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Philosophy Collection
Descartes and the Greeks (Part One)
05:27

Descartes and the Greeks (Part One)

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..

Descartes and the Greeks (Part Two)
05:27

Descartes and the Greeks (Part Two)

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..

Design and Natural Selection
04:02

Design and Natural Selection

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 ..

Developing Ethics From Childhood
02:54

Developing Ethics From Childhood

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..

Do We Have Free Will?: Compatibilist View. The
05:06

Do We Have Free Will?: Compatibilist View. The

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 ..

Do We Have Free Will?: Determinism in Relation to Freedom and Desires
02:37

Do We Have Free Will?: Determinism in Relation to Freedom and Desires

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. .

Do We Have Free Will?: Existential View. The
02:56

Do We Have Free Will?: Existential View. The

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..

Do We Have Free Will?: If Determinism were True...
03:05

Do We Have Free Will?: If Determinism were True...

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..

Do We Have Free Will?: Libertarian Perspective on Free Will
02:04

Do We Have Free Will?: Libertarian Perspective on Free Will

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..

Do We Have Free Will?: Moral Responsibility and Free Will
05:21

Do We Have Free Will?: Moral Responsibility and Free Will

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..

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