...During the the time that the ground-breaking Pathways to Philosophy distance learning program has been running, students from around the world have produced many fine examples of philosophical writing. Reproduced here are essay portfolios which have received the Associate Award, as well as dissertations successfully submitted for the Fellowship Award. For shorter essays by students taking the six Pathways to Philosophy programs, follow the links at Pathways to Philosophy: the six programs. All work is copyright of the original authors. No material may be transmitted or reproduced without permission. For further information, e-mail klempner@fastmail.net. Geoffrey Klempner Director of Studies [pic] Associate Award • Paul Meakin • Mary Jennings • Andrew Watson • Kenneth Head • Stuart Hopkins • Tony Bellotti • Oliver Leech • Alan Bradnam • Shirley Hughes • Terence Kuch • Fr. Seamus Mulholland • John Eberts • Gordon Kennedy • Justin Woods • Neil Munro • John Dudley • Samuel Thorpe • Jürgen Lawrenz Fellowship Award • Tony Fahey • Martin Jenkins • Peter Jones • George Brooks • Samuel Michaelides • Mike Finch • Rachel Browne • Jürgen Lawrenz back [pic] Paul Meakin: Associate Award Essay One Heidegger, Dasein and the quest for authentic Being-in-the-world Essay Two 'I am Condemned to be free':...
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...Professor Schiller World Philosophies 2 February 2013 Material on Morality Immanuel Kant was born in 1724 and grew up in the town of Konigsberg, from which he hardly stirred. Growing up in a family that emphasized the importance of education, discipline and religious devotion. He enrolled in the University of Konigsberg at age sixteen, and would spend his entire life working there. In his life, Kant pioneered philosophy by severing philosophies rootedness to the doctrines of radical enlightenment: materialism determinism, and atheism. He felt a great tension between the humanists’ emphasis on ‘the dignity of man’ and sciences reduction of human beings to ‘specks of dust’. His rejection of many Enlightenment philosophies and work to reconcile others resulted in the philosophies that rocketed philosophy far beyond the debate between rationalists and empiricists. I will explore Kant’s views on what knowledge is and what is possible to know, which I will then compare these views to those held by sceptics and dogmatists. Similarly, I will discuss how Kant’s deviating epistemology led to the formation of his categorical imperative and views on morality, contrasting this moral code to the ones of the Hellenistic schools of thought. Lastly, I will deliberate on how Kant’s categorical imperative is nonoperational with the 20th and 21st century’s understanding of psychology and quantum physics. Kant believed that our understanding of the external world was two-part, basing our...
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...initiative. Please Read How You Can Help Keep the Encyclopedia Free Author & Citation Info | Friends PDF Preview | InPho Search | PhilPapers Bibliography Kant and Hume on Morality First published Wed Mar 26, 2008; substantive revision Sun Aug 12, 2012 The ethics of Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) is often contrasted with that of David Hume (1711–1776). Hume's method of moral philosophy is experimental and empirical; Kant emphasizes the necessity of grounding morality in a priori principles. Hume says that reason is properly a “slave to the passions,” while Kant bases morality in his conception of a reason that is practical in itself. Hume identifies such feelings as benevolence and generosity as proper moral motivations; Kant sees the motive of duty—a motive that Hume usually views as a second best or fall back motive—as uniquely expressing an agent's commitment to morality and thus as conveying a special moral worth to actions. Although there are many points at which Kant's and Hume's ethics stand in opposition to each other, there are also important connections between the two. Kant shared some important assumptions about morality and motivation with Hume, and had, early in his career, been attracted to and influenced by the sentimentalism of Hume and other British moralists. The aim of this essay is not to compare Hume and Kant on all matters ethical. Instead, we examine...
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...1. Theory of Duty by Immanuel Kant is one of the examples of ethical theories. Theory of duty is commonly defined as one’s moral obligation. Duty should not be influenced by outside motivation but that duty is an obligation that one performs because they ought to and not because of any personal interest or benefit. For example, it is our duty and right to participate in political exercises such as election because we ought to. We have the duty and responsibility to select our leaders. The kind of political leader that we have reflects the kind of electorate we have. We vote during election because it is our duty and not because we are forced to or given promises and/or money. 2. Empiricism and Idealism are complicated concepts in Philosophy so this is a broad description. Idealism is the knowledge that comes from the subject. It also emphasizes the pre-eminent importance of mind, soul and spirit. Idealism is the category of philosophical systems that claim reality is dependent upon the mind rather than independent of the mind. Extreme versions of Idealism deny that any 'world' exists outside of our minds. It is a view that stresses to role the ideal or the spiritual in the interpretation of experience. Idealism is a search for Absolute Truth. It assumes that there is a design and purpose to the universe and the human mind, and by discovering this purpose they can understand everything. While Empiricism asserts that the truth comes from experience. It also states...
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...production of a good, happiness. Most of its problems center on the use of a nonmoral good, happiness, to dominate moral deliberation. Many philosophers who reject consequential moral theories believe that moral requirements are often valid whether or not they produce more nonmoral good. They propose a deontological moral theory. The most influential deontology was developed by the eighteenth-century Prussian philosopher Immanuel Kant, who many believe to be the greatest philosopher ever. Kant's greatness as a philosopher comes because of his originality, the depth of his thinking, and the influence he has had. This is true of his basic theories of knowledge and reality, and also of his influential moral theory. In each aspect of his thought, Kant moved to a position centering on human contribution. We contribute, he believed, to the "reality" of the world around us by our mental activities; likewise, morality does not come from outside us, by divine command or by cultural conditioning, but from human freedom and reasoning. Students of philosophy also know that Kant is sometimes as difficult to understand as he is great. So we will approach his moral view slowly and carefully, seeing how well it accords with some of our basic beliefs about moral experience. Being Morally Praiseworthy We have all read reports about people who act heroically. We typically believe that such people deserve moral praise. But...
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...Philosophers sometimes view the idea of human freedom of action as the real problem of free will, but this classification is one of the main misunderstandings in both subject matters. The misunderstanding between freedom and free will may have begun as early as the time when Thomas Hobbes and David Hume, argued their cases to support the theory of the modern concept of compatibilism. From both Hobbes’ and Hume’s perspective, to be free to act on one's will is basically to be free of external restrictions, limitations, constraints, and controls. From their perspective, the absence any external constraint gives makes the agent freedom to do as he or she wills, even if the person’s will itself is determined (or predetermined) by causal laws of nature. Factors That Affect Personal Development Take a moment to consider all of the genetic and environmental factors that have shaped who you are today, and you will quickly become overwhelmed. From gender, race, and socioeconomic background—to family dynamics, education, and genetics—there are millions of factors that have converged to make you who you are. Most people believe that humans are responsible for their own actions and that they all have the opportunity to make the right choices. But when you consider how large a role race, gender, wealth, and family upbringing all play in shaping an individual, can you truly believe that everyone has the same opportunities? Furthermore, are there some conditions under which people cannot...
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...Ethical Movie Debate Crash Synopsis This movie is set in Los Angeles where a group of citizens whose lives simultaneously collide with each other in interlinking stories of race, loss and redemption over a 36 hour period. First of all we see a detective (Graham) who had his vehicle spun off the road, talking about how people crash into each other just to feel something and then he proceeds off to investigate a homicide on the side of a road while his female partner (Ria) confronts the person responsible for the crash and both make racial slurs at each other (the other driver being a Chinese lady). We are taken back to ‘yesterday’ where a Persian man (Farhad) and his daughter (Dorri) are buying a handgun. The gun shop owner is getting angry at the man for speaking Farsi and which ends with Farhad being escorted out of the store. Dorri then picks a free box of ammo to go with the gun and leaves the store. Then we jump to two young black men called Anthony and Peter who have just left a restaurant. Anthony complains about how they were the victims of racism and poor service while Peter doesn’t really find what happened that big of an ordeal. A white couple then walk down the same street, Rick and Jean who sees Anthony and Peter then proceeds to grab her husband’s arm. Anthony sees this as a racial gesture and then they draw handguns and carjack them as they are entering their vehicle, and Peter puts a St. Christopher statue on the dashboard that is regarded as the patron saint...
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...ACCRA, NOVEMBER, 2011 Table of content pages Introduction 1 1. Philosophy of history 1 2. Philosophy of religion 4 3. Logic 6 4. Ethics 8 5. Cosmology 10 6. Philosophy of mind 12 7. Metaphysics 14 8. Philosophy of beauty 16 9. Philosophy of language 18 10. Philosophy of science 20 11. Epistemology 21 Conclusion 23 Bibliography 24 Introduction Philosophy is the pursuit of wisdom. Philosophy at this contemporary world has gone through a lot of changes before getting to this stage. It can be seen in the historical perspective and also the topical perspective. The historical or chronological is when we look at the ideas of some philosophers in the past how they influence society with their way of thinking and the motive behind them. In these chronological system is the ancient era, the medieval era, the modern era and presently the contemporary era. In the beginning all systematic search for knowledge was philosophy. This is clearly seen in the modern university where the highest degree granted in all of the science and humanities is the Ph. D. the doctor of philosophy. But the children began to leave home. The first to leave was physics and astronomy. As they begun to develop experimental techniques of their own. This exodus, led by Galileo and Isaac Newton and Johannes...
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...Carper, B. (2013). Fundamental patterns of knowing in nursing. In W. Cody (Ed), Philosophical and theoretical perspectives for advanced nursing practice (pp. 23-33). Burlington, MA: Jones & Barlett Learning. The author identifies the structure of knowledge and the fundamental patterns of knowing in nursing. It is in understanding these patterns that is essential for the teaching and learning of nursing. She describes what kinds of knowledge are held to be of the most value in the discipline of nursing. The four fundamental patterns of knowing she describes are: (1) empirics, the science of nursing, (2) esthetics, the art of nursing, (3) the component of personal knowledge in nursing, and (4) ethics, the component of moral knowledge. Understanding each of these patterns makes it possible for increased awareness of the complexity and diversity of nursing knowledge. She then goes on to say that each pattern may be necessary to achieve mastery in nursing but none of them alone should be considered sufficient. The patterns all work together, but one needs to understand each component to understand the overall concept. She then identifies three major significances to the discipline of nursing in distinguishing patterns of knowing, (1) the conclusions of the discipline conceived as the subject matter cannot be taught or learned without reference to the context of the structure; (2) each of the patterns represents one way of approaching the problems and questions of the...
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...Past philosophers, tradition, Church authorities Early cosmology (See attached) – See attached – Heliocentric – Geocentric Scientific Method – Integrating observations – Limitations (Why, moral, limited by sin) Big Names (Astronomy) – Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) – Heliocentricism (what's the big deal?) – Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) – Eliptical orbits – Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) – Worked with new instruments – pendulums & telescopes – Isaac Newton (1642-1727) – Everything – Newton's Rules (see attached) In your book – Chemistry – Medicine 1 Age of Reason WH 2 Unit II 2 Age of Reason WH 2 Unit II Use of Reason (look it up) • Solves all problems (look at Kant “What is Enlightenment) • Provided new approaches to learning • Rationalism Two major schools of thought (at the time) • Inductive ◦ Roger Bacon • Deductive ◦ Rene Descartes 3 Age of Reason WH 2 Unit II Kinds of philosophies • Dualism ◦ Mind and Body are different ◦ Binary oppositions- Two fundamental principals for everything ▪ Not monism • Pantheism ◦ Promoted by Spinoza ▪ 'Deus sive Natura' (God or Nature) We are part of Nature as a whole whose order we follow... A substance cannot be produced from anything else : it will therefore be its own cause, that is, its essence necessarily involves existence, or existence appertains to the nature of it. (Spinoza, 1673) 4 Age of Reason ...
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...Occupy Wall Street Movement Liz Croutch Annette Redmon Bus309 May 8, 2013 Discuss the moral and economic implications involved in the movement According to Occupywallst.org, The Movement Occupy Wall Street is a leaderless resistance movement with people of many colors, genders and political persuasions. The one thing we all have in common is that “We Are The 99%” that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1%. We are using the revolutionary Arab Spring tactic to achieve our ends and encourage the use of nonviolence to maximize the safety of all participants. (Occupywallst.org) The movement began out of frustration in the growing inequality between the wealthy 1% and the rest of the population. Greed, corruption and the perceived undue influence of corporations on government especially in the financial services sector produced this momentous uprising. This movement is the embodiment of all of the frustrations that Americans have dealt with particularly; economically. The rich are getting richer and the poorer getting poorer. This has been the downward spiral for the last forty years. This movement gives a voice to the grievances of the people. According to newpol.org “Occupy is a kind of a party, not a party with a formal structure, but potential peoples party in formation, the party of working people, the party of the poor, the party of the dispossessed, the oppressed, and the exploited. The Occupy movement excoriates the banks...
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...Throughout, Immanuel Kant’s essay, he addresses the causes for a lack of Enlightenment in society, and the requirements a person must meet in order to gain it. Also he emphasizes a direct critique of church, education and state with regard to how it tells citizens to think, he argues that any lack of Enlightenment is really due to lack of courage on the thinker's part. For instance, all this restraints makes us incapable of actually thinking for ourselves and consequently it limits our actions. However, at the same time education, rules and the knowledge that have influenced our society has also allowed us to protest or at least think different. On one hand it has been a limitation, but to others has inspired us. It also has offered the opportunity to keep an open mind about things that are not certain. If we are able to understand, then we can make our own decisions about life and the pursuit of happiness. Definitely, knowledge offers different perspectives and the possibility to stand for what you believe to be right. Furthermore, if there were no laws established by the government, there would be chaos and uncertainty. But that doesn’t mean that people have to be submissive and accept everything without having a say in it. Now as we saw in the past, there have been some laws that have been established by elected officials, for example segregation back in the days in American history. It was considered to be breaking the law to protest against it, but if there were no...
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...SBUS10040 Foundations of Management Thought Bachelor of Commerce International, University College Dublin Tutorial CRN: 74866 Tutor Name: Carolin Grampp Student Name: Brian Allen Student Number: 12459812 Submission Deadline: 7th November 2013 Essay Title: critique scientific management-as promoted by Frederick Taylor- and rational legal bureaucracy-as described and analysed by Max Weber- highlighting how they are both outcomes of enlightenment thinking. Your essay should draw on the assigned readings, as appropriate, from week two to week seven. Word count: 1000 “By submitting your work via this SafeAssign link you declare that all materials included in this submission are product of your own work and that due acknowledgement have been given in the text and in the bibliography to ALL sources, be they printed, electronic or personal. You also declare that you will not facilitate plagiarism by making your work available to others through hard copy distribution or other means. Furthermore, you declare that the submitted material has not been submitted for grading purposes in the past, be it for this module or other modules that you have undertaken as part of your studies.” Date: 6/11/13 Signature:Brian Allen Reflection: In general I found myself more capable...
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...In his essay titled "What is Enlightenment?" Immanuel Kant defines enlightenment as "man's leaving his self-caused immaturity." (145) In order to fully comprehend his definition, one must first clearly understand Kant's use of the term "immaturity." He explains that immaturity is not thinking for oneself because of a "lack of determination and courage to use one's intelligence without being guided by another." (145) To Kant, immaturity is the individual's fault. He explains that a pattern of immaturity is difficult to break, because it becomes comfortable for the individual to rely on others for knowledge. (145) The chief example that Kant provides to illustrate this point is domesticated animals. As an allusion to the role of government on its citizens, he explains that the animal's guardian domesticates it, and then warns it of the dangers of straying from his or her guidance. However, as Kant explains further: "this danger is not really so very great... [but] an example of this kind intimidates and frightens people out of all further attempts." (146) Much like the guardian in Kant's domesticated animal example, governments sometimes facilitate an individual's immaturity by providing the individual with a ready-made set of beliefs to which he or she can cling. (148) Kant identifies a clear distinction between the individual's pursuit of enlightenment as opposed to that of the public: "It is difficult for the isolated individual to work himself out of the immaturity which...
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...firstly originated by Immanuel Kant back in 18th century, is a theory in political science that prevents armed conflict among democracies. The Democratic Peace indicates that democratic states will not get into war with each other; they have a separate peace On the other hand, it is possible for these democratic states to go to war with authoritarian regimes or stateless people. Scholars and academicians believe that democracies find an alternative way to get into a war such as compromises and arbitrations. It has been examined that democratic states have not engaged in a war with one another. Inherently, the number of democratic states expected to rise in the upcoming years of 18th century. As there are more democratic states, as there will be less armed conflicts among each other, which is going to lead the world to a better international system. It has been observed that democracies do get into armed conflict however not with one another; they usually get into war with non-democratic states. It is a significant observation. Democratic Peace Theory is consisted from Immanuel Kant’s “Perpetual Peace”. Immanuel Kant claims that peace is a reasonable outcome of the interaction of states with a republican form of government. The main idea behind Immanuel Kant’s “Perpetual Peace” is that ‘Democracy’ must be spread and made a universal system, in order to create peace amongst the states. This idea of Democratic Peace was discovered over 200 years by Immanuel Kant; however it only entered...
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