Descartes Flashcards
Anything material (moons, galaxies, rocks) all follow strict physical laws; all working perfectly
Laws of Motion
Humans are non-mechanical and language cannot be subdued to mechanical laws
Human Laws
It’s self-understanding; wanting to understand the human condition
Philosophy of Physics
philosophy of science is no use to scientists
Uselessness (Critique)
philosophers aren’t asking genuine questions about reality. They are too focused on meaning or language
Psuedo-question (Critique)
philosophy operates without scientific understanding; one can’t answer important questions without understanding science; so philosophy is dead
Ignorance (Critique)
the attempt to understand the most innate; features of reality/more general than even physics
Metaphysics
Does it really make sense? Is there some entity (charge) that two completely distinct objects share? In what way?
All electrons have the same charge
The philosophical study of the nature of knowledge
Epistemology
all knowledge is derived from sensory experience
Empiricism
some knowledge can be gained independently of the relevant experience
Rationalism
maybe we couldn’t understand the meaning of 2+2=4 without learning language/counting
Case Study: 2+2=4 (Rationalist)
philosophers and scientists assumed Euclidean geometry was not only true but necessarily true
Arcane Issues
19th century discovered: what is true geometry
Non-Euclidean Geometries
early results in this lead many physicists to concluded our measurements make the world and don’t discover what exists objectively
Quantum Mechanics
