BeckerKevinE2Phil100F2014 Essay Example for Free

BeckerKevinE2Phil100F2014 Essay Empiricism, or the belief that knowledge is achieved through the senses, was a popular belief amongst some of the greatest modern philosophers. Perhaps the most prominent Empiricists were John Locke, George Berkeley and David Hume, all of whom are regarded as some of the most influential philosophers of the last 500 years. Each of those philosophers can be considered Empiricists due to the importance of experience throughout their philosophical principles. More specifically, Lockes empirical views can be seen in his idea of the primary and secondary qualities of an object. Berkeleys empiricism is evident in his critique of Lockes concept of abstract ideas. Lastly, Hume can be considered as the most consistent empiricist of the group as he did not waver from experience being the source of knowledge and at the root of reasoning. His views are evident in his concept of humans having perceptions and impressions and his idea of â€Å"self†. John Lockes empirical views are evident throughout his philosophical principles. Locke believed that there were no such things as innate thoughts and that the only way a person could obtain  knowledge about something is through directly experiencing it. This is especially evident in his explanation of objects having primary and secondary qualities. Locke suggests that all things posses two qualities about them: primary qualities and secondary qualities. Primary qualities consist of traits that are completely within the object such as the shape of a ball. This primary quality about the ball will not change even when viewed from a different perspective because that is the physical structure of the ball. On the contrary, a secondary quality is a trait that requires perception by an observer. Secondary qualities are relative to the observer and change depending on the observers perspective or the physical differences between observers. For example, the color of the ball can change depending on the lighting in the room or due to an observer being color blind. In his 4th book of his Essay, Locke writes,â€Å"We cannot demonstrate the certain equality of any two degrees of whiteness; because we have no certain standard to measure them by, nor means to distinguish every the least real difference, the only help we have being from our senses, which in this point fail us. † (Locke, Book 4, Chp 2, #13). In other words, he is saying that the secondary quality of the color white cannot be scientifically quantified because each individuals perception of the color is different which prevents us from being able to determine the true â€Å"whiteness† of the given object. Locke makes this distinction between primary and secondary qualities in a response to the idea of innate thoughts, or thoughts that are naturally ingrained in our minds without having to experience them. Further, Locke is suggesting that innate thoughts are simply  common experiences. Locke also believed that the primary qualities of an object were things that could quantified and measured by the Newtonian science of the time. Lastly, Lockes concept of primary and secondary qualities indicates that he is an Empiricist because they show that he believes that we need past experiences in order to have an idea about different objects. Without experiencing the color red previously, we wouldnt have an idea of how red a ball is. George Berkeleys philosophical methodologies and principles reflect empiricist ideas as well. This is evident in his critique of John Lockes concept of abstract ideas. According to Locke, we can come up with an abstract view of, say a cat, by taking our experiences of many different cats and extracting from them common properties that all cats have. This abstract idea therefore applies to all cats despite their size, breed, or coat color. Berkeley argued that these abstract ideas cannot be thought about in our mind without creating an image of a particular cat in our minds. One cannot imagine a cat that is neither big or little, of no specific breed, or colorless. Berkeley addresses this idea in his book A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge, saying, â€Å"Whether others have this wonderful faculty of ABSTRACTING THEIR IDEAS, they best can tell: for myself, I find indeed I have a faculty of imagining, or representing to myself, the ideas of those particular things I have perceived. † (Berkeley, 10). In other words, Berkeley is saying that unlike others who claim to be able to come up with abstract ideas, he is only capable of imagining these â€Å"abstract ideas† with previous particulars that he already experienced at some point. The author of our textbook, William Lawhead summarized Berkeleys critique quite nicely, saying â€Å"We can think of, speak about, and imagine only particular things. † (pg 322). Furthermore, George Berkeleys critique of abstract ideas reflects his empiricist views because they show how important experience is to his concept of ideas. To Berkeley, one cannot come up with abstract ideas because we always draw on previous experiences to give us an idea of what were thinking about. This is a more strict version of Empiricism compared to Lockes. David Humes concept of perceptions are simply the contents of our consciousness, similar to what Locke would call an idea (Lawhead, 336). Hume further breaks down perceptions into two categories: impressions and ideas. To Hume, all original experiences are considered impressions. These impressions remain as â€Å"copies† in our mind and we draw upon them when we have a similar experience later on in life. These â€Å"copies† of the original impression are what Hume calls an idea. In his work, Treatise of Human Nature, Hume says â€Å"When we search for the characteristic, which  distinguishes the memory from the imagination, we must immediately perceive, that it cannot lie in the simple ideas it presents to us; since both these faculties borrow their simple ideas from the impressions, and can never go beyond these original perceptions. † (Hume, Section 5). In other words, Hume is saying that when one is trying to think about a characteristic of an object we always revert back to the original impression that we previously had in our mind from a past experience. Further, Hume is saying that even simple ideas about an object are faint memories of our previous experiences. David Hume can be considered the most consistent Empiricist especially when considering his idea on a persons perception of self (or lack thereof in this case). Lawhead described this simply by saying â€Å"Hume maintains that when we introspect we only find some particular perception of one sort another. If you focus on your experience right now you find puzzlement, tiredness, heat, anger.. What you dont find is a self. † (pg 340). This is an extremely empirical way of looking at ones self. Hume is such a consistent. Empiricist that he goes so far to say that we cannot have an idea of our self, because our minds always revert back to previous experiences of other perceptions. In addition to this, Hume suggests that we cannot even be certain about things such as the sun rising tomorrow. To Hume, the only reason that we know the sun will rise tomorrow is because of all of the past experiences and perceptions that weve had of the sun rising each morning. Therefore, we can only be certain of things that we have experienced. These two beliefs by Hume are evidence that he was the most strict Empiricist of the  group mentioned above. John Locke, George Berkeley, and David Hume can all be considered Empiricists due to the prevalence of experience in their philosophical principles.Lockes experience oriented principles can be observed in his idea of primary and secondary qualities of an object. Berkeleys can be seen in his critique of Lockes abstract ideas, which Berkeley suggests do not exist. Lastly, David Hume, who can be considered the most strict Empiricist, demonstrates his empirical views in his concepts of impressions and idea and his lack of self perception.

Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle Essay Example for Free

Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle Essay Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, three men considered to be the quintessential basis of ancient Greek philosophy. Not only were they responsible for Greek enlightenment, but also foreshadowed the coming of Christ in there speculations. Plato, the protege of Socrates, became the first to document the philosophy of his teacher, which in turn is passed down to Aristotle. This process of mentoring aided ancient man in the intellectual evolution of politics and religion, known as the linear concept. Socrates, the Athenian native ex-hoplite and his successors more often than not focused on three main schools of thought, religion, politics, and the spiritual essence. Socrates was not a defender of the gods, and by no means an atheist, which he will later, in part, be put to death for. Through Socrates many years of philosophizing religion his most notable accomplishments were; mans existence on two planes and the immortal soul. He believed man existed on two planes, a physical plane, the human form in which people carry out their lives, and the spiritual form, the more concentrated immortal essence that is internal to all. Perhaps more significant is the spiritual form or soul, Socrates described as the seat of the mind and knowledge is closely related to it, and that only after death would the soul be released. Following the soul release, one could then have the opportunity to see truth more clearly then ever before. Socrates was the first to speculate in relation to the soul, and the first to deem it immortal exclusive of any ritual or practice. In terms of democracy Socrates faith slight, he had his doubts, primarily because he did not condone empowering the uneducated. He felt that some were not educated enough and were ignorant to political and social complexities, therefore should not have the equality of a greater mind in the matter. He was later tried and convicted for corrupting the youth and atheism, not before passed all his philosophy to his prized student Plato. Plato carried on Socrates unique approach to philosophy and extended it one step farther. He expanded largely on Socrates works on immortality of the soul, truth, the existence of man on two planes, and why, only after death, one could see truth more clearly in one of his most acclaimed works, the Doctrine of Pure Form and Ideas. The doctrine of pure form and ideas illustrated how man was deceived by his senses and that they masked the real truth. In fact, Plato argued that a man would see a horse for example, in a whole new light after death, because only then could he see the pure form after the mask of his mortal senses was lifted. Furthermore, he believed that a pure form, in other words an essence that can see all for its genuine truth created the world, which many consider the true beginning of monotheism. On the other end of the spectrum are his political contributions, whereby he took Socrates criticism of democracy to a new level. Plato considered democracy to be the worst form of government; moreover he thought people should be guided by a guardian class or group, much like the oligarchy of Sparta, which he idolized. In addition, Plato contemplated the removal of superior children from their specifically mated parents at birth, after which they would be raised by the state and all its citizens as children of the state as a whole. Lastly Plato was one of the first minds to encourage the integration of women in government, perhaps building the foundation for female suffrage. Lastly, Aristotle, a man of great virtue and notorious genius, the last piece of the ancient philosophy jigsaw puzzle, appends the studies of his ostentatious predecessors. Being the understudy of Plato, Aristotle found much ado in mans essence and politics. Aristotle took the thought of pure form and pure beings to its pinnacle by concluding that of all pure forms one is unquestionably the purest, and is therefore all good and is god. On the other hand, Aristotle did not always agree with Plato for example, Aristotle disputed Platos theory of human senses. He in turn felt strongly regarding the importance of the senses and argued they should not be denied; furthermore that change is not an illusion but rather an important phenomenon. Change, Aristotle felt, was the process all organisms experience toward a particular end, an end determined by the unmoved mover or the supreme cause of existence. Aristotle much like Plato also frowned upon democracy, suggesting it to be mob rule. However, he was no advocate of oligarchy or monarchy either; in fact he condemned Sparta for empowering women, and felt that government should be run by wealthy men who have been trained by philosophers. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle are among the greatest philosophers of all time; their ideas have been passed through the ages and have been integrated within many modern day societies. As stated, the three men continually added toward the growth of religion, politics and the human soul in a process which is known ads the linear concept, constant changes and evolution toward the birth of many religions and political ideologies.

Exercise Treatments for PD Symptoms

Exercise Treatments for PD Symptoms The Exercise Rx Besides drugs and surgery, researchers are looking into using exercise as an intervention therapy to tame the symptoms of PD. In 2003, Dr. Jay L. Alberts, a PD researcher and accomplished cyclist, entered the seven-day RAGBRAI bicycle ride across Iowa. He rode on a tandem bike for two days with Cathy Frazier, a 40-year-old woman with PD. He discovered that Cathys handwriting was beautiful. Prior to the ride, her handwriting displayed classical micrographia, a cardinal sign of PD. Each year for the next four years, when he did the RAGBRAI tandem bike ride with parkinsonian stokers, he noticed similar phenomena. His stokers parkinsonian symptoms disappeared. As he went through scientific literatures, Alberts discovered that there was a lot of research on animals that reported similar results. Typically, in these studies, one group of animals is put on a motorized treadmill that forces the creature to run faster than it wants. A sedentary group serves as a control. Then, after a few weeks, both groups are given a neurotoxin such asÂÂ   MPTP. The sedentary group suffers immediate damage to the substantia nigra and develops parkinsonism; the exercise group partially resists the toxin. But research on humans had not found comparable benefits. Alberts thought it was because the human experiments test voluntary exercise while the rates are doing forced exercise. The rats are forced to run at a faster rate. The same thing is going on with the tandem bikes where the stokers are pedaling faster than they were pedaling on their own. To test the theory, Alberts carried out a pilot trial that took ten PD patients and randomly assigned them to one of two groups: a treatment group receiving forced exercise and a control group voluntarily exercising. The forced-exercise group was given three 60-minute workouts for eight weeks in which a trainer pedaled at 80 to 90 revolutions per minute. The control group did three 60-minute session each week on a bike by themselves. Each group was evaluated before and after the experiment using the Unified Parkinsons Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS). After eight weeks, the forced-exercise groups symptoms had improved reducing their average UPDRS part 3 score by about one-third. Thats almost as large an effect as the one brought about by levodopa. The control group saw no benefit. Two weeks later, these gains were still there in the tandem group. But four weeks after treatment, the forced-exercise group was back where theyd started. So force-exercise is like levodopa, the benefit will stop if you stop taking it. Albertss concept of forced exercise is just one of many options out there. Other options such as tai chi, kickboxing, and progressive strength training exercise is as effective. It is more important to select an activity that will address your specific needs and be sustainable. *** But most neurologists are still skeptical about physical therapies. The one exception is the Dutch neurologist Bastiaan Bloem. Bloem believed physical therapy would be a better treatment of gait and balance than just the levodopa therapy. In 2004, Bloem and Marten Munneke, a physical therapist, started the ParkinsonNet in the Netherlands. Today, the program has 66 regional networks, 2,970 trained professionals and over fifty thousand patients. *** Over the past decade, several companies have been developing technology capable of tracking the PD symptoms outside the clinic. These companies are working on various combinations of advanced wearable sensors to track multiple domains round the clock tremor, bradykinesia, gait, balance, walking, cognition, and more. One technology, Kinesia HomeView, designed by Great Lakes Neuroechnologies, comprises a small computer and a finger sensor. Sitting in front of a screen, you perform a set of exercises, that takes about five minutes. Then you will get a report of thirteen metrics, listing the severity of three forms of tremor, dyskinesia, the speed, amplitude, and rhythm displayed during the finger-tapping, hand-movement, and hand-flipping exercises. The main advantage is that you can use it 24/7. It can reveal any changes in motor performance over time, providing a much more detailed picture of your disease than that obtained in an evaluation every six months. The other system is a set of sensors developed by Portland-based APDM. You wear three small devices, one on your wrist and one on each of your ankles. The wrist sensor detects tremor and dyskinesia. The ankle sensors measure multiple aspects of walking. Your daily activities generate masses of data. When the data are averaged over time, they reveal emerging asymmetries in your gait. Key Takeaways Dr. Jay Alberts discovered force-exercise can relieve PD symptoms. Force-exercise is like levodopa, the benefit will stop if you stop taking it. Bastiaan Bloem believed physical therapy would be a better treatment of gait and balance than just the levodopa therapy. Several companies have been developing technology capable of tracking the PD symptoms outside the clinic.

George Orwell :: essays papers

George Orwell George Orwell^s vision of the world in the year 1984 is horrific and chilling. Written in 1949, this piece of literature is an everlasting classic that reminds us that history is a vital part of human existence, although we often forget it. The past, present, and future are as changeable as human opinions and beliefs. In this book, Orwell highlighted on some of the fears that many people have for the world that we are creating. The control of the Party that he speaks of is like that of the Nazis of World War II. The only difference between the Nazis and Orwell^s imagined Party, is the emotion. The Nazis fell from power because of the emotions of its leader, Adolph Hitler. The Party held up because their leader, Big Brother, was merely an image and had no emotion at all. Within my reading, I encountered many interesting points, both scenes and lines, that I remember vividly. All of these points reflect the type of power that we humans have to control our existence as we know it. From the points that I concentrated on came my own thoughts and fears about what future the human race was able to create. The point that I remember most vividly is the motto of the Party. The motto is: ^Those who control the past, control the future; Those who control the future, control the present; Those who control the present, control the past.^ This slogan played a main part in the plot. George Orwell incorporated this theme into the story to show the kind of power that the Party actually had. The Party did control the present, so they were able to do with it what they wished. The members of the Party rewrote history at every current change, whether the changes be as simple as a human dying or a change of enemy in the ongoing war. The Party had every piece of literature rewritten and every photo reproduced to fit their fictional stories of war success and economic advance. By having this power, to control the past, they controlled the future. With the power to control the future of the human race, the Party manipulated the human body and its functions. It also controlled the hum! an mind through physical experiments and the enforcement of complete orthodoxy to fit their needs. This absolute power is everlasting and definite. This idea of total power made the line memorable.

Self-Disclosure Through Weblogs and Perceptions of Online and Real-lif

Introduction The way people choose to portray themselves on an online social networking site or a dating site is does not always stand true to real life. There are many stipulations that one has to go through in order to be comfortable not only receiving, but distributing their personal information. This paper will explore different ways that online presentations in mediated communication through dating and social networking sites are represented and the issues that coincide. Social networking sites have distinctive cues that create various levels of importance to those browsing them. Almost everyone today has some form of a social networking account, and there are plenty to choose from. People may be facetious when revealing about who they truly are, even when looking for a mate. The self-competence that exists in people is very well presented online and it is curious to see what is true and what is not. Forming impressions The idea of forming impressions while in an online environment comes into play rather frequently. Since there is no technical face-to-face meeting, a person is left with their own assumptions of what their supposed partner is truly like. It is common for a person to be skeptical of what the other is saying because it is simple to alter the truth in a computer-mediated relationship. Whether it be choosing a new partner, or making a new friend impressions are formed beforehand especially in an online world. In the article â€Å"The Effects of Verbal versus Photographic Self-Presentation on Impression Formation on Facebook† by Brandon Van Der Heide et al, the idea of textual and visual primacy on Facebook is explored. The proposal of â€Å"impression formation in the context of social networking Web sites rasing new q... ...9.07.005. (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563209001216) Palmieri, C., Prestano, K., Gandley, R., Overton, E., & Qin, Z. (2012). The Facebook Phenomenon: Online Self-Disclosure and Uncertainty Reduction. China Media Research, 8(1), 48-53. Toma, C.L., Hancock J.T., Ellison N.B.Separating fact from fiction: An examination of deceptive self-presentation in online dating profiles (2008) Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34 (8), pp.1023-1036 Van Der Heide, B., D'Angelo, J. D., & Schumaker, E. M. (2012). The Effects of Verbal Versus Photographic Self-Presentation on Impression Formation in Facebook. Journal Of Communication, 62(1), 98-116. doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.2011.01617.x Zhao, S. (2005), The Digital Self: Through the Looking Glass of Telecopresent Others. Symbolic Interaction, 28: 387–405. doi: 10.1525/si.2005.28.3.387

The Role of Women in the Society Depicted by Jane Austen in Pride and P

The Role of Women in the Society Depicted by Jane Austen in Pride and Prejudice 'Pride and Prejudice' is a novel which based in truth, explores relationships between young men and women two hundred years ago. It is not difficult for the reader to comprehend Jane Austen?s point of view, but she presents her arguments in a subtle way. Not only is it an admirable story of love lost and found, with an eventual happy ending, it also tells us a vast amount about society at the time. This, however, contrasts heavily with today's values and behaviours. In particular the role of women then was quite different to the role of women in the present day. Pride and Prejudice is mainly concerned with women of a particular social class - the Bennett Family are not poor, they are above the working class, but they are not extremely rich either. Jane Austen explores the position of young women in this situation by telling a story about what seams to be love, but is actually a novel also about the role of women and how they used love and marriage in life to gain what they wanted. She does this by explaining to the reader about all of the necessities that a woman should have, explaining about the different opinions of the different characters in the novel, which are based on opinions of real people of that time. This gives us, the twenty-first century reader, an insight into the people, the lives and the attitudes of the time. The financial status of women is perhaps the most significant aspect. In ?Pride and Prejudice?, Jane Austen describes the exact financial status of each of the characters. For example, when Mrs and Mr Bennet are talking of Mr Bingley, ?A single man of large fortune, four or five thousand a year. Wha... ...ery differently for the sisters especially as Elizabeth had turned down one proposal. If she had not married Darcy it would be very unlikely that she would have time to meet another man who would marry her as she would be considered to be too old for marriage and therefore not a good match. To me, this novel shows women living a live without fulfilment or interest. Women were seen as objects that completed a household and were looked upon the same as a beautiful statue or piece of art work. This lifestyle seems quite stifling and the lack of rights that women had at this time seems brutally unfair and backwards. The novel shows a society that was extremely judgemental and unforgiving that was too fixed on the theme of marriage where it is a truth universally acknowledged that a single woman will be in want of a husband in possession of a good fortune.

Differences Between Count Dracula and Vlad Tepes

â€Å"Dracula† is a book written by Bram Stoker that was inspired by Vlad Tepes, which causes some confusion about where fact ends and fiction begins. The two undoubtedly share some similarities. For example, they are both in positions of nobility. Before becoming a vampire Dracula was a prince and Vlad was a voivode. They are both also from Transylvania, although â€Å"Dracula† does not take place entirely in Transylvania. Although there are elements of Tepes in the character of Dracula, a great deal of it was embellished for dramatic effect. Dracula and Vlad may have had a few similarities, but they are also very different. In Stoker’s novel Dracula is depicted as blood thirsty. Although Vlad was also blood thirsty, he and Dracula had very different ways of satisfying their thirst. Vlad was just a monarch with a very sadistic streak. He used this power to kill people who had personally offended him. Vlad killed in many ways but his favorite way to kill his victims was to impale them on a wooden stake, which is a very slow and agonizing way to die. Victims sometimes endured this for hours or days. Throughout his reign, Vlad systematically eradicated the old boyar class of Wallachia. Dracula killed and then fed on the blood of his victims. Vlad and Dracula’s motives for killing so many were different. After the death of his wife, Dracula sold his soul to the devil. This transaction turn Dracula into a vampire that survives by sucking the blood from his victims and transforming them into vampires. Vlad’s motivation in killing so many was to exact revenge for the death of his father and brother. Perhaps this difference causes the vastly lights that they are seen in. Dracula is a villian, but many Romanians view Vlad as a hero. His reputation in his native country is one of a man who stood up to both foreign and domestic enemies. In Romania he is considered one of their greatest leaders. Dracula had a bevy of superpowers to aid him in his dastardly deeds. Dracula had the power to shape shift. In the novel he shifts into things such as a bat and a wolf. He also possesses superhuman powers like being able to crawl on vertical surfaces and manipulating the weather. The most important characteristic of Dracula is that he is undead. The only way to kill Dracula is to decapitate him and impale him with a wooden stake through the heart. Vlad on the other hand, had no superpowers and was for the most part a normal person. Vlad and Dracula are both remembered for the same reason: their atrocious murders. They were both prolific killers. Despite their many differences, they will probably always be associated.