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Our focus in this work shall be to describe and evaluate David Chalmers’ theory of consciousness. We shall begin this task by briefly acquainting ourselves with the biography of this contemporary genius. BIOGRAPHY OF DAVID CHALMERS David Chalmers is an Australian philosopher. He was born on April 20, 1966. He received his undergraduate degree in pure mathematics from the University of Adelaide in Australia and continued his studies at the University of Oxford. Chalmers received his PhD in philosophy and cognitive science from Indiana University Bloomington. He was a postdoctoral fellow in the Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology program directed by Andy Clark at Washington University in St. Louis from 1993 to 1995, and his first professorship was at UC Santa Cruz, from August 1995 to December 1998. Chalmers was subsequently appointed Professor of Philosophy (1999–2004) and, later, Director of the Center for Consciousness Studies (2002–2004) at the University of Arizona...

Expanse I. INTRODUCTION Artificial Intelligence (AI), the study and engineering of intelligent machines capable of performing the same kinds of functions that characterize human thought. The concept of AI dates from ancient times, but the advent of digital computers in the 20th century brought AI into the realm of possibility. AI was conceived as a field of computer science in the mid-1950s. The term AI has been applied to computer programs and systems capable of performing tasks more complex than straightforward programming, although still far from the realm of actual thought. While the nature of intelligence remains elusive, AI capabilities currently have far-reaching applications in such areas as information processing, computer gaming, national security, electronic commerce, and diagnostic systems. II. DEVELOPMENT OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE In 1956 American social scientist and Nobel laureate Herbert Simon and American physicist and comp...

INTRODUCTION The notion of how knowledge is acquired has continue to chose a fundamental controversy in Philosophy which has led to the emergence of two schools of thoughts; the rationalists and empiricists. The former affirms the acquisition of knowledge through reason unaided by experience while the later adhered to sense experience as the means by which knowledge is acquired. Despised this two conflicting doctrines, Immanuel Kant tries to reconcile or rather is swift to strike a balance. Between these two schools of thoughts knowledge can be acquired through both ways. However, in line with these opposing doctrines their surveys seeks to examine the rationalists view of this notions in a particular respect to one of the Philosophers namely Rene Descartes. Rene Descartes is our key study in this work and will look into  his major philosophical work concerning knowledge. More so, in order to have a better understanding of our subject at hand, this work will give us an inkling...

A young Venetian, Bassanio, needs a loan of three thousand ducats so that he can woo Portia, a wealthy Venetian heiress. He approaches his friend Antonio, a merchant. Antonio is short of money because all his wealth is invested in his fleet, which is currently at sea. He goes to a Jewish money lender, Shylock, who hates Antonio because of Antonio’s anti-semitic behaviour towards him. Shylock nevertheless agrees to make the short-term loan, but, in a moment of dark humour, he makes a condition – the loan must be repaid in three months or Shylock will exact a pound of flesh from Antonio. Antonio agrees, confident that his ships will return in time. Because of the terms of Portia’s father’s will, all suitors must choose from among three caskets, one of which contains a portrait of her. If he chooses that he may marry Portia, but if doesn’t he must vow never to marry or court another woman. The Princes of Morocco and Arragon fail the test and...

TRUTH IN THE PHILOSOPHY Thomas Aquinas is well known for having defended the view that truth consists of an adequation between the intellect and a thing. Truth, like religion, culture or morality, is a general term in constant use and seems to be part of the eternal furniture of the mind, but upon closer examination what truth consists in is not so clear and the use of the word has changed over time. All knowledge signifies the conformity of him who knows with the object that is known, the agreement of the thinker with the things known. In other words, truth is “the conformity of the mind to the object”; that is, if we accept the outward information that our senses are transmitting to our intellect and our intellect accepts these as they are, and doesn't deny them or distort them, through self-interest or other motives. This conformity or adequation of the intellect and the object expresses the full content of the idea of truth. Truth comes into being through the part...

Background Dependency Theory developed in the late 1950s under the guidance of the Director of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America, Raul Prebisch. Prebisch and his colleagues were troubled by the fact that economic growth in the advanced industrialized countries did not necessarily lead to growth in the poorer countries. Indeed, their studies suggested that economic activity in the richer countries often led to serious economic problems in the poorer countries. Such a possibility was not predicted by neoclassical theory, which had assumed that economic growth was beneficial to all (Pareto optimal) even if the benefits were not always equally shared. Prebisch's initial explanation for the phenomenon was very straightforward: poor countries exported primary commodities to the rich countries who then manufactured products out of those commodities and sold them back to the poorer countries. The "Value Added" by manufacturing a usable...