Moral skepticism

The real proof of existence Descartes built his philosophy from the very bottom. He took nothing for granted. “I think therefore I am” is not the beginning of his philosophy; it is the first important conclusion on which he builds his further meditations. But what if the whole proof of existence starts with wondering? Descartes didn’t write anything about wondering in his “Discourse on Method”, but he gave it a big part in his meditations and in “The Passion of the Soul”. So what if he just…

René Descartes’ main purpose was finding whether some truths really existed or not. Consequently, he understood that his aim would have been satisfied exclusively by doubting each belief he previously owned and, in order to do this, he had to meet the sceptical challenge of the evil genius. In this essay, I will start by explaining what the sceptical challenge is, examining other possible approaches to discover illusions, and arguing about what one I hold to be the most efficient. Afterwards, I…

with no values. Hume also states that we need to have passion, and that these passions shouldn’t be overdone or underdone. Our passions must be benign, cheerful, nonviolent, and social. Hume also puts a large emphasis on nature. He states, “Such a reflection certainly tends to mortify all our passions: But does it not thereby counterwork the artifice of nature, who has happily deceived us into an opinion, that human life is of some importance?” (Hume, 352). The artifice of nature means that…

As we turn to the issue of atheism, I believe some framework is necessary. Atheism is typically defined as a lack of belief in God and it is in the definition of God that the issue arises. Clearly, the two philosophers have a different definition of the word God. As hopefully made clear in the second and third paragraph, Spinoza thinks that God is an impersonal summation of all things (i.e. substance), while Berkeley thinks that God is a personal, thinking thing responsible for but distinct from…

that our moral beliefs evolved organically to select for what would keep a community alive. That our morals do not approach an objective truth, but are merely adaptively fit. This lends to an argument that since we are not evolved to know the truth, our morals may be totally invalid, and so we cannot rationally believe them. This argument that we cannot trust our morals is flawed. The debunker claims that since evolution selects for fitness rather than moral truth, we cannot trust our moral…

Hypothetical Example of Common Sense vs. Skepticism Common sense can be described as trusting our senses and accepting what we know as knowledge. Skepticism is nearly the opposite and can be described as questioning or doubting unempirical knowledge, beliefs, or opinions stated as facts and refrains from claims of truth or knowledge. Skepticism, however, does not state that truth or knowledge is impossible. The difference between these two philosophical ideas can be seen in examples of…

Skepticism is the theory that people have either no knowledge, or very little knowledge. In this essay I will discuss one particular type of type of skepticism, called “brain-in-a-vat” skepticism, which denies that we can know whether the external world (anything outside our minds) exists as we think it does. I will examine two attacks that have been made on this sort of skepticism, and argue that both fail to defeat it. The brain-in-a-vat skeptic argues that no person knows that his/her body,…

G.E. Moore addresses the idea of philosophical skepticism. His counter argument implements the use of common sense and the idea of a premise that requires no proof as it is "known" to be true. However this means that Moore begs the question when he arrives at his conclusion. Moore explains he can rigorously prove the existence of two hands, by simply holding up his two hands. He mentions that as he makes a certain gesture saying "Here is one hand" (G.E Moore 197) and then by simply mentioning…

The validity of their moral judgments now lies in the hands of potentially vindicating empirical research. Considering the nature of the topic, encountering such empirical evidence is merely a possibility. But for the debunker, this leads to mere uncertainty about evolutionary influences possibly shaping our moral judgments. Making the claim that our beliefs may be true only by mere coincidence is a strong statement…

She articulates that cynicism involves three necessary conditions: (1) disengagements towards people and their institutions, (2) distrust, contempt, and skepticism of people and their institutions, and (3) people are motivated solely by self-interest and are of little worth. In the novel, the cafoni direct this cynical stance towards the Fascist state (since the state largely serves the interest of the Fascist…