Rationalism/empiricism; deduction/induction; intuition/scientific method; yin/yang. First of all, one should ask oneself if experience be complete without polar opposites. This writer would answer "probably not." Rationalism purports the basic notio Continue Reading...
dialectic of the Enlightenment in terms of the values of truth, progress and liberation. We will tangentially see how these concepts are linked to modernity and post modernity. Also, we will see what the two alternatives to dealing with the demise o Continue Reading...
Thus, the analytic approach offers the best method of approaching philosophical questions, because it understands and explicates the problems and limitations of human consciousness immediately by intentionally discussing language itself, because no Continue Reading...
Inception and Eternal Sunshine The films Inception and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind are both characterized by unique perspectives on the human condition and on the human mind. Neither of these stories is told in a traditional manner. Each u Continue Reading...
Self-Reflection and the Philosophical Mirror In Plato's Socratic dialogue in Apology, Socrates makes the bold declaration that "the unexamined life is not worth living" (Apology 38a). Since I am a great believer in the value of self-examination, thi Continue Reading...
This may be true, but only to a limited extent. If human experience is limited, then so is the acquired knowledge and truth can not exist partially only. On the one hand. On the other hand, it is safe to say that unlimited experience is impossible a Continue Reading...
It is noted that students be chosen at an early age and that only those students with a true love of learning and never ending quest for knowledge will become true philosophers. The student of philosophy must possess the virtues of courage, magnif Continue Reading...
Aristotle & Cicero on Rhetoric As children we are conditioned to a particular form of discourse that is framed by a significantly complex set of variables including our culture, gender, ethnicity, birth order, political identity and power, relig Continue Reading...
Pascal's View Of The Heart Pascal seemed, on the surface to make one of the most famous reasoned and calculated defenses of Western Christian philosophy when the French thinker made his 'wager' that it was better to suppose that God existed, rather Continue Reading...
Nietzsche and Nihilism "Nihilism" was the term used by Friederich Nietzsche to describe what he considered the devaluation of the highest values posited by the ascetic ideal. The age in which he lived was viewed by the German philosopher as one of p Continue Reading...
Put another way he contends that the reasoned man must expect the unexpected, while relying on his own memories and senses to determine eventual effects. Rules must apply only when they have been proven repeatedly and are therefore a sound represent Continue Reading...
Science Philosophy Inherent in Science Explanation in Science This summary was a review of Carl G. Hempel's "Explanation In Science," which was reprinted from "Scientific Knowledge" and was edited by Janet A. Kovoany. Carl Hempel was well-known f Continue Reading...
It is only through occult understanding that the forms and the archetypal images and symbols can be interpreted. Here we see that the term unconsciousness is very similar to the Platonic ideals and forms. Another aspect that will form part of the t Continue Reading...
Aquinas and Descartes The discourse on the relationship between mind and matter and between human being and nature has been a pervasive theme throughout the history of Western philosophy. The philosophical views of Thomas Aquinas and Rene Descartes Continue Reading...
Happiness is perhaps the most illusive, but most sought after mental state in life. Like all human experiences, happiness is also a very subjective state; different things make different people happy. This is why it is so difficult to say what happin Continue Reading...
Gorgias, Plato addresses the Sophists and shows Socrates facing off against several of them in a discussion of justice. As can be seen from this dialogue, different Sophists taught somewhat different doctrines. In general, though, the Sophists consi Continue Reading...
Greek Civilization: Compare Greek religion in the two different periods in history in the eighth century, the time of Homer, and in the fifth century BCE, according to the following: The different ways they believed their gods intervened. During t Continue Reading...
Akutagawa uses perspectivism in his story In a Grove here the main focus is on the incident that is being investigated by the high police commissioner. Here Takehiko is found murdered and the police highly suspect Tajomaru "The man that I arrested? H Continue Reading...
His sexual liberation is viewed as a step toward liberation from the Party because it is a step back toward human nature and real human ideals like Truth and Beauty -- remnants of a Past, which the Party attempts to subvert and/or erase. Winston be Continue Reading...
Heidegger The Wall: Through the Eyes of Heidegger Sartre's short story "The Wall" exemplifies the writers' philosophy regarding the meaning of life. He uses a true to life moment of individuals facing the inevitability of his own death to reveal th Continue Reading...
Furthermore the rhetoric here is rich in symbolism. Dr. King draws parallels between the response of violence to his peaceful protests and other great personalities whose commitment to justice, truth, and love also had unintended and unfortunate co Continue Reading...
Butler agrees that a person has to find his or her own state of goodness (32). To go along with what society agrees with or counts as good doesn't mean anything to Plato; majority has opinion but not knowledge. To begin, Goodness itself is related t Continue Reading...
Indeed, arguably he is playing a little loose with the terms here, for persuasion, while it may be based on logic, is rarely simply logic. Rather it is logic combined with at least a coating of emotion. In the following passage toward the end of hi Continue Reading...
The Mayans believed that a land called Mu once existed above the waves and that when that civilization fell below the surface, the survivors created the Mayan people (Hancock, Underworld: The Mysterious Origins of Civilization 73). In their creatio Continue Reading...
Locke combined the rational, deductive theory of Rene Descartes and the inductive, scientific experimentalism of Francis Bacon and the Royal Society. He gave the Western world the first modern theory of human nature and a new synthesis of the indiv Continue Reading...
History of Crime and Punishment in Europe 17C-18C This paper traces the history crime and punishment in Europe. It looks at the influences of that time the social and philosophical movements and how they affected the whole evolution of treatment of Continue Reading...
Republic, Plato's allegory of the cave is included as a way of describing the path from ignorance to enlightenment. Plato describes a group of people chained inside a cave, who cannot see anything except for the shadows cast on the wall in front of Continue Reading...
Plato Cave The Sociological Implications of Plato's Allegory of the Cave Social enlightenment is an abstract concept indeed, and one that is tied closely to collective ways of understanding and perceiving complex cultural dimensions such are hierar Continue Reading...
The tone of the argument is generally constructive. While the author implies a clear conflict -- in this situation the basic class warfare argument -- the author proposes constructive resolutions to the issue, such as the passage of new laws govern Continue Reading...
By connecting the awarding of a peace prize with the concerns of a world in which terrorism has become a constant threat, Obama makes clear the exigency of his message when he says: "I do not bring with me today a definitive solution to the problems Continue Reading...
(2179) Here we have another example of how Swift uses his setting as a perfect weapon for his argument. Not all people are respected and soome are treated badly. These statements are morbid but they are true and that is why this essay succeeds. Sw Continue Reading...
Morality therefore comes within but is associated with the results generated within as well: The force of an internal sanction derives from the feeling of pleasure which is experienced when a moral law is obeyed and the feeling of pain which accomp Continue Reading...
It is this activation of the sleeping animal life-force, and its conjugation with the higher human intellect which idealizes aspects of life, which gives passion its unique power and generativity. It is vital to clarify this core essence by compari Continue Reading...
20th century humanities or modernism is the assumption that the autonomy of the individual is the sole source of meaning and truth. This belief, which stemmed from the application of reason and natural science, led to a perpetual search for unique a Continue Reading...
Plato and Descartes Plato concept of innate goodness and Descartes descriptions of human reasoning for being good both provide a foundation for man's need to better understand the basic and spiritual goodness found within human nature. In Plato's Re Continue Reading...
Strauss on Moral Relativism The Shifting Sand of Moral Relativism Current political and social thought which is built on the foundation of moral relativism can no more chart a path for a nation to follow out of confusion into an enlightened and ord Continue Reading...
Phantom Limbs When we ask ourselves what is knowledge (as we do when we are engaged in the process of philosophy) we are effectively asking what is our relationship with the world. V.S. Ramachandran - as is the norm for philosophers - asks the quest Continue Reading...
Euthyphro, Socrates questions Euthyphro about his proposed course of action concerning his father. Explain in detail the reason given by Euthyphro. "In the Euthyphro, where Socrates and Euthyphro wrestle with the concept of holiness, the substantiv Continue Reading...
Skepticism Ridiculous," Michael Philips attempts to understand the disparity between the philosophical skepticism of many philosophers and the failure to fully engage this idea in their private or personal lives. For instance, while many modern soci Continue Reading...
