Abstract
In this article, the writer notes that it is important to note the daring and thought-provoking core of the story of Frankenstein, i.e. the aspiration of human creation, the feelings associated with this strife, particularly those of guilt and remorse, as well as the religious and philosophical implications that the act itself involves. The writer maintains that the monster created by Frankenstein is a symbol of all monsters that the sleep of reason produces. The writer believes that Frankenstein represents man's attempt to find the answers to questions related to life, death and the divine process of creation. The writer notes that Victor Frankenstein believed that by accumulating a great amount of knowledge, he could explain the mysteries of life. The writer concludes that Frankenstein's story is an allegory: he tried to access areas of knowledge that are not at the disposal of man; he was both unsuccessful, and severely punished precisely by the God he had disregarded.

From the Paper
"The most important theme of the novel is that of knowledge. The monster created by Frankenstein is a symbol of all monsters that the sleep of reason produces. His horrendous physical appearance, as well as his size, is a hyperbola used to describe the effect of the sleep of reason. Put simply, reason is man's capacity to think. Reason is intrinsically related to the concept of "knowledge", in the sense that the former is the main method of achieving and organizing the latter. Knowledge depends upon solid reasoning, which in turn, must be systematic and clear. In the case of Frankenstein, the sleep of reason allows him to lose sight of human limitations and perceptions. His academic interests are a clear clue as to the nature of the main character; he studies chemistry - the science of the material composition of things, and philosophy, which aims at explaining mental and spiritual processes. By combining these two, Frankenstein becomes consumed with the discovery of the secret of human life. As with other products of the sleep reason, Frankenstein's monster destroys everything dear to his creator: his brother, wife and friend; indirectly even his father, who dies of pain and sadness caused by what had happened. In the end, his thirst for knowledge and creation will bring the end of Victor Frankenstein's life as well."

Tags:traumatic, creator, knowledge, image

Abstract
This paper addresses Gottfried Leibnitz's comments on the need for wisdom, practical reasoning and taking total responsibility for all one does, for one has moral choice within a framework of divine creation. Comments on Leibnitz's belief that moral reasoning was practical reasoning, given a mystical sense of creation to be made through moral goodness, promoting harmony and self-direction.

From the Paper
"Gottfried Leibnitz (1646-1716) was a strongly Aristotelian thinker who also gained from the philosophy of Thomas of Aquinas, towards an idea that although God made each agent in Creation `everything that it will ever be' that each was completely responsible for its own actions. In effect, he refers to a mass creation of beings that should then learn to exercise the practical reasoning that others associate with being among the different processes of free will. Roinala's Leibnitz on Rational Decision-Making is a starting place for what can be determined of the thought of a remarkable..."

Tags:leibnitz, moral reason, responsibility

Abstract
In this article, the writer notes that a significant literary tradition exists questioning the defining characteristics of madness, as not deviant behavior but behavior associated with brilliance. The writer then points out that discussions of the literary interpretation of madness as a form of brilliant understanding, is expressed through the works of Edgar Allan Poe so effectively that even his interpretation of the mundane as horrible, can be called into mind on the issue of analogous representations. The writer maintains that when speaking of Poe and his contribution to literature one expert expressed that the analogous idea of the mundane as filled with horror was not based upon the reality of the object but on its interpretation by the individual character and therefore his or her readers.


Outline:
Introduction
Morality
Intuition and Reason
The Death of Reason
Power
Supernatural
Conclusion

From the Paper
"The defining characteristics, of madness in the literary and cultural determinism present in Poe's 19th century and now our 21st century worlds are associated not with the inability of an individual to function, within a normal scope of human cultural existence but with his inability to function within such a context while still knowing so much more than the average man. The individual, whom the norm expresses as possessed of madness has both superior reasoning and increased knowledge, including greater knowledge than the leaders of average men, who are in and of themselves leaders, likely to be average as well, as a product of their ability to possess power among those whose admiration is based on normalcy and who constantly seek the clues of congruence to determine their trust in another and self. Poe expresses this idea masterfully in Marginalia, when he expresses that seeking the brilliant in the historical would require one to discount the great and look for those who were condemned to death or who died in obscurity within the walls of an asylum or prison."

Tags:madness, horror, mundane, power

Abstract
An objective student of truth must reconcile faith and reason in order to formulate an approach to moving closer to the truth. The purpose of this brief study is to examine the methods of both faith and reason in the pursuit of truth in order to illustrate that ultimately it is reason that provides individuals with a superior means of coming closer to an understanding of truth.

From the Paper
Faith, Reason, and the Pursuit of Truth The pursuit of truth is no small undertaking. Simply developing a workable sense of what constitutes truth can be difficult in and of itself. The issue is further compounded upon recognizing that some people approach the quest for truth solely through faith--those of religious persuasion, for example--while others utilize reason to varying degrees--scientists and philosophers. It is, as Galileo asserted, as if science and faith can best be understood through the metaphor of two books: "of Nature and of Revelation" (Rodrigues da Cruz, "It Started with Galileo," 591). An objective student of truth must reconcile these two different viewpoints

Tags:faith, reason, truth

Abstract
The paper explores whether reason can be used as a way of knowing. The argument looks at strengths and weaknesses of using reason as a way of knowing. The paper explains that the weaknesses encompass a types of knowledge that can't be known using reason.

From the Paper
"One of the most important questions in philosophy is how do we know anything? Does knowledge exist in an objective state? Is there only one type of knowledge? Or are there many types of knowledge? These questions ultimately relate to questions about methodologies for obtaining knowledge. For example, if there is a single type of objective knowledge is there only one way of obtaining it? Or if there are multiple types of knowledge then are there multiple ways of obtaining it? This essay will look at the strengths and weaknesses of using reason as a way of knowing. In order to do this we will first take a look at concepts..."

Tags:reason, way, knowing

Abstract
This paper looks at how British philosopher David Hume posited that reason cannot be the major determinant of moral action and how, instead, reason should only play a secondary role to another primary human faculty, passion. It argues the continuing relevance of Hume's thesis that, despite the current level of scientific knowledge, passion remains the strongest determinant of ethical and moral action. The first part of this paper evaluates Hume's conception of reason as an ability to calculate and to discern causation. The next part of the paper then looks at Hume's definition and categories of conception. In the final section, the paper compares Hume's writings on the secondary role of reason to Peter Singer's principle of utility and shows how passion continues to be the prime motivator human action.

From the Paper
"Despite the supposed primacy of reason, however, most people disagree with controversial philosopher Peter Singer's view of "preference utilitarianism," an extreme ethical value system that seeks to replace individual instinctive interests with a "reasoned" concept of the general good. Singer's value system states that one's own interests and ideas matter only when seen in their consequence to everyone else's interests (Singer 15). According to Singer's preference utilitarian, the obligation of an American couple to feed and nurture their own baby is equal to their obligation to feed and nurture a refugee Kurdish child. After all, both children have an interest in eating and growing up. The fact that parents intuitively love their own child more than a child they have never met does not figure into Singer's equation."

Tags:peter, singer, principle, utility, human, action, conception

Abstract
This paper takes a look at Friedrich Nietzsche's attempts to show the empty interior of the "idols", that is, the "truths" man has taken to heart so blindly. The paper focuses on Nietzsche's views regarding two such 'truths', reason and morality, and points out that it is not so much the falsity of these idols that Nietzsche wants brought to light but their life-denying qualities that have had such a tight grasp on our lives. The paper then asserts that Nietzsche's message for future generations was to not let reason and morality reign over mankind. The paper concludes that Nietzsche advocated that we question the 'truths' we hold so dear, those that seem to him to do little more than prevent us from living.

From the Paper
"Reason is the first enemy in Nietzsche's battle against the denial of life. At first he sets out to show how reason has progressed (starting with Plato) into a current form that is such denial of life that it caused nihilism to spread across Europe. When Plato first began investigating the world he came to the conclusion that what we experience here on earth could not be the reality or nature of world as it really was in itself. The importance Plato placed upon such earthly objects and occurrences (instead of a sort of self existence) was a representative quality, in which they were mere glimpses, place-holders for reality, the 'forms' of such a world that existed beyond the heavens. Thus the world became homage to truth rather than truth itself; this event, for Nietzsche, was the 'sun beginning to set'."

Tags:Plato, Kant, ethics, logic, idol

Abstract
This paper explains that, while the Age of Reason is generally considered a separate movement in 17th and early 18th century Europe that evolves into the Age of Enlightenment, both eras are considered to have overlapping boundaries and to be one extended period of intellectual, scientific and philosophical advancement. The author points out that, while Voltaire's most memorable and influential work is "Candide" and Kant is famous for his philosophy of "Universal Law", Rousseau's most meaningful works are his "Second Discourse" and his "Social Contract". The paper concludes that the philosophical writings and intellectual discoveries of the philosophers of the Ages of Reason and of Enlightenment helped to start the American and French Revolutions.

Table of Contents:
Introduction
Voltaire
Jean Jacques Rousseau
Immanuel Kant
Conclusion: The "Enlightenment" led to the American and French Revolutions

From the Paper
"Rousseau's logic was that disobedience, then, would be "legitimate" as soon as "sufficient power was acquired." Part of what Rousseau was accomplishing in this writing was a rebuttal to Hobbes, who had asserted in chapters 5 and 6 of "De Cive" and ..., that right and force should always go hand-in-hand. Hobbes' reasoning was that mere words (laws), without the "sword" to back them up, were not sufficient to stay the course. You can't just issue degrees without having the use of force lurking in the background to make sure those degrees have some "teeth" so to speak. But Rousseau rejected that idea."

Tags:disobedience, revolution, hume, universal, citizens

Abstract
The paper focuses on the characterization of the narrator with the paradoxical opposites of reason and insanity in Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart," "The Masque of the Red Death" and "The Black Cat". The paper illustrates how Poe successfully portrays the mood of his narrator as a kind of hysteria that excites the reader and garners his sympathy. The paper also points out the theme of the frailty of humankind in all three stories and suggests that perhaps this is why Poe's works enjoyed such popularity during his lifetime.

From the Paper
"In the article "English Poe: Review in the Aristedean, October 1845." Thomas Dunn contends that most of the work of Edgar Allen Poe leans towards analytical tales that need to be decoded (199). Though it might be assumed that such decoding might bring about some type of tedious task to the reader, the distinguishing factor in the work of Poe is his ability to create intriguing and unique characters that entertain the reader's imagination. Always essential to the telling of the narrative, Poe's tales rely on a theme of counterpoints between reason and insanity, and because the tales are often written in the first person narrative, the narrator is comprised of these paradoxical opposites."

Tags:narrator, perverseness, hysteria, sympathy, frailty

Abstract
This paper discusses how, in John Milton's epic poem "Paradise Lost", salvation is undeniably God's will (since He is omnipotent), but it is achieved by the intercession of an autonomous being, the Son, who has free will and chooses to do good by offering himself to save man. The paper further explains that this view of salvation is anti-trinitarian because the trinitarian view holds that Christ essentially is God, co-eternal and co-equal, making salvation inevitably a product of God's grace and will. The paper lookds at how Milton's anti-trinitarian differentiation functions as a crucial part of Milton's theme, guaranteeing that while reason and choice are the means through which God's creatures can fall, they are also precisely the tools for achieving redemption.

From the Paper
"When God first speaks to the Son in Book III, He precisely deals with the nature of the freedom He has given His creatures. With regard to His creation, He says "[ ... ] I made him just and right/ Sufficient to have stood, though free to fall" (Lines 98-9). He adds that all the "ethereal powers and Spirits" were created in this way, and that each makes his choice to either stand or fall. God further seems to "justify" His reasons for creating man free, when He asks what man's allegiance would mean if it were forced. How would it be possible to praise man, God asks, if he was just doing something compulsory and involuntary? He then concludes that were they not free, their will and reason would be robbed, become "useless and vain," used merely passively, to serve "necessity," instead of Him. This notion of passivity is central; when one has free will every choice is an active, voluntary and accountable decision despite circumstances. This is why Milton is careful to defend God's omnipotence in light of His foreknowledge. "

Tags:god, satan, Christ