In Quine’s essay “On what there is” he states that “from a phenomenalistic point of view, the conceptual scheme of physical objects is a convenient myth.” In this essay I will argue that Quine believes, from a certain perspective, that the made up idea of physical entities is a myth. Oftentimes, individuals use this as a way out of contemplating other possible perspectives that may make more sense but are harder to come to terms with. Essentially, based on what Quine is saying, we cannot be sure that material objects actually “exist.” The truth, he believes, is unknown and possibly unknowable. He comes to this conclusion after a comprehensive argument, dealing with multiple oppositions and arriving at what he believes to be the best option for how we should view existence.
In the essay “On what there is,” Quine is arguing the constantly debated topic of existence. He is attempting to counter the physicalistic conceptual belief,
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Although he states that he is unaware of which ontology to accept, he tends to lean more towards the phenomenalistic one, because he believes that this view "claims epistemological priority" (190). That being said, he does tend to argue more for agnosticism when it comes to physical articles. He makes his way through the essay with well-built arguments and sound points against the possible critiques, in order to develop what he believes to be a simple ontology. Overall, Quine’s aim of questioning the way individuals are so quick to accept the physical conceptual scheme, by countering common points, is done in a well thought out way. He believes that one way of looking at physical objects is to view our conceptual systems as made up ideas, and come to see that we are truly unable to know whether or not material objects actually
Life as we knew it no longer exists. The world is starting to dwindle away before the eyes of the spectator, life becomes precious, and love is the only thing left to hang on to. All of a sudden a meteor crashes into the moon creating massive floods,earthquakes, and explosive volcanic eruptions all over the world. Miranda , a teenage girl, and her family try to cope with the drastic lack of supplies. The future looks bleak, but Miranda tries to stay hopeful as life as she knew it disappears.
8- McDermid, Douglas. "God's Existence." PHIL 1000H-B Lecture 9. Trent University, Peterborough. 21 Nov. 2013. Lecture.
Skepticism is the view that there is no way to prove that objects exist outside of us. Skeptics hold that we can not distinguish between dreams and reality, and therefore what we take to be true can very well be creations of our minds while we are nothing more than a simple piece of matter, such as a brain sitting in a vat that is connected to a machine that simulates a perfect representation of reality for the “brain” to live in.1 In the excerpt “Proof of an External World” from his essay of the same name, G.E. Moore responds to the skeptic’s argument by attempting to prove the existence of external objects. There are four parts to this paper. Firstly, I will explain Moore’s overall argumentative strategy and how he considers his proof to be rigorous and legitimate. Then, I will present Moore’s proof of the existence of an external world. Thirdly, I will discuss the responses that skeptics may have to Moore’s argument and how Moore defends his proof against the these responses. Finally, I will give my opinion on how efficiently Moore defends his claims against the skeptics’ responses.
The purpose of the wax argument is designed to provide a clear and distinct knowledge of “I”, which is the mind, while corporeal things, “whose images are framed by thought, and which the senses themselves imagine are much more distinctly known than this mysterious ‘I’ which does not fall within the imagination” (66). Through the wax argument, Descartes’ demonstrates that corporeal things are perceived neither through our senses nor imagination, but through our intellect alone. In this argument, you will see that there is cause to doubt Descartes’ analysis of the wax and his method of philosophical reasoning.
In order to understand the meaning of existence in relation to philosophy, we need to discuss its ordinary meaning and the various levels of existence. The Chambers Concise Dictionary (1992, 362) defines ‘exist’ as having an actual being; to live; to occur; to continue to live’ and it defines existence as ‘the state of existing or being’. In other words, the Dictionary does not make a distinction between existence and living. However, philosophically there is the view that existence is different from living. What then is the meaning of existence in philosophy? In order to answer this question we shall examine how philosophers have used the term in their various works. Our attention shall focus on Plato and Sartre.
Janet Mock for those unaware is a transgender activist who has appeared on television as well as having published many articles all promoting positive examples of trans awareness. Her most well known article would be her semi-autobiographical piece in the American magazine Marie Claire.
Dennett, Daniel. “Where am I?” Delight in Thinking: An Introduction to Philosophy Reader. Eds. Stephen
Quine's essay, Identity, Ostension, and Hypostasis, is an investigation into the nature of identity, and how it is that a particular object can remain consistent in itself despite subjection to the continuous material fluctuation inseparable from temporal existence. Quine has identified the notion of identity as a source of perplexity which has puzzled many philosophers throughout the history of the philosophical sciences, and has attempted to explore its relation to ostension, or the means by which a particular object can be said to possess a certain nature through the provision of multiple exemplary instances of property instantiation. Although philosophers have remained uncertain as to how it is that any one person can retain the same identity throughout time, despite being immersed in the causal process of time, Quine believes that those who wish to accept the notion of a “changeless and therefore immortal soul,” as the foundation upon which identity rests, must also be able to sold the same to be true for other, less humanistic, phenomena.
In conclusion, I have argued that the skeptical claim of there being no fact about meaning is fallible In the accounts of both Kripke and Quine, Quine’s skeptical claim falls as a slightly more worrisome than that of Kripke’s and to dissolve his claim, I provided a possible suggestion that can assist him out of his own ditch.
I am, however, a real thing, and really existent; but what thing? The answer was, a thinking thing...since it is now manifest to me that bodies themselves are not properly perceived by the senses nor by the faculty of imagination, but by the intellect alone; and since they are not perceived because they are seen and touched, but only because they are understood [or rightly comprehended by thought], I readily discover that there is ...
. Its most famous defender is Descartes, who argues that as a subject of conscious thought and experience, he cannot consist simply of spatially extended matter. His essential nature must be non-m...
I think that Anna Quindlen was absolutely right! Kids should be kids. Downtime really helps kids find themselves. Quindlen was born in Philadelphia on July 8, 1952. Quindlen was a reporter for The New York Post briefly before going back to the Times in 1977. Quindlen was promoted to deputy metropolitan editor because she wrote a Prize-winning column starting from 1981-1994. She then left the Times in 1995, Quindlen wrote several bestselling pieces including “One True Thing” and “Doing Nothing is Something”, In the article “Doing Nothing is Something” She addresses that today’s children are as busy as the adults. Parents try to overload the summer schedule with trips and chores. Thus depriving children of any downtime.
He defends the view that Quine’s ostrich nominalism is the best answer nominalists can offer to defeat the One Over Many argument. This is done by offering a solution to the problems of ostrich nominalist. However, Imaguire recognises that Quine would avoid arguing in terms of facts necessitating truths so labels this a new form of thinking, presenting a theory entitled ‘New Ostrich Nominalism’. Using the notion of ontological grounding, he furthers his argument by demonstrating that one does not have to show that the realist assumption of existence of universals is false, but only that it is not necessary (2014: 192). For an ostrich nominalist, the realist’s explanation of universals is derivate. It is not necessary for ‘a is F’ to be similar to another instance of ‘F’ or to anything else. From this reasoning, it is clear that the ostrich nominalist does take predicates with ontological seriousness. In order to assure substantiality, the realist must accept some additional principle for deciding whether a predicate commits us to a universal (Imaguire 2014: 197). An ostrich nominalist believes only predicates we quantify commit us to universals. The idea that we should avoid unnecessary commitments attempts to dissolve the One Over Many
In this paper, I discuss why Descartes theories on substance dualism and rationalism are correct. I will discuss how Descartes theories go through doubt to certainty. Descartes Meditations are on theories of rationalism and substance dualism; which is if a person truly knows something, and then they couldn’t be mistaken. I support this conclusion with two principle reasons: first because he states that everything is false; his point is to believe something is true. Second is that his goal is to prove the existence of things.
“Being and Nothingness” by Jean Paul, taken from the book Being and Nothingness. Jean Dean claims that Being is existing. Since being manifests to everyone, there has to be a manifestation of being as well. The theory of being is too large from our point of knowing that we don't see what its true meaning is, but like most things being must have a counterfeit which is Nothingness, Jean also claimed the idea of Nothingness meaning NOT. Nothingness has no being and can manifest itself to idea of being. Nothingness can turn any being or perpetual reflection of any sort out of existence.