Philosophy of science

The approaches we’ve discussed in this course in regard to action, the causal approach and the qualitative approach, are each worthy of fierce debate. Despite the persuasiveness of each, I believe there is one that is slightly more attractive than the other. Charles Taylor characterized these two general approaches as looking for an answer to, “what is the nature of action? Or otherwise put, what distinguishes (human) action from other kinds of events” (Taylor, pg. 77-78)? Personally, I find…

Both Avicenna and Thomas Aquinas articulately explain the nature of the Divine Intellect in their respective works The Salvation, “Metaphysics” and Summa Contra Gentiles: Book One: God. They offer arguments that contrast one another concerning the divine intellect, and in particular, God’s ability to intellect singulars. Despite the convincing nature of Avicenna’s proofs, Aquinas effectively proves God’s knowledge of singulars by a sound argument that supports God’s knowledge of singulars, a…

 Name of Program/Setting (full description of environment, students, teachers, etc.) The program that I choose to do my observations is the Ounce of Prevention, the classroom is a three to five class, with seventeen students and three teachers. The classroom is divided into fine areas for the children to move around freely. The children were actively engaged in their experiences. As I observed the children in their play, I saw positive relationships and interactions with adults and peers. The…

For the observations conducted, I am basing them off Parten’s study of children’s play. In this study, children were viewed for one minute each day and “each time they were observed, their degree of social participation was characterized” (Bateman and Goodman) using Parten’s six levels of social participation. The participants of these observations interacted differently based on what kind of play they engaged in and their age showcased the difference in play in which the participants became…

Both of the class readings by Carnap and Goldstein discuss what being considered a scientific facts means. Carnap refers to scientific facts as a singular statement that needs to be differentiated from universal laws due to the common misconception. Carnap argues that many people confuse laws with facts and use the term in the wrong sense. An example from Carnap’s writing is the statement that “all ice is cold” this would be considered a universal law because it suggests that any piece of ice at…

The Ferguson riots of 2014 were a seminal moment in modern America life not only as a social phenomenon but with regards to its impact on American culture. The images that it already conjures up in the popular imagination are already vividly iconic and indicative of the times, serving as a cultural milestone in the national history. The name of this small suburb of St Louis, “Ferguson”, serves as shorthand for the civil unrest that embodied the current social struggles of the entire nation,…

In this paper, I will discuss the Problem of Induction and the Principle of Uniformity of Nature’s solution (PUN), proposed by David Hume. Another element of this paper will explore Nelson Goodman’s New Riddle of Induction that derives from Hume’s hypothesis. In addition to that, I will also recount why PUN is insufficient/problematic to justify induction according to Goodman, along with a couple examples of premises that will better demonstrate the issue. There are two types of reasoning –…

As discussed, there are a number of common arguments against the eliminative materialism’s claim. In this section, I will highlight and review a number of reasonable objections to eliminativism, such as the Commonsense Objections to eliminative materialism, which suggests that it is completely absurd or self-refuting. I will conclude that many of the arguments set forth by Eliminative Materialism, are not really convincing and that eliminativism needs to do more than simply show that FP is…

Memory and personal identity are an integral part of our lives. These characteristics and traits assist us in the way we make decisions and approach situations. Memory in relation to personal identity is a topic that has been studied by several Philosophers. The question of whether or not memory presupposes identity is a circular one, and therefore makes this question important. To study this, I looked at Parfits theory of Psychological continuity, and how it was seen as problematic due to its…

Philosophers have continually debated over what defines an individual being, and what this means for the world in terms of ethics. I am going to discuss two basic categories of theories on personal identity – a reductionist view through the eyes of Derek Parfit, and a non-reductionist one, namely, the self-interest theory based on the assumption of a Cartesian Pure Ego. Theories of identity similar to the Cartesian pure ego have been an underlying assumption in many belief systems. Many…