The adage “appearances deceive” is as old as Philosophy itself.\u00a0 Since the era of the ancient Greeks, Humankind has sought to understand the world and its place within it by using the tenets of reason.<\/p>\n
The modern age can be characterized by the two major strands of thought that have permeated it.\u00a0 These two schools of thinking are called Rationalism and Empiricism.\u00a0 Since the Renaissance, each of these two ideologies have been represented by four major Philosophers.<\/p>\n
The Empiricist thinkers were:<\/p>\n
The Rationalist thinkers were:<\/p>\n
It is interesting to note that the Empiricist writers were from the British Isles, whereas Rationalism was essentially a continental European movement.\u00a0 Post-Kantian philosophy essentially evolved into a diaspora of sub-specialties.<\/p>\n
A false dichotomy in the Western Philosophical tradition is Materialism versus Idealism.\u00a0 The consummate Materialist was Thomas Hobbes, while Bishop George Berkeley was a strict Idealist.\u00a0 Metaphysical Idealism holds that material objects are illusory.<\/p>\n
When asked what he thought about the theory that material objects don’t exist, the famous skeptic said “I refute it thus” and forcefully kicked a rock with his foot.\u00a0 That was a pretty good disproof of Idealism.\u00a0 How can something that does not exist possess the attributes of rigidity and solidity?<\/p>\n
All of the Philosophers mentioned above lived before the advent of Modern Physics; i.e.. the Theory of Relativity and Quantum Mechanics.\u00a0 Relativity Theory states that: “Time and Space are relative to the Conscious Observer.”\u00a0 If this is true, then the Metaphysical hypothesis of Materialism is no longer tenable.<\/p>\n
Perhaps the problem can be solved by asserting that Material Objects do exist, yet their true nature is very different than how they appear to a Conscious Observer.\u00a0 This idea was theorized by John Locke to be the distinction between Primary Qualities and Secondary Qualities.\u00a0 Immanuel Kant likewise differentiated between the Noumenon (things as they exist in themselves) and Phenomena (things as they appear to a Conscious Observer).<\/p>\n
The Primary Qualities of Locke (Noumenon) are constituted by Mass (measured in Grams), and Position within a three dimensional Space.\u00a0 Examples of Secondary Qualities (Phenomena) are color, taste, and how a noise is heard by the human ear.\u00a0 These stipulations were formulated during the reign of the Classical Physics of Isaac Newton.<\/p>\n
The word “schizophrenia” etymologically is derived from the two ancient Greek words meaning “split-mind.”\u00a0 The schizophrenia that emerged from post-renaissance Western Civilization was transposed onto the material science of Physics.\u00a0 Quantum Mechanics is so obviously an extension of Empiricist thought; while the General Theory of Relativity is equally obviously a manifestation of modern European Rationalism.\u00a0 The notions of physicists can no longer ignore their ancestors in Philosophy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The adage “appearances deceive” is as old as Philosophy itself.\u00a0 Since the era of the ancient Greeks, Humankind has sought to understand the world and its place within it by using the tenets of reason. The modern age can be … Continue reading