Hofstader, a supporter of Dewey's metaphysics describes "the aim of metaphysics as a general theory of existence. . .the discovery of the basic types of involvement's and their relationships" (Qtd in ...
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06/03/2010 The Socrates Plato describes refuses to accept payment for formal instruction, and had no school. Socrates taught by asking questions and inducing debate. The truth can only be discovered by eliminating what is not true. His goal was to teach the younger generation to think clearly, reasonably, philosophically. John Locke was the son of a wealthy family who sought to maintain and justify his family's wealth in the chapter "Of Property" in his Second Treatise of Government. Locke believes that the purpose of government is to protect property and that societies were set up to avoid civil or foreign wars that may occur over the dispute of property. Locke attempts to rationalize the right of men having "unequal possessions of the earth" (Locke 29), but fails because he does not recognize that unequal ownership of property does not allow for the basis of his argument that ownership of property is only justified if there is good and enough for others (Locke, 20). |
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03/03/2010 Selective emphasis of any kind is not necessary for us to use Dewey's method to unmask new truths. The only thing necessary according to Dewey, is empirical experience. When the experience is completed, we will uncover the truth. In fact, selective emphasis, according to Dewey, leads to experiences without problems or nothing to discover (since there are no problems)! Selective emphasis removes the need to reflect, because it removes the problem. There is no enhanced meaning through reflection, valuation, and experience if we use selective emphasis; only a question for which the answer has already been determined. Fortunately, the benefits of Dewey's achievements tower over the petty criticism Richard Rorty and myself note. Rorty says: |
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12/03/2010 Hume offers two arguments to defend this opinion, both refute Descartes' idea of man as a rational thinking being. Descartes tried to prove God existed through rationalization and thought, however for Hume all knowledge is gained through experiences derived from our instincts. Hume says that: John Dewey reflected upon the traditional philosophic works and saw that they were out of tune with a world that is constantly changing. The goal of traditional philosophy was to discover concrete truths from which to build a philosophical metaphysics. Dewey realized that truth is dependent upon many different factors (instruments), and changes according to those factors. Dewey asks is philosophy the search for truth or the best way to find the truth? He defends the idea that concrete truth cannot be obtained, therefore; the best thing to do is find what is the true meaning according to the values we place upon it our current culture. Therefore, in the 14th Century the idea that the world was flat and the sun, moon, and planets was true, because according to the facts available to that culture it was the best theory they could muster. Dewey recognizes the importance of the context, situation and problem we are involved with and uses reflection and criticism to dispute former philosophies and cure them of any ills they have; specifically, there use of selective emphasis. In "Dewey's Metaphysics," Richard Rorty accuses John Dewey of the greatest sin a philosopher can make. Dewey, according to Rorty, is guilty of his own criticism. Dewey's goal of developing a Naturalistic Metaphysics, or a god's eye view of the world, places a precondition, a selective emphasis on his philosophy which is the same mistake made by the philosophers he criticized. |