The Motivations behind the Birth of Modern Philosophy - Assignment Example

(1500 words The motivations behind the birth of modern philosophy The current world does not in any way portray a clear picture of the way it was some few years ago. It started from somewhere before coming to this point, in terms of sociology, technology, and even philosophy. The advancement of the above was perpetuated by certain scholars of that time. For instance, Hobbes and Bacon contributed a lot in the field of philosophy. Using their knowledge, they managed to pull off a momentous “reconstruction of all knowledge,” and that is why up to this moment, people can comfortably enjoy the presence of “refined” philosophy. Motivation to current philosophy Basing our argument on philosophy, it can be noted that the previous philosophy or rather the ancient philosophy do not give out the same picture as it used to be some years ago. As the way of life changes, so are things like philosophy and sociology just to mention but a few. However, before a change can fully be implemented, there must be a motivation. The same applies to the modern philosophy. Before attaining its current state, there was a motivational appeal, which our ancestors anchored on to foster the attainment of their desires. First, our ancestors had a sense of recognition in that they recognized the existence of a new path that had departed from the medieval scholasticism. From that point, they started to refer to their own philosophizing style as “modern.” Notably, the recognition of medieval scholasticism departed path designating the modern philosophy. Secondly, the early philosophers acknowledged the Greek philosophical schools, after which they breathed life back to them. The philosophers believed that the schools contained the middle age’s lost vitality, which they knew would help them drive to the modern philosophy. In short, education was a pertinent motivator to the modern philosophy. In other words, education laid a foundation to proper thinking, and so it motivated the philosophy to their destiny. Thirdly, freedom formed another motivator to the current philosophy. Through freedom, the early philosophers got the chance and time to move freely out of the oppression of the Catholic Church. In doing so, they stood on a good position of defending themselves from the trouble they experienced with the religious and legal authorities. It is noteworthy that most innovative philosophers always experienced impeachment as heresy. However, freedom made them overcome these accusations. Lastly, scientific achievements in fields such as biology, engineering, chemistry, and astronomy staged the early philosophers on a good platform of being enlightened. Therefore, their writing style was shaped in the scientific treatises (Brand and Lino 210). 2) The themes and concerns that dominated Renaissance and early modern thinking Themes and dominance will always form a highway to success. This is the principle, which the early philosophers used, to track their way to the modern philosophy. The first one was humanism. This was also known as humanities, and the main emphasis was put on secular education using both the Latin and Greek and not the medieval sources. The most known impact that humanism had upon philosophy, was a reviver of the Greek philosophical schools. Humanism constituted education in poetry, moral philosophy and rhetoric just to mention but a few. This theme, enlightened people on the issue of educational, and that they could easily solve issues through the knowledge they got from schools. The reformation This theme also played a vital role in directing the path to modern philosophy during the resurgence period. The reformation revealed the philosophers o the need of rebelling or rejecting religious enforcement, mostly the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church that time, was the only religion known to be in charge of all societies over the whole Europe. The reason for rejection was centered on the bad behaviors that the corrupt popes led by that time (Brand and Lino 129). Faith and skepticism Prior to resurrection of the Greek philosophy schools, many also submerged into the ancient Skepticism schools. It is through these schools that dozens of new editions were made available to people. The only negative platform that skepticism had was that it instilled the uncertainty on people regarding God’s existence. Existentialism was also another pertinent concern that dominated renaissance in modern early thinking. Here, this was considered to not only as cultural movement, but also as philosophical movement, which stipulated that the initial point of thinking in a philosophical manner must involve an individual as well as the real experiences of the individual. Further, existentialism ascertained that scientific and moral thinking put together do not suffice to understanding the existence of human in any way. However, a further set of classes, all governed by the custom of authenticity, also participated in the understanding of the existence of human. 3) The new ontological and epistemological views that thinkers like Galileo, Bacon, Hobbes, and Descartes held According to Descartes, he argues that many if not all predominant pedagogic metaphysical principles were either false or meaningless. Therefore, he saw it better to begin philosophy from scratch. With the use of all possible disciplines, Mathematics being part of them, he expressed the perfect confidence in human reason in achieving knowledge. Hobbes and Bacon seconded the same. Bacon is also known to take more skeptics on the subject unlike the other thinkers. He viewed human nature and physical world in a more materialistic way. Question two 1) identify and explain the philosophical moves that Descartes makes in the first meditation Being one of the earliest thinkers, it is true to note that with his mathematical concept, Descartes tried to apply it in solving the fundamental problem of knowledge. The fundamental problem was to gain knowledge in a more absolute way. His plan was to find primarily at least a truth that was universal, objective, and significant as well as inductive. That is why, in his first meditation, he asserts that all people possess sense. The sense is what gives them the ability to distinguish fiction from the truth. Therefore, he says people are sometimes obstructed; however, the obstruction does not imply that the obstructed lacks ability but it implies that they have failed to keep track of the correct path of though. He further emphasizes the fact that the use of methods will always elevate the mind, which is averagely, above the rest. He proves this by confirming that he is also among the thinkers, who have been elevated by the use of method. In other words, he puts emphasizes on the fact that, he is among those people who got educational benefit; however, he further acknowledges the fact that book learning clouded his mind. After learning the great book of the world, he concludes that everyone has a natural light, that only education is it is obscurer. After which he concludes that, this proves the benefit of studying oneself, since it is more the same as studying the world. In short, in his first meditational step, Descartes confirms that studying or learning paves way for one to think wisely. 2). identify and explain the meaning of the “first principle,” or foundation, that he finds in the second meditation On the second meditation, he also passes across an emphasis on the first meditation. Here, he points out that an idea that an individual’s works is more superior than that conceived by a committee. According to him, this is so because an individual’s work will always follows his plan, with all rudiments directed towards the same goal or achievement. He proves this idea by demonstrating that he learned sciences while he was young. In addition, the science he learnt made him flourish because, it came form many different men in various eras. By keeping in mind what he had learnt from algebra, geometry as well as logic he managed to set down the following rules; to prove things by him, before believing. Secondly, he thinks it is better to simplify every problem to its simplest form. Third, he also thought that it could be better to maintain order. In his doings, he thought it best to be orderly, and start from the simplest step, before going to a more complex one. Fourth, he also stipulates that it is better to be always creating a longer chain of reasoning without leaving anything out when solving a problem. By the use of these methods, he confirms that he did find every problem ahead of him to be easier than the previous approaches where he found problems to be harder and confusing (Copenhaver and Schmitt 200). Due to some fear that his misconceptions might get in the path of pure reasoning, he alternatively decided to eliminate all his opinions, which he thought to be ineffective. In its place, he decides to use his new method exclusively. Linking the second meditation to the first, it is true to note that they have a correlation. First, the two meditations emphasize the need of knowledge or rather education on a given thing. Secondly, the two meditation seconds the idea of being self oriented when it comes to the degree of adherence and evaluation. It is through education that a person can think properly. Education will, always develop a sense of self-evaluation and understanding. That is why, in the above two mediation, put more emphasis on education or rather educational knowledge (Copenhaver and Schmitt 172). In conclusion, all the ancient philosophy propelled by the modern philosophers has paved way to the modern philosophy. It is true as per the passage that the great motivator of the modern philosophy is dependant on the educational foundation that the Greek and Latin schools laid. The early thinkers had taken advantage of the motivators such as reformation, humanism, faith, and skepticism to follow up the modern philosophy. However strong were the religious leaders and legal authorities, the ancestors managed to fight and have their way of thinking being recognized in the whole society. Works Cited Brand, Peter, and Lino Pertile. The Cambridge History of Italian Literature. Rev. ed. Cambridge, U.K., 2009. Copenhaver, Brian P., and Charles B. Schmitt. Renaissance Philosophy. Oxford and New York, 2008. Excellent one-volume survey. (I was to take one question at a time and solve it. That is what I did. Kindly let the customer explain where I have repeated myself. Thank you) Read More