Philosophical Theories Essay Examples and Topics

These principles are the principles of social justice; they provide a way of assigning duties and privileges in the basic institutions of society and they define the appropriate distribution of the benefits and burdens of [...]

It is possible to note that Rawls' philosophy can be applicable in the contemporary world as it addresses major issues associated with unequal distribution of resources.

It is a unique way of philosophical understanding of reality, the general idea of which is the fundamental category of the process.

Kant indicates that the goodness has not to contain a meaning of the consequences and results, it is good in itself.

It confirms the close relationship between certainty and doubt, namely that the absence of one gives rise to the other. To conclude, the concepts of certainty and doubt are close and intertwined in many things [...]

On the other hand, the teleological ethical perspective states that the results for all actions matter in determining the nature of the undertaken decisions.

Based on this, Karl Marx stated that the products produced by the communally owned means of production should be divided equally to avoid classes and ranks in societies.

The first aspect of Aristotelian defense of justice, which is crucial to discuss, is the fact that, according to the philosopher, justice is relative to others.

This idea is based on the supposition that it is impossible to be the one and the other at the same time.

The article "The Challenge of Cultural Relativism" by Rachels explores the issue of ethics. According to Rachels, cultural relativism fails to support the existence of universal moral standards.

The positive legal norm which does not correspond to the high-frequency behavior of the living law is the one that ought not to be.

It is necessary to underline the fact that the thinker strived to clarify common features of his Divided Line and the allegory of the Cave; the analysis of his philosophy gives an opportunity to realize [...]

Therefore, it seems that the Glorious Revolution was more of a revelation for the people of their power to choose and to change.

I have seen that Rene Descartes contribution in philosophy and natural science stood the test of time; therefore, he became a hero' on the other hand, Karl Marx's contribution in social science did not stand [...]

According to Locke, the state of nature is a state of perfect freedom and a state of equality that is only bound by the law of nature.

Kant argues that, "a person is good or bad depending on the motivation of their actions and not on the goodness of the consequences of those actions".

Main Kant's idea was in the necessity of both reason and experience for human beings. In his opinion, Synthetic judgments are opposite to analytic and are not sufficient to decide the importance of proposition.

The feeling of empathy comes up when there is a clear difference between the person being empathetic and the one who is the subject of empathy.

Plato thought the world of appearances, which was less significant and real than the world of ideas, was reflected in art.

Hobbes' philosophy of morality is based on his knowledge of the social compact and human nature. Hobbes' morality, in contrast, is based on self-interest and the requirement for social order.

The allegory of the cave can serve in revealing some of the key reasons to mistrust the views of the majority.

One of the basic virtues of a human being is to be rational, and it enhances all other virtues. A human being must have the ability to select his actions, goals, and values carefully for [...]

Without the body of the argument, the title expresses that there is a form of lying that is not considered immoral.

Can it happen that truth is a kind of agreement between a belief and a real life fact, or is it possible that a true belief should cohere with other true beliefs, or is it [...]

Theories such as rationalism the Intuition/Deduction thesis and Innate Knowledge thesis which support the notion that there is the existence of intrinsic or instinctive knowledge or the subsistence of a priori knowledge, knowledge of necessary [...]

The Entitlement Theory of Justice is intended to submit an explanation of what justice necessitates in relation to property and is divided into three doctrines which are; the principle of justice in rectification, justice in [...]

Cartesian developed the Cartesian Dualistic Theory of Pain to explain the relationship between physical and psychological types of pain. Therefore, Descartes developed the Cartesian Theory of pain to explore pain in the context of mind [...]

The essence of the avocado vs.artichoke debate lies in the dynamic of opposing ideas of essentialism and proteanism in philosophy. Both views present quite polarizing extremes and have outdated pre-conceived notions, as in the case [...]

The main aim of this paper is to look into the arguments presented by Rene Descartes and David Hume on the issue of the self.

And as lying is a form of communication, and people know this fact, the only way out in order not to be defrauded is stop communicating.

The test for universal acceptance involve: determining the agent's maxim; imagining that everyone in the same position as the real-world agent observed that maxim; deciding if there is any contradictions generated from the maxim; if [...]

Although Barthes had not contemplated anything of the sort, his efforts and the efforts of others led to the establishment of the structuralism movement in the 1950s and the 1960s.

This examines the foundation of the position, his understanding of the nature of thought and the body, the essential certainty, and its conception.

The only way the truth will be concealed and still lead to happiness is when the truth is substituted with a lie.

Yao reacts against the constricted view of the philosophy, which comes from failure to open into the historical development of the philosophy and the role of the Confucian tradition as a whole in advancing Confucianism.

According to the Bible, a tree of life was created by God in the middle of the Garden of Eden. In the Iroquois Creation Story, a tree was growing in the middle of the floating [...]

It would not be an exaggeration to state that Plato's allegory of the cave only makes perfect sense if one views it in the light of the theory of forms.

According to Holinger, a world class citizen relates well with other groups, and all human beings: Cosmopolitan is about justice, which should be evident in all aspects and it must be the one governing the [...]

He had the view that individuals naturally possess knowledge and that what they need is a direction for them to come to terms with what they already knew. He seems to be of the opinion [...]

Furthermore, due to the different laws and cultures in our world, it would be seemingly impossible to uphold such a rule According to Pojman, "the idea of rewarding the good and punishing the bad is [...]

In this passage, Confucius addressed the role of the family in the growth and development of a nation. Being the smallest unit in the nation, the family plays a vital role in ensuring the stability [...]

Therefore, the main purpose of this paper is to discuss theory of Forms as one of the main contributions of Plato.

The allegory is preceded by the analogy of the divided line and metaphor of the son. Descartes is considered to be one of the greatest rationalists.

In his description of the ideal society, Plato explains that people in the society are not advised to act without knowledge such that before a city is erected, full understanding of justice should be known.

The idea of fleeing the real world that is habitable in the thinking of man, to the desert preoccupied by fear, dangers and uncertainty refers to the need for independence of the spirit.

It can be noted that in all cases suffering was seen as evil in some quarters of the ancient world as is seen today.

In the context of marriage as a social institution, the performative statement said to fulfill the action is "I do", which fulfills the action of marrying.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze critically the concept of the sublime as presented by Immanuel Kant in his work 'The Critique of Judgment'.

In order to comprehend whether Nietzsche kept to such an idea of the dead God in all his works, and Beyond Good and Evil in particular, it is better to analyze his original works, written [...]

In other words, his theory of utility is based on the principle of moral obligation: the greatest pleasure for the greatest number of people who are involved or affected by the action performed by one [...]

The philosopher says that every action having place under the influence of the external force is not a free will, which comes from the inner desire and motivation of an individual. Moreover, the movie is [...]

Why? Frankfurt's arguments are very applicable to the case of the 'Amputees by Choice.' His first argument is that of persons and nonpersons.

Locke believes that the world is physical and thus in his account of solving the mind body problem, he says that the mind and body are just one and the same thing and continues to [...]

Weiss argues that Plato used the argument by Socrates that true philosophers hate the pleasures of the body, for example, drinks, sex, and food.

The main concern of Foucault consists in the way technology has influenced quest for power among the ruling class in the society, and also the reason as to why the society is violating the rules [...]

Though called 'apology' by Plato, the speech is not actually an apology- Socrates was attempting use his wisdom to justify his teachings and beliefs, and not to apologize for his actions.[2] First, his concise and [...]

The first clause calls for distribution economic and social disparities in a way that, "they are to be of the greatest benefit to the least-advantaged members of society".

Also, his philosophy conveys the importance and the beauty of the life of faith in the midst of a discouraging world.

However, when it comes to Heraclitus, he believes that fire is the principle of all that exists. In addition to that, Heraclitus further develops his idea by mentioning that the existence of fire is commensurate [...]

The advantage of this thinking is that it puts a person to the task to ensure that they have done all possible research before calling something as truth.

Rene Descartes, a French philosopher and the founder of the mathematical rationalism, was one of the prominent figures in the field of philosophy of the 17th century.

As opposed to the rational theory, the empiricism theory estimates that the main source of knowledge is the experience which can be based on the "perceptional observation of the world".

Nor that there is, on the one hand, the field of things, of perfected technique, work, and the transformation of the real; on the other that of signs, communication, reciprocity, and the production of meaning; [...]

In Plato's Allegory of the Cave, there is much darkness in the cave and only very little light can be found in this place and it is so hard for a person who is in [...]

From this point, beauty can be discussed as the attribute of things and as the independent form, and deja vu is the example of the reality as illusion because the life is only the reflection [...]

As they argue with Socrates on the issue of injustice, Thrasymachus says that justice "is nothing more than the advantage of the stronger". According to them, the cardinal aim of Thrasymachus is to prove that [...]

As Plato recounts the episode "Myth of Er" found in the republic dialogue phaedo and the story of time reversal in the statesman, a clear view of the hierarchical arrangement of the cosmos is illuminated.

Nietzsche in the seventh maxim asks whether man is a result of the erroneous work of God or God is the error of man.

The reason of why Kant's ideas are preferable to me is that the categorical imperative allows to define what actions are obligatory and which ones should be forbidden and to choose the way that is [...]

As a result, a tragedy's focus should be on the heroic deeds of its protagonists and the various factors that contribute to the tragic ending.

The concept of social constructivism gives people the power to create and encourages them to create a positive world that they will exist in peace.

He uses the formula of the law of nature and the end in itself, to support the categorical imperative principle as the only command that dictates the universality of actions.

The open question argument is an attempt of George Moore, an English philosopher, to prove that natural properties cannot be reduced to moral ones.

Studying it, obtaining new and new facts, enlarging his knowledge, man started to think not only about the principles of the functioning of the surrounding world, but about the ways his percepts the information and [...]

For harmony to prevail, human beings have to live in accordance to the two kinds of order; that is nature and convention.

In this theory, Aristotle refers to a good life as being a happy life. Aristotle says that good life, since it is a final end, is explained in terms of human functions.

It is the same point, and the entity designated by these different words is one, but I do not think that the point of intersection of a and b will be equal to the point [...]

Chapter five of Kupperman's book "Theories of human nature" looks at great philosophers, namely Plato's and Aristotle's points of view in trying to define humanity. The writer tries to illustrate the complexity of defining a [...]

Although the Platonic view of value has gained much acceptance since its emergence, it has failed to address some of the underlying issues that deter the universality of things and the need for associative rules [...]

He claimed that the sophists were selling the wrong education to the rich people. The methods of teaching that the sophists portrayed in Athens were in conflict with Plato's school of thought.

Additionally, it has been documented that one of the major virtue of philosophy is its ability to teach not what to think rather how to think.

The ideas of the Polish novelist in the Heart of Darkness aimed at unraveling the issues that faced ivory traders in the Congo basin meaning the author attempted to look beneath the surface.

This paper discusses how both Daoism and Legalism differ from Confucianism on the issues of family, human nature, education, role of ruler, role of government, and role of individual.

The inherent problem I have with Rorty in this article is the fact that the concept of a socially defined truth clashes with the changing nature of society and the potential for people to agree [...]

Finally, Emerson speaks about the importance of action for the scholar as a thinking man and explores the duties of such a man.

The emergence of new transcendental ideas reshaped the American literature introduced in the works by Emerson, Thoreau, and Whitman in such a way that it contributed to the excellence and maturity of the literary world [...]

The task of the social leaders is to orient to interests of the majority in order to avoid the opposition of the public which can lead to revealing the negative qualities of people living in [...]

1 This is a classless principle calling for justice equality promoting mutual understanding; nevertheless, taken the way it is, this principle would confuse people on some issues and this is why Rawls compliments it with [...]

Kant explains genius as the ability that is bestowed upon producers or artists of fine art whereby the origin of the idea of creating the work cannot be explained such as a scientist's discovery path.

This paper examines Rorty's argument that in accepting the material reality of the universe, we can also accept that the physical universe shapes our beliefs and interpretations, and that our understanding of the universe is [...]

The straw man fallacy is a type of logical fallacy whereby one person misrepresents their opponent's question or argument to make it easier to respond.

The main problem that makes the difference between nominalism and realism is the question of the existence of properties beyond objects.

From the flow of the story, it is also possible that the young officer is the same boy that was flogged while in school.

Many expert argue that Socrates was a representative and of "prototype of the theoretical optimist who with his belief in the explicability of the nature of things.

This is exactly the intention of Berkeley here; he intends to argue that an object of perception will not be the state of the human mind but an item of the universe.

Nietzsche regarded that every personality needs to arrange their moral structure: the key point of principles is to facilitate every individual to sublimate and regulate their obsessions, to emphasize the originality inherent in their being, [...]

To begin with, Plato believed that acquisition of knowledge was the way to being virtuous in life but he tended to differ with philosophers like Aristotle stating that education to be acquired from the natural [...]

Dating back to a time that is almost difficult to imagine, the Tao-te-ching brings into the spotlight, the need for a seamless coexistence between spiritual progress on the one hand and the development of technological [...]

The ideas of leadership and the responsibilities of those who decide to assume such roles have come to the attention of people many centuries ago.

For example, in the scenario where a large group of people takes an action that puts a smaller group at a disadvantage in order to address the needs of the larger group, the action in [...]

In the entire essay, Hick attempts to justify the existence of sin in the world. From the reasoning of Hick, the relationship between God and human beings is compared to the relationship between a child [...]

The last example that is the most common comes in the form of residences being haunted wherein objects all of the sudden move for no reason, broken glassware appears, doors open and close, noises can [...]

The Sumerians inspired the Hindus to write the Ramayana and Mahabharata poetic stories on the power of the gods and the ideals on how people should live.

The author says that the scholar should explore the nature in themselves, and "he shall see, that nature is the opposite of the soul, answering to it part for part.

In the second case, he used the example of the three words and explained that they have the same cognitive value.

Heidegger concludes that authenticity is temporary as opposed to inauthenticity because we are born with the former and achieves the later after some time Nietzsche on his view argues that authenticity is the elementary mode [...]

Religious leaders also pray for the body and the soul of the dead but lay a lot of emphasis on the soul.

The contribution of Immanuel Kant to the modern philosophy made him be considered as one of the greatest and the most remarkable philosophers existed in the 18th century.

Geertz's and Weber's argument is that religion influences the actions of various group members because it is larger as compared to the actions of any individual in a group.

The perceptions that influence the validity of the direct realism theory have a great impact on understanding the reality. Through the information that is relayed from the material object to the mind through sensory nerves, [...]

Rawls asserts that for equality to take place, the activities have to better lives of people who are worse off in terms of improvement of living standards and empowerment of disadvantaged members to levels which [...]

To downplay the importance of sense experience, Plato and Descartes show that sense experience can never be a cause of experience since the objects captured through it are vulnerable to change.

The reality of knowledge depends on its justifiability; that is, epistemology tends to question the truth behind human knowledge hence, through such understanding, individuals are able to form a basis of comprehending any piece of [...]

Formal justice is closely connected to what Hobbes and Rawls refer to as distributive justice and the fair treatment of individuals.

In the context of Descartes' explanation, this argument points solely to the self-discovery of an object in the process of any act of consciousness. Beyond this, Descartes believes in the existence of God, who created [...]

Partridge investigates the film's fundamental coherence with Plato's text and the numerous superficial connections between Plato's cave-dwellers and the humans trapped in The Matrix.

Inception has a philosophical argument in the plot which resonates with Rene Descartes' reasoning on the nature of reality and the mind's interpretation of its experience.

In response to the skeptics, it can be argued that although sources of knowledge may be fallible, they are still helpful and allow people to function in the world.

His speech has a somber tone and tells the fabled story of the beginning of love. Aristophanes creates the notion that the earliest humans were androgynous a combination of both male and female using his [...]

He explores the forms of cognition and considers the question of the sources of the formation of ideas and concepts. Locke believes that external experience and perception give ideas of such qualities that belong to [...]