Foundations of empiricism
Dec 2012 · Springer
Ebook
389
Pages
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About this ebook
For some centuries now the western world has endeavored to choose between rationalism and empiricism; or, when a choice was found impossible, somehow to reconcile them. But the particular brands of both which were taken for granted in confronting the problem were sUbjective: individual human reasoning stood for rationalism and private sense experience for empiricism. Since Plato it has been known that reasoning and feeling are often in conflict. No wonder that a standard for deciding between them or for harmonizing the two was found difficult to come by. Fortunately, due to the revival of realism, a way out presented itself, and we could now consider rationalism and empiricism on some kind of objective basis. In other words, rationalism is a theory about something outside us, and reasoning involves the utilization of a logic which in no wise depends upon our knowledge of it. Similarly; sense experience reveals the existence of data which can be reached through the senses but which in no way relies upon experience for its existence. Thus both reasoning and sensing bring us fragmentary news about an external world which contains not only logic and value but also the prospects for their reconciliation. The implicit philosophy of nominalism is self-liquidating. Where is the proposition which asserts or takes for granted the sole reality of actual physical particulars to get its reality? The meaning of it as a proposition has no place among the particulars.
About the author
Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1904, James Feibleman is a prolific author who has published nearly 50 books of poetry, novels, autobiography, but mostly serious philosophy. He attended the University of Virginia for several years, but did not graduate. From 1925 to 1929, Feibleman was the assistant manager of a department store. He then resumed his education in Europe during the 1930s. During World War II, Feibleman was a professor of English at Tulane University, later becoming chair of the department of philosophy from 1952 to 1969. His major endeavor was formulating a system of philosophy that rested on the ontological foundations of realism harking back to Plato the idea that there is an a priori argument for existence but that incorporated modern science. The outline of Feibleman's system was expounded in his massive Ontology (1951) but was elaborated in a number of volumes in special areas such as aesthetics, ethics, political philosophy, and legal philosophy. Feibleman also published several books on popular philosophy. In addition to his active career in philosophy, Feibleman was a successful businessman. From 1930 until 1954, he was vice president and general manager of James K. Feibleman Realty Company. He was a major partner in the Leopold Investment Company (1954-1971).
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