Philosophical Thought Essays

  • Is Socrates A Martyr For Philosophical Thought?

    1258 Words  | 3 Pages

    I believed him to be a martyr for his beliefs. The meaning behind his philosophies was to educate the people and inspire greater thoughts within them; causing him to be seen as a threat to Athens. So, while many may have seen Socrates as a simple philosopher and threat to the city of Athens, due to his teachings, I believe him to be a martyr for philosophical thought. I will support this idea by examining both the Apology and Clouds and how Socrates’

  • Philosophy and the Dialectic of Modernity

    2789 Words  | 6 Pages

    This is the drama occasioned by the dialectical struggle, rushing to climax in the 20th Century, between Enlightenment reason and its Counterenlightenment opponent. The struggle between these philosophical constellations is refracted in the great wars of this century. Thus the drama of the philosophical thought of the century and its historical development is lost. The philosophic discourse of modernity has yet to be written. Its text, once it has been freed from the tenacity of ideological hostilities

  • Comparing Roman and Greek Art

    1184 Words  | 3 Pages

    decipher some important aspects of ancient culture. From art we can determine the basic moral and philosophical beliefs of many ancient societies. The differences in arts purpose in Greece and Rome, for example, show us the fundamental differences in each culture's political and moral system. The primary objective of Greek art was to explore the order of nature and to convey philosophical thought, while Roman art was used primarily as a medium to project the authority and importance of the current

  • Problems in the Further Implementation of Sage Philosophy

    2822 Words  | 6 Pages

    project-the defense against Euro-American skeptics who thought Africans incapable of philosophizing-has been outgrown. The present need for studies of African sages is to benefit from their wisdom, both in Africa and around the world. I also suggest that the title ‘sage’ has to be problematized. While there were good reasons to focus earlier on rural elders as overlooked wise philosophers, the emphasis now should be on admiring philosophical thought wherever it may be found—in women, youth, and urban

  • Do We Have Souls?

    1776 Words  | 4 Pages

    Do We Have Souls? On the question of 'Do we have souls' and 'Can they survive after death', this writer will attempt a reasoned explanation and defense of my views to this philosophical question. After careful explanation of my own views , thoughts, and careful examination of the selected materials for this paper; I have come to this conclusion: unlike the problem of free will, the question of human beings having souls and their survival after the physical body is deceased, is not an easily argued

  • Free Essays - The Second Coming

    503 Words  | 2 Pages

    lines of The Second Coming. Yeats cry continues with: "Things fall apart; the center cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,"  The world is in disarray, nature has been separated from mankind due to the Industrial revolution and philosophical thought. Locke has shown us all that metaphysical entities, like nature, don't exist because it's not physical and thus able to be tested by scientific methods.   At least in the Romantic era, mankind was connected with nature.  In Wordsworth, Blake

  • The Neoplatonist Roots of Sufi Philosophy

    2391 Words  | 5 Pages

    qua institution is closed to all critical and philosophical thought, but Sufism enjoys a more liberal and critical approach. It is probable that the translations of Plotinus have provided the necessary philosophical ground for Sufism. An examination of both Sufism and Neoplatonism reveals close similarities with regard to the nature of God, the soul, the body, concepts such as goodness, evil and beauty, death and life, and creation. Islamic thought was influenced by Greek philosophy, especially

  • Hippocratic Medicine

    3277 Words  | 7 Pages

    of disease. Humoral theory incorporated the theories of Presocratic philosophers in order to explain disease and offer help for a cure. Two themes characterizing Presocratic philosophical thought dramatically influenced humoral theory. The humoral theory approach of Hippocratic medicine was based upon Presocratic philosophical musings about the relationship of man to the world. By the time humoral theory was vogue, philosophers had concluded that both man and the world were governed by the same natural

  • The Baroque in Italy and Spain

    1261 Words  | 3 Pages

    to the science and philosophy of the period. While a direct link did exist in the Early and High Renaissance, when an artist could also be a humanist and scientist, this changed in the seventeenth century. During this time, scientific and philosophical thought became too complex, abstract, and systematic for the artists to share. Still, there is a subtle but an important relationship between Baroque art and science. The complex metaphysics of the humanists, which gave everything religious, meaning

  • Hume vs. Kant: Moral Philosophy

    1735 Words  | 4 Pages

    From the origin of Western philosophical thought, there has been an interest in moral laws. As Hume points out in the Treatise, "morality is a subject that interests us above all others" (David Hume "A Treatise of Human Nature'). Originally, thoughts of how to live were centered on the issue of having the most satisfying life, with "virtue governing one's relations to others" (J.B. Schneewind 'Modern Moral Philosophy'). However, the view that there is one way to live that is best for everyone and

  • Themes and Characters in For Whom the Bell Tolls

    884 Words  | 2 Pages

    themselves. The main character, Robert Jordan, has personality traits spanning various aspects of the heroic side of human nature. In addition, he displays ingenuity and perfectionism. His actions also show a high degree of introspection and philosophical thought. His relationship with Maria and the conflict it causes results in Robert Jordan's discovery of his personal values. He struggles to understand what defines his life and resolve the conflict of what to live or die for. Other secondary characters

  • Wallace Stevens and Emile Durkheim

    1484 Words  | 3 Pages

    Wallace Stevens and Emile Durkheim To more fully understand Stevens' poem "The Idea of Order at Key West," one can look at the ideas of the poem in context of social-philosophical thought. Emile Durkheim's theories on religion closely parallel those of Stevens. Both men believe that there is no supreme greater being, or God, that gives things order and meaning. But both men also believe that humans need to read order and meaning into the world to understand it, even if the meaning humans imply

  • Mathematics Education in America: A Troubled System in Need of Change

    2469 Words  | 5 Pages

    School Board Journal. 185.7 (1998): 16-20. “A Nation at Risk.” 1983. United States Department of Education. 18 Mar 2001. <http://www.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/risk.html>. Restivo, Sal, Jean Paul Van Bendegen, and Roland Fischer. Math Works: Philosophical and Social Studies of Mathematics and Mathematics Education. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press, 1993. Smith, Joe K. “Mathematics.” Academic American Encyclopedia. Danbury, Connecticut: Grolier, 1996: 221. Stuart, Vanessa

  • Stuttering

    1350 Words  | 3 Pages

    wishes to express. However, Salierno is seldom able to produce these words externally. Does a stutterer create his or her own reality within his or her mind? To the stutterer, does independent experience become reality? With reference to the philosophical thought experiment about the tree falling in a forest, does a stutterer make a sound if no one can hear him or her make that sound? Stuttering is a neurological disorder of communication, from which the normal flow of speech is disrupted by repetitions

  • The Meaning of Life and Death

    3655 Words  | 8 Pages

    The Meaning of Life and Death The abstract idea of life cannot be explained by such simple ideas as being animated, breathing, or speaking. Ordinary machines in this century can perform all of these basic functions. The quandary with defining death is not as abstract and elusive as that of life. The problem of defining life and death has plagued philosophers and the religious bodies for thousands of years for one reason; each philosophy or religion has tried to define the meaning of life and death

  • Bertrand Russell

    5286 Words  | 11 Pages

    Bertrand Russell Introduction Bertrand Russell was one of the preeminent thinkers of the 20th century. His work on mathematical logic laid the basis for a good portion of modern mathematics; his political thought was influential both in his time and after; and his philosophical thought is both complicated and highly intelligent. He is considered one of the two or three most important logicians of the 20th century. During his lifetime he was a high profile figure and grew to have a high degree

  • Plato’s Theory of Ideas

    2735 Words  | 6 Pages

    dialogues right in front of us, what is the thing that’s keeping us from realizing Plato’s thought as it is, and at least reduce the number of confrontations? I know what my obstacle is: youth, lack of experience, lack of knowledge, but what is theirs? CONCLUSION: The young common human consciousness created a genius, but a young one, such as itself. Youth as such carries with it the impossibility of valid thought-word transmission. The space is too big. In time, the young common consciousness perfects

  • Arguments against Philosophical Skepticism

    1952 Words  | 4 Pages

    ‘Skepticism’ refers the theory that we do not possess any knowledge; skepticism denies any existence of justified belief. This paper discusses the varieties of philosophical skepticism and explains the various skeptical arguments and responses to philosophical skepticism, along with both Hume, and Descartes take on skepticism. This paper will also describe the various arguments against skepticism along with their justification. While the arguments for skepticism and its various forms seem valid and

  • Wittgenstein's Children: Some Implications for Teaching and Otherness

    3274 Words  | 7 Pages

    Wittgenstein uses children in his philosophical arguments against the traditional views of language. Describing how they learn language is one of his philosophical methods for setting philosophers free from their views and enabling them to see the world in a different way. The purpose of this paper is to explore what features of children he takes advantage of in his arguments, and to show how we can read Wittgenstein in terms of education. Two children in Philosophical Investigations are discussed. The

  • Ludwig Wittgenstein

    1495 Words  | 3 Pages

    commonly recognised stages of thought in 20th century analytic philosophy, both of which are taken to be central and fundamental in their respective periods. His early philosophy in the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, first published in 1921, provided new insights into relationships between the world, thought, language and the nature of philosophy by showing the application of modern logic to metaphysics via language. His later philosophy, mostly found in Philosophical Investigations, published posthumously