EN 3000 Lecture Notes - Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, Philosophical Skepticism, Immanuel Kant
Document Summary
David hume"s philosophical scepticism: takes empiricism to its logical conclusions, and, ends in a challenge to western metaphysics. Immanuel kant"s critique: tries to respond to the challenge of hume"s scepticism by developing a critical philosophy which tries to find the limits of human reason, and, tries to revive the metaphysical tradition. Structure: a conversation between three men overheard and reported by pamphilus, a student of cleanthes: Cleanthes (a metaphysicist with an anthropomorphic conception of. God): even though philo is a sceptic, he shares with demea a belief in. This leads to a suspension of judgement. There is no world only individual objects which compose it. There is no self only individual perceptions which compose it. A priori ideas necessarily connected are always a product of experience and rest on our faith that nature is regular: this faith, however, may or may not be warranted.