...Laura Galan (DRAFT) Introduction to Philosophy Philosopher Paper - Chuang-Tzu "The Chinese philosopher Chuang Tzu (ca. 369-ca. 286 BC), also known as Chuang Chou, was the most brilliant of the early Taoists and the greatest prose writer of his time." http://www.bookrags.com/biography/chuang-tzu/ "Not much is known of the life of Chuang Tzu. The Shih Chi (Historical Records, written about 100 BC) tells us that he was a contemporary of King Hui of Liang (370-319) and King Hsüan of Ch'i (319-301). Thus Chuang Tzu seems to have been a contemporary of Mencius (372-289), but neither was mentioned by the other in his extant writings. The Shih Chi also says that Chuang Tzu was born in Meng on the border of Shantung and Honan and that he held a petty official post for a time in Ch'iyüan. However, he seems to have lived most of his life as a recluse, "to be intoxicated in the wonder and the power of Nature." http://www.bookrags.com/biography/chuang-tzu/ It is said that Chuang Tzu did not desire material things and had little interest in occupying positions of high status. He rather cared, enjoyed and was mystified by dwelling in natures surroundings as well as the personal freedoms that it offered. He cared little for anything relating to positions of higher office. "When Chuang Tzu was about to die, his disciples expressed a wish to give him a splendid funeral. But Chuang Tzu said, With the heavens and earth itself for my coffin and shell; with the sun, moon, and...
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...HZT4U1 Mrs. Faria February 13, 2014 Philosophy Reflection Essay What is Philosophy? Philosophy is more than simply a school subject, it is a worldview that involves complex and contemplative ways of thinking. It can also be considered as a hypothesis, the love of wisdom, law, equation, and major part of it, science and religion. As Socrates once said " philosophy is a quest for wisdom- an unrelenting devotion to uncover the truth about what matters most in one's life." As mentioned above, Philosophy according to Socrates is a process of proving the truth and validity of certain visual ideas. Philosophy branches out. To understand Philosophy, we need to know what makes someone a philosopher, which helps to determine analytic philosophy. Along with this, we need to understand the method of philosophy which leads us to the true value of philosophy. The study of philosophy is a discipline that develops analytic thought and, ultimately, autonomy. To understand philosophy, and how it leads up to autonomy through analytic thought, we must understand what makes someone a philosopher. in the article " What makes someone a philosophy" by Mark Warnock, she helps to define the subject. Warnock clearly defines a philosopher through her articles. She says "Professional recognition is unimportant: what matters is that a philosopher is someone who thinks at a high level of generality, has 'explanatory ambition' and most importantly, provides arguments in support of his or her views. these...
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...Philosophy in time has been regarded as the most abstract and abstruse of all disciplines. Worst of it is the question “what is philosophy?” which is in itself a controversial question both to philosophers and the lay man. “But though many people have come to think of philosophy as a remote discipline that is far from normal interest and beyond comprehension, nearly all of us have some philosophical view of life. Consciously or unconsciously, whether we accept it or not most of us even as we are vague about what philosophy is, the term usually appear in our conversation.” In this essay review, what is philosophy, by H.S. Staniland, we shall come to discover that philosophy is more practical to life. And that its supposed abstract nature -which may be true due to the engagement of the early Ionian philosophers in cosmological speculation, provides only a distorted image of what professional philosophy really is. In this review, we shall first examine the activities of some people who have since been regarded as philosophers. Next we shall give a definition of philosophy as seen by Staniland. Furthermore we shall highlight, evaluate and elaborate on various arguments in Staniland’s essay. Finally we shall conclude. “At different ages and accross distant places and culture, various people who have been regarded as philosophers, and who have engaged very seriously in philosophizing have had varying aims. Some like Saint Augustine of Hippo have been religious leaders, who...
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...Humanity & Social Sciences Journal 3 (1): 57-64, 2008 ISSN 1818-4960 © IDOSI Publications, 2008 On Defining African Philosophy: History, Challenges and Perspectives Olatunji A. Oyeshile Department of Philosophy, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria INTRODUCTION The definition of philosophy has remained a perennial philosophical problem and there is little agreement as to what it is. Rather, what many seem to agree on is the descriptions of philosophy, that is, what it encompasses which will provide the basis for our definition. In the same vein, it has been difficult to define what African philosophy is, rather most philosophers have contented themselves in describing what African philosophy is. According to Sogolo, “the controversy over what constitutes an African philosophy tends to dominate sometimes so much that it forms almost the entire content of the course” [1]. In this paper, the attempt is to say what African philosophy is, inspite of the seeming unending polemics in the sphere and practice of African philosophy. In doing this, we shall start by attempting to describe and possibly define what philosophy is. Subsequently we shall be in a position to define African philosophy by looking at the origin of the debate on African philosophy which was as a result of the charge of irrationality leveled against the Africans. Let us recall that many European scholars mostly anthropologists and sociologists in the like of E. Durkheim, Auguste Comte, James Frazer, Sigmund Freud...
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...Women in Philosophy To start off writing about women in philosophy let me brief out on what philosophy is basically. Philosophy something that it’s a starting line for all the questions that need answers, need critical thinking to solve or trying to solve new concepts, basically humanity’s unanswered questions. Philosophy is a natural and true response of human being’s to the mystery, curiousness, wonder and uncertainly of life. We had seen and heard many male philosophers since ancient times till now. And many of them are very successful in their field and very well recognized. But why women philosophers have not received the same notoriety as male philosophers? I always get disappointed that why there are no importance for women philosophers in our society. If you search internet you cannot find more than hundred names, although women philosophers have also been contributed since ancient times. Even today, there are more men than women who teach philosophy in colleges and universities. Yet, women are, and always been philosophers, even if they don’t get credit for it. For example, Hypatia of Alexandria was the first woman astronomer, mathematician and a philosopher along with Plato and Aristotle. Simone de bouvior, an intellectual, existentialist philosopher and a French writer. Susan Sontag, American writer and a cultural icon and well known political activists. I call them history hidden philosophers because they were in shadows. One of the great philosopher is Agnes Heller...
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...Philosophy vs. Science by Joseph Rowlands The historical relationship between science and philosophy has not been a friendly one. Philosophers like to start with their conclusions, and work to prove them. When it came to trying to figure out what the world was like, philosophers tended to argue about what the world should be like. Science was born as a rejection of this method. Its goal was to figure out what the world was really all about, and its primary tool was actual experimentation. We've all seen philosophy at its worst. Philosophers are often completely disconnected from reality and, more recently, don't care. Rationalism, the view that only deductive knowledge is really reliable, is commonplace. Philosophers often expound their ideas from armchairs and ivory towers, where the facts of reality don't concern them. It's not surprising science would want to distance itself from philosophy. It becomes even more personal for the scientist when he's told that he must conform to preconceived views of the world. It started with Galileo having to renounce his scientific views on astronomy, but continued through the ages. Countless other scientists have had to hide their views on topics like evolution, the age of the earth and the existence of glaciers, with a range of punishments from the inquisition and burning at the stake to losing their jobs or financing. Philosophy, often in the form of religion, does not seek the truth. It seeks believers, and the truth is an...
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...Re-thinking the relevance of philosophy of education for educational policy making Morwenna Griffiths MORAY HOUSE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH Abstract The overall question, ‘What kind of ‘philosophy of education’ is relevant to educational policy makers?’ is addressed by focussing on the following four themes: What meanings are attached to the term philosophy (of education) by philosophers themselves? What meanings are attached to the term philosophy (of education) by policy makers? What difference does place and time make to these meanings? How do these different meanings affect the possibility of philosophy (of education) influencing policy? The question is addressed using both philosophical methods and also some empirical evidence from conversations and conversational interviews with some philosophers of education and other educational researchers. The argument begins with an investigation of different ways of understanding philosophy and philosophy of education in relation to education and educational policy. It then examines first the current policy context and secondly some evidence about the practices of policy makers in relation to ideas and to research. It goes on to present some of the findings from the conversational evidence. The paper is drawn together in the penultimate section where I make some suggestions about possible fruitful relationships between philosophy and policy making. Finally, in the concluding section, I point out some further...
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...Effects of Philosophy From The Renaissance to the Modern Age Era Philosophy for most of Europe was latent throughout the entire Middle Ages which lasted nearly nine centuries. Medieval Philosophy was the only recognized and practiced philosophy during that time period. There were individuals during the Medieval time period that tried to preach different philosophies, however it was not something that was encouraged. If someone tried speaking publicly about a different way of life or theory on life, they were usually brutally chastised. When the Church began to restore power it helped to the “rebirth” of philosophy. Towards the late Middle Ages and beginning of the Renaissance era, there were several very influential philosophers’ starting to rise such as Marsilio Ficino and Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2012). It was philosophers like these men that contributed towards the rebirth of philosophy. The Church did have some involvement in this movement as well. It was then that the Churches began to rise against foreign enemies and stand up for their selves. They started to break out of the orthodox way of life they were used to. The Church showed people that there is still hope. That is when people started to bestow their selves in the Church and grasped on to the thought of change. Once people started to think for themselves, they began to realize there is more to life, and life may actually have a purpose. That is where philosophy began...
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...Evan Anderson 1/28/2015 Philosophy: What is philosophy? Well, that is an incredible difficult question to answer. Part of the reason is it is so hard to answer is because many famous philosophers, the ones who actually “do” the activity in question, don’t agree on one set definition and even go as far as to disagree with each other when putting fourth their own definitions. So how can we have a set answer to that question? Well this means that we are going to have to have a very broad definition. It has to be very wide because it has to encompass many famous philosophers’ ideas and teachings. To be a philosopher is to create and conceptualize ideas about how to live life the right way. When thinking about a philosopher we all tend to gravitate towards an image of an old Greek man with a large white beard, bald head and in robes. However, while there were a lot of ferry talented philosophers who were old and Greek, anyone can be a philosopher and we should encourage people to try. It would be ignorant for anyone who considers themselves to be a philosopher to not listen to everyone’s ideas. In Phaedo, Plato states that “Ordinary people seem not to realize that those who really apply themselves in the right way to philosophy are directly and of their own accord preparing themselves for dying and death. If this is true, and they have actually been looking forward to death all their lives, it would of course be absurd to be troubled when the thing comes for which they have...
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...Philosophy of Ancient Greece Philosophy is the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge either reality, existence, it's also considered as an academic discipline.They are the ideas that have shaped our new world the modern world.Greek philosophy pave the way for western intellectual tradition including modern science,but it also shook cultural foundations in its own time( Graham, Jacob ) .It's still being use it has shaped the new world greek philosopher were “seekers and lovers of wisdom “ they studied and analyzed the world with logic and reasons.Many people are interested on how does the world work? Why do things that happen the way they do ? There is many wroten book from greek philosophers or found items.There are some philosophers...
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...Philosophy and Religion are both things that are heavily discussed by individuals involved in the study of philosophy itself. There are many different opinions about religion and philosophy, because philosophy itself is something that can be seen from different variations. On one hand, there are those that are considered realists, and they believe that religion can indeed exist in the discussion of philosophy. On the other hand, there are those who are considered non-realists, and these individuals do not believe that there is any proof or evidence to show that religion actually exists. The arguments of realists versus non-realists are based on the fact that some people in philosophy are simply going to have a different opinion about different things. For example, in the world there are many people with different views about different things. One individual may feel that Jesus Christ is God, while another individual may feel that Buddha is their God. Different opinions are shared around the world every day, and the study of philosophy is no different considering that many philosophers have different opinions relating to the topic of religion and philosophy. According to Meister, logical positivism was something that was very popular in philosophy during the early parts of the twentieth century because many philosophers felt that actual logic, mathematics and statements that had proven to be factual were the only parts of philosophy that belonged in philosophy in general. However...
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...Twentieth Century Philosopher Maria Pinelle, Treddie Knight, and Shurvell McClendon PHL/215 March 19, 2011 Leon Hallingquest Twentieth Century Philosopher INTRODUCTION - Well-known philosophers have influenced the lives for many centuries. Jacques Derrida was a twentieth century philosopher who was one of the most contemporary philosophers of modern (contemporary) times (Philosophy basics, 2011). Jacques Derrida was born on July 15, 1930, and died October 8, 2004 of pancreatic cancer. Derrida left behind a wife and two sons named Pierre and Jean. Derrida was the founder of Deconstructionism. What is Deconstructionism? IDENTIFY AND EVALUATE THE KEY CONCEPTS AND ANALYSES THAT COMPRISED THE PHILOSOPHER’S THEORIES –Deconstructionism or Deconstruction is a philosophical theory of criticism (usually of literature or film) that seeks to expose deep-seated contradictions in a work by delving below its surface meaning ("Deconstruction"). According to C. John Holcombe (2007), “Derrida has been called philosopher, anti-philosopher, literary theorist, literary subverter and intellectual joker. But his central tenets are clear. Once we use language (speech or writing) to refer to reality, that reality is linguistically formulated and therefore indeterminate. Meaning is not something preexisting in the mind that we struggle to express. Like the main analytical schools of language philosophy from Hume onwards, and contrary to Saussure, Derrida does not regard words as the expression...
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...Philosophy Wroclaw, 2009-12-18 Institute of Electronics Wroclaw University of Technology What is Philosophy for Fernando Wieliczko Wednesday 17:05 First year Philosophy should not be seen as a subject or a specified study like medicine, biology or physics. Philosophy is present in our lives and in our decisions. It changes the way we look through physical objects or even human thoughts. Philosophy is present in the past, which is the history, in the present and in the future. We can clearly see how present it is to every human thought. When we discuss about ethics, we discuss about Philosophy; when we discuss about politics, we also discuss about Philosophy. Philosophy is behind the decisions we make, it is behind the laws of a State for example; because one day, someone, or a group of people, faced a bad situation, or saw the possibility that this same situation would happen in the future, and decided to make a law, so that people would live better in the society. When they made the law, they had to think and understand that a law would prevent that bad situation to happen again, or even for the first time, which makes of them thinkers. If they think, they exist, that makes of them and all of us philosophers: “I think, therefore I am” – by René Descartes. Some people work so hard to make so much money but they forget that the money stands for their own comfort. So if they work too hard, they end up having not much time to relax...
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...Christians are Philosophers According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, philosophy is defined as the love and pursuit of wisdom, a search for general understanding of values and reality by chiefly speculative rather than observational means, and an analysis of the grounds of concepts expressing fundamental beliefs. A lover of wisdom is referred to as a philosopher. A Christian can be both a philosopher and a Christian because both are seeking knowledge and wisdom. “The Bible spoke of Wisdom of God, and philosophers loved wisdom. Could Christianity contain the truth the philosophers were seeking?” (Melchert 230) “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding” (Proverbs 4.7). As a Christian it is important to gain wisdom along with an understanding or comprehension of the knowledge that is being acquired. To love wisdom and to strive to obtain wisdom, is a common factor amongst Christians and philosophers, therefore one can conclude that they can both go hand in hand together. The faith of each individual will be the determining factor that will influence how each individual person express themselves philosophically. Whether a person is a Christian or not has no bearing on who can be a philosopher because anyone that loves wisdom and wishes to seek knowledge for themselves can be classified as a philosopher. How successful each individual is at operating as a philosopher varies from person to person. In the Bible, Paul...
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...|Eastern philosophy | |Vs | |Western Philosophy | |Compare eastern and western philosophy | | | |Kimberly Lynn Stachowski | | | |PHI-105 Introduction to Philosophy | | | |September 11,2011 | | ...
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