From the Paper
"Human beings have been asking for centuries for the answer to the question as to what is the meaning of life, and answers have not been in short supply. There is a good reason for this--there is no single answer to the question. Indeed, in one sense the answer is as varied as there are human beings, for the meaning of life may be what we make of life itself. For some people, there is no meaning, and they plod along and do as little as possible until they die. For others, the basic answer is that the meaning of life is life itself. We cling to life for a good reason--we know how valuable it is, and we know that we derive our sense of meaning in our lives by living. At the same time, there are a number of key issues which have been identified through the ages and which point to ways of expanding on the meaning of life so that we do more than live--we live with..."

Tags: PHILOSOPHY: GENERAL

From the Paper
"In the Nichomachean Ethics, Aristotle carefully considers the issue of responsibility and finds that the human being is indeed responsible for his or her actions and may be morally culpable even for unintended consequences. This applies both to the private conduct of individuals and to the conduct of legislators acting for the public good. For Aristotle, acting unjustly is tantamount to wishing to act unjustly. The individual is responsible both for his or her moral disposition and also for the manner in which moral questions are decided by him or her. Indeed, this is seen as a natural process so that the individual is born with the ability to differentiate between good and evil. For Aristotle, it does not matter whether the individual is born capable of differentiating good from evil or that this is ingrained by society over time as the individual grows."

Tags: PHILOSOPHY: ANCIENT GREEK

From the Paper
"Aristotle described a remarkable set of criteria to delineate between good and bad people in his work entitled, Ethics. Aristotle believed that the pursuit of pleasure and avoidance of pain were important yard sticks in measuring virtuous and continent people, whom he believed were of strong moral character, and vicious and incontinent people, whom he described as dangerous and immoral. 100 pages into Ethics, Aristotle finally provides his definition of virtue:


So virtue is a purposive disposition, lying in a mean that is relative to us and determined by a rationale principle, and by that which a prudent man would use to determine it. It is a mean between two kinds of vice, one of excess and the other of deficiency; and also for this reason, that whereas these vices fall short of or exceed the right..."

Tags: PHILOSOPHY: ANCIENT GREEK

From the Paper
"In his classic work, The Republic, Plato puts forth a definition of justice that would be considered rather counterintuitive today. He argues that justice in both the state and the individual is basically "minding one's own business", or performing the function for which one is best suited and not interfering with others doing the same. This essay will explore why Plato thinks this is the case and how his definition is different from most people's idea of justice today.

Plato begins by saying that the ideal state must have the four traditional virtues of wisdom, courage, self-discipline and justice. Furthermore, he argues, the first three qualities are present in the state because they are present in the individual citizens of the state. In other words, because the Guardians are ... "

From the Paper
"Anthony Flew and Paul Tillich have diametrically opposed views about the existence of God. Flew's brand of atheism has been characterized as a prime example of British positivistic naturalism, whereas Tillich's defense of theism can only be considered in the context of existential theology. The premises and structures of their arguments are so divergent that any discussion of them can at best be likened to a comparison of apples and oranges. That, however, will not deter us from attempting to explore the differences between Flew and Tillich, with special attention to the theological, logical, and symbolic aspects of their arguments.

Flew's argument is based on the premise that the universe is all that there is and that everything must therefore be explained by reference to the laws which seem to order it. Naturalism, by ... "

From the Paper
"Albert Camus' novel The Stranger reflects various ideas which are associated with the philosophy of existentialism. According to existentialism, as developed by the French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, all of life is absurd. People are born into the world without knowing why. Consequently, they perform actions throughout their lives which appear to be important on a day-to-day level but which have no meaning when viewed in a larger context. Thus, in Sartre's view, "to exist as a human being is inexplicable, and wholly absurd". Existentialism is also characterized by an atheistic perspective which denies the existence of God. Because of this perspective, death is seen as the ultimate absurdity for humankind. In Sartre's point of view: "Death is as absurd as birth--it is no ultimate, authentic moment of my life, it is nothing but the ... "

From the Paper
"This study will defend the philosophy of determinism, which argues that there is no free will or free choice, and that all of a human being's actions are a matter of cause and effect, resulting from previous actions over which the determined individual has no choice of control. The study will present arguments against the philosophy of determinism and will then offer counter-arguments meant to dispel the objections to the philosophy of determinism.

Objections to Determinism
1. Spinoza argues that man is indeed capable of a certain degree of freedom and self-determination. He argues that determinism overlooks the ability of the human being to reason and to thereby make choices: "The human mind is . . . capable of ... "

From the Paper
"This study will examine Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy, specifically the objections to the First, Second, and Sixth Meditations.

There are a number of objections to the arguments in the Meditations, some of which are technical and perhaps trivial, some of which are significant and which cut to the very heart of Descartes' arguments on existence.

Descartes argues, for example, "That which we clearly and distinctly understand to belong to the true and immutable nature of anything, its essence or form, can be truly affirmed of that thing. But after we have with sufficient accuracy investigated the nature of God, we clearly and distinctly understand that to exist belongs to his true nature. Therefore we can with truth affirm of God that He exists" . "

From the Paper
"One of the ways to conceive the era of the seventeenth century, or the Age of Enlightenment, is to view it as the philosophical and intellectual struggle between personal freedom and governmental control. While it is certainly true that no one definition embodies the spirit of the time, the name "Enlightenment" clearly conveys the way the age was conceived by those living in it, and later historical evaluations of the era similarly convey this term as being accurate (Cranston 12-13).
In a sense, then, Europeans were sensing that they were living in a new age--an age in which the past was termed a time of barbarism and intellectual and philosophical darkness. There was a new sense of progress, and an idea that all things were discoverable through the intellect using the tools of science and philosophy (Strauss and Cropsey). Similarly, the Enlightenment ..."

From the Paper
"This study will compare and contrast the philosophies of Plato and Confucius. Included in the study will be the consideration of what each philosopher believed the role of the individual in the world to be, the relationship of one person to another, and what Plato and Confucius saw as the ultimate concern of an individual in the world. The study will also consider the impact of each philosopher on the cultures in which they lived.

... notes the impact of Confucianism on modern-day China, and in doing so brings out important elements of the philosophy of Confucius in terms of his beliefs about the role of the individual in the world, in society, and in the family: "Confucius, the famous sage of twenty-five hundred years ago, taught that political order, the order of national life, began "

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From the Paper
"The death penalty has become a topic of serious controversy in recent years. In particular, debate has been made over whether or not the death penalty is an appropriate punishment for severe crimes such as murder. Although the topic has been the subject of recent debate, it is interesting to note that the basic opinions on both sides of the argument date back to ancient times. The two philosophical theories which support the death penalty are known as the "retribution theory" and the "utilitarian theory." The retribution theory is based on the idea that criminals deserve to be punished in a manner which reflects the severity of their crimes. According to this viewpoint, a person who commits murder deserves to have his or her own life taken in return. The utilitarian view, on the other hand, is based on the idea that punishment should be used as a means for ... "

From the Paper
"This paper will be concerned with the Roman Catholic perspective on religious issues for the dying. In recent years, a great deal of scientific research has been done in an effort to understand the phenomenon of death. Researchers such as Raymond Moody and Elisabeth Kubler.Ross have determined that an entity (known as the "spirit" or "soul") survives after the human body has died. Because their studies are limited to "near.death" experiences in which the subjects return to life, Moody and the other researchers have not yet determined what happens to the soul after the first few minutes of the experience. Nevertheless, enough is known about "near.death" experiences to show that there are numerous parallels between those experiences and the beliefs that Catholics have long held on the subject. In particular, the Catholic viewpoint agrees that the soul continues ..."

From the Paper
"Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg are both associated with modern naturalism in the theater. In their naturalistic plays, Ibsen and Strindberg were similar in that they both included psychological, symbolic, and subjective elements in their depictions of reality. However, Ibsen and Strindberg were very different in the way they went about expressing naturalism. Ibsen was concerned with ideas of social consciousness, whereas Strindberg expressed a cynical, fatalistic, and individualistic perspective on life. This paper will show how these differences influenced the dramatic elements in the plays of Ibsen and Strindberg.
Naturalism in the theater, like realism, seeks to show life as it really is. This effort can be seen in the sets, dialogue, characterization, and plots of naturalistic plays. However ..."

From the Paper
"Rene Descartes, in the "Second Meditation" from his Meditations on First Philosophy, declares that there is one proposition that he cannot conceivably doubt, namely, "I exist-" Ironically, Descartes settles on this declaration as the foundation for all his beliefs about existence and reality based on doubt itself. What Descartes is most fundamentally declaring is, I doubt, therefore I think, therefore I am. His doubt, then, is the cornerstone of all he comes to believe about existence. He begins this meditation where the previous meditation left off --- in utter doubt about everything, accepting nothing as existing, owing to the possibility that he is being deceived by "a deceiver (I know not who he is) powerful and sly in the highest degree, who is always purposely deceiving me" (61). This doubt about everything's existence includes his own body. The..."

From the Paper
" David Hume's Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion was the philosopher's last work, and while it effectively represents the thinking of the philosopher on the subject of religion and skepticism about religion, it is also a difficult work to read and understand. The work is a dialogue between three characters: Philo is the skeptic; Cleanthes is the theologian; and Demea is the believer in revealed religion. Philo can be considered the main character, since he does most of the talking, and his skepticism thus becomes the central element in the book and the most important argument.

In Parts II through IV, Hume addresses the argument by design that is offered here by Cleanthes, the theologian. This is an argument for the existence of God and was seen as a powerful statement that would devastate the opposition, but that.."