Session 5 – History of Philosophy Pt.2

In this session we will be continuing our study on the history of philosophy looking at the more recent philosophers and minds that

have shaped (especially) our western world

Keep in mind again, that we can only spend very limited time on each of these

individuals, even though we could spend an entire class on each

Rene Descartes Born: March 31, 1596, France

Died: February 11, 1650, Sweden

He was a man of many traits like people of that time often were. He was

a mathematician, scientist, and philosopher

Because he was one of the first to abandon scholastic Aristotelianism, because he formulated the first modern version

of mind-body dualism, from which stems the mind-body problem, and because he

promoted the development of a new science grounded in observation and

experiment, he has been called the father of modern philosophy.

He developed a metaphysical dualism that distinguishes radically between mind, the essence of which is thinking, and matter,

the essence of which is extension in three dimensions (which is shown now to be four)

Descartes decided he must doubt everything and try to start with an

epistemological ground zero, and from there start with addressing the question

of if we exist

From this comes his most famous saying when trying to determine existence

“I think, therefore I am”

To him the very fact that we can think and know something is evidence that we exist

Remember, the philosophical thought at that time was heavily influenced by Greek thinking, which didn’t know if

we even existed

“The senses deceive from time to time, and it is prudent never to trust wholly those

who have deceived us even once.”

“An optimist may see a light where there is none, but why must the pessimist always

run to blow it out?”

“It is not enough to have a good mind; the main thing is to use it well.”

Immanuel Kant, (born April 22, 1724, died February 12, 1804)

German philosopher whose comprehensive and

systematic work in epistemology (the theory

of knowledge), ethics, and aesthetics greatly

influenced all subsequent philosophy

A large part of Kant’s work addresses the question “What can we know?” The answer

put simply is that our knowledge is constrained to mathematics and the science

of the natural, empirical world.

The Critique of Pure Reason is his most notable work that discusses these things

He disagreed with empiricists who believed the mind starts as a clean slate

His contribution to ethics was great

In Kant’s view, the sole feature that gives an action moral worth is not the outcome that

is achieved by the action, but the motive that is behind the action.

The categorical imperative is Kant’s famous statement: “Act only according to that

maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.”

Quotes by Kant

“Morality is not the doctrine of how we may make ourselves happy, but how we may make ourselves worthy of happiness.”

“Always recognize that human individuals are ends, and do not use them as

means to your end.”

“Live your life as though your every act were to become a universal law.”

Existentialism

A philosophical theory or approach that emphasizes the existence of the individual

person as a free and responsible agent determining their own development through

acts of the will.

The Christian version of this category will be Asminianism (to a point) the free will camp (They believe that God gave that free will)

Famous existentialists includeSøren Kierkegaard

He was born in Copenhagen on May 5, 1813 and died 11

November 1855 (aged 42)

He was contemporary with Karl Marx (among others) but was focused on the spiritual more than the physical (like Marx)

He was a Christian but believed that God does not interfere with mans free will and life

choices (we are absolutely free)

He was extremely focused and the individuality of a person and against

philosophies that took that away from them

He believed strongly that there was more to a person than the physical and biological

nature that most were focused on

“Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.” - Soren Kierkegaard

Some quotes by Kierkegaard

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” - Soren Kierkegaard

“God creates out of nothing. Wonderful you say. Yes, to be sure, but he does what is still more wonderful: he makes saints

out of sinners.” - Soren Kierkegaard

Jean-Paul SartreBorn: June 21, 1905, Paris, France, Died: April 15, 1980, Paris, France

He was also an existentialist and

believed that man had absolute free will

Unlike Kierkegaard he is an atheist

Sartre had an idea of existence before essence (when dealing with people)

He said you have to become real before you can become you

However, it’s the exact opposite for objects and things in this world. You have to have the idea for a phone before you can make

that phone. Or an idea for a painting (essence) before you pain it (existence)

The Bible would disagree with Sartre

Romans 8:29: “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the

firstborn among many brethren.”

If God created us and the idea of who we would be was designed by God, our essence came before our existence

Sartre heavily emphasized personal responsibility and not make excuses

He would say it doesn’t matter if your blind, what matters is what you do with it

Sartre believes things are entirely the way they appear to be, and when we realize that we are “condemned to be free” we are filled with nausea (that was a book title for him)

Some Quotes by Sartre

“Only the guy who isn't rowing has time to rock the boat.”

“Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is

responsible for everything he does.”

“Freedom is what you do with what's been done to you.”

Albert Camus

Born: November 7, 1913, Dréan, AlgeriaDied: January 4, 1960, Villeblevin, France

He was a journalist, playwright, novelist, writer

of philosophical essays, and Nobel laureate.

He was raised as a Catholic and received communion

He eventually would become an atheist and a “free thinker” though

Although in many of his writings he would use Biblical imagery and themes

Camus nevertheless retained a lifelong interest and respect for Christian philosophy and literature. In particular, he seems to have recognized St. Augustine and Kierkegaard as

intellectual kinsmen and writers

Camus ultimately considered religious faith to be “philosophical suicide

This idea was based on Camus’ philosophy of the absurd. According to Camus, mankind

was perpetually attempting to rationalize an irrational universe. This process of

rationalization resulted in the absurd and religious belief fell into said category

“We turn toward God only to obtain the impossible.”

Early in his life Camus said that the most meaningless way to die is by car crash.

Lo and behold, he died in a car crash. In a world that makes no sense, this somehow

makes sense. That is, unless you think KGB killed him for his speaking out

against communism.

He almost predicted his death

“I would rather live my life as if there is a God and die to find out there isn't, than live

as if there isn't and to die to find out that there is.” - Albert Camus

Quotes by Camus

“You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You

will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.” Albert Camus

Friedrich Nietzsche

Born: October 15, 1844, Röcken, GermanyDied: August 25, 1900, Weimar, Germany

Nietzsche was originally quite religious. His father was a Lutheran minister

and Friedrich studied theology at the

University of Bonn

Nietzsche spoke of "the death of God," and foresaw the dissolution of traditional religion

and metaphysics.

During his studies, however, he learned of the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer

and became a staunch atheist

His most famous quote that many are familiar with:

“God is dead… We have killed him.”

All beings so far have created something beyond themselves; and do you want to be the ebb of this great flood and even go back

to the beasts rather than overcome man? What is the ape to man? A laughingstock or a painful embarrassment. And man shall be

just that for the Overman: a laughingstock or a painful embarrassment…”

He believed that acquired characteristics were pass from generation to generation

According to Nietzsche, religion was a shield with which mankind protects itself from fear and anxiety over his mortality, insignificance

and confusion.

Influenced by Darwin, Nietzsche thought that a new kind of human will emerge, far greater than any current manifestation.

He called this new human the “Overman” or “Superman,”

He disagreed with Darwin and believed that the drive for all living things is not a struggle

to survive, but a struggle for power

He saw the goal for humans to be as great as they can be, and to pass on their traits

and create a better coming generation (who will do the same thing)

He was very atheistic, very focused on man evolving, and believed in free will

Determinism

the doctrine that all events, including human action, are ultimately determined by causes

external to the will.

Some philosophers have taken determinism to imply that individual human beings have

no free will and cannot be held morally responsible for their actions

Behavioral Determinism assumes that our actions are reflex reactions developed in us by environmental conditioning. This is the

Nurture side of the debate Nature/Nurture

This view was developed to an extreme by

B. F. Skinner.

Born: March 20, 1904, Died: August 18, 1990,

He taught that life was you responding to stimulus, nothing more, nothing less

Your decisions are solely based on the reinforcement that you have at the time

There is positive reinforcement (reward) and negative reinforcement (punishment)

He says everything we do is predictable (in theory) if we knew what reinforcements

were in play at the time (and how strong)

"Biological determinism" is a term used in some literature to describe the belief that human behavior is controlled solely

by an individual's genes or some component of physiology.

You do what your genes tell you to do. Right and wrong

are determined by your genes, your actions, it’s

your nature

Causal Determinism finds that every event has an antecedent cause in the infinite causal chain going back to Aristotle's

Prime Mover. There is nothing uncaused or self-caused

This ends up being an argument for the existence of God, saying that he is the

first cause, or the “Prime Mover” as Aristotle put it

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

Born: August 27, 1770 Died: November 14, 1831

Every development in history (thesis) would lead to a reaction (antithesis). The contrast

between both will lead to a reconciliation or otherwise be settled (synthesis), which

would eventually become a new thesis, etc

Hegel's version of Historical determinism

He has some odd ideas when it came to theology (and many other areas) and

manage to influence two opposite sides of the spectrum with his work

Hegel is raised a protestant and goes to a protestant seminary for his education

People still argue today if Hegel in the end was an atheist or a Christian, because his philosophy can be read in different ways

His most notable student and possibly the most popular in this session, was Karl Marx

Born: May 5, 1818, GermanyDied: March 14, 1883, UK

He founded the system named after himself of

Marxism (Communism)

Unlike Hegel, Marx was clearly materialistic, while Hegel may have been theistic

Historical Determinism for Marx was - civilization goes through several stages, from primitive communism, through the

rise of the state and private property, to feudalism, capitalism, socialism and

finally to communism.

Karl Marx wrote the very popular communist manifesto, published in 1848

He wanted to level the playing field

Create a classless society where everyone would be equal and work together

He functions on the assumption that man is inherently good, and can do this

The Bible speaks against communism

2 Thessalonians 3:10: “For even when we were with you, we would give you this

command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.”

Communism is responsible for more deaths than any other ideology

Mass killings occurred under some Communist regimes during the twentieth

century with an estimated death toll numbering between 85 and 100 million.

This easily trumps the 28 million that died under fascist regimes during that time

“Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and

the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.” - Karl Marx

Quotes by Marx

“The theory of Communism may be summed up in one sentence: Abolish all

private property.” - Karl Marx

Memory Verse

James 3:17: “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits,

impartial and sincere.”