William Of Ockham And David Hume - 931 Words

Question: Discuss the fascinating parallels between William of Ockham and David Hume, highlighting for example, the Regularist View of Causality. Answer: David Hume William of Ockham Hume did not deny causation. He embraced it. But he did say that empirical methods could not logically prove its necessity, as observations only show a constant conjunction of events, a regular succession of A followed by B, which leads the mind to the inference of cause and effect. For Hume, causality is something humans naturally believe. Ockham readily grants that if the world has to be â€Å"held up† by conserving causes, then there must be a first among them because otherwise the set of conserving causes would constitute an uncountable quantity of actually existing things. It is in fact a tenet of belief that God is both an efficient and conserving cause of the cosmos, and Ockham accepts this tenet on faith. We cannot logically know or prove causation and matters of fact, as we can know and prove the relations of ideas such as mathematics and logic. But we have a natural belief in causation and in many matters of fact. There would be an infinite regress among causes if there were not a first cause; therefore, there must be a first cause, namely, God. If the chain of efficient causes that have produced the world as we know it today had no beginning, then it would form, not an extensive infinity, but an intensive infinity, which is harmless. Reason cannot motivate our Beliefs. Reason isShow MoreRelatedPhilosophy Of The Middle Ages1124 Words   |  5 PagesGreek Forms which were then defined as ideas in the mind of God. It seems as though philosophy was able to progress when the concept of God was debated. Much of the debate that followed concerned the ideas of the general and the specific. As William of Ockham said, how can we talk about specific things until we talk about general things? We have examples of words and even objects that represent specific things but that does not mean there is an object that they represent. A word such as justice orRead MoreThe Design Argument For The Existence Of God1286 Words   |  6 Pagesand moon to sustain human life. If either of these things were less ideal, there would be drastically worse outcomes for the giraffes and humans on earth. The harmony we witness in nature compels the belief in an intelligent designer. Philosopher William Paley gives an example supporting this argument using a natural rock and a watch. He argues that in a forest if someone were to stumble upon a rock, they would not likely question why or how the rock came to be there, for all they know it has beenRead MoreFreedom and Determinism Essay2348 Words   |  10 Pagesdistinguished between the inclination toward the just and the inclination toward the advantageous; freedom results from the ability to choose between the two. The modern understanding of â€Å"free will† was most closely explained by the Franciscan William of Ockham. He believed an individual has the liberty to be indifferent, therefore making no choice at all. He also adopted an alternative understanding of predestination according to which some are predestined on account of their foreseen merits. AccordingRead MoreThe Design Argument - as Level Essay examples3128 Words   |  13 Pagesbeing we call God.’ He also championed the Analogy of the arrow directed by the archer showing that in order for something to end somewhere, there must be someone causing the movement, the arrow could not have ended us on the board on its own. William Paley, an 18th Century Philosopher continued to develop the principles of the Design argument, showing many more extended features to Socrates original concept. Paley championed the theory of design qua purpose and that a design requires a designerRead MoreBranches of Philosophy8343 Words   |  34 PagesAlfarabi, Alhazen, Avicenna, Algazel, Avempace, Abubacer and Averroes; the Jewish philosophers Maimonides and Gersonides; and the Christian philosophers Anselm, Augustine of Hippo, Boethius, Peter Abelard, Roger Bacon, Thomas Aquinas, Duns Scotus, William of Ockham and Jean Buridan. [edit] Renaissance (c. 1350–c. 1600) Main article: Renaissance philosophy [pic] [pic] Giordano Bruno The Renaissance (rebirth) was a period of transition between the theological philosophy of the Middle Ages and modern thoughtRead Morehistory of philosophy5031 Words   |  21 PagesArabic and Greek, and high medieval philosophy, which came about as a result of the recovery of Aristotle. This period, which lasted a mere century and a half compared to the nine centuries of the early period, came to a close around the time of  William of Ockham  in the middle of the 14th century. Western medieval philosophy was primarily concerned with implementing the Christian faith with philosophical reason, that is, baptizing reason. Early medieval philosophy was influenced by the likes of  StoicismRead MoreSources of Ethics20199 Words   |  81 Pagessimply wills things, and they become reality. He wills the physical world into existence, he wills human life into existence and, similarly, he wills all moral values into existence. Proponents of this view, such as medieval philosopher William of Ockham, believe that God wills moral principles, such as â€Å"murder is wrong,† and these exist in God’s mind as commands. God informs humans of these commands by implanting us with moral intuitions or revealing these commands in scripture. 17th

The Truth And Reconciliation Commission - 1667 Words

In Country of My Skull, Antjie Krog writes pieces of prose, poetry, narrative and transcripts raw testimonies of the victims and offenders, during the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) hearings. These hearings were put in place by Nelson Mandela, which allowed witnesses, whose human rights were violated, to give statements and possibly testify before the Commission. These hearings were not only aimed at justice but the truth. The hearings allowed amnesty to those who committed the crimes as long as they could prove that they were just following orders from their superiors. Krog wrote Country of My Skull about her journalistic covering, for the SABC (public broadcasting service in South Africa), of the two years that the TRC†¦show more content†¦It was a system of segregation put in place by the National Party, which governed in South Africa from 1948 to 1994. Under this system there was an extended period of gruesome violence against individuals of colored skin in So uth Africa. Black citizens began to resist this prejudice though and also used violence against the enforcers of Apartheid. Many thousands of individuals applied for the amnesty program and a couple thousand testified through the course of 2 years. â€Å"The reactions of white South Africans to the revelations of the Truth Commission can be divided into two main groups†¦ There are those who refuse point-blank to take any responsibility and are always advancing reasons why the commission should be rejected and regarded as a costly waste of money. And then there are those who feel deeply involved and moved, but also powerless to deal with the enormity of the situation† (Krog 221). A lot of Afrikaners felt a sense of guilt for the behavior they allowed to happen from their race towards another. Krog was one of these Afrikaners. Although blood was not shed on Krog’s hands directly, she took on the shame of her race. People often associate their behavior and actions fr om the groups they belong to. Race, ethnicity and political groups, is an example of this. Often times individuals feel proud to be a member of their group and it becomes an important part of how they view themselves and their identity.

How does the relationship between salt concentration Free Essays

How does the relationship between salt concentration effect osmosis in the aquatic plant Elodea? Quantitative data From observing the cells under a microscope, we see that they are continuously moving and therefore are alive. We have observed that when the cells are in the 10% sodium chloride, the chloroplasts are positioned to the sides of the cell wall and the cytoplasm is more expanded. Cells in the distilled water are slightly smaller than the cells in the sodium chloride solution and the chloroplasts have begun moving to the same. We will write a custom essay sample on How does the relationship between salt concentration or any similar topic only for you Order Now Finally, cells in the isotonic water are very small and equally spread out through out the cells. Conclusion From observing the Elodea in different concentration of water, we can see that the more concentrated the solution is, the more osmosis occurs. This can be seen from the change from observing the plant in isotonic water, distilled water and a 10% sodium chloride solution. As the concentration of the solution increases, the cytoplasm and chloroplast was pushed to the edges of the cell membrane instead of being spread out like in the isotonic water. This observation is especially visible for he 10% sodium chloride solution; where all of its chloroplast was on the boundary and pressure of the cytoplasm is more. This occurs because of osmosis where water molecules move in the sodium chloride solution as osmosis works from a region of lower solute concentration to a region of higher solute concentration across a partially permeable membrane. The sodium chloride molecules moves across the membrane so the net is in equilibrium, due to this the elodea contain more water and therefore becomes larger. At some cells, we can see that they look very weak and ull, these are the cells which are reaching the maximum capacity of water they can obtain. If we were to leave the elodea in higher concentration solution they may burst due too much water flowing and pressure inside the cells. There was only a gradual change between the cell in the isotonic water and distilled water since the salt concentration to the distilled water was not very strong. Also, because the solution is less solute is due to less molecules held up so they move more freely across the membrane. Thus, a smaller net movement of water is evident. However, we can still ee some small changes such as the some of the chloroplasts have been moved the side, as while as the cell has expanded slightly, especially the cytoplasm. When place in isotonic solution, the cell does not experience any changes since there is an equal exchange of water. The reason for this is the solution and cell has the same concentration, therefore water moves in the same direction so osmosis does not occur. There is no pressure inside the cell so the cytoplasm is not pressed against happens better in concentrated solutions where the cytoplasm and chloroplast are ainly affected. Although I only did the experiment once, my results may not be completely accurate; however, because of our knowledge of osmosis, we can infer that the results are to a large extend reliable and can be use to Justify our conclusion. Evaluation Limitation How it affected the results How to improve it The slide where the cell was put on to be observed under the microscope may have contained traces of previous concentration of solutions. Because the solutions were mixed (for instance, some traces of isotonic water on slide when the cell was put in istilled water) it could weaken the concentration of the solution. The weaker solution may create a barrier to how much of the stronger solution could enter the cell. Therefore, the cell could contain more of the weaker solution than the stronger. Due to more of the weaker solution, osmosis may not occur as effectively as it would with a pure solution. After observing the elodea, cleanse it thoroughly so excess water comes off. When wanting to observe the next elodea in a different concentration take a new slide each time so there is the cell is on a completely clean surface. The harsh ight of the microscope created heat, which was aimed towards the cell. The heat would have made the cell drier by drying the water that the cell contained. This would have made the cell flaccid as the cell loses water and has lack of firmness. Therefore the cells’ structure would be altered, giving false results. Decrease the amount of light shined on the cell. Also, only switch off the microscope when not using to observe to ensure that extra light will not shine. The time the leaf is left in the solution is not consistent. – Sometimes the leaf was left for 5 minutes sometimes onger. The time needs to be consistent since the effects of osmosis may be more visible if there is longer time. The cell in a particular concentration may be less â€Å"developed† compared to the cell in another concentration, which was in the solution for a longer period of time. Have a fix time for the elodea cell to be in each of the solutions. (10 minutes would be a good time) The experiment was only done once This may not have given very accurate results as the one trial we did may have been flawed. Therefore it is not very reliable to assume that our results will always give the ame conclusions that concentration effect osmosis. Do the experiment at least fives times to compare the results to make sure they are all similar. This way you can ensure that your results are more accurate and have no anomalies. Different leaves were used for each of the three solutions. and how everything is placed. Because of this, we do not know if the changes we see are due to osmosis or if the leaves are different from each other. It makes comparison between the concentration of solutions harder as we need to be more cautious in what we assume are the effects of osmosis. Use the same leaf whenever changing into a different solution. However make sure to fully cleanse the leaf after putting in each concentration to ensure there is no traces of old concentration. Limitation by use of sketching to collecting information There might be human error when sketching since we cannot locate the same part of the plant and also there is different amount of cells within each part. Humans may also produce error when drawing the shapes, so when comparing, it is difficult to know whether the shapes produce are caused by human error or osmosis. How to cite How does the relationship between salt concentration, Papers