|   Kate Robson  |

 

This Week

Sunday 21st November 2021

Hi everyone,

I hope you had a great week.

Here's the run-down of mine!

 

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Essays Made Easy

The essential guide to Section 2 to get you the GAMSAT mark you need for Medicine. Welcome! About Me Hi friends, I'm Kate. I scored 80 in Section 2 of the GAMSAT in the March 2021 sitting. This put me in the top 0.7% of that section.

GAMSAT Section 2

Research Recommendation:

The Enlightenment:

Rationalism vs. Empiricism

"cogito ergo sum" ("I think therefore I am") – René Descartes

The Enlightenment was the philosophical movement that dominated in Europe in the 18th century. One of the core ideas of the movement was that reason should be the source of legitimacy and authority rather than faith and the Catholic doctrine (we'll talk more about catholicism vs. secularism in next week's newsletter).

The Rationalism vs. Empiricism debate emerged out of these ideas during the Enlightenment period and became critical to the branch of modern philosophy called epistemology (the study of the nature, sources, and limits of knowledge) throughout the 18th century.

Rationalism is the idea that reason is the chief source of knowledge (ie. there are certain innate truths about the world that can be deduced from intellect alone).

Whereas,

Empiricism is the theory that knowledge comes from sensory experience (ie. that when we are born we have a "blank slate" and thoughts arise from our experiences).

Two of the core thinkers who influenced the philosophical movement of the Enlightenment were René Descartes (1596-1650) and John Locke (1632-1704). These two are often viewed as the original 'rationalist' and 'empiricist' thinkers, respectively. Although, scholars have picked up on the fact that neither are strictly 'rationalist' or 'empiricist' and hold some beliefs that align with the other.

Nowadays, most scholars agree that there are three main theses that are essential to the debate between rationalists and empiricists (from 'Rationalism vs Empiricism', the second link below):

(1) The Intuition/Deduction Thesis: Some propositions in a particular subject area, S, are knowable by us by intuition alone; still others are knowable by being deduced from intuited propositions.

(2) The Innate Knowledge Thesis: We have knowledge of some truths in a particular subject area, S, as part of our nature.

(3) The Innate Concept Thesis: We have some of the concepts we employ in a particular subject area, S, as part of our rational nature.

There is so much more to say about Rationalism vs. Empiricism, much of which I am barely yet to understand myself, let alone of which I'd be able to summarise here.

So, use the links below to dive deeper into the topic, if you're interested. This is our first week of diving into Philosophy, so don't worry if you find it confusing and like a total mindf**k. That's the point. Philosophy is meant to make you question the meaning of life.

Embrace it and try to figure out what you think. Do you think that there are certain truths about the world that we are able to derive from thought alone or do we only think about things because of our experiences in the world?

You might want to use these trains of thought as ways to analyse your ideas in your essay. E.g. does your thesis rely heavily on rationalism or empiricism? What would Descartes or Locke think about your idea?

Start here:

Boundless World History

The Enlightenment, a philosophical movement that dominated in Europe during the 18th century, was centered around the idea that reason is the primary source of authority and legitimacy, and advocated such ideals as liberty, progress, tolerance, fraternity, constitutional government, and separation of church and state.

Rationalism vs. Empiricism

The dispute between rationalism and empiricism takes place primarily within epistemology, the branch of philosophy devoted to studying the nature, sources, and limits of knowledge. Knowledge itself can be of many different things and is usually divided among three main categories: knowledge of the external world, knowledge of the internal world or self-knowledge, and knowledge of moral and/or aesthetical values.

PHILOSOPHY - René Descartes

Rene Descartes is perhaps the world's best known-philosopher, in large part because of his pithy statement, 'I think therefore I am.' He stands out as an exa...

Locke, Berkeley, & Empiricism: Crash Course Philosophy #6

This week we answer skeptics like Descartes with empiricism. Hank explains John Locke's primary and secondary qualities and why George Berkeley doesn't think...

Opinion | Descartes Is Not Our Father (Published 2017)

The Stone René Descartes has long been credited with the near-single-handed creation of modern philosophy. Generations of students have read, and continue to read, his famous "Meditations" as the rejection of medieval ways of thinking and the invention of the modern self.

My recommendation for the week:

Album

30, Adele

I keep telling myself that I'll stop recommending such mainstream content, but I can't help myself.

You've all probably heard that Adele's new album is out. To be honest, it didn't hit as hard as her previous albums for me, but Adele is Adele, and Adele still hits hard.

I read the below article after I listened to the album and it got me thinking about why Adele's music hits hard for so many people. Do we listen to her because we appreciate her vulnerability? Or are we all just as sad and broken as she is? An interesting read and one to think about.

Adele 30: the psychology of why sad songs make us feel good

Adele's new album, 30, is finally available. Last month, hundreds of millions of us streamed its first single, Easy On Me. This song evokes feelings not easily put into words. But we can probably agree it is a sad song. It isn't obvious that we should like sad music.

This week's video:

A moment of joy I had this week:

Basketball at the Bar!

On Friday night, I went out with a few friends to the Vic on the Park in Marrickville to celebrate after my girlfriend's show.

When we got there, it was buzzing. There were so many people chatting away and enjoying the Biergarten style outdoor setting they had created at the pub.

What's more, there was a basketball hoop! My friend handed in her license in exchange for a basketball and we played for the next hour and a half with friends and strangers.

It was so much fun to drink, chat, and play ball on a night out. My dream social outing!

Hope you guys have a wonderful week and see you next Sunday.

Kate :)

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