Great Ideas of Philosophy

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IV. Reid rejects this so-called “copy theory.” More to the point, however, his analysis of the problem in this manneris intended to convey an experimental approach of the Baconian-Newtonian variety.A. There is no evidence to support the view that the “impressions” made on the sense organs are what themind becomes aware of. Not even philosophers are aware of their sensory impressions.B. There is, therefore, no evidence that the ideas or knowledge we have should be thought of as some sort of“copy” of these impressions.C. Reid’s experiments demonstrate to him that the image of a right triangle projected on the spherical retina ofthe eye is itself curved; what we see, however, is not a curved triangle but the triangle as it is actuallyconfigured. We see what is there!D. In fact, what happens is that physiological activity presents to the mind a system of natural signs; by ameans Reid confesses he does not understand, the mind can decode these signs and move from the sign tothe thing signified. There is a fit between our biology and the external world such that we are able to live init.V. The Humean conception of causation is at the very core of Hume’s skepticism. It is flawed in the same way,according to Reid.A. Constant conjunction of two things cannot be the grounding of our belief that one causes the other.1. No two things are more constantly in temporal conjunction than day and night, yet no one thinks, “Dayis the cause of night.”2. From constant conjunction alone, the concept of a “cause” would never arise.B. The actual source of this concept is our own active powers. We know from infancy that we are able tobring things about; from this, we are led to the inference that events external to us are similarly producedby other powers.VI. In the same way, the ethical theory according to which morality is an essentially passion- or emotion-based setof self-interested actions is not the result of systematic inquiry and is defeated by such an inquiry.A. Even the hedonist must calculate long-range consequences. Immediate sensations of pleasure and paincannot account for our ability to swallow a nasty medicine for eventual benefit. Rationality is a necessarypresupposition even on the Humean account.B. Philosophical principles ought to be able to account for evidence gathered in the real world. The longhuman record of altruism is not adequately explained by the Humean theory of it.C. There must, in fact, be first principles of morals within us guiding our daily behavior, just as the caterpillaris guided to find the right leaf among thousands.VII. Hume on personal identity argues that the continuity of identity is based on the same principles that preservethe continuity of a parade formation of soldiers: As one or another marcher drops out, another takes his place,so that the “bundle of perceptions” is held together.A. This is based on Hume’s theory of causation as “constant conjunction.” Because Reid considers this theoryto be flawed, he does not believe it will work here either.1. Hume says, “When I observe myself, I see nothing but a bundle of perceptions.” And who, then, isdoing the observing?2. For there to be treason, there must be a traitor; for there to be a “bundle of perceptions,” there must bea percipient.B. Reid saw Locke’s theory (upon which Hume’s was based) as hopeless from the outset: Remembering theloss of the Battle of Waterloo does not make one Napoleon!1. A man remembers himself to have once been a boy and knows that he is today a brave young officer;an aged general remembers that he was once a brave young officer but no longer remembers he was aboy.2. Thus, A = B and B = C, but A does not equal C!VIII. Against the “idea” theory and its resulting skepticism, Reid offered a naturalistic, “common sense” alternative,according to which the creatures of nature, including human beings, are fitted out with what is needed forsurvival, for shared actions, and for valid knowledge of the external world. He insisted that Hume and Locke20©2004 The Teaching Company Limited Partnership
efore him were not always faithful to the observational methods of Bacon and Newton, nor to their means oftesting competing accounts.Recommended Reading:Reid, T. An Inquiry into the Human Mind. Timothy Duggan, ed. Penn State University Press, 1997.Barker, S., and Beauchamp, T., eds. Thomas Reid: Critical Interpretations. (Philosophical Monographs), vol. 3.,1976.Questions to Consider:1. Explain whether an innate principle of common sense should enjoy instant validity over a competing claimraised by philosophers.2. Explain how one might distinguish between that which is widely shared (though only a custom) and the Reidianprinciple of common sense.©2004 The Teaching Company Limited Partnership 21
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Daniel N. Robinson, Ph.D.Philosophy
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Lecture OneFrom the Upanishads to H
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E. The Upanishads would merge us wi
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2. Despite their oracles, priests,
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4. Looking at geometry, we are told
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E. The contribution of pre-Socratic
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of the mystery of earth itself impe
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Lecture SixHerodotus and the Lamp o
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Lecture SevenSocrates on the Examin
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Xenophon. Memorabilia. Cornell Univ
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II. A philosopher is engaged in the
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Lecture NineCan Virtue Be Taught?Sc
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Lecture TenPlato’s Republic⎯Man
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Annas, J. “Classical Greek Philos
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III. The dominant school of Greek m
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1. Epistemonikon is a special featu
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Timeline800-600 B.C.E. ............
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1705...............................
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1873...............................
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Functionalism: The view that consci
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Tabula rasa: A blank slate. In the
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progress in one of its most summoni
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John Locke (1632-1704): Physician a
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The Great Ideas ofPhilosophy, 2 nd
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Table of ContentsThe Great Ideas of
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Lecture ThirteenAristotle on Friend
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C. Aristotle is recovering the Home
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III. The problem of conduct is then
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C. The Stoic account relies on the
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Lecture SixteenThe Stoic Bridge to
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Recommended Reading:Bede. A History
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III. Roman law successfully permitt
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Lecture EighteenThe Light Within⎯
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B. Augustine approaches the problem
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B. Very early, the Islamic commitme
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Lecture TwentySecular Knowledge⎯T
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Page 82 and 83: Lecture Twenty-TwoScholasticism and
Page 84 and 85: E. Further, to the intellectual vir
Page 86 and 87: historical volumes tell Florentines
Page 88 and 89: Lecture Twenty-FourLet Us Burn the
Page 90 and 91: 1. First, the courts required a doc
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Page 96 and 97: Apatheia: Freedom from pathos and s
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Page 100 and 101: Biographical NotesAeschylus (525-45
Page 102 and 103: Claude Adrien Helvetius (1715-1771)
Page 104 and 105: Socrates (c. 469-399 B.C.): Greek p
Page 107 and 108: Daniel N. Robinson, Ph.D.Philosophy
Page 109 and 110: Scope:The Great Ideas of Philosophy
Page 111 and 112: B. This expansion, however, does no
Page 113 and 114: 1. This standard essentially rules
Page 115 and 116: Lecture Twenty-SevenNewton⎯The Sa
Page 117 and 118: Lecture Twenty-EightHobbes and the
Page 119 and 120: Recommended Reading:Hobbes, T. Levi
Page 121 and 122: B. Other things can be known to be
Page 123 and 124: Lecture ThirtyNo Matter? The Challe
Page 125 and 126: Lecture Thirty-OneHume and the Purs
Page 127: Lecture Thirty-TwoThomas Reid and t
Page 131 and 132: 2. His Letters on the English makes
Page 133 and 134: Lecture Thirty-FourThe Federalist P
Page 135 and 136: VI. The Federalist Papers and the g
Page 137 and 138: III. Kant argues that there is some
Page 139 and 140: Lecture Thirty-SixMoral Science and
Page 141 and 142: Questions to Consider:1. A hypothet
Page 143 and 144: 650-850 C.E. ......................
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Page 147 and 148: Apatheia: Freedom from pathos and s
Page 149 and 150: ut cannot know what it is. Ultimate
Page 151 and 152: Biographical NotesAeschylus (525-45
Page 153 and 154: Claude Adrien Helvetius (1715-1771)
Page 155: Socrates (c. 469-399 B.C.): Greek p
Page 159 and 160: Daniel N. Robinson, Ph.D.Philosophy
Page 161 and 162: Scope:The Great Ideas of Philosophy
Page 163 and 164: C. Though his system would be mocke
Page 165 and 166: 1. There is nothing in the physics
Page 167 and 168: F. To include Hegel within the trad
Page 169 and 170: Lecture FortyThe Aesthetic Movement
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Page 177 and 178: Lecture Forty-ThreeDarwin and Natur
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2. There is room for altruism but o
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1. He is a Hegelian who stands Hege
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Lecture Forty-FiveThe Freudian Worl
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B. How can repressed elements be un
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III. What figures in the human imag
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Lecture Forty-SevenWilliam James’
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Questions to Consider:1. Conclude w
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III. As long as we subscribe to a
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Timeline800-600 B.C.E. ............
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1705...............................
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1873...............................
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Functionalism: The view that consci
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Tabula rasa: A blank slate. In the
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progress in one of its most summoni
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John Locke (1632-1704): Physician a
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The Great Ideas ofPhilosophy, 2 nd
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Table of ContentsThe Great Ideas of
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Lecture Forty-NineAlan Turing in th
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C. Searle thinks that the missing i
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3. Even activities could be simulat
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B. The inclination to classify is a
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Lecture Fifty-TwoPhilosophy of Scie
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V. These debates illustrate a far l
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1. The two had in common the idea t
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Questions to Consider:1. What does
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C. Locke and others emphasized that
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Lecture Fifty-FiveWhat Makes a Prob
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B. Kant suggests that the moral law
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1. Proponents have argued that so m
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Lecture Fifty-SevenOn the Nature of
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2. So far as it can coexist with th
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3. Slavery is commonplace in all of
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3. Does the just-war theorist have
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B. The quadrivium comprised arithme
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2. He argues that the former is pre
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1. The objects of the knowable worl
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etween a world of beauty and one of
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⎯⎯⎯. On Free choice of Will.
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Herodotus. The Persian Wars. G. Raw
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———. Toward a Science of Huma
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