Philosophy

The Sartrean claim that existence precedes essence may be interpreted as yet another philosophical contribution to the classical nature v. nurture debate. A more traditional thesis claims that essence prevails over existence. A prime example would be the notion of humans’ innate rational egoism that pushes them to always pursue...

Plato’s theory of recollection is revealed in his dialogue between Meno and Socrates where the learning process are based on the prenatal knowledge given to a person from his/her birth. In the dialogue, there is a dispute concerning the meaning and definition of virtue which, according to Socrates, cannot be...

Oration on the Dignity of Man reflects the aspects of historical perspective. His manuscript provides the explanation for the importance of the human search for knowledge in a neo-platonic structure. His thinking had a deep inspiration on arts assisting essayists and artists from their medieval task as mere craftsman to...

Pico Della Mirandola’s “Oration on the Dignity of Man” is considered a manifesto of the Italian renaissance. This manuscript more forcefully, expressively, or clinically draws human nature. Pico Della Mirandola is one of the well-known renaissance philosophers and is also recognized as a Neo-Platonist and a humanist. “His work synthesizes...

According to Plato, the soul of a human being is divided into three parts. These are parts that control and manage our brain, and the three are appetite, spirit, and reason. Though each of these parts plays a particular role, Plato believed that only reason should be let to rule....

Plato was a sharp man who knew very well how to use analogies to explain his points. For example, the allegory of the cave was an analogy that he used to illustrate his ideas to his students. He was talking of men who have been chained for quite some time...

For Plato, the state is legitimized by its ability to enforce reason through just laws adopted by the community. If philosophers govern, this precondition can adhere. Hobbes is legitimized by its capacity to enforce order and law on the populace. Though the state is a monstrous Leviathan, it can form...

Immanuel Kant describes phenomena as that which appears to humans or our experiences. Kant describes noumena as the things in themselves which make up reality. According to Kant, humans are incapable of knowing noumena. While we can experience phenomena through our senses, noumena is a “higher reality” unknowable. These two...

Mencius, a famous and respected Confucianism teacher, often argued with other philosophers and statespeople. Similar to other ancient thinkers he often used logic and the power of words to construct his arguments. The analogy was one of his most frequently used techniques for convincing an opponent. Thus, in response to...

Analysts and scholars, such as Immanuel Kant, developed three schools of liberalism: reciprocity, identity, and interdependence. The first idea reveals that states can develop rules and organizations that have the potential to facilitate cooperation. The consideration of such federations ensures that countries are willing to cooperate. The concept that forms...

Marx explains that there is a connection between alienation or estrangement and the money economy. Private property, avarice, and the separation of labor, capital and landed property, between exchange and competition, value and the devaluation of men, monopoly, and competition, are all interconnected. Man’s labor has put him into estrangement...

The object is the product or the commodity the worker has produced. Objectification is the “loss of and bondage to the object, and appropriation as estrangement, as alienation”. The worker is reduced into an object, or he becomes a slave to the object he has created. He is alienated from...

Aristotle’s main focus in moral philosophy was the human character, and what it takes for an individual to become a good person (Kemerling, G., 2002). He gave the thought that all human activities are carried out for a reason, having an aim, and mostly this aim is to achieve some...

According to Hobbes, human being ought to avoid the state of nature. He asserts that if one is concerned to avoid violent death, then he should avoid the state of nature. Human have a duty to do what he can to avoid this situation or to end it. Hobbes view...

Glaucon had a radical idea that the institution of justice did not arise from the desire to do good but it came out as a means to an end and that to his mind it is a compromise between good and evil. Therefore, the institution of justice arose from the...

To define the word medium as the message, it is wise to define the two words medium and message appropriately. This will help to eliminate the chances of jumping to conclusions. According to McLuhan, the medium is an extension that occurs in us. For example, a wheel is taken to...

Phaedo is one of the most important Plato’s dialogues where Socrates speaks about the mission of philosophy, philosophy, the distinction between body and soul. One of the crucial arguments Plato puts forward through Socrates’ words is that philosophers are amongst the most virtuous people in the world. After their death,...

The link between religion and morality has been the subject of numerous debates for a while. In his book, James Rachels questions whether morality depends directly on one’s religious beliefs by scrutinizing the nature of the subject matter. Furthermore, Rachels posits that morality should be viewed as independent from religion....

At least once, any person becomes obsessed with a thought about God’s existence, look, abilities, and intentions. Some people believe in his powers and goal to support and control people and provide opportunities that challenge and encourage them. Philosophers like Rowe introduce God as an independent creator or a supernatural,...

Socratic virtue is equated with justice and moral excellence. It is the doing of good and the refraining from evil. It is the desire to do what is right and doing ones best not to cause harm to others. It the wonderful things that one can expect from a good...

Comparing Plato’s philosophy and Hobbes’ perception of the world, the concepts presented by both are rather controversial. In particular, the most contradicting questions are the philosophers’ deliberations on the human nature and knowledge, on the definition of justice, on politics, and on the social and ethical issues. Considering their vision...

The development of any research is based on how well a person can introduce the chosen philosophical approach. Subjective qualities of perception have to be shaped by past knowledge and present values. Therefore, the identification of values becomes an obligatory step in research. I would like to pay close attention...

Though warfare and terrorism are defined as the forms of armed conflict, the aim of which is to defeat an enemy, the difference between them, including the frequency and intensity of violence, cannot be neglected. Compared to war, terrorism is characterized by asymmetrical nature without a clear beginning and end....

In his work Leviathan, Hobbes states that the knowledge about the surrounding world is acquired through five original senses of the body or object, “which presents the organ to each sense, either immediately, as in the taste and touch, or mediate, as in seeing, hearing, and smelling”. The sense is...

Hobbes defines Commonwealth as the multitude consolidated into one person, which he calls Leviathan. At this point, commonwealth can be also regarded as one person, of whose acts a great multitude, by mutual covenants one with another, have made themselves every one the author, to the end he may use...

My choices of invitation for the three most influential persons that have ever lived to my dinner reservation would be Berra Biricik, Immanuel Kant, and Gabriel García Márquez. Berra Biricik, because of her professional mentorship and personal advice that shaped my life. Immanuel Kant, a great philosopher whose ideologies on...

The school of critical theory or “Frankfurt School” main goal was to distinguish the traditional methods and characteristics of scientific knowledge as a presentation of the whole sphere of the objects possessing theoretical meaning from the new theory of knowledge established by the research method of the Institute for Social...

According to the great thinker Plato, the ideal city being riled by the philosophers is considered to be based on the aristocratic form of government, depriving the citizens of their basic rights, worship, and choice of freedom. The thinker’s aristocratic form of government is characterized as intelligent, wise, and strong,...

Three things indicate the different ways women and men communicate at work: the way of thinking, the way of speaking, and decision making. Men are said to be compartmental thinkers while women’s thinking is global. Men are likely to be emotionally separate and keep their information in a very ordered...

Plato finds the ascent to truth confusing and painful because the ascent is different from what ordinary minds have learned through the experience of reality. According to this parable, the initial mind is in a cave, and what it perceives as reality are only images or shadows of what is...

Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a major philosopher, writer, and composer. He successfully composed a number of musical selections and wrote a number of historical pieces. Rousseau was one of many famous philosophers of the Jacobin Club. The majority of his work was founded on the concept of a hypothetical state of...

The majority of people imagine the model of Utopia as almost similar. An ideal state should provide the benefits of citizens’ lives: decent wages, confidence in the future, housing, the ability to influence life in the country, participation in elections to government bodies. I also want to include all these...

John Locke was a British born philosopher. Locke was important because he was original. He was a revolutionary thinker who opposed the tyranny of prejudice, dogma, opinion, and ignorance. Though his philosophy has been subject to criticism over the years it is no doubt that it has had a great...

According to Kant’s theory, animal cruelty can be justified if it is for survival purposes but not for entertainment. However, humans and other animals are similar in their biological functions, especially in sharing basic instincts and feelings. Kant’s conclusion about ethics and morality in his deontological theory is clear –...