Philosopher Stephen Toulmin draws parallels between Descartes and Plato, arguing that both lived in a perilous time during which they tried to demonstrate "... in a quasi-mathematical way that we have a system of ideas w..
Philosopher Stephen Toulmin talks about the origins of differing branches of philosophy. On the one hand, Professor Toulmin notes, there have been those like Plato and Descartes, who have wanted theoretical certainty abo..
Philosopher Daniel Dennett talks about Darwin and the notion of intelligent design. Rather than conclude, as did William Paley, that intelligent design requires a designer, Dennett applies Darwinian natural selection to ..
Philosopher Martha Nussbaum talks about ethics as part of character development starting from early childhood. She points out that there are multiple perspectives on early childhood and it can be difficult to focus on th..
Seventeenth century philosopher Thomas Hobbes believes that the kind of freedom that is necessary for moral responsibility is consistent with determinism. As he says with characteristic terseness, "Liberty and necessity ..
Daniel Dennett does not believe there needs to be a conflict between Newtonian causation and reason. There is no reason that this intentional system cannot be moved by reason, beliefs, and desires. .
Not swayed by science or psychological motivation, Jean-Paul Satre proposes that people actively determine their nature through their choices and actions. They make implicit free choices that are compatible with their en..
If determinism is true then would our ideas about moral responsibility and punishment have to change as well? Some philosophers contend that we have to think of ourselves as behaving freely even in a world in which there..
Libertarianism asserts we are free to act in other ways than we do. At any given moment it is possible to decide among alternative paths, but choosing one may mean that other options are no longer available. Ancient phil..
In an attempt to reconcile science and free will, Immanuel Kant distinguishes between the phenomenal world of nature and the noumenal world of ideas in which morality and responsibility reside. It is in the noumenal worl..