as I read Song of Myself, my thoughts are continually drawn to the philosophies and religions of the Far East. Like the Tao Te Ching ideas are expressed in enigmatic verse and each stanza is a Zen koan waiting to be meditated on and puzzled out. Even Emerson called Whitman's poetry "a remarkable mixture of the Bhagvat Gita and the New York Herald" ("The Whitman Project"). Song of Myself contains multitudes of passages that express Hindu, Buddhist, and Taoist thought. Hinduism is an ancient religion
Dewey's Criticisms of Traditional Philosophy ABSTRACT: In this paper I address some of John Dewey’s more generally applicable criticisms of the philosophic "tradition," and show how his criticisms stem from his naturalistic approach to philosophy. This topic is important because Dewey gives great insight into discussions that are relevant today regarding the role of philosophy. In 1935 he anticipated many of the criticisms of the "later" Wittgenstein regarding the establishment of post facto
well-being in this earthly environment, as well as their spiritual well-being; and most have been perturbed by the suggestion that they cannot escape the wrongs they have committed while in their physical bodies. Throughout the evolution of philosophic thought, there have been many different views on the relationship of mind and body. The great philosopher Plato and the Neoplatonists held the belief that man's body is merely a prison of his soul, but St. Augustine later refutes this with his idea
Existentialism in Things Fall Apart Chinua Achebe presents his audience with an interesting twist to a contemporary school of thought in his work Things Fall Apart. This post-colonization narrative incorporates several traits that revolt against normative philosophic systems and tralititious theories and beliefs of the existence of man and his place in the universe. Achebe's efforts are characterized by a small diverse group of writers that purge realizations of predestination, and instead
Dante Alighieri Dante Alighieri was the first and best Italian poet and wrote mainly on love and religion. His Divine Comedy is considered the greatest book of the last millennium. George Steiner said, "Dante’s totality of poet form and philosophic thought, of local universality and language, remains unrivaled. At a time where the notion of culture and of European culture in particular, is somewhat in doubt, Dante is the sovereign underwriter. His are the solutions beyond logic” (Twito 5).
well as adapting their own ways of thinking (Hitti 363). The Islamic ability to reconcile monotheism and science prooves to be a first time in human thought that theology, philosophy, and science were coordinated in a unified whole. Thus, their contribution was "one of the first magnitude, considering its effect upon scientific and philosophic thought and upon the theology of later times" (Hitti 580). One of the reasons for such development of science is probably due to God's commandment to explore
Epistemology as Discussed in The Republic The history of philosophy can be viewed as the result of the work of an obscure Athenian whose voluminous works, penetrating questions, novel ideas, and didactic teachings have shaped the flow of nearly all philosophic thought. It has been said that the influence of the ancient Greek philosopher named Plato has laid the foundation for Western culture. Plato was born to an aristocratic family in Athens in 428/427 B.C. As a young man, Plato studied poetry, but later
Teddy is wise and philosophical due to his belief of his past lives, and his desire to reach his final enlightened state. The symbols that Salinger introduces in this story are the portholes that allow the reader an insight into the multitude of thought processes that take place in Teddy’s mind. Through orange peels and apples of logic, readers learn a vast variety of knowledge about Teddy. Early on in the story, seemingly ordinary orange peels that are thrown out of a passenger’s porthole pique
entire universe, but just to be open to thought. In the past, men that worked towards this task of thinking, such as Newton, were able to take philosophy and evolve it into a separate science. This reasons that philosophy's value is largely in the possibility of a greater enlightenment that has yet to be determined. There is value in the fact that a deeper reality exists. That life does not just run blindly through time, but streams around reason and thought. Knowledge should alone be enough of
Bishop George Berkeley is often thought to be the leading proponent of subjective idealism, and is commonly held to have endorsed scepticism about the existence of an external world. George Berkeley’s philosophy of subjective idealism is one that is often argued with both evidence proving and disproving its validity. According to Berkeley, only mind and ideas within the mind exist while matter does not. These ideas were developed off foundations of Empiricism, which emphasizes the role of experience
I tend to become taken with philosophic questions, going over them and over them and over them again in loops that go round and round and round until they either produce an answer or become so repetitively locked on they become psychiatrically dangerous, and now the question became obsessive: "Where did he go?" Where did Chris go? He had bought an airplane ticket that morning. He had a bank account, drawers full of clothes, and shelves full of books. He was a real, live person, occupying time and
a state characterized by perceptions, sensations, emotions, thoughts, where the individual is aware of what he sees, feels, thinks and observes himself, those around him and the environment. Others consider Consciousness a simply state of being, of existence, triggered by some mechanical patterns which developed through Evolution, while some people think Consciousness is the subjective experience of one individual, a more philosophic approach where one is aware of himself, his existence, his identity
Descartes, who was a councilor in Parliament. Descartes was a French mathematician, philosopher, and is frequently discussed as the inventor of the modern-day scientific method. He contributed to modern ideas such as related to science and rational thought. Descartes came from a wealthy family, and therefore had no financial worries. Descartes' father sent him to College Henri IV at La Feche at the age of only 8 (Finkel). The college was a newly established Jesuit school, which was known to be one of
Justifying Philosophy and Paideia in the Modern World ABSTRACT: If Paideia means education in the classical sense, that is, education of the whole person, then authentically justifying such education in the modern world is extremely problematic. We are first drawn to practical defenses of a liberal education, that it is in itself of service and useful, both to society and to the individual. However, a practical defense of Paideia in the classical sense simply comes across as feeble and even
Other Minds? Bertrand Russell expressed his belief on knowing other minds, in an article based primarily around the notion of ‘analogy’, meaning similar to or likeness of. His belief is that, "We are convinced that other people have thoughts and feelings that are qualitatively fairly similar to our own. We are not content to think that we know only the space-time structure of our friends’ minds, or their capacity for initiating causal chains that end in sensations of our own" (Russell 89). Russell
Eichmann, the Banality of Evil, and Thinking in Arendt's Thought* ABSTRACT: I analyze the ways in which the faculty of thinking can avoid evil action, taking into account Hannah Arendt's discussion regarding the banality of evil and thoughtlessness in connection with the Eichmann trial. I focus on the following question posed by Arendt: "Could the activity of thinking as such, the habit of examining and reflecting upon whatever happens to come to pass, regardless of specific content and quite
The Flaw of Hamlet Many Shakespearean scholars, including A.C. Bradley, believe that the character Hamlet is an over analytical person, always "unmaking his world and rebuilding it in thought" (A.C. Bradley). It is argued by many that Hamlet's tragic flaw is his inability to accept things the way they are presented, thus criticizing everything in the world around him. Hamlet delves deep into what he believes is the reality of each of his given situations and searches for answers which he
disturbing rumor about her, instead of thinking over what he heard or if it is true, he let his jealousy take over his actions. In Othello, Iago, Othello's dear truthful friend, wants to ruin Othello's life by "plaguing" his mind of depressing thoughts. He plans to tell Othello that his wife, Desdemona, is cheating on him with his ex-lieutenant, Cassio. "At least jealousy so strong that judgment cannot cure." (p. 79, Iago) Othello being passionately in love with Desdemona begins to believe
within them. Hester had to stand on the scaffold, which was a place for public shame, and had everybody judge her for her crime, committing adultery. This punishment was decided for her by a group men who had political power. These men also thought that they were punishing an evil person, Hester, because she had sinned, and offended God. If that was true, why would a mortal decide, and act as God for God? These men in power made Hester look bad, so people on town would think that they
your opportunity to discuss an idea that is important to you, to write about a person who has influenced you, or to describe an experience that has helped shape who you are. The committee is also interested in how you think and how you express your thoughts. I ride the metro whenever I can. I've ridden all five lines into fifty different neighborhoods. Sometimes I go to my internship downtown; other days I visit the museums at the capital; but many days I travel alone, without a destination, merely