THE LIMITATIONS OF REASON
An Overview of the Limitations of Reason, Part I
Volume IV of “A History of Western Philosophy: Kant and the Nineteenth Century” (W.T. Jones) has a curious entry in its Table of Contents. The first section is entitled “The Age of Reason”. The first subtitle of this section is called “The Mood of the Enlightenment.” The second subtitle is “The Collapse of Confidence.” Whatever could... [Read more of this article]
An Overview of the Limitations of Reason, Part II: Hume’s Destruction of Causality
The enterprise of empirical science casts a heavy dependence upon inductive reasoning. For example, we do not calculate velocities for every ball dropped from a tower. We measure the velocity of some and then infer that the velocity is true for all (under similar circumstances). This inference from some to all is how physical laws are formulated. The... [Read more of this article]
An Overview of the Limitations of Reason, Part III: Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason
Following Hume’s attack on causality, Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), a German philosopher from Konigsberg and now regarded by some as the greatest modern philosopher, attempted to show - in his volume entitled, “Critique of Pure Reason” - that real knowledge of matters of fact is possible. In order to understand Kant’s approach we must realize... [Read more of this article]
An Overview of the Limitations of Reason, Part IV: Kant’s Rejection of Metaphysical Knowledge
Kant’s claim was that “though all our knowledge may begin with experience, it does not follow that it all arises out of experience….our empirical knowledge is made up of what we receive through impressions and of what our own faculty of knowledge…supplies from itself.” Both the knower and the known make contributions from which knowledge... [Read more of this article]
An Overview of the Limitations of Reason, Part V: The Rise of Romanticism
Romanticism came as a reaction to the Enlightenment, its rationalism and its conception of knowledge. It also arose to deal with the problems left in the wake of the collapse of the basic principles of the Age of Reason. Some important romantic philosophers and writers include William Blake, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Wordsworth, Sir Walter... [Read more of this article]
An Overview of the Limitations of Reason, Part VI: Hegel’s Attempt to Restore the Metaphysical
It was Soren Kierkegaard who next led the attack against rationalism. But in order to understand Kierkegaard, we must understand Hegel. And in order to understand Hegel, we must recapitulate Kant. Kant, as you will recall, believed that the content of our ideas did indeed stem from realities which were independent of the human mind; but he also held... [Read more of this article]
An Overview of the Limitations of Reason, Part VII: Kierkegaard’s Emphasis on Existence and Subjective Truth
Kant was engaged in reconciling the empiricists and the rationalists and so he acknowledged both the percept - the direct, experiential element in cognition - and the concept - the abstract, structural and relational element. The percept and the concept act together to allow us to apprehend the phenomena. But outside the categories of the mind and... [Read more of this article]
An Overview of the Limitations of Reason, Part VIII: Nietzche and the Will to Power
Nietzche “invented no new technical theories in ontology,” as Russell said. That is, he added nothing to the discourse about the foundations and limits of reason, but he was refreshingly and piercingly honest about the shortcomings of reason and that is why we will take the time to briefly state his position. Nietzche didn’t bother... [Read more of this article]
An Overview of the Limitations of Reason, Part IX: G.E. Moore’s Attempt at Realism
Philosophers were impressed by G.E. Moore’s concentration on “method” even thought Moore confessed that, as far as method goes, “I never did know what it was.” Moore proposed to lead us out of the Kantian dilemma - the one where the knower affects the known, that is, where minds construct their experience rather than contemplate... [Read more of this article]
An Overview of the Limitations of Reason, Part X: Lord Russell’s Failure to Refute Hume
Bertrand Russell knew what he wanted to accomplish. If there was anyone who could have established the foundation of objective rationalism from sheer intention and desire, it was Russell. He was an adamant atheist, who wrote the book, “Why I Am Not a Christian,” a precursor to Loftus’ “Why I Became an Atheist.” ... [Read more of this article]
An Overview of the Limitations of Reason, Part XI: The Embarrassment of the Logical Positivists
The unabashed aim of the Logical Positivists - a group of philosophers including Moritz Schlick, Rudolf Carnap and Otto Neurath, a.k.a. the Vienna Circle or the Logical Empiricists - was the complete and total destruction of the metaphysical (everything transcendental or “otherworldly” and of course, religion and theology), which they felt... [Read more of this article]
SUMMATION: An Overview of the Limitations of Reason
This series has demonstrated the limitations - and therefore the inadequacy and failure - of reason not only in dealing with metaphysical / spiritual matters, but also in securing a foundation for reason itself. Every attempt to justify reason as a power superior to or even adequate for comprehending the metaphysical / spiritual has failed. With Hume’s... [Read more of this article]
Guide to the Response to “Why I Became An Atheist”
My response to John Loftus’ book “Why I Became An Atheist” has taken the form of numerous posts. This post will guide you through them. I recommend they be read in the following order (after the list I describe why these posts and this order are important): Initial Review / Limits of Reason / The Subjective Truth Initial Review... [Read more of this article]
Loftus Admits He Can’t Debunk Me (And That Means He Can’t Debunk Christianity)
You can read the exchange below or read the entire post with all side comments here. (Some of you might have trouble reading the post below if you’re not using Firefox. Let me know if you do have trouble). Take careful note of Loftus’ basic arguments: You’re messed up. You’re brainwashed. You can’t see. Rational,... [Read more of this article]
Clarifying the Debate on Subjectivity and Objectivity
There have been a number of interesting posts recently on the objective and the subjective, most of which have been in response to John Loftus’ encouraging us all to take the Outsider Test for Faith. (The OTF asserts that a religious adherent should judge his own religion in the way he judges other religions. Sort of like, Do unto yourself... [Read more of this article]