Philosophers Essay Examples and Topics

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251 samples

Socrates Influence on Plato’s Philosophy

He was accused of corrupting the morals of the youth and misleading the citizens with his unorthodox political and religious views. Plato was so attracted to Socrates philosophy that he made him the principal character [...]
  • 3.8
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1067

The Standard of Taste by David Hume

Of the Standard of Taste is an essay by the Philosopher David Hume who attempts to elaborate the need and the possible existence of a rule that will reconcile the taste of individuals to one [...]
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 831

Socrates’ Life and Contributions to Philosophy

His key contributions to the field include the Socratic Method that facilitates the critical analysis of hypotheses, ideas about morality and wrongdoing, and the concepts of immortal soul and preexistence.
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1439

David Hume: Philosophy about Self Essay

This assignment is about what Hume means by the statement that the self is "nothing but a bundle of perceptions, which succeed each other with an inconceivable rapidity" as well as how he explains how [...]
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 630

Prominent Post-Structuralist Philosophers

The philosophers justified the criticisms made against the western culture and with time, post-structuralism emerged and exposed the norms and cultures of the western society. The people that led to the emergence of post-structuralism were [...]
  • Pages: 15
  • Words: 4212

The Value of Philosophy by Bertrand Russell

Consistent with the aim of philosophy, Russell believes that definite answers to some fundamental inquiries are not indispensable but rather the interrogatives asked in the process of introspection of what may turn out as truth [...]
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  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 963

Machiavelli and Luther Comparison

He did not support the idea of the church and the Pope who was superior to the King because he believed that faith and Christianity were just meant to strengthen the society and not keep [...]
  • Pages: 9
  • Words: 2420

Socrates’ Impact on Western Civilization

Socrates defined the concepts of evil and good, assuming the achievement of the goals of self-knowledge as the highest virtue. In disputes, Socrates sought to prove the practicality and reasonableness of the world and a [...]
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 863

Thales vs Anaximander Philosophy

The Milesian philosophers, Thales and Anaximander, advanced a rational or scientific explanation for the metaphysical elements of the universe that departed from the mytho-poetic reasoning of the time.
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1154

The concept of Being by Heidegger

The author of this paper will also revolve around the ontological composition of the world and its contribution to the question of being. This is because the question of being is constituted in the entities [...]
  • Pages: 8
  • Words: 2187

Intellect and Will in Descartes’ Philosophy

Rene Descartes is one of the main ideologists of the free will and the error inclination of the human intellectual knowledge, and his main idea penetrating all the aspects of his philosophic views is that [...]
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1140

Transcendentalism: Ralph Emerson vs Henry Thoreau

These two thinkers contributed greatly to the development of the movement through the focus on certain basic values and principles as well as the promotion of particular aspects of the overall paradigm.
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1101

Socrates and Descartes: Similarities and Difference

The third rule is that the logical process must proceed step by step from the simplest and easiest portion of the problem to clearly and distinctly know and progress in order of difficulty to the [...]
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1304

The Perception of the Self according to Socrates

The perception of the self, according to Socrates explains the nature of man and the rationale on which man thinks. The capacity of a man is a product of the self in him; this formed [...]
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  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 551

St Augustine’s Philosophy

God's presence in an individual enables him/her to achieve goals that are consistent with the provisions of the church. They belong to the city of the damned and are responsible for their actions.
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 825

Harm Principle

Thus, according to the principle, an individual has the right to do whatever he or she wills unless the action brings harm to others and that is the only time power should be used to [...]
  • 3.5
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1153

Greek Philosopher Socrates

In the era of ancient Greece, approximately forty years before the commencement of the Peloponnesian battles, an infant by the name of Socrates was brought into the world.
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1511

Aristotle’s Notion of Time and Motion

It is also pertinent that the concept of Time is comprehended in relation to the concept of Motion. In an analysis of the nature of Time, it is most relevant to remember that Aristotle was [...]
  • Pages: 18
  • Words: 4229

Eastern and Western Philosophers

Thus, Confucius formulated the measure of human virtue and stressed the importance of learning and love in the human life: "The nature and duties of the human being must be studied diligently and cultivated, he [...]
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 846

Epistemological Turn On Knowledge

An epistemological turn is a philosophical term which in the history of philosophy, refers to the shift in philosophical attention from the classical and medieval focus on themes of metaphysics to a primary focus on [...]
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 1220

Karl Marx’s Life and Philosophical Ideas

Karl Marx expressed his sentiments on alienation and pain in the lower class workers imprisonment by the private individuals who have the resources to manipulate and twist social, development, and welfare aspects of the masses [...]
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1094

Knowledge as perception or opinion

Since perception is as a result of stimulation of the senses, and the senses only give us the appearance of objects not there reality, then it is wrong to consider perception to define knowledge.
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1495

Socrates’ Critique of Cephalus and Polemarchus

They include the view of justice that forms the basis of Socrates' criticism and the reason why the philosopher found Cephalus and Polemarchus definitions and views of justice unsatisfactory.
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1384

Thomas Hobbes’s Moral and Political Philosophy

In addition, I believe that Hobbes intended to put moral and political philosophy onto the scientific basis to attain knowledge and to illustrate his findings to others. By studying the behavior of individuals in this [...]
  • Pages: 6
  • Words: 1624

Success of Socrates’ Defense

Fist, he does not appear to be apologetic and to the contrary confirms the general opinion held by majority of his jury that he thinks he is the wisest.
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1113

Plato’s Apology: Is Socrates Guilty?

The accusations placed against Socrates include: Studying the activities in the heavens and below the earth. Predicting the things in the heavens and below the earth associates him with the physicists such as Thales and [...]
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 595

Comparison Between Confucius and Han Feizi

Apart from the fact that he said Confucianism was responsible for the wars that were beleaguering the country; he also was extremely critical of morals and societal rotting that he witnessed.
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  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1346

Cartesian Dualism

According to Cartesian dualism, the mind and the body interact at the point of pineal body because it is the only gland in the brain that is not duplicate, which connects the body and the [...]
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  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1357

Surrealism and Freud

As for surrealism movement, it is better to pay attention to one of Freud's theories, the theory of dreams, where Freud called dreams as a kind of road to the unconscious.
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1114

Herbert Spencer and Emile Durkheim: Comparison

Although he agreed that wrongdoers in the society were supposed to be punished, he did not agree with Spencer that this punishment was supposed to be meted on the poor and defenseless in the society.
  • Pages: 9
  • Words: 2580

Art as Redemption by Friedrich Nietzsche

One of the first important considerations he gives to his assessment of why humans engage in art is the constant oppositions he finds in nature the male/female opposition being the strongest of these as they [...]
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 622

Socrates as a Founder of Western Philosophy

The jurors argued that Socrates' ideas and teachings corrupted the minds of young people. Some scholars believe that Socrates' views and beliefs could have influenced the later works of Plato, particularly in literary writings.
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1166

Thomas Hobbes’ Views on Natural Laws

The laws of nature provide the fundamental rights based on the concept of reason. The law of nature refers to the general analysis of flora and fauna through reason.
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 924

Socrates by Aristophanes and Plato

In "The Apology" by Plato, the characterization of Socrates is tied to the fact that the setting of the book was Socrates' execution.
  • Pages: 6
  • Words: 1652

Aesthetic Life in “Either/Or” by Søren Kierkegaard

Instead he or she is more interested in seeing the logical inconsistencies of life and the paradoxes of people's behavior. On the whole, one should not assume that S ren Kierkegaard is altogether critical of [...]
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 556

John Stuart Mill: Life and Philosophy

John Stuart Mill is definitely one of the famous philosophers of the modern era. In the work, Mill examines the question of liberty and the power of the society.
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1090

Arthur Schopenhauer

His most renowned work was the book, 'The World as a Will and Representation' whose main theme is the dissatisfaction that people have in life hence will live to achieve the level of satisfaction that [...]
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  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1452

Sixth Meditation, Rene Descares

In his first meditation, he claims that the realities in both dreaming and waking up are so similar, because most of the things and happenings in dreams were usually similar to those that happen when [...]
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 605

The Analects of Confucius

Everyone, including the leaders was under the umbrella of proper morals, which he said, was the linen from which the peace of the country was to be made.
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1458

Confucius and His Philosophy

Contrary to the expectations of the Chinese people, this situation disenfranchised Confucius up to the point of leaving his government post.
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 597

David Hume: The Ideology of Self

Incidentally this is the concept from which the science of psychology is based which is best exemplified by the theory of behaviorism: The purpose of this paper is to analyze the concepts of self ideology [...]
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1446

St. Thomas Aquinas’ Influence on Western Thought

Interest in the teachings of Aristotle contributed to the unification of many philosophers, which happened in the case of Thomas Aquinas. The main achievement of Thomas is that he is considered the founder of the [...]
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  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1102

Husserl’s and Descartes’ Philosophies

The differences in the concept of philosophy as a science between Husserl and Descartes relate primarily to the concept of intentionality and the method of intentional analysis.
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 925

How Socrates Influenced His World and the Future

Nevertheless, the fact remains undeniable that Socrates significantly influenced both his modernity and the future development of society, demonstrating his unsurpassed oratory, proposing his method of refuting statements, and making his splendid contribution to the [...]
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 943

Philosophy of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle

Logic as understood by Socrates was to some extent influenced by the Pythagoreans since he practiced the dialectic methods in investigating the objectivity and authority of the different propositions.
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 650

Adam Smith, Karl Marx, and Robert Owen: Time Travel

Smith, a pioneer of political economy, would be interested in analyzing the current economic situation in the country and, perhaps, even suggest ways for the country to overcome the economic crisis.
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1129

Comparing Kant and Kierkegaard

Kierkegaard uses the example of the New Testament story of Christ's raising of Lazarus from the dead to argue that while the human body dies, the spirit lives on and thus it is not fear [...]
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 863

Rene Descartes: A Brief Perspective

However, as any numerologist would predict, born on the 31st of the month, a number 4, destined Descartes to search for the esoteric and the 'opposing' point of view.
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  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 515

Descartes “Two Proofs for the Existence of God”

He does not satisfactorily give justification of his claim that the relationship between the truth of the idea objective and the recognized truth of the event that brings about the idea is direct.
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 1094

Jurgen Habermas, the Frankfurt School Thinker

After scrutinizing the past of the public sphere, Herbamas establishes that there was no between the public and the private spheres, because of the class groupings by the feudal government. He views the liberal model [...]
  • Pages: 7
  • Words: 2038

Socrates’ Biography and Philosophical Studies

In his understanding, "the soul" is the mind, which is the ability to think, and the conscience, which is the moral principle. According to Socrates, the soul is the owner of the body.
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 662

Rene Descartes’ Ontological Reasoning

One of the branches of his ontological thought was the discussion of the existence of God. The purpose of this paper is review and analyze the arguments Rene Descartes provided to evidence the existence of [...]
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1116

Critique of Thomas Hobbes’ Views on Monarchy

According to him, man is naturally violent, and thus, there is a need for the establishment of an authoritative government in the form of a monarchy to check and contain the violent nature of man.
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1045

Socrates on Teaching and Learning

Plato believed that presenting the teachings in the form of dialogues was the best way of documenting the teachings of Socrates for the benefit of the future generations.
  • Pages: 8
  • Words: 2203

Nine Epistles From The Tao Te Ching

One of the central ideas of the book is that the Tao is the Nature, the essence of everything in the world which cannot be either experienced or seen, it just exists, that is all.
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 884

Paulo Freire’s Life, Philosophy and Teachings

Apart from the liberation theology, which resulted in a political uprising in the country forcing him to left the country, the other works of Freire include 'The Pedagogy of the Oppressed' and 'Education as the [...]
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  • Pages: 9
  • Words: 2427

The Basis of Good Government according to Analects

Confucius says that passing of knowledge to people is the work of government. According to Confucius, good government should take the needs of the people into consideration by doing the right things and upholding virtuous [...]
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  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 621

Socrates’ Conception of Law and Justice

Socrates advocated the idea that justice was good, and that meant that injustice was equal to evil. The point he makes here is that justice is the cure for evil, and that a man who [...]
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  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 631

Confucius: Life, Teachings, and Legacy

According to him, moral virtue is the only means of ensuring that there is order in the society. His mother thus played the role of the father in bringing up Confucius and it is through [...]
  • Pages: 10
  • Words: 2778

Reading Response: Arthur Danto

In his severe 1964 work titled "The Artworld," Danto explores the role of art experts and theory. Second, it is the art theory that makes the Artworld possible in the first place.
  • Pages: 1
  • Words: 327

Plato, Aristotle and Socrates: Knowledge and Government

It appears that Socrates believed in an intellectual aristocracy, where those who had more education and had proven themselves in sophistry the "Socratic method" of exchange and analysis of ideas as a path to all [...]
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 264

The Teachings of Plato Socrates and Machiavelli

In The Apology, Socrates stands before a jury of his peers accused of "committing an injustice, in that he inquires into things below the earth and in the sky, and makes the weaker argument the [...]
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 975

Immanuel Kant’s Life and Philosophy

Immanuel Kant is considered the most influential philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment and one of the greatest Western thinkers of all times.
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1230

Plato, the Philosopher: His Life and Times

He could have attained the name because of the nature of his forehead or because of his extensive knowledge. Due to the wealth and political influence of his family, his father gave him the best [...]
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 818

Todorov’s View on Structuralism

In this article, Todorov argued that the manifestation of the "repetition and difference" aspect of the narrative requires the application of a specific formula.
  • Pages: 6
  • Words: 1732

Objection to Feldman’s Attitudinal Hedonism

In this defense Feldman uses another source of intrinsic value that shows that the deceived businessman lives a life of less value and this other source of intrinsic value is truth.
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 889

Hegelian Dialectics

The article situates the reasoning of Hegel in two articles, one being the Second Sex by Simone and the other is the modern woman as a subject by Fanon.
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1091

The Dialog “Crito” by Socrates

Nevertheless, as of today, this effectively ceased to be the case, because: a) the realities of a post-industrial living render the classical concept of a statehood/law hopelessly outdated; b) the recent discoveries in the fields [...]
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1102

Epicurus’ Perception of Pleasure and Justice

Pain which is brought about by harm is the main source of injustice, pursuing pleasure involved refraining from doing what does not bring pleasure to oneself but ensuring that obtaining utmost personal pleasure would be [...]
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 565
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