...Letter to a European Philosopher You talk in great detail about how you view the common man and how he feels about the world. You suggest that man is no better than a herd animal. You also have invented your “Superman” to explain away your own narcissism. Calling that man an Übermensch, you declare that this person is the only one who has the strength of will to change his life and rise above the herd. The Übermensch you talk about is essentially an extremely intelligent yet immature, possibly even socially retarded egotist. These are precisely the type of people who would be drawn in by your Doctrine. These people tend to pleasure in things that make them seem more important. I understand that your father, who by all accounts was a man of God, died when you were very young. As a result of this tragedy your mother along with your other female relatives lavished you with too much affection and no doubt catered to your every whim, giving you an overwhelming sense of self importance. One of your more famous quotes asks a very simple but troubling question, “Is man one of God’s blunders or is God one of man’s?” I am not going to pretend to understand a lot of what your personal philosophies mean, but I do know that much of what you theorize, although on the surface may seem true, once opened to serious meditation becomes troubling. The idea that man is very much like a herd animal is interesting. Many people in my own time seem many similar to...
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...Assignment: Letter to a European Philosopher PHI/105 Dear Soren Kierkegaard, I have read your profile and philosophical views on several subjects in the Moore-Bruder, (2008) AXIA Reading Material Handbook. I have two arguments that I would like to present to you on your philosophical views and choices you make to please a God that is not proven to exist. First I would like to talk about the agony of choices you made between your God and the woman you were going to marry named Regine Olsen. The choice of committing yourself to God affected you profoundly, by denying yourself the true love you longed for. You cannot touch, smell, or see this God you believe in. It sounds like to me you cheated yourself out of the one thing you truly desired. My question is why your God would want to deny you of the happiness you deserve no matter what your past childhood was like. I have to argue with your view that God has to be first place in your life. I feel you should never put someone else before your own, it only cost you emotions which is something you have had to deal with by making the choices you have to please this God that is not proven to exist Mr. Kierkegaard. My second argument has to do with your view on “The Sickness-Unto-Death”. I disagree with the statement ‘His eventual conclusion was that nothing earthy can save a person from despair. Only a subjectivism commitment to the infinite and to God, not based on abstract intellectualizing or theoretical reasoning, can grant...
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...Letter to a European Philosopher 1 Letter to a European Philosopher Rose Fromm Axia College, University of Phoenix PHI/105 Letter to a European Philosopher 2 Letter to a European Philosopher To: Soren Kierkegaard Dear Soren Kierkegaard, I had sent this letter to you so that I may be able to express the way I feel about your work. I really would like you to know that I am really fond of your work and understand every effort that you have put into the science of philosophy. Recently I had been studying and learning so much about your work and was very intrigued in what I have read about you. I have read that you are a high believer in God. You have written that you believed in god and that dread and despair was the central problems of your life, and the only way of escaping was to make a commitment of faith to god and the infinite (Moore & Bruder, 2008, p. 168). I do not agree on what you have written because I think that having dread and despair is not the reason for not having any faith in God. I believe that loving him is very important as well as having so much faith in his love. The trust that I feel in God is very valuable to me especially when it comes down to having so many things happening in my life, but for me too have God as my only friend and comforter would make feel isolated, which this could bring me sorrow and misery. You were engaged to be married to Ms. Regine Olsen and had walked away from her because you had replied...
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...------------------------------------------------- Course Syllabus PHI 105 Introduction to Philosophy Course Start Date: 08/15/2011 Course End Date: 10/16/2011 Please print a copy of this syllabus for handy reference. Whenever there is a question about what assignments are due or when they are due, please remember this syllabus is considered the ruling document. Copyright Copyright ©2010 by University of Phoenix. All rights reserved. University of Phoenix© is a registered trademark of Apollo Group, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Microsoft©, Windows©, and Windows NT© are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other company and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Use of these marks is not intended to imply endorsement, sponsorship, or affiliation. Edited in accordance with University of Phoenix© editorial standards and practices. Facilitator Information Larry Waggle, Ph. D. larrywaggle@email.phoenix.edu (University of Phoenix) Unclelahr@live.com (Alternate) 480-330-0953 (MST) Facilitator Availability I am available from 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Arizona Time on most days, but I attempt to reserve Sunday for my family. On Saturdays, I tend to be online in the morning only. If these times are not...
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...**Discuss how a famous philosopher (of your choosing) influenced the way American's political system was formed and how it still works today** John Locke’s Influence on American Democracy John Locke (1632–1704) was a British philosopher, Oxford academic, and political activist. Locke is referred to by many American political philosophers as one of the most influential political philosophers of the modern period. His ideologies and beliefs in regards to politics, religion, and the relationship between a country’s citizens and its government are heavily referenced within some of the United States’ most important documents. Locke’s association with Anthony Ashley Cooper led him to become a successful government official, an economic and political writer, an opposition political activist, and finally a revolutionary whose cause ultimately prevailed in the Glorious Revolution of 1688 (Woolhouse, 2007). John Locke’s many writings and speeches on the importance of the freedom of man from a totalitarian government has influenced American politics dating back to the early days of the Continental Congress and the drafting of the United States Declaration of Independence. Perhaps the most central concept in Locke's political philosophy that influenced American political thought is his theory of natural law and natural rights. Among Locke's political works, he is most famous for the Two Treatise of Government in which he argues that sovereignty resides in the people and explains that...
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...Throughout Jewish History, faith and religion has been variant for the various Jewish religious movements and even among individuals within the spectrum of movements. To understand any event in modern Jewish history, one must start with understanding Judaism- both the Jewish religion and the Jewish people. For this reason, the letter from Abraham Mendelssohn to his daughter on why she was raised a Christian is an important document for understanding one interpretation of the Jewish religion and proving that there is no one religion or people. Abraham Mendelssohn, 1776-1835, was the son of the Jewish philosopher, Moses Mendelssohn. M. Mendelssohn spoke and wrote about, among other things, Jewish enlightenment and their place in European society, which undoubtedly influenced his son. The letter from Abraham Mendelssohn was written in 1820, during the tail of the European Enlightenment and reflects some of his father’s beliefs. It is clear Mendelssohn’s religious beliefs are less about theology and more about the values the religions emphasize. This is not to say that Mendelssohn does not agree with Jewish values, but states “the outward form of religion… is historical, and changeable like all human ordinances,” and, in Mendelssohn’s experience, the current Jewish form was represented by Christianity. This concept-...
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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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...century The Enlightenment, also known as the Age of Reason where there were numerous amounts of European philosophers who contributed to the Enlightenment period. The Enlightenment period was considered a movement which advocated rationality as a means to establish an authoritative system of ethics, aesthetics, and knowledge. Though having different backgrounds, one a nobleman, the other a commoner, both Baron de Montesquieu and Jean-Jacques Rousseau were two of the philosophers during the Enlightenment period. Even though having different backgrounds, they shared the urge to apply science to social reform. With treating the government conditionally, it was criterion to decide the type of government that should be established. Born in Bordeaux, France, Charles-Louis de Secondat, a nobleman, a judge in the French Court and one of the most influential thinkers came from a very wealthy family. Soon after going to college, studying science and history and eventually becoming a lawyer, his father and uncle died so Montesquieu inherited the family fortune. After writing Persian Letters in 1721, by criticizing liberty and lifestyle of wealthy French, and even included the church, he also Howard 2 wrote, On the Spirit of Laws. This was published in 1748, which was his famous work. Earning the nickname, “Father of Modern Anthropology”, Montesquieu was the first of the enlightenment philosophers to prescribe both universal and specific laws to individual societies and their government...
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...minds, behind the declaration; most notably by the author, Thomas Jefferson. The boundaries of the government and rights of its citizens were crucial during the formation of this constitution since these principles were exactly the reason for the uprising of the original thirteen colonies. Thomas Jefferson dedicated most of his life to the crucial needs of America and its government in order to form a true republic of the people. Like many of the Founding Fathers, Thomas Jefferson strengthened his beliefs through personal studies and deep examination of European history. Many history books will tell that the contributing factors that formed Thomas Jefferson’s ideas of the identity of America were linked to events such as the Reformation, the Renaissance, and the British Country party. However, one man’s works continually surfaced in Jefferson’s political and even private writings. John Locke, a British Enlightenment philosopher, was repeatedly referenced in documents like the Declaration of Independence, the Notes on the State of Virginia, and the Summary View of the Rights of British America. Jefferson repeatedly used Locke’s concepts as would even sometimes use the exact same phrases. This would make Thomas Jefferson, the first ever American to plagiarize! The irony in this is that America was just now forming its own personality, one separate from Britain, but the concepts and beliefs that helped form that identity were partly coming from a long dead British man. John Locke’s...
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...To enter a land that is not yours and demand war on those that are living in it is crazy, especially when you compare it to the standards in North American society today. The contrasting views of Bartolome de Las Casas, a bishop of Chiapa, and Juan Gines de Sepulveda a humanist, were made into a debate on whether or not what the Europeans did when exploring the New World were morally correct. The Indians suffered greatly in the hands of the Europeans, who believed they were doing them a huge favor. The Black Legend happened during the late 15th through the early 16th centuries it became a huge movement in attempt to dominate Europe by conquering lands. Lands in Mexico and areas near the Yucatan are known as New Spain which became the focal point the Spain conquest. Being the first country to spread their colonies throughout the New World, Spain was made fun of by neighboring countries like England and France. However this type of issue was largely...
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...Numerous words in English have Greek roots. The relevance of the question is to find out how the Greek language influenced and affected the English language. Main Ancient Greek Dialects Different variants of the early Greek alphabet suited to local dialects. There were three major dialects in ancient Greece: Aeolic, Doric and Ionic (of which Attic was a branch). Each of these were from different tribes, the Aeolians lived in the islands of the Aegean, the Dorians, from the Greek coast of Peloponnese, including Crete, Sparta and other parts of West Coast Asia Minor. The Ionians settled in the West coast of Asia Minor including the Smyma. Ancient Greek Language The first Europeans to read and write with an Alphabet were the Ancient Greeks. The Ancient Greek language eventually led to all modern European languages.(In text ) The Greek language has a very long and rich history stretching all the way from the thirteenth century B.C. to the present. Linear B (13th century B.C.) is the earliest form of the language. The first surviving script for Greek writing was the Linear B which was discovered in 1953. It was used for the archaic Mycenaean dialect. When Mycenaean civilization was destroyed, there was a period of roughly five hundred years, when writing was either not used, or either that there was nothing that survived. Classical Greek is the form of Greek used by writers from Homer (8th century B.C.) through Pluto (4th...
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...Friedrich Nietzsche was a European philosopher from Prussia. He was born in 1844 and passed away at age 55 in Germany. Nietzsche was very well educated. He studied Theology at the University of Bonn and eventually earned his doctorate from the University of Leipzig. For ten years he served as chair of classical philology at Basel in Switzerland. My focus is going to be on his writing, Beyond Good and Evil. It is important to note for the analysis of this book that Nietzsche came from a materialist, or atheist background. In Beyond Good and Evil, the ethical model he promotes is one that is driven by power. The other writing I will look at is Martin Luther King, Jr's Letter from Birmingham Jail. Like Nietzsche, King was also very sophisticated....
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...Montesquieu: Political Philosopher and His Views and Thoughts Montesquieu: Political Philosopher and His Views and Thoughts MONTESQUIEU Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu, was born on January 19th, 1689 at La Brède, near Bordeaux, to a noble and prosperous family. He was educated at the Oratorian Collège de Juilly, received a law degree from the University of Bordeaux in 1708, and went to Paris to continue his legal studies. On the death of his father in 1713 he returned to La Brède to manage the estates he inherited, and in 1715 he married Jeanne de Lartigue, a practicing Protestant, with whom he had a son and two daughters. In 1716 he inherited from his uncle the title Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu and the office of Président à Mortier in the Parlement of Bordeaux. For the next eleven years he presided over the Tournelle, the Parlement's criminal division, in which capacity he heard legal proceedings, supervised prisons, and administered various punishments including torture. (Shklar, 1987) In 1721 Montesquieu published the Persian Letters, which was highly successful and made Montesquieu known by literary scholars. During this period he wrote several minor works: Dialogue de Sylla et d'Eucrate (1724), Réflexions sur la Monarchie Universelle (1724), and Le Temple de Gnide (1725). After visiting Italy, Germany, Austria, and other countries, he went to England, where he lived for two years. He was greatly impressed with the English political...
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...democracy, liberty, and freedom in the modern world, the reality is that almost every good idea of the founding period was stolen from European, and especially British, sources. Thus, America's founding ideas are really just the ideas of the English 'country party' put into action in British colonies. This is an achievement, to be sure, but it is in no way an especially or exceptional American achievement." There are many sources of influence for America’s ideals of liberty, freedom, and democracy in the modern world. Such as Democracy of ancient Greece, The Republic of ancient Rome, and the writings of Baron de Montesquieu. Many of these sources are distinctly English such as English common law, The Magna Carta. In regards to the specific comment above we look at the ‘Country Party’ and ‘The Cota Letters’. As an American I would like to think that our founding fathers’ have created something new and completely unique in t our country, however my readings have lead me to the understanding that the founding fathers had several sources of inspiration as to how to form and what kind of government to form in these states, united. The “Country Party” as mentioned in the quote above, is of particular importance to the ideas of Democracy, liberty, and freedom. The Country Party was especially inspired by political theorist, writer and philosopher Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke. Bolingbroke’s ideology was that of opposing the problems he saw with the current political climate...
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...Research Paper on a Philosopher Plato Valerie Jenter Centenary College April 24, 2012 Abstract Many Philosophers made a difference in society but Plato is perhaps recognized as the most famous. His writings have had a profound effect on people, politics, and the philosophy throughout the centuries. He was a public figure and he made major contributions to society. Plato helped to lay the philosophical foundations of modern culture through his ideas and writings. One of the most philosophical thinkers of Western civilization, Plato is the only author from ancient Greek times whose writings survive intact. His collection consists of thirty-five dialogues and thirteen letters, though the authorship of some is contested. Plato was born in Athens, into a prosperous aristocratic family. His Father’s name was Ariston and his Mother’s name was Perictione. His relative named Glaucon was one of the best-known members of the Athenian nobility. Plato's name was Aristocles, his nickname Plato originates from wrestling circles, Plato means broad, and it probably refers either to his physical appearance or his wrestling style. “Plato is, by any reckoning, one of the most dazzling writers in the Western literary tradition and one of the most penetrating, wide-ranging, and influential authors in the history of philosophy,” (Kraut, 2009). Plato was born during the Golden Age of Athens’s...
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