Thomas Reid
Bkgrd info (copied fr. Kate)
- important figure in the Scottish Enlightenment (18th century)
- Presbyterian Minister
- age 16, MA from University of Aberdeen
- age 21, licensed preacher for Church of Scotland
- age 27, entered Ministry
- age 54, wrote Inquiry into the Human Mind
- he was called to the University of Glasgow to replace Adam Smith as Professor of Moral Philosophy
- Common sense = “The most important use of the term “common sense” in Reid occurs in the context of his epistemology and his philosophical method. Here it refers to a select set of intuitive judgments.”
- Reid read, understood, and taught Newton’s writings
- Reid borrowed methods from Newton’s Opticks and conducted experiments to provide evidence for his claims about the nature of the mind
- Newtonianism confirms beliefs that God created a well-ordered solar system
- Critiqued Descartes
- Critiqued Hume’s causation
- Critiqued Locke’s view of personal identity
- age 73 joint founder of Royal Society of Edinburgh
Philosophy
- We know a lot (from our senses)
- Common sense principles (like that I exist) are assumptions that are necessary to know anything (if you reject; leads to lunacy)
- Senses are like a language that speaks to us.
- Our rationality coincides with the rationality of nature. God built us that way
- We're not aware of "sensations", only the things in the real world
- horse -> driftwood
- Is Reid a skeptic?
What is he doing?
- analyses DescartesDescartes
Rene Descartes
Background Info
1596-1650
educated at Univ of Paris
Catholic Christian
not an academic
wrote Descartes, Meditations of First Philosophy from a [[Rationalism
rationalistic]] perspective
claims he is making a whole new start in philosophy
D. arrived at a certain and evident knowledge of the truth. He wants to see if he can persuade others by the same method that he himself used.
..., LockeLocke
John Locke
Locke, Two Treatises of Government
[[MOC - Modern Philosophers#Hobbes vs Locke
Comparison w/ Hobbes]]
Locke, Two Treatises of Government
Background Info
1632-1704
Parents were Puritans
father was in Parliamentary cavalry, which fought king during English Civil WarEnglish Civil War
English Civil War
Foundation
Reformation on the Continent
Luther & his 95 theses
assumptions/positions (that were subversive to English monarchy, per Hobbes)
Private men are judges of good & evil
It is a sin to do something against one's private conscience
Man's private conscience may be supernaturally inspired
The sovereign may be limited or divided
Reformation in England (Anglicanism)
...
educated @ Oxford
Taught Greek & Hebrew
Went to medical school, was a doctor
Empirics
Read DescartesDescartes
Rene Descartes
Background Info
1596-1650
educated at Univ of Paris
Catholic Christian
not an academic
wrote Descartes, Meditations of First Philosophy from a [[Rationalism
rationalistic]] perspective
claims he is making a whole new start in philosophy
D. arrived at a certain and evident knowledge of the truth. He wants to see if he can persuade others by the same method that he himself used.
...
Had a g..., and Malebranche & thinks they've done a bad job of proving the world's existence - SkepticismSkepticism
Skepticism
Skepticism is a valid, and helpful thing. [[The Chastity of the Intellect]]
Skeptical of what?
- meta-narratives?
- epistemology?
- senses?
A skeptic is one who doubts the viability & veracity of claims
Greek Camps of Skepticism
Academic Skepticism (can't express anything about what we know)
Pyrrhonic Skepticism (can't know anything about what we know)
Pyrrho lived very consistently w/ his philosophy, until he got mad at his cook for making bad fo... is ridiculous - Believes in Common SenseCommon Sense
Common Sense
What is the nature of common sense?
Is it the same thing as [[Intuition]]?
can common sense contradict itself? ContradictionsCommon Sense
Common Sense
What is the nature of common sense?
Is it the same thing as [[Intuition]]?
can common sense contradict itself? ContradictionsCommon Sense
Common Sense
What is the nature of common sense?
Is it the same thing as [[Intuition]]?
can common sense contradict itself? [[Common Sense#Contradictions|Contradictions]]
Reid
Common Sense precedes [[Reason]]
principles of common sense: "certain principles…which the constitution of our nature leads us to believe, and which we are under a necessity to take for granted in the common concerns of life, without being able to give a reason for them." ([[Reid, Inquiry & Essays]], pg 2...
Reid
Common Sense precedes [[Reason]]
principles of common sense: "certain principles…which the constitution of our nature leads us to believe, and which we are under a necessity to take for granted in the common concerns of life, without being able to give a reason for them." ([[Reid, Inquiry & Essays]], pg 2...
Reid
Common Sense precedes ReasonReason
Reason
reason is the "natural light" DescartesDescartes
Rene Descartes
Background Info
1596-1650
educated at Univ of Paris
Catholic Christian
not an academic
wrote Descartes, Meditations of First Philosophy from a [[Rationalism
rationalistic]] perspective
claims he is making a whole new start in philosophy
D. arrived at a certain and evident knowledge of the truth. He wants to see if he can persuade others by the same method that he himself used.
...
what is the difference b/t reason & thinking?
what is thinking?
processing information?
in this case, can an animal think?
what is reason?
a type of thinking?
can you only accept what has been proven by reason?
reason is like a telescope: it lets us see things clearer; but it must have ...
principles of common sense: "certain principles…which the constitution of our nature leads us to believe, and which we are under a necessity to take for granted in the common concerns of life, without being able to give a reason for them." (Reid, Inquiry & Essays, pg 2...