The Quest for Absolute Certainty

The Quest for Absolute Certainty PDF

Author: L. P. Jacks

Publisher:

Published: 2019-01-30

Total Pages: 41

ISBN-13: 9781795526777

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

What is absolute certainty? Where is it to be found? Does it exist? Is there any belief of mankind which can be claimed as absolutely certain?It is difficult to define an absolute in any kind. One can only say that the absolute is that which wants [needs] nothing to make it complete. The absolute does not even want a philosopher to tell the world what the absolute is. So long as it wants a philosopher to expound it, to that extent it is not complete, and is therefore not the absolute.Spinoza saw this, and made it the corner-stone of his thought. He saw that Perfection must be capable of telling its own story. It cannot at one and the same time be perfect and yet in need of a human spokesman to explain it. A dumb absolute which needs you to give it a tongue, an unintelligible absolute which needs you to make it rational, a dead absolute which needs you to make it live and interesting, would be no absolute at all. So Spinoza begins his great treatise with admirable humility by defining God as the being who defines himself; who, just because he is all-perfect, needs no explainer, being fully competent to explain himself. God asks for no champions; wants no apologist; seeks for no witnesses. If he did, he would not be God. But Spinoza went too far.

The later works, 1925 - 1953. 4. 1929 : [The quest for certainty]

The later works, 1925 - 1953. 4. 1929 : [The quest for certainty] PDF

Author: John Dewey

Publisher: SIU Press

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13: 9780809328147

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

This volume includes all Dewey's writings for 1938 except for Logic: The Theory of Inquiry (Volume 12 of The Later Works), as well as his 1939 Freedom and Culture, Theory of Valuation, and two items from Intelligence in the Modern World. Freedom and Culture presents, as Steven M. Cahn points out, the essence of his philosophical position: a commitment to a free society, critical intelligence, and the education required for their advance.

A Certain Ambiguity

A Certain Ambiguity PDF

Author: Gaurav Suri

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2010-07-01

Total Pages: 296

ISBN-13: 1400834775

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

While taking a class on infinity at Stanford in the late 1980s, Ravi Kapoor discovers that he is confronting the same mathematical and philosophical dilemmas that his mathematician grandfather had faced many decades earlier--and that had landed him in jail. Charged under an obscure blasphemy law in a small New Jersey town in 1919, Vijay Sahni is challenged by a skeptical judge to defend his belief that the certainty of mathematics can be extended to all human knowledge--including religion. Together, the two men discover the power--and the fallibility--of what has long been considered the pinnacle of human certainty, Euclidean geometry. As grandfather and grandson struggle with the question of whether there can ever be absolute certainty in mathematics or life, they are forced to reconsider their fundamental beliefs and choices. Their stories hinge on their explorations of parallel developments in the study of geometry and infinity--and the mathematics throughout is as rigorous and fascinating as the narrative and characters are compelling and complex. Moving and enlightening, A Certain Ambiguity is a story about what it means to face the extent--and the limits--of human knowledge.

Jesus Christ, Hermeneutics, and Scripture

Jesus Christ, Hermeneutics, and Scripture PDF

Author: Hans Burger

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2024-04-18

Total Pages: 379

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Soteriology, not epistemology, is the best entrance to theological hermeneutics and to the doctrine of Scripture. The triune God uses Scripture to make the community of believers live in Christ. We hear the words of Scripture in the light of Easter and Pentecost. We understand Scripture from faith in Christ and with the mind of Christ. At the same time, we come to know Christ in Scripture and we receive the mind of Christ by reading Scripture. We remain in Christ by remaining in the Word. Understanding Scripture and Christlikeness mutually reinforce each other. Living a Christian life with God and our neighbor in God’s world will deepen our understanding of Scripture. This book explores the complex relationships between Jesus Christ, participation in Christ, theological hermeneutics, and the doctrine of Scripture. It shows the necessity of a holistic approach of life, knowledge, understanding, and renewal.

Teaching for Commitment

Teaching for Commitment PDF

Author: Elmer John Thiessen

Publisher: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP

Published: 1993

Total Pages: 356

ISBN-13: 9780773511620

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Elmer Thiessen provides a comprehensive critical survey of the debate concerning indoctrination, especially in the context of confessional religious education. His central aim is to establish that indoctrination as a result of religious instruction is neither inevitable nor as probable as is often assumed by advocates of liberal education. Thiessen recognizes that indoctrination can occur in Christian homes and schools. He believes, however, that before the charge of indoctrination can be correctly evaluated, we need to develop a more coherent concept of the term. He provides a critical examination of the four criteria traditionally associated with indoctrination - content, method, intention, and consequences - and of the institutional context of indoctrination.