Rationalism vs. Empiricism – History and Summary What is reality really like? A current running through much of the philosophical thinking around the time of Socrates and Plato was that there is a difference between how the world appears and how it is. Our senses reveal one layer of reality but it is our minds that penetrate deeper. The world of appearances is a world in flux but underneath there must be a stable reality. For there is much that is unchanging. We recognise kinds of things – badgers
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Lawson Traylor Instructor Kevin Kerr History 201-002 25 November 2012 Key Points on the Defense of American Exceptionalism American Exceptionalism is the idea that America is founded on a creed. That creed is to spread liberty‚ freedom‚ and democracy to the rest of the world. G.K. Chesterton stated‚ “America is the only nation in the world that is founded on a creed.” The creed he mentions is stated in the Declaration of Independence. In the preamble‚ it is said that‚ “We hold these truths
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Plato/Descartes Reading Response In both Plato’s Allegory of the Cave and Descartes’ The Fourth Meditation‚ they discuss truth; what it is‚ where it comes from and how to differentiate it from falsehood and error. Plato’s paper is more metaphorical and uses imagery to paint a picture of his idea of truth‚ while Descartes’ is more straight forward‚ and uses examples. These papers are written very differently but are‚ at the same time‚ very similar when it comes to content. Although it’s not word
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similarity between the movie The Matrix‚ the cave analogy of Plato‚ and Descartes’ Meditation‚ is that all of these works doubt the reality of the world around us and call into question the validity of our sense perceptions. “Let us suppose‚” says Descartes‚ “that we are dreaming‚ and that all these particulars – namely‚ the opening of the eyes‚ the motion of the head‚ the forth-putting of the hands – are merely illusions” (Descartes‚ 1641‚ Meditations on First Philosophy). Likewise Plato proposed an
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Descartes is totally right to be suspicious about ’the given’ before accepting it as the establishment of learning‚ however‚ in the meantime‚ it is not the bravest thought to be distrustful about everything. Throughout first Meditation‚ Descartes disposes of all his past obtained opinion‚ which from his sense is highly dubious. (Descartes‚ Meditations I‚ pg.1‚para. 1) Accordingly‚ he chooses to rebuild his insight from a specific ground and totally believe in things that are indubitable. (Descartes
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Latin "Cogito‚ ergo sum" [I think‚ therefore I am] The first piece of Descartes Meditation‚ Descartes attempts to review the beliefs he has been taught in order to establish truth in science. He forms a sceptical belief or hypotheses about everything in the physical world. As a result he suspends his judgement on his previously held beliefs. In the second Meditation‚ Descartes expands theory on the nature of human mind’‚ Descartes questions his identity‚ the eternal I’‚ and introduces a theory of
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question even the simplest of things. Descartes uses two parts of his personality‚ Hopeful and Doubtful‚ to show his opinion of scepticism. Hopeful remains positive despite any evidence that contradicts what it thinks. And Doubtful is the side of his mind that finds any and every way something could be a lie‚ In an attempt to find an absolute
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Economic Rationalism: Economic rationalism is the idea that markets and money can do everything better then what the government and law can. This also states that there is no point in political debate because it just generates insoluble conflicts It tells people to forget their national identity‚ to caste away their national goals and public policy and just let the market forces decide on the their own rational situation Economic rationalists will assert that by customers preferences dictating
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Rationalism and Empiricism almost feel like polar opposites. To begin with‚ rationalism believes one has priori knowledge. Priori knowledge is basically "fundamental truths that everyone just knows." For example‚ the idea that "everything has a shape and size." It’s an innate truth that we were already aware of. Rationalists think that we were born knowing everything already‚ but due to some traumatic event at birth‚ we forget everything we know. As we continue development on Earth‚ we begin to remember
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2.2.5 Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Liebniz adds some clarification to Descartes argument in an attempt to strengthen it‚ he argue that’s Descartes has not asserted how coherent the idea of a “perfect being” is‚ Leibniz argues that unless this point is demonstrated then overall argument fails. In order to prevent this Leibniz attempts to analyze what perfection actually means‚ he concludes that this is an impossible task and concludes that it’s impossible to demonstrate all perfections are incompatible
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