• Prisoners are forced to face a wall
• all they can see is shadow puppets on the wall
• Some are released
• discover that shadows aren't all that is real
• others thought him to be insane

• knowledge that is inherent & intrinsic to the human mind, independent of experience.
• "knowledge derived from reason"

• Knowledge gained from experience

• People that believe that knowledge is dervied from reason, independent of experience. (a priori knowledge)

• Plato, Descartes

• What you believe to be true is always a belief, or product, of your perception, or experience, and nothing outside of your senses.

• John Locke, David Hume, George Berkeley

• "I think, therefore I am."(Cogito ergo sum) 

• The only thing you can know is what is in your mind at the present moment, NOT the past or future.
• most radical form of empricism

• attempted to reconcile rationalists & empricists
• We can never know the objective truth, but that doesn't mean truth is solely subjective.

• All humans organize perception in certain ways, thus, Truth is not subjective, there are universal categories

• things in themselves, or things outside of perception.

• Things in our perception

• " It is one thing to be the same substance; another the same man, and a third the same person, if person, man, and substance are three names standing for three different ideas."

1. The Physical Continuity
2. The Psychological Continuity
3. The Same-Soul

• I am the same person if my body has existed continuously from birth to now.

• I am the same person because a set of psychological properties has existed from my birth to now.

• psychological properties = memories, consciousness

• I am the same person because "I" am my soul, and it has existed frin my birth to now

• according to philosophers, personhood obtain to a set of individuals whose well-being matters

1. Same-species
2. Rationality
3. Sentience

• Morality only applys to humans

• The state of having good sense and sound judgement.

• a state of awareness/consciousness where you have the ability to experience pleasure & pain.

• The projection of human qualities on non-human things

• There are universal moral truths, regardless of the individual or culture.

• There are no universal moral truths.
• All moral truths are relative to the individual or culture.

• Believe in the happiness for the greatest number of people.
• the end justifies the means
• John Stuart Mill

1. "Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law" (similar to golden rule)
2. "Act so as to treat humanity, whether in your own person or in that of another, in every case as an end, NEVER as a means."

-- if you can come up w/an action that satisfies one, it should also satisfy the other

• Act according to the natural order, or things as set up by god.
• If not, god will punish you

• grounds right and wrong in natural purposes/functions.
• explains these purposes/functions w/o invoking god as the creator.