Immanuel Wallerstein

According to Kant, to be enlightened is to both be free of self-incurred tutelage and have the freedom to express oneself without penalty. Tutelage occurs because of laziness, cowardice, complacency, and blind obedience (Kant). When these tutelages are done away with, and there is freedom of expression, then people can become enlightened (Kant). In Euthyphro, Socrates is demonstrating that he is enlightened because he doesn’t do any of the things that would create self-incurred tutelage, he is…

John Locke 1632-1704 AD. Locke was born August 29th 1632 in Wrington, Somerset, England. “He became a highly influential philosopher, writing about such topics as political philosophy, epistemology, and education” (Biography, 2016).He attended West Minister School and Christ Church, University of Oxford. While John Locke attended Oxford he studied medicine. He later became a physician. John Locke was an English philosopher. He was a very intellectual man, he studied metaphysics, classical…

Alexis Du Tocqueville and Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche are both considered to be among the most influential philosophers in their respected eras. Tocqueville the early to mid 19th century thinker is well known for his literary piece Democracy in America in which he examines the people of the United States within their young democratic government, to contrast it with the monocratic form of government that surrounded him living in Europe. Nietzsche was born in the mid 19th century and wasn’t a…

In 1600s England John Locke was an Enlightenment Philosopher who believed in natural law. Locke had many achievements during his time that people could think of as good or bad. I think that Locke´s accomplishments that he made during his time should be thought of more as good rather than bad. During his early life John Locke was born in Wrington, England in 1646. He was sent to Westminster School for six years. Then he went to Oxford for 4 years and got his master´s degree in 1658. Locke…

Immanuel Kant believed that people should live morally and by doing so, you are acting as a role model, teaching others how to live by that as well. Then the newly educated will teach others how to live by that and so forth and so on. Kant believed that by doing good, good will come to you. For instance, the expression “opportunities will come knocking on your door.” Furthermore, by never traveling outside of a 10-mile radius, from his birthplace, Kant made himself the prime example to his…

Kantianism is the reasoning to do the right thing, the duty, and having treating everyone equally and not to use someone as a means to an end, and by this theory, the RUX’s action is not ethically justified. The RUX Universities actions on restricting computer usage is in fact justified by this theory. Research by the MIT’s Department of Economics and the US National Bureau of Economic Research show the negative impact on student’s academic performance with computer usage. What the RUX…

My purpose in this essay is to explain and evaluate the first formulation of the Categorical Imperative. According to this formulation, whenever someone considers performing an action, it must be something that they would will or accept that all others do. While this formulation does have its advantages, such as that it provides justice for everyone, overall, I do not find this formulation plausible. Since every situation is different, it makes it hard to have universal rules. The Categorical…

One aspect of Gadamer’s critique of Enlightenment thinking is through challenging the way prejudice and authority are treated in the hermeneutical task. In his development of “effective historical consciousness” he views these aspects as greatly important in interpretation. This portion of his argument is especially significant for Christian theology because Enlightenment views of tradition and prejudice impact the Christian tradition. In Enlightenment thinking all prejudice is to be removed,…

In this case, Harriet is stuck between a dilemma of choosing who to save and she chooses to save the individual that is inherently more valuable. This paper supports Harriet’s decision by using Kantian ethics such as Kant’s theory on moral praise, Kant’s theory on imperfect duties, and finally by Kant’s formulation analysis of a categorical imperative. I will use Kantian ethics to support why Harriet deserves moral praise. After supporting why Harriet deserves moral praise I will briefly discuss…

The period, commonly known as the Age of Enlightenment, encountered movements that encouraged the rise of the French Revolution through philosophical ideas. This time of literature showed works of inclusive significance towards the Enlightenment period, also known as the age of reason. Both Voltaire and Moliere were influential thinkers of the Enlightenment. Both of these gentlemen proved to be excellent writers judging by the representation of their works, Moliere’s Tartuffe and Voltaire’s…