Temporal paradox Temporal paradox (also known as time paradox and time travel paradox) is a theoretical paradoxical situation that happens because of time travel. A time traveler goes to the past, and does something that would prevent him from time travel in the first place. If he does not go back in time, he does not do anything that would prevent his traveling to the past, so time travel would be possible for him. However, if he goes back in time and does something that would cause him/her to not make a time machine he would not travel back in the first place causing him to make one then go back and not make one. A typical example of this kind is the grandfather paradox, where a person goes back in time to kill his grandfather before he had any biological descendant. If they succeed, one of their parents would never exist and they themselves would never exist either. Solution[edit] Novikov self-consistency principle[edit] Multiple universes hypothesis[edit] Branching universe hypothesis[edit]
Lucid dream A lucid dream is any dream in which one is aware that one is dreaming. In relation to this phenomenon, Greek philosopher Aristotle observed: "often when one is asleep, there is something in consciousness which declares that what then presents itself is but a dream".[1] One of the earliest references to personal experiences with lucid dreaming was by Marie-Jean-Léon, Marquis d'Hervey de Saint Denys.[2] Skeptics of the phenomenon suggest that it is not a state of sleep, but of brief wakefulness.[15][16] Others point out that there is no way to prove the truth of lucid dreaming other than to ask the dreamer.[17] Lucid dreaming has been researched scientifically, with participants performing pre-determined physical responses while experiencing a lucid dream.[18][19] Scientific history[edit] Philosopher Norman Malcolm's 1959 text Dreaming[22] had argued against the possibility of checking the accuracy of dream reports. Hearne's results were not widely distributed. Initiation[edit] REM sleep.
Stoicism Philosophical system Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy founded by Zeno of Citium in Athens in the early 3rd century BCE. It is a philosophy of personal virtue ethics informed by its system of logic and its views on the natural world, asserting that the practice of virtue is both necessary and sufficient to achieve eudaimonia (happiness, lit. Stoicism flourished throughout the Roman and Greek world until the 3rd century CE, and among its adherents was Emperor Marcus Aurelius. History[edit] The name Stoicism derives from the Stoa Poikile (Ancient Greek: ἡ ποικίλη στοά), or "painted porch", a colonnade decorated with mythic and historical battle scenes on the north side of the Agora in Athens where Zeno of Citium and his followers gathered to discuss their ideas, near the end of the 4th century BCE.[4] Unlike the Epicureans, Zeno chose to teach his philosophy in a public space. Scholars[who?] Philosophical system[edit] Logic[edit] Categories[edit] Epistemology[edit] Physics[edit]
German philosophy German philosophy, here taken to mean either (1) philosophy in the German language or (2) philosophy by Germans, has been extremely diverse, and central to both the analytic and continental traditions in philosophy for centuries, from Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz through Immanuel Kant, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Arthur Schopenhauer, Karl Marx, Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger and Ludwig Wittgenstein to contemporary philosophers. Søren Kierkegaard (a Danish philosopher) is frequently included in surveys of German (or Germanic) philosophy due to his extensive engagement with German thinkers.[1][2][3][4] 17th century[edit] Leibniz[edit] Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716) was both a philosopher and a mathematician who wrote primarily in Latin and French. Leibniz is noted for his optimism - his Théodicée[5] tries to justify the apparent imperfections of the world by claiming that it is optimal among all possible worlds. 18th century[edit] Wolff[edit] Kant[edit] Immanuel Kant G.
Determinism Determinism is the philosophical position that for every event, including human action, there exist conditions that could cause no other event. "There are many determinisms, depending upon what pre-conditions are considered to be determinative of an event. Other debates often concern the scope of determined systems, with some maintaining that the entire universe is a single determinate system and others identifying other more limited determinate systems (or multiverse). Varieties[edit] Below appear some of the more common viewpoints meant by, or confused with "determinism". Many philosophical theories of determinism frame themselves with the idea that reality follows a sort of predetermined path Philosophical connections[edit] With nature/nurture controversy[edit] Nature and nurture interact in humans. Although some of the above forms of determinism concern human behaviors and cognition, others frame themselves as an answer to the debate on nature and nurture. With particular factors[edit]
Philosophy of physics Centuries ago, the study of causality, and of the fundamental nature of space, time, matter, and the universe were part of metaphysics. Today the philosophy of physics is essentially a part of the philosophy of science. Physicists utilize the scientific method to delineate the universals and constants governing physical phenomena, and the philosophy of physics reflects on the results of this empirical research. Purpose of physics[edit] According to Niels Bohr, the purpose of physics is:[1] not to disclose the real essence of phenomena but only to trackdown (...) relations between the manifold aspects of experience. Many, particularly realists, find this minimal formulation an inadequate formulation of the purpose of physics, which they view as providing, in addition, a deeper world picture. Philosophy of space and time[edit] Time[edit] Time, in many philosophies, is seen as change. Time travel[edit] A second, similar type of time travel is permitted by general relativity. Space[edit] Elsewhere:
Ultimate fate of the universe The ultimate fate of the universe is a topic in physical cosmology. Many possible fates are predicted by rival scientific theories, including futures of both finite and infinite duration. Once the notion that the universe started with a rapid inflation nicknamed the Big Bang became accepted by the majority of scientists,[1] the ultimate fate of the universe became a valid cosmological question, one depending upon the physical properties of the mass/energy in the universe, its average density, and the rate of expansion. There is a growing consensus among cosmologists that the universe is flat and will continue to expand forever.[2][3] The ultimate fate of the universe is dependent on the shape of the universe and what role dark energy will play as the universe ages. Emerging scientific basis[edit] Theory[edit] The theoretical scientific exploration of the ultimate fate of the universe became possible with Albert Einstein's 1916 theory of general relativity. Observation[edit] Big Rip[edit]
Libertarianism (metaphysics) The term "libertarianism" in a metaphysical or philosophical sense was first used by late Enlightenment free-thinkers to refer to those who believed in free will, as opposed to determinism.[9] The first recorded use was in 1789 by William Belsham in a discussion of free will and in opposition to "necessitarian" (or determinist) views.[10][11] Metaphysical and philosophical contrasts between philosophies of necessity and libertarianism continued in the early 19th century.[12] Explanations of libertarianism that do not involve dispensing with physicalism require physical indeterminism, such as probabilistic subatomic particle behavior – theory unknown to many of the early writers on free will. Physical determinism, under the assumption of physicalism, implies there is only one possible future and is therefore not compatible with libertarian free will. Nozick puts forward an indeterministic theory of free will in Philosophical Explanations.[6]
Spacetime In non-relativistic classical mechanics, the use of Euclidean space instead of spacetime is appropriate, as time is treated as universal and constant, being independent of the state of motion of an observer.[disambiguation needed] In relativistic contexts, time cannot be separated from the three dimensions of space, because the observed rate at which time passes for an object depends on the object's velocity relative to the observer and also on the strength of gravitational fields, which can slow the passage of time for an object as seen by an observer outside the field. Until the beginning of the 20th century, time was believed to be independent of motion, progressing at a fixed rate in all reference frames; however, later experiments revealed that time slows at higher speeds of the reference frame relative to another reference frame. Such slowing, called time dilation, is explained in special relativity theory. Spacetime in literature[edit] Mathematical concept[edit] is that
Historicism Historicism is a mode of thinking that assigns a central and basic significance to a specific context, such as historical period, geographical place and local culture. As such it is in contrast to individualist theories of knowledges such as empiricism and rationalism, which neglect the role of traditions. Historicism therefore tends to be hermeneutical, because it places great importance on cautious, rigorous and contextualized interpretation of information, or relativist, because it rejects notions of universal, fundamental and immutable interpretations.[1] The term has developed different and divergent, though loosely related, meanings. Elements of historicism appear in the writings of Italian philosopher G. Historicism may be contrasted with reductionist theories, which suppose that all developments can be explained by fundamental principles (such as in economic determinism), or theories that posit historical changes as result of random chance. Variants[edit] Hegelian[edit] G.
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel The birthplace of Hegel in Stuttgart, which now houses The Hegel Museum Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (German: [ˈɡeɔɐ̯k ˈvɪlhɛlm ˈfʁiːdʁɪç ˈheːɡəl]; August 27, 1770 – November 14, 1831) was a German philosopher, and a major figure in German Idealism. His historicist and idealist account of reality revolutionized European philosophy and was an important precursor to Continental philosophy and Marxism. Life[edit] Early years[edit] Childhood[edit] Hegel was born on August 27, 1770 in Stuttgart, in the Duchy of Württemberg in southwestern Germany. At age of three Hegel went to the "German School". In 1776 Hegel entered Stuttgart's Gymnasium Illustre. Tübingen (1788-93)[edit] At the age of eighteen Hegel entered the Tübinger Stift (a Protestant seminary attached to the University of Tübingen), where two fellow students were to become vital to his development - poet Friedrich Hölderlin, and philosopher-to-be Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling. Bern (1793–96) and Frankfurt (1797–1801)[edit]