PPT-Direct realism Michael Lacewing

enquiriesalevelphilosophycouk Michael Lacewing What do we perceive Direct realism we perceive physical objects which exist independent of our experience Physical objects existed before minds. Michael Lacewing. enquiries@alevelphilosophy.co.uk. © Michael Lacewing . Out of doubt. The purpose of the . Meditations. is to find the truth. To do this, Descartes needs to solve his . sceptical. doubts. enquiries@alevelphilosophy.co.uk. (c) Michael Lacewing. Omniscience. Omni-: ‘all’; . scient. : ‘knowing’. Is it possible to know . everything. ?. God is the most perfect . possible . being. So omniscience is ‘. enquiries@alevelphilosophy.co.uk. © Michael Lacewing. Am I a brain in a vat?. Knowledge is not belief (even true belief). Are my reasons for my beliefs sufficient for knowledge?. Maybe all my experiences are fed to me by a supercomputer. enquiries@alevelphilosophy.co.uk. (c) Michael Lacewing. God and time. God is self-. sufficient.. Therefore, God is dependent . on nothing else for . existence.. Therefore, nothing can end God’s existence.. enquiries@alevelphilosophy.co.uk. (c) Michael Lacewing. Hedonist act utilitarianism. Actions . are morally right or wrong depending on their consequences and nothing else. An act is right if it maximises what is good.. enquiries@alevelphilosophy.co.uk. (c) Michael Lacewing. Cognitivism v. non-cognitivism. What are we doing when we. make moral judgments?. Cognitivism: moral judgments, e.g. ‘Murder is wrong’. Aim to describe how the world is. Argument. Michael Lacewing. enquiries@alevelphilosophy.co.uk. Anselm’s argument. God is a being ‘greater . than which cannot be conceived. ’. If you could think of something that is greater than God, surely this something would . enquiries@alevelphilosophy.co.uk. © Michael Lacewing . Indirect realism. We . perceive physical objects which are . mind-independent.. But . we do so via, or in virtue of, . perceiving . mind-dependent . Michael Lacewing. enquiries@alevelphilosophy.co.uk. © Michael Lacewing . The origin of knowledge. Does all our knowledge come from experience, as empiricists claim?. Descartes thinks not. He uses deductive reasoning: if the premises and true, the conclusion must be true. enquiries@alevelphilosophy.co.uk. © Michael Lacewing. Metaethics. What is morality, philosophical speaking?. Can ethical claims be objectively true or false?. Are moral properties part of reality?. Cognitivism: moral judgments, e.g. ‘Murder is wrong’. enquiries@alevelphilosophy.co.uk. © Michael Lacewing. Substance and properties. A substance is an entity, a thing, that does not depend on another entity for its continued existence. . It has ‘ontological independence’. Michael Lacewing. enquiries@alevelphilosophy.co.uk. (c) Michael Lacewing. The question. Why does anything exist?. Unless God exists, this question is unanswerable.. (c) Michael Lacewing. Temporal and sustaining causes. enquiries@alevelphilosophy.co.uk. (c) Michael Lacewing. N. on. -. cognitivism and anti-realism. What are we doing when we. make moral judgments?. Non. -cognitivism: moral judgments. Do not aim to describe the world. enquiries@alevelphilosophy.co.uk. © Michael Lacewing. Is pleasure good?. Aristotle: . pleasure is good, and. . eudaimonia . involves pleasure. Obj. : . The temperate person avoids pleasure.. Not . true..