History of the western philosophy
INTRODUCTION:
In this course we will analyze various important theories in philosophy, comparing and contrasting them as we use those theories to answer to several philosophical questions. After a short introduction to what philosophy is, what an argument is, and the significance of philosophy, we will go over the perspectives of many different well-known philosophers, including, but not limited to, the following Philosophers: Plato, Aristotle, St. Thomas Aquinas, Rene Descartes, Immanuel Kant, George Berkeley, John Stuart Mill, John Locke, Friedrich Nietzsche, David Hume, and others
COURSE DESCRIPTION: philosophers and topics that build the kernel of the Western philosophy from the ancient Greek philosophers
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Also, we will examine the topics concerning Knowledge and perception, determinism, freedom, and religion. Philosophers and philosophies to be studied in this course include :Aristotle ; Plato ; Socrates ; J. Locke & Empiricism ; Nietzsche; Augustine ; Kant ; Descartes, Spinoza & Rationalism ; W. James & Pragmatism; Heidegger, Sartre & Existentialism; Phenomenology and The rise of Analytic Philosophy ; Philosophy today. We will strive to understand Western culture thoroughly by discussing the core of philosophy in that culture.
OBJECTIVES:
In this course students will increase understanding and appreciation of what the fundamental issues are in philosophy, how some philosophers have given the answers to these questions and students will take steps to come up with their own thoughts to these questions . In this course
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(These are general techniques that you can use to other different fields of study as well, and so will help advance your general reading, listening and studying methods.)
• students will be taught about the central areas or sub-fields in philosophy, the controversy that arise in each field, as well as the significance of reasoning, experience and perception for each area.
• students will enhance their rational and critical thinking skills. students will begin to see more profoundly the various ways that people contradict on such things as what is the right or wrong thing to do or what we really know and what we don’t.
• students will learn to see how the continued learning of philosophy can improve their notion of Western culture and diverse angles of it, such as religion, literature, politics, arts and science, politics and. Students of Western philosophy frequently say that this course has helped them to better appreciate and understand Western culture.
For example, study of American pragmatism may lead students to better comprehend the importance of individual ideas and expression and how ideas are examined through social practices in western culture.
COURSE
In the field of philosophy there can be numerous answers to a general question, depending on a particular philosopher's views on the subject. Often times an answer is left undetermined. In the broad sense of the word and also stated in the dictionary philosophy can be described as the pursuit of human knowledge and human values. There are many different people with many different theories of knowledge. Two of these people, also philosophers, in which this paper will go into depth about are Descartes and Plato. Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy and Plato's The Republic are the topics that are going to be discussed in this paper.
If accurate, this is a debilitating criticism of Kant’s moral theory as he had intended it. Mill’s critique instead classifies Kant’s moral theory as a type of rule utilitarianism. Any action under Kant’s theory is tested as a general rule for the public, and if the consequences are undesirable, then the general rule is rejected. “Undesirable consequences” are, according to the more precise language of Mill’s utilitarianism, consequences which are not a result of producing the greatest happiness. Mill’s analysis hinges on the lack of logical contradiction found in Kant’s theory. Without a concrete incongruity, Kant may be no more than a rule utilitarian. However, Mill is mistaken; the Categorical Imperative does produce absolute contradictions, as will be demonstrated through examples.
Stumpf, S. E., & Fieser, J. (2008). Philosophy: History and problems. . New York: McGraw-Hill.
Each person's happiness is equally important.Mill believed that a free act is not an undetermined act. It is determined by the unconstrained choice of the person performing the act. Either external or internal forces compel an unfree act. Mill also determined that every situation depends on how you address the situation and that you are only responsible for your feelings and actions. You decide how you feel about what you think you saw.Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) had an interesting ethical system. It is based on a belief that the reason is the final authority for morality.
John Stuart Mill argues that the rightness or wrongness of an action, or type of action, is a function of the goodness or badness of its consequences, where good consequences are ones that maximize the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people. In this essay I will evaluate the essential features of Mill’s ethical theory, how that utilitarianism gives wrong answers to moral questions and partiality are damaging to Utilitarianism.
Wittgenstein, Ludwig; G. E. M. Anscombe, P.M.S. Hacker and Joachim Schulte (eds. and trans.). Philosophical Investigations. 4th edition, Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009. Print.
Descartes, Rene. The Philosophical Writings, tr. John Cottingham and Dugald Murdoch. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985.
Kant’s moral philosophy is very direct in its justification of human rights, especially the ideals of moral autonomy and equality as applied to rational human beings. John Stuart Mills’ theory of utilitarianism also forms a solid basis for human rights, especially his belief that utility is the supreme criterion for judging morality, with justice being subordinate to it. The paper looks at how the two philosophers qualify their teachings as the origins of human rights, and comes to the conclusion that the moral philosophy of Kant is better than that of Mills. Emmanuel Kant Kant’s moral philosophy is built around the formal principles of ethics rather than substantive human goods. He begins by outlining the principles of reasoning that can be equally expected of all rational persons, regardless of their individual desires or partial interests.
In his essay, Utilitarianism Mill elaborates on Utilitarianism as a moral theory and responds to misconceptions about it. Utilitarianism, in Mill’s words, is the view that »actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness.«1 In that way, Utilitarianism offers an answer to the fundamental question Ethics is concerned about: ‘How should one live?’ or ‘What is the good or right way to live?’.
Many years ago when I learned I was going to have the opportunity to study philosophy at the graduate level, I was tremendously excited. What a wonderful opportunity this would be, I thought, to sit at the feet of Socrates and be enlightened by those who studied the crucial problems of human existence. I expected that senior philosophy professors would be marvelous role models in their personal lives and I looked forward with great anticipation to associating with those who had solved the problems of the universe.
"Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy." Beauvoir, Simone de []. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2014. .
...ould not want to be the one that is killed and you also can’t not kill because you would want to be one of the two people that are saved. As for Mill his ethics state that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness and wrong as they tend to produce unhappiness. It cannot be the same as the Golden Rule because Mill believes that pleasure is better than pain and that one should act in a way that produces the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people. However comparing to the Golden Rule treat others as how you would want to be treated – let’s say you like the feeling of pain, you would treat others with pain but Mill says that pleasure is better than pain and pain does not produce happiness. Overall one believes that both Kant and Mill’s ethics do essential relate to the Golden Rule but they cannot be the same as the Golden Rule.
Ethics can be defined as "the conscious reflection on our moral beliefs with the aim of improving, extending or refining those beliefs in some way." (Dodds, Lecture 2) Kantian moral theory and Utilitarianism are two theories that attempt to answer the ethical nature of human beings. This paper will attempt to explain how and why Kantian moral theory and Utilitarianism differ as well as discuss why I believe Kant's theory provides a more plausible account of ethics.
The word Philosophy comes from the Greek words of ‘philo’ meaning love and ‘sophos’ meaning wisdom (Philosophy). It is the pursuit for wisdom, to comprehend human behavior, nature and ultimately the meaning of life. Plato was the student of Socrates, influenced by his work, Plato aged to become a great philosopher himself; establishing his philosophy from that of his teacher. Aristotle was the student of Plato, and like his teacher, grew up to ground his philosophy from that of Plato. Although, both Plato and Aristotle criticized their teacher’s works, they were also influenced by them. Both Plato and Aristotle developed their own modes of knowledge acquisition; Plato’s Platonic Idealism and Aristotle’s Analytic Empiricism. In this paper, my objective is to identify the differences in the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle, which lead to the development of two contradictory modes of knowledge acquisition and their influence on succeeding thinkers.
It is noticeable that many subjects that once belonged to philosophy have broken off and become independent disciplines. These subjects include physics, psychology, and chemistry. This, however, has not left philosophy devoid of content. There are numerous other things that have always belonged to philosophy since the beginning of time and are still part of philosophy up to date. These issues are; the possibility of knowledge, the nature of the universe, the standard of justice, the correct use of reason, and the qualities of beauty. These issues have the foundational structures of the five branches of philosophy that are epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, logic, and aesthetics.