Post by benjaminenriquez on Oct 1, 2015 21:24:45 GMT
1. Why is understanding physics and the general rules of the universe so important in doing philosophy?
1. Philosophy is a process people undertake when they seek to understand fundamental truths. The History of Western Philosophy Part 1 film tells us that philosophy is very broad and these truths can range from ethics, reality, our existence, and our values. Physics is the study of matter and energy and the interaction between them. To undertake philosophy and find out unknown truths one must first acknowledge truths already discovered. These truths are the basic rules of the universe and must first be acknowledged before embarking on a philosophic journey for an unknown truth. Philosophers need a basis to form their arguments when trying to find unknown truths and that is why physics and the basic rules of the universe must be acknowledged. If a philosopher decided to ignore these rules then his ideas will have started as a falsity and always end untrue and since philosophers seek to find the truth it would be counterproductive to start false. Being a foundation for an expansion of ideas is why the rules of the universe exist.
2. What is eliminative materialism? Provide three examples of it.
2. Eliminative materialism is a process used to tackle the subject of consciousness. Different academic studies are used to explain a certain subject and if one can’t be used to explain the subject then another is used. If mathematics can’t explain the subject then physics is used to explain it, and if that also can’t explain the subject then chemistry is tested and so on. This process goes on until one academic study is finally able to explain it. The eliminative materialism videos explained how as we have advanced in the different academic studies we have replaced our mythic past with new terminology. Three examples explained in the videos are Thor, spirits, and ghosts. Instead of talking about Thor in relation to lightning/electricity, we talk about electric currents. Instead of saying spirits are the cause of disease; we know that bacteria cause them. Finally instead of saying ghost control our muscles, we now discuss how our central nervous system is responsible. Some of the time deities or gods are removed from the equation and replaced with more precise explanation thus the term eliminative materialism.
1. Philosophy is a process people undertake when they seek to understand fundamental truths. The History of Western Philosophy Part 1 film tells us that philosophy is very broad and these truths can range from ethics, reality, our existence, and our values. Physics is the study of matter and energy and the interaction between them. To undertake philosophy and find out unknown truths one must first acknowledge truths already discovered. These truths are the basic rules of the universe and must first be acknowledged before embarking on a philosophic journey for an unknown truth. Philosophers need a basis to form their arguments when trying to find unknown truths and that is why physics and the basic rules of the universe must be acknowledged. If a philosopher decided to ignore these rules then his ideas will have started as a falsity and always end untrue and since philosophers seek to find the truth it would be counterproductive to start false. Being a foundation for an expansion of ideas is why the rules of the universe exist.
2. What is eliminative materialism? Provide three examples of it.
2. Eliminative materialism is a process used to tackle the subject of consciousness. Different academic studies are used to explain a certain subject and if one can’t be used to explain the subject then another is used. If mathematics can’t explain the subject then physics is used to explain it, and if that also can’t explain the subject then chemistry is tested and so on. This process goes on until one academic study is finally able to explain it. The eliminative materialism videos explained how as we have advanced in the different academic studies we have replaced our mythic past with new terminology. Three examples explained in the videos are Thor, spirits, and ghosts. Instead of talking about Thor in relation to lightning/electricity, we talk about electric currents. Instead of saying spirits are the cause of disease; we know that bacteria cause them. Finally instead of saying ghost control our muscles, we now discuss how our central nervous system is responsible. Some of the time deities or gods are removed from the equation and replaced with more precise explanation thus the term eliminative materialism.