...Eastern and Western Philosophers have shaped how people of the world reason and think about certain subjects. One of the most debated subjects is religious philosophy. Religious philosophy is comprised of Eastern and Western philosophy based on where the philosopher came from. The philosophers of the East are part of three different groups; Buddhism and Hinduism in India; Zen Buddhism and the Samurai tradition in Japan; and Taoism, Confucianism, and Ch’an Buddhism in China. Western philosophy is broken down more by Christianity, rationale, and scientific theories (Moore & Bruder, 2008). Western philosophy is more about the here and now and the more about the me concept while the Eastern philosophy is about the universal truth of eternal reality and self-liberation by dropping the false self and concentration on the discovering your true “me”. The two philosophers that I have chosen have dramatically different theories of philosophy but at the same time they have similar views. Siddhartha Gautama, also known as Buddha is the Eastern religious philosopher that I have chosen. I also learned about him in my humanities class and I am still fascinated by his story. The second philosopher belongs to the Western philosophy, Friedrich Nietzsche, and he is from Germany. Gautama was a born to the King of India and had never left the castle grounds because his father wanted to keep him sheltered from the world. Finally at the age of 29, Gautama wandered through the city and couldn’t...
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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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...Ethics The field of ethics (or moral philosophy) involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior. Philosophers today usually divide ethical theories into three general subject areas: metaethics, normative ethics, and applied ethics. Metaethics investigates where our ethical principles come from, and what they mean. Are they merely social inventions? Do they involve more than expressions of our individual emotions? Metaethical answers to these questions focus on the issues of universal truths, the will of God, the role of reason in ethical judgments, and the meaning of ethical terms themselves. Normative ethics takes on a more practical task, which is to arrive at moral standards that regulate right and wrong conduct. This may involve articulating the good habits that we should acquire, the duties that we should follow, or the consequences of our behavior on others. Finally, applied ethics involves examining specific controversial issues, such as abortion, infanticide, animal rights, environmental concerns, homosexuality, capital punishment, or nuclear war. By using the conceptual tools of metaethics and normative ethics, discussions in applied ethics try to resolve these controversial issues. The lines of distinction between metaethics, normative ethics, and applied ethics are often blurry. For example, the issue of abortion is an applied ethical topic since it involves a specific type of controversial behavior. But it also depends...
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...Descartes deduces from Meditation I: Of the Things That May be Doubted and Meditation II: Of the Nature of the Human Mind to argue the existence of God. From these works, he seeks to support his argument that because he has the ability to doubt, he therefore exists. He is a thing that can doubt or affirm, imagine, and perceive, which makes him imperfect, limited, and finite. His perceptions and ideas can only come from two sources, his own being or the state of another. According to Descartes, he himself is finite being who comes from an infinite being, God. A being which is independent, omniscient, omnipotent and of an infinite substance. Descartes acknowledges that he cannot possess these traits except for that of substance, because he himself...
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...Philosophy and Psychology The links in the table on the left take you to sub-headings on this page. |. |Philosophy can mean different things | | |Sometimes philosophers deal with questions of truth and sometimes with questions of goodness ; | | |sometimes they offer consolation for life’s sorrows and sometimes they are purely pragmatic. In | | |the philosophy of science, a theory may be valued only for its predictive capability ; its truth | | |or falsity may be immaterial. In ethics, philosophy may have a prescriptive function, offering a | | |preferred set of values ; but where those values originate from is a debatable question. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ...
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...death? In ancient times several centuries before the birth of Christ, there were two Greek philosophers who sought the answer to one question. Thucydides and Plato’s ventured to know what is a “good life”; is it having everything you want or need through whatever means necessary? Is it an enlightenment of the mind, body and soul? These two philosopher’s ideas of what the “good life” was differed greatly. Through Thucydides perspective during the Peloponnesian war. Living a good life meant to be “materially self-sufficient”. During the prelude to the war between Athens and Melos; a sub colony of the Spartans connected through heritage. Thucydides explains that “might” makes right in times of war not justice. He believed that to have a good life one must be strong, that “the strong do what they will, the weak will suffer what they must, and morality is irrelevant” (Newton CHP1 P1). Such beliefs seem to hold the life of man as a selfish one Thucydides’ life was lived off the theory that there was no place for the likes of justice in the traditional meaning of the word. That to be happy one should need to take what one needs, and if they could not, then they were weak and could not live the good life. Contrary to Thucydides views on the “good life”, Plato believed that enlightenment and the pursuit of knowledge was what made a good life not the pursuit of power or might, and that worldly objects only hindered one’s ability to transcend into an almost god like state. He goes on...
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...Why was Socrates regarded as a man of virtue? Why was Socrates regarded as a man of virtue? Socrates: Man of Virtue (470-399 B.C.E.) Socrates proposed the theory of value in which there are two sorts of good: virtue and happiness. Both are unconditional goods. But happiness is a "self-generated" good in that it "derives its value strictly from its inherent properties;" whereas virtue is an "other-generated" good in that it derives its value from happiness, precisely from its conduciveness to happiness. Virtue is an instinct in all humanity which can be aroused through self-examination. This universal truth is accessible to everyone who thinks and question. Socrates assumes that any person with whom he talks has the resource to answer his question correctly, that is, that no specialist knowledge is required. Socrates thought that knowledge is virtue, and virtue leads to happiness. It makes sense to think that moral people know what morality is. If you know right from wrong, then you might be able to choose to do what you know to be right. It also makes some sense to suspect that our beliefs about right and wrong influence our decisions. If we believe its right to help a drowning child, then it would be fairly shocking to decide not to do so—and it would less surprising when we decide to help the child. It is quite a shocking statement to say that virtue always leads to happiness. Criminals commit crimes that hurt others to help themselves. To think that their crimes would...
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...Intellectual Development of Christianity in the European West. (Student’s Name) (Institution’s Name) (Date) Intellectual development of Christianity Christianity dates back long ago in the ancient times of Dark ages. Through the moral and ethical education of Christianity, it can clearly be defined to have originated from the integration of ancient Judaism and the cultural practices of Greek. Christianity has thus been introduced more of a discipline of philosophy since it as the best way to present the Christian values through logic presentation of facts. During the medieval age of Christianity, it shaped and curved both intellectual and political wellbeing of the society. The Christian knowledge more so, the first instance of Christianity being Catholicism introduced the concept of universalism. The church in the west was a very powerful organization that dictated the social economic welfare, as well as the political governance of the world. After the fall of Roman Empire, Christianity took root in the moral fabric of the society and condemned most of the ancient cultural practices. Practices such as witchcraft were highly discouraged and individuals who got caught were punished and even killed. The catholic power at the time determined those who were to be kings and the kingdoms to fall and strongly condemned paganism as well as those who practiced indigenous cultural behaviors. Barbarism heavily faced fierce hatred as the catholic priests and nobles persecuted...
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...Omar Khayyam was one of the major mathematicians and astronomers of the medieval period. He was acknowledged as the author of the most important treatise on algebra before modern times. This is reflected in his Treatise on Demonstration of Problems of Algebra giving a geometric method for solving cubic equations by intersecting a hyperbola with a circle. His significance as a philosopher and teacher, and his few remaining philosophical works, has not received the same attention as his scientific and poetic writings. Early life and Career: Omar Khayyam was born on the 18th of May, 1048 in Iran. Omar Khayyam’s full name was Ghiyath al-Din Abu’l-Fath Umar Ibn Ibrahim Al-Nisaburi al-Khayyami. He was born into a family of tent makers. He spent part of his childhood in the town of Balkh, northern Afghanistan, studying under Sheik Muhammad Mansuri. Later on, he studied under Imam Mowaffaq Nishapuri, who was considered one of the greatest teachers of the Khorassan region. Khayyam had notable works in geometry, particularly on the theory of proportions. He was a Persian polymath, mathematician, philosopher, astronomer, physician, and poet. He wrote treatises on mechanics, geography, and music. The treatise of Khayyam can be considered as the first treatment of parallels axiom which is not based on petition principle but on more intuitive postulate. Khayyam refutes the previous attempts by other Greek and Persian mathematicians to prove the proposition. And he refused the use of...
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...During the 14th thru the 17th century there was a cultural movement in europe called the Renaissance. Beginning in italy, and spreading to the rest of europe by the 16th century, its influence was felt in philosophy,art,music,science,religion,and other aspects of intellectual inquiry. Humanists emphasized the importance of worldly pleasures and studied classic texts from philosophers like Plato and Aristotle for inspiration. It brought many famous paintings including the mona lisa and philosophy discover such as the Copernican heliocentrism. One of the famous philosopher contributed to movement galileo galilei. Galileo was a well known astronomer,philosopher,and engineer that live during the renaissance era. Galileo had a major role in the revolution in scientific discoveries, some are still important in modern science. His inventions included the telescope, copernican system and some discoveries with the different effects with motion of objects. Although most of his theories are relevant now, they were ignored by the way he found proof and the catholic church. Galileo was born february 15, 1564 in pisa,italy. He was the oldest of our six sibling of vincenzio galilei and Giulia ammannati. Galileo met woman named Marina gamba who he had three children with,but never married. He had two daughters named virginia,and livia and...
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...can I as an individual make a difference if others are tight fisted and do not seem to care or consider it obligatory and also the root cause of suffering is population and famine is only an outcome so let us tackle and spend money on the root cause rather than the symptom. Singer puts forward two principles – first, suffering and death are bad and secondly if one is in a position to prevent a morally bad state of affairs, without sacrificing something of roughly equal moral importance, one should do so. He uses these to build the case that all of us including governments are not doing enough and that human worldly pleasures cannot be so important (and the lack of it is really inconsequential) when weighing this with the saving of lives and avoidance of suffering. Singer concludes by saying that famine relief is an important topic not only for discussion by philosophers but an area where they need demonstrate a first step themselves and start making a real difference in the...
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...to mind? To many people, the enemy is usually their rival or someone they despise. During the Age of Enlightenment, two critical philosophers, Thomas Hobbes and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, both mentioned this word, enemies, in their works. Most interestingly, their attitudes towards the enemy are not the same; the enemy is also not its definition. Both philosophers clearly utilizes this word to convey their messages or ideas toward human nature and the Enlightenment more clearly. Hobbes sees the enemies as a concrete concept, a physical referent, while Rousseau has a more abstract viewpoint on enemies, and both of their approaches enforce their personal beliefs toward their changing society....
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...The idea of Determinism is explored by many philosophers in the construction of arguments against free-will, morality, and liberty. Determinism is a philosophy that claims that all things are causally related to each other and there is a necessity behind every event that occurs and while Determinism as a term wasn’t coined as a term until the 19th century, David Hume explored these major concepts in his Enquiry, delving into the roots of humanity and questioning the truth of human freedom.1 In particular his exploration into human understanding leads him to conclude that there is no effect without a cause and liberty when opposed to necessity cannot universally exist.2 Hume’s discovery, the Causal Maxim, and is generally accepted among philosophers, though it is not enough in and of itself to prove that he fits the mold of a determinist. However, by delving further into his various arguments, I will prove that Hume’s philosophy, mainly the denial of induction and support of causation, follows the discreet specifications of Determinism. Essential to the understanding of Hume’s philosophy is his idea of the universal necessity of connection between cause and effect, though he aptly admits that this connection is unobservable and denies that humans can ever have a true understanding of cause and effect.3 To explain such a broad claim Hume addresses a situation in which causality could prove troublesome by illustrating that God, through an immense causality chain, could be the...
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...Raphael, and The Stanza Della Segnatura Raphael Sanzio was one of the most important artists of the Italian Renaissance. Raphael painted and designed many brilliant pieces of work and the stanzas inside the Vatican. He was a master at such necessities of modern art such as depth and perspective and the use of light and shadow, and was the turning point styles of paintings like the use of Madonnas in paintings. Through his short life, Raphael would make some of the most awe-inspiring, beautiful, and influential works of art during the Italian Renaissance. Raphael whose full name was Raphael Sanzio, (also known as Raphael Sanzi), was born on April 6th, 1483. He was born in the town of Urbino, Italy, where he would spend his childhood life until he was 11 years old. His father, Giovanni Sanzio, was a painter for the court of Federigo da Montefeltro, and as well as being a painter, he was a bit of a poet. As a young boy, Raphael learned the basics of painting and art from his father. However, he would not live with his father very long; as his mother did several years before, Raphael's father died when Raphael was 11. After his father died, Raphael went to the town of Perugia to be an apprentice of the painter Pietro Perugino. Perugino was a well-respected artist during the Italian Renaissance. He had painted works in the Vatican, and he also created masterpieces like Christ Delivering the Keys of the Kingdom to St. Peter and The Deposition. For the ten to eleven years that...
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...is applied to any system or theory of moral values and principles . It involves systematizing , defending and recommending concepts of right and wrong . Philosophers divide ethical theories into four different categories 1. Metaethics 2. Normative ethics 3. Agapeic ethics 4. Applied ethics 1. METAETHICS What does moral language mean ? Do moral facts exist ? How can we know whether moral judgments are true or false ? Metaethics is the branch of ethics that seeks to understand the nature of ethical properties , statements , attitudes and judgments . Two prominent issues of metaethics are : 1.1 Metaphysical Issues: Objectivism and Relativism Objectivism or other worldly views suggest that reality exists as an objective absolute – facts are facts, independent of man’s feelings , wishes , views or hopes. It holds that there is no fundamental contradiction between the free, abstract character of mental life and the physical body in which it resides . It holds it as undeniable that humans have free will, and opposes metaphysical determinism or fatalism. The metaphysical relativism is the claim that there are no absolutes in reality; epistemological is that there are no absolutes in knowledge; morality is the denial of moral absolutes; and religious is the clam that there is no true religion . Greek philosopher Sextus Empericus believes in a position called moral relativism which says that moral values are strictly human inventions . 1.2 Psychological Issues...
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