The document discusses different philosophical beliefs regarding the origins and nature of knowledge. It describes empiricism as the view that all knowledge is derived from sensory experience and the senses. More radical forms of empiricism hold that only claims that can be empirically tested and verified have meaning. Moderate empiricism allows some exceptions. Idealism believes objective knowledge is subjective and ideas are most important. Positivism is the view that assertions must be scientifically verified or logically/mathematically proven to be considered knowledge, rejecting metaphysics and theism. Auguste Comte argued knowledge develops through theological, metaphysical and positive stages focused on science.

1. IDEALISMIDEALISM
VS.VS.EmpiricismEmpiricism
POSITIVISMPOSITIVISM
Discussant: Ms. Rose Katherine H.
Javier

2. Why do you
believe what
you believe to
be is true?

3. EmpiricismEmpiricism

4. Empiricism is a
philosophical belief
that states your
knowledge of the world
is based on your
experiences,
particularly your
sensory experiences.

5. Empiricists tend to be
skeptical that anything
can be known for certain,
and therefore they tend
not to believe in dogmas
or absolute truths.

6. Classical Empiricism
Classical empiricism is
characterized by a rejection of
innate, in-born knowledge or
concepts. John Locke, well
known as an empiricist, wrote
of the mind being a tabula rasa,
a “blank slate”, when we enter
the world.

7. Radical Empiricism
In its most radical forms,
empiricism holds that all of our
knowledge is derived from the
senses. This position leads
naturally to the verificationist
principle that the meaning of
statements is inextricably tied to
the experiences that would
confirm them.

8. Radical Empiricism
According to this principle, it
is only if it is possible to
empirically test a claim that
the claim has meaning. As all
of our information comes
from our senses, it is
impossible for us to talk
about that which we have not
experienced.

9. Radical Empiricism
This principle, which was
associated with a now
unpopular position called
logical positivism, renders
religious and ethical claims
literally nonsensical. No
observations could confirm
religious or ethical claims,
therefore those claims are
meaningless.

10. Moderate Empiricism
More moderate empiricists,
however, allow that there may
be some cases in which the
senses do not ground our
knowledge, but hold that these
are exceptions to a general rule.

11. EMPIRICISTS

12. He said that we gain knowledge by
being affected by what he called the
sensible form of things. For Aristotle
this meant that our soul takes on formal
aspects of these things itself.

13. Bacon has been called the father of
empiricism. His works established and
popularised inductive methodologies
for scientific inquiry, often called the
Baconian method.

14. The basic idea of his
empiricism theory is
that human
knowledge stems
solely from
experience, and that
we are born with
essentially empty
minds that are filled
once we begin to
perceive the world
around us. (“Tabula
rasa”)

15. In Essays in Radical Empiricism
(1912), he argued for a pluralistic
universe, denying that the world
can be explained in terms of an
absolute force or scheme that
determines the interrelations of
things and events.
William
James

16. John Dewey
The process of thinking, in
his philosophy, is a means
of planning action, of
removing the obstacles
between what is given and
what is wanted. Truth is an
idea that has worked in
practical experience.

17. EmpiricismEmpiricism
vs.vs.
IdealismIdealism

18. EMPIRICISM IDEALISM
Empiricism uses
experiments and
tests to see if
hypotheses are
false.
An empiricist tests
his idea in order to
prove if it’s wrong
or correct.
Idealism is a notion
that objective
knowledge is really
subjective.
An idealist can
never know if their
idea is wrong
because they refuse
to test it.

19. EMPIRICISM IDEALISM
Empiricists tend to
be skeptical that
anything can be
known for certain,
and therefore they
tend not to believe in
dogmas or absolute
truths.
Idealism bases itself
on the premise that
ideas are most
important in life and
that people should
focus their thoughts
on ideas, which are
perfect.

20. EMPIRICISM IDEALISM
Empiricism,
specifically Radical
empiricism requires
the abandonment of
religious and ethical
discourse and belief.
To the idealist, the
only ultimate reality
is mental and
spiritual thought.

21. Empiricism beats Idealism by
default. It works. Empiricism is
the old-fashioned notion that
you need to observe and
measure reality before knowing
it. For some reason, Empiricists
create machines with moving
parts, while Idealists cannot.

22. POSITIVISMPOSITIVISM

23. A philosophical system that
holds that every rationally
justifiable assertion can be
scientifically verified or is
capable of logical or
mathematical proof, and that
therefore rejects metaphysics
and theism.

24. Any philosophical system that
confines itself to the data of
experience, excludes a priori or
metaphysical speculations, and
emphasizes the achievements of
science.

25. Comte argued that an empirical study of
historical processes, particularly of the
progress of the various interrelated
sciences, reveals a law of three stages
that govern human development.
He analyzed these stages in his major
work, the six-volume Course of Positive
Philosophy (1830-42; trans. 1853).

26. COMTE’S STAGESCOMTE’S STAGES::
Universal Rule in relation toUniversal Rule in relation to
society and its developmentsociety and its development

27. COMTE’S STAGESCOMTE’S STAGES
(1) THE THEOLOGICAL - The
theological phase deals with
humankind's accepting the
doctrines of the church (or
place of worship) rather than
relying on its rational powers
to explore basic questions about
existence.

28. (2) The metaphysical - Comte
describes the metaphysical
phase of humanity as the time
since the Enlightenment, a time
steeped in logical rationalism,
to the time right after the
French Revolution.
COMTE’S STAGESCOMTE’S STAGES

29. (3) The positive - The final
stage of the trilogy of Comte's
universal law is the scientific,
or positive, stage. The central
idea of this phase is that
individual rights are more
important than the rule of any
one person.
COMTE’S STAGESCOMTE’S STAGES

30. Enlightenment thinkers such as Henri de
Saint-Simon (1760-1825), Pierre-Simon
Laplace (1749-1827) and Auguste Comte
(1798-1859) believed the scientific method,
the circular dependence of theory and
observation, must replace metaphysics in
the history of thought. Émile Durkheim
(1858-1917) reformulated sociological
positivism as a foundation of social
research.