PHL 202 Lecture Notes

I. Important things from Berkeley:
(1)He questions the assumed relationship between empiricism and materialism.
(2)He asks us to analyze how we know there is a material world and what "matter" means.

II. Berkeley's view on cause and effect:
-He believes in cause and effect, but only in personal causes(agency-when a person acts).

III. Important definitions from Berkeley's view point:
(1). Idealism-everything is mental or spiritual.
(2). Phenomealism- Nouns in ordinary language are short-hand descriptions of collections of qualities. Example: Rose-means red things with petals,stem,and thorns which grows in the ground.

IV. Misc. topics:
-Scientific laws are described observed regularities.
-Berkeley = no underlying essence or nature which makes scientific laws hold, the regularity comes from God. Example: F=MA
-The Concept of "regularity" from Locke, Berkeley, and Hume are as follows: Locke = is a material world, Berkeley = Its God, and Hume = ?>The association of ideas.
-Modern Phenomealism = "Objects/things are permanent possibilities of a sensation.
-Modern Physics is highly mathematical and theoretical. Are they Rationalists?

V. The Gettier Problem:

-For the tripartite analysis of knowledge-knowledge is a true justified belief. In other words, to know "P", you must (1)Believe "P", (2) "P"must be true, and (3) "P" must be justified in believing "P." Examples which show True, justified belief which is not knowledge: (1) A false justified belief which logically implies a true justified belief. (2) Prof. Borrowdale owns a Porche (suppose this is justified, but false). This entails the belief that someone in PHL 202 owns a Porche (suppose this is true and justified, and someone other than Prof. Borrowdale in the class owns a Porche). This intuitively is not knowledge.
-Replies to the Gettier Problems: (1) Your not justified if justification is based on a false belief. (2) Knowledge can't be caused by a false belief.