Wittgensteinian Epistemology, Epistemic Vertigo, and Pyrrhonian Skepticism

2020 ◽  
pp. 173-192
Author(s):  
Duncan Pritchard
Keyword(s):  
On Certainty ◽  
Cartesian Skepticism ◽  
The Core ◽  
Pyrrhonian Skepticism ◽  
Way Of Thinking ◽  
Rational Evaluation

In On Certainty, Wittgenstein offers a radical conception of the structure of rational evaluation, such that all rational evaluations are essentially local in that they necessarily occur relative to arational hinge certainties. Support is canvassed for the following claims: (1) that a Wittgensteinian epistemology, while the antidote to a certain formulation of Cartesian skepticism, is entirely compatible, including in spirit, with Pyrrhonian skepticism; (2) that the philosophical quietism which provides the wider context for Wittgenstein’s epistemology is very much in keeping with the core nature of Pyrrhonian skeptical techniques; and (3) that a Wittgensteinian epistemology sits very well alongside a particular way of thinking about Pyrrhonian skepticism such that it is primarily directed at our specifically theoretical commitments. As we will see, a key element to understanding how the Wittgensteinian line against Cartesian skepticism can be allied to a Pyrrhonian skepticism is the notion of epistemic vertigo.

scholarly journals The Immense House of Postcards

1970 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-71
Author(s):  
Hanoch Ben-Pazi
Keyword(s):  
Jacques Derrida ◽  
Emmanuel Levinas ◽  
Vantage Point ◽  
Cultural Significance ◽  
Ethical Thought ◽  
Religious Traditions ◽  
The Core ◽  
Textual Tradition ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Way Of Thinking

The subject of tradition engaged both Emmanuel Lévinas and Jacques Derrida in many of their writings, which explore both the philosophical and cultural significance of tradition and the particular significance of the latter in a specifically Jewish context. Lévinas devoted a few of his Talmudic essays to the subject, and Derrida addressed the issue from the perspective of different philosophical and religious traditions. This article uses the writings of these two thinkers to propose a new way of thinking about the idea of tradition. At the core of its inquiry lie the paradigm of the letter and the use of this metaphor as a means of describing the concept of tradition. Using the phenomenon of the letter as a vantage point for considering tradition raises important points of discussion, due to both the letter’s nature as a text that is sent and the manifest and hidden elements it contains. The focus of this essay is the phenomenon of textual tradition, which encompasses different traditions of reading and interpreting texts and a grasp of the horizon of understanding opened up in relation to the text through its many different interpretations. The attention paid here to the actions of individuals serves to highlight the importance of the interpersonal realm and of ethical thought.

Why Teach Coding to Early Elementary Learners

2021 ◽  
pp. 21-40
Author(s):  
Claudia M. Mihm
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Computer Science ◽  
Computational Thinking ◽  
Early Elementary ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
The Core ◽  
Core Concepts ◽  
Way Of Thinking

As coding and computer science become established domains in K-2 education, researchers and educators understand that children are learning more than skills when they learn to code – they are learning a new way of thinking and organizing thought. While these new skills are beneficial to future programming tasks, they also support the development of other crucial skills in early childhood education. This chapter explores the ways that coding supports computational thinking in young children and connects the core concepts of computational thinking to the broader K-2 context.

Epilogue

2016 ◽  
pp. 113-116
Author(s):  
Maria Rosa Antognazza
Keyword(s):  
Actual World ◽  
Possible Worlds ◽  
Theoretical Understanding ◽  
The Core ◽  
Practical Project ◽  
Scientific Advancement ◽  
Way Of Thinking ◽  
The Mind ◽  
Good And Evil

The ‘Epilogue’ concludes that it is possible to trace important elements of Leibniz’s way of thinking back to many different traditions, all of them reshaped and remodelled with the help of conversations with many hundreds of individuals, into a strikingly original outlook. It was in order to explain the actual world as we experience it, and what good and evil we find in it, that Leibniz took us on a journey through possible worlds and the mind of God. This theoretical understanding was for him at the core of an ultimately practical project of scientific advancement for the benefit of humankind.

Descartes and Ancient Skepticism: Reheated Cabbage?

2021 ◽  
pp. 325-355
Author(s):  
Gail Fine
Keyword(s):  
Way Of Life ◽  
Cartesian Skepticism ◽  
Pyrrhonian Skepticism

Chapter 13 considers a variety of ways in which Pyrrhonian skepticism has been thought to differ from Cartesian skepticism: that is, from the sort of skepticism Descartes describes in (among other places) Meditation 1. For example, it has been argued that Pyrrhonian skepticism disavows belief, whereas Cartesian skepticism disavows only knowledge. It has also been argued that Pyrrhonian skepticism is less extensive than Cartesian skepticism is, and that Pyrrhonian but not Cartesian skepticism is a way of life. This chapter argues, however, that Pyrrhonian skepticism is closer to Cartesian skepticism than it is often taken to be, siding with Descartes in his statement that what is new is not the skepticism he describes, but his refutation of it.

1994 Polanyi Award Lecture Concept of active electrons in chemistry

1995 ◽  
Vol 73 (5) ◽  
pp. 619-628 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sigeru Huzinaga
Keyword(s):  
Solid State ◽  
Relativistic Effects ◽  
Potential Method ◽  
Model Potential ◽  
Computational Method ◽  
Computational Accuracy ◽  
The Core ◽  
Way Of Thinking

The notion of division between active and dormant electrons has been well received and widely used in the chemists' way of thinking. The core–valence separation in atoms is the best-known example. This paper describes a theoretical and computational method called the model potential method, which deals only with active electrons in molecular and solid state calculations. The method is capable of reaching computational accuracy of testing the validity of the separation of active and dormant electrons in individual cases. Keywords: separability of electrons, model potential method, valence orbitals, relativistic effects.

The Core of Dewey's Way of Thinking

1960 ◽  
Vol 57 (13) ◽  
pp. 401-419 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edwin A. Burtt ◽  
Keyword(s):  
The Core ◽  
Way Of Thinking

scholarly journals Faith and Reason

2017 ◽  
Vol 81 ◽  
pp. 101-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Duncan Pritchard
Keyword(s):  
Religious Belief ◽  
Rational Belief ◽  
Faith And Reason ◽  
On Certainty ◽  
Rational Evaluation

AbstractA novel account of the rationality of religious belief is offered, called quasi-fideism. According to this proposal, we are neither to think of religious belief as completely immune to rational evaluation nor are we to deny that it involves fundamental commitments which are arational. Moreover, a parity argument is presented to the effect that religious belief is no different from ordinary rational belief in presupposing such fundamental arational commitments. This proposal is shown to be rooted in Wittgenstein's remarks on hinge commitments in On Certainty, remarks which it is claimed were in turn influenced by John Henry Newman's treatment of the rationality of religious belief in An Essay in Aid of a Grammar of Assent.

scholarly journals Dobradiças, Vertigem Epistémica e Moralidade

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (53) ◽  
pp. 125-140
Author(s):  
Nuno Venturinha ◽  
Keyword(s):  
On Certainty ◽  
The Third ◽  
Inexact Knowledge ◽  
Hinge Epistemology ◽  
Hinge Propositions ◽  
Rational Evaluation

This paper explores central themes of Duncan Pritchard’s epistemology intimately related to the Wittgensteinian idea of a “hinge epistemology”. The first section calls attention to the eminently empirical character of our “hinges”. The second section focuses on Pritchard’s notion of “arational hinge commitments”, more specifically his distinction between the pair “über hinge commitments”/“über hinge propositions” and the pair “personal hinge commitments”/“personal hinge propositions”. The third section brings to the discussion Timothy Williamson’s view of “inexact knowledge” and examines another pair of notions introduced by Pritchard, namely “antiskeptical hinge commitments”/“antiskeptical hinge propositions”. I conclude with a reevaluation of the diagnosis made by Pritchard that, confronted with a sceptical scenario, our “epistemic angst” can be surpassed if we follow Wittgenstein’s teaching in On Certainty about the “structure of rational evaluation”, but that an “epistemic vertigo” can never be ultimately dispelled. My argument is that in a moral scenario there is no room for vertigo.

scholarly journals A Utopian Way of Thinking about Work: Tracing William Morris’ Ideas on the Concept of Work

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-167
Author(s):  
Selcan Peksan
Keyword(s):  
Alternative Model ◽  
Work Organization ◽  
William Morris ◽  
The Core ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
Social Theories ◽  
The Future ◽  
Way Of Thinking ◽  
The Ideal

Social theories present a wide range of criticism regarding the modern organization of work, yet little on the nature of humans and what an ideal concept of work would be. Favoring a utopian way of thinking about work, this paper inspects William Morris’ understanding of work and the basic dynamics of work organization in his vision of the society of the future. This article has chosen to perform an in-depth analysis of his utopian novel News from Nowhere due to the transformation of work laying at the core of the book. By tracing the key patterns of work in Morris’ future utopia which he called Nowhere, this paper proposes the concept of work that articulated in Morris’thought as a means of gaining an alternative model regarding the recent debates about the future of work. In particular, the paper scans Morris’ arguments on labor to demonstrate how Morris’ view presents an inspiring approach for our era. This hopefully opens up the prospect of thinking about the ideal work of the future one wants to achieve.

Adam Smith and the Buddha

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald Wintrobe
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Adam Smith ◽  
Zen Buddhism ◽  
The Core ◽  
Human Happiness ◽  
The Social ◽  
Way Of Thinking ◽  
Economic Thinking ◽  
The Buddha ◽  
Simple Economic

Economics is a powerful way of thinking. While there may occasionally be major errors in its application, at its core the principles of economics remain the strongest paradigm in the social sciences. Buddhism is also a powerful way of thinking. The central question in Buddhist philosophy is the same as that in economics: what is the key to human happiness? How can human suffering be reduced? But the answer to this question in the Buddhist way of thinking is exactly the opposite of that given by economics. Can Adam Smith learn from the Buddha? Can Buddhism learn from economics? This essay explores these topics. I first present an interpretation of what I take to be the core of Buddhist thinking in economic terms, and then show how that could be incorporated into economic thinking, and how economics would change as a result. I then try to do the reverse, and show how the economic way of thinking can clarify Buddhist thinking. I apply simple economic theory to develop a model of rational Zen Buddhism.

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