Plato’s Allegory of the Cave: Understanding Reality
Read MoreThe myth of the cave is the most famous of Plato’s allegories. It explains his theory of ideas, his epistemological theory, and his anthropological theory.
The story places us in a cave where there are prisoners who, throughout their lives, have been forced to look at shadows caused by a fire and some moving objects. In this first metaphor, the author identifies the prisoners chained to the human soul, which is tied to an earthly body and belongs to the world of things. It is, therefore, imperfect
Philosophy: Understanding Reality and Knowledge
Why Philosophize?
To philosophize serves several key purposes:
- To rationally unravel fundamental purposes.
- To strive to achieve a universal dimension when it comes to what we all need to live well.
- To provide criteria for rational criticism, helping us fight dogmatism. These criteria are achieved through philosophical reflection.
- To argue reasons that others can understand and accept.
- To provide knowledge of various skills.
Theoretical and Practical Rationality
The Realm of Theoretical Rationality
Theoretical
Read MoreKant’s Transcendental Idealism: Bridging Rationalism and Empiricism
Relationship: Hume and Kant
The author discards the first studies of Kant, which were rationalist. Throughout continental Europe, theories of knowledge are rationalism and empiricism. Discarding rationalism remains in effect. Descartes, in 1637, had published his Discourse on Method, in which he defended the unlimited power of human reason. He believed that if certain innate ideas (i.e., made by me) could derive from them all knowledge, human knowledge could be obtained without recourse to experience.
Read MorePolitical Power and State: Forms, Theories, and Legitimacy
I. Political Power and the State
Power can be defined as the ability of a person or social group to impose its will on others. Power is determined by a relationship in which one element is controlled and determined by the other component of the relationship. When power relations mainly affect social functioning, there is talk of political power; that is, power is organized within the polis, in the broadest sense. Political power can be defined as the power exercised in the management, control, and
Nature vs. Culture: Understanding Human Evolution
Nature and Culture
Cultural anthropology distinguishes between natural behaviors, those in which the information has been transmitted genetically, and cultural behaviors acquired by social learning. Biology differentiates between genotype (combinations of genes on chromosomes) that is innate, and the phenotype (interaction of genes on chromosomes), acquired throughout life. All individuals are the result of the interaction of two poles: their biological nature and the environment in which nature
Read MoreRatio-Vitalism and Perspectivism: Ortega y Gasset’s Philosophy
Ratio-Vitalism: Ortega’s Philosophy
The basic concept of ratio-vitalism is the contribution of Ortega y Gasset. This stage is a development and concretization of the previous perspectivism. It establishes the need to overcome the false dichotomy between reason and life:
- Reason has been regarded as the foundation of true knowledge.
- Life, by contrast, represents the particular, the mutable.
These two poles are inseparable. Ratio-vitalism is intended to be a middle ground between vitalism and rationalism:
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