Philosophy Essays

The mind-body problem is the problem of determining the relationship between the human body and its mind. Are our minds something different from our physical bodies Suppose we think that the mind is a substance of some sort -- a mental substance. We might still ask: Is there some way to explain what the mind, a mental substance, is, in terms of physical substance Or will we maintain that the mind is something totally different from physical bodies, and that we cannot explain what the one is in terms of the other at all

Machiavelli presents to his readers a vision of political rule purged of extraneous moralizing influences and fully aware of the foundations of politics in the effective exercise of power. The term that best captures Machiavelli's vision of the requirements of power politics is virtù. While the Italian word would normally be translated into English as “virtue,” and would ordinarily convey the conventional connotation of moral goodness.

The author of the paper states that Lutheranism and Calvinism differed with regard to the concept of predestination, morality and discipline, church organization, etc. Significantly, Calvinism particularly appealed to certain groups and the people of the cities welcomed both Lutheranism and Calvinism.

While the ideas of Marxism have been consequently developed and enhanced by the events in history of the working class itself, the basic conceptions however remain unshaken, providing a firm groundwork for today's Labour Movement. There have not been any superior, more truthful or scientific theories produced before and since the lifetime of Marx and Engels that could explain the movement of the society and the role of the working class in the said movement.

Term “savior siblings” refers to those children unto whom conception is to some extent motivated as a result of the parents desire to get human stem cells so as to make treatment available to a life child suffering from a life-threatening sickness.PGD is a very important footstep to guarantee that the embryo does not suffer from a similar genetic illness that the life child has.

In addition rhetoric promotes intellectual development as it induces to put ideas in order and state them eloquently and intelligibly. So it is not surprising that rhetoric is studied in some schools and institutes. The time of Ancient Greece and Rome is especially interesting for a researcher as it was the time of the beginning of rhetoric and philosophy (these two disciplines were tightly connected in Greece).

The author states that Descartes proves to us that we exist because we think. He helps us unlearn and rebuilds the foundations of all our thoughts and ideas as we have them today. He proves that nature is our teacher because it tells us what is right and wrong. Our intellect, understanding, and free will help us act upon what we have learned.

As we know from our Sociology classes, social inequality is a direct result of social stratification. In the class system, social inequality and stratification depend on one's personal success. In class societies we have a tendency to looking at person's achievements what is called meritocracy or social stratification, which depends upon individual merit.

In order to grasp the core arguments of morality and virtue, we must first understand why they are so difficult to define for all of humanity, since so many different philosophies and religions exist today.

Heidegger made a significant contribution to the development of ontology, i.e. study of being. He practiced phenomenological analysis of human existence in an attempt to access being, with reference to the temporal and historical character. He also discussed the nihilism of modern technology and its generated society.

The key is to understand the partial evils, not as isolated evils in themselves, but as part of the accord that balances everything that exists. Man’s task is to explore and understand the universal harmony that surrounds him, as well as the internal harmony that exists within his nature and purpose.   

From this point, let us take a step further and advance into a new dimension. This is the place where most words originate. It is the human mind. The mind begins in the brain. Let us for a moment think about the mind-brain relationship, and we have an idea of how powerful words can be.

The author states that St Thomas has described a person as “That which is most perfect in all of nature”. A human being with full legal rights as a Roman citizen, as distinguished from slaves, who were not persons” Thomas connects the concepts of legal rights, “complete individual intellectual nature”.

The Social Contract Theory is a philosophy that has been put forth, varyingly, by different philosophers and political thinkers, as the contract entered into by the masses, to form a social setup. One of these political thinkers was Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who propounded his social contract theory.

Platonic philosophy is hinged on moral virtue as practiced by just rulers. According to him, the man served the State and hence, ethics and politics were the same. This is to be contradistinguished with Machiavellian principles, which states that the State should serve the people. That is its whole reason for being.

His findings provide a wide spectrum of implications in order to establish the frameworks of Absolute Empiricism,Absolute Rationalism and Absolute Idealism.In the realm of any ethical theory,there are some standpoints that can be taken,so an ethical system could be Deontological,Teleological,Consequentialist,Relativism/Subjectivism,and Virtue Based Theories.

This study, Compare and contrast Durkheim’s and Marx’s analysis of Punishment in Modern Society, discusses the theory of anomie by Emile Durkheim and his views on punishment and its functional role. In the end the paper compares the views of both these great thinkers and presents the conclusion. 

Hume moves far beyond the limitations of such a perspective. He understands this reconciliation to be entirely possible and seeks to provide a compatibilist account; a solution to the free will debate. It is in A Treatise of Human Nature (1777) that Hume first engages with these debates and positions himself between the poles of determinism and voluntarism.

Cosmopolitanism is said to be the concept of where humanity belongs to a single community perhaps based on a shared morality. This may simply refer to an inclusive morality, shared economic relationships of nations, and/or political structures that cover different nations. There transpires mutual respect among individuals belonging to a cosmopolitan community.

The author states that while his great influence over the various aspects of philosophical knowledge is widely accepted, there have been several ardent critics of Wittgenstein’s position on the limits of language and his desertion of empirical explanation for linguistic description in his later works.

Socrates taught his students the philosophy of questions and answer in order to help the patients or students clarify what the main question is, then the students or patients will then gather the necessary data or materials for him or her to make an analysis of the data gathered. The students or patients will then make, by themselves.

Beyond elementary semantic structures numerous sub-layers of meaning and communication exist to both enrich and complicate the way in which we interact and express our ideas and emotions. It is not what we say, but how we say it.

The fact of the matter lies in the fact, that man cannot achieve fulfillment if he does not think; this, even as a proposition is considered to be impossible. By goodness of undertaking things, dealing with them, and ultimately being deceived by them, it becomes all the more evident to man that there is a reality that exists.

The main point is that our descriptions are of the secondary qualities rather than the underlying properties of the primary qualities.  This is presented in a seemingly simple way, and yet it is very complicated.  Turn off the lights, deprive our senses of the secondary quality, and what we are left with is the primary quality.

The word morality is used to refer to norms and socially acceptable behavior put forward by the society. It can also be referred to as a behavior which would be thought of as suitable in specified situations.

The author states that the other group is the mountaineering club he joined which is campus-based but conducts its activities, of course, outside the campus, trekking mountains, camping, and discovering nature. As for roles, his belonging to a group of students is more formal, since he has to register, submit legal documents, adhere to school rules.

Hence, as this essay will illustrate, rhetoric, as a means of communication, is a vital tool, which provides those who use it an effective and efficient means to persuade and be understood. The value of rhetoric, as an effective communication tool lies in its ability to persuade effectively.

In light of the author's life journey and constant search for knowledge, s/he has come up with a personal multi-faceted point on what the good life is. S/he tackled this profound concept in terms of one’s emotional state, ability to hone capabilities, relationship with others, and introspection about the truth.

The author of the paper states that the chief aim of the PDS is to formulate and dramatize dreamers' intrapsychic conflicts and to indicate what dreamers are doing about these conflicts. Conflicts, with contemporaneous anxiety and decreased self-confidence, aggravate concern for the future.

Why does J. A. Fodor think that there must be a language of thought? Is he right? Jerry Fodor is a prominent linguistic philosopher and cognitive scientist. Fodor’s linguistic philosophy eschews structural models of language for an approach that builds on Noam Chomsky’s generative grammar.

The author states that from the government to the media to the educational system, one may well make an argument the greatest political success in the western world in the 20th century was the total branding of Marxian economics as a demon. This class has presented a perspective on the economic theories of Marx and Engels.

In his discourse, Sells determines that several of the most notable mystical authors, including Marguerite Porete and Jalaluddin Rumi, use similar dialectical reasoning in their inscriptions. This dialectic sparring leads to the transcendence of aporia or the collapse of language. Scholars have viewed these claims in a positivistic way.

Science has been described as “an organized search for knowledge” (Appiah, 1999, p. 87). Based on this, it can be said that science aims at gaining knowledge. However, it is not as clear whether or not science is aiming at uncovering the truth. In fact, trying to determine what the purpose of science raises some major philosophical questions.

Empiricists deny that it is possible to know by reason alone the nature of what exists; rather, the nature of what exists can be known only through experience. We should reject meaningless ideas or concepts which cannot be specified. We should reject knowledge claims concerning matters of fact about the nature of the world.

What never ceases to capture my attention with Plato is how often quotes from Republic appear from time to time in everyday life from father-to-son advice to advertising slogans. The timelessness of this work is a wonder, since the very fabric (pathos) of humanity is explored and appears to be relatively unchanged over the span of two millennia when Republic is read with a relaxed mind.

The stereotype of philosophy as personal opinion buttressed by rhetorical skills may contain a grain of truth, but little more. For as a practice, as opposed to a body of doctrine or ideology, philosophy is more properly regarded as the systematic and critical examination of the grounds for belief.

William Zartman believes that this theoretical ripeness for positive mediation is the major factor in both small scale and international negotiation, and should be fully taken into consideration by anyone who wants any number of parties to reach an agreement or resolve a conflict (Zartman 2003).

According to Weber sociology is a particular science of human behaviour and its consequences. For him all kinds of social structures and relationships, cultural objectification are the results of basic individual behaviour. Weber's aim is to interpret actions of individuals in the social world and the ways in which they give meanings to social phenomena.

The author states that the worker becomes alienated from the product he is making because he no longer has any social investment in that product. By way of example, in the agrarian era, a farmer who raised his own crops might sell one portion of the crops in order to produce revenue, but he would also subsist on a portion of them.

These life stages are critical and comprise birth, marriage, transformation from childhood into adulthood as well as death. Lastly the understanding is related to the celebration of these life stages.

Freedom involves moral reasoning which includes instances such as killing one person and saving five lives or wait and see the five die even though you had earlier known that the five would die. In the utility principles, man should always do what will elude huge amounts of happiness and avoid what will prevent one from achieving probable happiness.

The author states that an argument that contests animal testing is the moral status animals. It was noted that animals’ capacity to feel pleasure or pain equate them to humans in terms of moral status. The arguments on the moral status of animals were discussed extensively in Standford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

One of the best ways to understand India is through its cosmic structures. Hinduism practices a diversity of beliefs. The first and major belief of Hinduism is the belief in the sacred reality, which is founded upon Brahman. Brahman is the ultimate authority on sacred reality. He is considered as the manifest basis of the entire unmanifest.

Cultural relativists are especially critical of this because they believe structural rationality depicts human thought as uniform and invariable. Today, structuralism is less accepted than other approaches such as post-structuralism and deconstruction. As the political turbulence of the 1960s and 1970s began affecting academia.

Deconstruction is notoriously difficult to define, unless the definition is a very lengthy one, as it could neither be classified as methodology, pure philosophy nor a system of thought. Derrida said it is nothing and everything. According to him, most things around us have to be deconstructed and reconstructed.

Come to think of it, we do have very little of it. We are probably yet to evolve to a stage where we can utilize it to the best of our benefit and to the benefit of everything around us without turning it into a malicious weapon against ourselves. With whatever bit of grey cells, we possess, we have managed to irreversibly destroy more than half the planet which means that for the present species of humans.

Buddhism shares with Hinduism the ideology of reincarnation, aside from stressing spiritual purity and freedom from human care (Buddhism 213). Buddhism teaches that existence involves an amount of unhappiness and that the sole cause of unhappiness is an individual’s attachment to material desires, which are only temporary.

Abortion is a touchy subject, and should be treated as such; however, there is often a good and a bad way to make an argument for either side. The antiabortionists often sit on a moral pedestal, and the pro-choice prefers it to be a sanctuary of human ideas and liberty to make that decision and not have it imposed on them.  

Barker writes about Aristotle's viewpoint and how being ruled by a constitution and rotation of office provides everyone with the same rights and worth, rather than being ruled by a king judging by his/her feelings and thereby, not having a 'neutral' mind when exercising authority. Plato suggests powers exercised by a ruler are governed by customary and community rules. Decisions are made in the minds of the rulers and their delegates.

Francis Fukuyama is able to stress out the ways in which man is benefiting from the surfacing of biotechnology as he stated in his emergent theory with this idea it is possible to reconcile his idea with Surowiecki with regard to maintaining human dignity amidst man's continuous use of biotechnology.