Kant believes that the universe is unknowable, he regards phenomena (objects as they appear created by the mind) as true only from a certain point of view. Kant divides truth into two categories: Apriori Truths and A posteriori truths
1. Apriori Truths are known before experience, they are true by definition
e.g All Bachelors are unmarried men or All Triangles have 3 sides
e.g All Bachelors are unmarried men or All Triangles have 3 sides
2. A Posteriori Truths are known after experience, they are true by observation
e.g All Bachelors are messy
Aristotle, Bacon and Newton eventually discover everything out like clockwork, forming a perfect picture of 'The truth', but this is now abandoned by scientists since Einstein, yet 99% of people are still Newtonian.
Before Kant science was based on causation. Plato even believed that the forms existed independently of human consciousness in a immaterial world of eternal perfection.
Mechanistic materialists such as Bacon, Newton and other empiricists thought that the cosmos is the sum total of many things. Although they are of varied sizes large or small, they are still there as objects even if you can see them or not. Kant's idea similarly to modern theoretical physics is that the cosmos is like a computer game where the objects, landscape, space and time are created in consciousness and then fade away again; first into apparent distance and then disappear entirely again. "We see space and time because we wear space and time goggles" Russell on Kant.
Kant was not a pure idealist or a solopsist, "things" really are there but in noumenal form, this is the unperceived object and thing in itself; something like an immaterial soul. Schopenhauer believes there is only one universal noumena which is the "will" of the universe as a thing in itself.
From Kant, Schopenhauer and Nietzsche we inherit the idea that existence is not a predicate of any possible object, nothing 'causes' existence, existence is a necessary precondition of perception or consciousness. This is the big breakthrough idea of the scientific revolution.
Newton was regarded as objective for 200 years, true independently of perception. Newton's laws of motion describes motion as one point to another, but this raises speculation as to whether there can be any motion if there are infinite distances? Newton's laws of motion had been 'read off' nature like a mirror.
Kant's categories of perception is that we see the universe in 3D because we are 3D beings.
Einstein rejects the idea that the universe has a time, according to Einstein's experiments he believed that time is a mental phenomena and there are different types of time which has been confirmed by space travel.
e.g All Bachelors are messy
Aristotle, Bacon and Newton eventually discover everything out like clockwork, forming a perfect picture of 'The truth', but this is now abandoned by scientists since Einstein, yet 99% of people are still Newtonian.
Before Kant science was based on causation. Plato even believed that the forms existed independently of human consciousness in a immaterial world of eternal perfection.
Mechanistic materialists such as Bacon, Newton and other empiricists thought that the cosmos is the sum total of many things. Although they are of varied sizes large or small, they are still there as objects even if you can see them or not. Kant's idea similarly to modern theoretical physics is that the cosmos is like a computer game where the objects, landscape, space and time are created in consciousness and then fade away again; first into apparent distance and then disappear entirely again. "We see space and time because we wear space and time goggles" Russell on Kant.
Kant was not a pure idealist or a solopsist, "things" really are there but in noumenal form, this is the unperceived object and thing in itself; something like an immaterial soul. Schopenhauer believes there is only one universal noumena which is the "will" of the universe as a thing in itself.
From Kant, Schopenhauer and Nietzsche we inherit the idea that existence is not a predicate of any possible object, nothing 'causes' existence, existence is a necessary precondition of perception or consciousness. This is the big breakthrough idea of the scientific revolution.
From Newton to Einstein
During the time of the Copernican revolution questions arose: Does the earth really orbit the sun? Where is up, where is down? Where is the centre of the universe? Perception is essentially subjective dependent upon time of the day lighting condition and even our own moods.Newton was regarded as objective for 200 years, true independently of perception. Newton's laws of motion describes motion as one point to another, but this raises speculation as to whether there can be any motion if there are infinite distances? Newton's laws of motion had been 'read off' nature like a mirror.
Kant's categories of perception is that we see the universe in 3D because we are 3D beings.
Einstein rejects the idea that the universe has a time, according to Einstein's experiments he believed that time is a mental phenomena and there are different types of time which has been confirmed by space travel.
Logic - Deduction Vs Induction
Deductive logic is when you take a general proposition and you make it particular. For example Aristotle's Syllogism:
All men are mortal, (General Proposition)
Socrates is a man,
Therefore Socrates is mortal (Particular Proposition)
Deduction preserves truth and respects authority above all else. It produces particular truths from a general principle. Whereas Inductive logic is the opposite and a particular truth becomes general.
It is not possible in the system to doubt or overturn the axioms as this would cause reality itself to collapse.
Vienna Circle
The Vienna Cicle was an assosiasion of philosophers that formed in honour of Ernst Mach in the 19th Century. One of their main philosophical theories was the verification principle, which is a method whereby the truth of any proposition is the way in which you verify it. If a proposition cannot be verified it is neither true or false.
Karl Popper rejected this on logical grounds because he said that something could be true but you may not able to verify it, therefore the verification principle itself cannot be verified.
All men are mortal, (General Proposition)
Socrates is a man,
Therefore Socrates is mortal (Particular Proposition)
Deduction preserves truth and respects authority above all else. It produces particular truths from a general principle. Whereas Inductive logic is the opposite and a particular truth becomes general.
It is not possible in the system to doubt or overturn the axioms as this would cause reality itself to collapse.
Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon is the founder of modern inductive method, his most famous work titled 'The advancement of learning' highlighted Bacon as the originator of 'Knowledge is power'. Bacon was a strong believer that philosophy should be kept separate from theology as philosophy should be dependent upon reason; he is an advocate of the doctrine of 'double truth'. (The idea that separate sources of knowledge - religion and philosophy - might result in contradictory truths without detriment)
Bacon was against syllogism, his book 'The Organon' was a direct attack on Aristotle.
He also rejected the Copernican theory, which is the idea that the sun is the centre of the universe and the earth rotates around it.
You can access my notes from 'The clockwork Universe' lecture here, about scientists such as Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo and Newton
Wittgenstein
Ludwig Wittgenstein was a philosopher who focused on logic, mathematics, mind and language. His most famous work titled 'The Tractatus' outlines that the 'world consists of facts" and there is no object truth only "language games", and even logic itself is a "language game".Vienna Circle
The Vienna Cicle was an assosiasion of philosophers that formed in honour of Ernst Mach in the 19th Century. One of their main philosophical theories was the verification principle, which is a method whereby the truth of any proposition is the way in which you verify it. If a proposition cannot be verified it is neither true or false.
Karl Popper rejected this on logical grounds because he said that something could be true but you may not able to verify it, therefore the verification principle itself cannot be verified.
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