Boredom: A History of Western Philosophical Perspectives The essayist Joseph Epstein has remarked, “Boredom is after all part of consciousness, and about consciousness the neurologists still have much less to tell us than do the poets and the philosophers.” Although not a major topic for Western philosophers, some important Western philosophers have spoken of it, and regarded it as a major philosophical theme of human

David Hume: Imagination David Hume (1711–1776) approaches questions in epistemology, metafisica, ethics and aesthetics via questions about our minds. Per esempio, before addressing the epistemological question of whether we have any justification for our beliefs about unobserved states of affairs, Hume asks which of our cognitive faculties is responsible for these beliefs. Before addressing the metaphysical question, What is causal necessity (or necessary connexion)? , Lui

La Sablière, Marguerite Hessein de (1640—1693) Madame de la Sablière made distinctive contributions to moral and religious philosophy in 17th century France. Her ethical theory implies that the natural moral virtues are disguised vices and that only the theological virtues can sustain an authentic moral life. Her moral rigorism appears in the severity with which she treats questions of moral agency and responsibility. In her

Omniscience and Divine Foreknowledge Omniscience is an attribute having to do with knowledge; it is the attribute of “having knowledge of everything.” Many philosophers consider omniscience to be an attribute possessed only by a divine being, such as the God of Western monotheism. Tuttavia, the Eastern followers of Jainism allow omniscience to be an attribute of some human beings. But what exactly is it to

L’applicabilità della matematica L’applicabilità della matematica può trovarsi ovunque in uno spettro che va da quello completamente banale a quello assolutamente misterioso.. A un estremo, la matematica viene utilizzata al di fuori della matematica in casi che vanno dai calcoli quotidiani come il tentativo di far quadrare il proprio libretto degli assegni fino alla più impegnativa modellazione astratta di particelle subatomiche. A questi le tecniche alla base di queste applicazioni sono perfettamente chiare