerations (as in he neglects to get a life buoy or is not actually a good swimmer) then the morality of the action is questionable.
Both Aristotle and Kant’s approaches can be combined to create a more comprehensive approach to morality. Kant refers to duty…

Put another way he contends that the reasoned man must expect the unexpected, while relying on his own memories and senses to determine eventual effects. Rules must apply only when they have been proven repeatedly and are therefore a sound representation of what might happen.

Cause and effect to Hume are those things, which explain the causal relationship of events, and things. Causal relationships are determined by our individual set of beliefs associated with the individual's previous experiences. Hume explains that it is only this historical understanding of the past that guides our ideas of cause and effect. It therefore does not seem strange that we cannot know for certain that the sun will rise tomorrow, though it has been proven to do so repeatedly for as long as man has been recording the passage of days. It is only something we rely on as a truth because of our…

In Plato's mind, the body is an anchor which holds the soul from enlightenment. That which we know (as we will discuss later) we knew before we had the body and it is only recollection of this knowledge that allows us to know anything while we are in the body.

We will now discuss the application of this idea of Forms and the separation of the same from sensible particulars by discussing Plato's idea of "Two Worlds," or being and partaking. eing does not mean the same thing as partaking is not explained by and does not explain its essence. In fact, Plato postulated that is X lacks essence, it can fail to be. An example given is that of beauty. eauty is beautiful, and other things become beautiful by partaking in what is beautiful. The question then comes whether the partaking is then dependent on the being. In what…

ather than continue the process that began in the first two books, in which the osicrucian Order first announced themselves, gave their history, and then responded to certain criticisms while making their position within Christian theology clearer, the Chymical Wedding can almost be seen as the first instance of literature written within the osicrucian tradition, rather than as part of its manifesto-like founding documents, because it does not seek to explain the history of osicrucianism, but rather explicate how the teachings and underlying beliefs of osicrucianism contribute to and alter one's interpretation of Christian scripture (Williamson 17; Dickson 760). Specifically, one can see a distinct connection between the Chymical Wedding and seventeenth-century attempts to expand Protestantism throughout Europe. The Chymical Wedding can be seen as a the most explicit attempt on the part of osicrucians and osicrucian supporters to wed the new (or newly revealed) society to the larger religious…

Since a hypothetical imperative represents one of many possibilities that are only means to an end, they cannot be objectively necessary, and therefore do not have the same command over human behavior as a categorical imperative. As Kant notes, commands are laws that we must obey, even when they contradict our inclinations (27).

(b)

If we treat others as a means to an end, then we use them in service of another goal. However, if we treat others as an end in themselves, then we respect them without regard to any other goals or ends. To treat someone as a means to an end is to make them less important than some end result, whereas to treat someone as an end in themselves makes them the final and most important consideration. Slavery may be the most offensive example of using others as a means to an end, but there are…

Philosophy

Nietzsche often identified life itself with "will to power," that is, with an instinct for growth and durability. This concept provides yet another way of interpreting the ascetic ideal, since it is Nietzsche's contention "that all the supreme values of mankind lack this will -- that values which are symptomatic of decline, nihilistic values, are lording it under the holiest names" (Kaufmann 1959). Thus, traditional philosophy, religion, and morality have been so many masks a deficient will to power wears. The sustaining values of estern civilization have been sublimated products of decadence in that the ascetic ideal endorses existence as pain and suffering. Some commentators have attempted to extend Nietzsche's concept of the will to power from human life to the organic and inorganic realms, ascribing a metaphysics of will to power to him (Kaufmann 1959).

The insidious process by which we ascribe attributes to our fictitious consciousness has…

eligion through its sanctity, and law-giving through its majesty, may seek to exempt themselves from it. But they then awaken just suspicion, and cannot claim the sincere respect which reason accords only to that which has been able to sustain the test of free and open examination.

Axi[n])

The debate of science and metaphysics arises when one wonders if metaphysics is even a science or do we really need it. Kant puts forward this question to explain why metaphysics is a science and why it is needed. He argues that metaphysics is needed, 'if not as science, yet still as natural disposition' because human reason is naturally pre-disposed 'by an inward need', and not just by 'idle desire', to raise metaphysical questions that science alone cannot answer. (B21-2). For example the questions about soul or the existence of God come to our minds naturally and this is where metaphysics steps…

Plato and Kant

Plato's life span was between 427 BC and 347 BC. As a youth Plato possessed political visions, but he turned out disenchanted by the political authority of the city of Athens. He slowly turned out a follower of Socrates, adhering to his fundamental theory and conversational pattern of argument: the pursuance of virtue through inspection, results and additional inspection. The self-explanatory custom is one-minded in its inspection that Plato undertook many attires of poetry as a youth, only in the later point of life resorting to philosophy. Plato's chief donation was to philosophy, mathematics and science. Anyhow, it is not as yielding as one might anticipate envisaging Plato's philosophical visions. The cause for this is that Plato penned down no meticulous treatise providing his visions, rather he penned down innumerous conversations which are written in the form of debates. Plato enhanced his visions from within and implemented…

Philosophy is a one of the most perplexing, interesting and intriguing branch of study that seeks to understand the world from a viewpoint not commonly used. Three are many different branches of philosophy and three important ones include metaphysics, epistemology and axiology.

Epistemology refers to the branch of study that tries to go deeper into the meaning and scope of knowledge. The field is concerned with important and pertinent questions concerning knowledge such as what is knowledge, how is it acquired and how do we know some of things that we know. For example we understand that adding 2 and 2 would give us 4. Epistemology is simply concerned with the origin of this knowledge and not with how we add etc. Moser (2002) writes: "Epistemology characterized broadly, is an account of knowledge. Within the discipline of philosophy, epistemology is the study of the nature of knowledge and justification: in…

The connection between the physical world and the metaphysical world was a topic that has fascinated humans for hundreds of years. Aristotle suggested the soul was the seat of psychic activities. He also felt that activities in the physical world first have to occur in the spiritual world (Elders, 2006). This connection is the basis of modern metaphysics and the ideals that are embodied in the psychic's work. Many, such as Aristotle presented actions in the physical world as evidence of what has happened on the metaphysical plane. Since the time of Aristotle, science has abandoned the idea of self-evidence (Dougherty, 2006).

Now a new interest in the study of metaphysics has arisen. This new interest is the result of new information into the study of quantum physics. Quantum theory and cosmology are only beginning to be explored as possible explanations for psychic ability, ghosts and other manifestations of sub-atomic…

98)

The above quotation refers to forms of intuition and perception of the spiritual that in fact advocates the "blocking' of the normal modes of understanding and apprehension. As one commentator state;

The spiritual is all that is beyond the conscious awareness and would include God or gods, demons, spirits and nature spirits, ghosts, non-incarnate entities, angels, devas, guardians of the threshold, guardian angels and all the intangible entities and realities of the religions where the cloud of the unknowable things exists.

(Roze, Janis, Toward the New Humanity: From Emotional Intelligence

to Spiritual Intuition)

It is this perception of the intuitive forms of spiritual intelligence that, it also needsto be taken into account in a discussion of this subject.

2. Literature review

There are many modern as well as more traditional perspectives on the issue of spiritual intelligence. A broad and inclusive view of the central terms in this study…

Then present one argument that demonstrates a strength or a weakness.

The strength of Kant's critique of reason and its excesses can be seen in an examination of Plato's famous Theory of Ideas. For Plato, the only suitable instrument for knowledge of the real world is reason and understanding. He defines understanding as the highest activity of the soul and reason as the second-highest activity of the soul. (Republic, 511c) These activities are necessary to glimpse the things of the real word, the actual Forms contained in the world of Forms. (Republic, 509d). For Plato, true Knowledge was the Knowledge of these real things. (Republic, 509e). For him, all Knowledge was Knowledge of something that exists because what does not exist is nothing, of which it is impossible to have Knowledge. (Republic, 477e)

Through the proposition that knowledge and opinion are different capacities, Plato infers that knowledge and opinion must…

un for Your Wife

ay Cooney's un for Your Wife through Philosophical Inquiry

un for Your Wife is a British farce written by ay Cooney who also played the main protagonist, John Smith, in the play in theater performances in Britain in the 1980s. The play explores numerous issues ranging from ethics, polygamy, and faithfulness to the aesthetics of British culture in the 1950s. The whole play, however, is a farce and sometimes acts in the play seem to be mindless, performed just for the sake of humor although some forms of humor used in the play also seem to be bland. One way to make sense of the play is to explore it through branches of philosophy such as metaphysics and epistemology. Both of these branches of knowledge ultimately suggest that there is subjectivity and relativity in our ways of knowing. This may be useful in understanding un for…

Furthermore, the nature and types of value, such as morals, aesthetics, religion, and metaphysics are the core focal areas for this study. In other words, this field of study is related to ethics and aesthetics. Since all the human beings are different in terms of their backgrounds, thus they even think differently from one another and axiology is the science that examines and analyzes the thinking patterns of the diverse people (Ornstein, Levine, Gutek & Vocke, 2010).

This hypothetical study of values is also vital in education because it promotes the learning of moral rules, principles, ethics and values; hence it leads the individual to gain knowledge related to the good deeds and actions. With the study of axiology, the individual would become cognizant of what is right and wrong, good or bad, ethical and unethical (Ornstein, Levine, Gutek & Vocke, 2010).

Logic is considered the fourth subdivision of philosophy…

In terms of ethics, I believe we feel happiest when we are acting and behaving in ways that will promote our survival and the survival of our offspring. This does not mean we feel best when we act selfishly, because I believe there is a universal spiritual dimension (also part of the metaphysics of the world) which makes all living creatures feel connected. Therefore, we cannot feel truly happy unless we are behaving in ways that promote the health and prosperity of all of life in general. As human beings with a developed conscience, we cannot ignore our own unethical actions; they will always affect our own well-being in one way or another (less restful sleep, mental or emotional disorders, difficulty learning, lack of achievement, low self-esteem, etc.).

Dominant Worldview in America Today: My Perception

I believe the dominant worldview in America is axiology-based and influenced heavily by modern technology…

This may be true, but only to a limited extent. If human experience is limited, then so is the acquired knowledge and truth can not exist partially only. On the one hand. On the other hand, it is safe to say that unlimited experience is impossible at least empirically (419a).

Therefore, truth might be based on experience but experience is not enough. The fact that people are chained to the wall is a metaphor which suggests the fact that human perceptions are influenced and shaped by the environment we live in through its customs, beliefs and values. It becomes obvious how difficult it is to have a free mind. Returning to the issue of experience, we may have a person breaking free from the chain and thus being able to move around the cave.

Now he can see the statues and the fire and with the use of reason he…

Gerl (2010) points out in his advocacy of metaphysics as a way of approaching the philosophy of special education that this helps to construct a legal perspective which is evolving in a way that is consistent with the evolution of ethical perspectives of human dignity, individual rights and the treatment of those with disabilities. hile this strikes as relevant, Gerl even concedes that one may not be suited for the metaphysical philosophy of special education law "if a lack of ambiguity appeals to you." Indeed, in a sense, traditional civil rights case law in combination with the ideals delivered by an axiology discourse should serve to effectively address the need for the evolution in ethical perspective. And quite simply stated, the philosophical underpinnings of Logic are problemetized in the educational context by the sheer force and divergence of opposing political, ideological and economic priorities. Therefore, the idea of constructing logical…

Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz are often accurately portrayed as the key figures representing the Continental rationalism. Continental rationalism is characterized by a belief that truth can be deduced from human reason, and that certain innate, or self-evident ideas form the basis for such knowledge. In contrast, British empiricism saw the source of knowledge could be found in experience and through the senses. hile the works of Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz contain significant differences, they share the common beliefs in: 1) reason as the ultimate source of knowledge, 2) Leibniz' principle of sufficient reason, and 3) the idea that knowledge must come from self-evident, a priori truths. The belief in innate principles or ideas characterized the work of Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz, and is probably best characterized through their shared belief in the idea of a deity.

Overview of Rationalism and Empiricism

Continental rationalism argues essentially that the ultimate source of…

For example, many individuals value freedom and knowledge as things that can bring happiness. So, having their own value, these things are parts of happiness.

Mill believed that everyone's happiness is important. He believed in what he called the 'greatest happiness principle.' According to the greatest happiness principle, a person is ethically required to try to bring about the consequences that would lead to the greatest amount of happiness for everyone affected. More simple stated, if a person can produce more happiness (and/or less suffering) in a certain situation, then he or she is ethically obligated to do so. In more contemporary ethical terms, this is called the requirement to 'maximize happiness. If one was considering doing something for one's own happiness, but that action would cause others suffering, then Mill would have to take both of the sides into account in deciding whether or not the action should morally…

Not only is a challenge present for Muslim teachers in attempting to standardize this curriculum but as well "this is compounded by the fact that curriculum materials related to teaching about Islam produced overseas - even for Arabic language studies - are viewed as irrelevant or unsuited to young students' lives and culture in the U.S. And Europe." (Douglass and Shaikh, 2004)

Guidelines have been provided in recent years concerning teaching religion in public schools in the U.S. And it is stated by Douglass and Shaikh that "general adherence to the guidelines and their implementation in textbook development has done more than anything else to improve the accuracy of textbook depictions of the basic beliefs and practices, origin stories and subsequent cultural and institutional history of various religions." (Douglass and Shaikh, 2004) Stated as primary among the changes is "the consistent use of attributive phrases, combined with greater factual accuracy."…

"(Kant, 30) Thus, Dorothea's action coincides with the first formulation of the categorical imperative. Had she determined to refuse the request made by Casaubon, the law would have contained a contradiction in itself and thus would have been violated. It is arguable that when asked for help, a person should grant it at the expense of his or her personal comfort. The contrary law could not have any validity since it would deny the existence of kindness and selflessness among people. Dorothea acted selflessly, although she did waver to make this sacrifice simply because she did not feel the actual end of the action would be noble enough. Nevertheless, the immediate end, that of completing her duty to her husband as a fellow human being, is a noble end in itself, and this is why Dorothea chose to fulfill it. Dorothea significantly rejects the circumstance- that of having to perform…

The question arising from this claim is whether evidence exists to prove that there exists an infinitely good, powerful, and wise God where morality naturally emerges. Humes argues that is hard to imagine that an all-good, powerful God exists in this world full of pain and misery. From these claims, one can argue that this insight, or God, has both evil and good, as is present in man if man is in God's image and likeliness.

Immanuel Kant: from the Critique of Pure Reason, the Good Will and the Categorical Imperative, the Postulates of Practical Reason

Kant believes that the vigorous application of same methods of reasoning can yield to an equal development in dealing with the issues of moral philosophy. Kant proposes a list of categories of Freedom in Relation to the concept of good vs. evil. Kant uses logical distinction as the basis for the catalog. Even though…

Kant; Adam Smith

Locke: primary qualities, secondary qualities, substance Kant: Judgment of perceptions, judgment of experience, categories of the understanding Explain all six terms above. Does Kant's position (relevant to those terms) different from Locke's? Is Kant (on these terms) able to deal with some of the problems Locke encountered (when using these terms)?

According to John Locke, "the primary qualities of objects are their real qualities," such as "solidity, extension, figure, motion, rest, and number, all of which excite or produce similar ideas in your mind," which may be contrasted to secondary qualities, which are subjective in nature "like color, sound, smell, and taste" (Shoulder 2012). When apprehending both primary and secondary qualities, the mind does not apprehend the thing itself directly, but merely creates an impression of it. What gives primary qualities' an objective existence is something known as substance, or literally a "substratum underlying and supporting the…

In this regard, the instructor's individual characteristics should be secondary to the readiness of the instructor to recognize individual learning strengths and needs in the students.

Diversity:

Diversity is often taken as a term which refers particularly to difference in race, ethnicity, gender, religion or sexual orientation, to name just a few categories of cultural distinction. And indeed, it does refer to this within the context of education. However, there is yet another level to the discussion on diversity which concerns education in particularly, relating to the individual nature of learning styles. It is therefore necessary for the teacher to channel a recognition of learning styles and cultural diversity into a unified approach to the classroom. This tends to reinforce the position taken throughout this research, which is that the successful teacher will, therefore, tend to an educational strategy which diverts from strict academic prerogatives and instead approaches its subjects…

Finally, logic consists of the study of formal argument and is fundamentally related to other branches of philosophy and to the process of human reason, more generally.

he metaphysician might study such things as where the lines are properly drawn between identifying something as living or nonliving, whether our perception of being alive necessarily means that we are alive, and whether or not we can trust that we are awake and not merely dreaming that we are awake (aylor, 2002). he epistemologist might study whether (and how) one can know whether our assumptions and perceptions are capable of yielding information on the basis of which any conclusions can be drawn at all. he epistemologist would be concerned with how we know what we know and with what we can possibly know, whereas the metaphysician would be concerned with understanding the nature of what we perceive around us (aylor, 2002).

Axiologists…

In Cultural Ethical elativism, Universalism, Absolutism (2005), it was mentioned that Kant said that people engage a particular space in creation and morality can be figured out in one supreme directive of reason or imperative that all responsibilities and duties drawn from; Kant described an imperative as any intention which asserts a particular act or inaction to be compulsory; a hypothetical imperative requires action in a particular condition: "if I wish to quench my thirst, I must drink something;" -- a categorical imperative, in contrast, indicates an absolute, unconditional obligation that states its influence in all conditions, both necessary as well as justified as an end in itself; and it is most recognized in its first expression: "Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law."

In Cultural Ethical elativism, Universalism, Absolutism (2005), it was stated that Kant…

Moral Worth

Present, explain, and assess the thesis that only acts done from duty have moral worth

In his Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals, Immanuel Kant addresses the issue of how people can determine the moral value of actions. His central claim is that only acts that are done out of duty can be considered to have any moral value. Implicit in this topic is the need to reconcile the intent of one's actions with the result of their actions. Kant explores exactly where morality can be located when identifying the value of one's actions. At stake in Kant's argument is whether there is in fact an a priori framework for how people should behave, and where virtue is found.

At the beginning of the Groundwork, Kant explains the notion of logic and defines the terms that he deploys to explain his governing thesis. These terms include: good will,…

A good example as to why causation isn't always connected is found on page 420. Hume asserts that only when two objects are "constantly conjoined" can observers "infer the one from the other." But rarely are two effects and two causes connected, Hume continues. If a cause and effect have "resemblance" to another cause and effect, they can be conjoined, but that is rare indeed.

Put into simpler words, Hume doubts that even with a repetition of conjunctions it would be safe to believe a "connection" between the cause and effect would be established. Indeed, after a person experiences sees instances repeated repetitiously, the mind is convinced through the person's habits and reflections that upon the introduction of one event, another event is expected to happen, and humans believe this will happen. His own explanation is that a cause is an "…object followed by another, and whose appearance always conveys…

Metaphysical Methods of Inquiry

The philosopher Rene Descartes adopted what he called a 'metaphysical' or rationalist approach to understanding the world and the relationship of the human to the divine. In contrast to a physical approach a 'meta-physical' inquiry, as the word suggests, is a method of reasoning that takes the thinker outside of the physical world and confines the philosopher's focus to the mind when establishing what is true. The great strength of the metaphysical approach, according to Descartes, is that it is not polluted by the potential delusions of the material world, in contrast to an empiricist or scientific approach. Metaphysics is deductive, rather than inductive in nature. It makes suppositions based upon evidence, reasoning from first, established principles, rather than creating principles based upon sensory evidence. "But while my senses may deceive me about what is small or far away, there may still be other things taken…

Descartes Mechanical Philosophy and Leibniz reaction to it. It has 7 sources.

ubstance and form

There must be something out of which change takes place." Aristotle thinks that this "out of which" is what we call matter. For Aristotle everything is composed of form and matter. Consider the example of a statue of a doll made of lump of clay, the clay is what Aristotle calls the matter and the shape of doll that it has is called its form. The result is a compound object made of matter and form, the statue of a doll. till Form and matter are not sufficient to explain change; the statue was first made of clay, which was not first a statue. The contrast between the opposite is not between the statue and the clay [Aristotle, The Physics, 2003]. The contrast is between the non-statues, the lump of clay and the statue. In…

If Kant's points are to be assimilated when adopting a moral stance which is consistent with man's dignity, such absolute terms are inevitably defined by dominant social structures, bringing us to the application of a normative theoretical structure. The inextricable relationship which theology and morality have shared throughout history tends to have a tangible impact on the way these hegemonic standards are defined.

And Kant, rejects any flexibility outright, however. Beyond its deviation from his established disposition toward moral absolutes, such variation violates Kant's maxim about man as an end rather than a means. Man is to be the motive for moral acts, with his dignity defining right and wrong. Indeed, as he pointedly phrases it, "the laws of morality are laws according to which everything ought to happen; they allow for conditions under which what ought to happen doesn't happen." (Kant, 1)

Counter-argument:

Like Kant, Camus asserts a clear…

For some identify happiness with virtue, some with practical wisdom, others with a kind of philosophic wisdom, others with these, or one of these, accompanied by pleasure or not without pleasure; while others include also external prosperity." (Aristotle, I: 8) Aristotle uses this as a divining rod for dissecting the various relationships which are perpetuated amongst men. Here, Aristotle's practicality is of particular relevance, with his semantic explication of terms for the relationship between virtue and happiness offering a rather thorough template for human morality. This denotes that while we do not fully accept the idea offered by Kant that that which is right for one is right for all, we do accept some balance where perceptions of right and wrong may differ but where a clear relationship between happiness and goodness permeates motives and creates something of a universal standard.

This balance is underscored by Plato's consideration of the…

education and the teacher-learner relationship from a Christian-informed philosophical perspective. It begins with an explanation of the author's personal worldview, and then explores the various philosophical schools of education. Combining the two, the author explains how they have helped shape the author's approach to education. ather than relying on a single educational philosophy, the author intends to combine multiple philosophies in the classroom environment.

Describing the purpose of education is an interesting prospect because education is a cultural construct, and, as a result, what constitutes an education is dependent upon the surrounding culture. In a broad sense, an education is the instruction and learning that a person receives, in both formal and informal environments, which is aimed at preparing that person to live as an adult within the surrounding culture. When one views education as a means of adapting the individual to adult life in his or her own culture,…

Motivation in Behavior

a) What does Tolman's theory of animal learning tell us about the motivation for human learning?

Unlike John Watson, B.F. Skinner and the other strict behaviorists, or the ussian physiologists like Ivan Pavlov, Edward C. Tolman argued that the behaviorist theory that learning was a matter of stimulus-response (S-) and positive and negative reinforcement was highly simplistic. Although he rejected introspective methods and metaphysics, he increasingly moved away from strict behaviorism into the areas of cognitive psychology. In short, he became a mentalist without actually using that term to describe himself and concluded that all behavior was "purposive" (Hergenhahn, 2009, p. 428). All of his experiments with rats moving through mazes at the University of Berkeley proved to his satisfaction that behavior was actually the dependent variable, with the environment as the independent variable, with mental processes as intervening variables. Tolman summarized this basic theory, which he…

Heidegger and Hitler

Proponents of Heidegger's metaphysical viewpoint are reluctant to identify a relationship between it and the opprobrious Nazi regime which Heidegger supported from 1933 to 1945. Critics of Heidegger, however, view the relationship between his metaphysics and his politics as significant. One might well ask, therefore, whether the relationship is real or only apparent -- whether the tenets of National Socialism are found in Heidegger's philosophy, or whether the fact that the two came from one man is merely a coincidence that ultimately means little.

Yet, by the formula of his own analysis (set forth in Contributions to Philosophy: Of the Event), one can see that Heidegger's metaphysics cannot be separated from his politics anymore than he himself can be separated from the environment and context in which he came to maturity. But while some scholars view Heidegger's political views as having an impact on his metaphysical views,…

The material cause refers to that substance out of which a thing is constructed. The formal cause is the idea of the thing in the mind of the creator who sets about creating that particular thing. The efficient cause is the Agent - or the being that creates the thing. The final cause is the purpose for which the thing has been created.

Mere potentiality does not exist on its own, but enters into the creation of all things - except for the Supreme Cause. Mere potentiality thus stands at one pole of reality, while the Supreme Cause - or God - is at the other. oth of these entities are real. Materia prima contains the most attenuated reality, as it is pure indeterminateness. God, on the other hand, contains the highest, most complete reality, as God is on the highest level of determinateness. One of the central tasks of…

Existentialism takes the human subject -- the holistic human, and the internal conditions as the basis and start of the conceptual way of explaining life. Taking idealism From Descartes, Kant, and Hegel, then building upon it, existentialist thinkers strip away the external and look at questions that surround human existence, and the conditions of that existence, rather than hypothesizing or dreaming of different forms of being. Thus, the inward philosophical emotions, angst, dread, self-doubt, self-esteem, etc. are experiences of the historical process, and the process of learning and moving through "existence" into a less fragile, more concrete, way of self-actualization. The existentialist concept of freedom is the manner in which internal values are set and interact with external historical trends. ather than humans being primarily rational, they make decisions when and if they find meaning (Solomon)

Existentialism asserts that people actually make decisions based solely on the meaning to them…

But the real world was a whole and perfect entity." (Philosophy Is a Way of Life)

The theory of dualism and its implications in term ethics and politics can be derived from the following concise but insightful analysis.

A dualistic view of reality understands there to be two (thus dualism) levels of existence. The top level... is ultimate reality, and consists of ideas, such as truth, beauty, goodness, justice, perfection. In other words, the ultimate reality is non-corporeal, or non-physical. It is the level of spirit and deity. The lower level is the physical world which in which we live. It is the opposite of ultimate reality, thus it is not real in the sense that it is not ultimate. It contains the imperfect physical manifestations of the ideas that exist in the perfect plane, so by definition it is characterized by falsehood, ugliness, evil, injustice, imperfection.

Bratcher D.)

Note…

The world of matter is real, it is tangible, and it is an essential aspect of our human existence. However, the material universe, according to idealist philosophy, is not absolute; it is not the end. Because metaphysics concerns itself with the ultimate nature of reality, it is impossible for materialism to adequately answer metaphysical questions. There must be some source for all the multiple forms that comprise the physical universe. To propose a materialist metaphysics is to stop well short of the ultimate aim of metaphysics, which is to discover an explanation for material objects. Idealists and materialists both begin with matter but the idealist takes matter one step further, asking from where the matter came and why it exists in precisely the way that it does.

Objects that were created by human beings owe their existence to the human mind, and therefore objects that were not created by human…

Husserl, Language & Consciousness: econciliation of Edmund Husserl's Fourth Logical Investigation and Fifth logical investigation

Husserl's theory of consciousness in the fifth Logical Investigation is reported to be "one of the most profound and one of the most difficult theories of consciousness to have as yet been developed." (Smith, 1977) The account of consciousness given by Husserl is descriptive "in terms of a sensation, an intentional act that interprets the sensation, and an intentional object that is referred to by means of the interpretation of the sensation." (Smith, 1977)

The primary efforts of Husserl are committed to an analysis of the relation between what he refers to as 'matter' and 'quality' of the intentional act, and how these two components can be used to understand Brentano's famous proposal that "every act is either a presentation or is founded upon presentation." (Smith, 1977) It is stated that no matter the "brilliance…

Ethical Issues Surrounding Abortion

Notwithstanding the laws being passed in various states against a woman's right to chose to terminate her pregnancy, the position of this paper is that Roe v. ade is the law of the land and a woman has the ethical and moral right to decide to have an abortion. There are many positions for and against Roe v. ade, and there are many ethical issues that may be (and in many cases are) embraced on both sides of the issue. But the law of the land vis-a-vis a woman's right to the privacy -- regarding her own values -- when it comes to terminating a pregnancy has been determined by the High Court. As a nurse committed to fairness and ethics in healthcare issues, while I respect the rights of others to practice their own values in opposition to Roe v. ade, I am in support…

Sensory experiences are nor reliable for making any statements, since people often mistake one thing for another. (Descartes talks about mirages). Knowledge based on reasoning is not always trustworthy, because people often make mistakes. (adding numbers is a classical example). Finally, knowledge is deemed by Descartes to be illusory, since it may come from dreams or insanity or from demons able to deceive men by making them believe that they are experiencing the real world, when are they are in fact not doing so. (the metaphysical approach in Descartes work is can be easily recognized here).

Following this analysis of existent forms of knowledge, Descartes concludes that certainty can be found in his intuition that, even if deceived, if he thinks he must exist: "Cogito ergo sum." The thought ("cogito") is a self-evident truth that gives certain knowledge of a particular thing's existence, i.e. one's self, but only the existence…

Plato and Socrates -- Human Soul

There are a number of philosophical tenets that have been the subject of intense scrutiny since humans coalesced into formal societies. ho are we as a species? here do we fit in with the universe? hat is morality? Do the ends justify the means? Moreover, most of all, why are we here and are we free to act as individuals toward greater good? Free will, for instance, or the idea of that human's make choices unconstrained, has been contested even as a concept. The paradigm that humans may make rational choices and that life is not predetermined from "divine" beings allows one to look at a number of philosophical constructs that are on a continuum between the idea that determinism is false and that of hard determinism, or the idea that determinism is true and free will completely impossible forms the crux of a…

How is it possible, then, that we can come to know anything?

Methodological doubt is best represented in the first of the Meditations, "hat can be called into doubt."

In this meditation, the meditator is forced to think about everything that he has believed throughout the course of his life. He must then make a conscious decision to do away with all of these lies and begin again so that the basis of his knowledge is free of any lies.

4. hat is the difference between atheism and agnosticism?

Atheism means that there is a denial of theism (i.e., the existence of God) while agnosticism means that there is a question concerning the existence of God, a heaven, or any type of spiritual being. An atheist would believe that God does not exist and therefore does not have any control over his or her life while an agnostic would believe…

Wittgenstein

Ludwig Wittgenstein is particularly interesting because in Philosophical Investigations (PI) he repudiated all of his earlier work in logical positivism and the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (TLP), along with much of what was traditionally thought of as philosophy, and took a radically new track in the last twenty years of his life. Young Wittgenstein was more certain that he had solved all major philosophical problems, while the older Wittgenstein had completely lost all such certainties. There were even hints in his earlier work of this later, more explicit existential despair, pessimism and even cynicism about the limits of philosophy, which certainly became more profound over the years. He was no longer able to view the world as consisting of facts that were logical representations of objects that really existed or at least had the potential to exist. Thoughts and ideas formed pictures that were models of reality, while everything outside of…

Wulf, S.J. (2000). "The skeptical life in Hume's political thought. Polity, 33(1), 77.

Wulf uses David Hume's well-known skepticism to advance his concerning the extreme degrees to which philosophy had been taken before returning to less radical modes. He develops material about the antithetical ideas to those investigated here; that is, he puts into a context the ideas of those philosophers who, working at the edge of the intelligible, refused to "accede to the judgment of reason and even their own senses."

ukav, Gary. (1984) the dancing Wu Li masters: An overview of the new physics. New York: Bantam.

One of the first statements ukav makes in this book is that he found, visiting the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory in Berkeley, California, that physics "was not the sterile, boring discipline that I had assumed it to be. It was a rich, profound venture, which had become inseparable from philosophy. Incredibly, no…

In that sense, he was a victim of his time period. He may have felt very differently if he were alive today, because science, technology, and even the study of metaphysics have advanced a great deal. Hempel was a scientist, but he was a bit of a philosopher, as well (Sarkar & Pfeifer, 2006).

That is a large part of the reason why his opinions on the issue seem odd. Philosophers are often willing to consider the possibilities and implications of something more being 'out there' and available to them and the rest of the world, but Hempel appeared to have no interest in that. y insisting that the parts made up the whole, and that the whole could be simply broken back down into those parts, Hempel cheated himself out of a lot of other ideas and issues that he could have considered and studied. He was a man…

Ekstrom 121)

The greatest strength of the concept of free will is that it allows evil deeds to be explained as poor conceptions of a weak human mind. The individual abilty to learn and become a greater agent of responsibility seeks a concept of free will to explain how this can be done and with good reason. The individual has no reason to express learning and to grow from human ideas and actions if he or she is resolved to live with a predetermined set of consequences and actions. As man's ability to reason is what is said to seprate us from animals then "free will" becomes and essential aspect of the equation.

hy exactly is it important to so many of us whether or not we can be self-directed, not just politically but also metaphysically? In certain philosophical contexts, such as some discussions of the problem of evil, the…

Ibn Sina (or Abu Ali al-Husain ibn Abadllah and also known as Avicenna) of Hamadan, Persia (now Iran) believed himself to be a master of all the sciences, i.e., logic, the natural sciences and mathematics, and that all the gates of knowledge were opened to him (p 1 par 4). He is said to have mastered the Qu'ran at 10 and all the sciences at 18. His one all-consuming life obsession was learning and mastering knowledge: "I ... warned my father that I should not engage in any other occupation but learning." (p 1 par 2). The most important things in his life were, consequently, learning and reading on which it depended.

A precocious learner at an early age, it naturally disturbed him badly when he could not comprehend the Greek philosopher Aristotle's "Metaphysics." When he finally did after reading Abu Nasr al-Farabi's "On the Objects of Metaphysics" (which he…

Philosophy: Moll Flanders

Moll Flanders: Money, Sexuality and Philosophical Views of Issues aised

What are the lessons to be learned from the novel Moll Flanders -- the lessons in terms of historical relevance, social values, personal values and goals, and of the need for a survivable, solid income for each individual? How is philosophy tied into those lessons? And what do philosophers Immanuel Kant and Carole Pateman contribute to the overall understanding of what is presented in the novel? What

This paper proposes to offer insights on -- and germane examples of -- human behavior patterns and the philosophical view of how to interpret those behaviors. This paper will not moralize, or take strong positions on one side or another; on the contrary, the materials presented will attempt to first digest and then represent what the novel and the philosophers' views have to offer the reader.

After all, a novel…

Medieval Philosophy

In the introduction to the Greenwood series the Great Cultural Eras of the Western World, A.D. 500 to 1300, is described as the Middle Ages.

"Borders and peoples were never quiescent during these tumultuous times." Schulman (2002). Germanic tribes had invaded and settled in the former oman Empire, and the synthesis of three cultures -- the classical, Christian, and Germanic -- had begun. In the sixth century, Clovis had completed the Frankish conquest of Gaul; the Vandals controlled North Africa; the Visigoths, forced to retreat from southern Gaul by the Franks, continued to dominate Spain; and the Angles and Saxons had settled in Britain. At the same time, the emperors of the Eastern Empire, Constantinople, thrived. " ... The oman papacy began to play an independent role in European society." Schulman, (2002) says "Pepin needed papal support to become king. Schulman, (2002, p. viii) It is later commented…