METAPHYSICS: ONTOLOGY: DUALISM VS. MATERIALISM
The original idea of the word 'philosophy ' was a 'love of wisdom ' (Cowan 2). Philosophy is meant to explore the 'big questions ' and try to find answers as best we can in the time we have been given. One of the areas of study in philosophy is metaphysics, which deals in the ideas of the nature of reality. "We look at the world, and we assume that it is the way it appears to be. It is not." (Carreira 7). There is much to reality that can be discussed, debated, and disagreed upon. Within metaphysics is the realm of ontology, which poses the question 'what is there? ' (Cowan 146). Two of the major views in ontology are Dualism and Materialism, both of which deal with the nature of the
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Logical positivism is the second presented obstacle to the study of metaphysics and much simpler than Kant 's "Copernican Revolution". Stared by Schlick and the Vienna Circle the viewpoint of logical positivism sought to set up science to a standing as a 'unique and privileged ' way of knowing and get rid of speculative metaphysics (Cowan 150). They contended that knowledge was only gained through experience and theories were only worthwhile if they could be proven or disproven by experience (Kenny 799). This 'verification principle ' has undergone several changes and versions since its original development, but one of the most well-known defenders of the viewpoint, A.J. Ayer worded it this way: "A proposition is meaningful fi and only if it is empirically verifiable in principle." (Cowan 151). In other words, an idea or concept is only meaningful if it can be proven or disproven, even if only in theory. Since the concepts and ideas put forth by metaphysics are not able to be proven or disproven, even in theory, they are seen by those holding the logical positivism view point as being completely meaningless. The view point of logical positivism however, has a fatal flaw built right into it 's very definition and therefore can be disproven as an obstacle to metaphysics.
The whole principle of logical positivism is that a concept is only of value if it can be proven or disproven by experience, even if it is only in theory.
According to Merriam-Webster (2016), philosophy is “an analysis of the grounds of and concepts expressing fundamental beliefs” (para. 1). Most people have a philosophy that is either a vague, general idea or a distinct guiding principle that is based on beliefs relevant to the individual, to their patients, families, communities, and colleagues. The beliefs that comprise a person’s philosophy influence the choices that person makes. Many base their choice of profession on their beliefs, thereby ensuring that the principles of their career are consistent with their personal expectations. For example, getting a job or taking actions that are inconsistent with someone’s beliefs is one of the causes of stress and burnout. Therefore, it is healthy for individuals to clarify their philosophy to help guide them to make choices and to live a life consistent with their
The mind and the body are very controversial entities that has caused philosophical debate between dualists and physicalists. Common knowledge states that the mind inevitably will affect what the body does. The mind and body issue is a question of what the nature of the mind is and how it relates to the body. The mind is the psychological aspect of your being as in your mental state. The body is all physical parts of you: your height, weight, color. With all this in mind, we can use Leibniz’s Law to make an argument supporting either a physicalist or dualist point of view. I will be
Brian Davies further argued that the verificationism principle itself is unverifiable; one cannot verify whether it is true or false and therefore by its own criteria, it is meaningless. Both Ward and Davies’s arguments significantly weaken verificationism. Hick argued that statements are eschatologically verifiable, so that after someone dies, they can verify all the statements they made when they were alive, however this is a weak argument against verificationism, and it does not weaken the verification principle as much as Hick and Davies.
To begin, it is important to understand and analyze what philosophy is and ultimately what a philosophical question is. Philosophy is a quest after knowledge. Philosophy is the action of thought and analysis, in fact, it is a pretty unique type of
The verification principle is known to be one of the most discredited and flawed theories of the 21st century. The major flaw
The least interesting part is the logical empiricism which state that the truth of a proposition rests on how well it is verified.
Every genuine test of a scientific theory, then, is logically an attempt to refute or to falsify it, and one genuine counter-instance falsifies the whole theory. In…theory of demarcation is based upon … perception of the logical asymmetry which holds between verification and falsification: it is logically impossible to conclusively verify a universal proposition by reference to experience …, but a single counter-instance conclusively falsifies the corresponding universal law. In a word, an exception, far from ‘proving’ a rule, conclusively refutes it (Thornton,
Philosophy is the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence, especially when considered as an academic discipline(Webster.) The value theory or value system is the system that is used in order to determine how one determines the importance of things, ideas and people. Philosophy can be a hard term or subject to fully grasp, while in actuality the word directly translated from Greek is love for wisdom. If it can be understood that philosophy is simply the love for knowledge and understanding, one could see that philosophy is essentially the study of learning how to learn, or best understand any given thing. The term philosophy
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.
The quote “Science isn’t a list of things we know to be true; it’s a collection of ideas we can’t prove wrong...yet.” by J. Robertson makes us question everything we think we know. I disagree with what he is saying because it discourages people to educate themselves and makes current discoveries seem pointless. This quote makes most readers feel defeated and not want to expand their knowledge, which is fundamentally discouraging.
The main goal in philosophy is to shows us the right way on how to live a great life and to understand its meaning and purpose. Every philosopher has their own blueprint, which includes different methods and rules on how to reach that goal; these include backing up your opinions with reason, seeking secure foundations in ‘objective truth’, thinking outside of your own perspective, and seeking intellectual and moral excellence, wisdom and prudence. Philosophy will help you analyze and learn about your own knowledge, freedom, morality, religion, and the meaning of life.
"Calling philosophical propositions meaningless is usually very antagonistic; it amounts to using fighting words. Some of the less thoughtful critics of Carnap see him as (solely) making this kind of pejorative value judgment. Those who use ``positivist'' as a kind of academic curse word regard Carnap as merely arguing that philosophers should find something more useful (and more scientific!) to do than chasing their tails worrying about skepticism. This image of an antagonistic stance is bolstered by Carnap's intimate involvement with the Vienna Circle who is known to have gone through the Tractatus line-by-line declaring each proposition true, false, or meaningless. While there are certainly overtones of this pejorative attitude, a moment's reflection on the text will show how this is a completely wrongheaded interpretation of the claim that skepticism is a meaningless doctrine.
“All things in life are philosophical.” This is a well-known quote by the renowned Greek scientist/philosopher Aristotle. When one is to imagine life without thought, free will or knowledge, they are left to only imagine the oblivion they would be left to reside in. To me, philosophy is more than ethics, esthetics, and epistemology... it is the ability to stand ones ground with certain viewpoints, attitudes and beliefs.
Science is constantly evolving and acquiring new knowledge (Sutton 2015). Over time the ideological, political and social aspects of Science have changed (Chalmers 1999). Additionally, the definition and practice of Science have undergone change and are recognised in Philosophy of Science (Chalmers 1999). The three prominent Philosophies of Science include: Positivism, Falsification and the Structure of Scientific Revolutions (Chalmers 1999). However, this essay will not focus on Positivism and will only briefly mention the similarities between Falsification and Structure of Scientific revolutions. Popper (Falsification) and Kuhn’s (Structure of Scientific Revolutions) scientific accounts differ greatly, but they are not without their similarities (Chalmers 1999). Firstly, both Kuhn and Popper distance themselves from the inductive theories of Positivism (Chalmers 1999). Secondly, both prefer theory over observation, and finally both emphasise the importance of theoretical and historical frameworks in the interpretation, rejection and acceptance of results obtained during experimentation (Chalmers 1999). The Philosophy of Science associated with Kuhn is the Structure of Scientific Revolutions (Clark 1993; Chalmers 1999). According to Kuhn, Science progresses through phases of “normal science” to phases
According to Aristotle, philosophy is the study of fundamental nature of knowledge; it starts with wonder. Philosophy makes us ask specific question like “Why” why did this happen and how did it come to be. Philosophy had its origin in ancient Greece. Philosophy recognizes that everything is somehow connected.