Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and problems for Philosophy and ethics

Understanding Descartes' Method

We comment that in the Discourse on Method, Descartes seeks to establish a set of rules to achieve true knowledge without any doubt. These rules lead us unambiguously so that the truth is always rigorously applied.

Given that all we know are dubious opinions, we reject anything that is not obviously true. This means that, in the light of reason, we must show for certain what is true, in a clear and distinct manner. Therefore, only the right judgments on the truth of judgments, in any sense, are a source of error.

Breaking Down Problems

Then, we divide any problem into its simplest elements and find the truth by applying the first rule. Finally, we reconstruct the difficulty, progressing from its simpler elements... Continue reading "Understanding Descartes' Method and the Nature of Doubt" »

Transcendental Illusion: Reason and its Limits

The basis of understanding, according to Kant, lies in the application of concepts to general phenomena, drawing upon both a priori knowledge and experience. Thinking involves organizing concepts logically, based on their universality. This process leads to what Kant calls Ideas of Reason:

• Alma (the body of knowledge about internal experience)
• World (knowledge about external experience)
• God (a synthesis of both)

Although these ideas encompass all phenomena, they do not provide us with concrete knowledge. We lack the necessary intuition to grasp them. Therefore, metaphysics as a science is impossible, as knowledge is limited by sensory experience. However, humans have a natural inclination to ponder... Continue reading "Kant's Transcendental Illusion: Reason and Metaphysics" »

The Relationship Between Ideas

Ideas are the materials of knowledge, appearing in a specific order. This order depends on whether it's power, memory, or imagination that brings them to mind. Memory maintains the original momentum and position of ideas, while imagination combines them more freely. We can imagine fantastical creatures, like a centaur, but we remember a horse. Hume identifies a 'soft power' in human nature that associates ideas along three principles: similarity, spatiotemporal contiguity, and causation. "A picture naturally leads our thoughts to the original. The mention of one room in a building naturally introduces a question or comment about the others, and if we think of a wound, we can hardly refrain from thinking about the... Continue reading "Understanding Knowledge: Ideas, Relations, and Facts" »

René Descartes' Philosophy

René Descartes used 'substance' and 'matter' (or res) as synonyms. The characteristic of substance is independent existence – it does not require anything else to exist. Therefore, God is the only true substance, as all creatures depend on God for their existence.

Descartes' Concept of Substance

Descartes identified two primary types of substance:

• Infinite Substance: God's Existence

  Our ability to doubt implies imperfection. But where does the idea of perfection originate? Since it cannot be a factitious idea (created by oneself) nor an adventitious idea (derived from external experience), as neither we nor the things of this world are perfect, it must be an innate idea. This idea, placed within us by a perfect and

Understanding Discrimination

Positive Discrimination: Protection of extraordinary character, which is given to a group historically discriminated against on grounds of sex, race, religion, or language to achieve their full social integration.

Negative Discrimination: Giving inferior treatment to a person or group on racial, religious, political, etc. grounds.

Indirect Discrimination: Launching formally neutral conditions regarding sex but disadvantageous to women, lacking a sufficient cause that is objective, reasonable, and justified.

Infodona aims to provide advisory services to women, women's groups, and other entities, to facilitate their participation, on equal opportunities and conditions, in all areas that give content to the Valencian society... Continue reading "Understanding Discrimination and Labor Rights in Spain" »

Locke's Social Contract: Why Transition to a Political State?

The reason individuals renounce the freedom enjoyed in the state of nature is due to insecurity. People join in partnership to preserve their natural rights.

The Imperative for Society and Government

Human beings come together in society and are subject to government for the preservation of their properties. In the state of nature, this preservation is difficult for three reasons:

• Lack of a positive law (known by all, consensus).
• Absence of a fair trial to mediate disputes.
• No power able to enforce fair judgments.

From Insecurity to Laws and Government

Insecurity and the dangers inherent in the state of nature lead individuals to seek refuge in laws and government for the preservation of... Continue reading "Locke's Social Contract: From Nature to Political State" »

**Human Action: Features, Reason, and Societal Impact**

**Features of Human Action**

Human action is characterized by intelligence and the ability to imagine, organize, and realize desires, projects, plans, and illusions. It allows us to transcend the realm of necessity and recreate new worlds. Our actions always represent a symbolic character, hence the creative nature arises.

**Key Traits of Human Action**

• Intentionality: Aristotle understood intentionality as the way a subject acts, moving into the world as an external reality. According to him, there are two modes of directing oneself toward an object: the theoretical, which expresses the human will, and the practical, designed to meet human needs.
• Purpose: Means are defined for a purpose, presenting

What is Enlightenment? Kant's Text

Part One: The Impossibility of Self-Guidance Without External Help

The primary obstacle to enlightenment is the inability of individuals to use their own intelligence without the guidance of another. This is not due to a lack of intelligence itself, but rather a lack of the decision and courage to think for oneself, without relying on external direction. Many remain in a state of intellectual dependence, where they avoid the effort of independent thought. To overcome this, we must take responsibility for our own thinking and learn from our mistakes. Few have been able to overcome this disability and proceed steadily. When individuals start to think freely, tutors may realize that they have confused or misled... Continue reading "Kant's Analysis of Enlightenment: Reason, Freedom, and Progress" »

Sartre: Life and Philosophical Context

Jean-Paul Sartre was born in Paris in 1905 into a bourgeois family. He studied philosophy in France. In 1940, as the Nazis advanced on France, he was taken prisoner, remaining so until the following year. This experience contributed to his transformation into a revolutionary thinker and a representative of the resistance against the occupation forces. It demonstrated for him the absurdity and hopelessness of the situation, and the concept that man is abandoned. In 1943, he published Being and Nothingness, his principal philosophical work, followed in 1946 by Existentialism is a Humanism. He died in 1980.

Key Ideas in Sartre's Existentialism

Sartre acknowledged the wide range of expressions and movements labeled... Continue reading "Sartre's Existentialism: Freedom, Choice, Responsibility" »

Jacinto Verdaguer: Atlantis and Canigó

Jacinto Verdaguer was born in 1845 in Folgueroles, a village on the plain of Vic. He was both a priest and was dedicated to the spiritual life as well as the literary one. The life is the creation of a romantic. The temperament of a passionate, idealistic, and rebellious artist led to moments of glory. Verdaguer is the creator of modern Catalan literature, he is the greatest Catalan poet, and he situated Catalan literature at the height of great European literature.

Atlantis

Atlantis is a complex work that blends religious items and paid items. The work gives much prominence to the cataclysms and catastrophes that unleash the elements of nature.

Canigó

Canigó explains the mythical and legendary origin of... Continue reading "Jacinto Verdaguer: Literary Works and Linguistic Concepts" »