Philosophy

Kant and His “Independence Model”

Kant’s independence model urges that religion and science are two independent discourses of a dualistic system. Kant urges that knowledge is anchored on in two separate causalities. There is the practical and theoretical knowledge. The practical knowledge involves the human capacity to start a sequence of events that cannot be...

Moral Universalism and Ethical Relativism

The theories of Universalism and Relativism in Ethics represent two polar approaches to morality. Universalism states that there is a universal moral code that is right in all circumstances and dictates absolute morality. Religious codes like Biblical Commandments, as well as Kant’s deontological ethics, are examples of the Universalist approaches...

Foucault’s Concept of ‘Discourse’ vs. Ideology

Michel Foucault and Karl Marx are some of the greatest scholars and philosophers whose ideas continue to guide and reshape human life. Foucault defines discourse as: “Systems of thoughts composed of ideas, courses of action, or practices that systematically construct the subjects and the worlds of which people speak.” He...

The Persuasiveness of Plato’s Theory of the Forms

Plato’s theory of forms states that the physical world is actually not the real world, but the ultimate reality only exists beyond what we can see in the real world. Plato claims that there is the physical and the spiritual realm. The physical realm involves objects that interact with and...

Aristotle’s Three Forms of Friendship

Aristotle’s three acquaintance systems include pleasure relationship, utility attachment, and virtue alliance. Though it is not clear how individuals ought to comprehend the difference between the three methods, the central idea argues that virtue, utility, and pleasure explain why these bond forms exist. A person may love a friend to...

Virtue and Wisdom, Feeling, Habit, Happiness

Virtue is a fundamental concept that characterizes the readiness and ability of a person to follow the path of good consciously. It is a set of internal, mental, and intellectual qualities that embody the human ideal. The main components of virtue in ancient Greek philosophy are wisdom, in other words,...

Aristotelian vs. Standard Functionalist Conception

Functionalism is a theory of consciousness, according to which mental states are determined not by their internal structure but by their roles as an integral part of a particular system. For example, from the perspective of functionalism, being in pain means being in a specific functional state. Thus, to feel...

Why Kant Thinks All Persons Deserve Respect

Immanuel Kant considers respect to be the most fundamental moral attitude; every individual is entitled to it, regardless of personal achievement. Respecting someone means treating people as beings capable of acting rationally; therefore, to deny respect to a person suggests denying his/her individuality, that is, to deny that he/she is...

Utilitarianism: The Greatest Utility for the Greatest Number

Utilitarianism is a theory proceeding primarily or exclusively from the principle of utility and the possibility of obtaining direct benefits for solving socio-political problems. The moral is estimated regarding benefits, so-called utility. The latter can be identified as happiness, pleasure, well-being, the satisfaction of desires, preferences, or the realization of...

How Plato Treats Tradition and Formulates His Argument

At first glance, it might seem that traditionalism belongs to the category of sensitive historical phenomena firmly associated with antiquity. Thus, as a rule, when individuals reflect on tradition, the mind directs the flow of thoughts toward past experiences and events. As a consequence, an erroneous belief may be created...

Justifying Women’s Subordinate Status Within Society: Mill’s Critique

The subjects of femininity, feminism, love, and how to be a woman persist and are central in the works of Simone de Beauvoir. The French philosopher also continually tackles the topic of marriage and its role in the relationship of men and women. At the present time, the concept of...

Why Religions Die in Nietzsche’s, Freud’s, Marx’s Views

Friedrich Nietzsche believed that the Christian church transvaluates the natural human instincts by assigning supposed divine intention to rules such as “You shall not kill.” He argued that Christian prophets usurped the concepts of morality and ethics to further their interests and assigned additional fake meanings to what was previously...

Chisholm’s View on Free Will and Compatibilism

In his discussion, Chisholm defined free will as a metaphysical problem according to which humans are responsible for what they do, but there are always some determinants that create specific conditions. In other words, according to Chisholm, moral responsibilities along with people who are able to possess free will and...

“Little Red Riding Hood”: Theoretical Analysis

Karl Marx Based on the Marxist theory, the red color in the story stands for communism, and the girl is the proletariat. The food represents prosperity, and the Red Riding Hood tries to bring it to her sick grandmother in order to protect the weaker cohort of people. The “system”...

Theory of Knowledge: Skepticism

Theories of knowledge aim to improve people’s understanding of how knowledge is formed and how truth can be distinguished from false information. Hence, various theories of knowledge also deal with the reliability of the information. Skepticism is a philosophical notion that “there are grounds for doubting claims that we typically...

Conceptualizing the Notions of Hell in Milton’s Works

Literature Review The given literature review will focus on conceptualizing the notions of hell in Milton’s works, which is one of the first major visualizations and revisions of the notion of an afterlife. The concept of hell takes a new form in Milton’s overall approach, which influenced various representations of...

Philosophy. Metaphysical Realism Versus Idealism

The modern metaphysical outlooks demand philosophers to stay away from explicit claims that would turn them into exclusive realists or idealists. Nevertheless, the problem of referring to the past stances still exists, and many philosophers choose to ignore the opportunity of taking a unified approach to the realism-idealism dichotomy. It...

Descartes vs. Hobbes: Comparing Philosophies

Descartes was continuously striving for certainty of the beliefs being held. Only with certainty can these be claimed as knowledge. However, in terms of the human mind, Descartes argued that each person is foremost a thinking being, free in decision-making as God, and therefore as thinkers, humans escape mechanical causality....

“The Frivolity of Evil” by Theodore Dalrymple

In his article, “The Frivolity of Evil,” Theodore Dalrymple discusses such issues as the underlying causes of evil deeds. For this, he considers the attitude of people towards evil and the role of government in its emergence. Numerous questions come to one’s mind while thinking about the origin of this...