How Have Western Views of Knowledge Changed over Time Essay Example for Free

How Have Western Views of Knowledge Changed over Time Essay Throughout history, cultures have held disparate views on the nature of knowledge. Epistemology, the branch of philosophy that focuses on basic questions such as: â€Å"What is knowledge? How do we know what we know? †, lies at the heart of these views. In Western culture, the answers to these basic questions have changed markedly over time. Throughout history, this evolution in philosophy has been inextricably linked to science and religion. Much of Western thought has been heavily influenced by the philosophy of the Ancient Greeks. In particular, the epistemological views of the Ancient Greeks dominated Western thought for centuries. Of all the Greek philosophers, Plato was one of the most influential. In his most famous work The Republic, Plato used the Allegory of the Cave to describe the role of sensory perception in knowledge acquisition. In his analogy, Plato described a cave in which people were chained down in such a way that prevented them from looking anywhere but forward. Behind them was a fire and in front of them was a wall that reflected shadows from that fire. The prisoner’s captors manipulated these shadows to create forms and stories. The forms and stories that the prisoners saw were the only reality that they knew. Eventually the prisoners left the cave and found true reality outside. It was only then that the prisoners understood that what they had perceived until this moment was a false perception. The Allegory of the Cave served to illustrate Plato’s epistemological views. Today, we describe Plato’s philosophical views as rationalist. He argued against reliance on sensory experience because he believed that it failed to provide us with any guarantee that what we experience was, in fact, true. He believed that the information we get by relying on sensory experience is constantly changing and often unreliable. It can be evaluated only by appealing to higher principles that do not change. In the Allegory of the Cave, Plato was comparing our sensory perception to the shadows on the wall of the cave. Plato saw us as the chained prisoners unable to know anything but this false reality. Only by leaving the cave and ascending to higher orders of thought are we able to know true reality. Implicit in this view was the belief that true knowledge cannot be found through empirical investigation. According to Plato, empirical knowledge was merely opinion. Only thought and abstract reasoning could produce true knowledge. The rationalist view of epistemology dominated much of Western thought for centuries. Eventually, progress in science during the Renaissance changed this. One of the first to change these dominant views was Andreas Vesalius. In 1543, Vesalius published De Humanis Corporis Fabrica (On the Workings of the Human Body), an elaborately illustrated atlas of human anatomy. While Vesalius’ published work had significant historical importance in the field of medicine, his most enduring legacy was his revolutionary challenge of the medical conventions of his day. For centuries, physicians had relied on reading texts from Galen for medical knowledge rather than participating in the direct dissection of human corpses. Vesalius promoted the practice of dissection and hands on experience. By overthrowing the Galenic tradition and relying on his own observations, Vesalius was advocating an empirical understanding of the human body. This shift from rationalism to empiricism became one of the defining characteristics of the Scientific Revolution. In direct contrast to rationalism, empiricism emphasized the acquisition of knowledge through direct observation and experiment. Empiricism not only encouraged but required reliance on our senses. This was in direct opposition to Plato’s epistemological view that had dominated for a millennium. This shift from Plato’s rationalism to scientific empiricism had significant ramifications for philosophy. While before this time there had always been collaboration between science and philosophy and religion, there had been no real distinction between them. Now, empirical knowledge served as a way of testing philosophical knowledge. This would ultimately lead to their incompatibility and their eventual separation. This separation is largely attributed to Galileo, one of the major figures during the Scientific Revolution. Even in his time, Galileo was a renown scientist and a philosopher. While he relied heavily on empirical methods in his studies of physics and astronomy, he also depended on rational thinking in his use of mathematics. It was through his combined use of empirical observations and rational thought that he confirmed the Copernican view that the sun was the center of the universe. However, the Copernican heliocentric worldview conflicted with the dominant geocentric view espoused by philosophers from the time of Aristotle. Making matters even more complicated was the fact that philosophers couched this dispute as a religious matter arguing that a heliocentric worldview went against the teachings of the Bible. As the geocentric view had been adopted by the church, the heliocentric worldview was branded as heresy. Galileo, certain of the physical truth of his heliocentric paradigm and at the same time devout in his religious beliefs, worked to reconcile this conflict by divorcing the church from â€Å"purely physical matters, where faith is not involved. By working to separate science, philosophy, and religion, Galileo was attempting to reestablish the compatibility of science and religion. Despite Galileo’s attempts, the conflict between scientific and religious worldviews is still evident today. The epistemological tradition of today has created a dominant worldview based on evidence. As during the time of Galileo, this worldview has at times conflicted with widely held religious beliefs. This divide, empiricism vs. faith, has become an increasingly prominent conflict in American politics. A recent announcement by GOP presidential candidate, Rick Perry highlights this divide. Rick Perry recently publicly declared his disbelief in the theory of evolution in favor of intelligent design. The theory of evolution is an explanation of the origin of life widely supported across numerous scientific disciplines. Though science and empiricism overwhelming supports the theory of evolution, it does not largely accepted by the populace. The controversial nature of evolution has emerged because, once again, a â€Å"purely physical matter† has been politicized as a religious matter. Rick Perry’s views on evolution illustrate a larger phenomenon in U. S. politics. That is, views regarding the evolution/intelligent design conflict tend to be politically divided. Intelligent design or faith based arguments are generally forwarded by conservative Republicans such as Rick Perry. Evidence based empirical arguments, such as evolution, are championed by liberal Democrats. Science has become political as conservatives are aligned with religion.

The Internet Does Not Have Everything Essays -- Argumentative Persuasi

The Internet Does Not Have Everything Everyone needs to know that the World Wide Web (a subset of the Internet; see Internet for a definition of "Internet") is a tool, not the be-all and end-all of research. Many students begin their research assignments with the "fact" from their teachers that they'll be able to find, from now on, everything they need on the Web. Not true. Students do need to be made aware that the Web is a great resource when you need some very current information--today's Dow Jones average, currency exchange rates, score in your favorite baseball team's game, news headlines, etc. Furthermore, through libraries there are increasing numbers of indexes that before were available on CD-ROM or in printed books, that are now accessed via the Web (only to authorized users); these are not "on" the Web per se. The term used to differentiate these proprietary and other directly inaccessible sources is the "invisible Web." The invisible Web is much larger than the visible Web. However, some students seem to think that they can find EVERYTHING on the Web. They can't. They probably never will in their lifetimes either. There is simply too much information out there to have it all transferred to an electronic--and widely accessible--format. Other issues that keep things from existing on the Web: Costs can be astronomical--and who is going to pay them? Scanning in images is expensive and time consuming (think of the millions of photographs in archives around the world), Copyright concerns play a major role in keeping things from being widely accessible; companies want to make a profit (there are hundreds of databases that can only be used by au... ...-and help them to identify more readily trustworthy sources. It is doing everyone in society a disfavor to lead citizens (whether young or old) to believe that the Web has every piece of information that one might need. In this increasingly technologically-dependent world, it is critical that the citizens in it are finding reliable information before they start inventing, improving, building, cleaning, renewing, destroying, exploring, etc. They need to be able to critically evaluate their options, and make sure that they aren't ignoring sources that happen not to be available on the Web. The exclusively techno-reliant are, in their own way, as unreliable a source for trustworthy or thorough information as the techno-phobes who won't use the Web at all. Using the best tool for the job or information need is the only way to be certain that you get the best results. The Internet Does Not Have Everything Essays -- Argumentative Persuasi The Internet Does Not Have Everything Everyone needs to know that the World Wide Web (a subset of the Internet; see Internet for a definition of "Internet") is a tool, not the be-all and end-all of research. Many students begin their research assignments with the "fact" from their teachers that they'll be able to find, from now on, everything they need on the Web. Not true. Students do need to be made aware that the Web is a great resource when you need some very current information--today's Dow Jones average, currency exchange rates, score in your favorite baseball team's game, news headlines, etc. Furthermore, through libraries there are increasing numbers of indexes that before were available on CD-ROM or in printed books, that are now accessed via the Web (only to authorized users); these are not "on" the Web per se. The term used to differentiate these proprietary and other directly inaccessible sources is the "invisible Web." The invisible Web is much larger than the visible Web. However, some students seem to think that they can find EVERYTHING on the Web. They can't. They probably never will in their lifetimes either. There is simply too much information out there to have it all transferred to an electronic--and widely accessible--format. Other issues that keep things from existing on the Web: Costs can be astronomical--and who is going to pay them? Scanning in images is expensive and time consuming (think of the millions of photographs in archives around the world), Copyright concerns play a major role in keeping things from being widely accessible; companies want to make a profit (there are hundreds of databases that can only be used by au... ...-and help them to identify more readily trustworthy sources. It is doing everyone in society a disfavor to lead citizens (whether young or old) to believe that the Web has every piece of information that one might need. In this increasingly technologically-dependent world, it is critical that the citizens in it are finding reliable information before they start inventing, improving, building, cleaning, renewing, destroying, exploring, etc. They need to be able to critically evaluate their options, and make sure that they aren't ignoring sources that happen not to be available on the Web. The exclusively techno-reliant are, in their own way, as unreliable a source for trustworthy or thorough information as the techno-phobes who won't use the Web at all. Using the best tool for the job or information need is the only way to be certain that you get the best results.

Alternative to GDP

Topic: â€Å"There is rising criticism of the widespread use of GDP as an indicator of the health of an economy. In fact, some experts are of the opinion that GDP growth is making the society poorer. Critically analyse this opinion in view of the concept of sustainability and also discuss some alternate measures being suggested and their implications to the businesses? † GDP as an economic measure of the economic progress of a country Gross domestic product (GDP) is considered one of the most important factors that determine the economic activity and hence the progress of the development of a country. It is the monetary value of all the final goods and services produced by a country in a specified time. Therefore, it is considered that if the country’s economic production increases, other factors remaining positive, then it positively benefits all the citizens of the country. It is hence used as an indicator for the country’s standard of living[1]. Therefore, greater the GDP, better the health of an economy and hence better the lives of the citizens. Reasons for criticism on the use of GDP as an indicator of economic progress As GDP measures the monetary value of the final goods and services produced, it means that the money spent on the country’s well-being for example, millions spent on manufacturing fancy electronic gadgets, constructing a prison, cutting forests to use wood for production of further goods – are all considered at par while measuring the GDP. There is no emphasis on the quality of the output, the progress of the country in terms of the social state of affairs, human happiness, etc. As these are essential ingredients in determining the health of an economy, the concept of using GDP as a measuring scale of the economic progress of a country if criticised. Disadvantages of GDP GDP is criticised on many aspects – it obscures growing inequality, aids depletion of resources and one of the most prominent criticisms is that it measures expenditure on education at par with expenditure on cigarettes i. e. it does not differentiate whether the spending that aids the GDP percentage is going towards a positive or negative cause. GDP does not measures the economic services that nature provides – for example, prevention of floods and landslides by existence of dense forests – it does not account for health, clean environment, etc. i. e. GDP falls short in taking into account equally important things that exist to make a country liveable by fostering social cohesion, along with just the monetary value of goods and services * GDP takes into account the gove rnment spending, but from where the funding is sourced and where it is utilized is not taken into account. Hence, government borrowing is considered good for a country as far as GDP calculation is concerned * Money transactions that take place unofficially and go unrecorded are not accounted for in the calculation of GDP. Hence it does not help in avoiding taxes or prevention of illegal transactions and spending of such huge amount goes unnoticed * Harmful side effects like, pollution is not accounted for in the GDP. No deductions are made from GDP for their harmful effects but addition to GDP is made by market transactions that aid in removing these harmful effects. Hence the calculation of GDP is not balanced * The GDP takes into account the goods and services produced but not exchanged for money. For example, volunteer work or growing own food and consuming it is not included in the GDP whereas expenditure on buying food from the market is taken into account [2]. Adverse effects of using GDP as a sole measure for economic success As GDP takes into account only some value created in the country and does not take into account several key transactions, GDP often increases at the expense of real growth and progress. The result is that GDP fails miserably as an indicator of economic success on the sustainability scale. The environmental and social aspects are not covered by the GDP. Alternative measures & their business implications There are several alternative indicators of the progress of a country. These measure economic activity, environmental or social activities, well-being or changes in environmental, social or human capital. * Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI): It provides a complete picture of economical and social progress. There are several indicators used to calculate GPI that are broadly classified under three categories – economic, environmental and social. The economic category indicators are similar to gross product measurement. The environment factors measure cost of pollution, cost of change to natural resources, cost of climate change, etc. The social indicator includes the value of education, lost leisure time, cost of crime, etc. This indicator has been adopted by the state of Maryland and is altered to include the impact of income inequality on the economy of the state. This indicator indicated the need to focus on reducing the level of income inequality in order to improve Maryland’s overall economic and social growth. Hence, this indicator has been successfully implemented that includes all the factors of well-being in a society. This leads to modified business practices in order to reduce inequality and improve economic, environmental and social spheres of the state * Human Development Index (HDI): It is used by the UNDP to show how the improvement in economic growth and human development is improving conditions of the human in the various countries. The HDI is defined as process of widening choices available to humans in order to live an educated, long and healthy life and to have access to resources to have a healthy and decent standard of living. It makes use of political freedom, human rights and self-respect to measure the index but as they are difficult to measure, the index uses longevity, knowledgeable and decent standards of livings as indicators in lieu of prosperous and long lives. * Gross National Happiness (GNH): It is frequently used as an alternative measure of progress. It was originally suggested by Bhutan to be used instead of using GDP as an appropriate measure of progress. It measures quality of life or social progress in consistency with Bhutan’s culture and spiritual values rather than focusing more on economic activity. It measures seven types of wellness – economic, environmental, physical, mental, workplace, social and political. Several conferences have also been held on use of GNH and it was primarily used to base the progress of the country on reflections of the country’s Buddhist origins[3](Coztanza, Hart, Posner & Talberth, 2009). Conclusion There are several alternative measures that are suggested to be used to measure the progress and the social well-being of a country. GDP is flawed such that it aids detrimental activities and does not take into account the positive activities of a country. Hence, an alternative that measures not only the market value of final goods and service but which also takes into account the social, economic and environmental factors while calculating the progress of a country is imperative to lead to sustainable development. The current use of GDP leads to more consumption of harmful cigarettes with no emphasis on the environmental degradation from the industrial and business rocesses. Hence, although the economy is progressing in certain spheres of economic activity, it is indeed lagging on sustainable development which requires pollution control, reduced resource usage, better social and income equality. Therefore, alternate measures that take into account all the factors that impact a nation should be developed and the alternative measure that is a composite of all the factors should be used to ensure sustainable develop ment of the economy that reflects progress in daily lives of its citizens. References: 1. http://www.investopedia.com/terms/g/gdp.asp 2. http://zorach.wordpress.com/2010/08/27/why-gdp-gross-domestic-product-is-a-poor-measure-of-wealth-and-prosperity/ 3. (Coztanza, Hart, Posner & Talberth, 2009) – http://www.bu.edu/pardee/files/documents/PP-004-GDP.pdf

Mother and Daughter Relationships in Joy Luck Club and A...

Mother and Daughter Relationships in The Joy Luck Club and A Hundred Secret Senses In life, many things can be taken for granted - especially the things that mean the most to you. You just might not realize it until youve lost it all. As I walk down the road finishing up my teenage days, I slowly have been finding a better understanding of my mother. The kind of bond that mothers and daughters have is beyond hard to describe. Its probably the biggest rollercoaster ride of emotions that Ill ever have the chance to live through in my lifetime. But, for those of us who are lucky enough to survive the ride in one piece, its an amazing learning experience that will influence your entire future. In Amy Tans novels,†¦show more content†¦For example in Junes situation... In failure to excel at the tasks that Suyuan, her mother, had set before her, June begins to feel more and more resentment towards her. She looks at her mothers hopes as expectations, and when she doesnt live up to them, she feels like a failure. When June performs a piano piece filled with mistak es at a talent show, she feels that her mother is completely ashamed and disappointed with her. As June reminisced, My mothers expression was what devastated me: a quiet, blank look that said she had lost everything (Joy p.143) But her mother is unhappy because June did not care about having the best for herself. June didnt have any high hopes to be successful at anything. She failed because she didnt try, and didnt care. Until Junes mother died she never realized how much her mother loved her and how proud she was of her. Right after my mother died, I asked myself a lot of things, things that couldnt be answered, to force myself to grieve more. It seemed as if I wanted to sustain my grief, to assure myself I had cared deeply enough. But now I ask the questions mostly because I want to know the answers. (Joy p.320) Suyuan loved her daughter more than life, but June didnt even realize this until her questions were answered by her father. And she began to understand her mothers intent ions in life. Throughout TheShow MoreRelatedAmy Tan Overcoming Faulty Relationships and Self Identity Essay1514 Words   |  7 PagesAmy Tan focuses on the struggles that Chinese-American women face in mother-daughter relationships, their struggles to control their cultural identity and the tragedy that accelerates the broken relationship. Before coming to America, Tan’s mother had been forced into a marriage (Amy Tan). She divorced her first husband and went to America to marry Tan’s father, whom she had met in China during WWII (Martin). When Tan’s mother, Daisy, came to the United States, she had to leave her young childrenRead MoreAmy Tan: A Brief Biography757 Words   |  3 PagesAmy Tan is an American Chinese writer most notably known for her critically acclaimed novel The Joy Luck Club, amongst many others. Amy Ruth Tan was born on February 19, 1952, in Oakland California to John and Daisy Tan. Both of Amy’s parents were Chinese immigrants who fled from China to escape hardships. Amy’s mother, Daisy, divorced her abusive husband and left behind three daughters before immigrating to the United States and marrying Amy’s father, John. The marriage produced three children,Read More Mother-daughter Relations and Clash of Cultures in Amy Tans The Joy Luck Club2470 Words    |  10 Pages     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Amy Tan is an American Born Chinese, daughter of immigrants, and her family shares many features with the families depicted in her novels. Tans novels offer some glimpses of life in China while developing the themes of mother-daughter relations, cultural adaptation and women with a past.   Tan’s novels share many themes and elements, but this paper will focus mainly on two episodes of the novel The Joy Luck Club: The Joy Luck Club and Waiting Between the Trees; and will make referencesRead Moresocial dimension of education2565 Words   |  11 PagesInstructor 1. The author Amy Tan is an American writer whose works explore mother-daughter relationships and what it means to grow up as a first generation Asian American. In 1993, Tan s adaptation of her most popular fiction work, The Joy Luck Club, became a commercially successful. She has written several other books, including The Kitchen God s Wife, The Hundred Secret Senses, and The Bonesetter s Daughter, and a collection of non-fiction essays entitled The Opposite of Fate: A Book ofRead MoreBelonging Essay4112 Words   |  17 Pagessocial context refers to the larger community or group, it’s organisation or hierarchy. It also refers to that which is civil, public and of society at large. Context and the sense of belonging that comes from it contributes to a sense of identity, our relationships and processes of acceptance and understanding. We get a sense of belonging (or not belonging and all the degree of belonging in-between) through interaction with: †¢ †¢ people, including groups and broader communities, and, places Read MoreAutobilography of Zlatan Ibrahimovic116934 Words   |  468 Pagesgive a damn what people think and I ve never felt comfortable with authority. I like guys who run the red light, if you know what I mean. But now†¦ I didn t say what I wanted. I said what I thought people expected of me. It was wack. I drove the club s Audi and stood there nodding like back in school, or like I should have stood nodding back in school. I didn t give my team mates any crap. I was boring. Zlatan wasn t Zlatan, and that hadn t happen since back in school when I saw chicks inRead MoreEssay on Fall of Asclepius95354 Words   |  382 Pageshe wanted to with his life? He just wanted them all to shut the hell up. Ahead, Thomas could see his school: Samuel Francis Catholic Secondary School. It was a nice school with good classes. The school itself had two floors and held over nine hundred students. Funny enough, many of them are not even Catholic. Most of Thomas friends were Atheists, Hindus or Buddhists. For himself, he never considered himself to be a true Catholic. He believed in some benevolent force, but didnt give a damn aboutRead MoreIgbo Dictionary129408 Words   |  518 Pagestthe botanical names were obtained by looking up the Yoruba names in Abraham 1958. Finally, a list of Igbo names was abstracted from Dalziel, The useful plants of West Tropical Africa (1937) by Miss F.N. Okesa. Mr E.I. Madunagu then consulted his mother about these names, correlated with the description of the plants, and some further identifications were obtained in this way. In 1968 I began a final check through the complete files. I was, however, considerably interrupted by other commitments,Read MoreLogical Reasoning189930 Words   |  760 Pages.................................................................................. 474 Inferring from Correlation to Causation......................................................................................... 479 Criteria for a Causal Relationship................................................................................................ 481 Criteria for Creating Good Explanations ........................................................................................ 483 AssessingRead MoreDeveloping Management Skills404131 Words   |  1617 PagesPreface xvii Introduction 1 PART I 1 2 3 PERSONAL SKILLS 44 Developing Self-Awareness 45 Managing Personal Stress 105 Solving Problems Analytically and Creatively 167 PART II 4 5 6 7 INTERPERSONAL SKILLS 232 233 Building Relationships by Communicating Supportively Gaining Power and Influence 279 Motivating Others 323 Managing Conflict 373 PART III GROUP SKILLS 438 8 Empowering and Delegating 439 9 Building Effective Teams and Teamwork 489 10 Leading Positive Change