1. What does Bacon mean by "natures?"
- I think that Bacon basically is talking about everything natural.
2. What does Bacon mean by "forms?:
- I may be way off base on this but i believe that by forms he means: heat, light, sound, etc.. forms of nature..
3. Explain Bacon's Idols of the Tribe:
- Idols of the Tribe are the various aspects of human nature: race, maybe personality, morality, ethical code, etc..
4. Explain Bacon's Idols of the Cave:
- Idols of the Cave are basically idols of the individual man. By that I think he means that their needs of shelter, food, education, etc..
5. Explain Bacon's Idols of the Marketplace:
- Idols of the Marketplace are formed by interaction between an individual and their surroundings, neighbors, and society in general..
6. Explain Bacon's Idols of the Theatre:
- Idols of the Theatre are ideas that are instilled in an individual by various philosophies and from protests etc. (Maybe today commercials would fall under this category?)
7. Explain Bacon's table of presence
- Bacon's table of presence lists all the cases wherein the phenomenon exists whose formal cause is sought: for instance, heat, which appears to be present in fire, in the sun, etc. I guess things like gravity might fall under this, i am not entirely sure how to explain this...
8. Explain Bacon's table of absence
- Bacon's table of absence lists all the cases in which the phenomenon under analysis does not appear to be present: there is no heat in the light of the stars, of the moon, etc. Aite, so the sun produces light which produces heat. Right? Wrong, if this was true then why doesn't the moon produce heat. Seems quite logical to me : )
9. Explain Bacon's table of degrees
- Bacon's Table of degrees lists the increase and decrease of the given phenomenon in one object or in different objects. This third table, by leading to knowledge of the law of movement of the phenomenon, should bring us to know the formal cause (law) of the phenomenon itself. It is not always easy to arrive at a formulation of the law of the form of movement. In such a case we must be content with a temporary or working hypothesis, and await new instances, new experiments. I think this is pretty self explanatory.
10. Explain the Baconian Method as completely as you can.
- Wow. The Baconian Method is basically a way of finding similarities between two phenomenons then being able to deduce what factors match the occurrence and ones that dont. Also, you would be able to map out the change. Using all of these things you would be able to "deduce by elimination and inductive reasoning" the cause of said phenomenon.
11. What did Bacon find lacking in Aristotle?
- Bacon found that Aristotle was lacking the general theory of science, which he believed could be applied to all aspects of philosophy. Bacon's method was probably much more contemporary and sophisticated.
12. In your best judgement, how is Bacon's method related to the modern scientific method?
- I guess it could be almost like an experiment. Its a process, just as someone forms a hypothesis and continues; Bacon's method someone would choose a phenomenon to examine and go through a step by step analysis of it. I guess it kind of relates to it.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Friday, February 6, 2009
Father of Modern Science.
1. Ockham is described as a “nominalist.” Explain what “nominalism” means in this context.
- I think the easiest way to describe a nominalist or nominalism is basically that only individuals exist. "And that universals are the products of abstraction from individuals by the human mind and have no extra-mental existence."
2. Explain “Ockham’s Razor” in your own words.
- This seemed fairly straight-forward: If a person is trying to explain a phenomenon, that person should make as few assumptions as possible about the occurance, and using the process of elimination to come to an acceptable theory or hypothesis.
3. Apply Ockham’s razor to the problem of universals. Which answer to the problem would be cut away? Which answer would remain?
- I am probably going to be way off on this but I think it basically means that universals do not exist because they arent observable, he cant see them, touch them, taste them, smell them. How would he make assumptions about something that he cannot experience first hand.
4. What did Ockham believe about “mere belief?”
- He believed that it meant exactly that. Mere Belief. He put little stock in it because it was susseptible to error; however, he thought it was suitable for our needs.
5. Which of Ockham’s ideas was important to British philosophy for years to come?
- I am guessing his theory of Occam's Razor was probably the most important of his many contributions.
6. What did Nicholas of Autrecourt say? Why was this important for the transition from scholasticism to modernism?
- Nicholas of Autrecourt believed that the efforts of applying philosphical reasoning to Christian doctrine had failed and therefore should be abandoned. I think this was important because it was one of steps that led to the demise of scholasticism.
7. How did Hasdai Crescas among the Jews and Meister Eckhart apply rational methods? Why was this important for the transition from scholasticism to modernism?
- Hasdai Crescas applied rational methods "only in order to generate paradoxical results that would demonstrate the need ro rely upon mystical union with god as the foundation for genuine human knowledge." This was important because he generated paradoxical results that enabled people to think outside the realm of god.
8. How did Nicolas of Cusa try to save scholasticism? Why do you think it didn’t work?
- Nicolas of Cusa tried to save scholasticism by deliberately embracing contradiction. I think it didnt work because his claim was so ambiguous, and there was no way to prove it.
9. What method of inquiry did Galileo reject?
- I am not sure but it seems like he rejected blind allegiance to authority, both philosophical and religious, in matters of science.
10. What was Galileo’s own preferred method of inquiry?
- I think it would probably be observation and logic.
11. Why did Galileo have so many enemies?
- I think that he had alot of enemies because he went against the grain on alot of his observations. He not only made alot of enemies, they were very powerful ones! haha the worst kind to have.
12. What is Galileo mainly remembered for?
- Probably the telescope! Well beyond its time.
- Albert Einstein called him the father of Modern science, which is reallly high praise. There were probably numerous contributions that were important to science. He was the first to clearly state the laws of nature are mathematical. Just one of many..
14. How did Galileo pi… infuriate the Aristotleans?
- He infuiated the Aristotleans because he was being rational and explaining his views. They didnt agree with his line of thinking, so they threw him in to prison. (Whack if you ask me)
15. How does the Aristotlean reaction illustrate the difference between premodern and modern thinking?
- Premodern thinking was stubborn and rigid, not really open to new ideas or different perspectives on a subject. Whereas, modern thinking accepted all views so long as they were backed up with a rational explaination.
16. How was Galileo wrong about comets?
- Galileo believed that comets were an atmospheric phenomenon as opposed to outter space objects.
17. What did Galileo clearly say about the laws of nature?
- Galileo explained that the laws of nature were mathematical and everything was geometric.
18. What was Galileo’s theory of tides?
- Galileo hypothesized that tides were caused by the rotation of the Earth on it's axis which caused the oceans to sway back and forth.
19. What was wrong with Galileo’s theory of tides?
- Galileo's theory was wrong because there are more tides in a day then the earth can rotate on its axis. We would have to be spinning super fast for his theory to be possible.
20. How is Galileo’s theory of tides a radical departure from scholastic thinking?
- I am not really sure, but I guess it could be a radical departure from scholastic thinking because he is assuming to much, rather than assessing and eliminating his assumptions based on fact rather than what he thought was right.
- I think the easiest way to describe a nominalist or nominalism is basically that only individuals exist. "And that universals are the products of abstraction from individuals by the human mind and have no extra-mental existence."
2. Explain “Ockham’s Razor” in your own words.
- This seemed fairly straight-forward: If a person is trying to explain a phenomenon, that person should make as few assumptions as possible about the occurance, and using the process of elimination to come to an acceptable theory or hypothesis.
3. Apply Ockham’s razor to the problem of universals. Which answer to the problem would be cut away? Which answer would remain?
- I am probably going to be way off on this but I think it basically means that universals do not exist because they arent observable, he cant see them, touch them, taste them, smell them. How would he make assumptions about something that he cannot experience first hand.
4. What did Ockham believe about “mere belief?”
- He believed that it meant exactly that. Mere Belief. He put little stock in it because it was susseptible to error; however, he thought it was suitable for our needs.
5. Which of Ockham’s ideas was important to British philosophy for years to come?
- I am guessing his theory of Occam's Razor was probably the most important of his many contributions.
6. What did Nicholas of Autrecourt say? Why was this important for the transition from scholasticism to modernism?
- Nicholas of Autrecourt believed that the efforts of applying philosphical reasoning to Christian doctrine had failed and therefore should be abandoned. I think this was important because it was one of steps that led to the demise of scholasticism.
7. How did Hasdai Crescas among the Jews and Meister Eckhart apply rational methods? Why was this important for the transition from scholasticism to modernism?
- Hasdai Crescas applied rational methods "only in order to generate paradoxical results that would demonstrate the need ro rely upon mystical union with god as the foundation for genuine human knowledge." This was important because he generated paradoxical results that enabled people to think outside the realm of god.
8. How did Nicolas of Cusa try to save scholasticism? Why do you think it didn’t work?
- Nicolas of Cusa tried to save scholasticism by deliberately embracing contradiction. I think it didnt work because his claim was so ambiguous, and there was no way to prove it.
9. What method of inquiry did Galileo reject?
- I am not sure but it seems like he rejected blind allegiance to authority, both philosophical and religious, in matters of science.
10. What was Galileo’s own preferred method of inquiry?
- I think it would probably be observation and logic.
11. Why did Galileo have so many enemies?
- I think that he had alot of enemies because he went against the grain on alot of his observations. He not only made alot of enemies, they were very powerful ones! haha the worst kind to have.
12. What is Galileo mainly remembered for?
- Probably the telescope! Well beyond its time.
13. Which of Galileo’s contributions was actually most important to science?
- Albert Einstein called him the father of Modern science, which is reallly high praise. There were probably numerous contributions that were important to science. He was the first to clearly state the laws of nature are mathematical. Just one of many..
14. How did Galileo pi… infuriate the Aristotleans?
- He infuiated the Aristotleans because he was being rational and explaining his views. They didnt agree with his line of thinking, so they threw him in to prison. (Whack if you ask me)
15. How does the Aristotlean reaction illustrate the difference between premodern and modern thinking?
- Premodern thinking was stubborn and rigid, not really open to new ideas or different perspectives on a subject. Whereas, modern thinking accepted all views so long as they were backed up with a rational explaination.
16. How was Galileo wrong about comets?
- Galileo believed that comets were an atmospheric phenomenon as opposed to outter space objects.
17. What did Galileo clearly say about the laws of nature?
- Galileo explained that the laws of nature were mathematical and everything was geometric.
18. What was Galileo’s theory of tides?
- Galileo hypothesized that tides were caused by the rotation of the Earth on it's axis which caused the oceans to sway back and forth.
19. What was wrong with Galileo’s theory of tides?
- Galileo's theory was wrong because there are more tides in a day then the earth can rotate on its axis. We would have to be spinning super fast for his theory to be possible.
20. How is Galileo’s theory of tides a radical departure from scholastic thinking?
- I am not really sure, but I guess it could be a radical departure from scholastic thinking because he is assuming to much, rather than assessing and eliminating his assumptions based on fact rather than what he thought was right.
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