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The question of knowledge? Plato, Aristotle and Kant-

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A fitting place to start if we are discussing whether we can have true knowledge of anything, is Plato and Aristotle. The two crusaders for finding out what true knowledge is and where we can find true knowledge and yet, the two scholars who held drastically contradictory views on the issue of epistemology (the study of knowledge). Plato’s understanding of knowledge- We can take a grasp of Plato’s theory of knowledge if we explore his analogy of the cave. Plato was convinced of objective truth, he saw the immaterial World of forms (W.O.F) as the place where true knowledge can be gained and therefore placed little value on the experiences of sense-perception (experiences we have using our senses such as sight and smell). These were the assumptions behind Plato’s analogy of the cave which he gives in his great work ‘Republic’. The analogy of the cave was Plato’s way of arguing that we cannot trust our senses. The prisoners were bound in the cave, they were blind to the true wor...
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Mary Daley's feminist theology- does she have a point?

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"If God is male, then male is God" Mary Daley (Beyond God the Father 1973) Daley's argument is that all the major figures in Christianity are men, for example, the Pope, the Bishop, the Disciples, God, Jesus Christ and many other figures and roles in Christianity and thus, Christianity is a male religion and suffers from the influence men have on it. Daley speaks of the 'unholy trinity' of Rape, Genocide and War which are at the centre of Christianity because Christianity is a religion based on empowering men. She points to the Old Testament conquests of the Israelite people as an example in Scripture of where the unholy trinity is shown, where women, men and children were murdered and where (in some cases) women were the spoils of war for many of the warriors in the Old Testament. Daley wrote in 'Beyond God the Father' 1973- "If God in "his" heaven is a father ruling "his" people, then it is in the ...
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How much can we really learn about God through Natural Theology? An explanation and evaluation of natural theology and Calvin’s viewpoint-

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An explanation and evaluation of natural theology and Calvin’s viewpoint- What is Natural Theology? Natural theology is learning about God and gaining knowledge of God through nature and observation. In other words, anything that involves Divine Revelation such as the Scriptures, the Person of Christ and Religious Experiences such as dreams are not included in natural theology. So, the question of “how much can we learn about God through natural theology” is in other words the question of “how much can we really learn about God through nature, observation and anything that isn’t divine revelation”? What have we learnt in the past about God through Natural Theology? Many theologians have argued that we can know lots about God through using natural theology. For example, some have argued we can know that he exists through natural theology. One example of where natural theology has been used in the past to show God’s existence is William Paley’s design argument. Whic...
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Intuitionism- A good way of understanding ethics?

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Intuitionism- A good way of understanding ethics?  Basic intuitionism is based on the premise/idea that moral propositions are self-evident . What does it mean for a proposition to be self-evident? A self-evident proposition is one that doesn’t require evidence, justification or an argument to be accepted (this does not mean that there is not evidence for this though). Therefore, when intuitionists argue that moral propositions are self-evident, they argue that we know some things are wrong, and we do not need justification to argue that it is wrong because the proposition that “murder is wrong” is self-evident.  This means that we can recognise a “good” or a “bad” action when we see it, but that we cannot define what “good” is. For example, the intuitionist would not need a reason to understand the holocaust was a morally abhorrent thing because the intuitionist argues that we all know what is wrong. Some significant intuitionists- Price Price argues that ...
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