philosophy

Unchanging Thruths
If moral truths can be changed God could change
moral truths sothings could be good
Voluntarismo God says so
Everyone thought that the sun revolved
around the Earth
1 It was truth for them
Truth is the standard by which the change is
evaluated
Slavery is
great
o
They were allwrong
Slavery is evil
o
We have discovered the truth
DO all truths have truthmakers
Morality Mathematics
Unchanging Principles
Pinker Life gives os games that are not
zero sum Cooperation work's a cooperative strategies
are hardwired
Winner gains loser loses Win win scenario

March 14,2023
Does the scientific study of humannature
Evolutionary Psychology Neuroscience
PsychologyToday
Whatmakes a study scientific
A science anorganizedbody of knowledge
 Teamwork is
possible
Method enablesteamwork
Empiricism
Empiricalapproach Observe
Empirical question Canonlybeansweredby observation
Empiricism All scientific knowledge is empirical
Empirical medicine This is tried and tested
Rationalism medicine Thiswill workbecause theory
Non observational knowledge

insight
intuition
a priorknowledge
Amnamesis
Recollection
Tomeasure change you need something unchanching
Recollection 7 Deals with unchangingthruts

Contingent objectschange
our senses react
There is an eternal worldof unchanging truths
can science replace philosophy
Canscience now gire a definite answer to a longstanding philosophic

controversy
Eg Rationalism usEmpiricism
Rationalism

Some knowledge is empirical

Some knowledge is basedon

anamnesis recolection
insight
 g
intuition

a priori
INNATE
Educo
I ledfrom
I draw out
Empiricism
Onlyobservationscanproduceknowledge
Allknowledge isjustified byobservation
To know ifthisisTrue wewouldhaveto the process of acquiring Knowle

thewholeprocess
Old model Blankstate TabulaRasal
Babyhaszero knowledge
learnonlyfrom observation
Weteachbabies
Intuition Isn't that magic
Anamnesis
Unscientific
Intuition Iknow but I don t know now l know
Intuitive I can do it without having toexplain
Wecertainty have empiricism
Recolection as
metaphor
image acts as a stimulus
Sound can do theSame
When we teach
Odobabies respond in a waythat goesbeyond thestimulus
Howfast dobabieslearn
Hypothesis There is no innateknowledge canitself be testedempirically
 NoamChomsky Linguistic Cognitive
BlankState TabulaRasa
Pre evolutionary scientific idea
Tuesday21March2023
Meno Knowledge Luckyguess
bothare TRUE
knowledge

tieddown
justification
oWe can be relativists about justified belief Withoutbeing
relativistabouttruth knowledge
Whatisevidence forC a claim
IfCthen e islikely
causesel

Ifnot Cthene is unlikely

because what causes e butC

Causal chain links to

IfC then I expect e
o

off not C thenl expect not e

0Contingentobjects Spatio temporalparticular

whatcomes mustgo
If It 2 4 howwould thingslook
this is a necessary truth
we cannot make sense of alternative we cannotmakesense of
itschanging
observation of causalprocess seem to fit as justification
Platonic Objects
Moraltruth can change
 look at the evidence
Necessarytruths are not knownby looking at evidence
Mustbe ajustificationbut it is a different kin of justification
amor many posibilitiesthis is actual

A science has a scientific method

THEScientificmethod
Hondoweknow wearebeingscientificnotpseudoscientific

ThomasKuhn
PhilosophyofScience
HistoryandPhilosophy of science
PtolemyGeocentric

EpycyclesWheels wheels

jpg
in Planexchangesdirection
Eguantes offCentreWheels 0Planetchangesvelocity
jjj Familiar
Conservative

Consistentwithothertheories o ballisticterrestrialmechanics
CopernicusHeliocentric

Noequants

sunt
TychoBrahe
Geo Heliocentrictheory
Bothered
bynoobservablestellar parallax
Sun

Earth
Science
Scienceinvolvesvalue
judgment

NOTKuhn'sidea
judgments offacejudgmentsof value
Thereare

Twodifferentthings
SUBJECTIVE
BUTVALUE JUDGEMENTS ARE
currenttheoriesterrestrialmechanics
Ptolemy Geocentric Consistentwith
CONSERVATIVE

Problemcan'tbeinstrumentCimakethem
TychoBrahe 7Geoheliocentric
Bestbits of boththeories
Kepler Planetsorbitin anellipsenotacircle
Velocityofplanetisnotconstant angular
momentum is
need betterinstruments
Copernicus 7Heliocentric Lessaccuratepredictions
SIMPLER
more convinient to use
simplicity is asignoftruth
When weseehowlafewbasic ideasexplainsomuch
complexity itisbeautiful

Evolution
Theorymayhave
accurate predictions
simplicity
consistencywith othertheories

Valvessuggestbutdon'tforce ajudgement
Problems incommensurability

Cannotbemeasure ononescale

FredAstaire Rythmcomplex
Cannot whichis better thatDanang issubjective
vs say
Gene Kelly Physicalstrenght
Profe or Murphy Cansaywhichis better7AhaDancingisobjective
 Objective factsabout Dancing
Sense of rythm is important
Strength is good
Flexibility is good
G is strongerthan F
F has better rythmthan a
Rythm G is 95 as good as Fred
Strength Fis 801 as good as G
Therefor is better

Kuhn's enemies say that according to Kuhn science is

subjective and therefor irrational
Kuhn science is rational and objective but it is not basedon
algororithm
Stepbystep process each step defined by
Strick set of rules
3 7 79 6
scientist makevalue judgements
Kuhnis WRONGto
say science involves judgements It is an
algorithm
Kuhnis RIGHTthat science involves valuejudgments 7science
isIRRATIONAL
Value judgments are objective after all
C S Lewis are objective
Study of values 1 Axiology
Aesthetic values
ignity
Moral values
Y
 Elegance
Epistemic value
Phronesis Wisdom Chooses between instincts
Kuhn Different people reach different conclusions when we weig
upvalues that are inconmensurable
To find truths pursue beauty
Roger Penrose
Nobel Prize
Mathematical Physics
Teoretical Physics
Simplicity
Economy This are forms of elegance
Onerythm 7 Play with tempo
Whole dance based on one idea
Efficientmovement

mcallister vs Kuhn
McAllister believes thatKuhn thinks scientists subjective capricious
duringthe scientific revolution
Kuhn thinksthataesthetic criteria help revolutionaries but aesthetic
criteria are conservative because unfamiliar ideas are Ugly
Copernicus was
not a revolutionary he favoured circle constan
velocity FamiliarIdeas
What is a paradigm shift
Twokinds of science
Kuhn Normal Science Justfollowthemethod
Paradigm
Is takenforgranted
Revolutionary Science
 Planet Wandersthrough thenightsky
Earth is a planet revolves aroundthe sun
Stravinsky Rite of Spring
Music patterns
Randomsounds Noise
Innovation seems useless
youunderstand the patterns

EDWARD O WILSON
Evolutionary Psychology
Sociobiology HumanNature
Expert in ants
Biologicalprogramming enables teamwork
Same is true for humans
Pre Wilson Don't anthropomorphic animals
Post WilsonThinkabout humans 300 morphically
Pre Wilson
Biology fixed unchangeable
Cultural Nonbiological Whatever we choose
Thesocialpractice is not based on biology it iscultural
CultureBiology freezone
purely intellectual spiritual
Nature vs Nurture CulturalStudies
Nurture is natural
Post Wilson HumanBiology make culture possible and
places limits on culture
SOCIO B IO LO G Y
Biology of Ethics
Identityconstrains that influence ethical philosophers and
everyoneelse
Evolutionary Psychology
Pinker
Themoral instinct
Figure out howto generate new forms of morality
Learn to reprogram human nature
RELIGION Wilson

Mostpowerful force in human mind

How did he measure this
Hyperbole Rethoric aboutscience
Inerradicable
Doesn'teasily decline
Is more importantthanever
Sciencewon't abolish religion but it canexplain it
We will abolish theology
Theology is thestudy of GOD 1 Religious study of a religion
Religious studies
Nonreligious study of religion
DavidHume TheNaturalHistory of Religion
Explain phychological reason for Religions
Religions withoutthe supernatural
Naturalism
mar k vs w il so n

Scientificstudyof human nature

There is nothingto
study
Take a human beingstripaway culturethere is nothing left
Humans always have a Culture
Human without nurture culture doesn't exist
Terry Foxton :
in the world of
our ancestors

our emotions fit the environment

but now exiles in
we are
,
,
a world that dose n
't
feel like
ours .

illusions in
throughMore
Learning to thruths see a e* .

way
of seeing clearly •

there Moral I know deceive me this time

becausemy I
eyes
are •

illusions ≠ Morality illusion trust

My eyes
is an

target doubt is useful life gives us

plenty of Non
Universal doubt
•

is Not Zero-sum
.

games .

Cooperation benefits
-

<

both We both end with

can
up more

•
Rules about cooperation
still function
*

Cooperation works
Enduring rule
-

Wilson
Lewis V .
Pinker

enables
psycology
Evolutionary thought
us moral
if all
you
debunk
do illusions
Moral
is
people _

you
can
grasp[ Moral
clearly
,
loose all truths more
Mayvalue sense

of ?)
coguitivism
 The trolley car
problem
Elizabeth Anscombe (Married to Peter Creach )

evil ;
carpet bombing of cities is never do this .

Why differences are

" "
intention difference does Push the Fatman
the is moral •
Why
evil .
Seem more
complicated than
ten towards
away from
steer

•
Unintentional
killings no evil one ?

Pinker :
through physical contact
Philippa Foot Makes
calculative
us emotional
more
,
less

kill ten people which is

or
better?
One
person
.

Judith Jarvis Thompson

Push the
fat man ?
Jeremy Bentham
•

Bernard vs FTC .
Utilitarian :Just calculate
Williams smart

!
of justice and order
Representative
-

Sherif

[ •
integrityT
the rioters are co
Without

/pralle Not the

integrity
sherif
,
fall apart