...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 of ideas” (6, para. 1). According to (2011), “Derrida had always been involved in various (generally leftist) political causes, including...
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...Explanations of the Branches of Philosophy Jacqueline T. Ashley April 3, 2016 AIU Online Professor Ian McDougall Explanations of the Branches of Philosophy Philosophy is the study of the primary essence of knowledge, reality, and existence, mainly when viewed as an educational regimen. Philosophy includes an approach of questions and answers among a couple of individuals; this approach is referred to as a dialogue. In a dialogue, an individual is searching for a reasonable view and comprehension and the other individual already has to understand and wants to assist the other. Philosophy encompasses six branches to aid in the comprehension of the orderly and logical approach to philosophy. The six branches are Metaphysics, Epistemology, Ethics, Aesthetics, Political philosophy, and social philosophy. The first branch in understanding in understanding philosophy is Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that handles the first concepts of things, including conceptual principles like being, knowing, substance, cause, identity, time, and space. Metaphysics is the first branch of philosophy credible for the research of existence and reality. It answers the question “What is?” It involves everything that occurs or lives as well as the type of existence itself. It determines whether the society is actual or simply a hallucination. It is an underlying perspective of society. It is the base of philosophy. If there was no justification or explanation of the society surrounding...
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...Volume 6 Number 2 (2012): 73-84 http://www.infactispax.org/journal/ Editorial Essay The Importance of Philosophy for Education in a Democratic Society Dale T. Snauwaert The University of Toledo Dale.snauwaert@utoledo.edu This essay explores the importance of philosophy for the study and practice of education in a democratic society. It will be argued that at its core education is a normative enterprise, in that it is driven by fundamental social values as well as the imperatives of social justice. These values and imperatives powerfully shape every dimension of educational theory, policy, and practice. From this perspective, education requires a normative frame of reference. Democracy, understood as not only a political system but more fundamentally as a way of life grounded in specific values and principles, provides a powerful point of reference. At the heart of democracy is the value of liberty, understood as self-determination. Self-determination requires that there should be careful reflection upon and rational deliberation concerning social values and, in turn, the imperatives of justice that inform the purposes and practices of education. It will be argued that philosophy constitutes a mode of inquiry and a discipline that enriches the capacity for reflection and rational deliberation, and hence it is essential for both democracy and the study and practice of education in a democratic society. Education as a Normative Enterprise There are a number...
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...Thinking about Philosophy ! The word philosophy refers to both a discipline and a mindset. At its essence, philosophy implies the mindset of critical thinking, a quest to find out the truth and the discipline to have a good argument. Derived from the Greek words Philos - loving and Sophia - meaning wisdom and the the love of wisdom. Philosophy can be broken down into many categories. Included in theses subsets are metaphysics, ethics, epistemology, aesthetics and logic. Metaphysics encompasses the why and how of reality and being. Ethics incorporates morality moral systems. Epistemology explains ways of individual knowing. Aesthetics lends elements of beauty and the arts. Lastly, logic contributes the attributes of logic and reasoning. Philosophers pursue fundamental questions - questions that make sense but cannot be answered by relying on common sense or scientific procedures. Pythagoras defines philosophy as “too modest to wish to be called wise, he said he was not a wise man, but only a lover of wisdom”. According to Descartes, philosophy is the highest wisdom that could be achieved by logic; it taught the reason how to set about obtaining knowledge of as yet unknown truths. Frances Bacon described philosophy as the universal science, from which all other sciences grew like branches of a tree. Philosophers do not do experiments, they use priori - truths derived from a direct intuitive understanding of the truth. Many people misuse the word Philosophy. You will hear...
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...It is usually divided into pre-school, primary school, secondary school and college or apprentice. For the purpose of this paper therefore education is defined as the practice of passing knowledge mostly in schools and colleges. The purpose of education in the society has been a matter of major debate among different philosophers of education. Education performs a very important role in an individual as well as the society. In our present society people look into education for everything. Different people think there are different purposes for education. Depending on the person talking about education the purpose could be political, economic or social. This paper looks into purpose of education according to different education philosophies as well as my own thoughts on what I think is the purpose of education. There are three main...
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...Nicolas, Fatima May D. 2014-45876 Spec. Thought WFY, Mr. Romulo Banares What Constitutes Reasoning as Philosophical? Philosophy consists of a very long history of arguments, counter- arguments, thesis, and theories; thus we can also see questions, and answers that lead to more questions and so on. Like most sciences, philosophy has its own procedures and its own approach to inquiries about the world. One of the central objectives of this discipline is to learn and make use of those procedures to understand the mysteries behind existence and reality. It is also a study that aims to find out the nature of truth and knowledge and to discover what is of basic value and the significance of life. As established by its founding fathers the basic business of philosophy is to know what truly exists and the relation among these existents. Reason is a method in which people acquire knowledge and understanding by means of thinking in an organized and clear way. It has played a big role in the progress of different branches of philosophy (e.g. epistemology, metaphysics, etc.) throughout the years. Some of philosophy’s longest running problems are based on reason but reason also paves way for the solution to these problems. In this paper, I will address different examples that exhibit the being philosophical of reason. REASON IN THE ONTOLOGICAL ARGUMENTS Ontological arguments are arguments that assert the existence of a God by using...
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...Basic Beliefs Must Exist The root of knowledge has always been a great question of philosophy. What do we know? Or do we really know what we think we know? What justifies our beliefs as knowledge? It all comes down to the same question, same question asked in cosmology, biology and many others: How did it all begin? Where scientific data is inadequate, epistemology tried to find answers and possibilities and asked their version of the question: Are there any epistemically basic beliefs? In other words, how does knowing begin? Or to some, does knowledge exist at all? Foundationalism suggested that after all there must be an epistemically basic belief at the root of the rest of them, a starting point that doesn’t need justification because it justifies itself. In this essay I will explain that there are epistemically basic beliefs, which has been proven and exemplified by various philosophers of Foundationalism. First I will explain Foundationalism and give examples to epistemically basic beliefs, then I will explain how coherentism refutes the idea of a basic belief and lastly I will examine how both stand in front of the regress argument, proving the existence of basic belief for the existence of knowledge. If there is knowledge it must have a starting point. Foundationalism is an epistemological view that suggests that the chain of justification of beliefs has a starting point, which is called basic belief. All our beliefs are justified by these basic or foundational...
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...of Philosophy for Christians Lesson Overview In our last lesson for this module/week, we examined why developing the philosophical mindset is important for people in general. In this lesson, we want to ask that question specifically for Christians. What value does philosophy have for Christians? We will begin by examining the biblical basis for developing a philosophical mindset. We will discuss the biblical mandate for philosophy and three elements in fulfilling that mandate. We will then survey a number of roles that philosophy functions for Christians. Finally, we will examine the role that the Bible plays in doing philosophy. Tasks Read and take notes from chapter 3 of Philosophy: Critically Thinking about Foundational Beliefs, “What Athens has to do with Jerusalem: The Importance of Philosophy for Christians.” As you read, make sure you understand the following points and questions: • Know the historical and literary background to Col 2:8. Paul starts this passage off with a Greek term “blepete” meaning “beware” or “be on your guard.” Then follows this with a strange phrase that literally means “to be carried off as booty” but here is probably meant more like “kidnap” The literal wording here is actually “philosophy and vain deceit” knowing the historical and literary context of this passage one can see that Paul is not condemning philosophy in general. He is contrasting two kinds of philosophy: one that is based on human traditions and the basic principles...
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...My philosophy for education is essentialism, because you’re working with students to teach basic information or subjects. “Essentialism is prominent in American education today.” (Kauchak, Eggen. 203) Essentialism’s goal is to help students understand the basic content. Some people would say “Teachers primary goals should be to help students’ master essential content rather than to help them develop emotionally and socially.” (Kauchak, Eggen. 203) The topics that I will address are essentialism in the classrooms, essentialism in teacher educational programs, and also comparing essentialism to the other three philosophies of education. Essentialism in the classroom is important in a lot of different aspects in teaching. The teachers’ students have to be able to understand the information that is given to them but in order to do that they have to have a solid foundation with reading, writing, and mathematics. If students don’t have these skills and they don’t want to learn them then where would they end up after school or even for a job? Some students will end up not finishing school because they can’t do the material or possibly understand it. Other students may end up in low end paying jobs or may not even be able to get a job at all. A lot of employers want employees that have the basic skills from what they learned in school to help them at work, instead of spending time and resources to train them in the things everyone should know. So you see why it is important...
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...Reaction Paper #1 Cryptic is defined as having a hidden meaning, and as I have quickly learned, philosophy is a very mystifying subject and is open to a wide variety of interpretation. Due to this obscurity, each person will have a different view on philosophy and will likely have changing opinions and views as they continue on their path. Heidegger describes this path as one of responding to life. More specifically, “responding to the voice of Logos which he defines as the Being of all beings, One, One which is all, Life.” As previously stated, this is a very cryptic definition that takes much deeper thought than simply reading off the page. Despite being cryptic, this vague definition gives a strong guideline to the basic idea of philosophy while still giving the reader an opportunity to interpret the definition in their own way. This definition shines light on both the basic idea of philosophy while also showing that everyone will interpret philosophy in their own way. By saying that philosophy is the One which is all, it shows that each individual person makes up a greater being which is Life. Each individual person provides their own interpretation based on their own lifestyle and past. Therefore, philosophy is the sum of all lives that can only be defined with the sum of everybody’s views and opinions. With this is mind, philosophy will be ever changing as people grow older and more people are brought into the world. What is most important about this definition...
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...dictionary theology is defined as “the field of study and analysis that treats of God and of God's attributes and relations to the universe; study of divine things or religious truth; divinity”. (Theology, n.d) The term theology derives from two Greek words when joined means “the study of God.” Theology studies focus on the nature of God and different religious beliefs. Whereas, philosophy focuses on the study or creation theories of the more simple things in life. The term philosophy is also derived from two words, which stands for love and wisdom. According to the dictionary philosophy is defined as “the rational investigation of the truths and principles of being, knowledge, or conduct”. (Philosophy, n.d) For example, thought and how we should live, and the existence of nature. So, basically theology is becoming familiarized with GOD and concentrating on how and when he functioned as he did. Philosophy, on the other hand, is focusing on the more expanded meanings and positions. Ethics is the study of the general nature of morals and of the specific moral choices to be made by a person; moral philosophy (Ethics, n.d). There are three schools when determining and understanding the process of ethics. The three schools of ethics are virtue, consequentialist, and deontological. Each of these schools holds importance but are nothing without the other. All three of these are needed to come to the best ethical decision. When talking about religion and ethics we have to consider...
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...Kogi State University Anyigba, P.M.B 1008 Faculty: Arts and Humanity, Department: Philosophy and Religious Studies. Name: HASSAN YAHAYA Matric No.: 12PR 1294 Course Code: Phil 410 Course Title: Oriental Philosophy Assignment Question: Discuss the basic tenets of Confucianism. In which ways has it Contributed to the Chinese society? Lecturer: Dr. John I. Ebeh Introduction: Confucianism is the traditional philosophy of the Chinese people and also a religion, mainly an ethical system or moral philosophy, named after its founder, Confucius (K’ung-Fu-Tzu), who was born in 551 B.C and died 479 B.C. it is not based on any metaphysical concept like the Taoism; it is the least metaphysical and the more practical of the Eastern philosophies considered. Confucius was a contemporary philosopher and also a contemporary Buddha. Below are the basic tenets of Confucianism; 1. Confucius never aimed at teaching anything new or founding anything new to the system; his aim was to simply give a re-interpretation and transmit to posterity the wisdom of the ancients. Thus he says and I quotes; “I communicate and do not invent. I have faith in antiquity and consecrate all my efforts to its cause”. The center of Confucius teaching is the concept of Jen, which has variously translated as human-heartedness (Derk Bodde, Fung Yu-lan), that by which a man is to be a man(Chan), the virtue of perfect humanity (Wei), compassion (Lin Yutang), and man – to – manness (E.R. Hughes). Jen is that which...
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...The first question I will address is “Are science and philosophy closely interrelated, or are they different in their goals and methods? Science supposes that there is only one proper basis of knowledge, it is experiment and rational analysis of nature. Philosophy tends to say that there are many ways of understanding, just as there are many forms of knowledge and many beginnings of that knowledge. In the beginning there were sciences but no actual scientist. They were all known as philosophers. Philosophy invented intellectual thought and rigorous reasoning which in turn is what invented the sciences. Philosophy continues to influence science by questioning the science's weaknesses. Some people think that the sciences can stand apart from philosophy. That philosophy is all questions, never giving a real answer. Where as, science is a methodology that is based on research and experimentation. “The specific sciences cannot and should not break their connections with true philosophy” (Spirkin, A.). By doing this they would have no questions for them to research and experiment. According to Wolff, the Milesians who are considered philosophers were also scientist. Thales who is known as the first philosopher was an astronomer. By his knowledge of the stars he could predict the weather (Wolff, 14). “Following Thales were the Milesians Anaximander and Anaximenes, who expanded and developed speculative theories about the basic components of nature and their order…. They started...
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...of entrance into the nursing profession. Diploma and ADN nursing programs focus on teaching the nursing skills and technical competence to provide basic bedside patient care. The baccalaureate degree program focuses on the history of nursing, and the theories that guide nursing as a profession. Though, each program of entry into the profession of registered nurse adequately prepares the student to administer safe, basic nursing care, the programs differ, in that the baccalaureate degree program expands on the basic knowledge of nursing. It teaches students a deeper understanding into the history of nursing, how it came about, who was expected to be a nurse and why. The leaders in the advancement of nursing history are studied along with their contributions into the nursing time line. The different theory models of nursing are learned and the philosophy of each model is discussed. This leads to a deeper understanding of the many roles that nurses have in our society today. Graduates of entry level nursing programs (baccalaureate degree, associate degree, and diploma) sit for the NCLEX-RN licensing examination. The fact that new nurses pass the licensing exam at the same rate does not mean that all entry level nurses are equally prepared for practice. The NCLEX tests for minimum technical competency for safe entry into basic nursing practice. (Nursing, 2012) There are many different nursing...
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...Steed BUS 508 Contemporary Business October 26, 2013 Determine how Five Guys philosophy sets it apart from other fast-food chains. In 1986 Five Guys started out as a little family burger operation with five locations and a steady following in Northern VA. Today, there are 570 stores across the U.S. and Canada with sales of $483 million. All Family members remain actively involved, in spite of company growth. One reason that Five Guys are different from any fast-food chain is because they have a philosophy of maintaining the basics, in which they still shadowing currently. For more than two decades, Five Guys has not changed their menu, despite of pressures from other franchises. Five guys believe in keeping it simple, even with their visual images upon entering their establishment. They have a nostalgic setting from a 1950’s diner, and a military canteen, which keeps décor to a mimuim. They have a quality selection of buns in which the supplier is local. They offer ingredients such as sautéed mushrooms, jalapeno peppers and grilled onions. And while the customers are patiently waiting for a great burger, Five Guys offer an unshelled peanut, which has become their famous trademark. Five guys being a fast-food restaurant does what other restaurants offer. They send secret shoppers twice a week to every location, and the family is traveling constantly, visiting every store. By sticking to the basics, five Guys leaves their food print embedded in what others have strayed away from...
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