Is Anything Certain? Essay -- Philosophy, Unger, Hitherto

Peter Unger maintains that all knowledge requires certainty. Moreover, since he insists that nothing can be known for certain, Unger concludes that â€Å"nobody ever knows anything to be so† (Unger, 42). This is Unger’s argument: 1. â€Å"If someone knows something to be so, then it is all right for the person to be absolutely certain that it is so† (42). 2. â€Å"It is never all right for anyone to be absolutely certain that anything is so† (43). 3. Therefore, â€Å"[n]obody ever knows that anything is so† (43). Succinctly, nobody can know anything. As â€Å"anything† makes explicit, Unger suggests that we cannot have knowledge of our own existence, external objects, past or present experiences or even that 1+1=2. He also insists that knowing anything with certainty is inherently dogmatic. Being certain involves a negative attitude; it implies that nothing (new information, evidence or experience) â€Å"will be seriously considered to be at all relevant to any possible change in one’s thinking in the matter† (44). Unger defines this as the attitude of certainty. This is why it is wrong â€Å"for anyone to be absolutely certain†. I agree with Unger and concede that (2) is correct. However, Unger’s rejection to the attitude of certainty leads to the rejection of all knowledge. This is where Unger is an error. I intend to argue that premise (1) is dubious and that knowledge requires justified true belief but never certainty itself. Before continuing, I must clarify Unger’s notion of certainty. Hitherto, I have used Unger’s notion of certainty (denoted in italics) without explanation. Certain is an absolute adjective analogous to the concept of flat. An absolute adjective is or is not. A board, for example, is flat iff it lacks any changes in gradi... ...nger’s first premise). 2. Knowledge is justified belief with confidence. 3. Being confident, but not certain, allows for changes in opinion/belief in the face of new information and experiences (avoiding Unger’s attitude of certainty). 4. Knowledge with confidence, but being susceptible to new information is not dogmatic. 5. People can know things with confidence without being dogmatic. 6. Therefore, people can justifiably and confidently know that some things are so. The above argument allows for things to be known but in a non-dogmatic manner. Although, knowledge with confidence (but not certainty) can be considered a weak sense of knowledge, it avoids the skeptical conclusion while also avoiding Unger’s attitude of certainty. With the ability to amend and modify justified beliefs (knowledge), certainty is inherently absent from this notion of knowledge.

Revolution

D. Revolutionary Changes in the Atlantic World, 1750-1850 1. The American Revolution never went through the radical phases that the French Revolution did. Yet, the nineteenth-century French government was more conservative than the nineteenth-century U.S. government. Explain. The American Revolution is not as tough and Radical as the French Revolution because France provided American forces with financial help and armor support during the American Revolution. The Americans are also greatly influenced by some philosophers that made them not to look up to French's form of government as a model even though France provided coalitions and even send off fleet and an army to help them triumphed battles effectively. French government is more conservative than the U.S government during the 19th century because of the absolute monarchy of French government. Americans never went through radical changes since they followed a series   of   board intellectual shifts and social shifts as well that gave them new republican ideals that expands democracy among   American people and created the ethic that formed the core of American political values. 2. What similarities and differences do you see between the nineteenth-century revolutions in Latin America and their French and American predecessors? The similarities between the 19th century revolution in America and their French American predecessors is that they began to inherit political powers and the idea of a democratic government where the consent lies on the government’s consent. Assertion of liberty, individual rights, equality and hostility towards corruption which are considered as American core values greatly influenced their predecessors. This made realizations to them that they could also break away and become self governing nations. E. The Early Industrial Revolution 1. How did events in the eighteenth century lead to industrialization in the nineteenth century?   What was the most important catalyst for industrialization? The industrial Revolution was a result of the outgrown of institutional and social changes in Britain right after the 17th century English Civil War   and   technological innovation The presence of a large domestic market should also be considered an important driver of the Industrial Revolution, particularly explaining why it occurred in Britain. In other nations, such as France, markets were split up by local regions, which often imposed tolls and tariffs on goods traded amongst them. (Deane, Phyllis. The First Industrial Revolution, Cambridge University Press.) 2. Compare and contrast the impact of the Industrial Revolution on men and women.   How was family life affected by industrialization? Industrial Revolution have different impact on men and women for men it paved way for more work ad encourage them to more enhanced way of labor through innovation and technology. Forced labor and child labor is also rampant during the years of Industrial revolution which gave workers longer working hours. Women’s job like factories of clothings and the weaving industry is affected by Industrial revolution because machines takes place of the job which is supposedly for the works of women. The Great Exhibition of 1851 site http://www.victorianstation.com/palace.html   

Essay on Factors Contributing to Colony Collapse Disorder

Picture sitting next to a river in the summer time where it is just the perfect temperature and you are soaking up the great weather and the amazing scenery when a bee buzzes past you and lands on a flower by your feet, as human nature you don’t want to be next to the bee because it could sting you†¦ do you step on it or simply walk away? What you may not know is that honeybees play a huge roll in America’s agriculture, whether it is pollinating alfalfa hay to feed your horse or pollinating that apple you eat every morning for breakfast. Honeybees pollinate about one-third of crops species in the U.S. (Vanishing Bees, 2008). Bees pollinate a lot more than you would think a few more examples are almonds, avocadoes, cucumbers and peanuts.†¦show more content†¦The bees never seem to catch a break which is putting the bees under â€Å"stress† which is a factor. Furthermore, when they are pollinating all these different plants some are not nutritious as others, for example cucumbers aren’t as healthy as some of the other plants but there is still a demand for them, so the bees still have to work and eventually become unhealthy if they aren’t getting the right nutrients. Another factor is pesticides, which has many different points of view but overall it has come to decided it is not the pesticides themselves that are killing masses of bees but it is lowering their immune system and making it easier for them to get sick, for example with the common parasite Nosema. Nosema is a parasite in the digestive track of the honey bee that attacks the entire hive and can eventually wipe out the whole hive. The effects of the pesticides are ultimately never letting the hives reach their maximum potential, which in the end could render the hives weak and lethargic. 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