A Historical Introduction to the Philosophy of Science, Fourth Edition
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
Re-Construction and Definition of New Branches & Hierarchy of Sciences
Philosophy Study, July 2016, Vol. 6, No. 7, 377-416 doi: 10.17265/2159-5313/2016.07.001 D DAVID PUBLISHING New Perspective for the Philosophy of Science: Re-Construction and Definition of New Branches & Hierarchy of Sciences Refet Ramiz Near East University In this work, author evaluated past theories and perspectives behind the definitions of science and/or branches of science. Also some of the philosophers of science and their specific philosophical interests were expressed. Author considered some type of interactions between some disciplines to determine, to solve the philosophical/scientific problems and to define the possible solutions. The purposes of this article are: (i) to define new synthesis method, (ii) to define new perspective for the philosophy of science, (iii) to define relation between new philosophy perspective and philosophy of science, (iv) to define and organize name, number, relations, and correct structure between special science branches and philosophy of science, (v) to define necessary and sufficient number of branches for philosophy of science, (vi) to define and express the importance and place of new philosophy of science perspective in the new system, (vii) to extend the definition/limits of philosophy of science, (viii) to re-define meanings of some philosophical/scientific theories, (ix) to define systematic solution for the conflicts, problems, confusions about philosophy of science, sciences and branches of science, (x) to define new branches of science, (xi) to re-construct branches and hierarchy of science, (xii) to define new theories about science and branches of science. Author considered R-Synthesis as a method for the evaluation of the philosophy, philosophy of science, sciences and branches of science. -
Philosophy 306: the Rationalists (Winter Session 2018, First Term [Fall]) Section: A01 (CRN: 12528)
Philosophy 306: The Rationalists (Winter Session 2018, First Term [Fall]) Section: A01 (CRN: 12528) General Course Information, Recommended Supplementary Reading, Schedule I. General Course Information Location & Time: CLE C112; 11:30 a.m. – 12:50 p.m. Instructor: Dr. David Scott Instructor’s Office: CLE B320 Office Hours: Mon. & Thurs. 10:00-11:00 a.m. (always by appointment) Telephone & Email: 250-721-7517; [email protected] ABOUT THIS COURSE: Rationalism is one of the most historically important streams of philosophy, and it informs and motivates much philosophical activity. It is the name given to a broadly defined set of positions and doctrines, all of which tend to involve the ideas that in some sense reason is real and that the universe exhibits reason or is rational. It is expressed in the views that everything has a reason, and that humans possess the ability, in the form of a faculty of reason, to apprehend the rational character of the universe. In this course we shall examine some of rationalism’s most famous and influential proponents, all of whom were active in the enlightenment period of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. We shall be focusing on works by René Descartes (Rules for the Direction of the Mind, Discourse on Method, Meditations, and Principles of Philosophy), and Gottfried W. Leibniz (Discourse on Metaphysics, Monadology). We may also be supplementing these studies with brief excursions into the philosophies of Malebranche and Spinoza. TEXTS AND COURSE MATERIAL: 1. René Descartes. Philosophical Essays and Correspondence, ed. Roger Ariew, Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company 2000. Paper ISBN-13: 978-0872205024 2. -
Lost in the Labyrinth: Spinoza, Leibniz and the Continuum Lost in the Labyrinth: Spinoza, Leibniz and the Continuum
LOST IN THE LABYRINTH: SPINOZA, LEIBNIZ AND THE CONTINUUM LOST IN THE LABYRINTH: SPINOZA, LEIBNIZ AND THE CONTINUUM By PATRICK RIESTERER, B.A. A Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies In Partial Fulfillment ofthe Requirements For the Degree Master ofArts McMaster University © Copyright by Patrick Riesterer, August 2006 MASTER OF ARTS (2006) McMaster University (Philosophy) Hamilton, Ontario TITLE: Lost in the Labyrinth: Spinoza, Leibniz and the Continuum AUTHOR: Patrick Riesterer, B.A. (Trinity Western University) SUPERVISOR: Professor Richard Arthur NUMBER OF PAGES: vi, 110 ii Abstract In this thesis, I address the extent ofSpinoza's influence on the development of Leibniz's response to the continuum problem, with particular emphasis on his relational philosophy oftime and space. I expend the first chapter carefully reconstructing Spinoza's position on infinity and time. We see that Spinoza developed a threefold definition ofinfinity to explain the difference between active substance and its passive modes. Spinoza advances a syncategorematic interpretation ofinfinity, and founds a causal theory oftime directly on this conception ofinfinity. In the second chapter, I examine the changes Leibniz's understanding ofthe continuum problem underwent during 1676 and immediately thereafter. During this period, Leibniz's interacted extensively with Spinoza's ideas. We see that several fundamental features ofLeibniz's philosophy oftime take shape at this time. Leibniz adopts a Spinozistic definition ofdivine eternity and immensity, he reevaluates several analogies in an attempt to understand how the attributes ofa substance interrelate, and he develops the notion ofthe law of the series that will become an essential feature ofmonadic appetition. Leibniz synthesizes several ofthese discoveries into a first philosophy ofmotion. -
Copyright © 2008 by Lydia R
ABSTRACT Analogy, Causation, and Beauty in the Works of Lucy Hutchinson Evan Jay Getz, Ph.D. Dissertation Chairperson: Phillip J. Donnelly, Ph.D. Lucy Hutchinson's translation of the ancient epic De Rerum Natura is remarkable in light of her firm commitments to Calvinist theology and the doctrine of Providence. David Norbrook and Jonathan Goldberg offer strikingly different explanations for the translation exercise. For instance, Norbrook argues that Hutchinson translates Lucretius in order that she might learn from the false images in Lucretius and make better ones in such works as Order and Disorder (Norbrook, “Margaret” 191). In contrast, Goldberg argues for compatibility between Lucretian atomism and Hutchinson‟s Christianity, seeing no contradiction or tension (Goldberg 286). I argue that neither critic accounts for the aesthetics of beauty in Hutchinson's poetry; both critics instead attribute an aesthetics of the sublime to Hutchinson. In making this argument, I show that Hutchinson's theory of causation has much in common with Reformed Scholasticism, whereby she is able to restore a metaphysics of formal and final cause. Hutchinson also revives the doctrine of the analogy of being, or analogia entis, in order to show that the formal cause of creation is visible as God's glory. After a discussion of her metaphysics and ontology, I then show that Hutchinson's poetry reflects a theological aesthetics of beauty and not the aesthetics of the sublime. In the fourth chapter, I compare the typological accounts of Abraham found in Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan and Hutchinson's Order and Disorder with a view to virtue as the proper basis of authority. -
Aesthetic Epistemology from Descartes to Kant. Jennifer J
Bryn Mawr Review of Comparative Literature Volume 6 Article 4 Number 2 Fall 2007 Fall 2007 Review of Catherine Labio, Origins and the Enlightenment: Aesthetic Epistemology from Descartes to Kant. Jennifer J. Davis University of Oklahoma Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.brynmawr.edu/bmrcl Let us know how access to this document benefits ouy . Recommended Citation Davis, Jennifer J. (2007). Review of "Review of Catherine Labio, Origins and the Enlightenment: Aesthetic Epistemology from Descartes to Kant.," Bryn Mawr Review of Comparative Literature: Vol. 6 : No. 2 Available at: https://repository.brynmawr.edu/bmrcl/vol6/iss2/4 This paper is posted at Scholarship, Research, and Creative Work at Bryn Mawr College. https://repository.brynmawr.edu/bmrcl/vol6/iss2/4 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Davis: Davis on Labio Catherine Labio, Origins and the Enlightenment: Aesthetic Epistemology from Descartes to Kant. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2004. xi +193 pp. ISBN 0801442753. Reviewed by Jennifer J. Davis, University of Oklahoma Since the Enlightenment, European intellectuals' tales of origins have focused on human actions rather than those of the gods, on natural laws rather than miracles, on history rather than myth. At least, so goes the stereotype. In fact, this thumbnail sketch so familiar from survey courses in the history of philosophy or Western Civilization ignores the rich diversity of intellectual models at play within the eighteenth century. Catherine Labio's ambitious text denies that origin narratives have ever been clear-cut or facilely transformed. Labio's major contribution lies in reframing the work of several very well-known eighteenth-century writers outside of the "dialectic of Enlightenment," adopting instead contemporary concerns and methods as analytic categories. -
Divine Omnipotence in Descartes' Philosophy
City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 6-2014 Divine Omnipotence In Descartes' Philosophy Alfredo Rodriguez Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/274 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] DIVINE OMNIPOTENCE IN DESCARTES’ PHILOSOPHY BY ALFREDO RODRIGUEZ A master's thesis submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Liberal Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, The City University of New York 2014 © 2014 Alfredo Rodriguez All Rights Reserved ii This manuscript has been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in Liberal Studies in satisfaction of the requirement for the degree of Master of Arts. Professor Douglas Lackey Date Thesis Adviser Professor Matthew K. Gold Date Executive Officer THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK iii Abstract Divine Omnipotence in Descartes’ Philosophy by Alfredo Rodriguez Adviser: Professor Douglas Lackey The present thesis explores various aspects of Rene Descartes’ doctrine of divine omnipotence within the context of his overall philosophy and with reference to his medieval heritage. This thesis shows that, contrary to his multiple and explicit statements that God’s power cannot be limited in any way, Descartes took a more nuanced position on divine omnipotence that incorporated aspects of the widely accepted medieval position that God’s goodness is a constraint on his power. -
Spinoza's Ethics Beth Lord
EDINBURGH PHILOSOPHICAL GUIDES Spinoza's Ethics Beth Lord Spinoza’s Ethics Edinburgh Philosophical Guides Series Titles in the series include: Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason Douglas Burnham with Harvey Young Derrida’s Of Grammatology Arthur Bradley Heidegger’s Being and Time William Large Plato’s Republic D. J. Sheppard Spinoza’s Ethics Beth Lord Descartes’ Meditations on First Philosophy Kurt Brandhorst Husserl’s The Crisis of European Sciences and Transcendental Phenomenology Katrin Joost Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra Martin Jesinghausen and Douglas Burnham Spinoza’s Ethics An Edinburgh Philosophical Guide Beth Lord Edinburgh University Press © Beth Lord, 2010 Edinburgh University Press Ltd 22 George Square, Edinburgh www.euppublishing.com Typeset in 11/13pt Monotype Baskerville by Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Stockport, Cheshire, and printed and bound in Great Britain by CPI Antony Rowe, Chippenham and Eastbourne A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978 0 7486 3449 1 (hardback) ISBN 978 0 7486 3450 7 (paperback) The right of Beth Lord to be identifi ed as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Contents Series Editor’s Preface vi Acknowledgements vii List of Figures viii Introduction 1 1. A Guide to the Text 15 Part I: Being, Substance, God, Nature 15 Part II: Minds, Bodies, Experience and Knowledge 49 Part III: The Affects 83 Part IV: Virtue, Ethics and Politics 103 Part V: Freedom and Eternity 136 2. Study Aids 159 Glossary 159 Further Reading 167 Types of Question you will Encounter 168 Tips for Writing about Spinoza 169 Bibliography 173 Index 179 Series Editor’s Preface To us, the principle of this series of books is clear and simple: what readers new to philosophical classics need fi rst and foremost is help with reading these key texts. -
Mind, Body, Motion, Matter Eighteenth-Century British and French Literary Perspectives Edited by Mary Helen Mcmurran and Alison Conway MIND, BODY, MOTION, MATTER
Mind, Body, Motion, Matter Eighteenth-Century British and French Literary Perspectives edited by Mary Helen McMurran and Alison Conway MIND, BODY, MOTION, MATTER Eighteenth-Century British and French Literary Perspectives Mind, Body, Motion, Matter Eighteenth-Century British and French Literary Perspectives EDITED BY MARY HELEN MCMURRAN AND ALISON CONWAY UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS Toronto Buffalo London © University of Toronto Press 2016 Toronto Buffalo London www.utppublishing.com Printed in the U.S.A. ISBN 978-1-4426-5011-4 (cloth) Printed on acid-free, 100% post-consumer recycled paper with vegetable-based inks. ___________________________________________________________________ Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Mind, body, motion, matter : eighteenth-century British and French literary perspectives / edited by Mary Helen McMurran and Alison Conway. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4426-5011-4 (cloth) 1. English literature – 18th century – History and criticism. 2. French literature – 18th century – History and criticism. 3. Philosophy in literature. 4. Materialism in literature. 5. Vitalism in literature. 6. Aesthetics in literature. I. Conway, Alison Margaret, editor II. McMurran, Mary Helen, 1962–, author, editor PR448.P5M55 2016 820.9'384 C2015-908168-8 ___________________________________________________________________ CC-BY-NC-ND This work is published subject to a Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivative License. For permission to publish commercial versions please -
Herr Kant, Der Alleszermalmer-Kant the "All-Crushing" Destroyer of Metaphysics: Metaphilosophy of the Critique of Pure Reason
Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University Philosophy Honors Theses Department of Philosophy Spring 5-18-2015 Herr Kant, der Alleszermalmer-Kant the "All-Crushing" Destroyer of Metaphysics: Metaphilosophy of the Critique of Pure Reason Jake De Backer Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/philosophy_hontheses Recommended Citation De Backer, Jake, "Herr Kant, der Alleszermalmer-Kant the "All-Crushing" Destroyer of Metaphysics: Metaphilosophy of the Critique of Pure Reason." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2015. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/philosophy_hontheses/12 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Philosophy at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Philosophy Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. HERR KANT, DER ALLESZERMALMER: THE “ALL-CRUSHING” DESTROYER OF METAPHYSICS KANT’S METAPHILOSOPHY IN THE CRITIQUE OF PURE REASON An Honors Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Graduation with Undergraduate Research Honors Georgia State University 2015 by Jake Christopher de Backer Committee: Dr. Eric E. Wilson, Honors Thesis Director Dr. Sarah Cook, Honors College Associate Dean 27 April 2015 HERR KANT, DER ALLESZERMALMER: THE “ALL-CRUSHING” DESTROYER OF METAPHYSICS KANT’S METAPHILOSOPHY IN THE CRITIQUE OF PURE REASON by JAKE CHRISTOPHER DE BACKER Under the Direction of Dr. Eric E. Wilson ABSTRACT The Critique of Pure Reason inaugurated Kant’s Critical Philosophy. Commentators commonly distinguish between Kant’s Positive Project (PP), that is, his epistemology as laid out in the Transcendental Aesthetic and Transcendental Analytic, from his Negative Project (NP), expressed in terms of the destructive implications his epistemology has on speculative metaphysics and rational theology. -
Materialism and “The Soft Substance of the Brain”: the Case of Diderot Charles T. Wolfe Department of Philosophy and Moral S
Materialism and “the soft substance of the brain”: the case of Diderot Charles T. Wolfe Department of Philosophy and Moral Sciences Sarton Centre for History of Science Ghent University Longer draft (2015) of paper forthcoming in British Journal of History of Philosophy (a number of additional citations appear in published version) Abstract Materialism is the view that everything that is real, is material or is the product of material processes. It tends to take either a ‘cosmological’ form, as a claim about the ultimate nature of the world, or a more specific ‘psychological’ form, detailing how mental processes are brain processes. I focus on the second, psychological or cerebral form of materialism. In the mid-to-late eighteenth century, the French materialist philosopher Denis Diderot (1713-1784) was one of the first to notice that any self-respecting materialist had to address the question of the status and functional role of the brain, and its relation to our mental, affective, intellectual life. After this the topic grew stale, with knee-jerk reiterations of ‘psychophysical identity’ in the nineteenth-century, and equally rigid assertions of anti-materialism. In 1960s philosophy of mind, brain-mind materialism reemerged as ‘identity theory’, focusing on the identity between mental processes and cerebral processes. In contrast, Diderot’s cerebral materialism allows for a more culturally sedimented sense of the brain, which he describes in his late Elements of Physiology as a “book – except it is a book which reads itself”. Diderot thus provides a lesson for materialism as it reflects on the status of the brain, science and culture. -
Cinema in the Digital Age: a Rebuttal to Lev Manovich ! ! ! ! ! ! ! a Senior Project
! ! ! ! Cinema in the Digital Age: A Rebuttal to Lev Manovich ! ! ! ! ! ! ! A Senior Project presented to the Faculty of the Philosophy Department California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo ! ! ! ! ! In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Bachelor of Arts ! ! by! Barbara! Cail December, 2013! ! ! © 2013 Barbara Cail ! Cail "1 I. Introduction! ! Philosophy of film has been in upheaval since the early days of digital post- production effects and manipulation in the 1980s. Although shot and released on celluloid, many feature films of the 1990s were transferred to video in a process known as telecine. Telecine effectively turned the film image into an analog video image which could then be digitized and ingested into a computer for post-production editing and visual effects. Concurrent rapid innovations in non-linear editing software and hardware dramatically accelerated the post-production editing process, while decreasing costs and increasing profits for film studios. End-to-end digital filmmaking gained industry credibility when George Lucas embraced digital for his 1999 release of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. The film was partially recorded on digital cameras, edited and composited on computers and distributed digitally to select movie theaters.1 ! ! As technologies continued to mature and cinema became increasingly digital, film philosophy entered a crisis. Classical film theories that depend upon the acknowledged indexical relationship of an analog photo to its referent in reality were unable to accommodate the move to digital. This quandary has renewed interest in these classical theories, returning them to the forefront of film philosophy.! ! Lev Manovich, a preeminent digital media philosopher, has posited that cinema has been fundamentally changed by cinema’s digital revolution. -
A Discussion on Berkeley's Account of Time a Thesis Presented to The
A Discussion on Berkeley’s Account of Time A thesis presented to the faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts Nicholas L. Shooner August 2020 © 2020 Nicholas L. Shooner. All Rights Reserved. 2 This thesis titled A Discussion on Berkeley’s Account of Time by NICHOLAS L. SHOONER has been approved for the Department of Philosophy and the College of Arts and Sciences by James M. Petrik Associate Professor of Philosophy Florenz Plassmann Dean, College of Arts and Sciences 3 Abstract SHOONER, NICHOLAS L., M.A., August 2020, Philosophy A Discussion on Berkeley’s Account of Time Director of Thesis: James M. Petrik We examine what George Berkeley says about the nature of time and weigh two competing interpretations of his theory to determine which is closer to his intended meaning. Berkeley presents a theory of time that is idealist (time consists in ideas and their motions), subjectivist (time is contained within subjects), and relationalist (time is not an absolute entity, but is a description of the relations between events). While these features of Berkeley’s theory are not in dispute, there is a debate concerning whether he accepts an inter-subjective, universal ordering of events which grounds the temporal experiences of all human subjects. H. Scott Hestevold argues that, for Berkeley, such an order is to be found in the all-encompassing subject, God, whereas Darren Hynes argues that no such ordering is needed in Berkeley’s system. We evaluate these interpretations in light of Berkeley’s other metaphysical commitments and conclude that Hestevold’s interpretation is superior since it is better able to accommodate Berkeley’s commitment to the meaningfulness of temporal language in ordinary discourse and his commitment to the possibility and success of the natural sciences.