History of Virtue Ethics
Philosopher Martha Nussbaum briefly traces the history of virtue ethics, from Aristotle through Kant. She notes that the major theories of virtue have all included strong criticism of traditional social norms, and reject..
How A Child Learns Language (Part 1)
Philosopher W.V. Quine talks about how children learn language. He equates learning with conditioning, which is based on the instinct of induction--that is, the instinct to expect similar events to be followed by events ..
How A Child Learns Language (Part 2)
Philosopher W.V. Quine continues his discussion of how children learn language. He re-asserts the importance of instinct in the learning process, linking it to what he calls perceptual similarities associated with things..
How Do We Encounter Reality?
Philosopher Hubert Dreyfus talks about the intriguing professional relationship between Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger. Although Husserl was Heidegger's mentor, the younger Heidegger was as much an influence on Huss..
How Do We Encounter the World: Phenomenology
The philosophical tradition that attempts to describe the world and the way we experience it without relying on abstract theories is called phenomenology. The term took on new significance with German philosopher Edmund..
How Does Science Add to Knowledge?: Bacon's Method of Scientific Induction
Bacon urges scientists to use a method which he calls "induction." Make a number of observations, look for general patterns, then test those patterns before proposing the underlying law of nature at work. Particularly cr..
How Does Science Add to Knowledge?: How Science Really Worked in the 17th-19th Centuries
Bacon's method of induction seems to work better for the experimental science of Robert Boyle than it does for the theoretical science of Isaac Newton, although Newton does describe his theory as "inferred from the pheno..
How Does Science Add to Knowledge?: Is There a Scientific Method?
One of the legacies of Thomas Kuhn is the recognition of diversity among the sciences. Our ability to make the world intelligible may be enriched if we are prepared to accept the legitimacy of all kinds of explanations. ..
How Does Science Add to Knowledge?: Kuhn's Challenge to the Cumulative Progression of Science
Kuhn argues that scientists almost never follow Bacon's suggestion and simply observe nature. Rather, a paradigm influences what they observe and how they interpret it. Kuhn also agrees with Popper that induction does no..
How Does Science Add to Knowledge?: Popper's 20th-century View of How Science Works
Inductivism remains the dominant view of how science works until the 20th century when Albert Einstein proposes a new approach to gravity. This and early work in quantum mechanics prompts philosopher Karl Popper to propo..