The Conceptual Structure of Reality

The Conceptual Structure of Reality PDF Author: Gal Yehezkel
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319071858
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 143

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book describes a novel conception of reality, one that uniquely incorporates an idealistic view of existence with an account of objectivity. It introduces a general model of conceptual analysis and demonstrates its effectiveness in exposing and establishing the existence of conceptual ties. The book begins by introducing the tools and principles needed for the conceptual analysis undertaken in chapters that follow. Next, it presents a detailed examination into existence, contingency, idealism, self-consciousness and natural laws. In the process, the author critically examines the conceptions of existence held by Kant, Frege and Russell; argues that the determinations of past, present and future are subjective in the sense that they imply the existence of consciousness in relation to which they are fixed; shows that every possible reality includes sufficient conditions for self-consciousness; and confronts the question of the "uniformity of nature," which states that reality is subject to natural laws. In the end, the idealistic conception of reality developed in this book implies that existence is relative, rather than absolute, in the sense that it is determined in relation to a point of view internal to reality. This view of existence implies that reality necessarily exists.

The Conceptual Structure of Reality

The Conceptual Structure of Reality PDF Author: Gal Yehezkel
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319071858
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 143

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book describes a novel conception of reality, one that uniquely incorporates an idealistic view of existence with an account of objectivity. It introduces a general model of conceptual analysis and demonstrates its effectiveness in exposing and establishing the existence of conceptual ties. The book begins by introducing the tools and principles needed for the conceptual analysis undertaken in chapters that follow. Next, it presents a detailed examination into existence, contingency, idealism, self-consciousness and natural laws. In the process, the author critically examines the conceptions of existence held by Kant, Frege and Russell; argues that the determinations of past, present and future are subjective in the sense that they imply the existence of consciousness in relation to which they are fixed; shows that every possible reality includes sufficient conditions for self-consciousness; and confronts the question of the "uniformity of nature," which states that reality is subject to natural laws. In the end, the idealistic conception of reality developed in this book implies that existence is relative, rather than absolute, in the sense that it is determined in relation to a point of view internal to reality. This view of existence implies that reality necessarily exists.

Writing the Book of the World

Writing the Book of the World PDF Author: Theodore Sider
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0199697906
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 333

Get Book Here

Book Description
Theodore Sider presents a broad new vision of metaphysics centred on the idea of structure. To describe the world well we must use concepts that 'carve at the joints', so that conceptual structure matches reality's structure. This approach illuminates a wide range of topics, such as time, modality, ontology, and the status of metaphysics itself.

Theory and Reality

Theory and Reality PDF Author: Peter Godfrey-Smith
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022677113X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 412

Get Book Here

Book Description
How does science work? Does it tell us what the world is “really” like? What makes it different from other ways of understanding the universe? In Theory and Reality, Peter Godfrey-Smith addresses these questions by taking the reader on a grand tour of more than a hundred years of debate about science. The result is a completely accessible introduction to the main themes of the philosophy of science. Examples and asides engage the beginning student, a glossary of terms explains key concepts, and suggestions for further reading are included at the end of each chapter. Like no other text in this field, Theory and Reality combines a survey of recent history of the philosophy of science with current key debates that any beginning scholar or critical reader can follow. The second edition is thoroughly updated and expanded by the author with a new chapter on truth, simplicity, and models in science.

Conceptual Spaces

Conceptual Spaces PDF Author: Peter Gardenfors
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 9780262572194
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 324

Get Book Here

Book Description
Within cognitive science, two approaches currently dominate the problem of modeling representations. The symbolic approach views cognition as computation involving symbolic manipulation. Connectionism, a special case of associationism, models associations using artificial neuron networks. Peter Gärdenfors offers his theory of conceptual representations as a bridge between the symbolic and connectionist approaches. Symbolic representation is particularly weak at modeling concept learning, which is paramount for understanding many cognitive phenomena. Concept learning is closely tied to the notion of similarity, which is also poorly served by the symbolic approach. Gärdenfors's theory of conceptual spaces presents a framework for representing information on the conceptual level. A conceptual space is built up from geometrical structures based on a number of quality dimensions. The main applications of the theory are on the constructive side of cognitive science: as a constructive model the theory can be applied to the development of artificial systems capable of solving cognitive tasks. Gärdenfors also shows how conceptual spaces can serve as an explanatory framework for a number of empirical theories, in particular those concerning concept formation, induction, and semantics. His aim is to present a coherent research program that can be used as a basis for more detailed investigations.

The Social Construction of Reality

The Social Construction of Reality PDF Author: Peter L. Berger
Publisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 1453215468
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 313

Get Book Here

Book Description
A watershed event in the field of sociology, this text introduced “a major breakthrough in the sociology of knowledge and sociological theory generally” (George Simpson, American Sociological Review). In this seminal book, Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann examine how knowledge forms and how it is preserved and altered within a society. Unlike earlier theorists and philosophers, Berger and Luckmann go beyond intellectual history and focus on commonsense, everyday knowledge—the proverbs, morals, values, and beliefs shared among ordinary people. When first published in 1966, this systematic, theoretical treatise introduced the term social construction,effectively creating a new thought and transforming Western philosophy.

Structure and Being

Structure and Being PDF Author: Lorenz B. Puntel
Publisher: Penn State Press
ISBN: 0271048263
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 546

Get Book Here

Book Description


The Conceptual Foundation of Morality

The Conceptual Foundation of Morality PDF Author: Gal Yehezkel
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030805832
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 162

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book offers a solution to the ancient philosophical problem regarding the nature and the justification of morality. The importance of this subject matter is obvious, not merely as an abstract philosophical problem, but perhaps even more as a practical challenge, regarding the way we ought to live our lives: the values that ought to direct us, and the ends that we ought to pursue. In the course of this inquiry, a wide array of philosophical topics is explored: the nature of intentional action, and the role played by reason and desires in agency; the question of the final end of agency – better known in ancient terminology as the question of the purpose of life, and in modern terms as the question of the meaning of life; the nature of moral obligations and their rational justification; the challenge posed by determinism for the freedom of the will, with its implications on fatalism and moral responsibility; and normative questions regarding the value of life. This book is of interest not only to professional philosophers, but also to any intellectual who is concerned with questions about morality, our nature as agents, and the end that we ought to pursue.

Constructing the World

Constructing the World PDF Author: David J. Chalmers
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199608571
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 521

Get Book Here

Book Description
David J. Chalmers constructs a highly ambitious and original picture of the world, from a few basic elements. He returns to Rudolf Carnap's attempt to do the same, and adopts the idea of scrutability—according to which reasoning from a limited class of basic truths yields all truths about the world—to address central themes in philosophy.

The Nature of Reality

The Nature of Reality PDF Author: Steven E. Kaufman
Publisher: Balboa Press
ISBN:
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 523

Get Book Here

Book Description
What is The Nature of Reality? Contrary to what almost all human beings presently believe, we do not live in a physical Universe because, as The Nature of Reality explains, physical reality is just an appearance that is being created by our minds and then superimposed by projection upon the non-physical reality that is both actually there and what we really are. The problem that arises as a result of believing physical reality to be the reality that is actually there is that that mistaken belief causes physical reality to function like a misperceived reflection to continuously obscure one’s own reality from their awareness, thereby effectively trapping one’s awareness in what is nothing more than a mind-generated experiential dream that is neither the reality that is actually there nor the reality that one really is. The Nature of Reality was written to provide you with the opportunity to free yourself from that experiential dream and from the suffering being trapped in that dream produces by using fundamental scientific facts to demonstrate that physical reality is not the reality that is actually there where it appears to be so you can rid your mind of the false belief in physical reality that it is inadvertently using to convert physical reality into a delusion that continuously hides from your awareness the non-physical reality you really are. Whether you know it or not, your awareness is presently trapping itself in a mind-generated experiential dream as a function of what is nothing more than a mistaken belief. The question is: Are you ready to loosen your grip on that belief so you can begin to wake up and become aware of the reality you really are?

Conceptual Structures: Knowledge Architectures for Smart Applications

Conceptual Structures: Knowledge Architectures for Smart Applications PDF Author: Uta Priss
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3540736816
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 525

Get Book Here

Book Description
Researchers and professionals in the relevant fields will find this book a must-read, as it defines the leading edge of current research into conceptual structures. It constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Conceptual Structures, held in Sheffield, UK in July 2007. With almost 50 papers contained in its 500 pages, it includes a special focus on the application of conceptual structures in business and technological settings and is organized into topical sections for ease of reference.