Empiricism vs. Rationalism: Locke, Hume, and the Nature of Knowledge
Empiricism vs. Rationalism
Empiricism is a philosophical stream arising from Anglo-Saxon philosophers, almost simultaneously with rationalism. Leading representatives are British: Locke, Berkeley, and Hume. Empiricism argues that all knowledge comes from experience.
Empiricism accepts some basic ideas of rationalism. For both empiricists and rationalists, the being of things is given in consciousness, not the external world. There is no access to the things themselves, but to the ideas we create in
Read MoreFoundations of Catholic Social Teaching
What is Catholic Social Teaching (CST)?
It is the set of ideas and principles that the Catholic Church and other Christian churches suggest to create a fairer and more humane world.
- It suggests propositions on social, economic, and political reality. One of the biggest contributions is the Catholic Church’s vision regarding these issues.
- It is the contribution of Christian thinkers (religious or lay) within different areas of knowledge or bibliographical contribution.
- It is inspired by the life of
Catholic Social Teaching: Principles and Applications
What is Catholic Social Teaching (CST)?
It is the set of ideas and principles that the Catholic Church and other Christian churches suggest to create a fairer and more humane world.
- It suggests propositions on social, economic, and political reality. One of the biggest contributions is the Catholic Church’s vision about these issues.
- It is the contribution of Christian thinkers (religious or lay) within different areas of knowledge or bibliographical contribution.
- It is inspired by the life of Jesus
Plato: Life, Philosophy, and the Pursuit of Knowledge
Plato: Life and Work
Plato was born in Athens in 427 BCE. His father, Ariston, traced his lineage back to the king Codrus, and his mother, Perictione, was related to Solon, the first lawgiver of Athens. After his father’s death, his mother remarried Pyrilampes, a man from one of the wealthiest families in the city. Plato’s relatives, Charmides and Critias, were politicians who were part of the Thirty Tyrants. At 18, he met Socrates and became his most loyal and enthusiastic disciple. He traveled
Read MorePhilosophical Evolution: From Idealism to Postmodernism
The Dawn of Modern Philosophy
German Idealism, as a first step of optimism and confidence in the game, in their freedom and their reason, offers the ideal reflection of the optimism that the emerging bourgeois society felt for their main values: freedom, from the French Revolution, and reason, from the 18th-century Enlightenment. It has, as its central theme, the expression in the world of infinite reason. In the central part of the 19th century, the problems and injustices within the proletariat
Read MoreNietzsche’s Core Ideas: Apollonian, Dionysian, and the Death of God
Philosophical Context of Nietzsche’s Thought
Following Hegel’s philosophy, which seeks to subject all of reality to rational budgets, a new philosophy emerged in the works of several great thinkers, such as:
- Kierkegaard (Existentialism): Highlights existence and human freedom.
- Nietzsche and Schopenhauer (Vitalism): Stress the importance of life.
- Marx (Marxism): Emphasizes material conditions.
Vitalism, generally speaking, resulted in the affirmation of life as the most important aspect of all reality;
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