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Existentialism, philosophical movement or tendency, emphasizing individual existence, freedom, and choice, that influenced many diverse writers in the 19th and 20th centuries. Because of the diversity of positions associated with existentialism, the term is impossible to define precisely. Certain themes common to virtually all existentialist writers can, however, be identified. The term itself suggests one … Read more
The word philosophy comes from Greek and literally means love of wisdom. Webster dictionary defines philosophy as a critical study of fundamental beliefs and the grounds for them. Both explanations of philosophy are correct and concrete, while where the meaning of human existence is located has no such concrete answer, but in this paper we … Read more
Kant starts off making two distinctions regarding kinds of knowledge, empirical/rational and formal/material. Empirical or experience-based knowledge is contrasted with rational knowledge, which is independent of experience. This distinction between empirical and rational knowledge rests on a difference in sources of evidence used to support the two different kinds of knowledge. Formal is contrasted with … Read more
Evil-doing is neglect of eternal things and love of temporal things to the extent of becoming subject to them. This is done by the free choice of the will . . . Free will makes sin possible but it was given that man might live righteously. 1 This is a brief summary of what Augustine … Read more
I believe that the popular or “ghost in the machine” form of substance dualism best solves the mind body problem. My views in this area have been influenced by my twelve years of Catholic education. The soul, or mind, depending on your level of belief, was a complete and separate entity and was the center … Read more
In 1830, a movement known as Transcendentalism began to gain popularity in America. Representing an idealistic system of thought, “strength, courage, self-confidence, and independence of mind”1 were some basic values admired by the followers of the Transcendental movement. Transcendentalists opposed many aspects of their government, where they felt “many unjust laws existed. “2 Therefore, they … Read more
Strongly influenced by the rise of modern science and by the aftermath of the long religious conflict that followed the Reformation, the thinkers of the Enlightenment (called philosophes in France) were committed to secular views based on reason or human understanding only, which they hoped would provide a basis for beneficial changes affecting every area … Read more
“The new narcissist is haunted not by guilt but by anxiety. He seeks not to inflict his own certainties on others but to find a meaning in life. Liberated from the superstitions of the past, he doubts even the reality of his own existence. Superficially relaxed and tolerant, he finds little use for dogmas of … Read more
Of all the questions posed to the class only one question really made me think. Socrates had a grand ideal for a city of sorts and how he, with his fellow philosophers, would plan it out. All of the ideas they came up with for their city, like physical training and a specific education for … Read more
The philosopher I used is Immanuel Kant. He was very practical in his thinking of goodness. A quote of his was “I ought, therefore I can”. His view was good anything is under good will . He believed good will was the primary goodness, good in its purest form, and that it couldn’t be corrupted. … Read more
Kant defined aesthetic as both, “the analysis of taste and the analysis of sensible cognition or intuition” (1). Aesthesis, means “sensation”, the Greeks made a distinction between aesthesis autophues (natural sensation) and aesthesis epistemonike (acquired sensation) (1). We may say that aesthetics is both the study of aesthetic objects and of the specific and subjective … Read more
Existentialism is a philosophical movement that developed in continental Europe during the 1800s and 1900s. Most of the members are interested in the nature of existence or being, by which they usually mean human existence. Although the philosophers generally considered to be existentialists often disagree with each other and sometimes even resent being classified together, … Read more
Life in ancient times was full of risks and uncertainty for those people living there. Much trust was put in the unknown, but as civilizations progressed, there was a feeling of need to understand the unknown and the meanings of life. Within this paper I will discuss three important issues that deal with the progress … Read more
Few formulas in philosophy have been so widely accepted and variously interpreted as Kants injunction to treat humanity as an end in itself(Hill, 38). Immanuel Kants views, as elucidated in his book, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, are based on the belief that people count by prohibiting actions which exploit other individuals in order … Read more
Aristotle was born in 384 BC. ; with him came the birth of Western realism. He was a student of Plato and a tutor to Alexander the Great (Founders, 1991). It is difficult to discuss the philosophies of Aristotle without bringing up those of his former tutor, Plato. Aristotle’s philosophies diverted from Plato’s, and led … Read more
In India there are six orthodox schools of philosophy which recognize the authority of the Vedas as divine revelation, and they generally function as pairs – Nyaya and Vaishesika, Mimamsa and Vedanta, and Samkhya and Yoga. Those who did not recognize this authority were the Jains, Buddhists, and materialists. Even in India where spiritual ideas … Read more
Nobody likes the idea that we are going to die. It’s one of those things that pop into your head whenever you get comfortable, possibly as a subconscious motivational tool. Just in case you ever get really, truly at ease with your life it strikes you that it will all come to an end (possibly … Read more
Kant starts off making two distinctions regarding kinds of knowledge, empirical/rational and formal/material. Empirical or experience-based knowledge is contrasted with rational knowledge, which is independent of experience. This distinction between empirical and rational knowledge rests on a difference in sources of evidence used to support the two different kinds of knowledge. Formal is contrasted with … Read more
From Descartes’ perspective, nature is a representation of God; therefore, God must intrinsically exist, inasmuch as he, too, is a product of His own creation. Descartes was one of many philosophers who fully supported this argument in support of God’s existence, contending that the external world is the ruling force behind the presence of all … Read more
Confucianism, the philosophical system founded on the teaching of Confucius, who lived from 551 BC to 479 BC, dominated Chinese sociopolitical life for most of the Chinese history and largely influenced the cultures of Korea, Japan, and Indochina. The Confucian school functioned as a recruiting ground for government positions, which were filled by those scoring … Read more
Imagine studying the political and social developments of the 20th century without ever considering Communism or evaluating the idea of Fascism. Envision a Russia without the effects of Joseph Stain or a Germany untouched by the doctrine of Adolph Hitler. The above statements seem incredible because these systems created so much of the political and … Read more
From the origin of Western philosophical thought, there has been an interest in moral laws. As Hume points out in the Treatise, “morality is a subject that interests us above all others” (David Hume “A Treatise of Human Nature’). Originally, thoughts of how to live were centered on the issue of having the most satisfying … Read more
The word philosophy, by definition, is extremely vague and ambiguous. It can be related to anything to do with thought, perception, and even basic human existence. Therefore, in defining philosophy, perhaps it is easier to simply state what it may or may not involve rather than trying to find a concrete and simplified definition. Philosophy … Read more
Jean-Paul Sartre . . . the name is one of the most popular in modern philosophy. But who was he? What did he write and what were his works about? What was his role with regard to Existentialism? What is Existentialism, really? What life influences affected the person as whom he became famous? How would … Read more
Aristotle once stated in Metaphysics that, “All men by nature desire Knowledge. ” If one accepts the claim that knowledge is power, then it will be logical to assert that all people want power. The person or persons that have knowledge also acquire the power of that knowledge. In Michel Foucault’s Discipline and Punish he … Read more
The one single truth of reality is not measured or distinguished — it is the ultimate paradox. The journey by which one achieves this truth can be a journey of increasing realizations of paradoxes, and finally, freedom from the bubble of limitation of a mind that would perceive such paradoxes as paradoxes in the first … Read more
According to Hume, what is the “justest and most plausible objection against a considerable part of metaphysics” (1, p. 5)? According to Hume justice and plausible objective to metaphysics is that it’s not a proper science. Hume claims that metaphysics raises from unnecessary human effort and make you think of such abstract ideas that they … Read more
Despised by academics, passionately loved by her followers, Ayn Rand, the novelist-philosopher, has evicted the whole gambit of emotions and responses. Her work has been ridiculed and praised. Her followers devotion has produced outcries of cultism, allowing one author to write a stirring critique[1] and another a book. [2] Despite this, Ayn Rand remains, one … Read more
In the Foundation of the Metaphysics of Morals, the author, Immanuel Kant, tries to form a base by rejecting all ethical theories that are connected to consequences, and then focusing on our ethical motivations and actions. Kant wants to derive good characters out of contingently right actions. He believes that everything is contingent (everything can … Read more
A literary and philosophical movement called transcendentalism developed in the United States in the first half of the nineteenth century. This movement is a reaction to certain eighteenth century rationalist doctrines and involves the rejection of strict Puritan religious attitudes. (Parrington 375). Transcendentalism is strongly influenced by Deism and opposes the strict ritualistic and dogmatic … Read more
Nature vs. nurture has been discussed by philosophers in the past and by scientists most recently. Philosophers such as Plato argued that all knowledge was inherited through your parent and when you were told something you didn’t learn it you were just reminded of it. Aristotle however argued that all humans were born with a … Read more
Many people lose sight of what is important when determining what a good person TRULY is. What most people would consider to be a good person is humility, selflessness, caring, generosity, kindness, etc. Others believe that a good person is measured by how much he does and accomplishes in life rather than by what he … Read more
“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to from only essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived” (Thoreau). American Transcendentalism was a literary and philosophical movement that emerged in … Read more
Existentialism is the title of the set of philosophical ideals that emphasizes the existence of the human being, the lack of meaning and purpose in life, and the solitude of human existence. Existentialism maintains existence precedes essence: This implies that the human being has no essence, no essential self, and is no more that what … Read more
Confucianism, the philosophical system founded on the teaching of Confucius, who lived from 551 BC to 479 BC, dominated Chinese sociopolitical life for most of the Chinese history and largely influenced the cultures of Korea, Japan, and Indochina. The Confucian school functioned as a recruiting ground for government positions, which were filled by those scoring … Read more
Human nature is the egotistical behaviours that drive the human race to be creative and inquisitive. Although some philosophers may disagree with the validity of this statement, others such as Aristotle, John Stuart Mill and Thomas Hobbes would believe it to be true. After examining the beliefs of these philosophers and using real-life examples to … Read more
Philosophy — a:pursuit of wisdom. b:a search for a general understanding of values and reality by chiefly speculative rather than observational means. Through this most specific definition given to us respectively by Sir Webster’s dictionary, I choose in my best interest to refrain to you just what the meaning of philosophy is. I implore you … Read more
Philosophical thought begins with the Milesians, where intellectual curiosity propelled thinkers like Anaximander and Heraclitus to attempt to explain the phenomena of the universe by means of specific physical elements. During the 6th century BC, Eleatics, like Parmenides and Zeno, had rejected physical phenomena and propounded metaphysical paradoxes that cut at the roots of belief … Read more
Education is inevitable. It is all around us because we can learn from virtually anything. When you are cooking, dancing, talking or any other activity you have actually had to learn several things to be able to do them. In the educational perspective, I am a pragmatist and I tend to follow after Dewey’s footsteps. … Read more
In The Stranger, as in all Camus works, Camus views on freedom and death one dependent on the other are major themes. For Camus, freedom arises in awareness of ones life, the every-moment life, an intense glorious life that needs no redeeming, no regrets, no tears. Death is unjustifiable, absurd; it is but a reintegration … Read more
Are computers and the Internet redefining human identity as people explore the boundaries of their personalities, adopt multiple selves, and form online relationships that can be more intense than real ones? Is the World Wide Web redefining our sense of community and where we find our peers? The answer is simple. An individual should not … Read more
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife. What we read is just the opposite; a single woman must be in want of a man with a good fortune. In this first line of Jane Austens Pride and Prejudice we … Read more
Taoism is one of the two great philosophical and religious traditions that originated in China. The other philosophy native to China is Confucianism. Both Taoism and Confucianism began at about the same time, around the sixth century B. C. China’s third great religion, Buddhism, came to China from India around the second century of the … Read more
From the origin of Western philosophical thought, there has been an interest in moral laws. As Hume points out in the Treatise, “morality is a subject that interests us above all others” (David Hume “A Treatise of Human Nature’). Originally, thoughts of how to live were centered on the issue of having the most satisfying … Read more
To compare the difference between King Henry and Prince Hal’s style of statecraft, first we have to understand the basic philosophy of each. The King belives that to effectively lead the country one needs to lead by example. According to the King’s philosophy the best man is the one who lives a pure life and … Read more
The Puritan people first came to the New World to escape the religious persecution that hounded Non-Anglicans in England. They established the Plymouth Colony in 1620, in what is now Massachusetts. The colony was a reflection of the Puritans’ beliefs. These beliefs, along with the experience of establishing a colony in “the middle of nowhere”, … Read more
Classical Chinese theory of mind is similar to Western “folk psychology” in that both mirror their respective background view of language. They differ in ways that fit those folk theories of language. The core Chinese concept is xin (the heart-mind). As the translation suggests, Chinese folk psychology lacked a contrast between cognitive and affective states … Read more
Morality, Kant says, cannot be regarded as a set of rules which prescribe the means necessary to the achievement of a given end; its rules must be obeyed without consideration of the consequences that will follow from doing so or not. A principle that presupposes a desired object as the determinant of the will cannot … Read more
They had discussed it, but not deeply, whether they wanted the baby she was now carrying. I dont know if I want it, she said, eyes filling with tears. She cried at anything now, and was often nauseous. That pregnant women cried easily and were nauseous seemed banal to her, and she resented banality (p. … Read more
Most often, philosophers attempt to prove their many theories by making use of several examples or analogies. Yet, it is through these clever, everyday platforms that we, the average knowledge-seeking citizen, gain a true understanding of his or her intent. It allows us to incorporate our personal lives into the theory and as a result, … Read more
