... is ready for what is about to happen to him, in which the people around him do not quite understand. However, one of his arguments on philosophy and the definition of dying gives a suggestion of why he is not fearing his execution and why he is ready for what is about to happen. Socrates states that ... philosophy is actually the practice for dying. In this belief he says that death is the separation of soul from body, and this is what ... knowledge after the body dies, it would have to "possess some capability and intelligence" (70 b). Socrates backs this question up by leading into t...

• Word Count: 1027
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

Can Descartes be certain that he is thinking? How? Can he be certain that he exists? How? (And who is he?) Descartes" statement "I think therefore I exist" raises questions about the meaning of thought, the meaning of existence but most fundamentally, in what sense he can be certain. The difficulty in establishing the certainty of "I think" and "I exist" is that the two concepts are interrelated. Thus, for example, differing interpretations of what it is to think will have a profound impact on the question of whether Descartes can achieve the certainty of his existence. The success of his atte...

• Word Count: 1657
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... that caused human beings to philosophize in the first place," Magee emphasizes(1). The most famous of all of Aristotle's theoretical works are his publication of logic. "Things are said to be named 'equivocally' when, though they have a common name, the definition corresponding with the name differs for each. Thus, a real man and a figure in a picture can both lay claim to the name 'animal'; yet ... these are equivocally so named, for, though they have a common name, the definition corresponding with the name differs for each. For should any one define in what sense each is an animal, h...

• Word Count: 1732
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

... imagination, an event (biased or non-biased) in either history or during the life of the author, a straight-out autobiography, or a generalized biography of another person they once knew. However, this philosophical novel fits none of the descriptions above. The book is actually an in-depth recording of a philosophy contest between Plato's teacher Socrates and several other great philosophers. What is significant about this ... over everyone because he was wise and intelligent in his arguments; therefore he obviously knew more about justice than anyone else. So, in conclusion, Socrates wo...

• Word Count: 1739
• Approx Pages: 7

... had his own philosophy of nature. Everything in nature has its end or purpose. The passage of matter into form is shown in stages in the world of nature. To do this in his physics, he believed that the most important aspect of nature was change. In physics, it is impossible to ignore the notions of motion, space and time. Aristotle rejects the definition of space as the ... void. He says empty space is impossible. After some preliminaries, Aristotle says the main subject of physics is the scale of being or scale of values. What is higher on the scale is ... of more worth. Species on th...

• Word Count: 990
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... beliefs, a government should be comprised of the portion of the population best capable of manipulating sciences in order to increase the quality of life of humankind, and by no other barometer. • However, it is untrue that all positivists are atheists, but rather agnostics. Positivists argue that because they have no hard definition of what any metaphysical supreme being is, ... they cannot utilize its existence to explain phenomena of nature, when there are scientific proofs which render metaphysics useless. So, weird, freaky dude started Positivism anyway? • The original Positivis...

• Word Count: 501
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... He was influenced greatly by the ethical and social thought of Rousseau. Kant repeatedly expressed his faith in the free democratic use of reason to examine everything, however traditional, authoritative, or sacred. Kant and his philosophy was influenced by both Christianity and science and in seeing the most fundamental problems of philosophy in how to combine the two. Kant views God as ... omniscient, omnipotent, and benevolent; and immortal human soul; and human free-will. Kant is also equally influenced by science. One fundamental objective of his philosophy was to explain how scient...

• Word Count: 868
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... , seeing that some have believed God to be a body." This idea shows that since different people have different concepts of God, this argument works only to convince those who define the notion of God in the same way. (The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy) Another fallacy is that Anselm holds that the greatest thing conceived is God. Is this truly the case? Is it ... argument that shows how the existence of God came to be. In argument form, he states, 1. Every being is either a dependent being or an independent being. 2. Either there exists an independent being or every being is depend...

• Word Count: 2432
• Approx Pages: 10
• Grade Level: High School

... law, since its impossible, yet we will the opposite should stay a universal law, only we assume the liberty to make exceptions of our own maxims for our own benefit. Therefore, certain principles should be objectively necessary as a universal law, yet subjectively should not be ... of happiness for everyone overall. Utilitarianism therefore, can only attain its goal or end through the general cultivation of the nobleness of character. His greatest happiness principle from this states, the ultimate end, is an existence exempt as possible from pain, and as rich as can be in enjoyments, bot...

• Word Count: 2245
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: Undergraduate