...action. It has its own beliefs, traditions, advanced system of ethics, meaningful rituals, philosophy and theology. In this paper I will attempt to explain my view on Hinduism worldviews and will also elaborate on differences between Christianity and the Hinduism religion. The question of Origin asks "How did life begin?", "How did I come into existence? There is no central person to whom Hinduism can trace its origin unfortunately. The word “Hinduism” is not to be found in the scriptures, making it difficult to present a moment in time when the movement launched. Hinduism is a system that “attempts to maintain a complex polytheism on the one hand, and an earth-based worship of nature on the other” (Hindson and Caner, 263). Somewhere in the middle, these two religious impulses collide, and Hinduism is born. The question of Identity seeks to identify "What does it mean to be a human?" Hinduism states that humans are the highest of all creation. Souls can take many births in lower forms to get the eligibility to be born as human. Life can form lower than human beings, such as insects, plants and animals to name a few. The question of meaning/purpose asks, "Why does mankind exist?”, “Why do I exist?" In Hinduism they believe in eternal spiritual truth, called Brahman, from whom all existence comes. The purpose of life is to understand this truth and to understand one’s eternal identity as the soul. The soul passes through many kinds of life, but only human life offers the...
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...Death and the Soul—Epicureanism and Stoicism Introduction What happens at death and the idea of the afterlife put human logic and science to a test. However, ancient philosophers, such as Plato, Aristotle, Zeno, and Epicurus, use the science of thought in order to understand complex ideas of the nonexistent. As David Lund, put it philosophy can suspend the facts of death in order to help search for life after death (Lund, 6). The ambiguity that science sees can be approach and open-minded thinkers. Life’s mysteries are evaluated by philosophers as results and the phenomenon of death on the physical plain is clear where science is not. The question as to whether or not life is simply a finite experience that disappears and fades to dust, or something more than this, falls into the disciplines of both philosophy and religion. In addition to death itself, the aspect of the soul is likewise a topic of considerable dispute and discussion within these two areas of study. The debate over whether or not human beings are purely physical in nature or something more is inherent within this ongoing discussion. Epicureanism and Stoicism will be explored to this end to better illustrate the varying theoretical and philosophical perspectives that are in place regarding both death and the element of the soul. In doing so, the acts of creativity that are relevant to this, for example, art, architecture, history, literature, music, and religion, will also be explored to better illustrate the...
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...human relationships and celestial harmony. Vattimo’s idea of “platonic fallacy applies to the middle dialogs. Vattimo believes that Plato took the wrong direction with his decision to incorporate straight forward answers in his dialogues. Philosophy for Vattimo is about thinking and discourse no blunt lecturing. Therfore the Entry of the middle dialogues is jarring an infact is not philosophy. Question 2 Plato’s believes that his theory of the forms is the way to knowledge, as expressed in the Platonic Dialoges. It is Plato’s assertion that each and every thing has a perfected intangibility (that is a perfect state); understood and accessed only through the sub Ancient Philosophy Final Exam conscious soul. His explanation follows an example of a cave. At the very back of this cave Plato states that mankind is chained, facing the rear wall. As this is a cave, it is completely dark, except for a burning fire located in the center of the cave. Above this fire rests a balcony,...
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...everything in it are equal and are in search of an “eternal oneness” (Weider, L. and Gutierrez, B. p. 58). They believe that upon death they will reincarnate into another life form. The life form they are reborn as will depend on whether they performed good or bad deeds during their lifetime. This is their concept of reaping what they sow, which Buddhist call Karma. The more acts of goodness they accomplish in their life, the closer they get to reaching the state of Nirvana. This level is the highest achievement possible for Buddhist and when it is accomplished it is said that their souls become eternal. The Question of Meaning/Purpose The Buddhists main objective is to perfect their life on earth in order to end the cycle of Samsara, which in it’s simplist form is their reincarnating until they reach the state of Nirvana. The Question of Morality Because “Buddhism is more about an ethic and philosophy than an actual religion” (Hindson, E., Caner, E., p. 155), it stands to reason that they would follow a concept, rather than a god, in terms of modeling their moral identities. As such, they follow the concept of Karma and look to themselves to figure out what is proper conduct in order to...
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...Martha Nussbaum is a 20th century American philosopher, she writes about deep philosophical problems that human beings are faced with today. She uses the teachings of past philosophers to help justify her philosophy. Nussbaums’ philosophy is shaped strongly around changing how we think of ethics to a more “holistic” way. Nussbaum argues something that many philosophers before her built their philosophies on, the idea of “justice” and how one should go about living a “good” life. For Augustine in particular living a completely just life goes hand in hand with having complete order in your life. Nussbaum argues that the “good life” in a way makes people oblivious and vulnerable to what the world truly has in store and could negate their “human flourishing”. Augustine’s’ philosophy takes account of Nussbaum’s ideas the most because he basically objects to any notions of the good life, Augustine recognized that no object can be good or bad, but our will as humans is what takes a good thing and then makes them bad. He believes that the reason evil even exists is because humans are not perfect. Augustine of Hippo also known as St. Augustine was an early philosopher who’s philosophy paved the way for what is now Western Christianity, one if his most important pieces of work, “City of God” is still read widely today. He influenced Western Christianity greatly because he believed that all Christians should be pacifists but at the same time he also asserted that one should always defend...
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...Identity- What does it mean to be human? Are animals more important than humans? Humans and animals are very similar and should be treated equally. Naturalism states that you are not a person until you take your first breath and humans are sophisticated animal. Theism states God created humans to be special because they are from his image. Humans are to rule over the animals. 3. The Question of Meaning or Purpose- Why are humans here on Earth? Humans are said to be here for no reason because their lives are meaningless. Pantheists believe humans are here to end reincarnation. Many believe humans were created to serve God and follow through with his wishes. You are to accept and love God with all of your heart and soul. 4. The Question of Morality or Ethics- What is right and wrong? Wrong is when you go against God and disobey his commands. Right is when you do good works and worship God. We are to live right and do good deeds at all times. There is good Karma and bad Karma....
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...eating man and vice-versa. The "cost" theme mixes uneasily with the soul/body comparison.”, through a powerful use of metaphor as well as religious notions, the poet brings light to the idea of materialism and earthly greed as catalysts for the souls entrapment in the body and furthermore addresses the potential escape from such boundaries into eternal life. Despite it's ability to appeal to both Christian and Non-Christian audiences, Sonnet 146 has been often declared one of Shakespeare's more Christian poems (David E. Anderson, 2005). This very accurately acts as a reflection of the poems context, with legal requirements on churches to read Psalms from The Book of Common Prayer monthly at the time. Richmond Noble (1940, p4) in 'Shakespeare's Biblical Knowledge' lists at least 135 Psalm references in Shakespeare's plays, also vouching for other such references in the sonnets. Shakespeare's awareness and furthermore use of several Pauline paradoxes becomes apparent through the close study of the thematic structure and development of the Sonnet. Noticeably, paradoxes in Sonnet 146 work to emphasize the disparity between the initial state of the soul and the desired state expressed at the end comparable to Paul's ironic use of paradox when contrasting the 'appearance he has in the world's eyes and the reality of his life in God's site'. (Robert Hillis Goldsmith, 1978. p99) The initial metaphor 'Poor soul, the centre...
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...religion filled with many philosophical thoughts about the soul, following your duties, achieving liberation and understanding the consequences of karma. Many of the beliefs in Hinduism makes a person think of life and their own actions they do everyday since it can affect your next life. Hinduism sometimes also makes one wonder if all of these various beliefs and philosophical thoughts are true or not and if you don’t follow your duties (dharma), if consequences really do occur or not in the present life and the next life. Atman, which is the soul, is constantly craving for things and always wants something even after we obtain our desires; it is a non-stop process (Embree 33). The Self (atman) is taken over by pleasure and pain, which is true in life because there are always desires that give us pleasure and make us happy (Embree 36). But one also needs to remember that life has its ups and downs meaning, there always will be a time of pain in life. No one is ever satisfied in life, we are always wanting more and more each day. According to the Upanishadic thinker the material world is not very important, only you, your soul, and the actions you do are important (Embree 36). Nothing else is more important in the world than your personality, which is the self (atman). I don’t completely agree with the Upanishadic thinker that the material world does not matter. It does matter because our actions and the way our soul feels at certain situations, it all comes from the material...
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...claim that the soul is distinct from the body. The claim that the soul is distinct from the body must be rejected on the grounds that our identity, consciousness and reality (soul) is bound and shaped by sense experience. Any reference to a separate metaphysical entity that moulds our individuality is contrary to experience and our mind/soul, as we know it, is the product of the functioning of the brain, a physical thing. As a dualist Plato maintained soul and body are separate entities, the former being immortal whilst the latter mortal. Plato’s understanding of the soul is deeply rooted in his concept of the Forms, arguing that the soul is both ‘simple’ and essential to obtaining knowledge of the Forms. For Plato, the body is an impediment to obtaining true knowledge, a ‘source of endless trouble’ and subject to change, therefore an unreliable guide to truth. The chariot analogy is used to demonstrate the conflicting nature of the body and soul. The soul is compared to a chariot driver attempting to control two horses that pull in different directions, the mind and body. The body consists of desires and emotions that distract humans from the basis of existence, truth. Kenny uses an example of a young child throwing a tantrum to illustrate the disharmony between the soul and body. The desire that causes the tantrum is driven by irrationality, as is the human body. Plato uses the argument from knowledge to substantiate the claim that the body and soul are distinct. He...
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...© Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust 1997 Published by Sri Aurobindo Ashram Publication Department Printed at Sri Aurobindo Ashram Press, Pondicherry PRINTED IN INDIA VOLUME 19 THE COMPLETE WORKS OF SRI AUROBINDO Publisher’s Note The first series of Essays on the Gita appeared in the monthly review Arya between August 1916 and July 1918. It was revised by Sri Aurobindo and published as a book in 1922. The second series appeared in the Arya between August 1918 and July 1920. In 1928 Sri Aurobindo brought out an extensively revised edition in book form. For the present edition, the text has been thoroughly checked against all previous editions and against the manuscripts of the revised Arya. CONTENTS FIRST SERIES I Our Demand and Need from the Gita II 3 12 20 29 39 47 57 68 81 94 105 114 124 The Divine Teacher III The Human Disciple IV The Core of the Teaching V Kurukshetra VI Man and the Battle of Life VII The Creed of the Aryan Fighter VIII Sankhya and Yoga IX Sankhya, Yoga and Vedanta X The Yoga of the Intelligent Will XI Works and Sacrifice XII The Significance of Sacrifice XIII The Lord of the Sacrifice CONTENTS XIV The Principle of Divine Works XV 134 145 158 168 177 188 200 212 224 234 247 The Possibility and Purpose of Avatarhood XVI The Process of Avatarhood XVII The Divine Birth and Divine Works XVIII The Divine Worker XIX Equality XX Equality and Knowledge XXI The Determinism of Nature XXII Beyond the Modes of Nature XXIII Nirvana and Works in the...
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...Adnan Ahmad Compare and contrast Aristotle‘s concept of mind with that of Descartes. Introduction In this essay I attempt to show Aristotle’s concept of soul/mind*[1]. Then I compare and contrast it with Descartes’ concept of mind. In order to understand Aristotle’s concepts of mind, I shall consider Aristotle’s De Anima, in which Aristotle mostly concentrates on soul/mind discussion. I will examine the work of Kahn and Sorabji, who both considered Aristotle’s and Descartes’ philosophy in relation to soul and body problem. In order to compare Aristotle’s concept of mind with Descartes’, I am going to introduce Descartes’ most famous philosophical work which involves the question of mind directly, namely hisMeditations. …………………………. …………………………… ………………………………. If we look at Aristotle’s De Anima we can understand that pre-Aristotle thinkers were already concerned with corporeal and incorporeal problems. For example, for Plato soul was an ‘incorporeal’ and immortal thing, but body corporeal and mortal. The first impression we get from reading De Anima is that the mind and body problem was unsolved. Perhaps the resolved problem didn’t satisfy Aristotle. Aristotle claims that an incorporeal thing cannot exist without a corporeal thing. Aristotle’s new theory for solving soul and body problems makes controversial debate among most post-Aristotelian philosophers. Rene Descartes was one of them who rejected the Aristotelian concept...
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...Aristotle and the Soul Versus Health Care Ashley Pagan Introduction to Philosophy Dr. J May 26, 2012 Aristotle and the Soul Versus Health Care While Aristotle did not believe in a supernatural Creator or God, he did believe in the human soul. However, Aristotle’s beliefs concerning the human soul differed from the thoughts of those of Plato under whom he studied. Aristotle believed that the soul or “ultimate purpose” describes one’s unique purpose within the natural order (Chaffee, 2011). Unlike Plato, Aristotle’s views concerning the soul were in no way supernatural. He believed that everything consisted of matter and form. Matter was the stuff that makes up the material universes and form refers to the essence that makes things what they are (Chaffee, 2011). Taken together it is matter and form creates formed matter or substance and requires each other in order to exist. With that being said Aristotle believed that the soul was the formal element of the body, giving it shape and purposeful direction (Chaffee, 2011). Along with his theory of the existence of the soul, Aristotle also hypothesized the contents and necessary conditions of the soul. He argued that there are natural bodies, some are living and others are not. In his argument Aristotle calls attention to the fact that whatever has a soul, in the human sense, displays life. Aristotle believed that a besouled natural body could grow, decay and at the same time provide itself with nutrition; the soul is further characterized...
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...& Gutierrez, 2011). A part of the worldview is that the universe and god is one in the same thing. Hinduism believes that itself has always existed, that it did not have a creator. God is viewed "as an infinite, impersonal force" (Weider & Gutierrez, 2011). Identity is answered by the Hinduism Worldview as everything is spiritual or sacred in life. It's also believed that man's soul is eternal and when she or he reaches a state of Nirvana, their soul(Atman) will become one with Brahman(Hinduism's concept of eternal soul)" (Weider & Gutierrez, 2011). Hinduism also believes in reincarnation, which is determined by karma. The Meaning/Purpose is answered by the Hinduism Worldview as everything is an illusion. "Like a dream or a mirage, our life and everything around us does not really exist as we know it"(Weider & Gutierrez, 2011). Its believed that if a person does not grow to understand that concept that they will remain in the lifecycle of birth, death, rebirth. Morality is answered by the Hinduism Worldview as "that everything is god and god is everything, morality and ethics(in a practical sense) are how one should act toward itself" (Weider & Gutierrez, 2011). Hindu's believe you have to look within to figure out if something is moral or unmoral. It's also believed "Man's actions will return to him or her(karma), and it is up to the individual to determine what those actions should be and how they should be carried out" (Weider & Gutierrez, 2011). ...
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...Function Black wet sloppy tears slipped down her face while she threw herself at the concrete. Screeching at the top of her lungs and slurring her words irrationally. This extremely intoxicated nineteen year old girl lay in the middle of the street. A cry for help, she whaled so vigorously it was as if the devil himself was inside her. For the past three years she had dug herself into a hole that seemed inescapable. She hated her parents, envied her sister, and lost everyone close to her. Sex, drugs, alcohol, and immoral activities seemed to pierce her soul with an unsatisfying feeling. Not a single choice she had made recently was due to reason or virtue. “How could there be a God?” she always thought. Her life had slithered into serious misfortune, which most people would never escape. There was no happiness inside her soul. Nor did she believe at the time there ever would be. There was no purpose for her life. One distressed soul seemed miniscule in comparison to the millions of unhappy people out there. Yet the world’s most famous philosopher believes we all have one function and every humans highest good in life is to attain happiness. How could this be true if so many people suffer their whole lives from external and internal circumstances? How can a human being on planet earth derive a single function or purpose, when we function with the world and our eco system? I disagree with Aristotle, find his theory’s unconvincing, and believe that humans have excessive functions in...
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...was an influential philosopher who lived in the fourth and fifth century AD. He conceived the world to be made up of two cities namely the earthly city and the heavenly city (the city of God). The city of God as conceived by Augustine is founded on the hope of heavenly peace and spiritual salvation. The main purpose of the city of God is to save mankind from sin and sufferings. This city is inhabited by holy persons and angels sacrificing self-interest and worshiping God only. These angels and holy persons do not look after their personal interest and have great regard for morality and ethics. The earthly city on the other hand was conceived by Augustine to be founded on appetitive and possessive impulses that are found in the lower categories of animals. The inhabitants of the earthly city are basically concerned with their personal interest. They do not have regard for morality, virtue and ethics. The inhabitants of the earthly city are usually willing to do anything so long as their parochial interest will be served. The inhabitants of the earthly city are more or less slaves of their desires and thus forget the will and wishes of God. They also forget to worship him. The behavior and attitude of the inhabitants of the heavenly city is that of goodliness and sacrifice. Because the heavenly city is inhabited by angels and holy persons, goodliness and sacrifice are virtues that are very common there. The inhabitants of the heavenly city are good towards each other and sacrifice...
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