For instance, Plato's theory of forms does not, to me, seem to jibe with modern physics and cosmology. ... After all, physics can give us insights into metaphysics, since both seek different ways to do the same thing. ... History is, of course necessary to any understanding of philosophy: how it came about, what people did with it. ... Descartes" Theory of Substance Dualism Throughout the history of man, philosophers have tried to come up with an explanation of where our minds, or consciousness, came from and how we are able to have a nonphysical characteristic of ourselves. ...

• Word Count: 2227
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Authority, which is churches, parents, and schools, he says, are not reliable sources for truth because time shows we all die, and that we are eventually proved wrong, much in the same way the accepted truths of science have changed dramatically over the course of history. ... With this in mind, Descartes deduces that the reliability of mathematics can no longer be doubted because God guarantees the truth of all self-evident ideas, but ones that can be calculated through mathematical physics. ...

• Word Count: 1700
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

For the goal of psychological explanation, he would substitute the forward-looking prediction and control of behavior, modeled on physics. ... Structuralists are important to the history of psychology not so much for what they learned about human experience but for their emphasis on careful and precise methods of observation. ...

• Word Count: 1847
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Running head: René Descartes: The Man of Meditation A Brief History and Interview of René Descartes: The Man of Meditation Danielle Ennis René Descartes René Descartes, philosopher, mathematician, and scientist. ... During his studies he came up with a hypothesis: "science may be compared to a tree; metaphysics is the root, physics is the trunk, and the three chief branches are mechanics, medicine, and morals, these forming the three applications of our knowledge, namely, to the external world, to the human body, and to the conduct of life- (Ball, 1995). ...

• Word Count: 1413
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School