Existence

For thousands of years, humans have wondered what controlled their lives and determined their future—was there a god that set out our paths before we were alive, or perhaps were we the only ones to explore the roads of life? Do we control how our existence plays out, or are we played by the hand of luck or a greater power from the start? Authors Malcolm Gladwell and William Ernest Henley toyed with their beliefs on this subject. Gladwell, writer of the short non-fiction titled Outliers: The…

INTRODUCTION: The following are argument analysis of arguments that mainly comprises the “Three dialogues between Hylas and Philonous” and “Treatise concerning the principle of Human Knowledge” both written by George Berkley , who is an Irish philosopher and coined the philosophical concept called “immaterialism” which denies that materials exist in the world and are the fundamental building blocks of reality , indeed it says that it is the ideas which really exist in the minds of the…

asking the wrong question. In consciously choosing to accept the possibility of a higher power, I realized that every single religion in the world it right, and wrong simultaneously. If there is a power to fashion and direct something as vast as existence itself, then its knowing must exist beyond, or even before, our limited human understanding. So the answer is to stop worrying, accepting that one day we will all find out what happens next, or doesn’t…

But if every idea has a formal reality, where did he get this idea from? God must be the cause of this idea therefore God does exist. He says if God didn’t exist we would all be perfect. We wouldn’t have any doubts or desires. You can’t doubt the existence of God since the idea of god has infinite objective reality and is more likely to be true. The idea of God could have come from your parents, and they got it from your grandparents. It’s a never ending cycle that could only conclude the idea…

Descartes claims himself as imperfect, he realises that he alone could not have authored these perfect ideas (Descartes, 1637/1956). These ideas were not part of his personal accounts, and therefore, the ideas had to be placed inside his mind by an existence more perfect than he was, which was God (Descartes, 1637/1956). In addition, Descartes does claim that since God would not deceive us, our sensory perception can be trusted to acquire physical…

For centuries, it has been largely disputed whether fate and predestination contribute to one’s decisions in life. The idea that the choices in a person’s life are not of their free will, but of the choices dictated by an outside force, is extremely controversial and has shaped beliefs in such areas as religious life. Others believe that they have the ability to shape their own destiny through the decisions they make at their own discretion, also known as free will. The Shakespearian play…

serious objection to Descartes claims attacks the Connection Principle. Without the Connection Principle, Descartes has nothing outside of himself. The Connection Principle is based on the idea that everything has a cause. His entire argument for the Existence of God and by extension, the external world, relies on the premise that it is impossible for him to have an innate idea that does not have any correlation to the real world. Descartes considered the notion that the idea of a perfect being…

In Of Truth, his practicality is also crystal clear when he compares truth to pearl and not diamond. He has strong approval of sacrificing truth to falsehood for the survival on earth which surely goes against morality. He announces: “A mixture of a lie doth ever add pleasure.” (1691, p.2) Religion offers spiritual as well as temporal succes. It has ordained nothing which goes against the very nature of human being. Its tenets and injunctions are formed for man’s progress in…

February 28th 1999, the life Adnan Syed once lived, would soon quickly fall apart. The 17 year old amiable, intelligent, athletic honors student that everyone loved was now behind bars, for a dreadful crime that he has been accused of committing. This atrocity being the murder of his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee. Hae was South Korean and also attended the same high school as Adnan which was Woodlawn High School, where she played lacrosse and field hockey. Her and Adnan had broken up. They both…

Truly, the idea of the conversion of the saint or the hero is beyond reality. Both are metaphors describing a fictitious character that may or may not exist. “That neither future nor past actually exist” (CAHN 397) declares Augustine in his Confessions. Dr. Ambrosio’s attempt to solidify the notion of universality with the integration of the hero and saint by discussing the character traits of historical figures as described in literature. The Saul of Tarsus, Augustine of Hippo, and the…