Concepts in metaphysics

“Serious, as in the magic formula that defines realism. . . . [as] what is ‘in opposition to amusement or pleasure-seeking.’” (Moretti, 368). In Moretti’s paper “ Serious Century”, he explains that “seriousness” became the narrative style that reflected the culture of the 19th century. We comprehend this “seriousness ( Moretti, page 383)” through “fillers (Moretti, 370)” and through the moral values of the characters. “Upon hearing how long a walk the young people had engaged in, they kindly…

The third argument against Descartes’ successful refutation is that he admits throughout his meditations that he can in fact be deceived, which means there is no way for him to refute the first meditation in and of itself as explained by the dream argument. “From these considerations it is utterly apparent that, notwithstanding the immense goodness of God, the nature of man, insofar as it is composed of mind and body, cannot help being sometimes mistaken” (140). This statement recognizes that he…

One either believes that there is a God that exists, or there is not. While there are numerous opinions on God’s existence, Blaise Pascal, author of “The Wager”, believes that there is a God. However, according to Pascal, a French philosopher, we cannot fully comprehend God. “The Wager”, which includes a psychological argument, consists of individuals who are willing to risk their own lives and bet on the existence of God. Essentially, the argument of this work is between philosophy and…

Analysis: The preceding narrative is from a time in my life not too long ago. It reminds me of Walker Percy’s essay The Loss of the Creature in the sense that things are not always as they appear to be. Percy’s thesis is one mustn’t blindly follow what we are taught, but rather, one must discover for himself what is genuine and true. My personal story, however, is slightly different than those of others in the fact that I’ve been battling addiction since the age of 15, and cannot relate much to…

Question 1 and 2. Jackson’s knowledge argument is based on physicalism. In this document, he argues about even if you know about the conscious experience that brings about you but you would still be missing that information. This means that whatever that happens in the brain deep to the neuron, when sees red color it can produce the red experience of that color. But physicalist theory of mind would not be able to explain all the facts that account for it. Here in this article knowledge argument…

The idea of a supreme has been around since the beginning of time, and many different arguments have been used in attempt to prove the existence of a god. One of the most well-known arguments for the existence of the Judeo-Christian God is Anselm’s ontological argument. Ontological arguments use natural theology which attempts to prove God existence by using logic, reason, and shared evidence. Scripture, religious experience, and divine revelation are all used as tools. Many great philosophers…

Harman presents the argument that we never have any evidence for or against any moral claim and that moral “facts” serve no purpose regarding the explanation of making observations unlike scientific facts do. In this essay, I will argue why I believe that Harman’s argument is ultimately successful, successful being that it is convincing of its conclusion. I will accomplish this by first paraphrasing Harman’s premises in an understandable manner. Next, I intend to provide a possible attack that…

“'Time management' is really a misnomer; the challenge is not to manage time, but manage ourselves. The key is not to prioritize what is on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities,” philosophized Stephen Covey. Time management is all about delegation. One of the most difficult things I have ever undergone thus far in my twenty-one years of life is to efficiently find a healthy balance among my Penn Foster studies along with my job, family and other activities and responsibilities. I am a…

The world isn’t black and white. No one is only good or evil. People are not only one thing and nothing else. They change through their experiences in life that they go through and have multiple conflicting and diverse personality traits. In Homer’s The Odyssey, the main character Odysseus is a perfect example of this. He is a hero and a good leader, but sometimes has lapses in judgment and doesn’t always do the right thing. He learns from his mistakes though and changes for the better. He is a…

Jean-Paul Sartre, in Being and Nothingness, conceives his body as part of his identity, “I am my body … My body is a point of departure which I am and which at the same time I surpass” (qtd. in Butler 38). Judith Butler admits that the body is not fixed or stable. It moves and is in a process of “becoming”. It undergoes a certain change and “is always involved in the human quest to realize possibilities” (38). The glorification of the female body parts brings forth the image of women whose…