Descartes’ Philosophy: Rules, Morality, Doubt, and Substance
1. Descartes’ Rules of Method
The first was to never admit anything as true without knowing the evidence that it was, that is, carefully avoiding precipitation and prevention and not including in my judgments nothing more than what was presented to my mind so clearly and distinctly that I had no reason to doubt it.
The second, to divide each of the difficulties I examined into as many parts as possible and into as many as required for its best solution.
The third, to drive my thoughts, starting with
Read MorePostmodern Society: Impacts on Individual Well-being
Disregard for Saturation
The reason is that there is everything in excess, causing saturation. Values are devalued; the important thing is to have fun while saying nothing, without contributing anything.
Features:
- The overwhelming frivolity. A kind of socialization of banality and mediocrity.
- The promotion of human selfishness, lack of solidarity, lack of high ideals, and a drop in values.
This causes some to consider suicide, looking for a quick exit to this accumulation of facts.
A Society Turned Away
Read MoreNietzsche’s Critique of Western Philosophy and the Will to Power
Nietzsche’s Critique of Western Philosophy
The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche must be framed within the crisis of human reason in the nineteenth century. Western culture, born in Greece, transitioned from myth to logos, entrusting since its beginning in the potential of reason to achieve its intended goals. Reason seemed to give a single meaning to human life. But it was in the nineteenth century when confidence in reason was broken and replaced by pessimism and distrust. Thus, some authors,
Read MoreAquinas on Ontology, Knowledge, and the Existence of God
Ontology
The sensory experience teaches us that there are beings that exist by themselves. This defines their essence or substance, their “quiddity.” Their form allows us to have a concept of substance and matter, unlike individuals of the same species, which can explain the change. They are composed of matter and form. Matter is the potential, and the form is the act of the subject, according to Aquinas. Thomas takes part in creation; God created the world, and therefore there exists a being who
Read MoreSocrates and Plato: Philosophy, Ethics, and the Soul
Socrates: Method and Intellectual Morality
Socrates, the Athenian, born in 470 BC, was a great critic of the Sophists. He was concerned about the moral vacuum into which the polis of Athens fell because of infighting. A critic of the superficial rhetoric of the Sophists, he advocated for direct dialogue as a philosophical method. His teacher was Archelaus. He left no writings of his own. What we know of him comes from his disciples and contemporaries. He was accused of impiety, of introducing new
Read MoreReligious Education in Schools: Foundations and Objectives
Foundations and Nature of Religious Education
*Pedagogical Reasons for the Nature and Role of the School*
– Transmit culture systematically and critically. The school provides the specific service of “culturizing” systematically through an ongoing, ordered process, carried out with scientific rigor. It also fosters critical awakening so that the process of student socialization is consistent, responsible, and free. A true cultural formation is transmitted systematically and critically:
- To help students