Philosophers Essays (Examples)

1000+ documents containing “philosophers”.
Sort By:
By Keywords
Reset Filters

Example Essays

Essay
Philosophers' Ethos Thomas Hobbes's Opinion
Pages: 5 Words: 1533

Even with the fact that he is well aware of the futility of his struggle; the essay's protagonist does not give in and constantly stresses the importance of his mission. Sisyphus should nonetheless be considered to be happy, as Camus describes, considering that the character accepts his fate and proceeds to perform his pointless task.
Camus' essay demonstrates how the much hated absurdness of life can become less malicious when individuals realize that there is basically nothing to do in order to change the end. Sisyphus's dedication to live life to the fullest and his attempt to cheat death were unsuccessful, as his fate ultimately defeated him in the long run. Camus obviously wanted to prove that there is no point in trying to cheat what it is inevitable.

ibliography:

Camus, Albert. (1991). "The Myth of Sisyphus: And Other Essays." Vintage.

Hobbes, Thomas. (1950). "Leviathan, Part 1." Forgotten ooks.

Hume, David. (1983). "An enquiry…...

mla

Bibliography:

Camus, Albert. (1991). "The Myth of Sisyphus: And Other Essays." Vintage.

Hobbes, Thomas. (1950). "Leviathan, Part 1." Forgotten Books.

Hume, David. (1983). "An enquiry concerning the principles of morals." Hackett Publishing.

"Hume's Moral Philosophy." Retrieved October 27, 2010, from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Website:  http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hume-moral/

Essay
Philosophers of Ancient Greece
Pages: 14 Words: 3936

Philosophers of Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece offers a plethora of great thinkers all of whom contributed greatly to understanding the mysteries of natural and unnatural phenomena. From the Pre-Socratic era to the Classical Age of thought, we come across various schools that painstakingly define the workings of the mind, soul, matter and the whole universe. This paper aims to outline the philosophical beliefs of the spearheads of Greek thought and compare their notions in a manner that shows the evolution of rational reason.

Greek thinkers of the pre-Socratic era, were the undoubtedly the first of many thinkers who delved into the mystics of nature and deemed it necessary to think along the lines of life and how it ought to be led. They presented a new rational line of thought whereby a lot of veneration was given to the intricate workings of the universe. These philosophers are singlehandedly responsible for kick starting…...

mla

Works Cited

Baldwin, James Mark. "Development and Evolution: ." The Philosophical Review (Duke University Pres) 11 (November 1902).

Bielaczyc, Katerine, and Allan Collins. Fostering Knowledge-Creating Communities. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2006.

Harris, William. "Heraclitus: The Complete Fragments." Middleburry College.

Hernandez, Manuel. The life of Pythagoras. Northridge: California State University, 2006.

Essay
Philosophers and Fingerprints
Pages: 3 Words: 1078

Philosophers and Fingerprints
Gandhi and Fingerprinting

Today's environment has a lot more security measures that seem to border the notion of a police state. With the threat of terrorism constantly looming over the American public, there have been a lot more allowances in security measures. This, however, would be seen as a violation of rights and privacy by many philosophers, including Mahatma Gandhi.

Gandhi was a powerful force in the fight against oppression and public injustice during the English occupation of India. His philosophies captured the attention of the world and helped show that you don't always have to fight violence with violence to win. Gandhi preached the importance of self-discipline as a way to ensure good citizenship and behavior without coming into breaches with the law. According to his principles, "Brahamchraya means control of all the organs of sense. He who attempts to control only one organ, and allows all the others…...

mla

References

Breckenridge, Keith. (2011). Gandhi's progressive disillusionment: Thumbs, fingers, and the rejection of scientific modernism in Hind Swaraj. Pubic Culture. Web.  http://publicculture.org/articles/view/23/2/gandhi-s-progressive-disillusionment-thumbs-fingers-and-the-rejection-of-scientific-modernism-in-hind-swaraj 

Brownlee, Kim. (2013). Civil disobedience. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Web.  http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/civil-disobedience/ 

Manu Bhavan Ganndhi Sangrahalaya. (2014). Gandhi's 11 vows. Gandhi's Philosophy. Web.  http://www.gandhi-manibhavan.org/gandhiphilosophy/philosophy_11vows.htm

Essay
Philosophers the Following Two Questions
Pages: 2 Words: 584

Still he explored the possibility of imagination and unusual experience but he knew his theory limited his results.
Hegel and Marx

Both Hegel and Marx dwelled on the concept of historical development. They each have a different understanding of how these laws work with respect to history's role. Marx focused on the past and present history as it relates to society. He focused on class struggles throughout history. He believed out of struggle created values to define the present. He envisioned a society of heavy industry being over developed to a state of direct labor time. He believed society would evolve beyond Capitalism. He only considered class struggle and this limits his influence on history itself. Ironically, his idea of a better working society collapsed and Capitalism was put in its place.

Surprising Hegel's view is different. It does not focus on the physical human but rather the spirit. He believed with…...

mla

Work Cited

Melchert, Norman. The Great Conversation: A Historical Introduction to Philosophy.

Boston: McGraw-Hill Education, 2002.

Essay
Philosophers Have Used Their Works
Pages: 2 Words: 580

In Book I of his Confessions, for example [Childhood], Augustine states:
for my sustenance and my delight I had woman's milk; yet it was not my mother or my nurses who stored their milk for me: it was Yourself, using them to give me the food of my infancy, according to Your ordinance and the riches set by You at every level of creation.

Since God is present within every human thought and action, suggests Augustine, if one looks deeply within, one will find the God in oneself.

Dante Alighieri medieval masterpiece the Divine Comedy is also the story of a spiritual awakening, although in this case an allegorical rather than personal one. It contains three separate works, the Inferno (Hell); the Purgatorio (Purgatory) and the Paradiso (Heaven). The Inferno, the first of the three, represents the first part of an elaborate metaphor for a spiritual journey, of the creative imagination, through…...

Essay
Philosophers Kant and Nerlich Have
Pages: 10 Words: 2993


6. Now we will try to explain the Problem of Indiscernible Counterparts posed by Andy Warhol's "Brillo Boxes" (1964). What does this problem have to do with the question "What is art?" In addition we will try to understand how does Danto's appeal to "the art world" address this problem?

The Brillo Boxes are a piece of art which Warhol created in the sixties as part of his attempt to make a point about industrialization, the role of art in everyday life and the mechanisms through which art is rendered exactly what it is. Basically he created dozens of this type of boxes. Afterwards he created wooden replicas of the original pieces, painting them and silkscreening the images and the commercial texts. The final result had the second round of creations virtually indistinguishable from the first round ones. The question which Warhol was putting to people and society in general was:…...

Essay
Philosophers Today It Is Important to Look
Pages: 1 Words: 310

philosophers today. It is important to look at coherentism in epistemology and its isolation problem.
Epistemology

In Epistemology "an Internalist position which maintains that individual beliefs receive epistemic justification from their coherent relation to the larger set of beliefs of the cognizer. That is, if a belief is coherent with the rest of a cognizer's beliefs, or some coherent sub-set of beliefs, then it is epistemically justified as well (www.mc.maricopa.edu/~bfvaughan/test/lex/defs/coherentism.html)."

Isolation

A Coherentist may have a problem with isolation since there is "no obvious way in which a coherent system relates to anything that might exist outside of it. Therefore, it may be possible to construct a coherent theory of the world, which does not correspond to what actually occurs in the world (www.xasa.com.es/wiki/en/wikipedia/c/co/coherentism.html)." A Coherentist may be able to create a completely coherent system which is completely false, resulting in isolation.

Coherentists have a different viewpoint about "the phrase 'correspond to reality'.…...

mla

Works Cited

(Coherentism. (accessed 23 November, 2004).

).

(Coherentism. (accessed 23 November, 2004).

).

Essay
Philosophers Have Spouted Doctrinal Differences
Pages: 15 Words: 4463

178). Jung espoused the belief that the 'ego' of man was brought together through the experiences, both consciously and unconsciously that the individual experienced. Ultimately these experiences would lead the individual to an enhanced and complete life, leading to exaltation and a 'complete' man.
Phenomenology as a discipline is distinct from but related to other key disciplines in philosophy, such as ontology, epistemology, logic, and ethics. Phenomenology has been practiced in various guises for centuries, but it came into its own in the early 20th century in the works of Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre, Merleau-Ponty and others" (Smith, 2005).

This philosophy was much like the philosophy practiced by alchemists in earlier centuries. Alchemy, before modern times was considered to be the search for turning metal into gold. According to some sources alchemy was a title given to those men who worked gold. "They called gold-working al-kimiya - 'the art of the land…...

mla

Works Cited

Alexander, F., Allen, C., Brooks, J. And others, (2004) Reason to believe: Representations of aggression as phenomenological read-out, Sex Roles, Vol. 51, No. 11-12, pp. 647-659

Baumlin, J. (2005) Rereading/Misreading Jung: Post-Jungian theory, College Literature, Vol. 32, No. 1, pp. 177-186

Crowley, Vivianne (2000). Jung: A Journey of Transformation:Exploring His Life and Experiencing His Ideas. Wheaton, Illinois: Quest Books

Green, K., (2002) the other as another other, Hypatia, Vol. 17, No. 4, pp. 1-15

Essay
Philosophers' View of Knowledge
Pages: 3 Words: 1102

Knowledge, colloquially, denotes a familiarity with or an understanding of different ideas, events, objects, or ways to do things. Among the most ancient and venerated traditions regarding the concept of knowledge portrays knowledge in the form of "validated true belief." While all philosophers do not agree that this statement adequately expresses knowledge's nature, it is still the most prevalent notion regarding knowledge (Henriques, 2013). The history of philosophy's thoughts on knowledge is one of theories and theses, as also of concepts, questions, syntheses, taxonomies and distinctions (Stephen, n.d.).
Generally, knowledge is divided by philosophers into three domains: 1) Personal; relating to direct experience, autobiographical truths and idiosyncratic predilections; 2) Procedural; denoting knowledge on how something is to be done (e.g. riding a bike or playing basketball); and 3) Propositional; knowledge referring to universal facts regarding the world, as well as how we see it. A key difference between psychology and philosophy…...

mla

References

Ancient Greek Education. Retrieved August 14, 2013, from  http://www.crystalinks.com/greekeducation.html 

Ancient Greek Culture. Retrieved August 14, 2013, from  http://www.crystalinks.com/greekculture.html 

Florida Atlantic University. (n.d.) The history guide: Lectures on ancient and medieval European history. Lecture 8. Greek Thought. Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Retrieved August 14, 2013, from  http://www.historyguide.org/ancient/ancient.html#table 

Henriques, G. (2013). What is Knowledge? A Brief Primer. Theory of Knowledge. Retrieved February 28, 2014, from  http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/theory-knowledge/201312/what-is-knowledge-brief-primer

Essay
Philosophers Plato Mill Descartes Hume Mill
Pages: 8 Words: 2113

Neoclassical Philosophy
Plato, Censorship, Mill

In Book Four of Plato's Republic, the philosopher argued that the ideal city will have a tripartite structure in it - linked to Plato's argument that the ideal human soul is divided into three parts. Plato believed that the individual is connected to city and to community through the soul, and the most efficacious way to ensure that the individual will be connected to the city most effectively if the soul and the city have the same basic structure.

For the city, this tripartite structure consists primarily of three different classes. Each person belongs to the class to which his or her particular skills best suit: Those best suited to intellectual labor to one class, those best suited to manual labor another. (Not, one hopes at least, our current understanding of the nature of the democratic state.) Likewise is the soul divided into three - an "appetitive" or…...

Essay
Success vs Happiness 3 Greek Philosophers and Alexander the Great
Pages: 5 Words: 1733

Philosophers and Great Leaders
Ancient Greek philosophers will always have a distinct place in human history by giving shape to Western philosophical thought (Fieser 2014). That philosophical thought moved away from myth to a method based on reason and evidence. Although these philosophers' ways of exploring the world were diverse, they nonetheless set the pace for a single search for the underlying principles of everything. The most influential among them were Socrates, Plato and Aristotle who focused more on the individual than the physical world (Fieser). Their philosophies are hereunder compared and contrasted with that of Alexander the Great, king of Macedonia.

The Philosophy of Socrates

Socrates was and still is better known for his unusual teaching methods than for his military career (Vlastos 1991, Waterfield 2009). He taught neither in a formal school nor required payment for his teaching services. He always debated against illogical reasoning and biases. Socrates opposed ascetism or…...

mla

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Asirvathan, Sulochana R.2014. "Alexander the Philosopher in the Greco-Roman, Persian

and Arabic Traditions." Academia. 311-326. Retrieved on June 29, 2014 from  http://www.academia.edu/911404/Alexander_the_Philosopher_in_the_Greco_Roman_Persian_and_Arabic_Traditions 

Crisp, Roger 2002. "Aristotle's ethics: how being good can make you happy." Richmond

Journal of Philosophy: St. Anne's College, Oxford. Retrieved on June 29, 2014 from http://www.richmond-philosophy.net/rjp/back_issues/rjp_2.crisp.pdf

Essay
Corporate Risk Management Philosophers Frequently
Pages: 2 Words: 655


I believe that Hume's statement regarding conformation to the "common sentiments of mankind" is outdated. With globalization and intercultural development and communication, there are so many diverse "sentiments" that it is difficult to identify what exactly is right, wrong, or indeed common to everybody. I therefore do not believe that this statement can still be regarded as true in today's society.

Kant's statement regarding the universal law again may hold for humanity in general, but only because it is so individual. A rule that I would make the universal law for example would not be agreeable to a person from a different culture or with a different background. While the statement may therefore apply to each individual, it does not hold in terms of the general truth that Kant apparently applies to it.

Bentham, Hegal and Dewey appear to focus on human evolution for their assessment of wise, moral, or intelligent action.…...

Essay
Idea of Two Philosophers
Pages: 2 Words: 612

Chinese philosopher's point-of-view on Confucius. It has 2 sources.
Shu-hsien Liu projects in his article titled "eflection on Methodology " an understanding of the rational behind Confucius and Chinese philosophy. According to Liu Chinese philosophy is relative in terms of its understanding of the Confucianism as a genre for philosophy or hermeneutical understanding. He first projects the premise that Confucianism cannot be really be a philosophy as it does not offer logical arguments and at the same time it is not a religion either as it does not offer absolute commitment of the individual and its terms are vague. Base on this understanding he presents five cases. The first one is the import of Confucius in which he tells of the principles upon which Confucius school of thoughts is based and why various Chinese philosophers prefer to follow Confucius rather than any other metaphysical thinkers or even western thinkers. Secondly…...

mla

References

Shu-hsien Liu, "Philosophical Analysis and Hermeneutics: Reflection on Methodology.." from Joseph Needham, Science and Civilization in China, Cambridge University Press, 1954.

Chung-ying Cheng, "Onto-Hermeneutical Vision and Analytic Discourse: Interpretation and Reconstruction in Chinese Philosophy" from Joseph Needham, Science and Civilization in China, Cambridge University Press, 1954.

Essay
Greek Philosophers Plato and Aristotle Explored the
Pages: 5 Words: 1854

Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle explored the concept of political philosophy (Trajkovic). In the process of exploring such concept, both came to the agreement that the best form of government was that which every man can act best and live happily. In considering how such a government might be organized Plato and Aristotle discussed the concept the rule of law. The rule of law is the principle that no one is exempt from the law even those in a position of power. In his last book, Plato summarized his stance on the rule of law: "here the law is subject to some other authority and has none of its own, the collapse of the state, in my view, is not far off; but if law is the master of the government and the government is its slave, then the situation is full of promise and men enjoy all the…...

mla

Works Cited

Asmis, Elizabeth. "Cicero on Natural Law and the Laws of the State." Classical Antiquity (2008): 1-33.

Cooper, John. Complete Works by Plato. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 1997.

Hensler, Louis W. "A Modest Reading of St. Thomas Aquinas on the Connection between Natural Law and Human Law." Creighton Law Review (2009): 153-174.

Insole, Christopher. "Two Conceptions of Liberaliism: Theorlogy, Creation, and Politics in the Thought of Immanuel Kant and Edmund Burke." Journal of Religious Ethics (2008): 447-489.

Essay
20th Century Political Philosophers in
Pages: 2 Words: 515

"
2

One of the most important technological developments that occurred during the Industrial Revolution was the assembly line. Used in large factories so that more goods could be manufactured in a shorter period of time, assembly lines totally transformed the way people lived and worked. First, the assembly line created a plethora of new jobs, encouraging previously self-sufficient farmers to move to urban centers. Families were occasionally disrupted and old social codes were too. Women who had previously worked on their family farms found themselves toiling away in factories, and in some cases assembly line maximized the division between the genders. In other cases, women entered the workforce alongside of men and therefore minimized the gap between the genders. Second, the assembly line led to unhealthy working conditions in factories. With more regard for profit as a bottom line than humanity, companies neglected safety concerns. Workers started to form labor unions…...

Q/A
phaedo socrates?
Words: 154

Plato's underlying attitude toward the body is that it is temporary, and something to be cast off. The body is not the person, it is a shell. The actual person is what resides inside the body until separated by death. Overcoming the fear of death and feeling like death could actually be a good thing - a new adventure - is a large part of Plato's focus. Whether he is correct in this cannot be answered, because there is no factual proof of whether or not a person lives on after the body dies. Many believe it does, but there....

Q/A
What is the difference between Plato, Aristotle, and Alfarabi\'s ideal leader and ideal city?
Words: 359

It can be difficult to distinguish between the different approaches taken by various philosophers.  Plato and Aristotle were directly linked to each other and to Socrates in a student-teacher relationship. Socrates taught Plato, who taught Aristotle.  However, Alfarabi was not part of this relationship.  While he was very influenced by Plato’s philosophy, in many ways he took a very different approach to philosophy, particularly the understanding of the relationship between the body and the soul.  The difference in philosophical approaches is very noticeable in how each of the three philosophers viewed the....

Q/A
Can you provide with me an example of reason, appetite, and spirit in philosophy?
Words: 327

Reason, appetite, and spirit are three concepts that you will find throughout Western versions of philosophy. Understanding what they mean can be critical to understanding the core concepts of many philosophers. However, it is important to understand that general meanings are only general meanings. Each philosopher can define them slightly differently in their philosophical framework. So, it is critical to examine each concept within the context of the philosopher that you are studying because their personal interpretations can critically alter the meanings of these three core concepts.

Spirit has multiple meanings in modern philosophy. It can....

Q/A
Could you assist me in finding essay topics pertaining to plato?
Words: 502

1. Explain the concept of the Forms in Plato's philosophy and discuss its significance in his understanding of reality.

2. Compare and contrast Plato's views on education with contemporary educational practices.

3. Analyze Plato's theory of justice as articulated in his Republic and consider its implications for contemporary society.

4. Discuss the role of women in Plato's ideal society as outlined in The Republic and evaluate his views on gender equality.

5. Explore the concept of "philosopher-kings" in Plato's political philosophy and assess their suitability as rulers.

6. Examine Plato's belief in the immortality of the soul and consider its implications for his ethical and....

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now