Philosophy
There are many many reasons to like philosophy, but if I had to settle on just one, I would probably have to say that what I love about it is its inherent playful ability to turn the conventional wisdom of our time and what seems intuitively obvious into something downright bizarre and highly questionable. Needless to say, it does require a peculiar kind of personality to be comfortable with ambiguity and open questions, but isn't that exactly what it takes to gain any wisdom?
One of my favorite examples of a philosopher running wild with a simple idea (like that all our knowledge derives from experience) is David Hume's thoughts on the idea of the self.
Descartes once argued that if there is only one thing you can know with certainty it's your own existence. Taking Descartes' own idea of ideas, Hume demonstrated that you can't even be sure about that, as the following incredibly short and funny summary of Hume's view demonstrates:
Check out more of Hume's ridiculously awesome awesomeness.
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- Topics That Shock Classes
My favorite Doonesbury is this one. My philosophy of science class last week made me think of it. Not because they are passionless note-scribblers, quite the opposite. It's a wonderfully lively bunch. But then we hit Hume's problem of induction...
- David Hume
(1711-1776) The Scottish philosopher David Hume is one of the most brilliant and skeptical of philosophers. Our ideas of epistemology would have been very different had Hume not been born. He developed empiricist philosophy to its logical zenith and challenged...
- (b) ?plato Does Not Value Experience Enough.? Discuss. (10 Marks)
A time limit of 15 mins was given for this. The key questions are whether Plato does undervalue experience and whether he is correct in assuming this. In one sense Plato appears correct in his assessment that the physical world cannot give us answers...
- Happy Birthday, David Hume!
Today marks the 300th birthday of David Hume, almost universally agreed to have been the most important philosopher ever to write in English, and certainly one of my favorites. It's rather strange (and disheartening, really) that his name hasn't...
- David Hume - Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
Widely considered to be the most important philosopher ever to write in the English language, the Scottish philosopher David Hume's ideas are as profound, subtle and revolutionary as they are playful, ironic and elusive. Brave and daring to the end,...
Philosophy
Three Minute Philosophy - David Hume
There are many many reasons to like philosophy, but if I had to settle on just one, I would probably have to say that what I love about it is its inherent playful ability to turn the conventional wisdom of our time and what seems intuitively obvious into something downright bizarre and highly questionable. Needless to say, it does require a peculiar kind of personality to be comfortable with ambiguity and open questions, but isn't that exactly what it takes to gain any wisdom?One of my favorite examples of a philosopher running wild with a simple idea (like that all our knowledge derives from experience) is David Hume's thoughts on the idea of the self.
Descartes once argued that if there is only one thing you can know with certainty it's your own existence. Taking Descartes' own idea of ideas, Hume demonstrated that you can't even be sure about that, as the following incredibly short and funny summary of Hume's view demonstrates:
Check out more of Hume's ridiculously awesome awesomeness.
.
- Topics That Shock Classes
My favorite Doonesbury is this one. My philosophy of science class last week made me think of it. Not because they are passionless note-scribblers, quite the opposite. It's a wonderfully lively bunch. But then we hit Hume's problem of induction...
- David Hume
(1711-1776) The Scottish philosopher David Hume is one of the most brilliant and skeptical of philosophers. Our ideas of epistemology would have been very different had Hume not been born. He developed empiricist philosophy to its logical zenith and challenged...
- (b) ?plato Does Not Value Experience Enough.? Discuss. (10 Marks)
A time limit of 15 mins was given for this. The key questions are whether Plato does undervalue experience and whether he is correct in assuming this. In one sense Plato appears correct in his assessment that the physical world cannot give us answers...
- Happy Birthday, David Hume!
Today marks the 300th birthday of David Hume, almost universally agreed to have been the most important philosopher ever to write in English, and certainly one of my favorites. It's rather strange (and disheartening, really) that his name hasn't...
- David Hume - Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
Widely considered to be the most important philosopher ever to write in the English language, the Scottish philosopher David Hume's ideas are as profound, subtle and revolutionary as they are playful, ironic and elusive. Brave and daring to the end,...