Comparing John Locke against David Hume : Empiricism John Locke and David Hume‚ both great empiricist philosophers who radically changed the way people view ideas and how they come about. Although similar in their beliefs‚ the two have some quite key differences in the way they view empiricism. Locke believed in causality‚ and used the example of the mental observation of thinking to raise your arm‚ and then your arm raising‚ whereas Hume believed that causality is not something that can be known
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Proving the Devine‚ Descartes Second Meditation For years scholars and philosophers have debated if god exists. One of the most prominent minds to attempt to tackle this problem was Rene Descartes. In Meditation III from his book Meditation on First Philosophy Descartes presents an argument for the existence of god. Descartes essentially argues that the idea of god has more reality then he dose and that therefore it couldn’t have originated from him or any other being with the same amount of reality
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Rene Descartes’s philosophy aimed at finding an answer to all the mysteries of nature‚ based on mathematical reason. In his Meditations on First Philosophy‚ Descartes demonstrates the grounds on which people may doubt all things‚ the distinction between mind and body‚ God (which will not be discussed here)‚ what is really true and the distinction between imagination and understanding. These arguments as set out in Mediations I – VI‚ form the basis of Rene Descartes’ philosophy. In Meditation I‚
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not vary with the relationships the person‚ whose character trait is being evaluated‚ has with us. It is therefore counterintuitive for Hume to have his account of morality based on sympathy‚ which apparently possesses such a biased character. When two persons‚ with different relationships with us‚ share
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René Descartes and the Existence of God In his Discourse on Method‚ French philosopher René Descartes shares his views on what he has found to be the best way for him to live life‚ and what he believes to be the ultimate purpose of living. In part of this discourse‚ Descartes explains the four metaphysical arguments that he came across during his meditations. This process‚ he states‚ begins by doubting every idea and opinion he had learned in his life that he did not already believe as clearly and
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Hume has already established that complex ideas can be broken down to simple ideas which are copies of impressions‚ or things we perceive. He categorizes “power” and “necessary connection” as complex ideas; this means we must trace back what simple ideas they come from and then what impressions those simple ideas come from. But Hume argues that there is no impression where the idea of necessary connection can come from. He first uses the examples of the billiard balls. He says‚ “…we are never able
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meditation one‚ Descartes believes that sciences require that the truth is absolutely certain and because of this he chooses to reject any all beliefs that have even a slight possibility of doubt. But since all beliefs can’t be proved certain‚ then all of the beliefs he has are doubtful and deceiving. And because his senses tell him this false belief is true‚ his senses are also an illusion. To simplify: all of Descartes’ beliefs and senses are illusions that an “evil genius” made up. Descartes feels like
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It is transmitted from one individual to another‚ which brings about justification and truth that we do exist and know what we know. However‚ the idea of skepticism is an important aspect to remember as I show Gandalf that I know I exist. In Rene Descartes first meditation he claims‚ that the senses often deceive us and our perceptions can often be inaccurate. “But while my senses may deceive me about what is small or far away‚ these may still be other things that I take in by the senses but that
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with‚ Descartes‚ divided the world into two kinds of substances. He divided it by the “res cogitas” and “res extensa‚” which translates into “thinking substance‚ or mind and soul” and “extended substance‚ or body.” Afterwards‚ Descartes further divides substance into two more sections‚ “infinite thinking substance and finite thinking substance.” Descartes does not divide extended substance in two more sections as he claims that all extended substances are finite extended substances. As Descartes continues
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is what we each individually consist of. Hume explained this theory through an analogy of a theatre. In summary‚ the mind is like a theatre‚ in which our perceptions are constantly crossing the stage‚ leaving‚ and returning‚ and this is what creates our identity. In order to reach this conclusion‚ Hume looked into himself and found that not only was he never without perceptions‚ but could never catch “himself”. In search of a core being within himself‚ Hume found only perceptions. Thus‚ he concluded
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