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Philosophers

Hello, Is there such thing as the 'best' philosopher?

Jay L. Garfield
December 9, 2005 (changed December 9, 2005) Permalink
I can't imagine what that would mean. There are so many dimensions to philosophy, and so many philosophers who are competent on distinct dimensions. Don't worry about rankings.
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Logic
Philosophers

According to Descartes' demon hypothesis, would it be possible for the demon to deceive us about the rules of logical inference e.g. could my belief in the law of non-contradiction be caused by the demon?

Jay L. Garfield
November 8, 2005 (changed November 8, 2005) Permalink
Gosh, I disagree. Descartes seems to argue that it is God who makes the eternal truths eternal, by fashioining our minds so that we cannot doubt them.
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Language
Philosophers

My question is a little bit technical. As you know, from Heidegger to Structuralism, there is always a theme of an "iron cage". In other words, we are always bound by language, structure, or something else. This word "iron cage" was as far as I find used by Weber first. But, I wonder, who is the first western philosopher who used such an idea of being bounded by a surrounding system. For example, can we count Hegel as an "iron cage" philosopher as for him no one can go beyond the volksgeist ? Kind Regards, Nyouri Oezturk

Jay L. Garfield
October 7, 2005 (changed October 7, 2005) Permalink
Well, you'd have to include Kant, who argues that our knowledge is bounded by our perceptual and cognitive structures.
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