Philosophy Essays

Background: Carla Lombard is a charismatic owner of Better Bagels, a successful seven-year-old bagel chain. Recently Frances, the ex-wife of Tom Walters-an outstanding employee at Better Bagels, came to Carla and told her that Tom had AIDS, then left. Carla felt that she would not be justified to discuss Tom’s …

Socrates has valid reasons to not fear death. He says, “Whether life or death is better is known to God, and God only” (CPQ 28). Since God has not told Socrates which is better, he decides that what the Athenians believe will suffice. When Crito suggests that Socrates escape and …

The great philosopher, Plato, back in the days of the ancient Greek civilization, concluded that man as a species can only draw from what his senses take about his surroundings. This includes his social relationships, eating habits, spiritual beliefs, and the many other attributes that make a person who they …

Herbert Marcuse’s critique of Sartre in Existentialism: Remarks on Jean-Paul Sartre’sL’Etre et le Neant is based on the claim that Sartre’s method is ontologically impure, in that its account of the nature of consciousness is in fact abstracted from historical factors. This criticism was not specific to Sartre. Marcuse’s approach …

Max Weber’s observations and conclusions regarding modernity and its causes have named him one of the most influential sociologists of our era. Weber believed that in the West rationality had come to become the predominant impetus for action. Weber said that Rationality was one of four motivations towards actions–the remaining …

The powerful Medici family had a profound impact on a great many lives, but few to the extent of Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527). As a leading political thinker Machiavelli personally dealt with the Medici, and as a writer their influence was all the weightier, exemplified especially in The Prince and The …

When taking a close look at the Disney movie “The Lion King”, any one who has studied “Hamlet” can see the parallels between the two. The simple plot, a son’s revenge for his father’s death, is the basis for both stories. Simba bears many resemblances to Hamlet. Scar is, in …

In his book, Beyond Bumper Sticker Ethics, author Steve Wilkens discusses nine ethical views that are prevalent in cultures today. Although the systems are sometimes vague, and his discussions, a bit biased, I find myself fortunate because I seem to agree with most of his opinions that he lets slip. …

In Nichomachean Ethics, Aristotle argues the highest end is the human good, and claims that the highest end pursued in action is happiness. Also, Aristotle claims that happiness is achieved only by living a virtuous life – “our definition is in harmony with those who say that happiness is virtue, …

“First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.” This quotation by Epictetus, a great Stoic of his time, describes Atticus Finch’s reasoning during the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Atticus, the single father of two children, Jean Louise Finch …