Natural Philosophers And Religion

Before Humanities 210, how would you have described the philosophies/religions that influenced your processes for decision making, thinking, and developing preferences? How would you describe your level of conscious choice and commitment to these philosophies/religions? What helped form or develop the belief in that philosophy/religion?

Rene Descartes, a rationalist, said that each person contains the criteria for truth and knowledge in them. Finding truth and knowledge comes from the individual themselves, not necessarily from God. Descartes also believed that reason is the same for every single person. Descartes believed that nothing could be true unless we as humans could perceive it. He also believed that you could break down things into smaller simpler parts. Descartes also believed that there was a relationship between the mind and body. He also believed that the idea of being perfect originated from God since God himself was perfect. He also integrates his mathematical concepts into his methodology. Descartes also applied doubt to his ideas before he

This paper will examine the argument put forward by William Paley in 1802, in his Natural Theology. Paley offers an argument from design that purports to show a clear and distinct reason why one should hold a belief in God, due to the inherent features of the world. It is attempted in this paper to firstly: show that the argument should be rejected on the grounds of lacking a rationally flowing set of premises and conclusions; and secondly: that the criticisms made by David Hume concerning the argument hold more weight than is generally granted by other philosophers, and should have convinced one even before the advent of Darwinian theory. Added to this, it will be considered as to whether or not Darwin actually did destroy

Attitudes towards nature in the pre-modern or medieval period, were largely based on Christian theological views and Aristotelian science. Despite science and religion usually seen as complete opposites, religion and God’s plan were often considered the scientific explanation for many things, including gravity. Aristotelian science was mainly governed

Descartes is known for his great contribution for the development of various sciences, such as mathematics and geometry. However, he also introduces a certain religious discourse trying to proof the existence of God in his own especial

Descartes declares that he will only accept ideas that he can absolutely affirm, but accepts the existence of God without adequately proving it. This inadequacy undermines his declared project of defining the world in terms of established ideas. He does not sufficiently prove the idea of God, yet bases so much on it. When he later discusses physical bodies, intellect, and mathematical concepts, the reader cannot forget that everything he writes is based on the shaky foundation of the Christian God, and finds his

Part II: Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion In the first part of the “Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion”, David Hume introduces his three individuals with a differing philosophical approach to religion: Demea, Philo, and Cleanthes. Demea always belittles human reason while encouraging human deference to the teaching of religion; Philo, a character that allows, in the sphere of our direct experience, rely on human instincts; and Cleanthes who is an advocate on particularism1. In Part II, the both Demea and Philo emphasize that any it is not attainable to really understand the existence of God. Since everything in the Universe, including the Universe itself, must have a cause, human beings have no experience, and thus have no knowledge

Isaac Newton was an instrumental figure to the rise of modern science. Through his incredible mind, he was able to usher in a new age of science that revolved around logic and reason. He had redefined natural philosophy at the time and had enlightened the world with his mechanistic world view. However, Newton was not exactly as dedicated to logic and reason as many would like to think. Newton not only spent a significant amount of his time in the occult sciences such as alchemy, but was a deeply religious individual as well. Often times, many think of Newton as being one who pushed away religious faith as a means to uncovering the natural world by solely depending on the empirical science, however that is incorrect. Newton was very much influenced by his religious beliefs. In my paper, I aim to bring Newton’s religiosity to light and uncover how it not only influenced his work in the natural science but how it led him to great research in alchemy as well. I will also focus on why Newton did not bring out his religious inclinations during his time which would forever change his portrayal in the modern world.

In order to prevent an infinite regression of argument, Aristotle came up with the his famous idea of the "Prime Mover," which exists outside the earth somewhere in the heavens and is ultimately responsible for all change on earth.

What is the relationship between religion and science? In his book, Consilience, Edward O. Wilson aims to find a unified theory of knowledge. Consilence also seeks to show how science is superior to and can replace religion. In this paper, I intend to show how Wilson understands this relationship and science as well as how. as well as show John Stuart Mill would agree or disagree with Wilson.

Epicurus was a philosopher from about 341 – 270 BC. Epicurus believed that everything in the universe was made of atoms. He is the first philosopher we have studied that tried to break things down as current scientists do. He looks at atoms and how they interact just as modern physicists and chemists do. He believed that everything, everything physical and everything non physical things such as hearing, which he explains is when atoms bounce off of something that makes noise, sight, he explains as atoms flowing out of an object,

The idea of the five elements originally came from the idea of yin and yang. The idea of how natural elements interact to create a balance. “Ancient Chinese medical

As long as humans have walked the Earth, we have sought out answers. Answers for questions like: "Why are we here? Where do we go when we die? Where did we come from? and What's that?" How different people answered these questions is important to study because it shows us the spiritual side of human nature. Especially now, a time of conflict between Islam and Western Civilization, it is important to look back and trace the evolution of religion. To see where we started and perhaps, gain some perspective into what is happening now and what may happen in the future.

Descartes is a rationalist about knowledge, so that means he believes that it is possible to gain knowledge through our mind and that we have the ability to know things that we have never seen or experienced before.(Descartes, 1641) He believes that everyone is born with the inherent ability to know two things; mathematics and God. He argues that we have the ability to infer mathematic skills from our minds. (Pismenny, 2016) He also says that we are born with the idea of God and religion already in our minds and that God is responsible for

When faced with the question what is religion different things comes to everyone’s head. Some people think of things such as Christianity and Islam or even Buddhism, and some even think that it’s just a belief of some fictitious being well for the most part those are somewhat correct. There really is not a clear definition of religion people and scholars throughout the ages all agree that a definition that constitutes a definition of religion has still not been reached. However, one can define religion is the belief in and warship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods I believe the world has religion because people need an excuse to justify injustice and death which was a way that molded the world how it is today. Some of these religions that aren’t as popular or the ones that many may think are incorrect or disagree with created things in life that the everyday person benefits from today. Religion is a system of beliefs that over the years has been created into culture and worldwide views. There are millions of religions all over the world today and some believers have found much success in their lives by following their religions. Muslims as a whole had many contributions to the world today such as technology, medicine, and astronomy. Other religions also had contributions such as Catholics with philosophy.