Solipsism. Solipsism ( i/ˈsɒlɨpsɪzəm/; from Latin solus, meaning "alone", and ipse, meaning "self")[1] is the philosophical idea that only one's own mind is sure to exist. As an epistemological position, solipsism holds that knowledge of anything outside one's own mind is unsure; the external world and other minds cannot be known and might not exist outside the mind. As a metaphysical position, solipsism goes further to the conclusion that the world and other minds do not exist.
Varieties[edit] There are varying degrees of solipsism that parallel the varying degrees of serious skepticism. [edit] Epistemological solipsism[edit] Epistemological solipsism is the variety of idealism according to which only the directly accessible mental contents of the solipsistic philosopher can be known. Methodological solipsism[edit] Methodological solipsism may be a sort of weak agnostic (meaning "missing knowledge") solipsism. Main points[edit] See also: Solipsism: Relation to other ideas (below) History[edit] Alan Watts discusses Nothing. Western Philosophy. Thebigview.com - Pondering the Big Questions. Kensho. I've made a diagram of all Western Philosophy. It's about 4' by 44' when the font is 12-point. Here's the top half. (Link to bottom in comments) : philosophy.
Ignosticism. Ignosticism or igtheism is the idea that every theological position assumes too much about the concept of God and other theological concepts; including (but not limited to) concepts of faith, spirituality, heaven, hell, afterlife, damnation, salvation, sin and the soul. Ignosticism is the view that any religious term or theological concept presented must be accompanied by a coherent definition. Without a clear definition such terms cannot be meaningfully discussed. Such terms or concepts must also be falsifiable. Lacking this an ignostic takes the theological noncognitivist position that the existence or nature of the terms presented (and all matters of debate) is meaningless. Some philosophers have seen ignosticism as a variation of agnosticism or atheism,[1] while others have considered it to be distinct. Relationship to other views about God[edit] The term ignosticism was coined in the 1960s by Sherwin Wine, a rabbi and a founding figure of Humanistic Judaism.
See also[edit] Molyneux's Problem. Molyneux's problem is a thought experiment in philosophy concerning immediate recovery from blindness. It was first formulated by William Molyneux, and notably referenced in John Locke's An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. The problem can be stated in brief, "if a man born blind can feel the differences between shapes such as spheres and cubes, could he similarly distinguish those objects by sight if given the ability to see? "[1] Original correspondence[edit] The question was originally posed to Locke by philosopher William Molyneux, whose wife was blind:[2] Suppose a man born blind, and now adult, and taught by his touch to distinguish between a cube and a sphere of the same metal, and nighly of the same bigness, so as to tell, when he felt one and the other, which is the cube, which is the sphere. To which Locke responds in An Essay Concerning Human Understanding: Responses[edit] Regarding Molyneux's problem, the authors Asif A.
See also[edit] References[edit] Further reading[edit] Unknown unknown. "There are known knowns" is a phrase from a response United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld gave to a question at a US Department of Defense News Briefing in February 2002 about the lack of evidence linking the government of Iraq with the supply of weapons of mass destruction to terrorist groups.[1] Rumsfeld stated: Reports that say there's -- that something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things that we know that we know.
We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns, the ones we don't know we don't know. —Donald Rumsfeld, United States Secretary of Defense The statement became the subject of much commentary and derision.[2] [edit] The Plain English Campaign gave Rumsfeld its Foot in Mouth Award[3] Rumsfeld named his autobiography Known and Unknown: A Memoir.
In popular culture[edit] See also[edit] References[edit] Glossary of philosophy. A glossary of philosophy. A[edit] the position that in a particular domain of thought, all statements in that domain are either absolutely true or absolutely false: none is true for some cultures or eras while false for other cultures or eras. These statements are called absolute truths. A common reaction by those who newly criticize absolutism is the absolute truth statement: Absolute truths do not exist. Enlightened absolutisma form of governing by rulers who were influenced by the Enlightenment (18th-century and early 19th-century Europe).Moral absolutismthe position that there are absolute standards against which moral questions can be judged, and that certain actions are right or wrong, regardless of the context of the act.Political absolutisma political theory that argues that one person should hold all power.
Absurdism philosophy stating that the efforts of man to find meaning in the universe will ultimately fail because no such meaning exists (at least in relation to man). Acosmism. List of unsolved problems in philosophy. This is a list of some of the major unsolved problems in philosophy. Clearly, unsolved philosophical problems exist in the lay sense (e.g. "What is the meaning of life? ", "Where did we come from? ", "What is reality? ", etc.). However, professional philosophers generally accord serious philosophical problems specific names or questions, which indicate a particular method of attack or line of reasoning. Aesthetics[edit] Essentialism[edit] In art, essentialism is the idea that each medium has its own particular strengths and weaknesses, contingent on its mode of communication.
Art objects[edit] This problem originally arose from the practice rather than theory of art. While it is easy to dismiss these assertions, further investigation[who?] Epistemology[edit] Epistemological problems are concerned with the nature, scope and limitations of knowledge. Gettier problem[edit] In response to Gettier's article, numerous philosophers have offered modified criteria for "knowledge. " Qualia[edit] [edit] Philosophy Now | How To Be A Philosopher. Articles Ian Ravenscroft philosophizes about philosophizing. 1. What to Wear Philosophers rarely get worked up about clothing. Clothes can be a source of aesthetic pleasure, and few philosophers are adamantly opposed to pleasure. (They may object to pleasures too dearly bought, and they might object to the elevation of pleasure above other values such as justice, but they rarely find fault with pleasure properly bought and valued.)
However, there are clothing choices which are at odds with the philosophical spirit. One of the intriguing things about authorities and authoritarian regimes is their fascination with uniforms and playing dress-up. 2. Philosophers eat all sorts of things, just like everyone else. 3. Anything you like. 4. To be a good philosopher you need to read a lot of good philosophy. Sometimes what you need to know is buried in an especially dull book, in which case you just have to grit your teeth and plough through. 5. 6. 7. So be prepared for a bit of hard talking. 8. Why we should teach philosophy to kids. Thoughts Arguments and Rants » Blog Archive » Philosophy in Questionable Taste. Cornell students obviously have too much time on their hands. (And very soon I’ll be able to do something about that…) Back when I was a wee grad student, one of the jokes circulating the internet, and eventually stuck to the wall of the grad ‘office’ concerned the putative causes of death of various philosophers.
(My favourite was Thales: Drowned.) The list seems to have grown under Hugh Mellor’s supervision, and the current version is here. In a similar spirit, Cornell students have started work on break-up lines of the philosophers. Here’s the list (mostly below the fold) Paul Kelleher sent me, along with attributions. The Teleologist: We aren’t meant for each other. Belief in Nothing. Nihilism confuses people. "How can you care about anything, or strive for anything, if you believe nothing means anything?
" they ask. In return, nihilists point to the assumption of inherent meaning and question that assumption. Do we need existence to mean anything? Nihilists who aren't of the kiddie anarchist variety tend to draw a distinction between nihilism and fatalism. What is nihilism? As a nihilist, I recognize that meaning does not exist. In the same way, I accept that when I die, the most likely outcome will be a cessation of being. Even further, I recognize that there is no golden standard for life. A tree falling in a forest unobserved makes a sound. Many people "feel" marginalized when they think of this.
Meaning is the human attempt to mold the world in our own image. This distanced mentality further affirms our tendency to find the world alienating to our consciousness. As a result, we like to separate the world from our minds and live in a world created by our minds. Science Can Answer Moral Questions.