Compare and contrast two readings Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Compare and contrast two readings - Essay Example Henry David Thoreau is the writer of the seeing literally work and he implies the perspective of seeing and the outcomes of viewing things depends with each person and every other person can see what he or she intends to visualize thus it may be biased. Likewise, Ralph Waldo Emerson is also a writer in the natural literally work thus; a naturalist trying to argue the perception of how we see things should not only be based from what our ancestors had. The past influence, on the beliefs and ideologies are ridiculing whenever we follow what other people had there before since we are more capable of seeing, thinking and discovering things on our own. Emerson argues this since he finds that people are more dependent on the history that they found and want to still follow not because they cannot think but just want to follow the perception. Both are naturalists and are critical thinkers who can also be termed as philosophers as they both argue on the human point of view. In Thoreau’s work, we find that it takes preparation to see things in similar perspectives between two individuals. The more ready one can visualize and use their sight the greater the side of view. For instance, if one was not ready to look at a particular horizon then the existence of some things in the landscape and surroundings will not be evident. It takes the intent to observe and actualize for one to realize the whole range of things and objects that are there. Things can be at a certain place and we rarely see them out of our view though they are not hidden from us. In comparison to Emerson’s, literally work, he thinks that the atmosphere consists of very many stars that shine different rays yet someone can see the atmosphere as being transparent. He also compares to Thoreau work when he states that it takes an open mind to receive the influence of external forces from the universe. In both works therefore, it results to a personal initiative

Knowledge Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Knowledge - Essay Example t the person may turn out to be as disappointing as the previous one; in which case my knowledge is not based on truth, but only belief which is not ultimately justified How is Justification possible? Justification is often inferential depending on another justified belief. But as this takes us to a slow and roundabout path to establish truth, some theorists argue that there must be some basic beliefs on which our justification can rely on. This theory is termed Foundationalism. Other thinking pattern, termed Coherentism reject the idea of foundationalism. According to this school of thought, it is important that belief system is not mutually contradicting, but must remain consistent, cohesive and within human comprehension. There is yet another alternative theory Reliabilism, which holds that there must be a mechanism which supports our belief system and which is reliable enough to be justified. Our beliefs directly depend on our perception of the world, perception we acquire from books, media and the people. Perception makes us delve under the surface, contents supplied by our experiences. They act rather like a reflective process. There are two schools of thought: Empiricism and Rationalism. What do the empiricists say? According to the empiricists we learn everything through our personal perception that we gain from our own experience. The empiricists emphasized on our sense perception. When we enter this world our mind is a ’blank slate’, holds John Locke. Empiricists, however, concede to certain basic truth such as â€Å" there are no four sided triangles†. What do the rationalists say? Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, belonged to the rationalist school of thought. Descartes argues that ‘ we possess at least some innate knowledge’, such as our faculty for language. Senses often deceive us, e.g., ‘straight stick appears bent in water’, ‘and colored objects may appear gray in the dark.’ In fact we have reason to doubt everything in our external