Phil 103 Exam #2

Galileo

• Time of tension between the church and science

• “Dialogue concerning the two chief world systems”

Dialogue concerning the two chief world systems

Three characters: Salviati, Sagredo, and Simplicio

Pokes fun at the Ptolemaic model (earth at the center)

Salvati - represents the heliocentric (Copernican perspective) - Galileo’s perspective

Sagredo - intelligent layman - begins neutral

Simplicio - dedicated follower of ptolemy and Aristotle

Main strategies of Galileo’s dialogue

1. Rebuttal of objections to the copernican position

2. Observations imcompatible with the Ptolemaic model

3. Arguments against the traditional Aristotelian view - evidence of change - sunspots, new stars

4. Arguments that favor the earth’s motion

Galileo’s perspective on enumerative inductive inference

Believes that it should go beyond observation - emphasizes the importance of experiment to draw conclusions

Bacon (1561-1626)

Bacon sketches out a new method for the scientist - proposes a new method

Believed that learning by authority/tradition should be rejected - need to go out and learn these things for yourself - to “check” authority

Bacon ______ the idea of learning by authority/tradition

rejected

Bacon’s idols

1. Idols of the tribe

2. Idols of the cave

3. Idols of the marketplace

4. Idols of the theatre

“Mental traps” that lead us away from the truth

Bacon believed that idols could _____ the study of science

taint

Idols of the tribe

Idols arising from the human nature - influenced by the will and affection

Tendency to ignore/reject counter arguments

ex: conspiracy thinking online

Idols of the cave

Particular to the individual - cultural, temperment, educational, special influences - individual biases

ex: background interprets how you view things - like someone raised to distrust medicine will distrust medicine

Idols of the marketplace

Errors due to the influence of language/communication - differences in how words are used

ex: misleading titles - clickbait

Idols of the theater

Errors due to systems of the past/tradition - accepted philosophies

ex: following social media influencers as authority

Enumerative Inductive Inference

Basic form of induction:

• Observe many instances

• Notice a pattern

• Create a generalized rule

Bacon’s take on enumerative inductive inference

Believed in using interpretation, not just anticipation

• Make tables, find agreement, difference, variation

Descartes (1619)

• Mathematician, philosopher, scientist

• Foundationalism

• Cartesian doubt - question EVERYTHING

• “I think, therefore I am”

Foundationalism

“To provide a sure basis, a firm and permanent structure”

Breaking down the superstructure of belief

Descartes

“I realized that it was neccessary, once in the course of my life, to demolish everything completely and start right again from the foundations if I wanted to establish anything at all in the sciences that was stable and likely to last”

Descartes

“The indubitable”

Any belief that survives doubt

How can we justify our beliefs?

Through doubt

“The four rules”

1. Only accept as true what can’t be called into doubt” - only clear and distinct ideas

2. Reduce obscure and complex propositions to simplicity

3. Proceed step by step

4. Carefully formulate/check each step along the way

Cartesian doubt

Systematic method of doubting all beliefs that aren’t completely certain

Beliefs can be categorized according to their origin:

1. Testimony

2. Memory

3. Senses - deception of senses (optical illusions), dreams

4. Reason/intuitions - the a priori

Solipsism

“I alone exist”

Newton (1643-1727)

Opposed Descartes’s deductive view

Affirmed Aristotle’s method of analysis and synthesis - experimental confirmation, although requiring a conjectural leap

Newton’s General Scholium

1. The hypothesis of vortices is mistaken

2. Law of momentum - accounts for continuous motion but not original motion

3. Mechanical causes lack a telos -

4. God = the greatest possible being

5. We know God through knowledge of creation

6. Gravity, like God, exists, but we lack knowledge of its nature

John Locke

• Rejects Descartes demand for certainty - knowledge doesn’t require certainty

• No innate knowledge - the mind is a “blank slate” (tabula rasa) - all knowledge stems from environmental experience and interaction

Cartesian Theater

Passively recieving ideas from a projector - can’t get to the actual reality of things

Point: Many of our ideas are false

Locke’s primary qualities

Ideas produced by sensory experience of an external body

Solidity, extension, figure, motion, number - exactly resemble these properties

Primary ideas are the only true ideas

Objective

Ex: size, shape, mass of a chili pepper

Locke’s secondary qualities

Have a “mark” = the effects of the primary qualities

Subjective - not “in” the object - but produced by the object’s primary qualities interacting with our senses

Ex: the spiceiness of the chili pepper - an experience that differs based on the person

Secondary qualities are all in your….

mind

• Taste, sound, color, shade

How does Locke differ from Descartes

Locke believes that our senses are important/needed to make predictions

Berkley

• Opposes atheism and skepticism

Berkley differs from Locke on the difference between ______

primary and secondary properties

• Believes that we can’t actually separate the primary from the secondary in our minds

• Size, Shape, Solidity, Motion, Time, Number

Core Berkley belief

Belief in God is at least as well justified as belief in matter

Relativity Argument

Experiences are relative

Secondary/primary are both in your head

The “Idea” - in our heads comes from God

Hume