Of the many ongoing and unanswered questions in philosophy - one of the most enduring and famous - is the debate on mind versus matter. What are they? Are they separate or the same? How do they relate? While many opinions and arguments have arisen over the years, they can be boiled down to a pair of perspectives: Rationalist and Empiricist. Rationalists give primary concern to the Mind and work primarily in the field of epistemology; the study of knowledge. Empiricists by contrast give primacy to Matter (the physical world), and are more concerned with the ontology (the study of being) of what exists. These two types of questions, 'what are we?' and 'what can we know?' have guided much of the development of human society and while there may never be definitive answers of either, the asking of them has historically occupied an important place socially and culturally. Let's look at four of the most important figures in philosophy and trace their line of argument from ancient Greece to Eighteenth Century Germany and see what they have to say about who we are and if we can know it. Then you can impress your friends at the next party.
David Wagner is an author/musician who splits his time between Oakland, CA and Istanbul, Turkey.
David has published two novels, both available on his website, and as a fan of movies, comics, and genre television, he is happy to be working with WhatCulture as a regular contributor.
