Philosophy Essay Examples and Topics. Page 5

2,350 samples

The Nature Essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Why should not we have a poetry and philosophy of insight and not of tradition, and a religion by revelation to us, and not the history of theirs?" Thus, attempting to interpret experience through the [...]
  • Subjects: Philosophical Works
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1147

Thales Method of Knowing

Considering the world as a continuously changing whole, as a process, Thales believes that it is due to different states of the same beginning, its "condensation" and "rarefaction" relative to some intermediate state.
  • Subjects: Philosophical Theories
  • Pages: 1
  • Words: 324

Kantian Ethics Definition and Description

The idea of humanity forms the second approach to the categorical imperative and it indicates that people should treat each other as ends and not as means to an end.
  • Subjects: Ethical Philosophy
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1114

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 [...]
  • Subjects: Philosophers
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 595

Private and Public Property

On the other hand, public property is the type of property mostly owned by governments or the public which is available for all.
  • Subjects: Political Philosophies
  • Pages: 8
  • Words: 2569

Portrait of an Ideal World by Henry Louis Mencken

As a result, corruption in the police force and crime levels soared in such an alarming rate that the justice and prison systems became overwhelmed by the level of cases they had to deal with [...]
  • Subjects: Political Philosophies
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 1126

Philosophy of Religion: God’s Omniscience

The belief is that God is a being, who is not only the creator of everything in existence and is the central source of wisdom, love, and divine intervention in the universe.
  • Subjects: Philosophy of Religion
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1595

Al-Ghazali and Inability to Affirm the Creator

Although God can annihilate in the twinkling of an eye, those who do not die will know that God is the creator of the world who has brought it into existence from nonexistence because, since [...]
  • Subjects: Philosophers
  • Pages: 6
  • Words: 1861

Paradise Lost by John Milton: Review

I however beg to disagree with this great English poet that this predestination was actually intended to benefit mankind and not Him; it's actually the opposite because the fall was predestined to benefit God and [...]
  • Subjects: Philosophical Works
  • Pages: 7
  • Words: 2119

Karl Marx’s Philosophy: Camera Obscura

The creation of thoughts, notions and consciousness are initially intertwined with the material activity of human beings. Creation of ideas and intellectual ability begin to be seen at this phase as the direct product of [...]
  • Subjects: Political Philosophies
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 235

Man’s Search for Meaning

The problem of searching for the meaning of life has always been the central topic for the vast majority of people.
  • Subjects: Life Philosophy
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1150

State Power in Machiavelli’s and Jefferson’s Views

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One of his most recognized works is "The Prince," a political treatise of the 16th-century Italy that is known to give the start to a direct conflict between the Catholic Church and scholarly doctrines.
  • Subjects: Political Philosophies
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1455

Philosophy Issues: Utilitarianism or Deontology?

Regardless of the extent to which some people are opposed to the applications of moral principles, which should be consistent with the scriptures of God, they are used to produce the best results in communities.
  • Subjects: Philosophical Theories
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1118

Michel Foucault’s Subject of Power

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; [...]
  • Subjects: Philosophical Theories
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1393

Diotima Speech Analysis

In particular, Diotima deliberates on the concept of love and refers to other related notions, such as wisdom, knowledge, truth, and divinity to define the place of love in the material world.
  • Subjects: Philosophical Theories
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1415

Modern Political Thought

As the sense of independent and development sunk in peoples mind, the aspect of communism disintegrated and in its place individualism and the sense of "I" was adopted that is embraced world-wide.
  • Subjects: Philosophical Theories
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 1036

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi Analysis

Gandhi did not believe that an action is right if it promotes greatest good for the greatest number of people; far from it, he believed in moral actions that lead to the greatest good for [...]
  • Subjects: Philosophers
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 580

Aristotle’s Concept of Happiness

Aristotle's concept of happiness is an expression of virtue that is similar to the flow state, happiness is a combination of the baseline level where basic needs are fulfilled and a broader area managed by [...]
  • Subjects: Philosophical Concept
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1236

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 [...]
  • Subjects: Philosophers
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1102

Morality in Utilitarianism and Deontology

Followers of utilitarianism thus claim that an action is morally right when it increases the happiness of the involved parties and minimizes the harm.
  • Subjects: Ethical Philosophy
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 570

Nominalism vs. Realism in Philosophy

The main problem that makes the difference between nominalism and realism is the question of the existence of properties beyond objects.
  • Subjects: Philosophical Theories
  • Pages: 1
  • Words: 372

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 [...]
  • Subjects: Philosophers
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 943

How Plato and Epicurus Viewed Help for People

In the Republic, Plato gives a detailed analysis of the "good" while Epicurus describes the notion of "good life" in his Letter to Monoeceus. The conversations between Glaucon and Socrates help the reader equate and [...]
  • Subjects: Philosophers
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1175

The Myth About Sisyphus and the Meaning of Human Life

The myth about Sisyphus is known as the symbol of the meaninglessness of human toil. He rolls the stone to the top of the hill and the stone then immediately backs down and Sisyphus has [...]
  • Subjects: Life Philosophy
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1303

Kant’s and Mill’s Moral Theories

The other option would be not to hit the criminal with the machete. On the other hand, if the woman employs Kant's theory, it would be immoral to kill the rapist by attacking him with [...]
  • Subjects: Ethical Philosophy
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 821

The Philosophies of Heroism

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.
  • Subjects: Philosophical Theories
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1160

Plato’s Concept of the State: The Philosophy of Justice

Taking into consideration the fact that Plato was actually trying to create the image of the ideal state and show the means which in his understanding are the key issues to building up the society [...]
  • Subjects: Philosophers
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1554

Greek Philosophies of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle

It is argued that the origin of philosophy as a discipline owes its origin to the contribution of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle."Socrates' contribution to the love of wisdom was manifested by the belief that philosophy [...]
  • Subjects: Philosophers
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 564

Two Attitudes Toward Money

Two attitudes toward money involve negative perception of money as universal evil and positive perception of money as source of good life and prosperity.
  • Subjects: Life Philosophy
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 846

“Out of Our Heads” by Alva Noe, Analysis of Ideas

The book abounds in controversies, for instance, the author makes use of the process of dreaming to show that the work of the brain alone is not sufficient for the creation of consciousness.
  • Subjects: Philosophical Works
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1555

Moral and Rules: Comparison and Contrast

In most cases, people evaluated their moral conduct concerning rules; conduct is considered to be moral if it is by rules and wrong if it is against the rule.
  • Subjects: Ethical Philosophy
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1450

The Theme of Slavery in Aristotle’s “Politics”

He notes that the fundamental part of an association is the household that is comprised of three different kinds of relationships: master to slave, husband to wife, and parents to their children.
  • Subjects: Political Philosophies
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1107

Karl Marx and His Contributions

This is due to the fact that individuals can effectively plan what is of necessity to them and the society in general.
  • Subjects: Philosophers
  • Pages: 7
  • Words: 2057

Sigmund Freud’s Ideas of Happiness

One of these means, and the only one that Freud seems to feel provides any sense of satisfaction as to why happiness cannot be obtained, is found in the realm of religion.
  • Subjects: Life Philosophy
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1239

The Two Main Types of Morality Behind Nietzsche’s Theory

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, [...]
  • Subjects: Philosophical Theories
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1050

Mill’s vs. Kant’s Ethical Theories on Lie

Stuart Mill's utilitarianism and Emmanuel Kant's deontology, to answer the question is it acceptable to lie to my friend to spare her feelings if the lie would not cause great harm?
  • Subjects: Ethical Philosophy
  • Pages: 9
  • Words: 1713

Free Will and Determinism Analysis

Jonathan Edwards, in his fundamental work The Freedom of the Will, argues that the will always choose according to its greatest desire at the moment of choice.
  • Subjects: Philosophy of Science
  • Pages: 7
  • Words: 1579

Philosophy. The Socratic Method: What Is It?

As a position is defined, it is continually questioned and counter-questioned, eventually bringing the conversation around to a point where the original response is contradicted by the responder while the way in which it is [...]
  • Subjects: Philosophical Concept
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 564

Determinism Argument and Objection to It

The key idea behind this notion is that "everything that's happening now and that will happen in the future was already guaranteed to happen by things that happened in the distant past".
  • Subjects: Freedom Philosophy
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1103

Socrates and the Root of Evil

The philosopher's inquiry into the nature of human morality was closely tied to the examination of how one could live his or her life in the most fulfilling manner.
  • Subjects: Ethical Philosophy
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 911

John Locke’s Ideas on Citizens and Authorities

However, because of the nature of any philosophical assumption and because of the further evolution of our societies, some of these ideas can be doubted using some arguments that are relevant to the modern world.
  • Subjects: Political Philosophies
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1104

Human vs. Divine Ego: What Is the Difference?

Divine ego is part of the mind that reacts to reality by deciding on what options to take in response to life experiences. Human beings, therefore, need to have faith in the Almighty.
  • Subjects: Philosophy of Religion
  • Pages: 1
  • Words: 261

Meaningless Existence in Camus’ “The Myth of Sisyphus”

The concept shared by the author consists in the statement that human life is irrational: one has to admit that it is senseless and is forced to overcome this knowledge to continue living, working, and [...]
  • Subjects: Philosophical Works
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 621

End of Life Planning

However, if the care is expensive, and it is clear that I will not make it, I do not want my family to spend their money to prolong my life by a few days or [...]
  • Subjects: Life Philosophy
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 589

Continental Philosophy Approach

The discussion addresses the query of whether continental philosophy considers that sensible human agency has the potential to alter the setting of people's experience.
  • Subjects: Philosophical Theories
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 587

Philosophical Perspectives in 20th Century

Determinism takes the position that everything which happens is supposed to happen only in that way and not in any other because everything is planned before and ours is just to follow the programming of [...]
  • Subjects: Philosophical Concept
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1170

Philosophy: Roland Barthes as a Structuralist

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.
  • Subjects: Philosophical Theories
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 340

People and World Relationships

For me, the most exciting thing to think of is the relationship between people and the world in which they live.
  • Subjects: Life Philosophy
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 563

Contextualism in Theory of Knowledge

The knowledge people perceive and present as the truth might be argued from the perspective of the context or situation in which the information is uttered.
  • Subjects: Philosophy of Science
  • Pages: 1
  • Words: 320

Wu Wei in Daoism and Zen Buddhism

Therefore, the original ideas and thoughts of Taoism are believed to have influenced the development of Zen Buddhism in China. This discussion shows clearly that emptiness in Buddhism points to dependent origination as the true [...]
  • Subjects: Philosophy of Religion
  • Pages: 7
  • Words: 1894

The Value and Meaning of Judgment

The issues of proper and timely judgment, sound conclusions, and reaction to the received information can be found in the stories such as A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor and Young [...]
  • Subjects: Philosophical Concept
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1165

Rene Descartes and David Hume: Nature of Knowledge

Probably the main discursive aspect of Descartes' view on the nature of knowledge is that, according to the philosopher, it is indeed possible for a person to attain a thoroughly adequate understanding of the surrounding [...]
  • Subjects: Philosophy of Science
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 985

Happiness and Success as a Life Meaning

I find meaning in my life when I help people that I encounter in my life. This means that life, when a person follows the Christian rules, is full of spirituality and thus meaning.
  • Subjects: Life Philosophy
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 628

Human Free Will in Philosophical Theories

The above factors are completely out of our control thereby affirming the fact that we do not act out of free will. Essentially, we may seem to have free will but our actions and decisions [...]
  • Subjects: Freedom Philosophy
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 558

Mind and Body in Hume’s and Descartes’s Views

One of the most notable cases is a contradiction between David Hume and Descartes who shared different views based on what they did perceive of the body and the mind of an individual.
  • Subjects: Philosophical Concept
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 589

Morality and Truth in Real-Life Situations

Any delay could cause the loss of people's lives, and the financial and reputational losses to the airline and partner companies would be enormous.
  • Subjects: Ethical Philosophy
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 573

Bertrand’s Russell’s View on Religion

Specifically, the paper dwells on the origins Russell's agnosticism as well as the major arguments that were provided by the philosopher in support of his theory.
  • Subjects: Philosophy of Religion
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1393

“Dismantling Truth” by Richard Rorty

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 [...]
  • Subjects: Philosophical Theories
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 562

“The Racial Contract” by Charles Mills

Mills' book explores the political philosophy of the social contract."The Racial contract" was published at the end of the twentieth century, and it investigates the issue of racial relations in the world over 500 years.
  • Subjects: Philosophical Theories
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 613

Kantian Perspective on Water Privatisation

According to the extant literature, this is a response to the experience of the global water crisis. In this case, there is the tendency to exploit in the selling of water, and the positions are [...]
  • Subjects: Philosophical Theories
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 1132

Teachings of Jesus and Kant

According to the rules by Jesus, there is no need of fixing rules to guide moral judgments because when people are guided by love for each other they do the right things.
  • Subjects: Philosophy of Religion
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 566

Explaining “The Apology of Socrates“ by Plato

He claimed that his wisdom was greater than that of other humans which means that the judges and the accusers did not possess any of it for he believed that they were invented people who [...]
  • Subjects: Philosophical Works
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1405

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.
  • Subjects: Philosophers
  • Pages: 6
  • Words: 1652

Alfred Schutz And Phenomenology

The objective was to analyze the experience of human phenomena in consciousness and in psychological result of perception and reasoning. This study contributed to success of his first work, "the phenomenology of the social world".
  • Subjects: Philosophical Concept
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 873

Description Terms: God and His Link With the World

Theism is the belief in the existence of one God who is the creator of mankind. This 'something' is God's supernatural abilities that explain the cause of everything that exits in the universe.
  • Subjects: Philosophy of Religion
  • Pages: 8
  • Words: 2235

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.
  • Subjects: Philosophers
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1090

Theories about Human Nature: Hinduism and Christianity

Christianity and Hinduism are certainly at the top of the list of important attempts at explaining the origin of the universe and human nature, since approximately 47% of the world's population belongs to these two [...]
  • Subjects: Philosophy of Religion
  • Pages: 8
  • Words: 2247

Moral Values Necessary for a Free and Just Society

It is the responsibility of people to make the society what they want it to be. It is the moral obligation of members of society to respect the institutions that are in place.
  • Subjects: Philosophical Theories
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1170

The Theory of Cause and Effect

In particular, he emphasized on the importance of human experiences in the comprehension of cause and effect. Hence, the theory of cause and effect highlights that the tendency to associate events is the foundation of [...]
  • Subjects: Philosophical Concept
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 613

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.
  • Subjects: Philosophers
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 597

Paley’s analogy

The argument stipulates that the world is a place filled with such novel interlocking intricacy to the extent that the sole rational justification centers on the existence of an intelligent designer.
  • Subjects: Philosophical Concept
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 780

Famine, Affluence, and Morality

He claims that giving a certain amount to Bengal would result to suffering of individuals and their dependants, which will correspond to the suffering he relieved in Bengal.
  • Subjects: Ethical Philosophy
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 645

Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle

However, the fact that there are many actions that people engage in, Aristotle argues that their ends are countless. Aristotle concludes that happiness is the key principle that causes people to practice virtues such as [...]
  • Subjects: Philosophical Works
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 593

The Cosmological Argument

Christians believe in the existence of a God who is considered to have willed the existence of all that there is.
  • Subjects: Philosophical Concept
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 873

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.
  • Subjects: Philosophers
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1495

My current philosophical perspective on life

It goes without saying, of course, that the fact that I adhere to the provisions of the Darwinian theory of evolution naturally makes me an atheist, as I am being in a position to define [...]
  • Subjects: Life Philosophy
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1483

The Principle of Sufficient Reason

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Although Leibniz tries to explain the essence of the ultimate reason for existence by the invocation of the presence of a metaphysical reason, he also continues to illustrate the mechanism that relates the metaphysical reason [...]
  • Subjects: Philosophical Theories
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1472

Aristotle’s Philosophical Theories

Aristotle argued that the understanding of nature could only be accomplished through the analysis of the aspects of nature as the first step in understanding the target object, and then processing the mental reaction of [...]
  • Subjects: Philosophical Works
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1528

Worldviews on Good Life and Values

A good life and what constitutes it is an omnipresent ideal always bringing into the focus a key question what is the meaning of life.
  • Subjects: Life Philosophy
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1719

Niccolo Machiavelli Views on Political Decisions

Similarly, political leaders who use flattery to get to the positions of power, but they fail to deliver their promises. This indicates that political leaders should strive to always grant their advisors the freedom to [...]
  • Subjects: Political Philosophies
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 585

Discussion: The Philosophical Thought of Kant

Similarly, prostitution is related to the CI-2 since it uses a body as a means to an end, which can be considered by Kant as morally impermissible.
  • Subjects: Ethical Philosophy
  • Pages: 1
  • Words: 401

Discussion: Nativism vs. Neoconstructivism

Nativism states that starting points of development are those that cover all the basic knowledge needed to understand the world. Newcombe notes that it appeared in the 1990s and considers the postulates of nativism in [...]
  • Subjects: Philosophical Theories
  • Pages: 1
  • Words: 356

Aristotle’s Idea of Justice: Analysis

The benefit of justice, according to Aristotle, is an individualized virtue based on the character of justice. According to Machiavelli, he puts justice in front of a just man, and a just man comes before [...]
  • Subjects: Ethical Philosophy
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 680

Concept of Individual Freedom

Rousseau and Mill were political philosophers with interest in understanding what entailed individual freedom. This paper compares Rousseau’s idea of individual freedom with Mill’s idea.
  • Subjects: Political Philosophies
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1362

“The American Crisis” Book by Thomas Paine

Paine's depictions of the "summer soldier" and "sunshine patriot" are appropriate in that they accurately describe an individual willing to fight for a cause only when it is convenient or popular.
  • Subjects: Political Philosophies
  • Pages: 1
  • Words: 407

The Western Anthropocentric Worldview

The possible way to think about the relationships between consciousness and the physical world is by considering the understanding of the traditional relationship between nature and consciousness.
  • Subjects: Philosophical Theories
  • Pages: 7
  • Words: 1941

Kantian Position in the Debate on Ethical Factors

However, if one refers to the categorical imperative of Kantian, the position against abortion is more ethical and convincing, as it recognizes the fetus's value and right to life.
  • Subjects: Philosophers
  • Pages: 1
  • Words: 372

Cultural Relativism and Subjective Relativism

The SMR would say that what the doctor is doing cannot be judged as there is no right position, and what matters is whether the surgeon feels that their actions are right.
  • Subjects: Philosophical Concept
  • Pages: 1
  • Words: 394

Psychological View of the Self

The significant distinction between these two philosophers is that, although Socrates seldom spoke about the soul of the human being, Plato emphasized the soul of the human being more than the body. The philosopher contends [...]
  • Subjects: Philosophical Concept
  • Pages: 1
  • Words: 305