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EPISTEMOLOGY and PHILOSOPHY of MIND HISTORICAL Historical Dictionaries of Religions, Philosophies, and Movements, No
PHILOSOPHY • EPISTEMOLOGY AND PHILOSOPHY OF MIND HISTORICAL Historical Dictionaries of Religions, Philosophies, and Movements, No. 70 DICTIONARY OF BAERGEN Epistemology Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that investigates our beliefs, evidence, and claims of knowledge. It is one of the core areas of philosophy and is relevant to an DICTIONARY astonishingly broad range of issues and situations. Epistemological issues arise when HISTORICAL we recognize that there is a fact of the matter but we do not know what it is; when we wonder about the future, the past, or distant places; and when we seek answers in the sciences and even in our entertainment (for example, murder mysteries and comedies of misunderstanding). OF Epistemology Historical Dictionary of Epistemology provides an overview of this field of study and its theories, concepts, and personalities. It begins with a chronology of important events (from 385 BC to AD 2005) and is followed by an introduction, which gives a historical overview. The book contains more than 500 entries covering notable concepts, theo- ries, arguments, publications, issues, and philosophers and concludes with an exten- sive bibliography of historical and contemporary epistemological works. Students and those who want to acquaint themselves with epistemology will be greatly aided by this book. RALPH BAERGEN is a professor of philosophy at Idaho State University. For orders and information please contact the publisher SCARECROW PRESS, INC. A wholly owned subsidiary of ISBN-13: 978-0-8108-5518-2 The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. ISBN-10: 0-8108-5518-6 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200 Lanham, Maryland 20706 1-800-462-6420 • fax 717-794-3803 www.scarecrowpress.com RALPH BAERGEN HDEpistempologyLITH.indd 1 6/12/06 1:07:32 PM 06-236_01_Front.qxd 6/12/06 12:54 PM Page i HISTORICAL DICTIONARIES OF RELIGIONS, PHILOSOPHIES, AND MOVEMENTS Jon Woronoff, Series Editor 1. -
The Principle of Inferential Justification, Scepticism, and Causal Beliefs Corbf, Josep E Paginas: 377
_L PHILOSOPHICAL ISSUES, 10 31 Skepticism, 2000 ! j The Principle of Inferential l ·1 Justification, Scepticism, I ' and Causal Beliefs Josep E. Corbi There is an argumentative route that begins with a platitude like: The Principle of Inferential J ustification (PIJ): "To be justi fied in believing one proposition P on the basis of another prop osition E, one must be (1) justified in believing E, (2) justified in believing that E makes probable P" .1 and ends up by challenging our capacity to justifiedly believing propositions concerning physical objects and past events. This is, at least, what Richard Fumerton claims, but, like Christopher Hookway,2 I doubt that there is such a route. The plausibility of PIJ in ordinary contexts relies, according to Hookway, on a number of assumptions like, for instance, the need to distinguish between salient information and background view of things. The problem is that Fumerton's sceptical route requires the application of PIJ not only to particular beliefs but to broad j_ 378 J osEP E. CoRBf epistemic classes of beliefs and, as Hookway tries to emphasize, this strategy is ultimately inconsistent with the need to maintain the aforementioned distinction and, in general, with the assump tions that rendered PIJ plausible in the first place. This worry is not, on the other hand, unconnected with the conviction that, contrary to what Fumerton claims, the notion of justification is inextricably associated with our needs to make normative judge ments. As Hookway puts it, " ... None who was not sensitive to our needs to make normative judgments could understand or share our concepts of rational belief or cruelty; they would not be able to)s·ee how the terms should be applied to wholly novel kinds of cas~s for they would lack the sense of what is !evaluatively simi lar' which is required for doing this." 3 In the coming pages, I seek to show how Hookway's challenge may find additional motivation in a reflection on the content of a certain kind of belief, namely: beliefs about particular causal pro cesses. -
There Is No Pure Empirical Reasoning
There Is No Pure Empirical Reasoning 1. Empiricism and the Question of Empirical Reasons Empiricism may be defined as the view there is no a priori justification for any synthetic claim. Critics object that empiricism cannot account for all the kinds of knowledge we seem to possess, such as moral knowledge, metaphysical knowledge, mathematical knowledge, and modal knowledge.1 In some cases, empiricists try to account for these types of knowledge; in other cases, they shrug off the objections, happily concluding, for example, that there is no moral knowledge, or that there is no metaphysical knowledge.2 But empiricism cannot shrug off just any type of knowledge; to be minimally plausible, empiricism must, for example, at least be able to account for paradigm instances of empirical knowledge, including especially scientific knowledge. Empirical knowledge can be divided into three categories: (a) knowledge by direct observation; (b) knowledge that is deductively inferred from observations; and (c) knowledge that is non-deductively inferred from observations, including knowledge arrived at by induction and inference to the best explanation. Category (c) includes all scientific knowledge. This category is of particular import to empiricists, many of whom take scientific knowledge as a sort of paradigm for knowledge in general; indeed, this forms a central source of motivation for empiricism.3 Thus, if there is any kind of knowledge that empiricists need to be able to account for, it is knowledge of type (c). I use the term “empirical reasoning” to refer to the reasoning involved in acquiring this type of knowledge – that is, to any instance of reasoning in which (i) the premises are justified directly by observation, (ii) the reasoning is non- deductive, and (iii) the reasoning provides adequate justification for the conclusion. -
Victorian Popular Science and Deep Time in “The Golden Key”
“Down the Winding Stair”: Victorian Popular Science and Deep Time in “The Golden Key” Geoffrey Reiter t is sometimes tempting to call George MacDonald’s fantasies “timeless”I and leave it at that. Such is certainly the case with MacDonald’s mystical fairy tale “The Golden Key.” Much of the criticism pertaining to this work has focused on its more “timeless” elements, such as its intrinsic literary quality or its philosophical and theological underpinnings. And these elements are not only important, they truly are the most fundamental elements needed for a full understanding of “The Golden Key.” But it is also important to remember that MacDonald did not write in a vacuum, that he was in fact interested in and engaged with many of the pressing issues of his day. At heart always a preacher, MacDonald could not help but interact with these issues, not only in his more openly didactic realistic novels, but even in his “timeless” fantasies. In the Victorian period, an era of discovery and exploration, the natural sciences were beginning to come into their own as distinct and valuable sources of knowledge. John Pridmore, examining MacDonald’s view of nature, suggests that MacDonald saw it as serving a function parallel to the fairy tale or fantastic story; it may be interpreted from the perspective of Christian theism, though such an interpretation is not necessary (7). Björn Sundmark similarly argues that in his works “MacDonald does not contradict science, nor does he press a theistic interpretation onto his readers” (13). David L. Neuhouser has concluded more assertively that while MacDonald was certainly no advocate of scientific pursuits for their own sake, he believed science could be of interest when examined under the aegis of a loving God (10). -
The Divine Within: Selected Writings on Enlightenment Free Download
THE DIVINE WITHIN: SELECTED WRITINGS ON ENLIGHTENMENT FREE DOWNLOAD Aldous Huxley,Huston Smith | 305 pages | 02 Jul 2013 | HARPER PERENNIAL | 9780062236814 | English | New York, United States The Divine Within: Selected Writings on Enlightenment (Paperback) Born into a French noble family in southern France, Montesquieu practiced law in adulthood and witnessed great political upheaval across Britain and France. Aldous Huxley mural. Animal testing Archival research Behavior epigenetics Case The Divine Within: Selected Writings on Enlightenment Content analysis Experiments Human subject research Interviews Neuroimaging Observation Psychophysics Qualitative research Quantitative research Self-report inventory Statistical surveys. By the decree of the angels, and by the command of the holy men, we excommunicate, expel, curse and damn Baruch de Espinoza, with the consent of God, Blessed be He, and with the consent of all the Holy Congregation, in front of these holy Scrolls with the six-hundred-and-thirteen precepts which are written therein, with the excommunication with which Joshua banned The Divine Within: Selected Writings on Enlightenment[57] with the curse with which Elisha cursed the boys [58] and with all the curses which are written in the Book of the Law. Huxley consistently examined the spiritual basis of both the individual and human society, always seeking to reach an authentic and The Divine Within: Selected Writings on Enlightenment defined experience of the divine. Spinoza's Heresy: Immortality and the Jewish Mind. And when I read about how he decided to end his life while tripping on LSD I thought that was really heroic. Miguel was a successful merchant and became a warden of the synagogue and of the Amsterdam Jewish school. -
PAPER VI UNIT I Non-Fictional Prose—General
PAPER VI UNIT I Non-fictional Prose—General Introduction, Joseph Addison’s The Spectator Papers: The Uses of the Spectator, The Spectator’s Account of Himself, Of the Spectator 1.1. Introduction: Eighteenth Century English Prose The eighteenth century was a great period for English prose, though not for English poetry. Matthew Arnold called it an "age of prose and reason," implying thereby that no good poetry was written in this century, and that, prose dominated the literary realm. Much of the poetry of the age is prosaic, if not altogether prose-rhymed prose. Verse was used by many poets of the age for purposes which could be realized, or realized better, through prose. Our view is that the eighteenth century was not altogether barren of real poetry. Even then, it is better known for the galaxy of brilliant prose writers that it threw up. In this century there was a remarkable proliferation of practical interests which could best be expressed in a new kind of prose-pliant and of a work a day kind capable of rising to every occasion. This prose was simple and modern, having nothing of the baroque or Ciceronian colour of the prose of the seventeenth-century writers like Milton and Sir Thomas Browne. Practicality and reason ruled supreme in prose and determined its style. It is really strange that in this period the language of prose was becoming simpler and more easily comprehensible, but, on the other hand, the language of poetry was being conventionalized into that artificial "poetic diction" which at the end of the century was so severely condemned by Wordsworth as "gaudy and inane phraseology." 1.2. -
Philosophical Review
Philosophical Review Main Trends in Recent Philosophy: Two Dogmas of Empiricism Author(s): W. V. Quine Source: The Philosophical Review, Vol. 60, No. 1 (Jan., 1951), pp. 20-43 Published by: Duke University Press on behalf of Philosophical Review Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2181906 . Accessed: 19/01/2011 11:47 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=duke. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Duke University Press and Philosophical Review are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Philosophical Review. http://www.jstor.org TWO DOGMAS OF EMPIRICISM' M ODERN empiricismhas been conditionedin large part by two dogmas. -
Evolution Education Around the Globe Evolution Education Around the Globe
Hasan Deniz · Lisa A. Borgerding Editors Evolution Education Around the Globe Evolution Education Around the Globe [email protected] Hasan Deniz • Lisa A. Borgerding Editors Evolution Education Around the Globe 123 [email protected] Editors Hasan Deniz Lisa A. Borgerding College of Education College of Education, Health, University of Nevada Las Vegas and Human Services Las Vegas, NV Kent State University USA Kent, OH USA ISBN 978-3-319-90938-7 ISBN 978-3-319-90939-4 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90939-4 Library of Congress Control Number: 2018940410 © Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. -
Omphalos, Miracles, and Occam's Razor
OMPHALOS, MIRACLES, AND OCCAM’S RAZOR Bruce S. Bennett Abstract ___________________________________________________________________________ Philip Gosse’s Omphalos (1857), which attempted to reconcile Genesis with science by proposing that the pre-Adamite stage of the world existed only as a Platonic idea, has usually been criticized as violating Occam’s razor and being unfalsifiable. It is argued here that this is faulty, because Gosse makes different assumptions about the data to be explained. The theory was rejected by Christians not because of logical problems but because of its theological meaninglessness. In this it differs from miracles, which also involve the introduction of extra data. Key words: Omphalos, miracles, Occam’s razor, parsimony, Philip Gosse, Incredulous Stare, creationism, science, religion. ___________________________________________________________________________ In 1857, the respected naturalist Philip Gosse, a Fellow of the Royal Society, published Omphalos,123 which attempted to reconcile scientific evidence of geological time with a literal reading of Genesis. The book was published before Darwin’s Origin of Species and, although well-informed scholars such as Gosse were aware of new ideas, the conflict was being expressed more in terms of geology. The account in Genesis seemed to be inconsistent with the evidence, which implied huge periods of time. Many were seeking some reconciliation of the two,124 though it would not be long before the quest was abandoned by scientists. It is important to note that Gosse was not a theologian but a scientist, not only “the finest descriptive naturalist” of his time125 but “the David Attenborough of his day”,126 noted for his popular works and public lectures. He was a pioneer of the aquarium and indeed seems to have invented 123 Philip Henry Gosse, Omphalos: An Attempt to Untie the Geological Knot: With Fifty-six Illustrations on Wood (London: John Van Voorst, Paternoster Row, 1857). -
How Do Christians View the Creation of the World? (Leader''s Guide and Participant's Guide)
Digital Collections @ Dordt Study Guides for Faith & Science Integration Summer 2017 How Do Christians View the Creation of the World? (Leader''s Guide and Participant's Guide) Channon Visscher Dordt College, [email protected] Ashley Huizinga Dordt College Lydia Marcus Dordt College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/faith_science Part of the Adult and Continuing Education Commons, Life Sciences Commons, and the Practical Theology Commons Recommended Citation Visscher, C., Huizinga, A., & Marcus, L. (2017). How Do Christians View the Creation of the World? (Leader''s Guide and Participant's Guide). Retrieved from https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/ faith_science/34 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Collections @ Dordt. It has been accepted for inclusion in Study Guides for Faith & Science Integration by an authorized administrator of Digital Collections @ Dordt. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Leader’s Guide to How Do Christians View the Creation of the World? A Study of Christian Perspectives on Creation Dr. Channon Visscher, Ashley Huizinga, Lydia Marcus Dordt College, Sioux Center, Iowa Summer 2017 1 How to Use This Material? This study of the perspectives that Christians hold on the creation of the world is composed of eight modules. The 1st through 3rd modules address the basic three Christian perspectives on creation, using articles and other websites as source material. The 4th-7th modules address these perspectives in more detail, delving into distinguishing concordist and non-concordist interpretations of Scripture using Haarsma and Haarsma’s book Origins: Christian Perspectives on Creation, Evolution, and Intelligent Design. -
Levels of Discourse in Leibniz's Metaphysics the Ontological Status of Bodies
Levels of Discourse in Leibniz's Metaphysics The Ontological Status of Bodies: A Study of the Levels of Discourse in Leibniz's Metaphysics By SCOTT STAPLEFORD, B.A. A Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts McMaster University C> Copyright by Scott Stapleford, August 1998 MASTER OF ARTS (1998) McMaster University (Philosophy) Hamilton, Ontario TITLE: The Ontological Status of Bodies: A Study of the Levels of Discourse in Leibniz's Metaphysics AUTHOR: Scott Stapleford, B.A. (Brock University) SUPERVISOR: Professor Wilfrid Waluchow NUMBER OF PAGES: iv, 169 ii Table of Contents Introduction 1 The Problem 2 Collateral Issues 3 Procedure Part I 4 Some Working Deftnitions 5 Phenomenalism 5.1 Linguistic Phenomenalism 5.2 Berkeleian Phenomenalism 6 Leibniz and Phenomenalism 6.1 Macintosh's Interpretation 6.2 Jolley's Interpretation 6.3 Wilson's Interpretation 111 Part II 7 Recapitulation and Procedure 8 Athenian and Darwinian Approaches 8.1 Woolhouse's Interpretation 8.2 Adams' Interpretation 8.3 Hartz's Interpretation 8.4 Loeb's Interpretation 8.5 Rutherford's Interpretation 9 Psychology and Ontology 9.1 Mind and Matter in Descartes and Locke 9.2 Leibniz's Analysis of Mind and Matter 9.2.1 The Primary-Secondary Quality Distinction 9.2.2 Physical Considerations 9.2.3 Metaphysical Considerations 9.2.3.1 Substance as Unity 9.2.3.2 Substance as Activity 9.2.3.3 Substance as Subject 9.2.4 Psychological Considerations 10 Levels of Discourse 11 Leibniz's Epistemological Realism 11.1 Requirements of the System 11.2 The Contrary Proposition 11. -
What Pessimism Is
Journal of Philosophical Research Volume 37 2012 pp. 337–356 WHAT PESSIMISM IS PAUL PRESCOTT SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY ABSTRACT: On the standing view, pessimism is a philosophically intractable topic. Against the standing view, I hold that pessimism is a stance, or compound of attitudes, commitments and intentions. This stance is marked by certain beliefs—first and foremost, that the bad prevails over the good—which are subject to an important qualifying condition: they are always about outcomes and states of affairs in which one is personally invested. This serves to distinguish pessimism from other views with which it is routinely conflated— including skepticism and nihilism—and to allow for the extent to which pessimism necessarily involves more than the intellectual endorsement of a doctrine. I. WHAT IS PESSIMISM? Many normative theories presuppose optimism—or, at least, so it has been argued1— and a close relationship between pessimism and existential topics in philosophy is clear. Much as epistemology is driven by the provocations of the skeptic, so the provocations of the pessimist implicitly lie behind many existential concerns: the meaning and value of life, the disvalue (or value) of death, and the nature of happiness and well-being, to name just a few.2 Meanwhile, in contemporary psychiatry, dominant therapeutic models (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) and diagnostic manuals (DSM-IV, ICD-10) routinely use pessimism as a criterion of emotional or psychiatric disorder.3 In all such cases, we find normative theories—whether ethical, social-political, or nosological—sup- ported by views about the possibilities for which the world allows, and the reasonable or appropriate attitude to take in response.