Critical Analysis ‘Epihenomenalism and Eliminativism’ Trenton Merricks In this paper, I will be presenting a critical analysis of Trenton Merricks’s ‘Epiphenomenalism and Eliminativism’ (2001). Merricks delivers a strong argument for the elimination of non-living macro-physical objects, and the denial of causal powers that these types of objects may be said to have: he labels this argument the ‘overdetermination argument’, which he illustrates with an example of a baseball shattering a window.…
Additionally, Plaintiff appears to contend that Bethel Ridge was negligent to leave Mr. Tolley unattended outside for a very brief moment while a nurse went inside—at Mr. Tolley’s request—to retrieve his lighter so that he may smoke. It is unrealistic, however, to contend that Bethel Ridge had a duty to continuously and specifically monitor every one of Mr. Tolley’s actions. In determining, the extent of Bethel Ridge’s duty, generally applicable hornbook law would suggest that a Court would…
The South Canyon Fire The South Canyon fire was a major fire that occurred on July 2, 1994, seven miles from a town in Colorado named Glenwood Springs. The fire was on Storm King Mountain and burned about 2,115 acres of land and took 14 lives with it. Some major causes of the fire were high temperatures, droughts throughout that year, and low humidity. This fire caused many families and friends to lose loved ones and changed the way firefighters today fight fires. The fire on Storm King mountain…
St. Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologica: Proofs for the Existence of God, is a thirteenth century collection of five deductive arguments that, as the name suggests, supposedly prove the existence of God. In these arguments, or proofs, as Aquinas calls them, there is the assumption that there are some things that only God is capable of making happen – such as motion and cause - and ergo, God has to exist for these things to exist. Aquinas' first argument for the existence of God is that of the…
Answering the Checklist Questions: The Critical Decisions 1. Scale of measurement? Both the F and the A-S scales are considered to be interval measures distributed normally in the population. Use Fig. 10. 2. Hypothesis? The hypothesis in this case is one of association. (One group is being measured on two different response dimensions). We can never test for differences between completely unrelated measures. 3. If the hypothesis of difference is tested, are the groups independent or…
Thomas Aquinas was a Dominican Monk during the time of the 11th century. Thomas Aquinas believe that “God was revealed through reason (natural revelation) and faith (special revelation)”(69). In one of his works “Proofs for the Existence of God”(70), Aquinas works out five ways that prove of God’s existence, going on to say “it is possible to demonstrates God’s existence, although not a priori (by pure reason), yet a posterior from some work of His more surely known to us”(70). In other terms to…
Many times, people have told me that I can do anything if I try hard enough. I have often found it inspiring that I am able to determine the course of my life through my own choices. However, in harder times, like a failed audition or a breakup, it is comforting to think that maybe it was fate all along. The play Oedipus Rex and the Broadway musical If/Then both show that fate is ultimately unalterable and how knowledge changes the way we use our free will in our lives leading up to that fate…
The Cause of Seizures All of a sudden she drops to the ground and her eyes rolled into the back of her head. She begins to shake and isn’t responsive to anyone calling her name. A seizure… A sudden attack of illness. You never know when they will come but what exactly is the cause of them? You understand that you have triggers but sometimes new ones hop out of the blue. Truly, you can never know when to expect the seizure. What exactly is a seizure? Where do they come from? Who are prone to…
The cosmological argument is one theory for the existence of God; it is based upon the existence of a unique being, which is commonly referred to as God. This based upon facts regarding causation, contingency, motion, change and finitude relative to the processes within the universe. In this essay I am going to describe the arguments of Aristotle, one of the founders of this argument and Leibniz, who argues for the principle of sufficient reason; a theory that goes hand in hand with the…
The life of Stoner is governed by several perilous events, ignited by the lack of decisiveness in key events that he has faced during his lifetime. However, these decisions were not poor decisions, some were also coragous and beneficial. The horrendous decision have began at the beginning point of his youth and spanned throughout his entire life, these event may have caused his early death due to immense stress. However, these events are not generated randomly, in fact stoner’s careless…