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.”