Logical Positivism

In this paper, I’ll state, explain and evaluate Ruth Barcan Marcus’s argument in section 4 of her article “A Proposed Solution to a Puzzle about Belief”.

With their powerful warning against ideological certainty, these books had a profound influence on my thinking which is now axiomatically anti-foundationalist. I now seek deeper understanding of, rather than a facile allegiance to any particular dogma. To that end, I try maintain an ideological

The positivist theory seeks to find reasons why people commit crimes outside the biological and psychological realm. This leaves society as the cause for crime and positivist theories seek to understand how society influences criminals decisions to offend (Bohm & Vogel, 2011). By looking at what circumstances surrounded the crime, and what social factors influenced the crime, it can be eliminated.

The pursuit of truth: Epistemology provides understanding for the reader to gain insight to the way that humans process and react to truth. Epistemology is the pursuit of intellectual virtue. It wants to provide an evidentiary basis for belief, rather than one of just opinion. Entwistle then brings up another important topic which is Metaphysics. Metaphysics can be defined as the philosophical investigation of the nature, constitution and stature of reality. Philosophical anthropology attempts to validate assumptions made by theologians and psychologists about human nature and behavior (Entwistle, pp119).

The four main branches of philosophy are epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and logic. I will explore epistemology, the study of knowledge. The study of epistemology tries to define knowledge; identify the source of knowledge; the process of acquiring knowledge, and measures the limits of knowledge. Epistemology has intrigued philosophers since the Pre-Socratic era. In the 17th century, a fresh revolutionary outlook known as the Age of Enlightenment many new theories of epistemology began to emerge.

To have a belief in something is not to be mistaken as having knowledge of something, for these terms (belief and knowledge) are not to be seen as synonymous. This is further explored within the written philosophical work titled On Certainty by Ludwig Wittgenstien. This piece stands as a response to G.E. Moore’s written work “A Proof of The External World”. As way to justify that there is a world external of our sense, Moore uses his hand as a (sufficient) tool. This because he believes that what can be known through immediate sense experience is how one can acquire “commonsense” knowledge. To Moore, commonsense knowledge is knowledge that denies the possibility of doubt, which in turn lays down a foundation for all knowledge.

1. Introduction In contemporary philosophy, it is generally agreed that the existence of God cannot be proven definitively. The debates regarding the existence of a God are foundationally based on logic. William James and Blaise Pascal have provided interesting arguments regarding the logical reasons one should and/or could believe in God.

“Cogito ergo sum;” I think therefore I am. This philosophical statement stimulated a renaissance in the field of philosophy, creating modern Western philosophy as is known today. This important notion was dictated by Rene Descartes in his 1641 metaphysics work, Mediations on First Philosophy, and influenced all modern philosophical works written after Descartes revolutionary achievement. This work was written at a time when modern physics was being developed as a mathematization of nature. The principles of metaphysics contain in Meditations were developed in order to serve as the basis for this new system of physics. In it, Descartes refutes many Aristotelian beliefs that were popular and accepted by the clergy for nearly the entirety of

Descartes himself despite great expertise in physics and genuine mathematical genius was slow to appreciate the difference. However, he came to believe that, as he put it, human knowledge is a tree, the trunk of which is physics, and the root of which is metaphysics. It is only through the exploration of metaphysics that the basis of human knowledge can be discerned. And “for right philosophizing the greatest care must be taken not to admit anything as true which we cannot prove to be true.” We must therefore adopt a ‘method of doubt’, in order to arrive at propositions which could not be reasonably doubted.

Throughout time, people have always had varying views and ideas of everything. Through philosophy, these views and ideas can be put into solid words, theories, and assertions. Two very influential and famous philosophers are Plato and Aristotle. Although Aristotle was a student of Plato, they have differing views of metaphysics and epistemology. Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy that attempts to give a complete and systematic account of all reality and existence. Epistemology is a branch of philosophy that studies the nature and grounds of knowledge; epistemology asks what something is and how it came to be. One’s metaphysical position influences and affects their epistemological view by forming opinions on what is real or not and coming to knowledge through experience and/or by their metaphysical beliefs of reality.

Pragmatism is described in the book as a method for settling philosophical disputes. It is based on the pragmatic theory of truth. This theory says that a 'proposition p is true if and only if the belief that 'p is true' works'; (Voices of Wisdom, 346). In order

William James studied pragmatism through psychology and religion. James thought originally about philosophy; “The whole function of philosophy ought to be to find out what definite difference it will make to you and me, at definite instants in our life, if this world formula or that world formula be the true one.” In James’ book The Varieties of Religious Experience he took a positive attitude toward religion yet opposed the idealist schools of speculative ideas (Choron 283). James was a very methodical man. “Truth happens to an idea” was another theory of James’. In order for an idea to be true an event

Bertrand Russell’s essay addresses many issues concerning philosophy. In the writing, he states philosophy’s nature, value, and criticisms. The essay explains these aspects of the study of philosophy in relatively different ways. The main idea for establishing value in his essay is by explaining how it is best obtained, and its effect on other people. The essay continues with his criticisms of those who opposed

“Metaphysics encompass the study of what is sometimes termed “ultimate reality”. As such, metaphysics raises questions about reality that go beyond sense experience, beyond ordinary science. Metaphysical questions involve free will, the mind-body relationship, supernatural existence, personal immorality, and the nature of being. Some philosophers question the very possibility of a reality

Philosophy is the careful study if the states of, validity, existence, and conduct. It comes from the Greek word, philosophia, which translates into “the love of wisdom”. Philosophy encompasses a vast range of topics and ever person, place, thing, and idea has its roots embedded in it. For the purpose of this paper, I will be only covering the branches of epistemology, metaphysics, and ethics. These branches serve as the building blocks for studying and teaching philosophy. While examining these building blocks, I will argue why philosophy should be studied.