HPS250H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Sensualism
31 Jan 2018
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There are 2 problems with this: sensations (we can"t trust our senses) and induction (how can we know everything?) Francis bacon: all empirical theories are based on experience summed up by induction. Bacon: when we read with a pure mind, we cannot misread. We have to put all preconceptions aside and look at the world with an open mind. Natural selection (contemporary view)= human beings are products of biological evolution driven by natural selection. We survive because our senses are adapted to the environment. It follows that our senses are trustworthy: they capture those properties of things which are essential for our survival. It follows: pyrrho"s worries are not justified, the problem of sensations is not a serious obstacle. = empiricism: our theories based on the results of observations and experiments are trustworthy. Because natural selection is not justified, we need empiricism before it. Locke: not every sensation corresponds to objective properties of things.
