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...
Rene Descartes: Why Psychology Cannot be a Science Like Physics The philosophies and concepts presented in Rene Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy illustrate several reasons why psychology cannot be a science like physics. These concepts inc Continue Reading...
Minds," Norman Malcolm attempts to highlight the difficulty of establishing the existence of minds other than one's own, specifically by dismantling the so-called "argument from analogy" (Malcolm 969). This actually makes Malcolm's argument a little Continue Reading...
But even many devout believers in America today state that we all worship the same God, and thus participate in the same 'truth' regardless of our affiliation. Even atheists validate the feeling of believers and state that although science is factua Continue Reading...
Monologue, a Dialogue with the Self: Reflections on "No Exit" by Sartre The Self: There is "No Exit" from hell -- not in Christian, theological terms, but by the terms set by Sartre's play of the same name, there is no exit from the self. The varie Continue Reading...
Plato believe that being or change is more real? According to Plato, one of the greatest challenges of life is the question of "how can humans live a fulfilling, happy life in a contingent, changing world where everything they attach themselves to Continue Reading...
Our modern world has also shown us that human actions have much more far-reaching and complex effects than have been previously thought. We have become so aware of these complexities, in fact, that in our most rational moments we human beings can a Continue Reading...
One can try to react against social norms by, for example, refusing to conform to sexual norms of morality, but this reaction is in and of itself an acknowledgement of the pervasiveness of the social ideal that Heidegger called inauthentic. Perhaps Continue Reading...
The capitalist, in Marx's view, merely accumulated wealth and used that wealth to unjustly make more wealth, like an aristocrat of old. The capitalist's exploitation of the worker was no progress at all. It was merely the latest manifestation of th Continue Reading...
Dogen's Great Doubt Both exoteric and esoteric Buddhism teach the primal Buddha-nature [or harma-nature] and the original self-awakening of all sentient beings. If this is the case, why have the buddhas of all ages had to awaken the longing for and Continue Reading...
Marxist Theory: Dialectical & Historical Materialism, The Economic System, and Class Conflict Abstract Dialectical materialism and historical materialism form the foundation of Marxist philosophy. Grounded in the dialectical process of epistemolo 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...
Marxs Dialectical Historical MaterialismMarxs position on dialectical historical materialism and the importance of the economic system was that materiality deserves its primacy of place in the discussion of ideals. Ideals should be connected to mater Continue Reading...
Ethics & Justice Social, Cultural, and Historical Positioning Effecting or Altering Hegel's Contentions Concerning Self-Consciousness and Recognition The abstractness found in the book makes it difficult for one to understand what the author is Continue Reading...
Relationship of Certainty to God From Descartes Compare With Gassedi, Pascal, and Spinoza The French philosopher Rene Descartes was one of the most transformational figures of his time and his work is now considered one of the pillars of modern West Continue Reading...
When viewing the Star Trek episode “Measure of a Man,” it is difficult not to sympathize with the character Data, not only because of his behavior during the episode but because of the close relationship many viewers developed with him an Continue Reading...
Romanticism "Romance," "Romanticism" and "Romantic" are three related words frequently utilized rather loosely by literature readers and hence requiring some clear definition. The most important fact is these words are always written with the first Continue Reading...
Problems Associated with the Idealization of Love Introduction As Berardo and Owens point out, “sociologists agree that love is one of the most complex and elusive concepts to deal with from a scientific point of view” (1696). Yet, love i Continue Reading...
Descartes: An Assessment of Readings Descartes 1.) What does Descartes’ mean when he claims, “I think, therefore I am”? Please describe the method he utilized to reach this conclusion. In your opinion, is this maxim a con Continue Reading...
The Defense of Socrates Plato’s Apology also known as the part of the sequence of the Trial of Socrates scenes shows the famous philosopher pleading his defense before the committee of Athens that has decided it is his fate to die for corruptin Continue Reading...
The American and French Revolutions occurred within decades of each other, influenced by similar changes taking place in European society. Concepts of freedom and liberty therefore evolved concurrently within these two societies, in part due to the v Continue Reading...
" (Ibid) the term cosmology is derived from the Greek word 'kosmos' meaning order and refers to the world and the universe. (Ibid, paraphrased) the cosmologic philosopher is stated to be on who "contemplates the nature of this order and is concerned Continue Reading...
The metaphysical constructivists who are successful hardly take the truth of a substantive normative claim for granted. Transcendence In his phenomenological descriptions, Levinas used various accounts of transcendence to refer to the tradition an Continue Reading...
Zombie Argument v. Physicalism: In the field of philosophy, zombies are imaginary creatures that are used to illuminate problems regarding consciousness and its relation to the physical world. As compared to those in witchcraft or films, zombies are Continue Reading...
Strauss and Nature Strauss is contending that the "self-evident" natural rights of man are no more apparent because of a creeping relativism in thought and an increasing dependence on legalism. Thus, "the legislators and the courts" decide what is " Continue Reading...
By verse 10, the Bhagavad-Gita is clear that "a transcendentalist should always try to concentrate his mind on the supreme self." Again, here we see reference to the self, defined in verse 7 as one who has achieved complete control of the mind. Th Continue Reading...
The world of matter is real, it is tangible, and it is an essential aspect of our human existence. However, the material universe, according to idealist philosophy, is not absolute; it is not the end. Because metaphysics concerns itself with the ult 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...
Both the "Theory of Universal Integralism" and "The General System Theory" were regarded as meta-theories because they were both drawn from other theories. Consider the theory of Universal Integralism, for instance. As mentioned above, Wilber's con Continue Reading...
Hume's conception is a more temperate one, but at the same time more vague, skeptical and relative. Neither for Hume, the substance of body or soul is not the primary focus, but the changing perceptions - becoming conscious of the bundle of percepti Continue Reading...
Social Theory in the View of Phenomenology: Alfred Schutz Who was Alfred Schutz, and why was his work on social theory and phenomenology so important? This is an important question that must be answered here, and will be answered, but there are oth Continue Reading...
The boy had conflicting religious training. Officially, he was Catholic, but his grandfather's Protestantism influenced him greatly. He learned little of the major philosophers of the day because they were not given attention at the French universit Continue Reading...
Artificial intelligence has been at the center of many science fiction stories in the last fifty years. Some have become obsessed with proving or disproving the idea that computers can possess real minds, real consciousness. The latest take on this h Continue Reading...
While these are some of the more famous elements of rhetorical theory, they do not require extensive discussion here for two reasons. Firstly, they are fairly well-known. Secondly, and more importantly, they actually do not provide much insight into Continue Reading...
Existentialism: A History Existentialism is a philosophical school of thought that addresses the "problem of being" (Stanford Encyclopedia, 2010). Existentialist questions involve the nature of man in relation to the universe, the subjective nature Continue Reading...
Dualism." It discusses the basic idea of the term dualism and why it is rejected by science. What is Dualism? Dualism is the metaphysical principle that there are two substances, i.e., distinctive and autonomous kinds of being, one material and th Continue Reading...
Nagel is telling us that if the one universal thing in imagining something is you, complete with all the character that make up you, and if one were to take those things away to try to imagine what it would be like to be something else, you would n Continue Reading...
