Skepticism About The External World - 1966 Words

Skepticism about the external world is one of the most widely discussed arguments in the history of philosophy. Barry Stroud defines skepticism as the idea that we cannot have knowledge about the external world (Stroud, page 1). This conclusion is the result of Rene Descartes’ Dream Argument and has been a topic of discussion ever since. No matter how we attack the argument, it seems that we inevitably arrive at skepticism. In this paper, I will argue that the skeptical conclusion is true and why it seems to be compelling as a necessary condition for knowledge. I will describe the Dream Argument and take a look at Moore’s promising response to the conclusion as an inconsistent proof. In the end, Moore’s argument for evidence of an external world will fail to disprove the skeptical conclusion due to its lack of justified belief. Although I am intuitively inclined to deny the skeptical argument, I cannot logically do so but will argue against full-blown skepticism and explain how mild skepticism is a more approachable route to knowledge. In our everyday conversation, we do not generally question the validity of small claims that we make during normal interactions. In Meditation 1, Descartes decides that it is the right time to reevaluate the foundation of knowledge that he will rest his life upon from that point forward. He puts in question the things that he thinks he knows for certain. He acknowledges that everything he knows has been perceived from the senses or throughShow MoreRelatedDescartesArgument For Skepticism1120 Words   |  5 PagesIn Descartes’ first meditation, he proposes an argument for skepticism about the external world based on the possibility of dreaming. I will argue that Descartes’ argument for skepticism is flawed. In this essay I will explain Descartes’ argument, explain why Descartes’ argument is flawed, and consider an objection to my own argument. 1. Descartes’ Argument In order for Descartes to doubt the existence of the external world, he has to establish that he could be dreaming. In Descartes’ first meditationRead MoreEssay about Analysing Berkleys Response to Skepticism954 Words   |  4 Pagesfrom the external world. Comprehending Berkeley`s argument wasn’t an easy task, but I have come to my personal conclusion that this so called; â€Å"Supreme spirit† is not necessary for me to have knowledge about the things that I can observe. Therefore in this paper, I will argue that Berkeley`s response to skepticism is not successful because he thinks that god is the base of knowledge. Before I begin to prove my thesis I would like to give a little background about skepticism and external world (materialRead MoreMore on the Problem of the External World887 Words   |  4 PagesMore on the problem of the external world In his paper about the problem of the external world Stroud’s conclusion is that we can’t prove we are not dreaming. He takes as he calls it, a ‘sceptical’ standpoint by saying that there is not solution to the problem of the external world. There are two main objections to Stroud’s position towards the skeptics like Descartes. First, saying there is not solution to the problem of the external world is just as skeptic and it does not take us anywhere. SecondRead MoreDescartes Vs. Descartes Philosophy1142 Words   |  5 Pagesdefeat skepticism. This argument begins by doubting the truth of everything, from evidence of the senses to the fundamental process of reasoning. Therefore, if there is any truth in the world that overcomes the skeptical challenge then it must be indubitably true. Thus, creating a perfect foundation for knowledge. The first Meditation is an examination in learning to doubt everything that I once believed to be true. Descartes begins to doubt everything he once believed about the external world usingRead MoreModern Philosophy Of The Modern World And The External World1157 Words   |  5 Pagesthe question, â€Å"What is real and what is not?† Although there are many arguments for and against the internal world and the external world, I tend to lead towards the skeptics point of view. I do this on the simple notion that many of the skeptics arguments are hard to refute. Much like Sextus Empiricus, I argue that we cannot know anything with absolute certainty about the external world. â€Å"Those who say that Sceptic deny appearances seem to me to be ignorant of what we say† (SE Handout 38). SextusRead MoreIs Global Skepticism Justified? Essay1625 Words   |  7 PagesIs Global Skepticism Justified? Introduction Skepticism is something that we all have to one degree or another. Some of us who carry some Limited (Local) Skepticism might question whether we can really know if the news anchor is giving us correct information or if the five day forecast is really on track this time regarding the rain it is predicting. Others subscribe to the Global Skepticism view; that is, they would argue that we cannot know anything at all, and, therefore, we can’t have knowledgeRead MoreIn this paper I will argue for an externalist view that I consider to be the strongest rebuttal to1200 Words   |  5 Pageswill argue for an externalist view that I consider to be the strongest rebuttal to skepticism. Before I present the argument I think it is important that we define skepticism and externalism. The type of skepticism that we will be discussing, is the view that we don’t know anything about the external world. That is, we dont have any prima facie justification or reason to believe anything about the external world. The skeptic argues that even if we think a belief is justified, its just an illusionRead MoreSkepticism in the Modern World686 Words   |  3 Pages Philosophical skepticism, according to Scottish philosopher David Hume, is asking whether human beings can perceive the world around us with any degree of accuracy. Practicing this school of thought means that a person initially never believes anything to be true, but at the same time, does not say everything is necessarily false; instead, he maintains a position of doubt. The final source of truth for a skeptic is experience. In terms of skepticism vs. rationalism vs. romanticism and theirRead MoreRhetorical Analysis Of Cogito Ergo Sum : I Think Therefore, I Am1613 Words   |  7 Pagesbelief an d the only purely true instance of knowledge we possess is that we are a thinking thing and our mind’s ability to think is true. This is the quintessential belief of Cartesian skepticism, or whether we can know anything with certainty, and is achieved through a perspective of understanding external world knowledge rooted in doubting wholeheartedly what our senses say is true. Renà © Descartes’ Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy preface this doubt by establishing a criterionRead MoreThere are two kinds of skepticism, local skepticism, which states that some areas of inquiry don’t600 Words   |  3 PagesThere are two kinds of skepticism, local skepticism, which states that some areas of inquiry don’t allow for knowledge, and global skepticism, which states that we cannot know anything about the world, (Bogosian). One of the most common arguments for skepticism is the Brain in a Vat argument, which is very similar to the argument of the Evil Demon who controls us. In opposition to this is a philosopher by the name of Hilary Putnam, who uses language as proof for us not being brains in vats. I am

The Real Estate Market Barre, Massachusetts Is A Small...

Barre, Massachusetts is located in the center of the state, a small town of approximately 5,000 people. The real estate market there is average, with some new homes being built and families being drawn to the area for its small-town charm. Though it is a smaller community, routes 32, 122, and 62 are easily accessible and provide access to many larger cities including Worcester and Leominster. Many families that live in town have family members that travel to work in the larger cities. There are currently sixty homes for sale in Barre, MA, with the majority of them in the $250,000 to $300,000 range. Most homes in this range have three bedrooms and from  ½ to 2 acres of land. Styles of homes in Barre include antique homes and farmhouses as well as newer, modern construction. The homes are located in neighborhoods for the most part, with a few located on busier routes on the main streets. While most homes for sale are in this middle range there are a few homes with more acreage and f our bedrooms for sale upwards of $500,000. At the other end of the market there are a three houses for sale under $150,000. These homes are smaller, with two bedrooms, and are in need of some repairs and upkeep. While Barre is small, the town does have a small grocery store, the IGA, as well as a hardware store, a pharmacy, two gas stations and two banks. There are plenty of restaurants including an Uncle Sam s, a Dunkin Donuts and a Subway. The Barre Mill is an informal, family restaurant with

Business Ethics Code of Conduct Free Essays

Any inappropriate behavior or violation of an organizations code of conduct is a serious allegation to bring against either the company or an individual inside the organization. In the case of this occurring, a reporting structure is essential in dealing with both the situation itself and the employees who are responsible for the issues happening. A mandatory reporting structure is required for many aspects of business, from employee grievances to performance and salary related activities, such as commission or bonus payments for outstanding work. We will write a custom essay sample on Business Ethics Code of Conduct or any similar topic only for you Order Now Ethical and moral issues also need to be covered by some kind of reporting scheme. In this case, if a collegial and supportive atmosphere exists in the workplace then an ethical code of conduct is required in order to maintain, and not upset this working environment. A code of conduct is a general statement of intent by an organization to promote ethical and morally sound behavior amongst staff, and usually states the required actions of staff members in case of any ethical issue, or at least gives staff members a way of reporting any issues of a morally unsound nature or ethically dubious actions taken by staff, or in some cases customers. Designing a system of reporting that does not damage the collegial and supportive structure is a very difficult one, as it needs to be sufficiently secure so that complainants are not singled out for abuse, and also that those being reported on are able to defend their actions without any prejudice. The reporting structure would need to be created in a similar way to the operational structure of reporting, through middle management up to the higher board level, where major issues are resolved. However it is also possible to employ a code of conduct in order to achieve similar aims as a reporting structure. Setting out a standard that everyone has to adhere to, or face the consequences is one way of making this reporting structure work, as middle management become responsible for employee actions, as well as their ethical and moral obligations to the company and to the stakeholders. If this code is broken, then the employee would be subject to a similar disciplinary procedure as if they had committed a criminal act, or an act of sexual harassment. Then the supportive structure is not damaged, and the incentive in on the employees to perform ethically and morally. 2. Corporations have a social responsibility to the various groups associated with them. These groups, called stakeholders represent many groups of people, or organizations who deal with the company in every way, such as the shareholders of the business who have invested money in it as well as the local community in which the business operates. These groups should affect the way the organization operates and behaves, hopefully in a responsible way. Organizations cannot have responsibility, as only people can have responsibility, and this leads to a conflict in the discussion of this subject. The context is that each company has responsibilities to each employee of that company, as well as the shareholders who have a monetary investment in the company. Therefore the organization has to be held responsible to these groups, so should by default be responsible for every other group that has some stake in the operation. Some, including Milton Friedman, believe that a corporations’ responsibility lie purely with its shareholders, and that to have social responsibility jeopardizes potential profits and is therefore a bad business decision meaning a business cannot potentially damage itself by having a conscience. All organizations do have a social responsibility to all groups that they interact with because they are offering a product or service that has to be sustainable and yet profitable as well as being conducted ethically. The major responsibilities of an organization lie with protecting the investment of the shareholders and with its employees and the local community. As well as this, making ethical business decisions with the best interests of the shareholders and the employees is critical in how the business operates. Therefore board consideration is needed to ensure that decisions are made with the best interests of all groups of stakeholders at heart. How to cite Business Ethics Code of Conduct, Papers

Native American Astronomy Essay Example For Students

Native American Astronomy Essay For many years astronomers and people alike have constantly heard about the observations and records of the Chinese and Europeans. No other culture can provide as much information as that gathered by the Chinese and Europeans, but there are many other cultures that observed and recorded the night sky, one of those being the Native Americans. During the last fifteen to twenty years archaeoastronomers have uncovered much concerning the beliefs and records of Native Americans. Unfortunately, the methods of keeping records of astronomical events were not as straight forward as the Chinese and Europeans. The Native Americans had to use what they could to record what they observed. Their records were found on rock and cave drawings, stick notching, beadwork, pictures on animal skins and story telling. One of the few dateable events among the various records of Native Americans was the 1833 appearance of the Leonid meteor shower. The most obvious accounts of the Leonid storm appear among the various bands of the Sioux of the North American plains. The Sioux kept records called â€Å"winter counts,† which were a chronological pictographic account of each year painted on animal skin. In 1984 Von Del Chamberlain listed the astronomical references for 50 Sioux, forty five out of fifty referred to an intense meteor shower during 1833/1834. He also listed nineteen winter counts kept by other plains Indian tribes, fourteen of which referred to the Leonid storm. The Leonids also appear among the Maricopa, who used calendar sticks with notches to represent the passage of a year, with the owner of the stick remembering the events. The owner of one stick claimed records had been kept that way â€Å"since the stars fell. † The first notch on the stick represented 1833. A member of the Papago, named Kutox, was born around 1847 or 1848. He claimed that 14 years prior to his birth â€Å"the stars rained all over the sky.† A less obvious Leonid reference was found in a journal kept by Alexander M. Stephen, which detailed his visit with the Hopi Indians and mentions a talk he had With Old Djasjini on December 11, 1892. That Hopi Indian said, â€Å"How old am I? Fifty, maybe a hundred years, I cannot tell. When I was a young boy eight or ten years there was a great comet in the sky and at night all the above was full of shooting stars. (Stephen 37). During the lifetime of Old Djasini there was never a great comet and a sky full of meteors in the same year, but he might be referring to the comet in 1843 and the Leonid storm in 1833. The Pawnee have a story about a person named Pahokatawa, who was killed by an enemy and eaten by animals, and then brought back to life by the Gods. The legend goes that he fell to earth as a meteor and told the people that when meteors were seen falling in great numbers it was not a sign that the world would end. When the pawnee tribe witnessed the time the stars fell upon the earth, which was in 1833, there was a panic, but the leader said, â€Å"remember the words of Pahokatawa† and the people were no longer afraid. This shows how powerful a role astronomy played in the Native American culture. Although the Pawnee learned not to be afraid there were Native Americans who feared meteors. The Blackfeet of Montana believed a meteor was a sign that sickness would come to the tribe in the winter the Kawaiisu thought a meteor started high and fell to the horizon was an omen of death. The Cahuilla thought a meteor was the spirit of their first shaman, takwich, who was disliked his people. .u3ec98c8f09edcd3363febd948916b255 , .u3ec98c8f09edcd3363febd948916b255 .postImageUrl , .u3ec98c8f09edcd3363febd948916b255 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u3ec98c8f09edcd3363febd948916b255 , .u3ec98c8f09edcd3363febd948916b255:hover , .u3ec98c8f09edcd3363febd948916b255:visited , .u3ec98c8f09edcd3363febd948916b255:active { border:0!important; } .u3ec98c8f09edcd3363febd948916b255 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u3ec98c8f09edcd3363febd948916b255 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u3ec98c8f09edcd3363febd948916b255:active , .u3ec98c8f09edcd3363febd948916b255:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u3ec98c8f09edcd3363febd948916b255 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u3ec98c8f09edcd3363febd948916b255 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u3ec98c8f09edcd3363febd948916b255 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u3ec98c8f09edcd3363febd948916b255 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u3ec98c8f09edcd3363febd948916b255:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u3ec98c8f09edcd3363febd948916b255 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u3ec98c8f09edcd3363febd948916b255 .u3ec98c8f09edcd3363febd948916b255-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u3ec98c8f09edcd3363febd948916b255:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Weed Essay Takwich wandered the sky at night looking for people far from their tribe. If he found a lost person he steal their spirit and the person home and eat them. The Shawnee believed meteors were beings fleeing from the wrath of some adversary, or from some anticipated danger.(Howard 178) Many Native Americans saw the stars as heavenly and mystical. The Wintu explained meteors as the spirits of shamans traveling to the after life. The Chumash referred to meteors as a shooting star. They believed a meteor was a person’s soul on their way to the afterlife. The Eastern Pomo believed meteors were fire dropping from the sky. The most widely accepted belief was that meteors were the feces of stars. (Hudson 40) The Ojibwa of the upper Great Lakes had a story about Genondahwayanung, which meant, â€Å"Long tailed heavenly climbing star.† An Ojibwa says that Genondahwayanung was a star with a long wide tail which would return and destroy the world someday. The shaman said it came down one thousand years ago. He said it was just like sun, radiation, burning heat in its tail. The comet was said to have scorched earth except for Native Americans, who were warned by a Holy Spirit, Chimantou. The animals were killed off it was so hot stones were said to have melted. It is said the comet came down and spread for miles. Another form of record keeping were rock petroglyphs, or pictures carved into rock. The western part of the United States is filled with these pictures, but any dating is virtually impossible. It is very difficult to determine whether or not the object drawn is a meteor or a comet. The most common petroglyphs are a circle with a wiggly line coming from it. Various archaeologists have interpreted these as meteors, comets and snakes Records were also kept in the form of pottery. A Hopi jar that was found had a scene that had mountains, stars and three objects falling towards the ground. This scene implies a meteor shower or a meteor that broke up as it fell. It may be possible that this jar depicts the Leonid storm of 1833. (Hudson 41) Native Americans also attained their records by building structures that would observe the sun. the Bighorn Medicine Wheel in Wyoming dates to AD 1400 to 1700. Lines drawn between major markings on the wheel point to the location of solstice sunrises and sunsets and also toward the rising point of the three brightest stars that rise before the sun in the summer. About fifty medicine wheels have been discovered, several are thousands of years. Many of them have the same alignment as the Bighorn Medicine Wheel. In Chaco Canyon, New Mexico two spirals carved into the rock by the prehistoric Anasazi can be used as a calendar. A dagger of light penetrates the shadow of adjacent rocks. The dagger moves with the sun to different locations on the spiral. the full pattern also reflects the 18.6 year cycle of the moon as well as the yearly cycle of the sun. The ancient Native Americans were not sophisticated astronomers in the sense of coherent theory behind the movements of heavenly objects, their level of understanding of the time cycles of the sun, moon and planets was great. The methods for recording and keeping track of the seasonal movements was clever and displays a cultural richness that varies from tribe to tribe.Astronomy Essays