Philosophical Foundations

Question 1

Who are the four horsemen of the modern philosophy of science?

Answer 1

1. Rene Descartes
2. David Hume
3. Immanuel Kant
4. Sellars

Question 2

What belief did Descartes have?

Answer 2

First rationalist, then progressed onto dualism

Question 3

What belief did Hume have?

Answer 3

Empiricist

Question 4

What belief did Kant have?

Answer 4

Idealism

Question 5

What was Sellars two perceptions called?

Answer 5

Manifest image and Scientific image.

Question 6

What is the essence of dualism?

Answer 6

Dualism beliefs in the mind (Res Cogitans) and the body (Res Extensa) as two different entities. Reason is our primary source of knowledge, in stating that the bodily senses from which we gain knowledge can be doubted BUT the mind cannot. He thinks therefore he am. Leaning up at Leibniz’ law.

Question 7

What is Empiricism (Hume)?

Answer 7

Empiricism is the belief that knowledge primarily comes from our senses. With two different perceptions; Impressions and ideas, being either simple or complex.

Question 8

What is impressions in empiricism?

Answer 8

sensations,
passions and emotions,
as they make their first
appearance in the soul - The primary

Question 9

What is Ideas in empiricism?

Answer 9

the faint image of
these in thinking and
reasoning

Question 10

What is a simple perception in empiricism?

Answer 10

both impressions and
ideas – cannot be
separated further

They are given to the
mind.

E.g The colour of an apple

Question 11

What is a complex perception in empiricism?

Answer 11

Can be divided into
underlying simple
perceptions.

Perceptions is the whole perception of the apple, while the simple is just the colour surface of the apple.

Question 12

What is idealism (Kant)?

Answer 12

Idealism, is the belief that knowledge about the world primarily comes from knowledge of the mind.

Our senses can only give us contingent knowledge - Meaning knowledge which is gained in a specific environment, other than that it cannot give us knowledge.

Question 13

Kant wrote the transcendental ideals, what does this mean?

Answer 13

Transcendental ideals means, principles or necessary conditions for which you need to fully understand knowledge from experience.

Question 14

Kant refer time and space as transcendental, what does this mean?

Answer 14

Kant believes there is only time and space which is transcendental, as they enable us to gain sensible knowledge.

E.g:
For a chair to exist, it MUST exist for some period of time and occupy some measurable space.

The principles of time and space are therefore necessary for us to gain this knowledge as we experience the chair in it’s space and time it exist.

Question 15

Sellars created the Manifest image, what is this?

Answer 15

The manifest image is the physical world we perceive, it consist of objects, persons, animals and all material things.

Question 16

Sellars created the Scientific image, what is this?

Answer 16

The scientific image is all the things we cannot directly see with our own eyes, yet exist.
Things we can infer with through observations and science.

For example, atoms and subatomic particles are imperceptible to the naked eye, but their existence can be inferred through experiments and observations of their effects on the world around us.

Question 17

What is Justified True Belief?
Give an example

Answer 17

it is that one can only know something or have knowledge of something if it is firstly a belief, then justified in having this belief and it is true.

Example: So for instance, if I believed there was a tree outside my house, and I have seen this tree multiple times a day and throughout many months and others have seen or talked about this tree, then I am justified in having this belief. Finally it is true, so if I went home now the tree would still be there, or if I were to call a friend who lives nearby and send live images of the tree it would still be there. As these criterias is fulfilled it then becomes knowledge I have, that outside my house stands a tree.
However if one of the criteria is NOT fulfilled we cannot say that we have “true knowledge” of this.

Question 18

As an opposition to JTB is the gettier problem - What is this?

Example?

Answer 18

The gettier problem, states that one can indeed have a justified true belief which is false.

Example:
Two men interviewing for a job. Person A and B, before the interview person B sees person A has 10 coins in his pocket, then after the interview person B is told that person A will get the job, and forms the belief that the person who will get the job has 10 coins in his pocket. His belief is justified true belief, however as the boss comes and tells that person B will get the job, he then finds 10 coins in his pocket, so his belief was indeed justified and true, yet he had no true knowledge of it.

Question 19

Name the four division of knowledge

Answer 19

A priori
A posteriori
Analytic
Synthetic

Question 20

What is “a priori” knowledge?

Answer 20

It is knowledge which is gained through analyzing concepts independent of experience.

Question 21

What is an analytic knowledge/statement/argument?

Answer 21

An analytic argument is considered to be explanatory.
It breaks the subject down, and is therefore true by definition.

Example:
A triangle has three sides
All bachelors are unmarried men

Question 21

What is “a posteriori” knowledge?

Answer 21

Knowledge which is obtained through our experiences

Question 22

What is an synthetic knowledge/statement/argument?

Answer 22

A synthetic statement is augmentative, they add something to our understanding of a subject.
Example:
Tigers live in India.
The beaches in the Caribbean are white and the water is blue

A synthetic proposition is one that needs empirical evidence or sensory experience.
Example:
Bachelors are unhappy - This is impossible to know without collecting empirical evidence aka witnessing that bachelors are unhappy.

Question 22

What is Leibniz’ law?

Answer 22

Leibniz’ law states that two objects can never have the exact same properties, as it is then the same object instead.
Two objects can have closely similar properties, but if they are identical then they are indeed the same thing.

Google:
It states that no two distinct things exactly resemble each other. This is often referred to as ‘Leibniz’s Law’ and is typically understood to mean that no two objects have exactly the same properties.

Question 22

Give examples of analytic a priori and posteriori as well as synthetic a priori and a posteriori

Answer 22

Analytic a priori: All bachelors are unmarried men or triangles have three sides.

Analytic a posterior: Impossible

Synthetic a priori: Not possible

Synthetic a posterior: Tigers live in India or The beaches in the Caribbean are white and the water blue.

Question 23

What is a cause according to Hume and how does it influence our perception of the effect?

Answer 23

A cause is an object or event that precedes and is connected to another object or event (the effect).

The idea or experience of the cause influences our mind to form an idea of the effect. Experiencing the cause can lead to a more vivid idea of the effect.

Question 23

Hume argues that cause and effect doesn’t come from the inherent properties of the object, but from where?

Answer 23

He argues that they come from our mind’s interpretation of consistent (gentagende) patterns we observe

Question 24

Hume proposes that we cannot experience causation or a necessary connection between cause and effect through our outer senses (sight, hearing, touch, smell, taste), but then from where?

Answer 24

Hume suggest that our idea of a necessary connection arises from our inward senses (feelings, thoughts, emotions, intuitions), which is derived from reflecting on our previous experiences.

Example:
If we repeatedly observe that event A is followed by event B, then our mind form a connection between event A and B.
So over time if we observe this enough times, we believe that event A causes event B even though there is no observable “necessary connection” between the two events themselves.

Sum up: The necessary connection we see between a cause and effect is not a property of the objects/event themselves, but rather our minds which forges an association between the objects that are conjoined in our experience.