Essay 3 Given what we know or can safely assume to be true of animal brains and behaviors, do animals actually exhibit thought and reason? The answer depends in large measure on one’s definition of thought and reason. Philosophers René Descartes and David Hume hold conflicting views about the nature and possession of thought and reason and, as a result, offer starkly different arguments for and against the existence of thought and reason in animals. While Descartes maintains in Part Five of Discourse on Method that only humans are capable of conscious thought, Hume asserts that human and animal behaviors are not so different in Section Nine of his An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding.…
Newton’s “Amazing Grace” expresses the amazing love and mercy of God. He refers to the grace he receives as “Amazing” because it is a supernatural gift which he obtains when. By virtue of his occupation- slave trade, Newton sees himself as someone in whom there is no good. He believes he should be devoured by that raging storm that comes upon his ship. But then, God shows up and rescues him.…
Viewing the world in different ways can reveal radically different things about the same situation. Similarly, the way a book is written and narrated can present a biased or unbiased representation of a situation. Currently, a militia of ranchers are occupying a wildlife refuge in Oregon and there are two vastly different views of the situation. The conservative news organizations claim that they’re heroes, standing up for what is right and bringing attention to federal issues. However, liberal news organizations display a view of domestic terrorist activities and “lunatic fringe of extremists who have taken over” (ABC).…
The Scottish Philosopher, David Hume explains that there is a “Standard of Taste”. He describes that this standard of taste by establishing the rule that the good critic needs strong sense. A certain expertise is developed by a critic through a lot of practice in comparison in a particular area. Hume would respond to the Bouguereau painting, “The Thank Offering”, as a form of bad art. While Solomon would defend this painting by stating, “it is the sentimentality of kitsch that makes kitsch kitsch”.…
He argues that the analogy between the universe and human creations, such as machines is weak, since the universe is not really as obviously similar to a machine as the argument claims. The arrangement, composition, and workings of the universe are extremely different from a man-made machine. He explains that even a single and small difference between the effects of two things can reveal great differences between the causes. This refutation of the argument is plausible, since it shows that an argument from analogy only works effectively when the things we're comparing are extremely similar, but the universe is totally different from a machine or watch. Also, Hume argues that we have only limited exposure to a part of the universe, yet we're taking attributes based on imperfect observations of that small part, such as order, design, and intelligence and using them to make a claim about the whole universe.…
The True Motivation behind Deeds of the Divine Augustus Following Rome’s switch from the freedoms of a republic to the bounds of an empire, the new government needed a way to gain credibility with the Roman people. Augustus Caesar eventually took control of the Empire after the assassination of his adopted father Julius Caesar and the removal of his political rivals. The Emperor made many architectural, monetary, and military advances throughout his reign; advances that he chose to detail in writing near his death in Deeds of the Divine Augustus. Though these accomplishments were evident, Augustus knew that if his empire would last, his legacy must be as perfect as possible so the people would not look back and long for the republic of the…
A Shocking Realization What is a miracle? Must it be the product of divine intervention? Or is it simply luck? I say it is an unexplainable, unforeseeable, unexpected change of fate. John Jeremiah Sullivan explores this in his essay “Feet in Smoke”.…
David Hume’s On Miracles portrays his belief that individuals should develop reason beyond the scope of the church. As a brilliant philosopher, Hume argues against the common…
Hume begins his argument by asserting that animals, just like humans, learn from experience and come to infer causal connections between events. Hume describes this principle by saying: “[animals] become acquainted with the more obvious properties of eternal objects, and gradually, from their birth, treasure up a knowledge of the nature of fire, water, earth, stones, heights, depths, &c. and of the effect, which result from their operation” (Hume, 70). In order to illustrate his point, Hume cites several examples: horses learn what heights they can safely leap, and dogs learn to fear the sight of a whip (Hume, 70). Furthermore, Hume claims that non-human animals certainly do not learn to make these inferences by means of reason or argument.…
When it comes to the discussion “Can You Be Good Without God?,” one controversial issue has been you don’t need God to be good. On one hand, people that believe in a religion follow their moral values. That argues with people that don’t have any religion, like atheist that believe they can be good without God. On the other hand, atheists have no belief in any God and believe that they can be good no matter what. That contends to people that think being good with God is following their moral values.…
Copy Principle: Prompt One David Hume, in the book, “An Enquiry of Human Understanding,” denies the thought that ideas are innate or come from within us. Instead, he claims that all ideas, when they are first experienced are derived or duplicated from simple impressions or world experiences. This is known as Hume’s Copy Principle. To prove his hypothesis, Hume divides his argument into two sections.…
In this paper, I will demonstrate why David Hume believes a wise person should believe in the uniformity of nature and not believe in miracles. First, I will lay out and restate Hume’s argument for the belief or disbelief for both the uniformity of nature and for miracles. Next, I will assess the similarities between the two arguments he addresses, and subsequently comment on the differences between the two beliefs, clarifying Hume’s argument. Finally, I will give reasons why I believe Hume is correct.…
One of the main concepts that Hume is known for is his idea of causality and the problem of induction. Hume believed that we can cannot prove…
Because human rely so much on cause and effect Hume was interested in seeing if cause and effect could be counted as true knowledge. However, a lot of times we use…
Two of the most intriguing schools of philosophy are the two which deal specifically with epistemology, or, what is better known as the origin of knowledge. Although they are not completely opposite of one another, they are argued in depth by two of the most famous philosophers in history. The origins of study in rationalism and empiricism can be found in the 17th century, during a time when various significant developments were made in the fields of astronomy and mechanics. These advancements undoubtedly led to the questions that probed the sudden philosophical argument: What do we truly know? Many people throughout history began to question whether science was really providing them with the true knowledge of reality.…