The document provides an overview of key philosophical movements and thinkers during the Enlightenment period. It discusses rationalism, which held that reason is the primary source of knowledge, and empiricism, which believed knowledge comes from sensory experience. Major rationalist thinkers discussed include Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz. Empiricists covered include Locke, Hume, and Berkeley. Descartes used rationalism to develop his famous "I think therefore I am" argument and the mind-body dualism. Spinoza argued reality is a single unified substance with God and nature being the same. Leibniz separated truths into analytic and synthetic statements. Major empiricists rejected innate ideas and believed knowledge comes only from

1. Introduction to Philosophy IS-VNU Mr. Mike Lecture 7

2. Introduction to Philosophy The Enlightenment Rationalism Empiricism

3. Background Renaissance Rediscovery of Ancient Greek Philosophy The Enlightenment

4. Background Protestant Reformation Opposition to Church Corruption and Abuse of Power Rise of Religious Violence The Enlightenment

5. Background Scientific Revolution Copernican Revolution Bacon's Scientific Method Newton's Natural Laws Advances in technology and medicine The Enlightenment

6. Enlightenment Themes Progress Superiority of Reason Superiority of Scientific Knowledge Questioning Authority Opposition to Abuses Religious Tolerance Freedom, Equality and Liberty Individualism - Individual Rights and Freedom Relativism The Enlightenment

7. Rationalism Appeal to Reason as the most accurate source of knowledge Sensory Perception cannot be trusted Truth is established through the intellect by means of deductive reasoning Reason is established as the primary source of knowledge Criticism There is no rational reason why reason should be considered a valid form of knowledge The Enlightenment

8. Rationalism Intuition is a valid form of rational insight. Intuition is knowledge that is immediate to us. It doesn't require reasoning or sensory experience. A Priori knowledge – Knowledge gained without the use sensory experience. Innate Knowledge – Knowledge that we are born with. This knowledge is not learned by deductive reasoning, sensory experience or intuition. It is knowledge that is part of our nature as humans. The Enlightenment

9. René Descartes (1596–1650) Rationalist Believed that knowledge eternal truth could only be attained by reason alone Eternal Truths include: Mathematics Philosophical foundations of science Other areas of knowledge such as physics require sensory experience aided by the scientific method The Enlightenment

10. René Descartes (1596–1650) Set out to answer 2 questions: (1) What can I know? (2) How can I know it? As a rationalist, Descartes set out to answer these questions by means of reason alone. The Enlightenment

11. René Descartes (1596–1650) Doubt (Skepticism) Sensory experience can sometimes be deceptive. Therefore, it must be doubted. Consciousness can also be an illusion. When we dream we believe that we are conscious. Since sensory experience and consciousness are open to error all beliefs about reality should be doubted. The Enlightenment

12. René Descartes (1596–1650) Method of Attaining Knowledge Establish truths which cannot be gained through sensory experience. Establish truth which do not rely on consciousness of the world outside yourself. Establish truth though a deductive process of reasoning. The Enlightenment

13. René Descartes (1596–1650) Cogito Ergo Sum I can doubt nature because it relies on sensory experience. I can doubt the existence of other people because it relies on consciousness. Can I doubt my own existence? In order to doubt my own existence, I must first exist. If I don't exist then I cannot think about doubting. I doubt, therefore I think, therefore I exist. The Enlightenment

14. René Descartes (1596–1650) Cogito Ergo Sum Problem : Only proves the existence of your own mind but not your body or the external world. If I exist, then it is possible that other things exist as well. Sensory experience is something I do involuntary – I experience things without trying to using my reason to sense things. Therefore, I must be sensing something. The Enlightenment

15. René Descartes (1596–1650) Cogito Ergo Sum Problem : Only proves the existence of your own mind but not your body or the external world. Perhaps an evil spirit is deceiving my sensory experience. Descartes employs Anselm's ontological argument to prove the existence of a good God who does not deceive. The Enlightenment

16. René Descartes (1596–1650) Dualism Body – Physical works like a machine has the material properties of extension and motion it follows the laws of nature The Enlightenment

17. René Descartes (1596–1650) Dualism Mind – Non-physical nonmaterial entity lacks extension and motion, does not follow the laws of nature only humans have minds the mind interacts with the body at the pineal gland The pineal gland is the “seat of the soul” The Enlightenment

18. Baruch Spinoza (1632–1677) Jewish philosopher from Amsterdam Spinoza called into question the tenets of both Judaism and Christianity Believed in God but denied that the Bible was divinely inspired and rejected the concept of miracles and the religious supernatural Claimed that ethics determined by rational thought were more important as a guide to conduct than was religion The Enlightenment

19. Baruch Spinoza (1632–1677) Everything that exists in Nature is one Reality (substance) There is only one set of rules governing the whole of the reality which surrounds us and of which we are part. God and Nature as two names for the same reality God is the single substance that is the basis of the universe and of which all lesser "entities" are actually modes or modifications. The Enlightenment

20. Baruch Spinoza (1632–1677) The mind and the body are aspects of the same reality. There is no problem in Spinoza's metaphysics describing how the mind and body are connected since the mind and body are essentially the same thing. The Enlightenment

21. Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz Influential mathematician Invented calculus independent of Isaac Newton. Separated truth into 2 categories Synthetic Statements - Truths which require empirical verification Analytical Statements - Truths which do not require empirical investigation The Enlightenment

22. Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz Synthetic Statement : My neighbor next door is a very tall man with a very short wife. In order to prove this statement, I need to verify it empirically The Enlightenment

23. Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz Analytical Statement : My neighbor next door is a very tall bachelor with a very short wife. This statement can be proven false without the need of empirical verification because it is a logical contradiction (i.e. bachelors do not have wives) The Enlightenment

24. Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz Sufficient Reason : Analytical Statements – Can be proved true without reference to external reality through logic or math Synthetic Statements – Must show the empirical cause of the statement. The Enlightenment

25. Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz Theodicy Attempts to deal with the problem of evil God could have created a number of possible worlds including a world without evil The world God chose to create (which includes evil) is the best possible world He could have created Optimistic view of the world The Enlightenment

26. Empiricism Knowledge comes only or primarily through sensory experience Questions or even rejects the idea of a priori knowledge or innate knowledge Criticism Sensory perception can be deceived – dreams Sensory perception can be in error – misjudgement The Enlightenment

27. John Locke Father of Liberalism British empiricist All people were equal and independent, and everyone had a natural right to defend his “Life, health, Liberty, or Possessions" The Enlightenment

28. John Locke The mind was a blank slate We are born without innate ideas Knowledge is instead determined ONLY by experience derived from sense perception Complete rejection of a priori or innate knowledge The Enlightenment

29. David Hume (1711–1776) Skepticism Suggested that our own senses are fallible, bringing all observations and truths into question. Very influential to others, such as Immanuel Kant, and was instrumental in the shift away from rationalist thought that ended the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment

30. David Hume (1711–1776) Problem of Induction We believe that we can make inductive inferences from our observations Induction relies on the belief that the pattern we notice when observing something are real pattens There is no way to be certain that an observed pattern will continue to occur when unobserved The Enlightenment

31. David Hume (1711–1776) Cause and Effect We observe a sequence of events and attribute cause and effect to those events simply because one followed the other. Yet there is no logical reason for this assumption. If one event precedes another it does not necessarily make it the cause. Billiards Illustration The Enlightenment

32. George Berkeley (1685-1753) Immaterialism This theory denies the existence of material substance and instead contends that familiar objects like tables and chairs are only ideas in the minds of perceivers, and as a result cannot exist without being perceived The Enlightenment

33. George Berkeley (1685-1753) Immaterialism “ To be is to be perceived” There is no existence without perception Extreme empiricism The Enlightenment

34. George Berkeley (1685-1753) Problem of Immaterialism: If a tree falls in a forest with no one to perceive it does it make a sound? Does the forest even exist if no one perceives it? The Enlightenment

35. George Berkeley (1685-1753) Solution: God is also capable of perception. God is always perceiving the external world. Therefore, the world doesn't cease to exist when we sleep because God continues to perceive it. The Enlightenment