DERIDA

Theory of knowledge

Derrida argues that a series of oppositions have been constructed by philosophers that in equal
measure depend upon and suppress the role that metaphor plays in philosophical language. The
tendency to suppress metaphor is evident when philosophers engage in the analysis of truth and
meaning.

Free Will

Freeplay is the disruption of presence. The presence of an element is always a signifying and
substitutive reference inscribed in a system of differences and the movement of a chain.

Morality
Derrida contends that the opposition between speech and writing is a manifestation of the
“logocentrism” of Western culture—i.e., the general assumption that there is a realm of “truth”
existing prior to and independent of its representation by linguistic signs.

L OCKE

Theory of knowledge
Locke takes knowledge generally to consist in “the perception of the connexion and agreement,
or disagreement and repugnancy of any of our Ideas” (E IV. i. 1–2, p. 525), and among the
three kinds of knowledge that he distinguishes, intuitive, demonstrative, and sensitive, the former
two are kinds of certain knowledge

Free will
Locke believed this analogy clearly illustrates that free will is only an illusion; just as the man in his
ignorance of the door being locked has no choice but to stay in the room, so all moral agents have no
choices to make because it is just their ignorance of universal causation that gives them the false belief
in

Morality
Morality refers to the set of standards that enable people to live cooperatively in groups. It's what
societies determine to be “right” and “acceptable.” Sometimes, acting in a moral manner means
individuals must sacrifice their own short-term interests to benefit society
.
H UME

Theory of knowledge
His doctrine of “transcendental idealism” held that all theoretical (i.e., scientific) knowledge is a
mixture of what is given in sense experience and what is contributed by the mind. The
contributions of the mind are necessary conditions for having any sense experience at all.

Free will
Hume's key point here is that free actions are those that are caused by the agent's willings and
desires. We hold an agent responsible because it was his desires or willings that were the determining
causes of the action in question. Action caused in this way is voluntary and involuntary when caused in
some other way

Morality
Molarity existence is considered by Hume as a matter of fact: everybody in the world makes moral
distinctions and each one of us is affected by what we consider right or wrong. However, Is the right and
the wrong the same for everybody

F OUCAULT

Theory of knowledge
Foucault uses the term 'power/knowledge' to signify that power is constituted through accepted forms
of knowledge, scientific understanding and 'truth': 'Truth is a thing of this world: it is produced only
by virtue of multiple forms of constraint. And it induces regular effects of power..

Free will
Free will is something we cultivate as part of our identity package. Freedom is a lifestyle accessory.
Foucault calls the methods and techniques through which we constitute ourselves "care of the self" or
"technologies" (or "practices") of the self
Morality
Foucault's entire philosophy is based on the assumption that human knowledge and existence are
profoundly historical. He argues that what is most human about man is his history. He discusses the
notions of history, change and historical method at some length at various points in his career.

S ARTRE

Theory of knowledge
Part of the explanation, in my view, lies in the fact that knowledge for Sartre is, what we may call, a
contrastive notion: knowledge is what consciousness--including one's primary relation to oneself, to
one's own body, to other beings in a situation, and to the world--is not

Free will
He believes that one is free because there are consequences resulting from the actions and
that this responsibility is taken upon oneself. He also believed that one's past directly had an
influence on present decisions.

Morality
Sartre morality is created by the universality of the freedom that man holds. Man as a whole, not the
overman, wills actions based on freedom, and by choosing these actions, he is defining these actions as
good, or favourable

D ESCARDES

Theory of knowledge
Descartes set a standard that our beliefs have to pass if they are to count as genuine knowledge. Then
he argued that what we believe on the basis of the senses cannot meet the standard. Consequently, he
concluded, we do not know anything on the basis of our senses. Descartes himself did not rest with this
conclusion.

Free will
Freedom is a central theme in Descartes's philosophy, where it is linked to the theme of the infinite: it is
through the freedom of the will, experienced as unlimited, that the human understands itself to
bear the "image and likeness" of the infinite God.

Morality
Scholars agree that Descartes recognizes at least three innate ideas: the idea of God, the idea of
(finite) mind, and the idea of (indefinite) body. In the letter to Elisabeth, he includes a fourth: the
idea of the union (of mind and body.

G RAMSCI

Theory of knowledge
Gramsci is best known for his theory of cultural hegemony, which describes how the state and
ruling capitalist class – the bourgeoisie – use cultural institutions to maintain power in capitalist
societies

Cultural hegemony refers to domination or rule maintained through ideological

or cultural means. It is usually achieved through social institutions, which allow those in power to
strongly influence the values, norms, ideas, expectations, worldview, and behavior of the rest of
society.

Free will
Morality

K ANT

Theory of knowledge
Kant's theory of knowledge is summed up in a statement: “Thoughts without contents are empty;
intuitions without concepts are blind.” or lack of one element makes knowledge impossible. The
interplaying of sensibility (with its power to receive) and understanding (with its power to think) comes
about knowledge
Free will
Kant formulated the positive conception of freedom as the free capacity for choice. It asserts the
unconditional value of the freedom to set one's own ends. Autonomy of the will isthe supreme principle
of morality and a necessary condition of moral agency.

Morality
Kant believed that the shared ability of humans to reason should be the basis of morality, and that it is
the ability to reason that makes humans morally significant. He, therefore, believedthat all humans should
have the right to common dignity and respect.