Class notes
Notes: Academic Skills
- Course
- Institution
Class notes taken during the first year course "Academic Skills" CC1008 at Erasmus University Rotterdam
[Show more]
Seller
Follow
juliaaaaaaa7898
Content preview
Academic Skills Chapters 1 and 2• 2 approaches to knowledge since antiquity
• Rationalism
• Plato
• We have to move beyond perception
• Empiricism
• Aristotle
• Only perception
Platos rationalism
• Rely more on rationality because senses cannot be trusted
• Reality vs. Perception
• The world as it appears is not the world as it is
• Knowledge should not come through perception
• Perception is misleading
• Heraclitus:
• The essence of reality is change
• Everything in reality is constantly changing
• Becoming is the reality
• Being is not reality
• Only a temporary state
• Paramenides:
• Reality is unchanging but appears as changing to our senses
• example: if you chop a tree the wood does not disappear but in a different form
• Nothing appears or disappears from or into nowhere
• Appearance vs. Reality
• If truth is in the eye of the beholder there cannot be such a thing as truth
• Everything would be subjective
• Plato does not want to discuss things as they are perceived but as the really are
• Truth is only found in a supernatural realm containing the eternal and perfect forms or ideas
• We do not have access to this because of our senses
• For example: all triangles are less than perfect manifestations of the form Triangle
• Only exists as an idea or concept
• Reality that we perceive is an imperfect version of the truth from the supernatural realm
• Plato’s cave allegory
• Prisoners can only see the shadows of the real objects
• Indirect version of the ideal shapes which are carried behind our back
• Language is one step away from reality
• Closest approximation of the world of forms
• Shadow/subjective perception
• 2 steps from reality
• Copy of the shadow
• 3 steps from reality
• According to Plato this is what artists do
• They are not helping the advancement of knowledge
• Copying in a less than perfect way
• Empirical investigation cannot bring true knowledge
• Only reveals a world of becoming and passing away
• Human reason constituted source of knowledge = rationalism
• Humans possess inborn ideas
• Our immortal soul comes from the world of forms
• We can access them somehow
• Meditation, work…
• All of these ideas are forgotten at birth
• Reason helps us understand theses ideas
• Theory about perfect universe and interpret and adapt your observations to that theory
Aristotles empiricism
• Empiricism: derided from or guided by reason and experiment
, • Source of knowledge is our sensory experience
• Senses bring us into immediate contact with the world
• Only the world we inhabit truly exists
• No world of forms
• Essences are part of this world and accessible by empirical enquiry
• Thomas Aquinas
• When we are born our mind is an empty sheet of paper tabula rasa filled with impressions
from reality
• Gather lots of observations and build your theory on their basis
• Syllogism: a way to find the cause of things
• example: 1. All human beings are mortal (premise 1, universal law)
2. Socrates is a human being (premise 2, the law applies to Socrates)
3. Hence, Socrates is mortal (conclusion from 1 and 2)
• Problem: the cause of Socrates immortality is found through deductive reasoning
• Premise 1 is a universal law
• Aristotle’s problem: how do we know premise 1 to be true
• To be based on empiricism we must have observed every human to be mortal
• Aristotle would rather observe first
• It is impossible to base premise 1 on observation
• To establish truth of premise 1 induction is not enough
• Only a first step
• Nous: infallible capacity, strong intuition that allows us to produce the insight that all humans
are mortal
• Aristotle pulls back from being purely empiricist
• Theoretical principles depend on observation but also on a direct and intuitive grasp from the
intellect
Induction and deduction
• Induction: an advance from observation of particular phenomena to universal laws
• Deduction: resining from universal laws (primary premises) to concrete observations
• For hard cord empiricists, universal laws should always come from observation (i.e. induction)
Francis Bacon
• Alive during the scientific revolution
• Outlines a scientific method
• Knowledge should be based on observation and experiments
• Should not follow books (i.e. bible)
• Should not follow faith, theology, tradition
• Medieval universe
• Geocentric universe
• Aristotle and ptolemy came up with geocentric view of the universe
• Thomas Aquinas made it fit with Christianity
• Copernicus: earth orbits the sun
• Theology vs. Science
• Authority vs. Observation
• Some people today still believe the earth is flat or disagree with the theory of evolution
• Finding truth requires observation
• Warned not to put blind faith into human perception
• The 4 idols
• Idols of the tribe: as humans our senses can deceive unmake us jump to conclusions that we
cherish
• Idols of the cave: as individuals out character may predispose us to cherish either tradition or
novelty
• Idols of the marketplace: we use a lot of words that do not refer to reality
• Idols of the theatre: we may be caught up in dogmas and methods of thought
• We are less tabula rasa than empiricism requires
• Aristotle was not sufficiently empiricist with his syllogisms
• Premises were not sufficiently grounded in observation
• Universal statements can never be the starting point of scientific inquiry
• Bacon wants true and perfect induction
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller juliaaaaaaa7898. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $3.25. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
Can Stuvia be trusted?
4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
62890 documents were sold in the last 30 days
Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy study notes for 14 years now