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Dr. Mat Carmody

AS Philosophy

Homework

Explain and illustrate the difference between analytic and synthetic. (15 marks)

This is an important pair of terms. Look in the Reason and Experience reader in the chapters on Hume and Kant for how to define them. Roughly: an analytic sentence is one true in virtue of meaning alone, such as a bachelor is an unmarried man. A synthetic sentence is one true in virtue of the meaning and something else. So, Waterloo bridge crosses the Thames is synthetic because, given what the words mean, it is made true or false by the external world. Try to come up with your own examples.

To what extent does knowledge of reality depend on our conceptual scheme? (30 marks)

Reading: chs. 11-13 of your Reason and Experience reader. Also look at the powerpoints on the Reason and Experience page.

This is an essay that is designed to get you to think about Kant and those who followed him: the linguistic relativists. Kant argued that we could not know reality as it but only as our mind made it appear. Kant’s predecessors thought that reality is ‘out there’ to be known. Whether we can know it or not depends on how powerful you think the mind is. Rationalists thought the mind was equipped with innate ideas and a faculty of reason able to grasp truths about reality: in particular, what exists. Locke argued that all knowledge of existence is a posteriori. Knowledge of what exists is possible but limited. We may never know the 'hidden natures' of things. Berkeley and Hume in different ways argued that we cannot know anything beyond our ideas: either because the very idea is senseless (Berkeley) or because we cannot reason our way to the causes of the ideas in our minds (Hume).

Kant argues that experience is only possible if our minds organise the raw data into something structured and coherent. The structure is the scheme of concepts or conceptual scheme. The result is thoughts and experiences with content. Kant’s successors argued he was on the right track but did not go far enough. There was not one scheme but many. Your language and culture determines your scheme.

You need to assess whether this thought is a good one. Does what we know depend upon the language we speak? Do speakers of different realities know different worlds? Think of what we said about how we can translate between languages. Think about the problem of translating the word right into Chinese that was discussed in the video.

Think too about whether Kant was right to say our minds shaped the world as one in space and time. Think about whether Kant ends up saying no more than Hume and Berkeley: that, if the mind shapes the world, what we see is not the world but a creation of our mind.

A2 Philosophy

Homework

A2 Modules 1, 5 and 6: Two mini-essay questions for the week after half-term (starting Monday, 20th February 2012).

1: Explain one motivation for Descartes’ substance dualism and two criticisms.

Descartes' two motivations are (i) the Conceivability/Real Distinction argument; (ii) the Divisibility argument.
We have looked at the following challenges: (i) Arnauld's challenge; (ii) Elizabeth's challenge; (iii) Kant's challenge.

2. Explain one motivation for (Logical) behaviourism and two criticisms.

You will find all of the motivations and challenges in chapter 3 of the Philosophy of Mind reader.

Important advice: these are not to be approached in the style of the full essay you will need to write in the summer. These mini-essay questions are designed to get you to master the skills of presenting arguments for and against clearly. Doing this will be an essential part of the overall project of assessment that you will be doing in the main essay.

IB TOK

Essay and presentation supervisions

You will be uploading your essay on the weekend of Saturday 10th/Sunday 11th March. They will be sent off to the IBO first thing on Monday 12th March. This is a proper deadline so don't turn up at the office midday on the Monday with memory stick hoping that we can somehow override the IBO's security systems.

For more details, go to the How To Upload Your Essays page.

Friday, 10th February 2012

Sarah: 1.50 p.m.

Hannah: 2.05 p.m.

Katie: 2.20 p.m.

Tatiana: 2.35 p.m.

Monday, 20th February 2012

Jonathan: 9.00 a.m.

Mariana: 9.15 a.m.

Naima: 9.30 a.m.

Michael: 9.45 a.m.

Friday, 24th February 2012

Senni: 1.50 p.m.

Lilly: 2.05 p.m.

Kate: 2.20 p.m.

Kaoru: 2.35 p.m.

Monday, 27th February 2012

Dory: 9.00 a.m.

Toby: 9.15 a.m.

Natty: 9.30 a.m.

Ana: 9.45 a.m.

Friday, 2nd March 2012

Cate: 1.50 p.m.

Ejona: 2.05 p.m.

Sonia: 2.20 p.m.

FREE: 2.35 p.m.

Monday, 5th March 2012

FREE: 9.00 a.m.

FREE: 9.15 a.m.

Anca: 9.30 a.m.

FREE: 9.45 a.m.

Friday, 9th March 2012

FREE: 1.50 p.m.

FREE: 2.05 p.m.

FREE: 2.20 p.m.

FREE: 2.35 p.m.

Presentation Groups

Katie and Cate
Jelena and Sonia
Kaoru and Dory
Sarah
Senni
Tatiana
Anthony and Leo
Anca and Cathie
Toby
Jonathan and Mariana
Michael
Max
Miguel and Roland
Naima, Ana and Natty

Currently uncertain: Linnea, Holly, Demi, Hannah

Tutees

We meet on Tuesdays at 12.35 a.m. in room 2E10.