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What Is Joseph Owen's Descent Into The Realm Of Matter

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In this world the aspect of science and reason are highly valued. Each and every day new advancements are being made in the world through technology, mechanics, knowledge, medicine, human evolution and much more. We as a intellectuals have become so imbedded in this concept of science and reason that we have begun to doubt the existence of anything that is not matter and energy or that does not contain such matters. This contradictory value has been noticed amongst philosophers such as Tomas Nagel and Thomist Joseph Owens. As we look at the views of Thomas Nagel he spoke on the built-in contradiction of the worldview that states that only the presence of physical matter exists. This is told to us by reason and science. Joseph Owens gives his …show more content…

In this essay I will explore and analyze those reasons given by Owens and his stance on metaphysics in respect to the sciences. In Owen’s descent into the realm of matter he begins by giving recognition to the amazing progress that has been made of human and science reason. He explains that matter is characterized by change and individuation. If this is true of matter, then how exactly would the universal and fixed truths of science and reason be discovered or even communicated? There is a dilemma that arises for those individuals who believe that all that exists is matter. Materialists, as their called, fail to see the complication with their logic. Let us talk deductive reasoning. With deductive reasoning, the argument features a major, minor and middle term. Now let us entertain that everything is material. How then would this process work if that is true? This problem arises with more than just the transcendence of material. The basics of logic are also at stake. Communication itself comes into the …show more content…

He does so with three arguments: the intellectual’s ability to know things as being universals, the intellectual’s ability to know in a way that transcends time, and the intellectuals ability to use reason and pursue the sciences. The human intellect has the capability to escape individuality of matter because of the fact that it knows things to be universal. One example that comes to mind is our knowledge of that human means without having to see every single instance of a human. In our minds we can universalize what a human actually is in our minds. On a second thought, Owens talks about how the human intellect is able to know things in a way that transcends time (). Time and matter are two instances that go together. Therefore, anything that has the capability to elude time itself becomes independent of matter. Thirdly, we discussed how Owens argues that both the science and reasoning do not have the ability to exist unless the human intellect could go beyond time and space

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