That Philosophy Website

Berkeley is not so much famous but more infamous, for his philosophical musings. In short, Berkeley argued that matter does not exist as a separate substance independent to our perception of things, and that what we have come to accept as 'reality' is really nothing more than the sum of our (or someone else's) ideas. (Read more)

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• John Locke (1632-1704): An introduction British philosopher John Locke is often regarded as the father of modern empiricism, because he believed that knowledge must first and foremost be grounded in sense-based experience.
• Phenomena and Noumena (Immanuel Kant) Immanuel Kant's theory of knowledge has been one of the most influential in modern Western philosophy. His basic premise is that we do not experience the world directly but using certain innate cognitive concepts, which might be said to work like spectacles.
• René Descartes (1596-1950): An introduction René Descartes was born near Poitiers (France) into a wealthy family, and as such he never had to work for a living. He had an influential Jesuit education, which placed strong emphasis on method and taught him to strive for success by doing everything in the most efficacious way. Descartes graduated from the University of Poitiers in 1618 with a degree in law, and in 1628 moved to Holland where he spent the remainder of his life.
• Book review: The story of philosophy (Bryan Magee) Sometimes it is good to get an overview of a topic or the work of a philosopher before reading the original texts (especially as philosophy itself is notoriously inaccessible at times) and as such I would recommend Brian Magee's book The Story of Philosophy as a useful and necessary addition to any student of philosophy's library.
• The Forms (Plato) The necessity of the Forms in Plato's theory of knowledge is a somewhat controversial aspect of his philosophy, yet one he appears to assume his audience is both familiar with and accepting of. As such, there is no specific 'theory of the Forms' set out in any of his works. Instead, our understanding of the nature and purpose of the Forms is based on various references Plato makes to them in several of his works.
• Plato and the Forms: Overview and analysis This lesson explains what Plato meant by the Forms, looks at social and philosophical reason why he postulated their existence, and considers several critiques against them (in particular, whether he came to reject them).

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