Resource: Writing Wizard at the Center for Writing Excellence; Chapter Six of Philosophy: The Power of Ideas
Four theoretical approaches to metaphysics—Dualism, Materialism, Idealism, and Alternative Views (i.e., double aspect theory)—are competing for the right to claim that they are the correct metaphysical view.
Select one of these theories and construct the strongest possible argument on its behalf in an essay of 700-1400 words.
In your paper, acknowledge and describe the other positions, but present convincing evidence as to why your position is superior. Offer refutations of the other theories.
Include at least one direct quotation from the text.
There are four theoretical approaches to the metaphysics and they
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We perceive a rose to be beautiful, smell nice, and have red pedals. Those properties according to Hobbes are all based on perception and the rose does not actually have any of these traits.
“The things that really are in the world outside us are those motions by which these seemings are caused.” (cite) Hobbes describes perception as motion from the outside effects the motion of the inside of a person. The motion on the outside affected the motion on the inside and leaves a lasting effect after the motion is complete or dispersed then the motion that remains behind on the inside is left as a memory. The motion that is still on the inside is a perception and in turn is the root cause for thinking, imagination, and memory. As humans we describe this reaction by assigning words to these perceptions and Hobbes labeled that as reasoning. The way that people reason is nothing sort of “adding and subtracting of the consequences of general names.” (cite) The easiest way that this can be explained would be to refer it to a computer. The hard drive is considered as the movement on the inside and the keyboard and mouse as the outside. The hard drive is made up of a disk and magnet and works by taking the disc and spinning is around at a rapid pace. Next the magnet is moved around to encode the data to the hard drive. This whole process is done through movement and if stationary there is nothing that can be done to retrieve or store information. First to store or
Provide an appropriate, explicitly stated thesis that directly addresses all parts of the question and does NOT simply restate the question.
In the history of philosophy, two of the most prominent philosophers were Hobbes and Hume. Both made important contributions to the world of ethics. One of the main important things they differed on is reason. Hobbs felt that reason is way to seek peace but Hume felt the reason is only a slave to passions. In the following paragraphs, you will see how Hobbes and Hume explain their different views on reason the theories of the two philosophers are analyzed in depth, so that we can have a comprehensive understanding.
We will give Hobbes’ view of human nature as he describes it in Chapter 13 of Leviathan. We will then give an argument for placing a clarifying layer above the Hobbesian view in order to
2. What are the possibly different main claims/positions related to this topic? (There will be at least two (2) possibly different claims/positions, but there could be more; however, one of them will be YOUR claim/position.)
In the following paragraphs I will try to show you reason for all three opinions.
There are currently four major theories about the nature of reality and substance— materialism/physicalism, idealism, transcendental idealism, and dualism. Materialism is the theory that there is only the physical and material world. Idealism takes the position that reality is made up of ideas and immaterial. Transcendental idealism holds the idea that our experience of things are shaped by how they appear to us and not by what they are in and of themselves. Both materialism and idealism are forms of monism. Monism is the belief that reality is only made up of one “substance,” either material or mental. Dualism, on the other hand, suggests that there is both the mental world
In order to truly understand the logic behind Hobbes’s claim, we must first understand his point of view of human nature. The key element in Hobbes’s view on human nature was the importance of desires. Unlike many other philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle, Hobbes had a different approach to desires. He believed desires were real motive behind human behaviors. (Leviathan, p119) What
Expanding on these fundamental concepts, Hobbes concludes that motion is the cause of sense becoming thoughts or "imagination," for when an external body presses against the human sense apparatus and sets off a series of new motions, these motions will perpetuate until they meet a hindrance. This is a law in also seen in classical mechanics, one of Isaac Newton’s three laws. The length of sensory motion the follows is named "decaying sense," which Hobbes calls imagination. Hobbes uses the example of images following the closing of ones’ eyes – an image still persists and the vision must therefore be imagination since it is not longer immediate sensation. When this imagination is constantly being repeated, it then becomes “memory”. When sensed from external
This first paragraph outlines Hobbes’ concept of the state of nature, a necessary starting point to understand
Hobbes extinguishes the notion of a soul and reduced human beings to machines. He denied spiritual forces, viewing human beings as egoists who always did what they saw to be in their self-interests. Hobbes’ theory of human nature derives from his comprehensive materialist theory of nature, which holds that nature simply consists of bodies in motion. Hobbes was a psychological egoist, who held that it was in our nature to be self-interested and even selfish. Humans are all equal in the sense that each is
Of all the different categories of metaphysics, I believe that dualism is correct. Dualism is the view that the world is composed of two types things: material and mental. In our textbook, Philosophy in Practice: An Introduction to the Main Questions; Second Edition, Morton describes dualism as, “the view that mind and matter are very profoundly different—so different that understanding one of them leaves basic facts about the other unexplained” (Morton, 317). He went on to explain this by saying that no amount of human knowledge will provide complete understanding of the human mind. There are many things in this world that have been physically created, and many concepts that have been mentally constructed. The view of dualism supports both of these claims. I will be providing arguments that support each claim of my view. Both physically and mentally constructed concepts are real, therefore I believe that that materialism and idealism are incorrect. Although mind and matter are different, I feel that they can interact with each other and can exist without each other.
First and foremost, Hobbes’ view of human nature is that humans are terrible. He thinks that man will do anything for what they want. They will do anything to get what they want because they are greedy, they don’t care who gets hurt as long as they get what they desire. In the document number three Hobbes’ view is supported by Machiavelli. He writes in The Prince, “For all men in general this observation may be made: they are ungrateful, fickle, and deceitful…”He said in this document that man is ungrateful and deceitful, they don’t care what you give them as long as they get more from it, he also said they are deceitful, man can use that to get more than they need. In fact, there is another piece of evidence that supports Hobbes’ view which is in document five, in the painting of Gin Lane by Hogarth. In the painting there is streets full of people drinking a lot of very cheap liquor. The people are pawning their things for money to buy more gin, there is a man starving on the steps asleep, there is a pawnbroker with his business right across the street from a bar analyzing a man’s saw and a woman’s pots and pans so he can decide to give them money or not. The pawnbroker was greedy because he makes more business on Gin Lane than anywhere else because that is where most of the other greedy people are.
Through the centuries views on metaphysics have been laid as foundations, altered for society or simply changed for the better. As this world continues to grow and modernize, so have our views. The contemporary views on metaphysics are extended upon the more traditional views laid in the ancient or medieval times. Martin Heidegger is a contemporary existentialist, who studied the reason of being. He was an important figure of philosophy in the 20th century. His views are very different from the ancient views of metaphysics. Plato was an ancient philosopher, who believed in the immortality of the soul. His most popular readings are the Allegory of The Cave, which depicts the reality in life. With all of this being said, it is up to the
The project of Metaphysics is the study of existence; Metaphysics purpose is to answer, “What is reality.” Metaphysics reviews everything in the world that exists, although Metaphysics is a small part of Philosophy it is very important and is considered the base of Philosophy. The reason the project of Metaphysics is important is because the simple question what is for real has helped shape our world and allowed us to grow and develop overtime. Metaphysics is to speak about being and think about existence in general, general characteristics of being, and why there is something rather than nothing. The early Greek Philosophers developed the issue of asking, “what is” by answering the question of “what is the essence of being.” The philosophers did not all agree on what the essence of being is and each had their own opinion on the matter. Thales believed that the essence is being is water; Anaximander believed it was matter, Xenophanes believed it was the earth, and Heraclites believed it was fire, Democritus believed it was atoms and the void. Pythagoras believed that reality was numbers and geometric form for being real because they are in your mind, and Parmenides believed that “which is, and
“What are the top four mainstream philosophical views on human purpose, and what logical flaws might they include, if any?”