Post by hchang on Jan 22, 2015 15:37:22 GMT
1. Why is understanding physics and the general rules of the universe so important in doing philosophy?
It is important in doing philosophy to understand physics and the general rules of the universe, for philosophical interpretations about human existence and other matters are based on those rules. Physics shows the patterns we have found in nature, and by expressing physics through mathematic equations we can have a better understanding of the way our world functions (according to human observation). Physics and the general rules of the universe are, so far, considered to be facts, based on the experiments conducted by scientists. According to the film History of Western Philosophy Part 1/3, philosophy is a learning that contains many areas of study, and it emphasizes in producing rational arguments. In the film The Elegant Universe, one of the interviewees commented that if the String Theory can’t be tested, it is philosophy rather than physics. I think this implies that physics requires verifications and proofs, but philosophy doesn’t. Philosophy takes the understanding of a certain observation and interpret what that means through a logical thought process. If a philosophical conclusion is not based on the general rules of the universe that were verified to be true, the conclusion would be wrong. For instance, people used to believe that the sun revolves around the earth, which is obviously wrong in today’s views, but if philosophical thoughts about what human’s existence means were generated based on that wrong assumption, those thoughts would not make any sense. Therefore, I think in order for philosophical ideas to actually be meaningful, a basic understanding of physics and the general rules of the universe is required, for they are likely the fundamentals that philosophical conclusions are based on.
2. What is eliminative materialism? Provide three examples of it.
Eliminative materialism is a way of understanding observations made by human through scientific means. Eliminative materialism find ways to replace spiritual and mythical explanations of the observations with deduction based on logic and evidence. According to the required films, eliminative materialism is “eliminative” because it eliminates spiritual explanations; also when a certain scientific field doesn’t perfectly explains the observation, it is eliminated, and we move on to another branch of science. One example for eliminative materialism is the example of thunder mentioned in one of the required films. People used to believe that thunder was caused by the thunder god, and now we explain thunder with electromagnetism. Another example also from the required films is that diseases were regard as bad spirits inside a body until biological explanations was found. A third example can be the phenomenon of sleep paralysis. In Taiwanese/Chinese culture, people used to think that it was caused by the devil or a ghost lying on a person who’s asleep, so they cannot move freely. However, the folklore was later replaced with the physiological explanation of a phenomenon that happens when a person is neither in a state of being asleep nor awake.
It is important in doing philosophy to understand physics and the general rules of the universe, for philosophical interpretations about human existence and other matters are based on those rules. Physics shows the patterns we have found in nature, and by expressing physics through mathematic equations we can have a better understanding of the way our world functions (according to human observation). Physics and the general rules of the universe are, so far, considered to be facts, based on the experiments conducted by scientists. According to the film History of Western Philosophy Part 1/3, philosophy is a learning that contains many areas of study, and it emphasizes in producing rational arguments. In the film The Elegant Universe, one of the interviewees commented that if the String Theory can’t be tested, it is philosophy rather than physics. I think this implies that physics requires verifications and proofs, but philosophy doesn’t. Philosophy takes the understanding of a certain observation and interpret what that means through a logical thought process. If a philosophical conclusion is not based on the general rules of the universe that were verified to be true, the conclusion would be wrong. For instance, people used to believe that the sun revolves around the earth, which is obviously wrong in today’s views, but if philosophical thoughts about what human’s existence means were generated based on that wrong assumption, those thoughts would not make any sense. Therefore, I think in order for philosophical ideas to actually be meaningful, a basic understanding of physics and the general rules of the universe is required, for they are likely the fundamentals that philosophical conclusions are based on.
2. What is eliminative materialism? Provide three examples of it.
Eliminative materialism is a way of understanding observations made by human through scientific means. Eliminative materialism find ways to replace spiritual and mythical explanations of the observations with deduction based on logic and evidence. According to the required films, eliminative materialism is “eliminative” because it eliminates spiritual explanations; also when a certain scientific field doesn’t perfectly explains the observation, it is eliminated, and we move on to another branch of science. One example for eliminative materialism is the example of thunder mentioned in one of the required films. People used to believe that thunder was caused by the thunder god, and now we explain thunder with electromagnetism. Another example also from the required films is that diseases were regard as bad spirits inside a body until biological explanations was found. A third example can be the phenomenon of sleep paralysis. In Taiwanese/Chinese culture, people used to think that it was caused by the devil or a ghost lying on a person who’s asleep, so they cannot move freely. However, the folklore was later replaced with the physiological explanation of a phenomenon that happens when a person is neither in a state of being asleep nor awake.