Post by fsheikh on Mar 14, 2016 4:46:35 GMT
1. Why is understanding physics and the general rules of the universe so important in doing philosophy?
Many questions about the nature of reality such as “How does the universe behave?” etc. are all philosophical inquiries but at the same time require contemporary physics to come to a larger understanding. Learned philosophers strive for conceptual clarity, they have developed certain habits of thought that would play a big hand in asking questions about the nature of reality and physics in essence “is the branch of science concerned with the nature and properties of matter and energy”. Philosophy is the framework for questions to come to a deeper and better understanding and physics is the means to answer them. I could not say it better than how physicist Sean Carrol put it, “Philosophy Begins Where Physics Ends, and Vice Versa”.
2. What is eliminative materialism? Provide three examples of it.
What I have gathered about eliminative materialism from the linked videos is that it is the replacement of prior obsolete understandings and myths with more accurate scientific ideas. “If phenomena cannot be explained fully and comprehensibly by mathematics, then one turns to physics, then if that too is incomplete then to chemistry then to biology then to psychology then to sociology and if none of those subjects can explain it, then it's easy to say that God did it" (Youtube, Neuralsurfer, Lane). Many examples of eliminative materialism are given throughout the videos with the first one being about Thor. People once believe d the reasoning for thunder was that Thor was responsible for it but we have now come to eliminate that idea through studying thunder with academic disciplines like science. The second example is people beliefs that sickness and disease was caused by spirits and just like the first example, that belief has been rejected and replaced. The third example is the belief that tiny ghosts controlled out muscle movement. In conclusion, eliminative materlism is the idea that our common understanding and way of thinking is flawed and we should only draw an idea using academics.
Many questions about the nature of reality such as “How does the universe behave?” etc. are all philosophical inquiries but at the same time require contemporary physics to come to a larger understanding. Learned philosophers strive for conceptual clarity, they have developed certain habits of thought that would play a big hand in asking questions about the nature of reality and physics in essence “is the branch of science concerned with the nature and properties of matter and energy”. Philosophy is the framework for questions to come to a deeper and better understanding and physics is the means to answer them. I could not say it better than how physicist Sean Carrol put it, “Philosophy Begins Where Physics Ends, and Vice Versa”.
2. What is eliminative materialism? Provide three examples of it.
What I have gathered about eliminative materialism from the linked videos is that it is the replacement of prior obsolete understandings and myths with more accurate scientific ideas. “If phenomena cannot be explained fully and comprehensibly by mathematics, then one turns to physics, then if that too is incomplete then to chemistry then to biology then to psychology then to sociology and if none of those subjects can explain it, then it's easy to say that God did it" (Youtube, Neuralsurfer, Lane). Many examples of eliminative materialism are given throughout the videos with the first one being about Thor. People once believe d the reasoning for thunder was that Thor was responsible for it but we have now come to eliminate that idea through studying thunder with academic disciplines like science. The second example is people beliefs that sickness and disease was caused by spirits and just like the first example, that belief has been rejected and replaced. The third example is the belief that tiny ghosts controlled out muscle movement. In conclusion, eliminative materlism is the idea that our common understanding and way of thinking is flawed and we should only draw an idea using academics.