Hayagriva dasa: In Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Locke writes: “This argument of universal consent, which is made use of to prove innate principles, seems to me a demonstration that there are none such because there are none to which all mankind give a universal consent.” That is, it cannot be argued that all people have … Read more
Hayagriva dasa: Francis Bacon is generally acknowledged as the founding father of modern science in England, and although he did not work in a modern laboratory like today’s scientists, he inspired what has become known as the scientific method. He believed that science could give man a mastery over nature that would improve his life … Read more
Syamasundara dasa: It is Hobbes who declared, “Whatever exists is matter, and whatever changes is motion. ” For him, mental or spiritual entities are not realities in their own right, but are merely by-products of matter. Spirit and mind perish when the material basis is destroyed. Srila Prabhupada: Spirit is not a combination of material … Read more
Hayagriva dasa: In Meditations on First Philosophy, Descartes writes: “The power of forming a good judgement and of distinguishing the true from the false, which is called good sense or reason, is by nature equal in all men…. God has given to each of us some light with which to distinguish truth from error.” Is … Read more
Hayagriva dasa: Pascal saw man situated in the universe between two extremes: infinity and nothingness. Man has a body like the animals, and an intellect like the angels or demigods. As such, he is neither a demigod nor an animal but somewhere between the two. He is intelligent enough to know that he is in … Read more
Hayagriva dasa: Spinoza asserts that God cannot be a remote cause of the creation. He sees the creation flowing from God just as conclusions flow from principles in mathematics. God is free to create, but He is the immanent cause; the creation is but an extension. Srila Prabhupada: Yes, because He creates through His energy. … Read more
Syamasundara dasa: Leibnitz was a German mathematician and philosopher who maintained that in the universe, every act has a purpose, and the purpose of the universe is to realize the goal set forth by God. Srila Prabhupada: Yes, actually the goal is to reach God. The ignorant do not know this. Instead, they are hoping … Read more
Hayagriva dasa: Darwin’s conception of evolution rests on the premise that there is a real genetic change from generation to generation. In other words, he rejects the Platonic eidos (idea, type, or essence) for a species. Whereas Krsna says that He is the generating seed of all existences, Darwin would reject the existence of a … Read more
Hayagriva dasa: Huxley felt that the main difference between man and the animals is the ability to speak. In his essay “Man and the Lower Animals,” he writes: “Man alone possesses the marvelous endowment of intelligible rational speech, whereby … he has slowly accumulated and organized the experience which is almost lost with the cessation … Read more
Syamasundara dasa: Alexander is the philosopher of emergent evolution. For him, external objects have an existence independent of consciousness. Unlike many other philosophies, Alexander’s neorealism contends that something may exist even though it is not perceived. Srila Prabhupada: Yes, that is so. God exists whether we perceive Him or not. God is the original creator, … Read more