Constructivist epistemology

Descartes is known for doubting physical objects and people around him. He argues anything that can be doubted should be treated as false. The term knowledge to Descartes means an event or occurrence that is true. Knowledge requires certainty, and without that certainty, it cannot exist. Descartes’ dream hypothesis and evil demon hypothesis show that anything in our world can be fabricated. He argues that the only aspect of life, a person, can know for sure is that they are a thinking being. Any…

Nguyen 1 Randy Nguyen Ancient Philosophy Rev. Joseph W. Koterski, S.J. 10/4/17 In Plato’s Meno dialogue, Meno starts off by asking Socrates what virtue is and whether or not it can be taught. However, Socrates ask Meno if he knows t the definition of virtue, and mentions that virtue cannot be taught if you do not know what virtue really is. Throughout the dialogue, Socrates and Meno mention that virtue is attained in…

Experimental Philosophy In his article 'Experimental Philosophy', Joshua Knobe (2007) gives an overview of the field of experimental philosophy and the ongoing disagreement concerning how work coming out of this relatively new endeavour should be understood in relation to analytic philosophy. Knobe asserts that people's intuitions have often played a significant role in philosophical debates within analytic philosophy (Knobe 2007: 81), particularly when dealing with moral questions. Indeed,…

Russell’s The Problems of Philosophy focuses on the theory of sense Data in the common world. Sense data is referenced as part of the very reason Knowledge exists and is understood by the human brain. Russel references arguments to many other philosophers in argument for sense data against other philosopher’s ideals like Descartes whose famous Cogito argument in conjunction with his Evil Demon argument directly interferes with Russell’s theory of Sense data. In this essay I will be showing and…

According to Plato, that which is True “can never be refuted” (Plato, Gorgias 37). The pursuit of Truth is the noblest of aims undertaken by those who Plato would refer to as “philosophers”. Philosophers are concerned not just with what is convenient, but with the transcendent truths on which a nation is built. Fredrick Douglas was a primary leader during the anti-slavery movement, a philosopher of that day. A nation that rejects it’s own hypocrisy and clings to its Truths inherently strengthens…

In the paper, ‘The Extended Mind’, authors Andy Clark and David J. Chalmers put forth the notion of “extended cognition”, which is the idea that the process of acquiring knowledge can extend outside of one’s own physical body. At the center of Clark and Chalmers argument is an analogy between two different individuals, Inga and Otto. Inga’s cognitive process takes place inside of her brain. Otto’s cognitive process includes phenomena external to his physical body. Specifically, it includes a…

Of all the superlatives shone upon civilization and the people therein, not a single one is more fundamentally necessary than leadership, a function that is traditionally suited for certain people deemed to be, in one way or another, exceptional. Of course, Socrates’ particular calculus ennobles philosophers as the rightful leaders, and in so doing, his prescriptions raise the inevitable question: what, precisely, constitutes a proper philosopher? Be it self-referentially, self-reverentially, or…

Including Indigenous content in the subject of science can seem like a complicated task for teachers and there is sometimes the question of how to avoid tokenism in the teachings because as teachers we do not want to include Indigenous content in a way that is lacking in awareness of actual Indigenous knowledges in science. A good start to not making Indigenous knowledges not seem like tokenism when teaching it is to look at the two sciences and to not to treat them like they are binaries.…

Science is something that has been around since the beginning of time and impacts our lives in many ways. Often, when we hear the word science, we create an image in our minds of people wearing large goggles, dressed in white lab coats, running complicated experiments and testing different chemicals, and while this may be a significant part of science, it does not define it in its entirety. So, what exactly is science and what role does it play in our lives? People’s views of science can differ…

Plato was an early Greek philosopher who instituted the Academy and is most well-known for his writings of unparalleled influence. Throughout his life, Plato had written many dialogues over numerous subjects, some being justice, epistemology, political philosophy, and even theology. One of Plato’s most successful and widely read dialogues was the Republic. Before the Republic, many of Plato’s dialogues consisted of a speaker, Socrates, refuting the positions of his interlocutors, and many of the…