Abstract
This paper explains that the nature-nurture controversy is the continuing debate over whether the individual's various traits and characteristics are influenced more by inborn factors, or nature, or by cultural influences and other aspects of experience, or nurture. The author points out that, today, scientists view human development as a combination of nature and nurture, while the British philosopher, John Locke, in the 1690s, suggested that the human infant is like a blank slate, or "tabula rasa", on which experience in the form of human learning writes messages on the infant's unformed mind. The paper relates that Sigmund Freud's theory of development states that human development is the product of both internal urges and external conditions, particularly children's sexual and aggressive urges, and how parents handle them.

From the Paper
"Many professions have solicited the assistance of psychologists in trying to predetermine the psyche of potential persons for areas such as employment and placement. The legal profession has sought out psychologists on both sides to prove their theories of the mental abilities, behavior explanations or predictions of behavior of a defendant or plaintiff. "Society has let the pendulum swing wildly back from nurture to nature, leaving behind a number of bewildered social scientist. Yet we still love to phrase everything in terms of one influence or the other, rather than both." In the educational profession, understanding the balance or affect of both nature and nurture is essential to designing an effective plan for each pupil's advancement."

Tags:Piaget, freud, locke, erickson, watson

From the Paper
"In Epistemology: Becoming Intellectually Virtuous W. Jay Wood defines epistemology as "that branch of philosophy dedicated to reflecting on our lives as intellectual beings" (p. 10). In his first chapter he shows how the questions raised by epistemology are of vital importance in everyday life. Epistemological questions cover a great deal of ground including such areas as how beliefs are acquired, whether beliefs are true, whether a belief is rational, or if a belief should be reconsidered in the light of criticism. In fact nearly every question related to acquiring and maintaining beliefs comes under the purview of epistemology--including the sources of knowledge itself ranging from the evidence of the senses to "whatever faculties of understanding we may have that allow us to grasp truths independently of sense experiences" (p. 15)."

Tags:book, report, non-fiction

Abstract
The paper discusses philosopher David Hume's argument that there cannot be any genuine knowledge of the world other than what we are perceiving at that very moment. Hume argues that ideas are present in the mind and while they are produced by reality, they are copies of reality and not reality itself. The paper analyzes Hume's opinion that knowledge is a product of the mind and non-existent in the outer world.

From the Paper
"Hume begins by noting that "all reasoning concerning matter of fact seem to be founded on the relation of cause and effect" (Hume 458). Hume then rejects cause and effect as an explanation for matters of fact. As Hume says, "Let an object be presented to a man of ever so strong natural reason and abilities; he will not be able, by the most accurate examination of its sensible qualities, to discover any of its causes or effects" (Hume 459). Cause and effect then, has its basis in past experience and cannot be arrived at in any other way. Thus, reason is not enough to determine a cause and effect, experience must also be used. Cause and effect then, is not a theory that offers an explanation of how knowledge can exist outside of the mind. Hume argues instead that repeated experience gives us "habit" so that if we see one thing, we automatically associate it with another, and in this way we come to understand things without experiencing them."

Tags:memory, thoughts, ideas, impressions

Abstract
The paper discusses Rene Descartes's three skeptical doubts and the importance of skepticism in his philosophy. The paper explains that the exercise of skepticism is the backbone of Descartes's philosophical approach and is the defining element of his meditations, insofar as they revolve around the identification and examination of three doubts: the doubt in his own existence, the reality of God, and the existence of the outside world. The importance and implications of these doubts are discussed in the paper in the hope of illustrating that, if we want to arrive at certain knowledge and objective truth, we should begin, as Descartes did, by doubting.

From the Paper
"Descartes' third doubt is a natural extension of the first two and particularly interesting insofar as its conclusion is predetermined by the ones arrived at earlier. Quite simply stated, we know that we exist because we are thinking beings and ultimately, conclude that God exists because we have exercised our thinking abilities. However, the outside world is primarily communicated to us as an entity through multiple perceptions and perceptions, in themselves, cannot be accepted as certitudes insofar as they may be misled by the Evil Demon. Nevertheless, the proof for the existence of the external may ultimately emerge from our knowledge of it. Knowledge, insofar as it had earlier been defined by Descartes as indubitable and a product of good God, cannot, therefore be deceiving. Hence, the outside world exists."

Tags:existence, self, god

Abstract
This paper begins by stating the argument Descartes gives for a version of mind/body dualism. It then considers two objections to Descartes' argument and finally assesses the validity of Descartes' argument in light of those objections.

From the Paper
"Much of the intellectual history of psychology as well as philosophy has involved the attempt to come to grips with a dilemma of mind and body. This dilemma was eventually broken into main two opposing views: one view (dualism) proposes that our universe contains two very different and equally fundamental types of entity: mental/spiritual and physical/material items. Most followers of this view hold that human mind (or soul) is to survive the annihilation of the body. The contrasting view, materialism, on the other hand, affirms that everything in our universe is composed of mass-energy, minds and bodies included."

Tags:philosophy, soul, energy

Abstract
The following paper discusses and gives examples of how new ideas and knowledge are offered to public consciousness and that they are in turn either accepted or disregarded and whichever judgment is chosen, makes a statement about where society places its trust, how ready we are to accept change and how radical we will allow any changes to be. This paper distinguishes between different kinds of knowledge: Medical (scientific knowledge), Religious knowledge, Political ideologies and Social Science theories.

From the Paper
"Medical knowledge is an area which appears to be constantly advancing and changing, new ideas are regularly offered to the public consciousness to be either accepted or disregarded and whichever judgment is chosen makes a statement about where society places its trust, how ready we are to accept change, how radical we will allow any changes to be and whose theories and evidence mass society is willing to accept. An example of this is Alternative Medicine, although it is more accepted now than in previous years like, aromatherapy massage which is now actively promoted by mainstream health professionals as a complimentary therapy during pregnancy and treatment of bad backs, we even have a small number of practitioners qualified in alternative therapies, like homeopathy, scientists have even remarked in the age old profession of palmistry being very accurate in the diagnosis of certain illnesses, the setting up of The Royal Society in 1662 emphasized the 'expert knowledge' camaraderie between so-called experts over common sense knowledge. 'Expert knowledge' was historically endorsed and distributed by middle and upper class male establishments like the Royal Society which was founded by Charles II and allowed male members only and women were only allowed to qualify in Medicine in 1876. This male superiority increased authority to this group in society; their medical knowledge trusted and officially endorsed which in turn dismissed female 'common sense' knowledge."

Tags:certainties, knowledge, science, social, sociology, advancing, changing, consciousness, public, opinion, fact, israel, death, sudden, syndrome

Abstract
This paper explores Ludwig Wittgenstein's foundationalist approach to mainstream scepticism. It examines how it appears that one may, at first glance, equate his response with that of Moore (for example); the very person whose position he wishes to dismiss, however, this paper unearths from within Wittgenstein's last major work, "On Certainty', an altogether innovative an ingenious approach to scepticism.

From the Paper
"What therefore are the implications of Wittgenstein's critique of Moore's claim to knowledge? To answer this question it may be worth referring once more to the primary excerpts (151), i.e. "regarding it [e.g. "here is a hand"] as absolutely solid is part of our method of doubt and enquiry". Now, to his credit, Moore recognized the fundamental importance of such assertions, but what he failed to identify were the special roles that these "truisms" play within our whole system of knowledge, or the part they play in our whole "method of doubt and enquiry". Indeed, according to Wittgenstein, fundamental claims such as "my name is C.P." "there is a tree" or "here is a hand", are the "hinges" upon which our arguments turn (655), "if I want the door to turn, the hinges must stay put" (?343)."

Tags:games, knowledge, language, moore

Abstract
This paper examines how the questions raised by Rene Descartes in his "Meditations" of 1641 revolutionised the manner in which people considered various ideas, especially concerning God, the idea of the individual self and its existence, and the existence of material things.

From the Paper
"The existence of matter is a rather perplexing subject to which there are a number of different beliefs and arguments. Descartes, who first breached this topic believed that he had lots of ideas in his head and they were not all created by himself, his sensations were not all his. Descartes believed that they came from God and that God would not deceive him and so therefore matter must exist. This was Descartes proof, and since in his previous meditation where he proves the existence of God, his argument does stand up."

Tags:god, individual, self

Abstract
This paper deals with two system theories that attempt to explain how asymmetrical power relations in respect of economics, politics and society from the global organization of nations and states. It includes a brief history of these system theories, their ontology and epistemology and an analysis of their critiques.

From the Paper
"The idea of a systems approach to political economy originated in the natural sciences; the world is seen as a whole entity and in this respect it is a holistic view, i.e. the properties of a system cannot be determined or explained by the sum of its components alone. This is a departure from previous subjectivist theories that considered the objective sphere an unknown and/or an unknowable concept. "

Tags:determinism, economy, global, historical, materialism, organisation, political

Abstract
This paper concerns the philosophy of the mind and attempts to answer the question of whether dualism provides an acceptable account of the mind. In doing so, the fundamental arguments and problems associated with dualism are discussed and analyzed. This paper assesses the plausibility of a number of different forms of dualism such as Descarte's cartesian dualism, property dualism and epiphenomenalism.

From the Paper
"For centuries, philosophers have debated the ontological problem of the mind. Through introspection, we know that we, and believe others possess a conscious intelligence that has the ability to register emotions, interpret sensations and perform reason. But where do such abilities originate? In what medium do they take place and how is it that our mental phenomena such as desires and beliefs seem to be able to causally act on the physical world? Dualism is just one of many theories that have sought to find answers to such intriguing questions. Unlike materialist theories that optimistically asserts that all mental phenomena can eventually be explained through physics and neurological science, dualists argue that mental phenomena is so far removed from anything physical that it requires the existence of a non-physical entity or property. Since, as yet science is unable to fully explain all mental phenomena such as consciousness, perhaps dualism is a plausible alternative. Is any form of dualism plausible?"

Tags:cartesian, causation, descartes, epiphenomenalism, intelligence, mind, ockham