1. SKEPTICISM
1.1. St. Augustine
1.1.1. Freewill
1.1.2. Similar project to Descartes' in which he attempted prove his existence
1.1.3. "Restrict your assent to the mere fact of you being convinced that it appears thus to you."
1.2. Relativism
1.2.1. No universally valid truths about the world
1.2.1.1. Society
1.2.1.2. Culture
1.2.1.3. Historical era
1.2.1.4. Individual person
1.2.1.5. Religious values
1.3. Sextus Empiricus
1.3.1. "We cannot tell what is in the object and what we contribute."
1.3.2. Books & works
1.3.2.1. Books I-VI of Against the Proffessors
1.3.2.2. Outlines of Pyrrhonism
1.3.3. Validity of induction
1.3.4. Pyrrhonian skepticism
1.3.4.1. Involves having no beliefs about philosophical, scientific, or theoretical matters
1.3.4.1.1. According to some interpreters, no beliefs at all.
1.3.4.2. Rationality of belief
1.3.4.3. There is always, for any argument, an equal and opposite argument
1.3.4.3.1. Possibly the truest form of philosophy
1.4. Modes
1.4.1. Subjective Perceiver
1.4.2. Objective world
1.4.3. Relation between perceiver and the world
2. From the Greek word meaning "Inquiring"
3. EMPIRICISM
3.1. David Hume
3.1.1. Perceptions
3.1.1.1. More lively
3.1.1.1.1. Impressions
3.1.1.2. Less lively
3.1.1.2.1. Ideas
3.1.2. Copy Principle
3.1.2.1. All ideas or perceptions are copies of impressions
3.1.3. Relations of ideas (a priori)
3.1.3.1. 2+2=4
3.1.4. Matters of fact (a posteriori)
3.1.4.1. It is sunny outside
3.1.5. We expect similar effects from similar causes
3.1.5.1. Similar reactions are expected after similar actions
3.1.6. Riddle of induction
3.1.6.1. Claim # 1
3.1.6.1.1. Arguments concerning existence are founded on the relationship of cause & effect
3.1.6.2. Claim # 2
3.1.6.2.1. Knowledge from that relationship is from experience
3.1.6.3. Claim # 3
3.1.6.3.1. Our experimental conclusions proceed on the idea that the future will be like the past
3.1.7. "All inferences from experience are effects of custom, not reasoning."
3.2. John Locke
3.2.1. "It is obviously false that everyone with a mind - including infants and idiots - actually assent to these ideas."
3.2.2. Tabula rasa
3.2.2.1. "Blank slate"
3.2.2.2. Refers to the empiness of the mind and how only experience fills it
3.2.3. Sensation/Reflection
3.2.3.1. Reflections are thoughts about sensations, they form ideas
3.2.3.1.1. Similar to "Complex ideas"
3.2.3.2. Sensations are through the senses. First hand experiences
3.2.3.2.1. Similar to "simple sensations"
3.2.4. Primary qualities
3.2.4.1. Produced objectively by the senses
3.2.4.1.1. i.e weight, colour
3.2.5. Secondary Qualities
3.2.5.1. The effect outer realities have on the senses
3.2.5.1.1. i.e interpretation (sweet/sour)
3.3. George Berkeley
3.3.1. Immaterialism/Objective idealism
3.3.1.1. No such thing as physical objects
3.3.1.2. Suggests that all "physical" aspects of life are mere ideas in the minds of the perceiver
3.3.1.2.1. Therefore nothing exists without a perceiver
3.3.1.3. Life consists only of minds and their ideas
3.3.2. An Essay towards a New Theory of Vision
3.3.2.1. Speaks of the limitations of human vision
3.3.2.2. Also that objects you observe are not objects but in fact just colour and light
3.3.3. Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous
3.3.3.1. Explains his views and those of his opposers
3.3.3.1.1. Namely John Locke
3.3.3.2. Philonous (Greek: "lover of mind") represented Berkeley
3.3.3.3. Hylas (Greek: "matter") represented his opponents
3.3.4. Problems with perception
3.3.5. The difference between primary and secondary qualities
3.3.6. The importance of language
4. "If ideas are universal, that does not show them to be innate."
5. RATIONALISM
5.1. René Descartes
5.1.1. Meditations on First Philosophy
5.1.1.1. Denial of sense experience
5.1.1.2. Daulism
5.1.1.2.1. Material realm
5.1.1.2.2. Immaterial realm
5.1.1.2.3. Mind & Body
5.1.2. Cartesian circle
5.1.3. Three doubts
5.1.3.1. Dreams
5.1.3.2. God
5.1.3.3. Senses
5.1.4. First certainty
5.2. Baruch Spinoza
5.2.1. Tolerance and benevolance
5.2.1.1. Personal life philosophy which he lived by
5.2.2. Monism
5.2.2.1. "God is an absolutely infinite substance."
5.2.2.1.1. Substance: Something, the idea of which cannot be formed from something else
5.2.2.1.2. Absolutely infinite: Unlimited by any other thing whatsoever, whether of the same or some other nature. The best possible thing in every respect
5.2.3. Sufficient reason
5.3. Plato
5.3.1. Plato's Republic
5.3.1.1. Allegory of the cave
5.3.1.1.1. Deception of the senses
5.3.2. Socrates
5.3.2.1. Plato studied under Socrates
5.3.3. Flux
5.3.3.1. No one can cross the same river twice
5.3.3.2. Everything is in a constant state of change or "flux"
5.4. Continental rationalism
5.4.1. Refers to the international contributions