Epistemology

When the word science is uttered in a conversation most people tend to Science is defined in Leonard Brand’s book Faith, Reason, and Earth History as, “the search for truth through repeated experiment and observation.” With that in mind the area of science I am mainly going to focus on is geology. Geology includes the study of minerals, natural earth processes, as well as fossils. The third and final topic I am also going to address the topic of faith. The end goal is to fully lay out how I…

As a student attending Stuyvesant High School, one of New York City’s most prestigious and gifted school, I am constantly pressured by my parents to achieve the highest education as a student in order to excel in the future, whether it be recieving a scholarship, becoming famous, or getting a high salary job. Plato’s excerpt, “The Allegory of the Cave”, reminds me of my perpetual worries and doubts that I have of living up to my parent’s expectations. In “The Allegory of the Cave” Plato depicts…

Our use of intuition is challenged by the experimental studies conducted by Appiah. His argument against the method of reflective equilibrium can be considered through a theory. For instance, a theory that indicated “do no harm”, T1. Most of our moral intuitions are accommodated by T1 until a case where somebody X, tries to harm you while you have done nothing wrong and the only way not to get hurt is through harming X. In this case, your intuition, INT permits you to defend yourself against any…

Tobias Buehner Professor Douglass TA Gianna Englert Philosophy 099 October 5, 2014 Analyzing Plato’s Allegory of the Cave Over time, history has produced extraordinary leaders. People such as George Washington, Gandhi, and Alexander the Great have inspired the minds of many and created magnificent societies for their people. These men not only successfully lead their people, they also fostered them and helped them grow and develop. They are considered to be some of the greatest leaders of all…

Descartes fifth Meditation presents the Ontological Argument for God’s Existence. Though many people find Descartes Ontological Argument for God’s Existence to be an unpersuasive and weak argument, I find it is a very strong argument that provides a strong foundation and argument for God’s existence. In this paper I plan to elaborate upon Descartes fifth meditation and slightly over the first and third. After this I will then explain its strong points and weaknesses. I believe Descartes…

Certainty vs. Doubt Certainty and doubt are two coexisting entities that rely on each other to exist. To achieve certainty you must first acknowledge your doubts and overcome them. With this system of thought, people have become more certain in their beliefs by testing their doubts with scientific theories, historical essays, and even in everyday life. Within the areas of scientific research and experimentation, it is necessary to understand your doubts about a topic so then you can use that to…

In Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” demonstrates a different approach on illustrating the way society tends to view reality. In this section Plato identifies ideas of change that could have been implemented, but instead were rejected. Excerpts in Plato’s writing show how the public associates fear with change and also the unknown. Plato’s allegory explains his own theories more by connecting shadows of a cave to a boundary that humans have put up to ignore reality. With these notions Plato still…

Telling the truth all the time is nearly infeasible. Stephanie Ericsson’s essay titled, “The Ways We Lie” breaks down the activity of lying into subcategories of the different kinds of lies we tell on a daily basis. In addition, Ericsson’s essay manages to point out the elemental role that lying plays in our lives and our culture. We all lie, whether to abstain from confrontation, spare people’s feelings, conveniently forget, keep secrets, or even to justify our own words and actions. By…

Plato’s Allegory of the Cave is a story of a man coming from a world of darkness into a world of enlightenment. The main theme of the story is to “illustrate what it's like to be a philosopher”. Plato wished to educate his audience, which is thought to be his pupils from the Academy or anyone whom was interested in learning from him. The Allegory of the Cave begin with a group of people all chained to the wall of a cave, preventing them from viewing anything but shadows on the wall before them…

Philosophers such as Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, and Hume have similar but also contrasting views on the nature and existence of external objects. Descartes said that God is not a deceiver. His view about external objects, is that God created and gave him reasoning that lets him know that his ideas come from external things. Meaning that external objects have to exist because if they did not, that would mean that God was a deceiver, which is not true. Descartes views external…