Life and How to Live It
If one is to believe such libertarian philosophers as Sartre who says that we, in short control our own destiny and have free will then how should people choose to carry out their lives? What are the guidelines one should follow in order to lead a complete and fulfilling life, and what should we look to achieve? Such questions are what the next group of philosophers look to answer as they discuss their different views on what we should do with our time here on earth. Philosophers, such as Kant, believe that good will is the only thing unconditional in our lives, and duty guides us and is an important part in our fulfillment of good will. While others like the Taoist philosophers Chuang Tzu and Smullyan believe that in order to reach Te, the power of the Tao, one must live in peace with nature. In a sense, to them, the less that one does the closer they are to reaching perfection with Tao. The broad and unique range of the ideas of this last group of philosophers is very interesting to look at, especially for people without a religious affiliation, who might be better able to evaluate these works without the prejudice that their religion instills upon them.
The first piece comes from the Hindu religion and is called "Bhagavad-Gita" which means "Song of God." Written in the form of a poem, this story entails the conversation of a warrior named Arjuna with his cousin, Lord Krishna. The young man stumbles upon a moral dilemma while preparing to go into battle. He believes that he should value his enemies' lives because they are friends and family, and he finds this a problem in preparing to kill them. "Teachers, fathers, sons…These I would not consent to kill, though killed myself, O Ma...
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...Chuang Tzo. Lost in Tao. Pg. 530-536)
Presbey Gail M., and Karsten J. Struhl, and Richard E. Olsen, The Philosophical Quest: A Cross-Cultural Reader, United States of America: McGraw-Hill, 2000. (Raymond M. Smullyan. Whichever the Way. Pg. 536-539)
Presbey Gail M., and Karsten J. Struhl, and Richard E. Olsen, The Philosophical Quest: A Cross-Cultural Reader, United States of America: McGraw-Hill, 2000. (Thomas Hobbes. Human Nature as Competitive. Pg. 217-222)
Presbey Gail M., and Karsten J. Struhl, and Richard E. Olsen, The Philosophical Quest: A Cross-Cultural Reader, United States of America: McGraw-Hill, 2000. (John Hospers. Free Will and Psychoanalysis. Pg. 394-402)
Presbey Gail M., and Karsten J. Struhl, and Richard E. Olsen, The Philosophical Quest: A Cross-Cultural Reader, United States of America: McGraw-Hill, 2000. (Plato. Phaedo. Pg.345-352)
Self-preservation is an important factor in shaping the ideologies of Hobbes and Locke as it ties in to scarcity of resources and how each of them view man’s sate of nature. Hobbes and Locke both believe in self-preservation but how each of them get there is very different. Hobbes believes that man’s state of nature is a constant state of war because of his need to self-preserve. He believes that because of scarcity of goods, man will be forced into competition, and eventually will take what is others because of competition, greed, and his belief of scarce goods. Hobbes also states that glory attributes to man’s state of nature being a constant state of war because that drives man to go after another human or his property, on the one reason of obtaining glory even if they have enough to self preserve. Equality ties in with Hobbes view of man being driven by competition and glory because he believes that because man is equal in terms of physical and mental strength, this give them an equal cha...
From this comes the first of the Hobbes argument that when we have the sort of rough equality in physical and intellectual strength, there is an equality of hope in attaining our ends. Hobbes thinks that part of what we do in a social contract is to try and overcome our human tendencies, which are competition, diffidence and glory. For instance, “competition arises because two people may want the same thing, which they cannot both have, perhaps, the produce of a certain field, sufficient to support one person through the winter but not two(xiii,3), as according to Hobbes. After all, that is what mainly takes place in the book “Hunger Games”, where contestants from varying districts compete for their lives so they can survive. This will be followed
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Marra, James L., Zelnick, Stephen C., and Mattson, Mark T. IH 51 Source Book: Plato, The Republic, pp. 77-106. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, Dubuque, Iowa, 1998.
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The main critics of Thomas Hobbes’ work are most often those with a more optimistic view of human nature. However, if one is to really look at a man’s actions in depth, a self-serving motivation can always be found. The main problem with Hobbes’ claims is that he does not account for the more Darwinian perspective that helping one’s own species survive is at the same time a selfish and unwar-like act. Thus his conclusion that without a governing body, we are essentially at war with one another is not completely true as years of evolution can help disprove.
Plato. The Dialogues of Plato. Trans. Benjamin Jowett. Great Books of the Western World. 54 vols. Chicago:Encyclopaedia Britannica 1952. Vol. 7.
1) Marra, James L., Zelnick, Stephen C., and Mattson, Mark T. IH 51 Source Book: Plato, The Republic, pp. 77-106
1. "The Internet Classics Archive | Phaedo by Plato." The Internet Classics Archive | Phaedo by
I have always been to asking myself what is meaning of life? or what I supposed to do ? or what I have to achieve? . Meaning of life what 's you have been given? what you have given by different kind of human? Or what I believe or what I do not believe in life .Everybody have Meaning of life it depends between person to person, I found myself when I was young because my parents always talk about experience in their life.Throughout my entire life ,I have wondered about the significance meaning of life that has beneficial for the people, because the life is beginning odds and ending odds .Even though struggle of life, I believe meaning of life are ,regional ,ambition, participate ,achievement ,and happiness .Due to this, I
Plato. "The Internet Classics Archive | Phaedrus by Plato." Phaedrus by Plato. The Internet Classics
Plato 360BCE (trans. Benjamin Jowett), Republic, electronic version, The Internet Classics Archive, viewed 10th September 2004, http://classics.mit.edu/index.html