George Berkeley And Empiricism Analysis Philosophy Essay

George Berkeley And Empiricism Analysis Philosophy Essay Empiricism is the doctrine that knowledge derives from experience. One very important philosopher to empiricism is George Berkeley. Berkeley denies the existence of material substances and says that existence of substances is depended on perception. In his famous Three Dialogues, he introduces characters Philonous and Hylas whose names ironically mean love of intellect and matter. As the First Dialogue starts, Hylas calls Philonous a skeptic by his definition one who doubts of everything or who denies the realty and truth of things (pg.219, The Empiricist) he soon gets Hylas to admit that he too is a skeptic. Philonous breaks everything down into two groups either having: primary qualities (qualities that can be measured) and secondary qualities (sensible qualities). In the following pages Berkeley goes on to prove that there is no inherit qualities within a material substance that makes it a material substance, and everything is viewed through perception. For example, a cherry is a cherry because it is red, sweet, round etc. But all those things are not innate things that are a cherry. They are sensible qualities because we see, taste, and feel that the cherry is red, sweet and round. Even though we all agree that before us is a cherry, we all will find that we have different perception about whether on not the cherry is sweet or bitter. Anything that is arbitrary is perception. His point was that if it is without being perceived, then it cannot be proven. In order to know a thing exists, we must perceive them. Berkeley also set out to prove that primary qualities only exist in our minds. His proof of this is that an object perceived by two different people could be larger or smaller, depending on how big that person actually is. For example a foot to me may seem moderately long, but a foot to a 6 foot person may seem really short. Hence, extension is not inherent in the object. He also gives the example of motion and how speed is measured by an internal clock In the Second Dialogue, Berkeley introduces Monism (everything is reduced to one), Dualism: 1) thinking (substance pilot) 2) physical material (substance machine), and Idealism (only perceiving minds and perceptions exist). This is where Philonous brings God into the equation because he needs a cause for our sensible ideas. His argument of causation is as follows: 1) sensible ideas must be caused by some spirit 2) I am not the cause of my sensible ideas 3) There must be some other spirit that causes my sensible ideas. Therefore, there is a God. His argument of Perception then is: 1) sensible things cannot exist without being perceived 2) sensible things exist independently of my perceptions 3) there must be some other perceiver. Therefore God is the perceiver. He goes on to say that since were purely passive in our perceptions and God is purely active, it is God that excites ideas in our minds. In the Third Dialogue, Hylas asks how idealism can distinguish a dream from reality (since they are both depending on the mind). Philonous answers him by saying that dreams and products of the imagination are faint and dependent on the will; sense impressions are livelier and do not depend on the will. Hylas also brings up the fact that if God is the author of all things, he would also be the author of evil; Philonous says that evil doesnt exist outward, only inward and that we are in control of our own wills. At first I found Berkley very convincing in his arguments about perception, but as with other philosophers, when he gets to the existence of God, their argument falls apart. The thought of God exciting all our ideas through our souls is a bit strange. Yes all perceptions have to be first perceived by God, and that God had to have an idea of us doing something for it to actually happen is crazy. I dont agree with Berkeleys use of God, but I dont necessarily agree that God just created the world and people in it and steps away from it (Descartes, Meditations); there has to be some type of middle ground. If you fuse the philosophies of Descartes and Berkeley, I believe that one could come up with something more believable, its just too hard to believe that God does everything because in a sense your saying that God who is all powerful and omnipresent uses us to act here on Earth, which is absurd since we are finite and he is infinite. I didnt quite get Berkeleys concept that God is all active and first perceives us doing things before we do them because is flawed. If that were true, you would have to infer that God is also the author of evil. If God perceives everything we do before we do it and everything we do our first His ideas, then he would be able to stop evil doings. What Berkeley says about us being in control of our own wills would have to be false because if that were true, we would be in control of our own perceptions in my opinion. It just seems that if that were true, then everything we did would be in a sense godly, and that obviously isnt true. It makes perfect sense to me that are senses play a big role in how we view the world around us, but although he was convincing in that concept I, couldnt help but thinking that Hylas had a lot of good points also. There must be something innate in objects that make them the objects they are, or else we why would we need to name the objects to discern one from another? I thought that Berkely had a good theory, but it wasnt realistic, although convincing. If I cant agree with Berkeleys use of God, then his whole theory starts to starts to fall apart because hes using God as a sort of cushion for his concept, but I dont think he uses God in the right way. Because Berkely is a bishop, he cant be really objective when it comes to God. He already has preconceived thoughts, and for philosophy to work one needs to dispel all previous conceptions on all subject matter, but obviously he cant because of his vocation. This is where his argument on God is flawed. I believe that the reason why philosopher arguments get confusing or nonsensical when it comes to God is because I believe that back then religion was uniform. Taboo to go against it, whereas now we have many. Many religions open up many different ways of viewing God. I believe this is important when it comes to philosophy because philosophy is most broadly defined as love and pursuit of wisdom by intellectual means and moral self-discipline. You cant truly have self exploration without being willing to accept new things or at least the possibility of new things. In conclusion, I could not agree with Berkeleys idealisms, but they did make me think about they way I view the world. At the end of the day, I feel that personal biases will always get in the way of the way we perceive.

Treaty of Versailles

One of the most important documents ever, The Treaty of Versailles was proposed to be a peace settlement between the victorious Allies and the defeated Germans at the outcome of World War I. The document was a major disaster and did not serve any of the purposes it was drawn for. The harsh provisions of the treaty along with its unfair orders to Germany led to the worlds most horrific leader come to power and also set the platform for another war. The treaty became a worldwide example of history how greed and injustice can lead to disasters no one thought possible.World War I came to an end on November 11, 1918. Germany had surrendered and signed the Armistice agreement. The Allies were engaged in tailoring a peace settlement with a defeated Germany. In December of 1918, the Allied leaders met in The Allies hoped that writing a peace agreement would be a quick and easy process; however, once the process of writing the treaty started, the Allies found that they had much greater task a head. President Woodrow Wilson had his Fourteen Points and knew revenge was a bad idea, and he was right.However, France and Great Britain wanted Germany to pay for all the damages she caused and wanted to cripple her completely of her strengths. Germany was in financial ruins and had to cope with harsh changes at the same time. There were vast land grabs by France and Britain as they took over various colonies of Germany. Some territorial losses were: Alsace-Lorraine being returned to France, the Polish Corridor being taken by Prussia and Russia, the Saar Basin under League of Nations control for 15 years and turned the coal mines over to France, Danzig became a free city under the League.All of her colonies were distributed as mandates among the Allies. New countries were being formed and old countries were being destroyed, all to the arrangements and ease to the Allies. Germans leaders were especially angered because the land grabs and borders created by Britain and France separa ted many Germans from their homeland and forced to live under new countries being formed. Anschluss was also forbidden. One of the restrictions that really hit home to the Germans was the extreme limitation of Germany’s pride, its army.The German army was restricted to 100,000 men who had to serve for 12 years. Her navy and air force were also severely restricted in size, and the production of weapons, tanks, submarines and planes were forbidden and so was the German Naval fleet entirely surrendered to Great Britain. If such tough measures weren’t humiliating enough the Germans had to deal with another insult. Article 231: The War-Guilt Clause, Germany was compelled to accept responsibility for all the loss and damage caused by the war and to pay reparations for damages done to civilians which was said to be 6. Billion Pounds paid in gold. All these factors really put Germans back home a difficult change to cope with. The terms of treaty of Versailles such as reparatio ns, war guilt, disarmament, and loss of German territory made the Germans anger rise and their hatred towards against the allies. No peace can be made if all the leaders around the world make their decision in haste and greed. Instead on focusing on the wellbeing of all countries in the future with a much more comforting and modern manner, all the country leaders were simply there to gain more territories for themselves.The treaty was supposed to prevent another disastorous war from repeating itself, and ironically it was a platform for the next World War. A generous peace would have eased resentment in Germany, but was probably impossible, given public opinion of the citizens of France and England. The League of Nations was too weak to survive and handle all the countries bulldozing Germany with different factors from left, right, centre and above. First, the forced signature required of Germany, placing full blame for the war on her shoulders –made her the scapegoat of Euro pe which in reality was every countries fault.Second, the border drawing by the great powers France and Britain – creating new nations such as Czechoslovakia. Third, the newly arranged borders that left large German minorities under the rule of other ethnic groups. Fourth, the attempted total destruction of German military power which meant that opportunistic and expansionist countries would be able to take advantage of their weak neighbor. All these factors led to Hitler taking over Germany, preparing her for another war which would bring her back to her feet.In hindsight, World War II was almost inevitable given the terms of the Versailles treaty. Some would argue that it wasn't the direct cause, while others would say it was one of the most important factors. The restrictions imposed by the Versailles treaty created a social and economic depression in Germany, with widespread bitterness among its people. The allies placed a huge burden on Germany to pay for the cost of Wor ld War I that had just occured. This act alone essentially spelled doom for the Wiemar Republic and a peaceful Germany.The people of Germany felt the Treaty was an insult to their honour, and that they were not the only guilty player in the war. Also, by their leaders signing the Treaty and agreeing, they felt betrayed. They were desperate for hope. Germany needed a saviour to save herself from slipping further down the dark road she was headed for and got Hitler. He swept in and used his charisma to win an entire country and channel their thoughts and he did that by the opportunity the landed in his lap.If the treaty hadn’t been so heartless on Germany, they wouldn’t have needed a hero to save their country from slipping in situation no one would have imagined. Hitler rebeliously ignored the treaty's orders on every restriction Germany had. The remilitarization put the Germans back to work and oiled her economic wheels so she could start moving ahead and soon become t he strongest military power in the world. Suddenly there were jobs and apparent prosperity, and the German people could see a brighter future.This all helped sell the belief that the Nazis and their policies were righteous and that Hilter was a great leader. Adolf Hitler was one of those people. He gave the German people a reason for the problems Germany was facing in Jewish people, gypsies, and homosexuals (among many others). He created a whole nother realm of brutality with the jewish people, known as the Holocaust. Hitler seemed to present all the answers, and was eventually made High Chancellor and the first Fuhrer, creating totalitarianism in Germany.The Treaty of Versailles was a culmination of hostility and revenge and provided the perfect environment for Hitler to rise to power, and set the stage for a second World War. Germany’s punishment caused a train of events that led only up to disaster. The unfair and selfish land grabs and distrobution by Britain and France, the unimaginable amount of money to be paid by Germany and the refraining military orders just set a very bitter feel in the German air. This caused for the rise of Adolf Hitler who just brought more disaster and loss of innocent lives.Hitler also â€Å"fulfilled† his promises by creating a new World War which could have been entirely avoided if the Treaty of Versailles would have stuck to making peace, not deals. Evidence suggests that there was no single major cause for World War I but in effect there was several major events associated with its commencement. It is clear that the articles of the Treaty of Versailles, claiming sole German responsibility for causing World War I was unjust, it was a shared responsibility for the cause of the next World War.

A nation should require all of its students to study the same national curriculum until they enter college Essay

ducation is one of the most important pillars of the nation’s development. Education is a weapon which can change the world. Primary education is the base for the students. So a country should have a very good curriculum for the students in their Primary school study. A curriculum, which will make each student withstand the future competition and will lead to country’s development. So if a nation have the same national curriculum it would be beneficial in so many perspectives. If a nation have same national curriculum then it would be easy for government to construct a nationwide program to train teachers. It would be easy to evaluate students on the same basis. Same national curriculum will decrease the efforts to construct the region wide education course in country. In India we have Central Board and State Board. Central board is followed by some states, while all other states follow a separate State board program. Each state has its own Program of primary education including different evaluation system, marking system and subjects to study. This requires a big management to maintain the track. So same national curriculum will cut down these efforts and can make use of these efforts in improving the education system. This approach would be beneficial for the students in terms of options available. The same curriculum will open the doors of all the colleges and courses available there nationwide. Students will have a healthy competition environment. Students can study variety of courses and will be able to go in desired college. In the current system of a student wants to go in any other college belong to other state then he has to give an entrance examination and it differs according to the course he wants to study. But if this approach get followed by the nation then it would be easy for a student to get this rid of this. A student can follow his heart and make his dreams true. It would be propitious for them who have to frequently transfer their locations because of their service such as in military services, government services etc. Currently it is very difficult for their children’s to accommodate in new environment, especially school and its curriculum. For example in India If a student belonging to Maharashtra went to study in Chennai then it would be difficult for him to get into routine. He has to start again in new way in the new environment. But if the curriculum would be same at national level till college then it would be easy for them to continue their study without any difficulty. But though this approach is good enough, it may create some problems while implementing it at national level. Like to change the established system and to implement the new on nationwide would take significant amount of time and efforts. Students in the middle of the primary education may find it somewhat difficult to get adjust to new curriculum. As students would be having more options to choose then it might lead to confusion while making choice. Those students who don’t want to leave their native place or state then it would be difficult for them. For example if a student don’t get admission I any college residing at his place then that student might have to go another place. But overall this approach is beneficial enough to implement. Though it would require some efforts and time once get implemented it would be best.

Maria, The Only Latina, And The Person Of Color - 2010 Words

Introduction In this scenario, Maria, who is of Latino ancestry made a complaint about being passed over for a promotion because she is a Latina; she was born in America, and is a second generation. Maria holds a graduate degree, and has been with this company for 10 years, but has been in her position for seven years. The person who got the promotion was Alex, who is an Anglo, and has a graduate degree. However, he has less time in the company or in this position, and had better evaluations than Maria. Maria is the only Latina, and the only person of color; she believes that the reason her evaluations were lower, were because of bias towards white males, and because of the fear of clients not being able to understand her accent. Maria claimed that her company was being discriminatory towards her. The company says that she is a good employee, but that she is loud and aggressive when talking with her follower workers and superiors. The company also states that Maria is tardy a lot, and that she always cites her family as the reason to this problem. According to the company, Maria’s rapid speaking and accent would make it hard for her to communicate with clients. From this scenario, it brings up the issue of how women are still seen as being inferior to men when it comes to the business setting (Harvey Allard, 2012). This scenario also talks about how someone who is part of the minority is also seen as being inferior to White Americans. From all of this, it creates aShow MoreRelatedThe Myth Of The Latin Wom I Just Met A Girl Named Maria868 Words   |  4 PagesLatin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria† is a short essay in which the award winning poet and professor of English, Judith Ortiz Cofer, wishes to inform and persuade the audience that labels and stereotypes can be humiliating and hurtful. 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