Philosophy Essays

This research is the best example of comparison and contrast of Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Alfred Adler, and William James theoretical positions. The paper is also being carried out to describe the differences among their perspectives concerning the causes and nature of human psychological functioning.

Thus Locke’s emphasis on the property as a natural right is intricately associated with the property a person possesses and the output of labor (Weymark, 1975; Bogart 1985). Locke focused on how labor could add to the value of a thing and Locke developed a labor theory of the difference in value.

This is particularly the case with the novels Slaughterhouse 5, by Kurt Vonnegut and The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon. In the former, Vonnegut attempts to render the destruction of Dresden, and the overall experience of war, within the essentially absurd and futile nature of human being destroying human being.

This paper encompasses a discussion of Tao. More specifically the discussion includes and examination of the question 'what is the Tao way' This is certainly not a question that has one answer. That is because Ta is a philosophy and a way of thought. This paper will examine two aspects of this school of thought known as Tao bases on two journal articles.

To get a sense of the world that lies beyond good and evil, we must go back to an earlier time, even before a time when the world could be taken up as tragic. We must go back before the tragic poet and before his predecessor, the lyric poet, and attend to the two forces which made possible these forms of poetry, these forms of human existence.

Rousseau's ideas contributed immensely to the development of modern sociology, political science, and education. His numerous works mostly written in the form of a dialogue with his thinkers of the past such as Plato, Locke, and Hobbes offered a new perspective on social, moral, political, and economic relationships between people. 

The author states that Piaget believes that children develop cognitive structures on their own via the processes of adaptation, accommodation, and assimilation. The main role in the process of cognition belongs to the mental abilities of a person: infants are born with certain schemes operating at birth (reflexes).

“The posthuman view privileges informational pattern over material instantiation, so that embodiment in a biological substrate is seen as an accident of history rather than an inevitability of life” (Hayles, 1999, p. 2). Posthumanism views the human body as a prosthesis that humans learn to manipulate and replaces it with other prostheses, which is a continuation of a process.

In contrast, both worlds are contextual, which may be called “indexical”. It means that the meaning is understood variously by placing it in various contexts and thus it becomes dialogical and hard to locate. But the cognition of meaning is possible when placed in the proper context of utterance with its associated complexities.

All preconceived notions, assumptions, and prejudices have to be questioned to know the real answers. If all this seems vague, let us try to understand it with a blend of science and philosophy. Let us shun the arbitrary and move on with well-defined concepts.

The author states that in ‘A Good Man is Hard to Find’, a quite ordinary American family, consisting of a good-natured grandmother, a troubled married couple, and their sometimes naughty three children, meet up with an escaped criminal who calls himself The Misfit after they have suffered a car accident.

The issue of human fulfillment is a paradigm that has never really been understood to its fullest since man has learnt to think. Over the millennia, thinkers and philosophers of every time have attempted to answer this question, and despite the magnificent attempts at its answer, no final word is available to mankind.

The author states that in his Posterior Analytics, Aristotle sets out what seems to be a rather stringent method of acquiring scientific knowledge and understanding (episteme). Aristotle argues that a genuine understanding of a thing requires a grasp of why that thing is necessary as it is.

The place of man in the universe has been always an urgent question. The sense of being and existence has puzzled a number of generations. As man could not explain the phenomena and laws of nature he had endowed it with superpowers: he created god and created his own system of mystic views which could give the least satisfaction.

The responsibility for these two subversions of the holy can be narrowed down and fixed on two powerful personalities, Adolf Hitler and Osama bin Laden. But what motivated these two to such actions'Hitler firmly subscribed to the belief that the Germans were of Nordic/Aryan origin, and were a superior race

The Crux of First Essay: Good and Evil The first essay is about the differentiation of Good and Evil. Nietzsche is of the opinion that the basic instinct of man is “power” which he calls “will to power”. This will to power leads to the subjugation of the ones who are weak. Therefore the basic instinct which was supposed to be good is “Will to Power”.

Heidegger believed that our relationship with technology must be free – independent. A living with technology that does not allow it to "warp, confuse, and lay waste our nature of being. Our nature is to be world disclosers. What stood out in Heidegger's work is the thin line of differentiation between being and the understanding of being.

Since all Greeks were not created equal (i.e., as in the case of slaves), democracy would have created an unfair playing ground as opposed to the oligarchy that already characterized Greek politics and the Greek state. Assuming one now knows what democracy meant in Plato's time, let us critique his assertions.

An ideology is something we cannot touch nor taste, yet gives life sensation and flavor. People find stability and support in having something to believe in. The need for direction and assurance perpetrates the flourishing of ideologies towards the betterment of society.

Philosophers have always been in pursuit of truth and knowledge. From the times of Plato- the Greek philosopher, knowledge has been defined as ‘justified true belief’ (Holt, 1). Accordingly, knowledge may be understood as some belief that has a justification and the latter is true, then it is taken as knowledge; anything that does not satisfy this condition.

The author states that a Zen master living in a simple yet contented life has something to give to others. Particularly in the story, the thief was trying to resources out something at the master’s dwelling as his nature is to do the stealing. Yet, when he was caught by the master, instead of rebuking him for his misdeeds, the master felt pity.

Wht is surprising is tht in much of the twentieth-century philosophers of mind nd psychologists tended to neglect them--perhps becuse the sheer vriety of phenomen covered by the word "emotion" nd its closest neighbors tends to discourge tidy theory. In recent yers, however, emotions hve once gin become the focus of vigorous interest in philosophy, s well s in other brnches of cognitive science.

The author states that Rawls in the concept of distributive justice goes further in hypothesizing the justice theory under justice as fairness. Justice as fairness has two principles to drive the following Rawlsian principles of justice the first one is that the liberty principle and the second is the difference principle.

Hegel maintained that true understanding can only be attained if one has a comprehension of ‘The Absolute’, and for Hegel the whole of human history and intellect constitutes a progressive self-realization of this Absolute spirit that takes place through ‘dialectic.’

In that sense, both men were different in their approaches.  However, another similarity was that both men were classically trained philosophical thinkers who followed in the footsteps of their predecessors by rationally deducing logical and well-thought-out arguments.  Each of these men should be revered for their great contributions to society.

Paine’s famous philosophical political work is The Right of Man written in 1791. Besides the fact that The Right of Man is seen as a vindication of the French Revolution, it also clarifies the basic notions of Liberalism.  In this work, Paine developed a political theory that identifies three basic principles; (1) society and civilization, (2) the origin of present old governments, and (3) the old and new systems of governments.

The main branches of Philosophy are: Metaphysics, which deals with reality, Epistemology, which deals with knowledge, Ethics, which considers moral values, Politics, which accounts for legal rights and governments, and Aesthetics, which looks in to nature of art.

The author states that currently an Emeritus at the Divinity School, University of Chicago, he has produced many renowned books on religion and theology. His book, Figuring the Sacred is one such book and is a wonderful collection of twenty-one essays. Paul Ricoeur is a European intellectual.

However, in the previous and present centuries, we have witnessed the development of humanitarian laws and international human rights legislation which have been applied with the force of law in countries signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Although the application of these laws is not maximized to a full degree.

Positive freedom may critique negative freedom, in fact, it emphasizes a weakness of positive freedom as a truly workable political theory. Specifically, this is because there is no obvious place to draw the line when it comes to an individual’s environment or setting and maximizing freedom in the positive liberty perspective.

The author states that due to the major impact on people’s life, Lao-Tzu is sometimes considered a divinity, or, at least a messenger of a Divine force. His constant efforts to teach others how to respect order and harmony at all levels have materialized into the work that is presently known as Laozi.

Critics have often asked whether this is the same difference as between “aesthetics and maths”. We often speak about hiring people in our offices or selecting our social circle on the basis that these people should have a good reputation or wear decent clothes. These are all matters of aesthetics.

The author states that Hegel’s notions start with the idea that knowledge does not have the ability to explain itself; therefore human beings must trust their senses to understand knowledge. The mind also comes into play here, because the mind processes all senses, and thus becomes the primary focus of knowledge.

Marx’s critique of religion is his critique of Christianity. Not only was Christianity the religion he knew best; but he also assumed, as did most Western thinkers in the nineteenth century, that Christianity was the ‘highest,’ the most developed of the world’s religions. Thus, when Marx speaks of ‘religion’ he has Christianity in mind.

It is important to distinguish the conceptual possibility of incorporating an extremely wide range of considerations in a consequentialist view from the moral question of what considerations belong in a moral evaluation. It is, for example, possible to define a consequentialist view in which murders that happen on Tuesdays are morally permissible.

In such situations small variations in behavior can have dramatic consequences, both positive and negative. A contextual theory suggests that situations which induce stress for an individual diverts their attention resources and so inhibits optimum cognitive functioning.

In the time of Socrates, we can see two contrasting notions of education. The sophist treats his pupil as an empty receptacle to be filled from the outside with the teacher's ideas. Socrates respects the pupil's own creativity, holding that, with the right kind of assistance, the young man will produce ideas from his own mind and will be enabled to work out for himself whether they are true or false.

We all dream of a “Perfect Society” where there are love and respect for one another. We want to live in a peaceful world; with no violence, no jealousy, and no protests. Furthermore, we want society to have the discipline that almost all institutions work so hard to implement. True enough, we would have a better place to live in.

However, Locke, Rousseau and Kant changed our political perspectives, our understanding of the rights and duties of citizens and states and emphasized man’s right and responsibility to take political action, even revolution, when needed.

Writing and Difference waѕ firѕt published in 1967, and it contains a collection of eѕѕayѕ by this author from 1959 to 1966. This book has molded contemporary French thought and is hailed as the landmark aѕ for the iѕѕueѕ it deals with. Deconѕtructioniѕm iѕ the ѕtrategy of analyѕiѕ, moѕt importantly applied to literature, philoѕophy and linguiѕticѕ

The reason behind this idea is that Nietzsche believed that it was impossible for a system of morality to be established without breaking the laws it is set up t uphold. While there are many ways to interpret the phrase “Beyond Good and Evil,” the most appropriate and wide-reaching implication of the statement is the terms moral and immoral.

Hegel's dialectical philosophy was the ultimate expression of German Idealism, which was prevalent throughout his lifetime and was connected both to Romanticism and political revolution. Arguably the most politically and economically impacting philosopher to follow after Hegel, Karl Marx in the 1840s "reproached Hegel for having absolutized into an ideal state the Prussian state" of his era.

As with love and knowledge, the concept, message, meaning, reasons, etc. of existence is also hard to define. There is no universally-accepted definition of the term. The twentieth-century view of existence that dominates states that existence is asserted by statements of first-order logic of the form "for some x Fx", as Wikipedia reports. 

The author states that this viewpoint is in direct contrast to collectivism, which states that the opposite is true – that the importance of the community is high above that of the individual, and that the good of the community to which one belongs should be considered more important than one’s personal needs or wishes.

The author states that democracy usually gives way to monarchy and tyranny in the guise of achieving this goal, upholding the mighty ends. In, ‘Hanging’ George Orwell has drawn a picturesque representation of the last minutes of a condemned prisoner, and also the relief of the authorities after finishing their task of execution.

The definition requires the inculcation of the theory of Perceptual Relativism-which explains Socrates’ focus on the dynamics of perception. It is worthy to note that the man-as-measure theory is broader and requires deeper consideration because it encompasses deductions concerning values, such as “the just” and “the good".

He explained that when all men lived without a strong power, they was in the state of war, and "such a war as is of every man against every man" (Hobbes, Chapter XIII). Hobbes therefore supposed that a general inclination of all mankind, a perpetual and restless desire of power after power.

Aristotle believed that these were comparable in the sense, that these were arrangements of convenience, wherein additions or subtractions in the notions could be contrived at a theoretical convenience, just so that a link could be established amongst the theoretical construct originally proposed by them.

The ridiculous man reaches a point of utter despair. Alienation has gripped him completely and when a young girl appeals to him to save some stranger’s life, he abandons her. He drives her away.  Again, what is the point?  This person will die regardless, right?  Turning his back on humanity, the ridiculous man reaches a crisis point.

Greek philosophy since the beginning of time has often directed its focus on inquiry and reason. Scholars and philosophers of all times have made great attempts to define justice, Greek philosophers being no exception. This work makes a critical view of Plato’s definition of the republic, justice, and its (justice’s) application in society.