Determinism, Compatibilism, Libertarianism Contemporary philosophical debates about free will can frequently resemble the old parable of the blind men and the elephant. Various blind sages are asked to examine an elephant: one grabs the tusk and dec Continue Reading...
slavery and citizenship in Aristotle's Politic: Aristotle believes that most people in the world can be enslaved devoid of injustice as they are born to be slaves. At the same time some are born to be free and dominate as masters. Most modern criti 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...
Plato, The Apology of Socrates The charges against Socrates, as given in Plato's Apology, are twofold. This is how Socrates himself phrases it: And now I will try to defend myself against them: these new accusers must also have their affidavit read Continue Reading...
Natural Law In Apology Crito, Plato presents Socrates a staunch defender law, sense respect legal orders polity a basic obligation citizenship. What important reasons Socrates position defense Athenian law? If accept Lewis' critique emotional subjec Continue Reading...
In trying to be different from the rest and in trying to act against reason people are either false or they prefer to believe that they actually have an alternative. Considering this, it is only safe to assume that freedom, as Kant sees it, is limit Continue Reading...
(Leaves, 680) Similarly Whitman informs us: Stop this day and night with me and you shall possess the origin of all poems, You shall possess the good of the earth and sun…there are millions of suns left, You shall no longer take things at Continue Reading...
Matrix or the Cave? The Matrix (1999) has singlehandedly brought the debate over the epistemology of the Real into popular dialogue. For the first time in centuries --if not in history-- a large section of the common crowd had a metaphor by which to Continue Reading...
Plato's Republic and George Orwell's 1984 Philosophy could be defined as the highest level of true clarity and understanding human thought can aspire to. It would thus seem strange to compare the ideal philosophical kingdom of Plato's Republic with Continue Reading...
Even before one gets to Rowe's argument, however, one may disregard Hick's argument because it depends on imagining an infinite number of possibilities to explain away evil, rather than accounting for it. Instead of actually explaining how a benevo Continue Reading...
Civil Disobedience The Trial of Socrates The Athenians suffered a crushing defeat in 404 B.C.E. with the end of the Peloponnesian War. A Spartan occupation force controlled the city, and instituted the rule of the Thirty Tyrants to replace Athenian Continue Reading...
And the freedom in question is the most harmless of all-namely, to make public use of one's reason in all matters" (Clarke 1997, 53). This added to classical liberalism's support of the freedom of speech and of the press. This all played a part in K Continue Reading...
Justice equalled virtuosity. The goal was a rather pragmatic one since what the philosopher had in mind was the ideal functioning of the city (where a happy city would mean happy people). It is important to understand the fact that a city can reach Continue Reading...
Plato's Theory Of The Tripartite Soul The Republic is an influential dialogue by Plato, written in the first half of the 4th century BC. This Socratic dialogue mainly concerns political philosophy and ethics. The political ideas are clarified by pic Continue Reading...
Violence in Plato: The Euthyphro In the dialogue of the Euthyphro, Plato depicts an exchange between the titular young, aristocratic man who has decided to turn his father in for manslaughter and the Greek philosopher Socrates. According to Euthyphr Continue Reading...
Mills on Liberty John Stuart Mill's on Liberty To whom does Mill's principle of liberty apply? To whom does it NOT apply? Mill justifies the liberty principle according to "the permanent interests of man as a progressive being" (On Liberty, p. 4). Continue Reading...
However, would deductivism be true from a normative perspective? This is a question that relates with the fundamental question that a principle would be justifiable from a deductivist perspective: if H - hypothesis is the best explanation for the f Continue Reading...
Jean-Jacques Rousseau is one of the European theorists who has been cited as an inspiration for the Founding Fathers as they wrote the U.S. Constitution and created the American form of government. In some ways, however, they were using what Rousseau Continue Reading...
Ethics: Green's Dilemma Identifying Logical Fallacies Fallacy 1: Circular Definition (The definition includes the term being defined as a part of the definition, it is assumed because something is a rule it must be obeyed without saying why) "I b Continue Reading...
This is Aristotle's launching pad for his discussion of politics. To him, ethics and politics are matters of rational judgment, stemming from the natural inclinations of individual humans. This notion is reflected in Aristotle's analysis of the con Continue Reading...
What they had regarded as the most certain of all theories turned out to be in need of serious revision. In reaction, they resolved never again to bestow their faith in scientific truth unconditionally. Skepticism, not certainty, became their watch Continue Reading...
One party may take power away from the other. One party may lose power. This interaction or exchange leads either to equilibrium between the wielders of power, or to disequilibrium and imbalance. One can take Coleman to be saying that power is an el Continue Reading...
Jesse Jackson and Rev. Al Sharpton to Duke to denounce the acts of the lacrosse players; and three, according to the pragmatic theory of truth, with is certainly in play in America, something reported is true if it is useful to believe it is true. Continue Reading...
There are people that I share the same views with when it comes to abortion. Through discussions we agreed conclusively to take the stand against abortion. In an event that I miraculously change my mind on the issue it can be quite a challenge to t Continue Reading...
Letters to Authors Smehra Letters to Authors Dear Plato, In "The Republic" you state: "We know that, when the bodily constitution is gone, life is no longer endurable, though pampered with all kinds of meats and drinks, and having all wealth and a Continue Reading...
Critical Thinking and Logical Fallacies Author and speaker Brian Tracy says that people do not make decisions rationally, or logically. He believes that individuals make decisions emotionally, and then only seek to justify them on a rational, logica Continue Reading...
Socrates and Knowledge:Dealing with the Existence of Unconscious and Conscious ThoughtsIntroductionSocrates held the view that one must engage in self-examination if one is to thwart ignorance. Ignorancea lack of knowledge of truth and of ones selfpr Continue Reading...
Socrates and Crito In this paper, I will show that Socrates’ argument concerning staying to drink the hemlock juice as ordered by the State is a successful argument. First, I will reconstruct the argument, and discuss why it is significant. The Continue Reading...
This work provided an intensive discussion historical forces that were to lead to modern humanism but also succeeds in placing these aspects into the context of the larger social, historical and political milieu. . Online sources and databases prov Continue Reading...
Determinism FREEDOM OF THE WILL AND DETERMINISM Contra: Chapter 39. Baron D'Holbach: "We Are Completely Determined" Pro: Chapter 40. "Corliss Lamont: Freedom of the Will and Human Responsibility" (334-337) The nature of the freedom of the human w Continue Reading...
Immortality of the Soul in the Phaedo Such dialogues as the Republic, the Phaedrus, and the Symposium make clear that Socrates has certainly reflected on the demonstrability of the immortality of the soul prior to his death day. And it is entirely p Continue Reading...
The second part of this book introduces the more central aspect of his argument's epistemological motive, with the prescription for proper leadership extending from a view that is ethically, intellectually and socially instructed. We can easily det Continue Reading...
Political Philosophy II: Theories of Freedom John Stuart Mill's On Liberty is one of the foundational defenses of liberal, democratic government. According to Mill, there are certain core principles "that should regulate how governments and Continue Reading...
Throughout the duration of the war, Paine was responsible for publishing a series of propaganda pieces which were published in the Crisis. In these, he often addressed the British Crown and warned of the Americans' united spirit: "In all the wars wh Continue Reading...
For Hobbes, individuals must be a larger population beneath authority, and those individuals must, by the very nature of the perpetuation of the species, cede all rights and control over to that authority. It is also well within the natural rule of Continue Reading...
Mill and Wilson Attempting to find any common ground between the moral and political philosophies of John Stuart Mill and Edward O. Wilson seems futile, given that their ideas are based on extremely different premises and assumptions. Wilson was a D Continue Reading...
" This illustration is an exact explication of the kind of philosophy that Plato helped propagate in human society during his time, and still gained prominence and status as contending philosophies, to other philosophies of latter centuries. Rubinste Continue Reading...
Kant and Rousseau Reducing Conflicts Between States The Theories of the Great Philosophers Rousseau and Kant The great philosophers of the 18th century were the first of their kind to fully encapsulate what it meant to be an ethnocentric state, ra Continue Reading...
Among these statements include: 1. "We must oppose this action now, or we do a disservice to our members and will regret it later." 2. "I had lunch the other day with a group of members, and everyone was in agreement that if you opposed this measu Continue Reading...
Plato's Apology Discuss the main points of Plato's the Apology The Apology is based upon series of speeches that were made by Socrates in 39 BC. He was standing trial for corrupting the youth of Athens by not believing in the gods of the city. This Continue Reading...
