Empiricism College Essays Samples For Students

The film The Matrix is edited as a comprehensive thought-provoking and very detailed look at philosophy in the new digital age. The Matrix appears at first as the real world for Neo than Morpheus presumes. Morpheus reveals to Neo the truth about a replicated reality that Neo lives in. As a rationalist, Morpheus only accepts common sense and he even wonders why some people like Neo tend to behave differently. On the central, Neo believes very little in the reality of the Matrix. Ostensibly, it appears that the more Neo believes in the existence of the matrix, he seemingly gains more experience ...

It has been argued that science is one of the earliest disciplines on earth. However, what many people may not realize is that the terms science, scientists and scientific methods were coined in the 19th century. Before this time, science was viewed as a part of philosophy coexisting with other branches of philosophy such as logic and metaphysics. Although the term science was coined in the 19th century, the process of human inquiry can be traced to as early as 3rd century BC, and several instance of scientific progress have been recorded since then.
In the early times, human ...

Philosophy

Empiricism vs. Absolutism
William James and Charles Sanders Peirce are both credited for their philosophical conceptualization of “pragmatism” in the late 19th century. (Point 304) Charles Peirce was hailed the “father of pragmatism” (“Pragmatism”) as he initiated the idea, while James propagated it (Point 304). Though the two philosophical fathers differ in the scope of their definition of pragmatism (Point 304), both agree that pragmatism is the philosophy that the truth is proven by practical means, to say in the simplest amd, perhaps, inadequate words. It is a breath of fresh air from philosophical ideas of pursuing the truth ...

There is vast literature on the topic of epistemology in the world today. Ladyman defines it as the process of studying knowledge and the justified belief (Ladyman, 49). This begs the question, how is knowledge studied? Understanding the conditions, the sources, the structure and the limits of knowledge plays a role in understanding knowledge. In addition to understanding knowledge and what it entails, epistemology also looks at the concept of justified belief. Under this armpit, one seeks to understand issues such as the justification of justified beliefs, whether the aspect of justification is external or internal to a person’ ...

The basic question in understanding what we know is the “How do we know?” A supplementary question to this is “How do we know that what we know is real and true?” Various philosophies stem out of these basic question. While epistemology is the general study of the knowing and the process of knowing, specific theories can be applied to these perennial questions. (Gibson, 1988) These include realism, idealism, empiricism, rationalism, constructivism, among others. While these are lengthy and heated topics, this paper will concentrate on two major theories of knowledge, namely, empiricism and constructivism, as points of understanding ...

Philosophy

Introduction
Early modern philosophers in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries thought that the semantic content of our thoughts is a function of the contents of our ideas. They assumed that knowledge of the world requires a kind of thought, namely ‘justified true belief’ (Wang, 2012). In this regard, they broadly disagreed over what cognitive faculty or source provided our ideas with the type of content that generated justified true beliefs. A dominant concern during this period of intellectual enquiry was hence involved in locating the faculty which is the source of contents of ideas that led to justified true ...

1. Descartes famously begins his Meditations on First Philosophy by considering so-called “radical doubt.” What is radical doubt, and what are the three phases in the argument that lead him to it? What does he believe is the idea that is fundamentally resistant even to the deepest of doubts? And why does Descartes begin his epistemology like this, anyway?
Rene Descartes propounded his theory of radical doubt where he insisted on the systematic process of doubting one’s beliefs in a bid to determine or ascertain that which is indeed true. Descartes, in his radical doubt, advocated for doubting ...

Compare and contrast Descartes method with the approach of Locke

Introduction
Philosophical methods and approaches are concerned with describing how to deal with issues such as the role of science in the society, uncertainty in knowledge, cause-effect relationships, judgment in human affairs, and how to describe and measure human values. asserts that the modern philosophy attributes its development to philosophers like Rene Descartes (1596-150) and John Locke among others. These philosophers brought revolution to the world of cognitive psychology by enumerating ways of ascertaining truth from reality and understanding the human cognition. Rene Descartes method grapples with the issue of certainty of anything. Thus, in Descartes method of ...

Introduction

Philosophy aims at creating a better understanding of life, nature, matter, God, and whole universe to us. The paper discusses the three aspects of philosophy such as metaphysics, epistemology, and political philosophy in terms of the theoretical framework laid down by prominent philosophers. The paper includes my own ideas regarding these aspects and also critically evaluates my ideals and the ideals of the philosophers so as to understand the distinction between both forms of ideas.

1. Metaphysics

Metaphysics aims at exploring the reality of everything in this universe and countless theories and sub-categories have developed over the ...

Essay, MLA

Philosophy – Three Essays
1. Identify ONE of the following philosophers' ideological orientations as either Apollonian or Dionysian: Rene Descartes or John Locke. Provide a brief argument justifying your identification. (700 words, Works Cited, Double Spacing, 12 points)
2. Does John Stuart Mill's Utilitarian Ethics have as its epistemological basis Rationalism or Empiricism? Why? (700 words, Works Cited, Double Spacing, 12 points)
John Stuart Mill’s (1806-1873) Utilitarian Ethics has as its epistemological basis the radical, interpretative empiricism where all knowledge comes from experience. He argued that mathematical statements, for instance, express mere probabilities on account of their ...

A. Metaphysics

1) How can you tell if you are thinking about ontology and not epistemology?
Ontology mainly deals with the study of nature or reality. It also involves a study on the relations of nature and mainly deals with questions concerning what entities exist and how they can be grouped based on the relationships in the hierarchy. Epistemology on the other hand aims at giving the definition of knowledge, how it is acquired and ways in which we can know what we know. Therefore if a person is thinking about nature and classifications of organisms, then he/she is thinking about ontology ...

Introduction

In the philosophy of mind, dualists usually emphasize the radical difference between the mind and the matter. Specifically, the dualists deny the idea of the mind and the brain are one and the same thing. However, other dualists deny the fact that mind as a whole is a product of the brain. In this regard, the dualist theory is of the position that the mental phenomenon, to some extent, is non-physical and that the body and the mind are not similar (Bunge, 2014). Dualism, therefore, encompasses a set of views regarding the relationship between mind and matter and the ...

In Allan Bloom’s book The Closing of the American Mind, he essentially argues that the modern liberal idea of cultural and societal pluralism is leading to an inability to perform critical thinking. Essentially, instead of saying one of two differing choices is better, one would simply ‘see the merits’ in both – this leads to us not forming opinions of our own, but instead offering a milquetoast acceptance of everything that dilutes our experience. While these concerns are valid, these arguments do not necessarily correlate to an objective assessment of how critical thinking works, and instead reads as a grumpy treatise ...

Introduction

“That which can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.”
- Christopher Hitchens
Such brazen remark would seem highly provocative at first instance, as it tackles a particularly sensitive component of epistemology – evidence. There are numerous debates surrounding the study of evidence, being undoubtedly controversial due to the contentious definition of knowledge. Nevertheless, it does not mean to say that the subject matter does not render any possible resolutions, albeit the debate will carry on as various schools of thought hold different stands on knowledge.
This study will ...

Response 1.

When people believe in the fact that all knowledge is a resultant of experience and in particular sensory experience, they tend to base their ideas on empiricism. According to a group of philosophers who are British, the notion of innate ideas that asserts that every idea was came about as a result of experience. Empiricists are those individuals who claim that experience is the origin of all knowledge. Hobbes was a mechanist empiricist as well as materialistic since he asserted that all activities of human beings were in due course reducible to mechanistic and materialistic. Also, Hobbes believed in ...

Introduction

My personal epistemology or theory of knowledge is dependent on my realistic understanding of the world. I have come to know reality because of my inherent ability to perceive and interpret my environment. Through my senses and rationality, I know what it is like to know what I do know, despite the fact that I have my limitations. Given my knowledge to distinguish my internal and external worlds, I have realized that there is more than just knowledge, which is above itself. I will refer to here are second-order or meta-knowledge.

Commonly Asked Epistemic Questions

Before delving farther into the critical parts of ...

Empiricism is a philosophical idea that defines the acquisition of knowledge through the senses (“Empiricism,” n.d.). This means that in order for a phenomenon to be called “real,” it needs to manifest in a manner that is tangible through the physical world. Based on this, empirically based evidence is a collection of material that can, without reasonable doubt, ascertain the “validity” and “reliability” of matter that is presented in court, which in turn demonstrates the probability or the improbability of a subject in dispute. For evidence to be qualified as “valid”, it must be gleaned from methods that are thoroughly and scientifically understood. To ...

Classical theory of knowledge or epistemology (the scientifically oriented knowledge) informs part of the important areas in philosophy. It addresses such questions as what is knowledge; from where do we get the knowledge? How are our beliefs justified? How do we perceive the world around us? Do we know anything at all? How do we ascertain that we have the knowledge? How do we quantify the knowledge that we have?
What is knowledge? Rene Descartes (rationalist) in his apology to his disciple Plato claimed to be the wisest man in the whole world alive because he knew that ...

Research is an integral part in evaluating current practices in health services. This involves establishing facts in order to reach new conclusions through the use of scientific inquiry. There are several key characteristics in the process of scientific inquiry in health services research which improve health care services. These include positivism, scientific theory, empiricism, objectivity and ethical standards.

Positivism

Positivism is based on the assumption that life exhibits regular patterns and not comprised of a collection of totally random events. Randomness does exist, but predicable patterns of regularity have been established through the research of natural phenomena. Laws of natural order ...

The fact that the British Empiricists were somewhat racist can cast a bit of a shadow over their arguments. The practices of slavery and racism are somewhat objective moral taboos, ones which can lessen the validity of their other points. Because their philosophy includes the excusing of oppression of one group by another, they lose the moral high ground and become less appealing of a group to ally oneself with. It can be difficult for one to listen to the remaining arguments of the British Empiricists when one of their major tenets is so morally reprehensible. With this in mind, the fact ...

Research Methods and Empiricism

Empiricism is a theory of knowledge that uses our senses to obtain knowledge and emphasizes on experience and evidence obtained through sensory perception. Empiricism, in the philosophy of science emphasizes the scientific knowledge that has got evidence, especially those discovered through experiments. It is the fundamental part of the scientific method that gives an opportunity for the hypotheses and theories to be formulated against observation.

There are some of the research methods and designs that go in tandem with the theory of empiricism in that they involve the use of senses to obtain knowledge. First, there is the observation method ...

Introduction

The primary purpose of philosophy is to clarify and refine the human thought processes so that the state of affairs and hence the reality of the world are clear. As such, philosophical problems are a failure to come up with the explanations of things that happen in the environment and by extension in the world. Philosophy is critical in refining the human's basic concepts that are applied to understand the reality. Just like in other sciences that are driven by the experimentations in the search for the truth, philosophy is informed by the questions that cannot be easily answered ...

What are Locke's arguments against the Rationalist notion of innate ideas? Do you find his arguments convincing? Why or why not?

According to Rationalist philosophers reason is the source of knowledge. Hence knowledge holds more importance over experience. The Rationalists argue that we are born with some innate ideas including the belief of God, mathematics, the concept of time, casualty and other such principles which help us understand the essence of the world. Unlike empiricists, the Rationalists don't believe in the concept of mind being 'a blank state' at birth. They postulate that not all our knowledge derive from experience (Markier, 2013).
Famous philosopher of early historic times Plato was an idealistic and rationalistic. He was of the ...

What are Locke's arguments against the Rationalist notion of innate ideas? Do you find his arguments convincing? Why or why not?

According to Rationalist philosophers reason is the source of knowledge. Hence knowledge holds more importance over experience. The Rationalists argue that we are born with some innate ideas including the belief of God, mathematics, the concept of time, casualty and other such principles which help us understand the essence of the world. Unlike empiricists, the Rationalists don't believe in the concept of mind being 'a blank state' at birth. They postulate that not all our knowledge ...

Philosophy

Philosophical claims and explanations present a frame of thought as well as a discipline that is inclined towards a wonderment of the fundamental dynamics of life and the world as a whole. Philosophical explanations focus on both activity and content. This method is mostly based on reflection on questions about the human nature and the society as a whole. Alternative opinions are also respected and taken under deep consideration in this method.
Scientific claims are claims that are firmly hinged on evidence. For a claim to be considered as scientific, it must have significant backing in terms of proof. Scientific claims are considered to ...

RESEARCH PROBLEM:

Homosexuals are people that are attracted both equally romantically and sexually towards same sex. All throughout history homosexuality has been looked at in the controversial light along with lots of people seeing the idea being a shame, while other people visualize it as one accepted standard of living. Without having a question homosexuality faces resistance and is considered a taboo of minorities in our community. Scientific disciplines have an effect on the way the community sees homosexual and how they view themselves.
When pondering over homosexuality and whether scientific perspectives enjoy a component in working out whether female or male are usually ...

Introduction

One of the greatest English philosophers of the late 17th and 18th century, John Locke was the founding father of the school of empiricism. He inspired generations of people with his ideas of natural rights, government, knowledge and language. His argument against the rationalist views of innate ideas is one of the most discussed topics even today. The US president Thomas Jefferson was so profoundly influenced by Locke's ideas that he employed the theory of natural rights and government in the Declaration of Independence. Besides being a philosopher Locke was a physician who treated Lord Ashley, the Earl of Shaftesbury for a ...

The Enlightenment is a phase in the history of Europe which is characterized by revolutions in philosophy, society, science and politics. It is also known as the Age of Reason since it is a time when man began to use his reasoning skills to find out more about the world. Enlightenment thinkers opposed superstition, intolerance and some abuses by state and church. The thinkers casted off the fear and superstition of the medieval world. The Enlightenment phase stretched roughly from the seventeenth century over the eighteenth century. The main purpose of enlightenment was to reform society through reason, advance awareness through ...

In the philosophy of science, empiricism is the principle emphasizing that conclusions should be drawn based upon experimental evidence. Empiricism depends quite a bit upon knowledge gained from sensory experience (Psillos and Curd 129-138). It is also known as sense experience and gives primary importance to evidence gathered with the help of the “senses” and which is obtained by observation or as a result of experiments conducted (Pickett 585). It is a crucial component of the scientific method that demands all hypotheses and theories to be tested with corresponding observations in the natural world, instead of relying solely on ...

Rene Descartes’ Discourse on the Method is one of the most important philosophical texts of all time. In it, the philosopher attempts to determine how he should correctly determine his lines of logic in order to ascertain truth. He believes that this may only be possible when one puts into question the judgments and prejudices that one has formed across one’s life. These jumps in logic are usually kept uncontested throughout one’s life, leading reasoning astray. This skeptical method is necessary because these preconceived notions lead thinking astray, making it jump to answers that are not necessarily ...

Philosophy

Introduction to Philosophy
1. What are the three major branches of philosophy and what questions do they deal with?
The three major branches of philosophy are metaphysics, epistemology, logic and axiology. Metaphysics is the study of the nature of reality. Epistemology is the study of the nature of knowledge. Logic is the study of the nature of arguments, while axiology is the study of the nature of value, indicating what is good and what does goodness mean.
2. Discuss the value of philosophy.
Every human being lives on the basis of an overarching philosophy, whether through rational analysis or ...

1. Three major branches of philosophy are metaphysics, epistemology and axiology. Metaphysics investigates the reality, its value and structure. Epistemology studies the knowledge, its limitations, nature, as well as issues connected with the nature of truth. Axiology deals with the nature of value and determines what is good or bad.
2. Philosophy is an important part of every person’s live whether the person acknowledges it or not. It broadens the knowledge and understanding of the world and teaches to critically assess the reality, values and beliefs. Philosophy investigates the questions that are ignored by other disciplines and helps ...

- The mind or to be more specific, a person’s state of mind serves as an important factor in determining the incorrigibility of the different forms of knowledge. According to the fundamental that Descartes thought, a person’s existence is present as long as he or she has the capability to think. This can be considered as a method of doubt. This is actually one of the most prevalent and most effective methods of doubt because it allows an individual to doubt anything in a world that can be full of factors, variables, and considerations such as mathematics, physics and other fields ...

There are various theories that have been derived in an attempt to explain the behaviors of people. All these theories have an explanation behind the behaviors of people as well as the different reasons as to why the people behave the way they do. Below is a discussion of some of the theories that come into play.

There is the platonic argument (Matus Para. 6). This theory has it that the people define reality from what they have observed. This is seen in the allegory of caves. The people in the caves had known only the shapes they saw on ...

Introduction

This study will define some of the terms such as Rationalism Empiricism and principle of utility states. It will further discuss some of the hypotheses by the philosophers such as Nietzsche and Sartre.
Rationalism is being defined in philosophy as, the analysis that regards reasons as the primary source and the knowledge analysis. Empiricism is a theory that all the knowledge of matters of facts comes from sensory experience (Locke, 1998).The principle of utility states that, both actions and behavior are correct as long as they uphold happiness and pleasure. On the other hand, actions and behaviors are ...

Chapter 9: Descartes

1. "I find here that thought is an attribute that belongs to me; it cannot be separated from me. I am, I exist, that is certain" (Descartes qtd. in Soccio 260). What does Descartes mean by this statement and why is it so important?
Descartes claims that there is no ego without a thought (mind) and this ego does not exist in a thoughtless state. That is one of his most important ideas, which led to a well-known statement - “I think therefore I am”.
2. What is meant to be proven by the wax example? How does Descartes go ...

Philosophy has evolved since time immemorial. Different philosophers at different times come up with arguments and views that according to them, are supposed t form the back bone of human life. Their ideas always support or critic those philosophers who came before them. In the Case of Descartes and John Locke, theirs are views and arguments that came at the right time and shaped to some extent how people lived during and long after their existence (Cahn 16). Some of the views that they came up with are clearly and elaborately argued out in this essay.
Descartes in ...

Introduction
Scholars of international relations have deemed the neorealist-neoliberal debate as the conventional paradigm of their discipline. Yet, the emergence of social constructivism in international relations has challenged that standard, and critics both acclaimed and disputed the approach in relation to the established ones in place (Zehfuss, 2002, p. 2). Whereas social constructivism proved influential within scholarly circles of international relations (Checkel, 1999, p. 545), its extent of influence has received indefinite assessments.
The extent to which social constructivism has transformed international relations serve as a gap that this study seeks to ...

Why, according to Descartes, is sensory imagination neither necessary nor sufficient for objective knowledge? Should Kant make us think again?

Descartes considered sensory imagination neither necessary nor sufficient for objective knowledge. His conviction that “sensation” and “imagination” are not dependable sources of knowledge. Only reason or understanding can be trusted. Descartes believed that reason is the principal source of knowledge. (Markie, 2012, p. 1) Descartes likened imagination and knowledge with the idea of the two suns. According to Descartes, there are two distinct ideas of a sun inside his mind. The first one is drawn out of his sense and it is just a small sun. The second sun is very large, more than the size of the earth. This idea ...

Through different methods of justification, we can reach conclusions in ethics that are as well-supported as those provided in mathematics.' To what extent would you agree?
As the question indicates, the two areas of knowledge, mathematics and ethics, should be considered and revised thoroughly. Firstly, I would like to define the key words which are going to be analyzed in this essay. Mathematics can be defined as the abstract science of number, quantity and space. This definition of mathematics is quite clear. However, the definition for ethics is much more complex. As the word 'ethics' comes from Greek, ...

Arguably, rationalism and empiricism tire out the numerous options of how we can acquire knowledge. However, that is not the entire epistemological extend. Epistemology, addresses numerous issues such as construction of mind concepts, relationship of knowledge objects on what we know, nature of knowledge, as well as reliability of senses. Generally, epistemology studies knowledge; in details, it elaborates on distinctive features of false and true knowledge. In fact, absence of epistemology makes scientific reflections invalid and inexistent.
As a matter of fact, epistemological theories of Kant, Berkeley, and Locke are unable to prevail over the egocentric predicament. Egocentric predicament ...

This classic text demonstrates the verve and authority of C Wright Mills who brilliantly espoused all the modern sociological theories in this 1959 book. Wright Mills was conscious of the huge changes which were running through American society in those years and he attempted to take a scientific look at proceedings with the eye of a sociologist.
The book examines what one might term as the ‘Power Elite’ which are those who command everything in American society. His coinage of the term life chances is also important as it explains what this means in the context of the American society ...