|
|
The Evolution of the notion of a World Soul in Henry More
Joseph, Jacques ; Hladký, Vojtěch (advisor) ; Nejeschleba, Tomáš (referee) ; Hill, James (referee)
The main goal of this thesis is to describe the evolution of the concept of a world soul in the thought of Cambridge Platonist Henry More (1614-1687). However, this topic is discussed within the broader context of early modern philosophy and the birth of modern science. The philosophy of Henry More presents a very interesting confrontation between Renaissance Neo-Platonism and Cartesianism, early modern mechanicism and the newest scientific discoveries of his age, the notion of a world soul being exactly the point where all these thought currents meet. The classical conception of a platonic world soul in More's early thought later becomes the Spirit of Nature, a principle complimentary to mechanicism (and at the same time acting as its metaphysical foundation). Yet in order for the regularity of such phenomena as gravitation to be guaranteed, the Spirit of Nature has to be rid of any conscience and will of its own. However, besides this tendency to "strip" the world soul of its personal aspects, leading ultimately to the notion of a completely impersonal natural law, a deeper analysis of certain aspects of More's philosophical system shows also a determination to preserve the broader connections that tie the classical notion of a world soul to a specific world picture that does not necessarily fit...
|
|
|
Instrumentality of knowledge: instrumentalism in philosophy of scienc
Cvek, Boris ; Peregrin, Jaroslav (advisor) ; Kolman, Vojtěch (referee) ; Švec, Ondřej (referee)
Richard Rorty's main thesis in his work Philosphy and the Mirror of Nature centers on a critique of representationalism in a fundamentally relativistic way. The aim of this disseration is to grasp Rorty's ideas in broader sense as a critique of inadequate interpretation of knowing- that and shift the attention to knowing-how as a key to new understanding the success of natural sciences. The fact that something is reproducibly possible for us to make in the surrounding world is not relative, and it is precisely in this way that technology (knowing- how) spreads so successfully even at multi-cultural level. In contrast, the explanatory function (knowing-that) of the natural sciences is relative, making sense only in the context of what is already known and accepted. Natural sciences are so successful because their experiments and only then take agreement of hypothesis with experimental practice (knowing-how) as the criterion of its acceptability. This dissertation offers, as a way out of Rortian relativism, the concept of "open authority" and proposes a new development in philosophic pragmatism based on it.
|
|
|
David Hume's analysis of causality
Pakandl, Martin ; Rybák, David (advisor) ; Hauser, Michael (referee)
This diploma thesis is focused on David Hume's analysis of causality. The two major philosophical works about this topic are A Treatise of Human Nature and Enquiries concerning Human Understanding. The first chapter is about intellectual background which Hume came from when he is dealing with cause-effect problem. At that time there were two main epistemological theories: rationalism and empirism. Both will be discuss there. The next chapter is about Hume's way of thinking about human understanding. This chapter is important for us beacuse there are many terms which will be useful for understanding causality. Crucial role plays The Theory of Ideas, according to each content of a mind has a source in experience. The first perceptions are called impresions and their copies are called ideas. Ideas are processed by memory and imagination. There are two categories of contents of human understanding: relations of ideas and matters of facts. We will focus on matters of facts because they are based on causality. Hume as a empirist is searching for a source of idea of causality in our experience. He finds out that we cant find it in objects of our minds themselves, but is based on relations among them. These relations are: contiguity, constant conjunction, priority of time in the cause before the effect and...
|
|
|
Constructivism and Reality between Foerster, Maturana and Kuhn
Duda, Marek ; Marek, Jakub (advisor) ; Murgaš, Jaromír (referee)
This work deals with the introduction of the constructivist school of thought and its comparison with the theory of scientific revolutions and the concept of the paradigm of Thomas Kuhn. In this work, constructivism is represented by radical interpretations of Foerster, Maturana and Varela. These are then confronted with Kuhn's interpretation of scientific revolutions. At the end of the thesis I argue that Kuhn's concept of the paradigm can be interpreted as typically constructivist. In the context of the main line of interpretation of this work, I also critically evaluate motives such as reality, the possibility of true knowledge and related ethical consequences. Key words: constructivism, knowledge, truth, philosophy of science, paradigm
|
|
|
The Philosophical Reflection of the ICT Influence in the Pedagogical Field with Special Focus on the Digital Dementia Phenomenon
STANĚK, Miroslav
This thesis deals with philosophical questions, related to modern-day technologies and their impact on the future generations education. It specifically focuses on the paradigmatic transformation of everyday empirical experience (of the world) among people who were born into the digital age. They are called "digital natives", and they feel comfortable in the cyberspace´s infosphere. In terms of the philosophy of education, the "digital dementia" is understood as a principal inability and unwillingness to get out of personalised "bubble universe". The goal of education is (in this thesis) understood as a skill how to perform a personal turn-around and how to actively participate their own "philosophy of life", that means to seek for the meaning of the life and live autonomous and authentic lives.
|
|
|
The Evolution of the notion of a World Soul in Henry More
Joseph, Jacques ; Hladký, Vojtěch (advisor) ; Nejeschleba, Tomáš (referee) ; Hill, James (referee)
The main goal of this thesis is to describe the evolution of the concept of a world soul in the thought of Cambridge Platonist Henry More (1614-1687). However, this topic is discussed within the broader context of early modern philosophy and the birth of modern science. The philosophy of Henry More presents a very interesting confrontation between Renaissance Neo-Platonism and Cartesianism, early modern mechanicism and the newest scientific discoveries of his age, the notion of a world soul being exactly the point where all these thought currents meet. The classical conception of a platonic world soul in More's early thought later becomes the Spirit of Nature, a principle complimentary to mechanicism (and at the same time acting as its metaphysical foundation). Yet in order for the regularity of such phenomena as gravitation to be guaranteed, the Spirit of Nature has to be rid of any conscience and will of its own. However, besides this tendency to "strip" the world soul of its personal aspects, leading ultimately to the notion of a completely impersonal natural law, a deeper analysis of certain aspects of More's philosophical system shows also a determination to preserve the broader connections that tie the classical notion of a world soul to a specific world picture that does not necessarily fit...
|
|
|
Contemporary forms of scientific realism
Zach, Martin ; Kvasz, Ladislav (advisor) ; Kunca, Tomáš (referee)
The topic of this diploma thesis is the position of scientific realism presented in the framework of naturalized philosophy of science. The aim is to clarify this position and to show that if one denies realism, scientific practice does not make sense. For this purpose main focus is first devoted to the key parts (metaphysical realism, semantic realism, and epistemological realism) which constitute the scientific realism. Next, a detailed analysis of the arguments against and in favor of realism is offered, and concrete examples taken from the sciences are used to illustrate key points. Space is also devoted to the analysis of a physical theory of heat of the 18th and 19th centuries in connection with an antirealist argument directed at the history of science. Also, one of the few fully elaborated antirealist positions, constructive empiricism, is presented and critically evaluated. In a similar fashion, this thesis pays attention to a specific form of realism, called entity realism. Though the resulting image is a thoroughly realist position, this position strives to accurately capture the numerous nuances of the scientific practice, offering a fresh perspective on some of the traditional views.
|
|
|
Community ecology from the perspective of classic and bayesian statistics
Klimeš, Adam ; Keil, Petr (advisor) ; Herben, Tomáš (referee)
Community ecology from the perspective of classic and Bayesian statistics Ekologie společenstev z hlediska klasické a Bayesovské statistiky Řešitel: Adam Klimeš Vedoucí práce: Mgr. Petr Keil, Ph.D. Abstract Quantitative evaluation of evidence through statistics is a central part of present-day science. Bayesian approach represents an emerging but rapidly developing enrichment of statistical analysis. The approach differs in its foundations from the classic methods. These differences, such as the different interpretation of probability, are often seen as obstacles for acceptance of Bayesian approach. In this thesis I outline ways to deal with the assumptions of Bayesian approach, and I address the main objections against it. I present Bayesian approach as a new way to handle data to answer scientific questions. I do this from a standpoint of community ecology: I illustrate the novelty that Bayesian approach brings to data analysis of typical community ecology data, specifically, the analysis of multivariate datasets. I focus on principal component analysis, one of the typical and frequently used analytical techniques. I execute Bayesian analyses that are analogical to the classic principal components analysis, I report the advantages of the Bayesian version, such as the possibility of working with...
|
|
|
Instrumentality of knowledge: instrumentalism in philosophy of scienc
Cvek, Boris ; Peregrin, Jaroslav (advisor) ; Kolman, Vojtěch (referee) ; Švec, Ondřej (referee)
Richard Rorty's main thesis in his work Philosphy and the Mirror of Nature centers on a critique of representationalism in a fundamentally relativistic way. The aim of this disseration is to grasp Rorty's ideas in broader sense as a critique of inadequate interpretation of knowing- that and shift the attention to knowing-how as a key to new understanding the success of natural sciences. The fact that something is reproducibly possible for us to make in the surrounding world is not relative, and it is precisely in this way that technology (knowing- how) spreads so successfully even at multi-cultural level. In contrast, the explanatory function (knowing-that) of the natural sciences is relative, making sense only in the context of what is already known and accepted. Natural sciences are so successful because their experiments and only then take agreement of hypothesis with experimental practice (knowing-how) as the criterion of its acceptability. This dissertation offers, as a way out of Rortian relativism, the concept of "open authority" and proposes a new development in philosophic pragmatism based on it.
|
|
|
Scientific Realism and the Natural World
Joseph, Jacques ; Palkoska, Jan (advisor) ; Kolman, Vojtěch (referee)
Jacques Joseph Scientific Realism and the Natural World M.A. thesis Abstract The main topic of this work is the relation between the natural world and the world of the natural sciences, and furthermore the relation of both these worlds to our conception of an external reality "as it really is". The core of the work is rooted mainly in the Anglo-American analytical philosophy of science, namely the debate concerning scientific realism, with a section dedicated to Husserl's conception of the relation between the natural world and natural sciences (as described in his Krisis). The goal of this work is to show scientific realism as broken beyond repair, and to then offer an alternative. The problems that plague realism run deep into its roots, many of which it shares with its opponents, the new alternative theory therefore needs to be completely different. This work suggests the "Natural ontological attitude" (NOA) presented by Arthur Fine, a theory that tries to salvage the intuitions that made realism seem so attractive. NOA is then developped, using texts by W. V. O. Quine and D. Davidson, as a minimalistic metaphysics based strongly on language that still manages to provide a relation to an extra-linguistic reality.
|
guest ::
