Metaphysics questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Metaphysics questions - Essay Example Idols of the Tribe concern themselves with all of humanity. They arise from the belief that what humans think and perceive is the ultimate â€Å"measure of things†. The Idols of the Cave are the personal biases and prejudices that cloud how we perceive nature. The Idols of the Market place is the misunderstanding between individuals that arises from the use of words. The Idols of the Theater are the erroneous ideas passed down through the ages that serve as a false scenery in our lives. 3. The wax experiment was necessary for Descartes to establish the duality of man. He had established his existence through the cogito, so the reality of his mind was no longer doubted. In the wax experiment, Descartes discovers that though the sensible qualities of the wax had changed, he still understood that this was wax. This showed an interaction between the mind and body, establishing the reality of the body as well as the mind. 4. Descartes believed that he needed to rid himself of any prior learning in order to reach understanding about what is real. He recognized that his own personal will as driven by his past experiences and sensory experiences needed to be abandoned. He therefore doubts any method of learning that has deceived him in the past even though he personal will is to continue to make sense of the world through his senses. 5. Buridan employed impetus theory as an anticipation of inertia by countering the rules of motion laid down by Aristotle. The three phases described in relation to ballistics, where impetus over-rides gravity, then weakens causing the object to arc and then finally to succumb to gravity is a great step towards understanding inertia in the modern sense. 6. Newton’s Rules of Reasoning are a synthesis of prior understanding. They are not purely empirical, but empiricism does play a role in that he displayed an open skepticism of phenomena that could not be empirically expressed. His genius lies in bringing