Philosophy
The Value of Philosophy: The subject of philosophy concerns itself with understanding of the self, humanity and the universe in an attempt to arrive at or define a "unified, coherent, systematic world view." (Para 4, p. 35)
Such broad definitions of philosophy often lead to a viewpoint that philosophy is of interest only to the world of academia, characterized as it is by debate and the lack of consensus. While it is true that philosophy may be considered to be eternally evolving, perhaps in keeping with the very evolution of human kind, the fact is that the study of philosophy holds immense personal and practical value for the simple self-evident truth that philosophy pervades every aspect of life: "...a moral being, a social and political animal, an appreciator of art and beauty, a perceiver and knower, a scientist, a religionist...all these aspects of humanity and self are areas of intense philosophical concern...." (Para 3, p. 39)
Leading from the above, it is obvious that every individual human being is a practitioner of philosophy in the matter of course of conducting his or her daily life. However, the formal study of philosophy offers enormous benefit in so much as it opens up the realm of a far more broader vision that helps individuals make sense of their existence and their world: "...different ways of looking at the world...extends the range of personal alternatives...a different set of beliefs may exist that...more suitable...appreciate the worth of our own taken-for-granted ideas." (Para 4, p. 35)
Plato, in the Myth of the Cave, has in fact, suggested the very same thing: "...the value of philosophy is that through it we achieve freedom...from assumptions we have unquestioningly accepted from others, and freedom to decide for ourselves what we believe about ourselves and our...
Philosophy Matrix II Ancient Quest for Truth Philosophy Matrix II: Ancient Quest for Truth Use the matrix to analyze Plato and Aristotle's theory of knowledge and apply both to current day practices. In the first column, using the readings about Plato's search for truth and his theories of knowledge, discuss how contemporary people may be living in a cave and which steps, based on Plato's model of the Divided Line, will be necessary for
Berkley stated that because the senses were potentially faulty, everyone's sense perceptions and thus everyone's 'truth' was unique and variable. However, most empiricists like Locke believed that some (few) things could be known with certainty, like shape and color, even if other properties of things could not be known. The empiricists come from the Aristotelian rather than the Platonic tradition of philosophy, and had rigorous standards of truth based upon
It is important for students to understand that the world does not exist in isolation, but the skills we learn overlap in our journey into learning. Epistemology: Epistemology asks us to ponder the question: what is knowledge how does knowledge of one event or process impact other events, how do we know what we know? Within my educational philosophy, the concept of knowledge is, as it is in Bloom's hierarchy,
The central ideas about this knowledge may be categorized into four parts: knowledge, wisdom, belief, and opinion. Some are individualized -- some culturally based, some based solely on sensory perception, and some, from consideration. In its most practical state, "knowledge" may be information about which we are aware -- facts, figures, accepted truths, ways of doing things. Wisdom, in contrast, takes that knowledge and allows individuals to make judgments and
Philosophy: Knowledge Is Virtue Socrates is widely acknowledged as the world's first philosopher, since he was the first to direct the attention of men from merely focusing on the study of nature to the study of human nature. Indeed, Socrates was the pioneer in moral philosophy for though the Sophists spoke of justice, law and temperance, they were still unable to define such values (The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Heartlight Web
" (Rohlf) These maxims may be as simple as gratifying a desire or something complex like becoming a lawyer. Kant then distinguishes between two basic kinds of maxims: material and formal principles. If I am acting in order to satisfy some desire, such as going to a Starbucks to get a coffee, that is acting on a material principle. According to Kant, maxims are rules that describe how one does
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