PPT-The knowledge argument Michael Lacewing

enquiriesalevelphilosophycouk 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. © Michael Lacewing . Innate concepts. Some of our concepts are innate. ‘Innate’: some concepts are somehow part of the structure of the mind rather than being gained through experience.. Michael Lacewing. enquiries@alevelphilosophy.co.uk. © Michael Lacewing. Descartes on clear and distinct ideas. Clear and distinct ideas can be known to be true. Clear: Present, accessible to the attentive mind. Argument. Michael Lacewing. enquiries@alevelphilosophy.co.uk. (c) Michael Lacewing. Clear and distinct ideas and truth. Consider: you can think that there can be triangles . whose internal angles don’t add up to 180°. But reflection proves this impossible.. 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. 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. Necessary and contingent existence. 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. 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. The . Kalām . Michael Lacewing. enquiries@alevelphilosophy.co.uk. © Michael Lacewing . ‘Innatism’ about knowledge. The claim that there is some innate knowledge. The debate is about propositional knowledge not ability knowledge. 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. Michael Lacewing. enquiries@alevelphilosophy.co.uk. © Michael Lacewing. Descartes’ question. Cosmological arguments usually ask ‘why does anything exist’?. Descartes doubts the existence of everything, and offers his cosmological argument after showing only that he exists.. enquiries@alevelphilosophy.co.uk. © Michael Lacewing. Idealism. Idealism: everything that exists is a mind or dependent on a . mind. Berkeley: . to . be is to be perceived (or to perceive): . esse est percipi . enquiries@alevelphilosophy.co.uk. © 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 . Analytic and synthetic propositions. An analytic proposition is true or false in virtue of the meanings of the . words. Squares have four sides. Michael Lacewing. enquiries@alevelphilosophy.co.uk. (c) Michael Lacewing. Descartes’ question. Cosmological arguments usually ask ‘why does anything exist’?. Descartes doubts the existence of everything, and offers his cosmological argument after showing only that he exists.