Classical Empiricism and Logical Positivism (Part 4-1)

The first section of the fourth part of my series on the philosophy of science. In this video I cover the basics of the 'classical empiricism' of Locke and Hume, in preparation for discussing Logical Positivism.

[rparker]

As a philosophy major, I love the pace and clearness of your videos---you bring back all these things in a very clear way, and you move along so it is not dry.  Good job.  Now please do a set of videos on Kant! :)

[AntiCitizenX]

@SisyphusRedeemed

Will you be doing any videos on some of the more modern topics in the future? I would enjoy watching them.

[crazypills]

This is a fantastic series; I'm enjoying it immensely.

Thanks for taking the time to put this together.

[tor]

very well put together. informative, clear, precise and to the point. thanks a lot for sharing.

[Naiant]

Thanks for the recommendation of Pirsig. I read that book at least once a year, and it has shaped much of my view of the world, especially ethics. Is he taken seriously at all by philosophers?

[duffry]

Loving this series and gratz on your next upload.

[mrmyxlptlk]

you're one video away from 100 way to go!

[BionicDance]

@SisyphusRedeemed Part 3 - I'm not ENTIRELY certain I agree with the idea of 'Tabula Rasa', since I'm well aware that biology plays a part in how we think, what we're likely to think ABOUT, and so on...usually things necessary for survival. This may not be knowledge, exactly...but it's still thought.
But in principle, I agree with Tabula Rasa; nobody comes out of the womb knowing how to read or speak, understanding math, time, cardinal directions, any of that stuff.

[SisyphusRedeemed]

@BionicDance Do a multi-part response! Use two or three comment boxes. I'm curious what you're thinking.

[Smidge]

I think the Cartesian theater problem is mitigated to some degree (but not solved) by our use of external tools to make measurements. A prism spreads a beam of light out into a spectrum which we can observe, and we can verify those observations by using a photocell to measure the wavelengths without relying directly on our senses to tell us the colors are different. Even a blind person can tell the difference in color using the right tools.

[ast]

Hi. These are great videos. It's really great that you're doing this. I've never really understood the etymology of 'positivism', though. I know it comes from Comte, but why did he choose that word? As far as I know, it comes from the Latin 'ponere', which means 'to put or place'. But that seems to imply some sort of conventionalism. Is it true that Positivism is synonymous with Empiricism? And if so, how did 'positive' come to have that meaning? I've never been able to understand this.

[SisyphusRedeemed]

@Naiant Not really. In the rare instances when I hear him mentioned it's usually with a causal disparagement. When I can, I always ask someone who dismisses him if they've actually read his work, and so far anyone who has said negative things about him hasn't. But I'm sure there are some in the community who do like him, but not enough for him to be 'a name.'

Have you read his follow up to ZATAMM, "Lila"? It's also very good.

[SisyphusRedeemed]

@insidetrip101 Phenomenalism is a Kantian move, but it's his attempt to save knowledge from Hume's skepticism by making knowledge pertain to experience, rather than 'reality.' While Kant doesn't deny that an external reality exists, he thinks it can never be known. But one can deny that external reality exists and say that only perceptions exist and that's still phenomonealism (or you can say that only ideas exist--idealism, like Berkley).

[AntiCitizenX]

@SisyphusRedeemed

Let me ask my question a different way:

How exactly is the positivist view of the external world invalid? What view has come along to replace it? After all, they are they are very much correct for the most part. We only receive sensory information from the external world, but never truly "perceive" it directly. How does this view "destroy" science? As far as I can tell, science is perfectly aware of this limitation and even embraces it as a fundamental principle.

[insidetrip]

@Lordlaneus

I never watched Lost, but John Locke not only transformed epistemology, but used his epistemology to transform political theory.

Tabula Rasa All men created equal

That sort of thing. I can't really say much about Lost but my guess is that John Locke on the show probably had some sort of leadership role with the survivors in establishing some sort of community.

[Cd]

REALLY enjoyed this video. Can't wait for the rest.

[BionicDance]

@SisyphusRedeemed Part 2 - I really like what Locke has to say about 'clearing the field of rubbish', and about attacking 'innate ideas'; on my own channel, my personal slogan is, "Don't run on automatic...THINK." I'm of the opinion that anything taken for granted is just one more grain in the Sandbox of Stupidity, or at least Ignorance; people should NOT assume that seemingly innate ideas are anything of the sort; challenge EVERYTHING. Taken for Granted = Not Adequately Thought Through.

[SisyphusRedeemed]

@insidetrip101 Oh, NOUMENALISM. Your first post say 'nominalism', the view that reality just is whatever we name it to be. Noumeanalism is the idea (also Kants) that there is a mind-independent reality which can't experience or know, but which we infer from experience. Either way, it's not Hume's position.

[JesseMaurais]

Locke's argument against innate ideas was the only part of his treaties I found interesting.

Also, I hope you do Kant somewhere in this series.

[nobadragoon]

Isn't the claim that "triangle has three sides" more of by definition and not really an "innate idea"