Philosophy
Answer each of the following essay questions. Each answer is to be done in a separate Microsoft Word Document. Attach the completed document to the appropriate SafeAssignment on Blackboard. Be sure to press the SUBMIT button after you have attached the document.
Essay #1
In academia (Colleges and Universities) the subject philosophy has a very specific meaning. Write an essay in which you explain
- What philosophy is
- The areas that philosophy deals with
- The branches of philosophy are,
- The questions or problems of philosophy addressed in each branch. and
- For one of the problems of philosophy that we discussed, other that The Problems of Knowledge and Skepticism, explain the problem in detail including the positions philosophers have taken in attempting to solve each of these two problems.
(Be sure that you explain the terms that you are using. Assume that you are writing this for a college educated person who has not studies philosophy).
Essay #2
Scholars divide the early modern philosophers into two groups based on their answers to the Problem of Knowledge and Skepticism. Write an essay in which you:
- Explain The Problem of Knowledge and Skepticism
- Explain the answers that Rationalist and Empiricists give to this problem.
- For each of the early modern philosophers we discussed in class explain:
- i. Their answers to the Problem of Knowledge and Skepticism
- ii. Why this answer is a version of either Rationalism or Empiricism (remember that one of the philosophers really does not fit into either category – explain why).
- Explain whose position you think is correct and why.
NOTE: Do not worry about the length of your essays. Make sure that you give complete answers to the essay questions. If you are writing one paragraph, you are NOT giving a complete answer. It should take a couple of pages (double spaced 12 point Times New Roman font) to give a satisfactory answer.
REMEMBER: Your answer will be checked for plagiarism by Blackboard. If you copy it from the internet or someone else’s work, you will receive and “F” for the questions and possibly an “F” for the entire mid-term exam or the course.
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Philosophy
Essay # 1
Philosophy is basically the love of wisdom. It is also understood as an activity undertaken by individuals whenever they are seeking to understand essential truths regarding the world where they live, regarding themselves, as well as regarding their relationships to one another and to the world. It is, in essence, the study of basic and general problems like those connected with language, knowledge, mind, reality, reason, existence and values. The branches that philosophy deals with include metaphysics, epistemology, ethics and logic. (i) Metaphysics, which fundamentally entails studying the nature of reality, of what is existing in this world, what it is like, as well as how it is ordered. In this branch of philosophy, the questions that philosophers usually ask themselves are as follows: what is it for one occurrence to bring about another event? Is there a God? Does a person have free will? Does a person have mind? If the answer is true that a person has a mind, how then is it related to the individual’s body? What does truth mean? Does the world strictly consist of matter? What is person? What is it that makes an individual the same over time?
(ii) Epistemology: this simply refers to the study of knowledge and is largely concerned with what people can know regarding the world, as well as how people can know it. The questions that philosophers ask themselves are as follows: what does knowledge mean? Do people really know anything at all? How do people know what they know? Can people be justified in asserting to know particular things? (iii) Ethics: this usually concerns what people ought to be doing, as well as what it would be best to do. Ethics essentially entails larger questions regarding what is right and good. As such, the questions that ethicists will try to answer are: in what way should I treat other people? What is right? What is it makes an action to be right? What is good? What is it that makes a person or an action good? Is morality something that is subjective or objective? (iv) Logic: another vital facet regarding philosophy is the reasons/arguments that are provided for the answers of people to these questions. Thus, philosophers use logic in studying both the structure, as well as nature of arguments. The following questions are often asked: what makes up bad reasoning or good reasoning? In what way do people determine if a certain piece of reasoning is either bad or good?
Essay # 2
The problem of knowledge and skepticism is essentially the problem regarding the origins of knowledge. The concern is whether knowledge is inborn – it is present in the individual’s mind from birth &ndas...