Post by melody on Mar 13, 2016 21:44:22 GMT
1. Why is understanding physics and the general rules of the universe so important in doing philosophy?
Understanding physics and the general rules of the universe is so important in doing philosophy because knowing how the universe behaves is a fundamental part of studying nature of reality, existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language, which is the definition of philosophy. The philosophers tend to observe the law of physics since physics is describing the physical laws of nature. In fact, many philosophers are physicists as well. Both physics and philosophy require a great amount of observation, then those observations are organized and put into theory, which later will be repeatedly tested and verified for its reasonableness. By understanding physics, philosophers can build their theory based on the laws of nature which is already been proven.
2. What is eliminative materialism?
Eliminative materialism is a process which scientists used to tackle the subject of consciousness by explaining a phenomena first using mathematics, then physics, then to chemistry, then to biology, then to psychology, then to sociology, etc. If none of these academic disciplines can explain the phenomena, then it can be said that "Well, God did it".
In the book of The Great Mystery, it is said that "It is not that only simple things exist or that there may not be something beyond the rational mind, but only that to genuinely uncover these transcendent phenomena one must eliminate lower level categories first. When we scientifically advanced in astronomy, medicine, and physics we replaced the old and outdated concepts of our mythic past with new and more accurate terminology which reflected our new found understanding of our body and the universe at large."(The Great Mystery, Page 21)
The first example would be thunder, which is later proved to be created by electrical-magnetic currents. However, people used to think that Thor, the Thunder God, is the reason for this phenomena. The second example is that bacteria and viruses instead of spirits being the cause of diseases. The last example is that people used to think that tiny ghosts circulating throughout our anatomies pulling this or that muscle, but it is indeed caused by a central nervous system.
References
MSAC Philosophy Group. The Great Mystery. Walnut, 2014.
Neuralsurfer. "Eliminative Materialism: God Did It? PART ONE OF A THREE PART SERIES". Online video clip.
YouTube. YouTube, 8 Nov. 2011. Web. 13 Mar. 2016.
Neuralsurfer. "Eliminative Materialism: The Death of Thor, PART TWO". Online video clip.
YouTube. YouTube, 9 Nov. 2011. Web. 13 Mar. 2016.
Neuralsurfer. "Eliminative Materialism: Intelligent Reductionism, PART THREE". Online video clip.
YouTube. YouTube, 9 Nov. 2011. Web. 13 Mar. 2016.
Understanding physics and the general rules of the universe is so important in doing philosophy because knowing how the universe behaves is a fundamental part of studying nature of reality, existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language, which is the definition of philosophy. The philosophers tend to observe the law of physics since physics is describing the physical laws of nature. In fact, many philosophers are physicists as well. Both physics and philosophy require a great amount of observation, then those observations are organized and put into theory, which later will be repeatedly tested and verified for its reasonableness. By understanding physics, philosophers can build their theory based on the laws of nature which is already been proven.
2. What is eliminative materialism?
Eliminative materialism is a process which scientists used to tackle the subject of consciousness by explaining a phenomena first using mathematics, then physics, then to chemistry, then to biology, then to psychology, then to sociology, etc. If none of these academic disciplines can explain the phenomena, then it can be said that "Well, God did it".
In the book of The Great Mystery, it is said that "It is not that only simple things exist or that there may not be something beyond the rational mind, but only that to genuinely uncover these transcendent phenomena one must eliminate lower level categories first. When we scientifically advanced in astronomy, medicine, and physics we replaced the old and outdated concepts of our mythic past with new and more accurate terminology which reflected our new found understanding of our body and the universe at large."(The Great Mystery, Page 21)
The first example would be thunder, which is later proved to be created by electrical-magnetic currents. However, people used to think that Thor, the Thunder God, is the reason for this phenomena. The second example is that bacteria and viruses instead of spirits being the cause of diseases. The last example is that people used to think that tiny ghosts circulating throughout our anatomies pulling this or that muscle, but it is indeed caused by a central nervous system.
References
MSAC Philosophy Group. The Great Mystery. Walnut, 2014.
Neuralsurfer. "Eliminative Materialism: God Did It? PART ONE OF A THREE PART SERIES". Online video clip.
YouTube. YouTube, 8 Nov. 2011. Web. 13 Mar. 2016.
Neuralsurfer. "Eliminative Materialism: The Death of Thor, PART TWO". Online video clip.
YouTube. YouTube, 9 Nov. 2011. Web. 13 Mar. 2016.
Neuralsurfer. "Eliminative Materialism: Intelligent Reductionism, PART THREE". Online video clip.
YouTube. YouTube, 9 Nov. 2011. Web. 13 Mar. 2016.