Philosophical Theories Essay Examples and Topics

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.

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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

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.

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

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

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.

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 [...]

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.

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.

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".

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

He asserts that the duration of an activity and the intensity of pleasure are very important in measuring the levels of pleasure.

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 [...]

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.

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 [...]

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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 [...]

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.

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 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 [...]

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

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.

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

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, [...]

He gives life to a new human being, body, and soul, which is the form of the body. If we believe in the soul's immortality, death will not seem such a great tragedy.

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

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.

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 [...]

He further asserts that so long as the same sound being is the same self, the self has the same personal identity.

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 [...]

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.

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 [...]

In the illustration, the man was of the view that the vessel was fine and went ahead to overlook the fact that the ship was really out of order and that it was safe for [...]

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".

The person of inferior virtue is viewed as one who seeks virtue in order to attain it. The concept of Ren is one that Confucius seems to dwell on in order to achieve virtue.

Overall, it is possible to argue that the philosophy of ancient Greece is mostly associated with the names of such prominent thinkers as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.

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 [...]

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

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 [...]

Platonic philosophy, precisely the concept of world of forms, had dominated the medieval era that subjected the human body, as a shadow of a real body in the world of forms, to little or no [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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.

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.

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 Confucian gentleman is the one who lives by the highest moral standards and aims to help others achieve the realization of this goal.

The Socratic Method is also referred to as the Method of Elenchus or the Socratic Debate. It was after his friend from youth Chaerpon paid a visit to the Oracle of Delphi and deemed Socrates [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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.

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.

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

It is a follow up of Plato's 'The Apology' and provides a description of the conversations between Socrates, and his disciples, Crito and the jailer.

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 [...]

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 [...]

The theory of rational egoism developed by Ayn Rand seems an optimal approach to the resolution of personal and societal issues from the moral perspective despite the presence of contradicting opinions in this regard.

Generally, peace is achieved by creating a government and forsaking individual rights in favor of one entity to ensure humans' chaos-less existence.

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

The human nature of capitalism is encrusted in the philosophical thinking of the west. Therefore, western philosophy considers the existence of God and capitalism as the main influences on human nature.

The theory of recollection was an answer to Meno's paradox that states that man needs not learn anything new as what they know is enough, and what they do not know are not necessary.

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 [...]

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.

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.

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 turn of the 6th century before the imminence of Christ marked a detonation in the thinking of the Greeks. This knowledge came to form the basis of most developments in the various fields of [...]

The structure of this paper analyzes the service to God and the perception of the afterlife, as highlights of the differences and similarities about the Christian and Islamic perceptions of life.

Through this, he learned that it was impossible for him to deny the existence of God. In the chapter, he argues that the lack of God's existence was impracticable.

The use of "of course" indicates that this is an absolute truth when in reality it is the writer's opinion. A monarch is obligated to facilitate the rest of the monarchy's knowledge process.

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.

Socrates and Euthyphro show that the application of justice in different societies is not always fair. Plato's arguments are ambiguous because they do not offer a rational basis about how religion can be used to [...]

Regarding the Ship of Theseus, the ship changed a lot but it remained the same in terms of its properties. Equally, Y could be said to be the same as Z in terms of properties.

The question of whether there is a supreme being behind the existence the universe is a one that has confounded many people to date.

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 [...]

The dialectical approach to questioning and self-examination, Socrates' method, helped explain human nature. Socrates believed that knowledge and wisdom were essential to human nature.

Personally, I like the literal reading of this question, according to which there was an egg first, and only then a chicken.

Thus, the "thinking and acting self" represents the freedom of the members of the community to take action with respect to the principles of voluntarism and the authority, serving as "the source of obligation".

As was mentioned by Harry Frankfurt, philosophy is created through anxiety born of an understanding of the limitation of knowledge.

In contrast to them, Richards elaborated a theory of phenomenal attraction that falls into the category of sexual concepts but differs from the notion of sexual arousal.

This is the study of value that surpasses the ability of a man to reason over the universe and its state on the whole.

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.

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.

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 [...]

However, the evolution of society and human thought resulted in the increased efficiency of cognition tools and the appearance of new ideas to describe the main regularities according to which the world and universe function.

However, the real issue here is whether the resources that are produced in the society can be shared equally among the members of the society because of the nature and orientation of people in the [...]

The sense of language provides a comprehensive reference to a single aspect of the description. The expression of a sense has a designation of reference.

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 [...]

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.

Although Darwin seems to refute the religious claim on the origin of man, it is apparent that both religion and science share a common hypothesis that man has a distinct origin. Darwin is also concerned [...]

The fact that there is a long tradition involving the slaughter of animals for food does not justify the killing of animals.

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 [...]

Biologically, the brain realizes that the situation taking place is negative or depressing, and the heart reacts to the external environment, as well as internal understanding that the situation is stressful.

Hume's argument gets interesting when he postulates that regardless of the number of times we witness a succession of events, we cannot predict the succession of events.

Kelly explains that superstition entails objects that are deemed to result in good luck, deeds that tend to inspire good luck or bad luck and actions that can lead to unpleasant fortune.

However, merely being able to relate to nature is not enough to become a truly Confucian ideal of a person; according to the postulates of the teacher, one has to reach the state of a [...]

He recognized that the freedom of people in modern society was limited when compared to their existence in the state of nature due to the presence of laws and property, though he observed that 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 [...]

It foresees a society whereby gender neutrality will be tenable and that social responsibilities are not subject to the gender of an individual.

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 doctrine of stoicism is also prevalent in the book, a philosophy that he was deeply fascinated in and applied in his solving daily challenges in life.

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.

Moreover, King justified his pursuit of justice on the streets from the fact that the protests he organized were essentially peaceful and nonviolent; meaning that all he was trying to do was get his message [...]

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 [...]

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.

Contrariwise, to comprehend the development of society, culture, and multiple products, one should acknowledge the formative role of religion as the precursor of any non-pragmatic intentions in the sphere of knowledge. The question of its [...]

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

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 [...]

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

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.