Robert Nozick in his book The Examined Life considers in one chapter "The Nature of God, the Nature of Faith," a major philosophical issue that has been addressed through history by many philosophers. Nozick himself cites Descartes in his introductio Continue Reading...
Philosophy (general) In sections 37 thru 45 of the Monadology Leibniz offers three different proofs of the existence of God. Explore the way in which each of these proofs is derived from the 'two great principles' introduced immediately before. The Continue Reading...
Descartes MeditationsThe skeptical arguments presented in Descartes first meditation are to suppose that one cannot know whether one is asleep or awake; that one cannot know whether ones eyes, hands, body and surroundings are real; that one cannot kn Continue Reading...
He goes further to support this by comparing an existent God and a non-existent God, and since humans cannot imagine any being greater than God then God is existent which is logically true and understandable. When this argument is compared to that o Continue Reading...
In 300 BC, Jews were again exiled to Egypt by Ptolemy. His capture of Jerusalem led to the deportation of thousands of individuals to Egypt, and still others left of their own accord. Those that were left were often assigned to Ptolemy's garrison, Continue Reading...
Descartes Discourse IV For centuries, humans have wondered about certain basic paradigms of the universe -- how do we know what we know? Is there truth? Is there a God? How can we prove that? While we know that this basic question has been debated f Continue Reading...
philosopher Rene Descartes can be regarded as the supreme rationalist. Descartes believed that only through our rational minds could we fully know God and find evidence of God. Empirical knowledge was not sufficient justification to prove the existe Continue Reading...
Faith: Philosophy Paul Tillich Paul Tillich was one of the most famous theologians of the 20th century. He represented the 20th century movement called neo-orthodoxy. Most of Tillich's work is represented in a series of transcribed lectures. Tillic 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...
Angelology, or the study of angels, has been a topic of human fascination since the dawn of time. There are several perspectives from which angels can be viewed. Many are skeptical about their existence, since they cannot be physically perceived with Continue Reading...
After considering the particular language of Philippians 2:5, it becomes clear that one may read this clause as containing either no verbs, a single repeated verb, or a verb and a noun referring to related concepts. In all likelihood, the most accu Continue Reading...
If he had love, he had no pot in which to plant it. And so it stayed trapped in his mind, separate from any object -- for Kant insisted on the gulf between faith and reason. If one had to accept certain truths on the authority of the one revealing t Continue Reading...
e., God). Marx and Engel saw it as something that is fantastical -- a fantastical reflection of the minds of men (Marx & Engel p 161). Buddhadasa writes that the Buddha believed in the reality of a spiritual existence, yet he refused to interpre Continue Reading...
McCloskey responds to this by asking "might not God have very easily so have arranged the world and biased man to virtue that men always freely chose what is right?" But in that case, humans would not have genuine free will. And God is justified, Ev Continue Reading...
Generosity is the main characteristic of a Christian society. Along with that, Christians should be obedient to God and respectful toward government. The family would become a matter of great importance. Christians would not live luxurious lives whi Continue Reading...
Mind-Based Identity: A Problem Impossible to Ignore One of the most basic questions of human existence is essentially "What am I?" Although humans have known in varying degrees throughout recorded history that they are biological beings, there has Continue Reading...
Socrates, "The unexamined life is not worth living (rdg.uk)." It is for this reason that a critical examination of our most fundamental beliefs about truth and reality whether right or wrong becomes an important undertaking (rdg.uk). The examination Continue Reading...
Life After Death Introduction classical point of departure in defining Death seems to be Life itself. Death is perceived either as a cessation of Life - or as a "transit area," on the way to a continuation of Life by other means. While the former pr Continue Reading...
160). Furthermore, Aquinas considers all people as being creations of God and parts of a whole that God represents. God's perfection has been passed on to its creations and thus all humans are perfect in their nature. Aquinas is obsessed with demon Continue Reading...
), and the five gross elements which are said to proceed from the five subtle elements (ether or space from sound, air from touch, fire from sight, water from taste, earth from smell). (68) Nature is further divided into three essential gunas, sattva Continue Reading...
This also contrasts sharply with idealistic notions within strict doctrines of the Orthodox faith suggesting that faith and God are defined and not subject to interpretation. One may look into themselves to find compassion and strength, but those qu Continue Reading...
Moral Philosophy Ethical Theories on Animals. The treatment of animals has historically evolved along with human beings' changing views of them. A number of theories trace this changing treatment to the Judeo-Christian-Islamic times when people exer Continue Reading...
Sensory experiences are nor reliable for making any statements, since people often mistake one thing for another. (Descartes talks about mirages). Knowledge based on reasoning is not always trustworthy, because people often make mistakes. (adding nu Continue Reading...
Historical Proofs of the Resurrection of Jesus and the Implications of the ResurrectionThe historical proofs of the resurrection are actually quite compelling and numerous. However, one must adopt a logical perspective if one is going to approach the Continue Reading...
Origin Jesus said that God created human beings (Matt. 19:4) and they should worship and obey Him wholly and also love their neighbors, much as they love themselves (Matt. 22: 37-39). He also taught that human beings have immaterial souls that live Continue Reading...
Judaic, Greek, and Roman origin myths, and indeed, those who believe the former is representative of some divinely-inspired message would likely take offense at the notion that their god's story is suspiciously similar to the stories of other, mutua Continue Reading...
Theology Definition In How to Think Theologically, Howard Stone and James Duke argue that theology works with a distinct template and epistemology or theory of knowledge, as do history, sociology and physics. Each theologian will have a distinctive Continue Reading...
This method of presentation attracted several immediate attacks from enemies within the church even before a reaction from the Chinese. Sometime after 1610, one critic, Father Longobardo, said that even with all the references to that of a supreme Continue Reading...
Genesis 1 (in the Old Testament) and the pronouncement of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20 (of the Old Testament). Be sure to include the purpose of Exodus 20 and how it is related to Genesis 1. Comparing and contrasting Genesis 1 and Exodus 20 of Continue Reading...
If all people followed these teachings, many of the social evils in the society such as stealing from each other, killing, mugging, rape, revenge, jealousy, etc. Molloy, 2009. Therefore, religion is extremely important since it guides our day-to-da Continue Reading...
But there are far more accounts concerning individual revelations of God's will than there are accounts of whole groups receiving ethical commands en masse, so to characterize revelation as an individual experience is not too presumptive. For that r Continue Reading...
Human beings, while being superior, are nonetheless part of the physical world and subject to its laws. Mankind is made in His image and is therefore distinct from the rest of creation This belief is central to the dichotomy outlined above: human Continue Reading...
pious is what all the gods love, the opposite, what all the gods hate, is the impious." How does Socrates react to this definition? Why is this not an adequate definition, and why does it fail to reveal the form? Socrates is not satisfied with Euth Continue Reading...
Following Aquinas's argumentation, we will reasonably ask ourselves, at a certain point, what the cause of what was considered to be the First Cause is. However, with the temporal cause, we may not assume an extra cause, because there will have been Continue Reading...
Philosophy (general) Given that experience is argued to be the foundation of knowledge (according to Locke) how - if at all - does Locke make room for what Leibniz would call 'necessary truths'? Gottfried Leibniz made many criticisms of the work of Continue Reading...
Promethean myth holds a very strong hold upon the literature of the romantic era, a collected era of the rekindling of the ideas and ideals of classical antiquity. Though within each evolving age there is the incorporation of propriety and modernity Continue Reading...
Man? Giovanni Pico della Mirandola asks the question as to what is man's highest calling. He finds it in the deepest of religious beliefs and offers rational spirituality as the way to perfection. He believed that man was the greatest of God's crea Continue Reading...
Negotiation Skills A High Impact Negotiations Model: An Answer to the Limitations of the Fisher, Ury Model of Principled Negotiations This study aims to discover the ways in which blocked negotiations can be overcome by testing the Fisher, Ury mode Continue Reading...
