Problem 3 Flashcards
Age of enlightenment
Period where autonomous thinking + observation became advocated as the primary sources of knowledge
- -> no reliance on authority
- -> 18th century
Positivism
Movement that promoted the view that knowledge can only be obtained by means of the scientific method
August Comte
Founder of sociology + positivism
–> advanced the hypothesis that civilizations pass through 3 progressive stages called the “Law of three stages”
Law of 3 stages of society
Comte
- Theocratic stage
- -> Gods + spirits dominate the culture - Metaphysical stage
- -> Philosophical explanations dominated - Positivistic stage
- -> explanations were provided by natural sciences
=> as society reaches its maturity when scientific explanations become the MOTOR OF PROGRESS
Metaphysics
Refers to a branch of philosophy that aims to explain the fundamental nature of the world and the human being
–> “What is really here ?”
Why did the Age of enlightenment lead to the outbreak of the american war of independence + the french revolution ?
Both were intended to release the ruling powers by a more reasonable government inspired by the scientific method
How did Positivists justify their opinion that scientific knowledge should be the motor of all progress
Science is always right because.
- It is based on observation + experimentation
- Their theories are summaries of observations
–> therefore science must decide all choices to be made
Why did the Roman catholic church react negatively to the growing popularity of science ?
In their opinion, Scientific knowledge is dangerous if not guided by religious morals
Why did the Protestant churches react negatively to the growing popularity of science ?
In their opinion, Science still had to be guided by religion
–> BUT: many saw science as an ally rather than an adversary
Many protestant churches enjoyed good relationships with scientists and with Science in general.
Why did this stop in the 1870s?
Several books + journals were published, where scientific findings (great breakthroughs) didn’t go along with the beliefs of the church
–> this raised suspicion about the extent to which scientific progress has been hindered by religion
Humanities
Academic disciplines that continued the traditional study of the ancient classics, supplemented with contemporary literature + art
e.g.: literature, culture, art, history etc
Why did Edmund burke think that the French revolution was rather counterproductive to the evolution of societies/civilizations?
According to him, a drastic breach in traditions will tear apart the existing social tissue which will lead to a feeling of unsettlement among humans
–> one will risk destroying century long growth + evolution when existing costumes are changed too often + too drastically
Romantic movement
Movement that saw the universe as a changing organism, which is why it cannot be understood as a machine
- -> the mind is free and spontaneous
- -> late 18th, early 19th century
=> against mechanistic worldview
e.g.: individual, irrational, etc
What did the term “Two cultures” mean in the 20th century ?
Snow used it to stress that the divide between science + humanities/religion had led to a split of the intellectual life of the whole western society into 2 polar groups
–> he thought the divide was a loss for society because their interaction could be beneficial
(Cartesian) Dualism
Descartes
Refers to a distinction between the immaterial mind + the material body
–> the soul is separate, divine + independent of everything else
“Cogito ergo sum” = I think, therefore I am
Mechanistic view
Everything in the universe can be understood as a perfectly designed machine, made to function independently so God doesn’t have to attend to it
- -> as the soul is divine it cannot be studied
- -> counterargument to the teleological explanation
How did Newton resolve the question of why the earth is orbiting the sun ?
By using 3 mathematical laws that adequately described the movement if the copernican universe
–> suggested that scientific knowledge could be summarized in mathematical laws
Principia mathematica
Newtons book in which he presented his laws of physics
–> considered to be the primary reason for the increased status of science
Individualisation
Refers to a greater focus by individuals on themselves than not the groups they belong to
- -> looser social relations
- -> characteristic of current western society
What are the main contributors of individualization ?
- Increased complexity of society
- -> w/ urbanisation people felt a greater need to compete with others - Increased control by the state
- -> more monitoring by the state, led to a feeling of standing out - Individuality promoted christianity
- -> private state of faith + relation to god - Mirrors, books, letters
- -> emotions
Epistemology
Focused finding out the nature of knowledge, how do you construct it
e.g.: What is knowledge, how is it developed etc.
- -> branch of philosophy
- -> goes even deeper than introspection
Rationalism
Knowledge is obtained by means of deductive reasoning on the basis of INNATE knowledge
–> traditional view of understanding in philosophy
(Plato, Descartes)
Empiricism
Knowledge is obtained by means of perceptual experiences + inductive reasoning
–> there is no innate knowledge to start with
=> rise of empiricism lead to questioning of the rationalist view
(Locke, Berkley, Hume, Bacon)
Idealism
Berkeley + Hume
View that human knowledge is a construction of the mind + doesn’t necessarily correspond to an outside world
–> usually contrasted to realism
Realism
Kant
Assumes that every event has a cause due to the existence of cause-effect relationships in the outside world
–> knowledge is determined by its correspondence with the outside world
ex.: we think that the sun is the cause of light because the experiences of sun + light coincide
What is Kants view on the mind and its importance on knowledge ?
Sought to reconcile rationalism + empiricism by arguing that THE MIND
- Imposes structure on the incoming sensory experiences
- Requires a coherent + constant input to make sense of the input
On which points did Kant agree/disagree with Hume + Berkeley ?
Agree:
We cannot have direct knowledge of the outside reality through perception
Disagreed:
Perception is much richer than suggested
- -> its consciously perceived + thought about
- -> combination of senses are formed into perception
What are the 4 parts in metaphysics ?
- Ontology
- -> universe + its entities - Natural theology
- -> God(s) - Universal science
- -> axioms + demonstrations on which theoretical knowledge is based - Psychology
- -> added later
Rational psychology
Wolff
Psychology is based on axioms + deductions
- -> approach that guarantees true conclusions about the human soul
- -> allows for more involvement than mere observations
Introspection
Research method where a person looks inwards and reports what he or she is experiencing
Empirical Psychology
Wolff
Psychology is based on introspection
- -> needs a close interaction between reason + observation
- -> should aim for mathematical demonstrations
For which reasons, did KANT argue, that Psychology cannot be a proper science ?
- The act of introspection changes the state of mind
- Inner observations cannot be separated + recombined at will
- -> can therefore not be formulated in mathematical laws
Psychology = no science
For which reasons, did COMTE argue, that Psychology cannot be a proper science ?
According to him, the human mind can only be studied scientifically by focusing on
- Physiology (biology)
- Products of the human mind (Sociology)
Psychology = no science
Interactionist dualism
Descartes
Refers to the fact that the mind can influence the body via the pineal gland
According to Descartes, human beings are capable of 2 important things.
Which were they ?
- Thought
- Volition
- -> Free will
Monism/Materialism
The body and mind are one, and not distinct from another
–> counterargument to Dualism
Law of conservation
Energy is only transformed, never used up
–> doesn’t go with interactionist view, as this states that energy can be used up
John Locke
Empiricist
He rejected innate ideas, people were born without any knowledge and acquired it through experience
–> Father of empiricism
Bishop Berkeley
Idealist
First person to raise discussion on idealism versus realism.
- -> He agreed with ideas of empiricism and only believed in secondary qualities described by Locke
- -> “Experience is all there is”
Hume
Idealist
‘Idealism questions the scientific attempt of unearthing causes and effects. Since causes are never observed directly, we derive them from experiencing the co-occurrence of phenomena. The mind simply infers causality from co-occurrence in time and place’.
Constructivism
The mind is a blank slate that can be filled up through time by experiences
Why did the Humanists react negatively to the growing popularity of science ?
They thought it was dangerous to exclusively think in a rational way, as the emotional aspect is important as well
Determinism
Understanding the order + regularities of past events which makes the world predictable
–> changes occur in operation of a clock universe
Reductionism
The physical universe can be understood by analyzing or reducing it to its simplest parts: molecules and atoms
Mentalism
Berkeley
All knowledge is a function of mental phenomena and depends on the person perceiving or experiencing
–> Perception is subjective and does
not mirror external world
–> Because all experience is within us, we can never know exactly the physical nature of objects
Which were the 4 counterforces opposed to positivism ?
- Roman catholic church
- Protestant church
- Romanticists
- Humanists
How do organizations in societies try to increase their power ?
- Conflict + oppression
- Alliance formation
- -> when own power is threatened to ensure it - Exclusion of individuals
ex. : Galileo
What lead to the diminishing of the churches power, ultimately resulting in the Enlightenment ?
- Development of logic and mathematics in M.A. and Renaissance
–> senses are deceptive and reason is the best guide to understand the world
- Individualisation
- -> made people question their role in society in which the church was useless
–> Newton, Locke are key personalities
Mind-body problem
Question of the distinction between mental and physical qualities
Skepticism
Hume
We can no nothing at all with all certainty
–> therefore we need to be skeptic
