Philosophers of philosophy differ in their approach to the nature of reality. Some focus on idealist metaphysics, while others focus on the Platonic realism of Plato. Platonic realism, also known as idealism, holds that all objects have universal Forms and knowledge of these Forms is more certain than sensory data. It also claims that Forms set an objective morality for the world and that time is simply an image of Eternity.
Idealist metaphysics
The idealist school of metaphysics developed in the nineteenth century. Kant and his followers held that reality is comprised of a set of simples, and that human beings, planets, and galaxies are not separate entities. But the Absolute does exist, and is constantly changing and progressing. Hegel’s Objective Idealism rejected this view, but still held that God is a concept of the Absolute.
The term idealism is used in a variety of philosophical traditions. While the term has a common sense in everyday language, the philosophical conception of idealism is much more subtle. During the nineteenth century, it dominated British and American universities, and was linked to popular notions of progressive social thought. However, idealist philosophy metaphysics has its own history and a different interpretation today. While the term “idealism” is often used to refer to an aesthetic approach, there are numerous exceptions to this practice.
The idealist view of metaphysics has its roots in Descartes’s ideas on the existence of God. Descartes, a famous example of a metaphysical dualist, is often associated with idealist thought. However, this is not entirely accurate. Spinoza is a radical monist, while Descartes is an outspoken metaphysical dualist. These differences are reflected in their different approaches to metaphysics.
The Dialectic is divided into three parts, with the third section showing the faculty of reason’s conception of the unconditioned. This unconditioned state is a condition for everything else, including itself. The rational faculty of reason relies on intuition, but that intuition is conditioned. As a result, any representation of a region of space or time is conditioned by the more space or time surrounding it. The three sections are supposed to illustrate this underlying principle.
Hume’s distinction between what a thing is and the fact that it is
In a 17th century essay, David Hume argued that no ought-judgment can be validly inferred from premises expressed in terms of ‘is.’ This is an extremely common logical fallacy, which is why most vulgar systems of morality commit it. But there are other, more subtle ways to interpret Hume’s distinction between what a thing is and the fact that it is.
In his book, “On Human Understanding”, Hume recognized that there are two kinds of perception. He outlined the distinction between “impressions” and “ideas” as being a faint image of what a thing is. Although Hume thought this distinction was obvious, he conceded that ideas can be produced during fever and sleep, and that certain impressions can approximate the weakness of an idea.
In addition to this, Hume also rejected the concept of necessity, and he identified liberty with “randomness” or chance. He thought human actions were not free in this sense, but allowed freedom in other ways. His treatise, entitled EcHU, focused on the concept of freedom. Freedom is the power to act or not act, or to not act. That is, we should never allow ourselves to be shackled by our belief that what we think is necessary.
David Hume’s definition of fact and the notion of probability reveals how these two concepts are related to each other. For example, one proposition can be deduced from another by another. Another could be expressed as a mathematical formula, where one idea can be derived from another. Hume also argued that a proposition can be derived from a mathematical equation. The result of this argument is that a thing is a mathematical expression of the relations between ideas.
Descartes’s principle of sufficient reason
One of the pillars of Descartes’s doctrine of creation is that there must be at least one contingent truth. This concept is the act of God’s will, and therefore lacks sufficient reason. But this does not mean that there are no contingent truths. According to Descartes, there is one. The concept of Caesar contains an argument for its existence. But it is not sufficient to say that Caesar is a contingent truth.
According to Descartes, every property of a substance is referred to by its attribute. For example, a substance has the property of extension. If that substance has an attribute that is related to extension, then it is of the same kind. Any modification of extension must be a modification of that attribute. This restriction violates the PSR. For this reason, Descartes’s principle of sufficient reason cannot be used to determine the properties of a physical object.
Spinoza disagrees with Descartes’s view. Spinoza holds that there are no created substances, but that God is the only ultimate substance. Descartes interpreted modes of God as created substances. Ultimately, it is Spinoza’s view that God is the only ultimate subject. However, Spinoza’s official grounds for this thesis are the E1P4 argument and the fifth argument.
According to Leibniz, a sufficient reason is a proof that is independent of the input from sense experience. The concept of sufficient reason has a pre-Kantian meaning. For example, if we could prove a fact without the input of sense experience, this would constitute an a priori proof of the truth of the proposition. Thus, it would be an explanation and demonstration.
Existentialism
Existentialism is the study of the nature of existence. It rejects the idea that existence is homogenous and is an object of knowledge. It stresses that human existence is distinct from anything else. It is not a part of a chain of causes and is not a subject of knowledge. Historically, existentialists have traced their ideas to the distinction between matter and soul in Plato’s Republic and Descartes’ Critique of Rationalism.
The concept of ‘nothing’ has been used to describe an existence in which the self is not a subject, which has nothing to do with reality. A logical positivist might object that the existence of nothing can never be established, but a person can create meaning through his or her actions. The philosophical approach to existentialists is sometimes atheistic and may be theological. Nietzsche declared that God is dead, while Kierkegaard was highly religious. However, both existentialists acknowledge that freedom of belief is important.
Despite its diverse approach to human existence, existentialists tend to have one central theme, which can serve as a framework for analyzing exemplary figures from history. These seven themes are discussed briefly here. The philosophy of existentialism is largely rooted in the nineteenth century, but is influenced by French writers such as Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, and Simone de Beauvoir.
The concept of inauthenticity can be applied to both the positive and negative aspects of social existence. Existentialists use terms such as ‘herd’ and ‘crowd’ to describe the collective human condition. Inauthenticity manifests itself through de-individuation, being faceless, and being accepted by others as ‘that’s what everyone does’. This kind of ‘normal’ behaviour, however, is not what is desired in life.
Husserl’s phenomenology
There are several prominent philosophers of mind who practice phenomenology, including Heidegger, Sartre, and Merleau-Ponty. This course will introduce this philosophical method and explore its roots. Husserl’s philosophy is particularly relevant to the study of metaphysics, since it considers the nature of consciousness and its relation to the concept of intentionality.
In his work, Husserl describes “moments of matter,” which he calls “ideal matter.” This method involves a reflection-based analysis of linguistic expressions and intuitive fulfillment and conflict. As a result, the process leads to an ideal species. The ideal species is then described according to this process of “free variation,” which Husserl calls “phenomenological description.”
Several of the phenomenological methods are reductions. This is counterproductive to the anti-reductionistic stance of phenomenology. While reductions help us to understand consciousness, they are not the end-all, be-all of the process. The ultimate goal of a reduction is to understand how different aspects of a thing are constituted into the actual thing.
In addition to Husserl’s early writings, Martin Heidegger grew suspicious of the reduction of philosophy to psychology and mathematics. In his first phase of career, he made phenomenology his method of ontology. However, he was not convinced by this approach and continued to defend his own positions on philosophy. Heidegger’s work is an example of the impact of phenomenology in philosophy.
Despite the controversy surrounding Husserl’s work, there are many other aspects of phenomenology that should be analyzed. In this article, I’ll discuss two of his most influential topics: self-consciousness and higher-order thought. Ultimately, this will enable us to understand Husserl’s philosophical project and to formulate our own. If we are willing to explore the many implications of this work, it is likely to prove helpful to the rest of the philosophy world.