Category: Philosophy

How would you answer the problem posed by Glaucon in the Ring of Gyges story? If someone is capable of doing whatever they want with impunity, do you think there are many reasons why they should care about being good and just? Ultimately, what are the real reasons why we . . . Read more

Hume characterized miracles to be ‘a transgression of the law of nature by a particular volition of the deity or by the interposition of some invisible agent’. His essay on miracles published within the Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding has long been the definitive text on miracles and as such has . . . Read more

Select two essays from the Rivkin and Ryan Reader. Type out one quotation from each of the essays which you think encapsulates the essay’s key ideas. Write a commentary of about 250 words on each quotation explaining what you understand from the quotation and a brief summary of the ideas . . . Read more

It is a well-known fact that throughout history there have always been powers that have been compared to the Chosen People (sometimes by themselves and other times by others). Now, according to the historian José Álvarez Junco, the nation touched by divine grace would be the United States, just as . . . Read more

David Hume is a philosopher highly respected for his clarity of thought and constructive use of skepticism. His skepticism, however, did not extend to all the prejudices of his time: I am apt to suspect the Negroes to be naturally inferior to the Whites. There scarcely ever was a civilized . . . Read more

Kant famously attempted to “answer” what he took to be Hume’s skeptical view of causality, most explicitly in the Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics (1783); and, because causality, for Kant, is a central example of a category or pure concept of the understanding, his relationship to Hume on this topic . . . Read more

This paper considers some of the opinions of these men, as given in The Prince and The Republic. (13 pages; 2 sources; MLA citation style) Introduction We can learn a lot about our world from those who have gone before, even if they are removed from us by hundreds, even . . . Read more

This paper examines Section 25 of Transcendental Deduction, contained in Critique of Pure Reason, in detail. (13 pages; 2 sources; MLA citation style. Introduction Immanuel Kant’s work entitled Critique of Pure Reason is considered by many to be one of the most important philosophical studies ever written. In it, Kant . . . Read more

Throughout history, there has been a concept of a greater being(s) that guided our lives. In the beginning, the main idea was that of plurality and polytheism. In ancient Greece and Rome, there were various gods that were believed to control different aspects of life. At some point, people began . . . Read more

The goal of any philosopher is to find what can only be referred to as “truth.” Truth is the undeniable, that which can be relied upon in any circumstances, obviously the one thing in life that has real meaning. Unfortunately, truth is quite elusive, as philosophers have been going at . . . Read more

Examine the via negativa as an approach to understanding the nature of God. Another word for via negativa is the apophatic way. It comes from the Greek word ‘apophasis’, which means negation. It argues that God cannot be known in terms of human categories. God is beyond all signs and . . . Read more

The roots of civil disobedience exercised today stem from Gandhi’s teachings, philosophy and practices. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, a.k.a. Mahatma Gandhi, Mahatma meaning great soul, was born in 1869 in India. Gandhi was a great humanist, a social reformer of fight imperialism morally and non-violently. In the early twentieth century, India . . . Read more

All the information we have about the world we live in is conveyed to us by our five senses. The world we know consists of what our eye sees, our hand feels, our nose smells, our tongue tastes, and our ears hear. We never think that the “external” world can . . . Read more

In his essay, “Freedom and Necessity”, A.J. Ayer maps out his argument for Determinism, the idea that humans act the way they do because of the way already existing factors in their lives incline them to, and not of their own free will. These already existing factors are known as . . . Read more

Socrates was a teacher and a very wise man. He was very controversial because of the way he approached things. He often questioned people to get his points across. In the Trial and Death of Socrates, he is charged with impiety, corrupting the youth, introducing new gods, and atheism. He . . . Read more

The soul or psyché is the non-physical, spiritual or emotional centre of a person. The soul is the element that survives death. An example of the definition of the soul according to the infamous philosopher Plato is outlined in the ‘Republic’ whereabouts Socrates engages in a discussion with Glaucon regarding . . . Read more

In Plato’s dialogues, Euthyphro, Apology and Crito, Socrates demonstrates his belief that “the most important thing is not life, but the good life”(Crito 48b). Socrates believed that a good life is equivalent to one that is just and honourable. The good life is also one where the beliefs and morals . . . Read more

Aquinas, Anselm, Paley and Kant all famous philosophers, have proven that god exists; yet people still question God’s existence. As Anselm said, “We are like students who, unable to solve a mathematical problem, are given the answer to it and then discover they can reason out why that answer is . . . Read more

Hume accepts that the problems of philosophy are those Descartes isolates; he rejects all of Descartes’s solutions. Hume asks the question how does the mind work? What are the principles that the mind follows when it thinks? These questions are answered in Hume’s “ Enquiry concerning Human understanding” section II. . . . Read more

In The Apology, Socrates talks positively about an instance in which he committed an act of civil disobedience, but in The Crito he argues that civil disobedience is not an acceptable option. These two claims are irreconcilable. Although Socrates claims that civil disobedience is never alright, he insists he would . . . Read more

Late in his life, Socrates went around the marketplace having discussions with the countrymen. He believed that if someone claimed to know what X was then they should be able to define it. So he would usually ask a question such as, what is X? Socrates would not be pleased . . . Read more

Many philosophers have argued against the verification and the falsification criterion of meaning, and its challenge to religious language. However, the falsification theory in religious language can be considered “meaningless” since true believers exercise faith, but do not allow any evidence to count against their ideas. Criticism of logical positivism . . . Read more

In your class discussions, we learned the basic aspects of Kantian and Machiavellian Ethical standards. I found that it is fairly easy to establish a basic attitude on the subject, depending on how a specific person handles the situations in their life. I chose my preferred ethical standard rather quickly. . . . Read more

In The Prince Niccolo Machiavelli presents a view of governing a state that is drastically different from that of humanists of his time. Machiavelli believes the ruling Prince should be the sole authority determining every aspect of the state and put in effect a policy which would serve his best . . . Read more

The Current Crisis in American Morality: How Big Business Has Contributed to, and Ought to Address, the Crisis In this paper, I argue that several features of Big Business in the United States, and its influence on our society, have caused far too many Americans to stop thinking about what . . . Read more

Does life have a meaning? Life, it might be argued, is the distinguishing feature of all organisms and may most usefully be thought of as involving various kinds of complex systems of the organization providing individual organisms with the ability to make use of those energy sources available to them . . . Read more

W.E.B. DuBois’s Philosophy and Outlook on Afro American Struggle 1. Basic philosophy on ways in which African-Americans could achieve equality. In a meeting, 1906 at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia, W.E.B. Du Bois said “We will not be satisfied to take one jot or title less than our full manhood rights. We . . . Read more

Human beings are physical objects, according to Hobbes, sophisticated machines all of whose functions and activities can be described and explained in purely mechanistic terms. Even though itself, therefore, must be understood as an instance of the physical operation of the human body. Sensation, for example, involves a series of . . . Read more

Kant escapes the limitations of the apparent world by viewing it through a strictly rational perspective; Neitzsche also achieves this through the will to power of his original code of ethics. Kantian philosophy escapes the apparent world through reason, void of any influence of the thought of desires, inclinations and . . . Read more

In the early times, before the beginning of human civilization and the development of philosophy, people believed in the idea that Gods, who basically controlled every individual aspect of human existence, controlled the world. Some primitive people believed in the idea of Animism, or Hylozoism. (The belief that everything in . . . Read more

Humanism is the philosophical idea that emphasizes the dignity and worth of the individual. The term humanism is most often used to describe a literary and cultural movement that spread through Florence, Venice, Pisa, Milan, Rome and other Italian cities in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. It involved a revival . . . Read more

In this paper, I will examine the issues of individuation and identity in Descartes’ philosophy of mind-body dualism. I will begin by addressing the framework of Cartesian dualism. Then I will examine the problems of individuation and identity as they relate to Descartes. Hopefully, after explaining Descartes’ reasoning and subsequently . . . Read more

“The aim of those who practice philosophy in the proper manner is to practice for dying and death.” This is a statement made by Socrates in “Phaedo”. To some, this may seem an absurd statement, as it did to Simmias and Cebes, the men to whom Socrates is speaking. In . . . Read more

Winning isn’t everything it’s the only thing” is a harsh reality in today’s dog eats dog society. Vince Lombardi the author of this quote was a football coach who took the worst team in the league, the Green Bay Packers, and made them into a perennial powerhouse. He was and . . . Read more

Aristotle refutes Plato’s Theory of Ideas on three basic grounds: that the existence of Ideas contradicts itself by denying the possibility of negations; that his illustrations of Ideas are merely empty metaphors; and that the theory uses impermanent abstractions to create examples of perception. Though the theory is meant to . . . Read more

Theory of Knowledge (TOK) Essay How does the mathematician’s knowledge differ from that of the scientist? This question implies discussing how the knowledge acquired by mathematicians differs from that acquired by scientists. Defining mathematics is never easy. Some claim it is an art, others that it is a science, yet . . . Read more

Why is it so important that young children in our society receive a good education? The answer to that question is very simple; because they are our future. The old saying “the youth of today are the leaders off tomorrow” holds more truth than many people realize. By giving children . . . Read more

One of the most important occasions for the students is to finally graduate and received the diploma that they work so hard to accomplish. Many will only wish to finish their Western or English Education. They did not give importance to their Arabic Education. Arabic Education is also important to . . . Read more