How Does Science Add to Knowledge?: Popper's Criterion of Falsifiability
Karl Popper maintains that the role of scientific tests is to refute or falsify theories not confirm them. So science, he says, makes fallible conjectures, the bolder the better. For Popper, science is built level by lev..
How Does Science Add to Knowledge?: Sir Francis Bacon, Spokesperson for the Scientific Revolution
Sir Francis Bacon, prominent philosopher of the Renaissance, rises to the rank of Lord Chancellor of England before he is convicted of accepting bribes. After a short time in jail, he retires to write and to conduct scie..
How Does Science Add to Knowledge?: Thomas Kuhn's Paradigms
In studying the way science has been conducted in different eras, Thomas Kuhn detects a striking pattern. Brief periods of revolution are set against a background of longer calmer periods which Kuhn calls "normal science..
How Old Is The Mind? (Part 1)
Philosopher Hilary Putnam talks about the concept of the mind, and how it's changed since the time of the early Greeks. He notes that Descartes was the first to say intellect, soul and mind are one and the same thing.
How Old Is The Mind? (Part 2)
Philosopher Hilary Putnam expands on his views about the mind, noting that Freud and most others in the psychology arena disputed the notion that the functioning of the mind is entirely conscious. Professor Putnam adds t..
Human Beings: Description and Origins
Philosopher Daniel Dennett talks about the origins of human beings. He states that contrary to the old notion that people are distinct from other organisms in that we have souls (or, as Descartes suggested, that we are "..
Human Flourishing
Philosopher Martha Nussbaum looks at Aristotle's ideas about the goal of both personal life and political planning. She says it was based on the idea of human flourishing, rather than simply happiness or contentment.
Human Nature
Philosopher Hubert Dreyfus talks about the ancient view of human nature, which was based on man as a rational animal. Professor Dreyfus describes how that perspective changed in about 1670, when Blaise Pascal wrote that ..
Human Nature: From Kierkegaard to Sartre
Philosopher Hubert Dreyfus talks about Kierkegaard's views of the self and human nature, including such concepts as "present age," "spiritlessness," passionate commitment," and the "aesthetic sphere." He then discusses H..
Humans As Rational Animals
Philosopher Daniel Dennet talks about the argument that humans are unique because we are rational. Professor Dennett points out examples of other animals which are also capable of taking actions based on rationality. The..