Kant’s Philosophy: Reason, Knowledge, and Morality
Kant’s Philosophical Project
Context and Motivation
Kant’s philosophy, motivated by the intellectual situation of the Renaissance, arose from a need for clarification and a critique of reason. Reason, as the ultimate authority, was crucial for scientific endeavor, moral action, and the organization of society. Kant sought to resolve three key issues:
- Dogmatic Rationalism
- Passivist Empiricism
- Irrationalism
Enlightenment and Freedom
Humanity often lives in an unenlightened state due to a lack of freedom
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Ortega’s Philosophy: Reality and Perspectivism
José Ortega y Gasset’s philosophy posits that reality is a dynamic and changing co-existence of the self with the world. No one can claim absolute truths about the human condition for each subject. The alternative is Ortega’s perspectivism: every life is a point of view about the world, and there are as many points of view as individuals. What happens to the individual also impacts society and entire epochs. The whole truth can only be obtained by
Read MoreRealism and Idealism in Philosophy
Realism
Realism is a philosophical orientation asserting that reality exists independently of the mind. Realists believe that material things are real and exist independently of thought. They hold that knowledge corresponds to this material reality as it is, setting aside subjective interpretations.
Radical Realism
Radical Realism believes that knowledge is an exact copy of reality, and that we know the world exactly as it is.
Moderate Realism
Moderate Realism is a stance which believes that objective
Read MoreEvolution of Justice Concepts: From Ancient Philosophy to Modern Theories
Generations of Human Rights
Human rights are fundamental moral values and a model for the State’s structure. They are often categorized into generations:
- 1st Generation: Civil and Political Rights – Emphasizing individual liberties, often associated with the Rule of Law.
- 2nd Generation: Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights – Focusing on equality and the role of the social state of law.
- 3rd Generation: Peace, Environment, and Development Rights – Centered on solidarity and mutual cooperation among
Plato’s Theory of Forms and Soul: Knowledge and Reality
Plato’s Theory of Knowledge: Forms and Reality
Plato’s Theory of Knowledge builds upon Socratic principles. It posits that the senses can deceive us, and true knowledge resides in universal, permanent, and stable entities. This contrasts with the ever-changing appearances of the sensible world, emphasizing the distinction between essence versus appearance.
Influences include Heraclitus’s concept of constant flux and Socrates’s pursuit of universal definitions.
Levels of Knowledge and Reality
Plato distinguishes
Read MoreUnderstanding Social Science and Philosophical Inquiry
Social Science Methods
The goal of social science is to understand social reality. This pursuit gives the social sciences the following features:
- Predictive capacity is lower than in natural sciences.
- Generalization ability is lower than in natural sciences.
- Value neutrality is often impossible.
Do social sciences use the same methods as natural sciences? The response points to two different traditions: the empirical-analytic and the hermeneutic. The first tradition advocates applying the methods of
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