The Global Century Paper

20th – Century Philosophy Paper

HUM/300 - The Global Village

November 4, 2015

20th – Century Philosophy Paper

Introduction

        Philosophy is the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence, especially when considered as an academic discipline.  It also helps people to understand the world we live in, their relationships with the environment and the relationships with other people.  Those who studies philosophy are engaged in asking, answering, evaluation, and reasoning with some of the life’s most basic, meaningful, and difficult questions, for example:  What is it to be a human?  What is the human mind?  What is time? Is time really real?  When a person is studying philosophy they will have a chance to grapple with the questions within their self and think about what others and think about the greatest philosophers of the past and present (Lehigh University, 2015).  I will be identifying three prevailing philosophical perspective from the philosopher who reflected the change in the industry and the individual.  

20th Century American Philosophy

 “American Philosophy” term is vague surprisingly.  The philosophical work done by Americans within the geographical demographics confines the United States, but there have been some philosopher’s that came to the United States late in life or have spent majority of their lives outside of the United States. Traditional American philosophers work in areas such as metaphysics, epistemology, and axiology.  During the Mid 20th Century philosophy was heavily dominated by empiricism and analytic philosophy, concentration on a strong focus of language.  

George Santayana (1863 – 1952)

In the 20th century American thinker George Santayana was an influential philosopher that connected a rich diversity of historical perspectives.  He culminated in a unique and unrivaled form of materialism, recommending a bold reconciliation of spirit and nature.  Mr. Santayana spent his formative intellectual life in America but majority of life was publishing a career in Europe.  He has no radical break between the early humanistic Santayana, the mature, ontological one.  The distinction between ideals and natural grounds for ideals are what he calls mature ontology “essence” and “matter.”  The book of Life of Reason focuses and emphasizes on the differences between “perfections” or “ideals” and their “natural roots,” but can refer to as “natural ground” or “basis” for all actions thoughts, and experience.  He quotes “Every genuine ideal has a natural basis. Ideals are legitimate, nor singly because they have no deep roots in the world.”  Ideals are not Platonic forms have “roots” and marks of their natural origins. George Santayana identifies the four realms: essence, matter, truth, and spirit.  Essence should be understood and pertains to all forms or definite character that objects and events may take on.  Essence is also only things people ever see and they will notice them last.  Matter is a thoroughgoing materialist, with this he hold no form can appear to human intuition without previous establishment of material conditions that arise from the past.  Truth is the furrow which matter must plow upon the face of essence.  Spirit is neither more nor less mysterious than one’s everyday understanding when they are consciousness.