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Western Philosphy
Harre believes that philosophy is the willingness to reflect on our reflections of the human situation. This belief is very relaxed. Harre wants answers, but he will allow them to come with time. Philosophy allows us to ask questions such as "What is the purpose of human life", as well as "Why do we seek a purpose for human life?" Harre inquires whether we are soul of physique; and if we are both, how much of each are we? In other words, can our souls exist without our bodies? If our body dies, will our soul die? Will human beings ever be completely satisfied? We are on a constant mission to find truth, to find the reason for our existence. Humans are constantly changing, in all aspects, physically, intellectually, and morally. If we are simply material mechanisms, and part of a system by which the Earth operates, than these value changes in our minds would not occur. For example, if we are just another link on the food chain, than we would not question it. There is a part to the human who believes we are a mere speck in the universe, and another part who thinks we have an actual purpose. In order to come closer to the "answer", Harre divides philosophy into four sections, metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and logic. Metaphysics deals with how the universe works, and what our mission is. Epistemology is the theory of knowledge; ethics are what distinguish people according to morals. Finally, logic can be described as "a means of testing the validity of arguments."
Harre's views on philosophy differ slightly from Russell. Although Harre feels that there is an answer out there, he feels confident enough that he will find it, and if he does not, then the next person will know. Russell, on the other hand, ...
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... on forever, never being aware that he retained this knowledge. I do agree with the fact that knowledge is inside, but I do not believe the individual should have all the credit for acquiring this knowledge. An analogy I always think of with this is like so: My friend believes that I have a gold mine in my backyard. He tells me he believes this information, and asks me if I agree. I say that yes, it is possible I have a gold mine in my backyard. So I decide to dig, and strike gold. The gold has always been there in my backyard, therefore it is mine. However, am I completely responsible for having acquired this gold? Absolutely not. The gold mine is knowledge, and we cannot obtain it without the help of others. The slave boy could not have been able to obtain it without Socrates to help, jut like I am not able to able the knowledge inside, without attending school.
Author Michael Schuman said it best, “Globalization is very much alive and well.” He would be correct in this assumption, as many countries are accepting the western cultural influence as their own. As the authors, Foer and Appaih, strive to identify globalization with single references, as they lacks the overall annotation; globalism, and its unstoppable force. Appiah’s meaning for globalization is more specific than Schumans and on a personal, family, and religious level with acceptance and how others perceive them. Appiah’s approach to globalism is perception based, outside of what his family beliefs are and what is dissimilar by other cultures with no appeal to influence. Foer on the other hand, perceives globalization culture as it is observed through sports, specifically soccer, family influence, and other means to preserve globalization change as Americans and non Americans in the United states, with no mention of outside countries original or future influence. As each author sees the world of globalization in their own way, they actually compliment each other on there reasonings to sustain from globalization, more so by Foer. Each author relates on a personal and culture opinion, as they have clearly defined there theories on globalization and the approach. Seeing the world as these authors do, much is lost in regards to originality and freedom, more-so, with ones desires to change without external influence. In as much as the majority of the jobs are leaving America, and our economy is in shambles, it does not mean that the western influence of globalization has stalled or in decline; this just goes to she that it is stronger than ever, by means of expansion outside of America to more sparsely populated areas of undevelop...
“Why Western History Matters” is an essay adapted from a speech Donald Kagan delivered to the National Association of Scholars, and was reprinted in the December 28, 1994, issue of the Wall Street Journal. Throughout Kagan’s essay, he describes the essential need for the college course, Western History. He does so by examining older cultures and explaining why they were quintessential to the past and to our future development as a society. I strongly concur with Kagan’s standpoint of the necessity of history, and the realization of how exactly our flourishing society came about. History is a key constituent in determining who we are; for to determine who we are one must first know from whence they came. In the words of George Santayana, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”.
...just using his common sense. Socrates, though, is quick to claim that the slave is recollecting images he learned in the Underworld between two of his past lives. In this explanation, Socrates, provides an example that is rather good but could also go towards the direction of simple analysis and using common sense.
...ave reached a point in human evolution where philosophy needs another make over. For thousands of years philosophers and scientist alike have tried tirelessly in many attempts to figure out who we are, where we came from, and what is our exact purpose on this earth. Maybe we have reached a point in philosophy where these life questions seem “meaningless”, but maybe that is the point. Maybe life is meaningless, but I have found beauty in that. If there is one thing I have learned from this class and the philosophers we have studied it is that life is meaningless… that does not mean we cannot give it meaning.
The Meiji Revolution was a pivotal time period in Japanese history, a period during which Japan was rapidly industrialized and transformed through the efforts of a newly centralized, imperial government. As Western goods and technology permeated the nation, so did Western perspectives on morality and ethics enter the public view. However, such perspectives were not necessarily easily accepted; through the inspection of various primary sources, it becomes clear that, despite Japan’s rapid acceptance and adoption of Western technology and culture, there remained clear resistance toward Western views on social order.
Philosophy Is wanting to know more about what it means to be a human being, the basic nature of reality, what limits our knowledge or feeds what we know, and what is considered good and or right in society. Our beliefs are really up to our own imagination, and philosophy questions these beliefs in order to understand the reason behind them.
Beginning with, the end of WWII, the West (mainly the U.S and Europe) has maintained global dominance. Since then international conflicts have emerged in the Middle East, and China has become an influential player both politically and economically. Those two developments among others, have raised questions about future conflicts, global politics, and what the future holds, about which scholars disagree. Samuel Huntington argues that the next factor of conflict will be a result of, “clashing Civilizations,” the West and the East*. On the other hand, Edward Said argues that such ideas are rooted in pre-conceived notions, which are a reflection of certain interest.
Irvin, Andrew. "Bertand Russell." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. N.p., 18 Oct 2013. Web. 22 Mar 2014. .
The story of the American West is still being told today even though most of historic events of the Wild West happened over more than a century ago. In movies, novels, television, and more ways stories of the old west are still being retold, reenacted, and replayed to relive the events of the once so wild and untamed land of the west that so many now fantasize about. After reading about the old west and watching early westerns it is amazing how much Hollywood still glorifies the history and myth of the old west. It may not be directly obvious to every one, but if you look closely there is always a hint of the Western mentality such as honor, justice, romance, drama, and violence. The most interesting thing about the Old West is the fact that history and myth have a very close relationship together in telling the story of the West.
Husserl's Phenomenology can be seen as a response to the intrusion of psychology into the essential studies of man; he felt that the study of man should, instead be conducted on a purely philosoph...
Therefore, through the soul, that has been born before being placed into a physical human body, the human has knowledge. As a result of the soul being immortal and knowing everything, Socrates ties that idea of immortality with the theory of recollection, which claims that our knowledge is inside of us because of the soul and it never learns anything new, only remembers, consequently, serving as an evidence that the soul is pre- existent. Socrates uses the knowledge of the soul to explain that there is no such thing as learning but instead there is discovery of the knowledge that one has and does, by himself, without receiving new information. However, most knowledge is forgotten at birth since we are born without knowing, for example, how to add, subtract,talk, etc. Nonetheless, the knowledge we have, has to be recollected with the help of a teacher. Socrates is able to prove this argument to a degree by using Meno’s slave, who had no prior knowledge of geometry before, as an example of how humans have the knowledge inside of them, through the soul, and they know everything but all they need are a sort of guidance to be able to “free” the knowledge they didn’t know they had inside them all this time. (Plato,
The Western culture has evolved over a span of several years with various civilizations specializing in specific aspects of life or nature. In essence, Western civilization dates back to the BCE periods when Ancient Greece, Mesopotamia, and Ancient Rome reigned. Each of the Western civilizations came with a clear lineage that portrayed such attributes as property rights, free market economy, competition, personal freedoms, and innovation (Perry, 2013). Besides, the western civilizations came at different periods with some of the attributes evolving or remaining unchanged throughout the lineage. However, the non-western civilizations contributed towards such attributes to a given extent, primarily because of the interactions among
''The best way of approaching philosophy is to ask a few philosophical questions: How was the world created? Is there any will or meaning behind what happens? Is there a life after death? How can we answer these questions? And most important, how ought we to live?'' (Gaarder, Jostein 15)
Philosophy is the study of examining and thinking about questionable ethical problems and/or generally accepted certainties. Philosophy aims at knowledge that combines a variety of academic fields as well as convictions, prejudices and beliefs.
It is noticeable that many subjects that once belonged to philosophy have broken off and become independent disciplines. These subjects include physics, psychology, and chemistry. This, however, has not left philosophy devoid of content. There are numerous other things that have always belonged to philosophy since the beginning of time and are still part of philosophy up to date. These issues are; the possibility of knowledge, the nature of the universe, the standard of justice, the correct use of reason, and the qualities of beauty. These issues have the foundational structures of the five branches of philosophy that are epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, logic, and aesthetics.