Empiricism Approach to Epistemology G E Moore 1873 1958 Kant Scandal of Philosophy which is the problem of the external world The mind conforms to objects In order to see the real world the objects must conform to the mind Moore asks what is the external world 1 Does it mean external to my body 2 External to my mind 3 Things met with in space things external to all minds Moore s Argument This is a hand here is another hand Conclusion external objects exist Review An Argument Premises and conclusion must be different You must know the premises to be true Conclusion must follow the premises Critics of Moore 1 Moore misses the point 2 Moore is taunting the skeptic 3 Moore is arguing in a circle Here is a hand here is another External objects exist Critics say that Moore is presupposing that a hand is an external objects Defenders of Moore argument 1 Noting the impossibility the regress of justification Moore is quite justified in his 2 The Skeptical Scenario is plausible but not as plausible as Moore s claim Direct Realism idea that somehow the world comes to us just as is Representational Realism can t gloss over the problem of knowing the representation of the world Bertrand Russel 1812 1970 Appearance Sense Data v Reality Physical Matter The table looks different from different angles and directions So what is the real table behind all this matter the real table if there is one is not immediately known to us at all but must be an inference from what is immediately known The reality of the table in the sense that there is a table depends on a process of inference based on a knowable part of reality the part Russell calls sense data Sense data are not the same as our sensations Sense data are the things that are immediately known to us in sensation George Berkeley 1685 1753 If you are going to be an empiricist you must trust your senses Reality in the external world is nothing it does not exist This leaves us left with just the appearance to be is to be perceived without the mind to perceive it there is nothing there must be something or someone percieving the rest of the universe since we as humans can not perceive everything at once god Basically Berkeley is saying if we are not looking at something then it is not there but it does not disappear because God is always perceiving it for us Simplest explanation is most likely 1 Sometimes the simplest explanation is not true a Ex the sun is a campfire in the sky but it is actually one giant fusion reactor 2 Is the external world hypothesis the simplest David Hume 1711 1776 Association Theory of Ideas Sense Data a door Simple ideas color figure movement texture etc The mind then associates all these together into one complex idea Rectangular External mind independent Object Distinctive Existence Continued Existence Space Time 1 Sense cannot give idea of continued existence 2 Reason 3 Imagination Example 1 3 simple ideas but all are cats X Y and Z Reason picks out the separate percepts same as comparing ourselves to other objects Example 2 Do philosophers perceive doors or any object any better than children or animals No So reason is off the table there Example 3 Imagination shows me the door and when I look away my mind tells me it is still G W F Hegel 1770 1831 1 Denied separate wellsprings of sense and intellect Codependent of each other 2 Philosophy must be historic not appriori prior to experience Example A lion sees me this is an example of a being acknowledging NEGATION that he she is a thing in the external world The lion charges using sense to see it coming there is then a negation interruption of being that causes a switch to intellect to avoid being attacked by the lion SENSE INTELLECT Supporters Right Hegelians Christian Message Left Hegelians Social Justice Worker s paradise St Louis Hegelians Class mobility o Ingenuity o American know how o Inventiveness o Problem solving All of which lead to improving upon the original idea Pragmatism Knowing is doing C S Peirce 1839 1914 Beliefs are fixed Tenacity love an idea and hold on to it Tenacious very determined to do something Authority there is a right way to think you must believe in our beliefs Appriori prior to experience use reason a matter of taste The Scientific Method 1 Problem 3 Test Guiding Principles Examples 2 Hypotheses Diagnosis and solution 4 Objective Conclusion Science magnetism gravity Cultural taking off a hat for the pledge of allegiance The Essential principles 1 Belief habit non reflective 2 Doubt 3 Inquiry 4 Objective a Ex a chair you are not constantly worrying about the chair you are sitting in a Ex the chair creaks and you begin doubting its ability as a chair a In the face of a problem how can it be averted What is wrong with my chair a Here is what is wrong with my chair how to fix it the structure etc The cycle that repeats itself and you take your objective and it then becomes a habitual belief mind as minding managing problems Ontological Pluralism everything that can be an object of inquiry Ontology study of the nature John Dewey 1859 1952 of being Postulate of Immediate Empiricism What is is what it is experienced as Pattern Non reflective experience also called a primary experience Hypotheses Ideas of Empirical Tools Data Ex try to move the podium but it won t budge as easily as usual Check for a nail or heavy object in the bottom Problem Test Objective Ex Apply a crowbar to lift the podium from the stage lifting shows there was a nail Method how leads to the content what How Animal Primitive Man What Probability Authority Experimental Method Perret on Maori Culture Social Realativism force Individualism you are like no other Maori Culture Indigenous culture of New Zealand come about around 1300 A D and went without outside contact for 600 700 years There is no written philosophy it is based on spoken tradition Cosmology balance between Spiritual and Physical Humans are not gods but play a huge role they have both a spiritual and physical nature All physical things have Tapu dark and dangerous force and Noa healing binding Manu a way of controlling and using Tapu to liberate and supplement Noa Rationalism physical body but essentially a spirit with a soul souls never co mingle meaning Empiricism the world is the way I see it but the real external world is unattainable No separate word for group individual both are one in the same Anti Individualism Maori Pros 1 Strong sense of identification virtue ethics well behaved low crime 2 Collective
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