Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Rationalism wikipedia , lookup
Plato's Problem wikipedia , lookup
Natural philosophy wikipedia , lookup
Transactionalism wikipedia , lookup
Philosophy of mind wikipedia , lookup
Problem of universals wikipedia , lookup
Direct and indirect realism wikipedia , lookup
Materialism wikipedia , lookup
Introduction to Metaphysical Philosophers and Terms Introduction to Metaphysics What is metaphysics? Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the structure of reality. Metaphysics is often called “First Philosophy” because it examines questions at the heart of other areas of philosophy. Metaphysical questions must be answered before many other philosophical questions can be considered. Metaphysics Questions Metaphysical questions include: What is reality? What is the self? What is the relationship between the mind and the body? Am I free or do other forces determine my life? What is the meaning of life? Does a Supreme Being exist? What is a person? Common-sense Realism What you perceive is what you see. Common-sense Realism The world is perceived exactly as it is; what people perceive under ordinary conditions is reality. The world is full of objects that are perceived by our senses. “What you see is what you get.” Idealist • Idealists believe that the physical objects you bump into, in your everyday interactions with the world, are actually manifestations of mind or intelligences rather than material things independent of mind. George Berkeley Idealist George Berkeley was an idealist. Idealism views reality as mental or thought-like. Reality consists of ideas and the minds that house or store them. He maintained that what people “common sensically” view as material objects are really ideas that God placed in humans. Idealists are philosophers who deny the existence of material things. Platonic Realism Plato’s Theory Platonic Realism Developed by Plato. Reality is ideal forms/ideas that are timeless and unchanging, immaterial and more perfect than the every day world we live in and encounter through sense perception. Connection Reminder: Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. Materialism • Materialists believe that consciousness, mind, intelligence, and self are just complex phenomena that can be fully explained in terms of matter. Thomas Hobbes Materialism Thomas Hobbes is a supporter of Materialism. Everything is material and is composed of matter. Even a person’s thoughts, consciousness and personality is composed of matter by-products of the brain. Monists • According to monism, reality is ultimately one unified allencompassing thing (matter or mind). Baruch Spinoza Monists Reality is one all-encompassing thing and all things are manifestations or expressions of this one thing. This thing can be material, mental or divine. Dualists • Dualism by contrast, is the view that reality consists ultimately of two different kinds of properties. René Descartes Dualists Reality is two different things: mind and matter or mental states and physical states. They have nothing in common, however, they can interact. Ontology • Area of metaphysics that deals with the nature of being and reality. Martin Heidegger Ontology Martin Heidegger proposed the following ontological questions: What is being? What does it mean to be? What is the relation of “being” to particular things that exist? Determinism • Every physical event that occurs in the universe is caused by previous events that unfold according to causal laws. Determinism This theory states that every event in our lives is determined by a chain of causes extending back in time. Substance Something that has an independent existence. The basic element/ingredient of which things are made – mental or material. Substance What “substance” are these items made from? Essence Fundamental nature of a thing. An unchanging blueprint. The thing that makes it what it is. Essence What makes your house a “home”? Does your “home” have an essence?