Journals
Critical Notice
The article Critical Notice by McGinn argues about Thomas Nagel’s ideology about the persistent temptation to turn philosophy into something that is less difficult than it is presently. The topics addressed in the article include Mind, knowledge and value.
The article Critical Notice basically talks about Thomas Nagel’s book, which argues about the attempts to make philosophy an easy discipline by making it shallower than it is presently. The author of this article writes about Nagel and how he tackles some of the hardest philosophical problems. However, the author of the article argues that Nagel’s Concerns are unconnected. This is true, as he does not provide a clear way for us to conceive our own minds as one example of our many forms of consciousness. The article goes on to discuss Nagel’s Ideologies. His use of the words subjective and objective attracts the author’s attention as he thinks that their usage is not altogether consistent, and his notion of an ideology is haunted by ambiguity throughout the book. In his argument about knowledge, Nagel applies his knowledge in metaphysics to explain the fact that we are contained in the world and not the other way around. Therefore, it is realistic that we cannot fully understand the world’s objective nature as we are limited creatures thrown up by evolution. But in my opinion, the urge to study and understand the world is the key to increasing our knowledge. Therefore, we should advance in studying our world and understanding its nature and objectivity.
Reflection On Philosophy
#the article is primarily concerned with the systematic investigation of the most general principles of reality. This means that the author of the article is concerned with how to sort those things that are real and those that are just imaginations.
The authors start by defining the word metaphysics. The study of metaphysics helps people to differentiate between myths and those things that freely exist. It provides us with the tools to investigate and build evidence of reality. For instance, the author of the article says that a metaphysician does not need laboratories to build sense, only logic. In addition to that, insight and intuition are equally important skills in studying reality.
The author of the article also talks about ontology. This is an attempt to determine what is. Philosophers who study this discipline are mostly concerned with the question of what things do exist and if existence is the same as being. Plato developed a lot of examples to explain existence. For instance, he uses the allegory of the cave to show how people are resistant to the truth even if they are told about it. As the prisoner is released from the cave, he realizes that all that he thought he knew was only a shadow of the real thing. However, not all philosophers agree with the ideologies set by metaphysics. They tend to argue that the art of determining the nature of ultimate reality is useless and meaningless. However, it is evident from the article that metaphysics is the mother of science, and it helps us understand things exactly as they are.
The Politics Of Credibility
# Feminist epistemology has two major themes that help build the roles of our epistemic concepts: knowledge, rationality, objectivity, and justification. They help generate and reinforce authority by supporting credible norms and authorizing some agents as knowers while deauthorizing others.
The author of the article addresses the question of ethics and practical epistemology. She wants to investigate how to approach a subclass of testimonial utterances. She brings up the question of how we can think of testimony as a ground for credibility. How does testifying prove the credibility of something? In cases where there is testimony, arguments are replaced, and the audience can’t assess the cogency of the reasons given. The trustworthiness of informants has two components: respect for the truth and veracity with respect to a specific situation. However, it is not often guaranteed that the testifier gives correct information. However, testifiers who belong to suspect groups suffer a double disadvantage as they risk being deauthorized twice as knowers on account of who they are and what they know. Therefore, in the course of working out trustworthiness and credibility measures, the question of all things considered becomes obvious. In some cases, reaching a credible verdict is as direct as one testifies. However, in other cases, reaching a verdict may be difficult as two grounds may be pulling against each other with equal force. In this case, reaching a final verdict will be a matter of delicate judgment and one that is not deductible by rules that can affect the decision. This article helps in understanding the politics surrounding the credibility of information and how to go about verifying if information can be considered to be credible.
Truth And Rationality
# The article is about how arguments provide reasons to believe in their conclusion or not. But for an argument to be considered to be true, it must give a good reason for its conclusion to be seen to be true.
This article covers the aspect of truth and rationality in an argument. It starts with how one should judge an argument if it reflects the truth or not. Among the factors considered by the article is the language used in an argument. The kind of language used in an argument is a clear reflection of the argument and the kind of conclusion that will be drawn from it. To say that the sentence is true means that the things in the sentence are really the way they are presented. A sentence is true if it corresponds to the facts as they are. This means a sentence must correspond to the current facts for it to be considered true. The next question answered by the article is what counts as a good reason for thinking that a proposition is true. The only way to come to a conclusion that an argument is true or false is by believing.
This is because a person cannot have more than one attitude towards a certain argument.it is either true or false. But one must have a reason to believe. This includes evidence provided in the argument and natural facts. However, it does not mean that every time one needs to ascertain that an argument is true, he or she has to consider its conclusive evidence. This is the most common error that people make when thinking about the rationality and evidence provided by an argument. Sometimes, the evidence provided by an argument may be misleading. However, even if the evidence changes, the rationality of a person’s belief cannot be changed. Therefore, a belief can be rational even though it is false.
The Power Of Critical Thinking
# The article focuses on the reason for believing or doubting something in conflicting claims. It also analyzes cases where expert opinions conflict with claims and how such cases should be treated.
This article focuses on the reasons why we should embrace the art of critically thinking about everything and the kind of power that is vested in that. For instance, it covers cases where claims conflict with each other. In this case, one should be able to understand each claim and develop good reasons to accept or doubt it. On top of that, one should be able to appreciate a claim that is neither completely dubious nor fully credible. We should proportion our beliefs to the evidence. In addition to that, the article covers cases where a claim conflicts with an expert opinion and how we should take that. First, we should be able to understand what makes someone an expert and what doesn’t.
We should be able to distinguish between experts and non-experts by using the indicators of expertise. In analyzing a claim, one should use the available evidence to ascertain if the claim is true or false. This requires that one use his own experience only if the evidence provides no good reason to doubt it. From the article, we are also able to learn how to resist the tendency to resist contrary evidence, sense the possibility of confirmation bias, and be alert to the possibility of the availability of error. One should also embrace the art of critical thinking in analyzing claims in the news, as sometimes news may turn out to be false. This is possible when one has a basic understanding of how the news media work and what factors influence the claims that they generate. Finally, the article covers the claims of advertising and persuasion. One should be able to understand and apply the guiding principles of critical thinking about advertising since not all the claims in advertisements are true. This can be possible only if one is familiar with the common tricks of persuasion used by advertisers.
Gender Identity In Boys Don’t Cry
# Gender identity is crucial for human beings as it gives them the ability to make sense of our daily lives. When an individual fails to understand his gender, people run into confusion, forcing them to use various stereotypes to define a person. A typical example of a usual stereotype is boys do not cry#
From the article, it is clear that having a sense of self is very meaningful to our lives. However, one cannot have a personal identity without knowing his or her gender. Gender identity is what differentiates men and women in the society. It is significant first to understand the origin of gender identity and how people came to believe in its existence. This question has been reviewed in the film Boys Don’t Cry by Kimberley Peirce by real events that resulted in the death of Teena/Brandon. Teena/Brandon left people confused about whether he was a man or a woman since this character did not know his gender. Some people felt he was a man, while others thought he was a woman. The author of the article uses various perspectives to determine the actual gender of Teena/Brandon by first exploring the theories of gender.
Using the realist perspective, people tried to use the body constitution to conclude gender. Some argued that due to the presence of a vagina, he is a woman. Contradictorily, the feminist theory asserts that gender can be subjectively determined and socially constructed. Sex and gender are not related. From social construction, one is a man or a woman if they possess characteristics deemed appropriate for males and females. From subjectivist theory, one can be a man or woman depending on what he believes he or she is. This means the existence or nature of something depends on the beliefs of an individual. The author of the article concludes by assessing both theories and posits that none of the approaches is thoroughly efficient in determining gender. Both theories are subject to criticism.
Objectivity And Subjectivity:
# The difference between subjective and objective is a matter of degree. Objective primarily consists of conceptions and not conceived properties or facts. Subjective conceptions give an overview of a fact from a particular point of view while exploiting that given point as the representation medium. Otherwise, it will be termed as objective#
The article focuses on the observation of McGinn from the formulation of Nagel. He argues that by taking into consideration the distinction offered by Nagel, there is likely to be confusion between the two uses. According to the author, a property or fact is subjective so long as it involves a specific point of view. He argues that when a fact lacks a medium that is represented, it automatically becomes objective. Using his distinction, he comes up with four instances.
In the first instance, there is a subjective conception of a fact that is subjective. He gives an example of when one imagines personal conscious states and others similar to them, such as when you conceive of one’s pain. In this case, the medium of representation is sensing one’s pain, and the specific point of view is one’s own.
The second instance is having a subjective conception of a fact that is objective. This entails representing a primary quality using our perspectival representation. For instance, when we imagine squareness, we do that using our view and then express it through the way it seems to us.
The third instance is an objective conception of a fact that is subjective. For example, how do we conceive consciousness schematically and generally? He uses science to bring his point home by revealing how it takes into account the existence of a third party. The final instance is an objective conception of a fact that is objective. He stipulates that the objectivity or subjectivity of a fact does not determine whether the fact is conceivable objectively or subjectively.
Discussion Essay
During this course, I have been able to learn a lot of things. This course is concerned with two broad areas of inquiry: facts and falsehood and sex and gender. This course has helped me to develop skills on how to approach ontological and Epistemological questions that we face on a day-to-day basis. We started the course by studying Facts and falsehoods. This has helped me to understand what should be considered to be a fact and what should be considered to be a false proposition. To ascertain if a statement is a fact or falsehood, one should look at it from both the ontological point of view and also the Epistemological point of view. However, that will still not be enough as one has to use the investigation instruments. These instruments are objectivity and subjectivity.
Objectivity refers to the way the world is from an Ontological point of View. This includes the state of affairs and the facts that we hold belief in. These are the facts that we don’t have any control over their existence. An example is a square. It will always remain to be a closed figure that has four equal sides and four right angles. That is a fact, and it will always remain to be so. But from an Epistemological point of view, Objectivity refers to the evidence and conceptions of facts, state affairs or the way that the world is. This does not depend on an individual’s personal perspective. Like the example of a square, it does not require one perspective but instead the axioms, theorems and rules for deriving a conclusion.
Subjectivity, on the other hand, refers to the way the world is or facts that depend on their existence on a certain perspective. For instance, when one cuts him or herself, he feels the pain. But the pain cannot exist without him or her. This is from the Ontological point of view. From the Epistemological point of view, subjectivity refers to evidence or conceptions of the state of affairs and facts. For example, one can know when he or she is in pain. It does not need him or her to visit a hospital to be checked if he or she is in pain.
In conclusion, I have acquired a number of skills throughout the course. Among them is how to deal with facts, evidence and belief. This includes how to differentiate between facts and falsehoods. In addition to that, the course gave me an opportunity to understand the power of critical thinking and, finally, the concepts of Objectivity and subjectivity.
