Philosophers
Essays

The issue of the death penalty and capital crime has become one of the dominant issues debated in contemporary culture. The reason for this is firstly a moral questioning of the right to take a life, even when it is in…

In a comprehensive research article titled "Difficulties that Elderly People Encounter and Their Life Satisfaction," which was published within the scholarly journal Social Behavior and Personality in 2008, social scientists Kasim Karatas and Veli Duyan analyze the level of life satisfaction experienced by elderly residents of the Ankara region of Turkey, while also exploring the various factors which may negatively influence one's life satisfaction. According to the authors, "the purpose of this study was to examine the sociodemographic characteristics of elderly people and the effects that difficulties they encounter in daily life have on their life satisfaction" (2008), with the dually overriding objectives of determining a causal relationship between life satisfaction and either sociodemographic characteristics or hardships experienced. Relying on the tried and true methodology of administering a detailed survey and questionnaire combination, in this case to a sample of 109 females and 76 males between the ages of 60 and 98 living in the Kocatepe Solidarity Center for Elderly People, Karatas and Duyan apply SPSS statistical analysis to determine the presence of meaningful correlations between the variables. The divergence between sociodemographic factors, which are largely defined by the research team as inherited traits such as susceptibility to disease, migration experience, income bracket, and urban versus rural habitation, and the externality of difficulties encountered during the course of one's life, including institutionalization in a group home, the death of a child, or premature retirement due to injury, is especially intriguing when this study is considered from the context of the wider "nature versus nurture" debate.

¶ … Learn, and Gladly Would He Teach -- Teaching Values to Students in the Classroom Today

¶ … Environment and Economic Globalization

An analysis of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. In the analysis that is undertaken, it is posited that the true monster in the novel is Victor Frankenstein more so than his creature. Additionally it is argued that it was Frankenstein's nature that influenced his behavior whereas the Creature was motivated by a lack of nurturing and having to teach himself the ways of the world.

Does "Free Will" Exist and if so, to What Extent does it Exist? The concept of "Free Will" has been debated by many philosophers over a period of centuries, not only regarding its very existence but also regarding its elements, the extent to which it may or may not exist and its moral implications. Our assigned readings have merely touched on debates that have raged and will probably continue to rage as long as human beings contemplate the "truths" about being. Though an exhaustive review of differing philosophical treatments of "Free Will" would probably take hundreds of pages, this work will briefly examine several major philosophies of "Free Will" and some of their most notable proponents. In reviewing these sources and differing approaches to "Free Will," we can see that philosophers approach the concept of "Free Will" with differing definitions, examining disparate aspects and resulting in somewhat different implications for Morality. It is fortunate that this work does not require a definitive conclusion about the existence and impact of "Free Will," for review of sources from class reading and independent reading reveals that the only definitive conclusion can be that there is no definitive conclusion. It appears that each philosopher in his turn treats Free Will and aspects of Free Will somewhat differently and arrives at unique conclusions. Descartes takes the most extreme position examined, apparently believing that there is Free Will and that it is completely unrestrained and undiminished by divine grace or natural knowledge. Immanuel Kant believed that there is Free Will but it is based solely in the rational aspect of the human being and is known essentially because we rationally know that we have certain incontrovertible duties. Roderick Chisholm believes that there is Free Will but that it is specifically linked to a type of "agent causation" as opposed to transeunt or "event" causation. Peter Van Inwagen believes that there is Free Will but only in a very small set of circumstances illustrated by "a garden of forking paths," some of which are illusions. Daniel M. Wegner believes that there is Free Will but that much of our supposed Free Will or Conscious Will is actually a simplistic illusion created for our benefits by our minds. Finally, Benjamin Libet believes there is Free Will but simultaneously refutes much of the traditional notion of Free Will through experiments indicating that many of our actions precede our will and that our exercise of Free Will primarily resides in controlling commenced actions by "vetoing" them. In sum, without even addressing the work of philosophers who do not believe in the existence of Free Will at all, we see disparate approaches to Free Will, to its nature, to its extent and to its moral implications. Indeed, some of these philosophers themselves decry the "incoherence" of philosophical treatments of "Free Will" while attempting to contribute their own thoughts on a vital philosophical topic that shows no signs of uniform conclusions.

Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) was a famous English philosopher and political theorist who profoundly influenced the political events during the so-called English Revolution (1640-1660), a time of great upheaval and disorder.

Contra: Chapter 39. Baron D'Holbach: "We Are Completely Determined"

Japan complex set of factors affect the culture of any country. One of the most important aspects that determine the way of life of a people is the geography of the area in which they reside.

Monticello, the mansion that Thomas Jefferson designed in the hills of Virginia near the State University that he founded, has three portraits that are to be found on the wall of President Jefferson's study that have…