Today we will be tackling two philosophers who engaged in skeptical thinking about our knowledge but did so in a very different way. Rene Descartes is regarded as one of the greatest philosophers ever. His work was influential not only in philosophy but also in mathematics, astronomy, and other branches of science as well. David Hume is regarded as one of the greatest philosophers of the English language. Hume is one of the British Empiricists in spite of the fact that he lived his entire life in Edinburgh, Scotland. British Empiricism focused on knowledge gained through the senses and claimed that sense data was more certain than knowledge simply derived from mental principles.
For this assignment, you will have to do the following with your group:
1.Read Descartes in our class book (European Philosophers, pg. 28-32; 32-40)
2. Read Hume here (read section 4 and section 5)
3. Discuss these readings with your group:
-summarize Descartes' Position
-summarize Hume's Position
-evaluate whether Hume or Descartes are more correct about knowledge.
4. Write a three paragraph response as a group.
5. Turn in your paragraphs to JB or Madeleine.
For this assignment, you will have to do the following with your group:
1.Read Descartes in our class book (European Philosophers, pg. 28-32; 32-40)
2. Read Hume here (read section 4 and section 5)
3. Discuss these readings with your group:
-summarize Descartes' Position
-summarize Hume's Position
-evaluate whether Hume or Descartes are more correct about knowledge.
4. Write a three paragraph response as a group.
5. Turn in your paragraphs to JB or Madeleine.