Empiricism and Rationalism
Philosopher Ian Hacking talks about the challenge of making a clear distinction between classic rationalists and empiricists. He notes that "there's an awful lot of theorizing to be found in those empiricists, and a lot ..
Encountering External Reality
Philosopher Ian Hacking calls himself a materialist, explaining that we learn partly through "a lot of innate equipment...but certainly from earliest experience how to adapt ourselves to the material environment in which..
Encumbered Self, The
Philosopher Michael Sandel expands on his idea of the encumbered self--the notion that we may be claimed by certain moral ties that can't be accounted for as duties we owe human beings, or as obligations we've chosen, as..
Experience and Innate Ideas
Philosopher Ian Hacking talks about the notion of innate ideas, making reference to such historical figures as Descartes, Leibniz, Locke and Michelangelo. He notes that while experience produces different ideas in people..
Fatalism (Part One)
Philosopher Stephen Toulmin traces the evolution of the concept of fatalism. In the modern world, Professor Toulmin explains, the term is often used to express the feeling that people don't have control over what they do..
Fatalism (Part Two)
Philosopher Stephen Toulmin concludes his discussion of fatalism, noting that for some it's a convenient rationalization to explain why they haven't been able to carry out their resolutions.
Feminist Ethics
Philosopher Martha Nussbaum discusses links between feminism and virtue ethics. She focuses on the idea espoused by some that feminist ethics should turn to virtue ethics in order to develop an ethics based on care and a..
Feminist Theories and the Meaning of Life
Philosopher Martha Nussbaum argues that, in a sense, all feminist theory is concerned with the meaning of life. Professor Nussbaum talks about feminist author Betty Friedan who, like many feminists, began by questioning ..
Feyerabend and Kuhn
Philosopher Ian Hacking talks about Thomas Kuhn and Paul Feyerabend, who were contemporaries at UC Berkeley in the late 1950's. Both were critical of the idea that there is some fixed, rational logic to science. But Feye..
Free Will
Philosopher John Searle argues that even if all our behavior is determined and we don't have determinism, there's no way to actually live according to that conviction. Quoting Immanuel Kant, Professor Searle states that,..