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Bertrand Russell : value of philosophy
Bertrand russell's essay on philosophy
Bertrand russell's essay on philosophy
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Appearance versus Reality in Bertrand Russell's The Problems of Philosophy
Bertrand Russell's method of approaching his subject in Problems of Philosophy embraces the Cartesian technique of radical doubt, in which the author revokes any former assumptions about certain reality and existence. In the first chapters, Russell's enquiry into the nature of reality in comparison to appearance begins with the observation of his immediate surroundings. By examining a table, for example, he determines that the table's colour, texture, and shape are sufficient to prompt doubt as to whether or not the table exists. The sensations of these qualities are not fixed by a reality; they are apparent possibilities and each depends on the conditions of observation, and thus an individual loses confidence in the senses.
These observations lead to Russell's first distinction between appearance and reality: "The real table, if there is one, is not immediately known to us at all, but must be an inference from what is immediately known." (11) The reality of the table, he explains, depends on a proces...
The study of psychobiology attempts to explain behaviour in terms of physiological mechanisms. Previous research shows that female and male reactions differ with regards to emotional stimuli (Campbell et al., 2002 & Orozco & Ehlers, 1998, as cited in Hall, 2004). “Sex Differences in Functional Activation Patterns Revealed by Increased Emotion Processing Demands” (Hall, Witelson, Szechtman, & Nahmias, 2004) studied the effects that different emotional stimuli have on brain activation patterns (Hall et al.). The study was divided into two experiments, both of which compared and contrasted the results between two different groups of eight women and eight men (Hall et al.). In experiment one, patients performed three tasks: facial detection, identity matching and emotion matching (Hall et al.). In experiment two, a different group of eight women and eight men performed gender matching and emotion matching, with an additional auditory stimulus (Hall et al.). The results showed that sexual dimorphism was present in the reactions between women and men (Hall et al.). This essay proposes to examine the psychobiological aspect of the studies, to identify any interesting and relevant results, and to analyze its key elements and scientific rigor. Furthermore, it will explore possible future improvements to the study, as well as highlight possible applications of the results. This essay will prove that the research paper is both relevant and interesting to psychobiology.
Weatherford, J. McIver. Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. New York: Crown, 2004.
William Lyon Phelps, an American educator, journalist, and professor, believed, “If you develop the absolute sense of certainty that powerful beliefs provide, then you can get yourself to accomplish virtually anything, including those things that other people are certain are impossible.” Phelps believed that certainty is the key to overcoming the impossible. He believed that absolute certainty and confidence in oneself will allow one to accomplish anything he or she put her mind to. It is common for underdogs in different competitions to side with Phelps because they are told that it is impossible for them to win. These competitors use the doubters claims as fuel to motivate themselves and become absolutely certain that they can and will overcome the impossible. On the other hand, Bertrand Russell stated, “I think we ought always to entertain our opinions with some measure of doubt.” Russell, a British author, mathematician, and philosopher. believed that doubt will allow to people to adjust their opinions and envision what their decision may or may not lead to. He believed that nothing is ever truly certain; therefore, there would always be a period of doubt in the decision-making process. This view was extremely common in the minds of people in scientific or academic fields because they know that in the process of perfecting an idea includes multiple trials, errors, and periods of
...as the support of the family as oppose to Walter. Each family member has a dream to improve the family situation; however, all of those dreams are depending on one insurance check which begins to cause trouble and tensions within the family (Bloom 18). However, all these dreams are counting on one insurance check to be funded.
Genghis Khan, born Temujin in 1162 AD was known as the Great Unifier for the Mongols. The Mongols were nomadic people that originated from what is today known as Mongolia. Khan, whose name means ‘Universal Leader’ is known as the founder of the Mongol’s empire before his death in 1227 AD. He started by conquering most of Asia such and pretty much all of China. During this expansion, while the Mongols conquered these places, they did not yet occupy any of them. It was more like unifying the world, or as much of it as possible, under one banner. However, the Mongol expansion, like everything in this life, had consequences. One of its most dire one was the reopening of the Afro-Eurasian trade routes and starting trading again. That is a dire consequence
Chapter 3 is about Earth’s structure and plate tectonics. Earth’s interior is consists of four layers inner and outer core, mantle, and Earth’s crust. Each layer is thicker than the layer above. Millions of years ago Earth was as one continent, but eventually the continents have spread out from each other. Continents are floating in the ocean and constantly moving towards or away from one another. The movement of continents is due to plate tectonics about 1-15 centimeters a year. Different plates move at a different rate. There are about a dozen of tectonic plates on the Earth. The plates have converged, diverged, and slipped past one another since Earth’s crust first solidified and cooled, driven by slow, heat-generated currents rising and
The face is the reserve of emotion. A smile implies happiness, a frown signifies anger or sadness, and a quick rolling of the eyes indicates someone is annoyed. What one is thinking or feeling can be clearly displayed in one’s facial expressions. Paul Ekman decided to study people’s facial expressions, down to the micro expressions that flash across the face and those are what give one away. He developed the facial action coding system (FACS) after many years of researching how people’s facial expressions reveal their inner emotions (Blink 204). He has even worked with Gottman and his “Love Lab” and the FACS has helped him to predict the longevity of certain relationships. While some people believe that their true feelings are not reflected by their facial expressions, they are unaware that a simple change in emotions is displayed on their face, revealing their true feelings. Emotions simply cannot be hidden, because they are clearly displayed on the face.
In the article entitled How Men's Brains Are Wired Differently Than Women's, Tanya Lewis suggests that males and females share two very distinct structures in the brain region. It is not surprising that males and females function under two biological roles in the society, but it has been proven that the brain has a rather significant involvement in this. This article introduces physiological as well as anatomical ways in which the brain of a male differs from that of a female. While I agree with Tanya Lewis’ claims, the articles does not address how gender roles and personalities can be a result of differences in the brain structures of males and females. This reflection will gather valid studies that proves that, indeed, the differences in character and personality traits of males versus
The problem I hope to expose in this paper is the lack of evidence in The Argument from Analogy for Other Minds supporting that A, a thought or feeling, is the only cause of B. Russell believes that there are other minds because he can see actions in others that are analogous to his own without thinking about them. He believes that all actions are caused by thoughts, but what happens when we have a reaction resulting as an action of something forced upon one’s self? Such as when a doctor hits your patellar tendon with a reflex hammer to test your knee-jerk reflex. Russell does not answer this question. He is only “highly probable” that we are to know other minds exist through his A is the cause of B postulate.
In the above essay, I presented the opposing views of William Paley and Bertrand Russell on the design argument. I then compared and contrasted the arguments showing that the arguments mostly differed. Finally, I evaluated the two philosophers' arguments and concluded that Paley's design argument was stronger than Russell's argument against it because Paley developed the support for his claims more thoroughly.
Dr. John Nicholson, author of "A Question of Sex", states that men and women are different in the types of mental tasks they perform (120). Times magazine states in an article published in January 1992, that "Males excel at rotating three-dimensional objects in their head. Females prove better at reading the emotions of people in photographs" (121). The author of the article is referring to the fact that maybe our brains are put together differently.
The distinction that causes the most trouble in philosophy is the distinction between "appearance" and "reality," between what things seem to be and what they are. The painter wants to know what things seem to be, the practical man and the philosopher want to know what they are. . . . but if reality is not what appears, have we any means of knowing whether there is any reality at all? - Bertrand Russell, The Problems of Philosophy
This essay is written to introduce the Russell’s Theory on Definite Description. The main content of this essay including: the definition of definite description, the puzzles concerning definite description, Russell’s Theory on Definite Description, how this theory solves the puzzles, Strawson’s objection to this theory, my evaluation on the convincingness of Strawson’s objection and my evaluation on the convincingness of Russell’s Theory of Definite Description.
Bertrand Russell explains in his article that the value of philosophy is not in the definite answers, but in the questions and possibilities that it raises. He states that “The value of philosophy is, in fact, to be sought largely in its very uncertainty.” This can relate to the Milesians, the answers they came up with weren’t important, but the process used to get them. He says that the more we practice philosophy the more we begin to question everyday things in our life, and we come to find that the answers are only bigger questions. These questions lead to limitless possibilities, broadened horizons, and freedom from what we “know”. Russell hints that philosophy can help you see things in a different light, in a sense taking off the rose colored glasses and seeing the world for what it is.
_ _ _. Letters to Bertrand Russell. Ed. Harry T. Moore. New York: Gotham Book Mart, 1948.