Certainty The following article provides an overview of the philosophical debate surrounding certainty. It does so in light of distinctions that can be drawn between objective, psychologisch, and epistemic certainty. Certainty consists of a valuable cognitive standing, which is often seen as an ideal. It is indeed natural to evaluate lesser cognitive standings, in particular beliefs and opinions, in light of one’s intuitions regarding what

Supervenienz und Determination Der Begriff „Supervenienz“ gewann im 20. Jahrhundert an Bedeutung, als man vermutete, dass moralische Eigenschaften auf natürlichen Eigenschaften beruhen und dass unsere geistigen Eigenschaften auf unseren physischen Eigenschaften wie den Eigenschaften unseres Nervensystems beruhen. Der Begriff kann wie folgt definiert werden. Für zwei Sätze von Eigenschaften, Ein (die superveniente Menge) und B (die Subvenienzmenge oder Supervenienzbasis),

Thales of Miletus (c. 620 B.C.E.—c. 546 B.C.E.) The ancient Greek philosopher Thales was born in Miletus in Greek Ionia. Aristoteles, the major source for Thales’s philosophy and science, identified Thales as the first person to investigate the basic principles, the question of the originating substances of matter and, deshalb, as the founder of the school of natural philosophy. Thales was interested in almost everything,

Cheng Yi (1033—1107) Cheng Yi was one of the leading philosophers of Neo-Confucianism in the Song (Sung dynasty (960-1279). Together with his elder brother Cheng Hao (1032-1085), he strove to restore the tradition of Confucius and Mencius in the name of “the study of dao” (dao xue), which eventually became the main thread of Neo-Confucianism. Despite diverse disagreements between them, the two brothers are usually

Epistemische Rechtfertigung Wir glauben oft, was uns unsere Eltern sagen, Freunde, Ärzte, und Nachrichtenreporter. Wir glauben oft, was wir sehen, schmecken, und riechen. Wir haben Überzeugungen über die Vergangenheit, die Gegenwart, und die Zukunft. Haben wir das Recht, irgendeinen dieser Glaubenssätze zu vertreten?? Sind welche durch Beweise gestützt?? Sollen wir sie weiterhin behalten?, oder sollten wir einige wegwerfen?? Diese

Game Theory This article sketches the basic concepts of the theory of games in order to discuss some of their philosophical implications and problems. Consider the following situation: when two hunters set out to hunt a stag and lose track of each other in the process, each hunter has to make a decision. Either she continues according to plan, hoping that her partner does likewise