Philosophical Evolution: From Scholasticism to Enlightenment
Saint Thomas Aquinas and Scholasticism in the 13th Century
Saint Thomas Aquinas represents the main figure of medieval scholastic philosophy in the 13th century. During this period, a new social class emerged: the bourgeoisie. This class was closely tied to the rise of universities, which were replacing cathedral schools. A new artistic style, Gothic art, also appeared. The prevailing theocentrism influenced philosophy, emphasizing a deep unity and harmony between political and religious power. There
Read MoreKey Philosophical Concepts: Definitions and Origins
Habit
From the Latin habitus. Generally, the term “habit” refers to a predisposition to act a certain way, acquired through repeated exercise. According to Aristotelian ethics, virtues and vices are habits, each corresponding to two vices: one by excess and another by default. Although a habit is acquired by repeating a behavior, it eventually becomes a permanent possession of the individual. Thus, it is regulated by immediate behavior.
Hedonism
From the Greek hedonic (pleasure). This moral theory
Read MoreKant’s Philosophy: Synthetic A Priori, A Posteriori, and Transcendental Critique
Kant’s Philosophy: Judgments and the Critique of Pure Reason
Continuation of Kant’s Ideas
1) Synthetic a priori judgments: These judgments expand our understanding of reality and possess universal validity and necessity. They do not depend on experience and are found in mathematics and physics.
2) Synthetic a posteriori judgments: These judgments broaden knowledge but require verification through experience. They are not universal or necessary but are contingent.
3) Analytic a priori judgments: These
Read MoreSocial Workers and Labor Relations: Understanding Key Concepts
Social Workers and Labor Relations
Democracy
Democracy is a form of organizing groups of people, whose dominant feature is that the ownership of power resides in all of its members, making decisions that respond to the collective will of the members of the group. Strictly speaking, democracy is a form of government, organizing the state, in which collective decisions are taken by the people through participatory mechanisms that directly or indirectly confer legitimacy to representatives. Broadly speaking,
Read MorePhilosophical Perspectives on Reality: From Realism to Phenomenology
Reality in Philosophical History
Realism
Realism posits that the mind is like a mirror, reflecting reality as it truly is.
Idealism
Idealism suggests that the mind possesses inherent principles or categories that structure reality during the cognitive process.
Rationalism
Rationalism asserts that reason is the source of all true knowledge.
Empiricism
Empiricism claims that experience is the source of all true knowledge.
Rationalist Perspectives on Reality
- The real is that which meets the criterion of clarity
Skepticism: History, Principles, and Impact on Philosophy
Skepticism: A Constant in the History of Thought
Skepticism is a constant in the history of thought, appearing and reappearing throughout the ages. Kant divides all thinkers into dogmatic or skeptical.
The Lack of Certain Knowledge
The founder of skepticism was Pyrrho of Elis. Skepticism has a significant degree of unorthodoxy in its thinking and a common basis: the affirmation of the impossibility of all true knowledge.
The Attitude of Skeptical Doubt
The attitude of skeptical doubt appeared with the
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