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Grab the sheet entitled "the Blank Slate". Read for the first 10 minutes.
Discuss this: What are the inherent dangers
of believing that humans are a blank slate?
Should the potential danger be weighed as we evaluate how true an idea is?
A contrast with Rationalism
Rationalism--Deductive Reasoning
Empiricism--Inductive Reasoning
Rationalism
Deduction of Forms
Empiricism
Observation and Classification
the essence of objects
is the physical
teleology-the idea of inherent
purpose
Empiricism: The tree can only be understood through its physical form. Its "treeness" is incorporated into that form, including its cycle of growth and death. There is no abstract tree. There are other trees like it we can compare and draw observations.
Rationalism: There is an ideal tree. It's "treeness" can be expressed through abstract--likely mathematical--expression to describe a "real" tree. A physical tree is prone to wither and die. Therefore, it is less real.
Based on your observation at Stampede,
what was going on in the quad?
Major Concepts of Empiricism
Tabula Rasa - The Blank Slate
No innate knowledge - universal knowledge and the
"children and idiots" exception
How much does perception create reality?
On the back of the new card, list 4 general
patterns of behavior that most define who a
person is. Trade your card.
On your new card, answer the four questions
as a summary of your group. Trade the card.
On your new card, write how your group undertakes the behaviors on the back. Trade your card.
On your poster, create a conceptual diagram
of this person. The diagram should not be a human body. It should define the person by the answers on the card.
conceptualism: language is built of
aggregated observations. Language
is how we objectify experience.
love
Locke: Representative Realism--Primary/Secondary Qualities
Idealism: all reality is mental
Materialism: all reality is physical
A human is violent.
A tree is ominous.
Berkley's Idealism: All knowledge is Sense Data
Problems with Self-Reference
and God's existence (remember Infinite Epistemic Regress)
Sapir-Whorf Theory/Whorfism/Linguistic Determinism- the theory that our thoughts are limited, dictated, or guided by our language
Dishonesty in language:
Cooperative Theory: Informative, Direct, Brief
Humbug: dishonesty to the point of currying favor with an audience. Deception is secondary.
Bullshit: Openly flaunting facts and manipulating language, generally with little regard to the actual truth, either from ignorance of the truth or apathy toward it. (Truthiness, Word of the Year, 2006)
Derrida: Words are defined by other words. They are non-present.
Every statement is a lie. (logocentrism and the enlightenment view of language)
No existence outside of language
(hello, infinite epistemic regress)
Language Games - Ludwig Wittgenstein
Language is inextricable from context and intent
"I want you to do me a favor"
As a group, create a metaphor for the following items:
- school
- love
- knowledge
- myself
conceptual metaphors: processes by which we
understand and incorporate new knowledge (think to our belief discussion)
IB Learner Survey 2a
http://bit.ly/IBLearn2a
Which metaphors are most epistemologicaly reliable? Which are least? How do you know?
Intersubjectivity: the role of language
and the approximation of experience
Written "Warm-Up" 1.4
Define "I".
The Dark Side of Empiricism
David Hume
Statements are either analytical, synthetic, or non-sensical
Analytical statements are tautological,
revealing nothing about "reality."
"A triangle has three sides" "A=A"
Can't build a knowledge system (rationalism)
"Non-sense" fall into neither category
synthetic propositions draw on sense data:
Mr. Jenkins owns two large dogs.
Mr. Jenkins is the biggest buffoon I have ever known.
Everything we know is
from analogy to previous
experience.
The Existential Implications of Hume
God goes in Berkley's "Non-Sense" Category.
The Nature of objects:
All we perceive are properties, not things in the self.
(Bundle Theory)
Therefore, we can not know that there are things.
Causation is post hoc reasoning we use to make sense of the world. Causation is also a fiction.
There is no self without sense data. Therefore,
the self (or the soul) is a fictional entity.
The challenge of defining a "self"
Hofstatter: The Strange Loop
The Paradox of Self
Stimulus Response Loops
http://bit.ly/IBLearn3
Discuss This:
1. List the categories of classes you take.
2. Rank them from most to least reliable as a method of creating knowledge.
Logical Positivism
or: Logical Empiricism
Wittgenstein: "That of which we cannot speak therof we must remain silent"
Only that which can be verified can provide knowledge
Science is the only reliable field. Ethics, Aesthetics, Consciousness disucssions are meaningless. Philosophy should evaluate how science best works.
Declarative Statements are modified
"if...then" statements
Where do I go when you leave LA313?
If you go into LA313, you are likely to see Mr. Jenkins
logical and theoretical constructs.
- atoms
- the average American family is 3.14 people
Critiques of Positivism
Attacks on the Primacy of Science to Verify
- Popper and How Science Works
- Kuhn and the critique of Scientific Progress
Gestalt Psychology
Cognitive Dissonance
Behaviorism vs. Chomskyan Linguistics
Immanuel Kant and the Kantian Compromise
We are born with categories that filter sense data.
Google Form #2
http://bit.ly/IBLearn2
IB Test Question Review
Question 2
Prescribed Text
Questions 1 A and B
A. What is a Human Being?
Sub-Topic: Question in...
Epistemology,
Religion,
Ethics,
Politics
Step 1: Write and decorate the question in the middle of the poster.
Step 2: Identify as many philosophical perspectives
as you can that could address the question. Briefly explain how it would relate.
Step 3: Develop claims based on the philosophical perspectives. You can link multiple perspectives under one claim.
Step 4: Offer a counter-argument for each of the claims.
Step 5: Develop the "Personal Response", a discussion of how an individual might struggle with
this question.
Directions for 9.26/9.27
Go to Canvas: Pages: Supplementary
Readings
Read "Beyond Bullshit." Then answer the
two following questions as your Written Warm
Up (1.3 SL, 1.2 HL)
1. Are humans inherently violent? Inherently honest?
2. To what extent does honesty or dishonesty modify our knowledge?
Agenda for 9.20/9.23
1. Discuss Essay Submission
2. Read and Response: "The Blank Slate
3. Finish Descartes
4. Basics of of Empiricism
5. What is a real tree?
SL: Get the white sheet entitled "The Blank Slate" from the table.
HL: Get your notebooks/chromebooks and hit the hall.
Empiricism is the using of sense data to
understand truth. Using your sense data,
what is going on in he quad?
Terms from Wednesday
External World Skepticism: Skepticism that the
world is what it seems
Skeptical Scenario: A logically possible if absurd theory that unifies sense data
Phenomenal Conservatism: An idea that common sense should prevail unless justifiable reasons exist to subvert it.
Global Skepticism: The idea that we can never truly know the external world.
Are Humans Inherently Violent?
The documentary later continues to reveal these two facts:
a) early Austrilopiths (pre-homo) also used tools and possibly weapons
b) the 2013 find is believed to be a communal burial site, like a cemetery.
How would these facts change the "violent ape" theory?
Discussion Question: Is human nature inherently violent?
Later in the documentary, recent findings provided
the following two ideas:
a)
Build a Human Workshop
1. On your groups index card, list four questions you would need answered to "know" a person (self or other) Trade with another group.
Written Warm-Up 1.3 (HL 1.1)
1. Descartes posits that the self is an a priori concept, whereas Locke might posit that the self is built over time. What are the necessary qualities to understanding the "self."
2. Define "I".
On Friday, we went out side to discuss primary/secondary qualities
Compare and Contrast the different qualities you ascribed in each categories.
For your temporary group, you need poster paper, post-its, three markers.
http://bit.ly/IBLearn
Possible Counterarguments
The Computer Analogy
the ocean
a house of cards
a bank
a star
a fire
a car on the verge of breaking down
a tree
Berkley's Dead End Defense of God
Where do I go when you leave LA313?
Written Warm-Up 1.4
The film clip espouses the claims of Dr. Emoto,
whose views have roundly been criticized as
pseudoscience. That said, the idea that words and
intentions impact reality is a popular idea. Choose one angle by which to analyze the clip:
- If the theory is true, what does it imply for our existence if we are so easily manipulated?
- Is there a problem with the correlation of symmetry, beauty, and goodness?
- If you are skeptical of the theory, how would you critique it?
Write this sentence on your whiteboard:
Humans have an unfettered right to knowledge, specifically to be published free online.
Team A is Affirmative/Team B is Negative.
With your partner table, swap Team A. Choose a partner on the opposite side.
Each group has received their own system. For your system, discuss and record the following:
1. The essay "It's Complicated" suggests that some systems are too complex for us to have complete knowledge over them. What blind spots could occur in your system?
2. What possible impacts could these blind spots have for our knowledge? For how these systems work in our society?
3. Since Hume eschews "cause and effect" reasoning as a fiction based on our experience, to what extent could our previous experience create conceptual analogies that could create false knowledge?
Circle which words need to be defined to understand this sentence. Define these words, using outside sources if necessary.
Directions for 10.9/10.10
1. Each person needs a copy of The Human Condition and the story "Unready to Wear" (side table). Each group needs a whiteboard and marker.
Agenda:
1. Sight Reading The Human Condition
2. Discussion of Technology
3. Debates on Knowledge
Debate Schedule:
Aff Speech 2 min
Neg CX v. Aff 1 min
Neg Speech 2 min
Aff CX v. Neg 1 min
Prep 1 min
Aff Rebuttal 1 min
Prep 1 min
Neg Rebuttal 1 min
Divide your group into Team A and Team B.
Devise arguments both for and against the proposition
In your group, discuss these two questions:
1. What does Arendt mean by "means-end" reasoning? How does she claim it is no longer useful?
2. How does Arendt argue the purpose of technology has shifted?
3. If this text was first published in 1958, in what ways is it still valid?
On your board, write a philosophical question created from the text.
A Continental Perspective
The study of our first-person experience in relation to the world (the underpinnings of modern existentialism)
Identity is defined in the context of our intentionality toward phenomena.
Ex. I fear the test next period.
(S) (V) (Obj)
I relish the challenge of the test next period.
Create a definition for science.
Intro to Philosophy of Science
Big Questions:
How do we define science?
Does science aim at truth?
What is the relationship of ethics and science?
What is the relation of science and the individual? And society?
Develop one philosophical question to ask your science teacher. Get their answer word for word if you can.
Discuss which, if any of these, fit into the category of science
- astrology
- psychology
- sociology
- homeopathic medicine
- political science
- quantum physics
What is the implication of classifying or not classifying any of these as science?
B.
Philosophy Internal Assessment
Choose a "non-philosophical text"
Analyze it "philosophically"
Some ideas from the discussion
Follow Questions where they go (Gender, Metaphors), which is past identification
Lots of Mind/Brain (Obese Minds)
The metaphor of the internet (a distributed consciousness)
Redefining others
A new twist on the body/mind limitation
Brainstorming Assignment on Canvas
Philosophy 10.17/10.18
Agenda
1. Discuss IA
2. Review Discussion
3. Epistemology Review
4. Ontology and the Study of Science
You need a computer (closed) and a Supplementary Empiricism Sheet". Also, get out your notebook. Highlight the title of each of your journal entries.