Ontology

Throughout the ages, man has formed various religions in the attempt to discover the truth. These different religions have varied greatly in their beliefs, but almost all have set forth a doctrine, dogma, or creed of one sort or another. These are set in religions to help people find the truth. Unitarian Universalism takes a unique approach to defining truth. To them, only one person can find the truth for himself. This unique belief makes it worthy to examine its history, beliefs, practices,…

The target of Berkeley's arguments in the sections of The Principles that we read is a description of how we come to know mind-independent matter via primary and secondary qualities as John Locke described it. What is Locke's position and what are Berkeley's arguments against it? Do you find Berkeley's arguments satisfactory? Primary qualities are characteristics of objects that are set apart from the observer, or quantitative aspects of our environment. This includes things like extension,…

Walking through one of the basements of a dorm building on the UMN campus, the first thought that came to mind was the placement and pattern of the tile. Unlike most tile, this flooring was a particular pattern that’s use was essential in building one of the largest domes in the world; herringbone or spina pesce meaning “spine of the fish” (Great Cathedral Mystery). The largest masonry dome in the world sits on top of the Santa Maria del Fiore cathedral in Florence, Italy and was built mainly by…

Descartes’ argument for skepticism in his first meditation states that in order to know anything to be true, all oppositions to it must be disproven in a logical way. He then goes on to conclude that there is no possible way to disprove all oppositions for something to be true, making it impossible to know anything. His first premise in support of this is that one cannot trust their senses because senses can deceive reality and make people believe invalid truths. Descartes’ argues that his…

What is the self? There is an abundance of varying positions on what the self is. Although knowledge of the self dates back to the times of Ancient Greece, with Socrates and Plato, the context to support and prove each varying position of self-concept is certainly limited. As an example, the self can be described as the soul or the mind. There are also two opposing positions of what the self is – materialism and dualism. A materialistic approach is one that looks at the self as an unimportant…

In response to Aquinas, Paul Edwards argues against the Principle of Sufficient Reason and Aquinas’ assertion that an infinite regress is impossible. Regarding Aquinas’ use of the reduction and absurdum in his Third Way, Edwards argues Aquinas does not succeed in proving an infinite regress is impossible. Edwards asserts one can acknowledge God’s existence, and thus the existence of all which follows from God’s existence, without acknowledging God as “the first member of the series.” According…

explain this I will first need to explain what Hume means by Impressions and Ideas by means of how Hume claims we perceive the world. An Impression is how we perceive the world as we perceive it at the present, anything that is happening right now that you can perceive is an impression and Hume says this is a very forceful and lively way of perception. An example would be that if you are walking your dog you are having a forceful and lively impression because you perceiving it now. Wile an Idea…

descartes deals, in grand part, with existence. The fact that we can give thoughts and reasoning to a subject or matter, leads us to think that we exist as premise 1 states :" I think,therefore I am". For this reason, if we are being deceived or controlled by a demon/computer, we would not have the ability to think on our own. Therefore, Descartes is certain that God as a reason and exist because there is not reason that God would have give the ability to think to humanity and yet have a evil…

The invention of the camera revolutionized capturing memories. Because it incorporated cost-effectiveness and portability, taking images could happen anywhere at a moment’s notice. Since older methods of reproducing portraits manufactured less than ideal results, the camera rapidly replaced them. Most importantly, it allowed future generations to gaze back into their family’s past as if they had resided alongside them. Similarly with care, God created mankind in His image. Today, evolution…

It is important to recognize that Junior does, in fact, explain the source of his agitation: not only has he suffered the incomparable “grief” of losing his “native land,” his people have “LOST EVERYTHING”: their “languages,” “songs and dances,” “each other.” That he has suffered the greatest grief, and lost what Medea has - and that his loss, in fact, even surpasses hers - serves to explain why he seems to have developed a thirst for destruction: it is a coping mechanism, as much as it is a…