- WEEK 10: Rationalism
Required Readings
Discussion Questions
(Write out brief answers to this week's discussion questions and submit them via a direct message to me on Slack no later than 11:59pm on Sunday, October 31st. Your answers should be brief, no more than a few sentences each. Be prepared to discuss them in class.)
1. Give your own example of something we already have to know (or know how to do) in order to understand or make use of information that we get from our senses.
2. Plato argued that we recollect our mathematical knowledge from our existence prior to when we were born. A contemporary rationalist might instead say that this knowledge is somehow encoded in our DNA. What is the best alternative explanation you can think of for how we get this knowledge. (Make sure to read to the end of the course notes before answering this question.)
3. Rationalists commonly argue that although certain experiences might "trigger" us to have certain kinds of knowledge, we aren't really learning the knowledge from those experience. Plato gives an early example of this idea in the Meno when he claims that the slave boy isn't learning geometrical knowledge from Socrates diagram. As briefly as you can, try to explain what the difference is between triggering and learning. Does it make sense?
Zoom Meeting
This week's Zoom meeting will be on Monday, November 1st, 11:10AM–12:25PM. Here is the link to join.