Skepticism, Dogmatism, Relativism, and Moral Concepts
Skepticism
Skeptics question the possibility of absolute certainty. There are two main types:
- Radical skepticism: Asserts that humans cannot attain knowledge because we only perceive appearances, not the things themselves.
- Moderate skepticism: Believes that while we may have the capacity to know, we lack a definitive criterion to verify the truth of our statements.
Dogmatism
Dogmatism is the position that accepts doctrines without criticism, believing in absolute truth. This can lead to intolerance towards
Moral Beings: Understanding the Foundations of Morality
Definition of Rules
Rules are a special type of statement that makes an order or command. They are indispensable for coexistence because they help tidy up our conduct towards others. They are distinguished from religious, legal, social, and moral norms by the form they take.
Why Are We Moral Beings?
Reliance on Logos
Aristotle (4th Century BC) states that we are moral because we have “logos.” This Greek word means both “word” and “reason.” Humans are moral because we possess thinking skills that are
Read MoreBourgeois Society and Class Struggle: Marx’s Analysis
Bourgeois Society and Class Struggle
Bourgeois society originated as a result of the revolution that took place in medieval society, stemming from the relationship between lord and vassal and the tensions inherent in medieval society. This society is divided into two broad classes: the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. It is a capitalist society in which the means of production are the private property of the employer, meaning they are separated from the worker.
Infrastructure and Superstructure
Within
Read MoreAnthropology: Understanding Human Life and Its Distinctions
Anthropology, a term derived from Greek, is the science of humankind. There are fundamental differences between living and inert beings, including self-movement, unity, immanence, self, and cyclical rhythm. Among living beings, we can distinguish between vegetative, sensitive, and intellectual life.
Living beings belonging to the vegetative life can only develop five basic stages: birth, growth, development, nourishment, and death. Those belonging to the sensitive life can act upon receiving a stimulus
Read MoreJohn Stuart Mill and Friedrich Nietzsche: Two Influential Philosophers
John Stuart Mill
John Stuart Mill (London, 1806 – Avignon, France, 1873) was a British economist, logician, and philosopher. Son of James Mill, also an economist, he was educated exclusively by his father under the strict principles of Rousseau’s Emile. Endowed with extraordinary intelligence, at ten years old, he was versed in Greek and Latin and had a thorough knowledge of the classics. At thirteen, his father introduced him to the principles of logic and political economy, focusing on the work
Read MoreKant’s Transcendental Aesthetic and Analytic
Transcendental Aesthetic
Transcendental knowledge encompasses all that deals with our concepts a priori. For example, space-time. It is the study of the pure a priori conditions of sensibility. The structure of knowledge is divided into two parts: 1) A priori 2) A posteriori. Kant begins by assuming the existence of synthetic judgments a priori in physics and mathematics, then there are those trials. He will study whether such judgments are possible. From this research, he will see if the existence
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