Philosophy Essays

Mill and Bentham Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) and John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) are the two historical figures most closely associated with the philosophy of Utilitarianism, which seeks to ground moral reasoning in a calculation of utility by judging actions on the basis of the degree of goodness, happiness, and pleasure that they produce socially or personally through situational results.

The last group would say that science is “value neutral” that it is neither good nor bad, but neutral in its inherent ethics. The last group is correct for several reasons, but a discussion of one particular aspect of science, its ability to enhance human abilities, can demonstrate very clearly that science is certainly value neutral Science, at its most elemental and basic form, is simply a way of understanding the universe.

Using the lessons learned on ethos, as arguments and adherence to ethical and moral standards that should supposedly make this visual communication manifest integrity, transparency and conformity to social and environmental responsibility, the video clips would prove what journalisms’ conformity to standards failed through Fox News’ public exhibit of shameful reporting.

Immanuel Kant formulated his principles regarding what is right and wrong. He developed a system of three questions he referred to as formulations which an individual need to ask before undertaking any action in order to decide upon ethicality of the action.

The debate on whether to legalize same sex marriage has been the forefront of many political and social debates in various countries. Marriage of people with different sex has been sentimentalized into a cultural icon that triumphs gay marriage as a civil right (Morris, 2007).

As with so many different movements within philosophy, Modernism was tied closely to a revolution and reformation movement that existed tangentially with regards to music, architecture, art, and literature. Modernism sought to break free from the bounds of 19th-century Victorian schools of thought, cultural absolutism, and tradition. 

Zohrab (6) provides a definition of feminism that is seen to be widely acceptable as it essentially encompasses all the different definitions of the term. According to Zohrab, feminism can be defined as being the application of the victims of oppression model to different situations that are faced by women in modern society today.

Global dynamics have changed over the years. The way people think and behave, their sense of right and wrong, their views on the good and the bad, all of this has changed over time. Things that people perceived as wrong in the past are now viewed as tolerable and acceptable. This change in the way people think has brought about numerous challenges which leaders have to face.

The central thesis is that each step along the path of self-consciousness' attempt at making the truth of its unity with itself explicit, is simultaneously a step in the realization of the aim of Life: to become 'for-itself.' Moreover, this represents the difference or transformation of consciousness to self-consciousness.

Defining Philosophy Name Course Instructor’s Name Date Defining Philosophy Philosophy is the systematic inquiry into the principles and presuppositions of any endeavor. It comes from the Greek word “philo” which means fond of or affinity for, and “sophia” which means wisdom.

Philosophy, to Plato, was about having an attitude.  “For at this moment I am sensible that I have not the temper of a philosopher; like the vulgar, I am only a partisan.” Perception of the good is key.  For, “…without any assistance of sense, and perseveres until by pure intelligence he arrives at the perception of the absolute good, he, at last, finds himself at the end of the intellectual world.''

The ‘Apology of Socrates by’ Plato is all about the scenario of a death sentence being implied to Socrates and the way in which he confronts it. Socrates like others is not afraid of death rather he believes that fear of death is the nature of an ignorant man. He is of the opinion that neither he is feared of death nor he wants to avoid it.

The main character introduces his associates in crime as Peter, Dim and George. Alex then continues with introducing the readers to the array of crimes that he and other gang members inflicted on naive citizens. The author provides a clear depiction of the situation at hand describing the details of the group activities.

It indicates the existence of God itself. Descartes premise that God exists because he is able to conceive the concept of God, a superpower, a ruler of the universe and its fate including the fate of mankind, is reason strong enough to believe that God is real.

The other arguments for the existence of God are the Teleogical and the Ontological arguments, which are posteriori and priori respectively (Rowe 21). The Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle were the pioneer writers of The Cosmological Argument. Aquinas in the 13th century gave five arguments distinctly for the existence of God.

In dream interpretation, Freud uses the technique of free association together with hypnosis. This technique begins by psychoanalyst’s analysis of a particular dream symbol and immediately follows it by a thought that comes to the dreamers mind. This makes the subject of dream interpretation to become a subject of scientific research according to Sigmund (Freud, 1953 p.145).

Locke however, believes that rights and obligations are the main propellants of problems that civil society faces while working under a given government. Moreover, Locke provided a wide analysis of the state of nature in his second treatise which had an impact on the civil government. His work was written in the year 1680, the time of the exclusion crisis in England.

Nagarjuna theory of emptiness has fundamental disparity between the way the world is perceived which includes the existence of humans and the way things are; there are entities that are self-enclosed, discrete, enduring or definable. Looking at our selfhood conception, people have a tendency of believing the presence of our human being and this characterizes our individuality and identity as being an ego that is discrete and independent from mental and physical elements necessary for our existence.

It portrays achievement in matters of social or economic well being, the establishment of fairness, and a working political order that caters for the true interests of everybody. International relations teach that peace means the absence of war or conflict, together with the existence of cultural and economic understanding.

The state of nature is a condition characterized by equality of ability where two men desire the same thing and so they become enemies, thus it is a state of war (64). Hobbes proposed an absolute sovereign that would rule over people so that they will not be in the state of nature and therefore not in the state of war (“Thomas Hobbes”).

Alvin Plantinga's Free Will Defense The free will defense is like an effort to show that “there may be a different kind of good that God cannot bring without permitting evil” (Plantinga, p, 29). There are good states of affairs without evil, they do not entail the existence of any evil, but God cannot bring them without permitting evil.

It is seemingly agreeable by most people who are straight that being straight is the natural discourse of the world. Without this attraction, the world would spiral to a halt, and the seemingly expansive choice in orientation would ridicule not just the concept of marriage but the process of evolution as well.

However, this speeding up of the commerce world has led to a disastrous outcome, which is that more importance is now attached to factors like investment and return, and businesspeople now shun the importance of ethics in business; a change which is visible on a global scale. In particular, this paper includes discussion and evaluation of different aspects of BP Oil Spill to identify ethical issues related to it and lessons that can come from it.

Totemism is a belief that humans have mystical relationship or kinship with a spirit-being such as animals or plants. The term is used to “characterize a cluster of traits in the religion and in the social organization of many people (“totenism 2012).

Virginia held comprehends that the principles of care as comprising of “caring relations” and not just emotions. She additionally states that the ethics of caring do not just basically rely on emotions but involves the practices of caring for the needy by the caregivers and the rights of humans, that begin with ethical responses to oppressions.

His work, A Theory of Justice, was considered as one of the main manuscripts in political philosophy and regarded as the most significant work in moral philosophy in the 20th century since the last part of World War II. A Theory of Justice is a superb work which dealt with ethics and political philosophy.

This practice took place in Africa during the early times even before the landing of the Europeans or any other groups. This is because slavery occurred between different ethnic tribes that were in Africa and was perpetrated by kidnapping, capturing prisoners during war, selling debtors and convicting people of various crimes.

Bentham believes that happiness is a substantially subjective incident (Pojman, 120). Bentham believes that it is a warm feeling that individuals realize as they feel it. Aristotle states that people have no idea about what happiness is and can not tell whether they are experiencing happiness at a particular time, or not and are completely unaware.

It is taught in schools as one of the essential tenets of human life, and the lack of it is used as a reason for meddling in the affairs of others (Leo Franchi, n.d.). Many philosophers have discussed the concept of freedom for many years, centuries even. It is so fundamental that freedom was defined by different people with different views.

The author states that most modern literature encompasses adventure tales as compared to romance as was noted in previous works before his time. Joseph Conrad inspired consequent writers such as; Scott Fitzgerald, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, D.H. Lawrence, Joseph Heller, Virginia Woolf and Albert Camus who were inspired by the artistic works.

Rationality is supreme in all human beings and that it does not exists in other lesser creatures that are endowed with happiness. Human beings are rational and they can do actions that are beyond the boundaries of love and mere happiness. If human beings are rational, this enables them to differentiate the good action and the evil action not just what makes them happy.

Name: Instructor: Course: Date: Women and Leadership For the last few decades, women across the globe have been battling for equality with their male counterparts, who often assume that it is their right to be at the top. However, despite the time being taken to fight this battle, it is far from over as key leadership positions are still being filled by men.

According to renowned scientist Albert Einstein, ‘nothing is absolute, everything is relative. Science never believes in making absolute conclusions because of its awareness of the limitations of human intelligence in explaining everything in this world. Earlier, science argued that the sun moves and the earth remains stationary.

The axiom of realism is a principle that aims at representing things as realistic as possible. Despite this Arnheim acknowledges that a number of artist have negated the customs of axiom of realism. The perspective of axiom of realism employs the traditional belief and claims that since the figurative arts cannot be obtained from anywhere else apart from nature, then they should be created in competition with nature and therefore they should be as realistic as possible.

The capability of meeting needs with consumers is one of the growing ideologies that are occurring.  The market of online technologies is continuing to emerge as the main way of working toward larger scales and a global presence.  When looking at Draco Corp, an electronic store, it can be seen that specific changes need to be made with the website to begin altering the ways in which it is able to grow.

It is well known that Greek philosopher Socrates was given a death sentence on the charge of corrupting youth with his teachings. He was given a dose of hemlock, a toxic substance that causes suffocation leading to death.

It is possible here to find that in normal sense, the word ‘examine’ stands for ‘to search’, or to ‘scrutinize’. In both the cases, it becomes easy to understand what Socrates meant by ‘an examined life’. If taken in a judicial context, the term ‘examination’ means getting judged by a fair judge who will weigh the arguments of one to reach truth or justice.

Faith according to Kierkegaard, is subjective, fervent, and a personal desire to attain everlasting happiness through appropriation. Faith deals with the decision-making aspects that an individual is confronted with an either-or situation. In this confrontation, he can either reject or accept subjectivity.

Heidegger believed that people tend to permit themselves to lose direction in current concerns, and the impact of which is that they become estranged from themselves and their actions. They view themselves externally and as it is like they do not really decide in their lives but merely swept along by the conditions at hand. Heidegger refers to this state as “fallenness.”

The central focus of Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason is the determination of the dimensions and limits of pure reason. His interest was on the capacity of human reason to generate knowledge independent of sense experience or other alternative forms of knowing.

The United States vs. Morris is one of the famous cases that led to the nullification of the Fugitive Slave Law in 1864. Shadrach escaped from slavery in 1850 in Norfolk, Virginia, and made his way to Boston. He worked as a waiter in a restaurant until an agent of his former master discovered where he was in 1851 (Abramson 81).

The "veil of perception" conversely, refers to the belief that, indirectly, our perception about the world is passed through the channel of our ideas (Martin 279). Skepticism about perception generally points out that, we require some methods to measure the accuracy of our perceptions.

According to Aristotle’s Virtue Ethics as contained in his discourse on Nicomachean Ethics, anything in excess or taken to the extreme is bad. This ethical rule is based on the law of nature that anything excessive is destructive. When we eat or drink too much, it is considered bad and in the same vein, eating too little also undermines our health.

Communism on the other hand espouses equality and eliminates competition and social stratification leading to a classless society where everybody gets their basic needs and property and labor are communal. While admitting that no country has been successful in applying socialism in its entirety, his theory creates the logical basis for a society.

According to Gregory Schrempp of Indiana University, "Myth" refers to colorful stories that tell about the origins of humans and the cosmos. Attitudes toward myth vary greatly. Some regard it as a source of spiritual growth, while others see the only falsehood. Some see in myth the distinct character of particular cultures, while others see universal patterns. 

Various philosophies and ideologies begin to create a variety of roles with those who are interested in the concept of ethics and how this pertains to business, politics, culture and social status. While most refer to ethics as a responsibility among those in society, there is also a question of what this means.

In fact, the respective concepts of Nietzsche and Kierkegaard are reflective of the continuing struggle for significance between atheism and religion. Both, however, focus on the issue of the individual’s relationship to ethical and moral principles. Kierkegaard argues that man’s obligation to comply with ethical and moral standards.

Sir Francis Bacon was a 16th and 17th century English philosopher who was a proponent of empiricism and the scientific method. He focused on the standardization of science, trying to establish suitable methods of scientific inquiry to ensure that empirical values could be gained from experimentation. Bacon wanted to investigate the natural world in a logical and standard method.

He has numerous assumptions in his essay, which apparently discusses humanity’s duty to help starving people in countries that need help the most. Among his assumptions include our duty to prevent what is bad, and promote what is good. He elaborates this contention by explaining that if we, humans, have the capacity to help other people who are in need without sacrificing some things that are equally important and significant to our lives, then by all means, we are ought to do so.

Prior to taking the course, I had a fairly respect to religions and the reason for their establishment, which means that there is an acknowledgment of the role of religion in guiding its followers’ actions into what it deems morally acceptable.