Dreaming argument & Pragmatism
Dreaming
The Blumenfelds' argument in regards to dreaming is essentially that since we have dreams that resemble real life experiences, we cannot be certain that at this moment we are not dreaming, given that the character of our experience does not always alert us to the fact that we are in a dream state. Austen's objection to this is that simply being able to say that dreams have a 'real life' quality presumes that one knows what real life is, as distinguishable from dreams. Austen demands that there must be a particular reason to distrust one's senses and think that one is dreaming (Slides 15-16). "It is possible to recognize cases of deception only if there is a background of general non-deception" (Slide 17).
For a Pyrrhonian Skeptic, one must remain in a continual state of doubt. However, the Blumenfelds' argument suggests doubts in the ability for any "the falliblist might claim that (3) is false because I can know that I am not dreaming even if the qualitative character of my experience only makes it highly probable that I am not dreaming" (Slide 23) .
G.E. Moore, of course, would find the Blumenfelds' intellectual exercise to be absurd, given that Moore believed that in the absence of evidence that there is no material world, we must operate with the assumption that the material world does exist -- just like we assume our hands exist when we grasp an object. It is the first premise of the Blumenfelds that is the most problematic, given that their other premises deductively follow from the first statement -- to state that dreams are 'like' reality presupposes that there is some existence that is reality, a reality that has more…
"(Miller, 96) However, even if it can appear that Willy's death is a further failure and humiliation, Happy points out at his funeral that Loman had the braveness to pursue his dream to the end, despite the fact that he did not succeed: "I'm gonna show you and everybody else that Willy Loman did not die in vain. He had a good dream. it's the only dream you can have
Second Reconstructions One of the most dramatic consequences of the Civil War and Reconstruction was that the South was effectively driven from national power for roughly six decades. Southerners no longer claimed the presidency, wielded much power on the Supreme Court, or made their influence strongly felt in Congress But beginning in the 1930s, the South was able to flex more and more political muscle, and by the 1970s some
Living Constitutionalism As the leader of the free world, the United States remains in the limelight as the rest of the world keeps a keen eye on how they conduct their affairs. As it appertains to constitutional interpretation, the U.S. has a sound philosophy dubbed 'living constitutionalism.' In the American constitutional dispensation, as in other countries, the letter of the law is unequivocal. That notwithstanding, many agree that every society is
Iran: A Path towards Rapprochement The problem that the United States is facing with Iran is related to the problem that it had with Iraq and has in part with Afghanistan. One of the problems is the judgment of the administration that Iran is not doing enough to round up the supporters of Al Qaeda who exist within Iran, as was one of the complaints against Iraq. Some of these Al
Great Gatsby -- a Theoretical Analysis The Great Gatsby is one of the legendary novels written in the history of American literature. The novel intends to shed light on the failure of American dream that poor can attain whatever he wants and emphasizes on the hardships presented by the strong forces of social segregation. In order to understand this novel, there are various theories which tend to be helpful in order
Tolerance Global terrorism has changed the entire spectrum of tolerance in today's world. Highlighted by the events of 9/11 the facts that even the world's most powerful nation was not immune to the effects of terrorism brought home the fact that there was little defense to the acts of terrorists. The age of innocence in the United States had ended and the rest of the world waited to see how the
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now