Ontology

“Rationalism is the belief that at least some knowledge about reality can be acquired through reason, independently of sense experience.”. Rationalism was a philosophical movement that appeared around 500 BC and is often described as one of the most important theories of philosophy. It consist of three main basic claims: The Intuition/Deduction Thesis, The Innate Knowledge Thesis and the The Innate Concept Thesis. For a philosopher to claim himself as a rationalist, he has to apply at least one…

Machiavelli criticizing Plato and Aristotle Machiavelli is a realist and is more concerned with how things should be in reality, and his clarifications are based on a real world. Plato is an idealist and he is just thinking of how the ideal world is, they leave in an imaginary world, while Aristotle is always talking about existing states (try to peruse virtue). Machiavelli wants everything to be real and exist in the real world, while Plato and Aristotle have assumes in their imaginary worlds…

Our curiosity towards the metaphysical is considered to be exclusively human; our self-awareness, identity and purpose form our humanity. Instead of offering solace to self-doubt, Szymborska revels in ambiguity and uncertainty implying humans merely exist without an objective purpose or special significance. She questions the existential in her poem Astonishment and Maybe All This to reflect the absurdity of existence as well as human ignorance in attempting to answer it. In Astonishment she…

Introduction The Wager, by French scientist and mathematician, Blaise Pascal, presents an argument for believing in God based on an individual getting the best afterlife. He argues that we all must make a wager either for or against the existence of God. This wager which will result in either heaven, hell, or no consequence. Based on Pascal’s premises, I believe his argument is unsound. This paper will be divided into three sections in which I will discuss my evaluation of Pascal’s Wager. In…

Nature: the Clarifier Henry David Thoreau’s Where I Lived, and What I Lived For explains not only the assets but the necessity of living away from other human beings in nature to see the reality of human existence and control the mind as one controls one’s hands. Thoreau seeks to sweep away the “mud and slush of opinion, and prejudice, and tradition” (Thoreau 280). He juxtaposes the ideas of where he lives and what he lives with while seeking freedom in nature. After Thoreau fully relinquishes…

It is both fascinating and disturbing to examine the problem of free will. As intelligent beings, we ironically want nothing more than to nod our heads aggressively in agreement to the concept. However when one digs deeper into what free will is and what it does or does not imply, it’s inevitable that we are nodding not because the factors of it are logical and non-contrary, but because we refuse to accept the rattling notion that our lives are, essentially not our own to govern So what exactly…

The philosophers have only interpreted the world,in various ways. The point, however ,is to change it. Even though there can be countless arguments, there is no right or wrong. Recently, students in CUHK are debatingg the contract renewal of an Islamic restaurant. Even though arguments from both sides are well-supported, I would still like to offer some possible solutions. From what I have observed, the major disputes are about multiculturalism, fairness and quality of food. Multiculturalism…

I. Post-structuralism Foucault thought is often associated with post-structuralism. Although he denied his association with it, there are aspects of his thought that are aligned with post-structuralist thinking. Like post-structuralism, he is very critical of concept of a human subject. He is highly critical on the concept of the Cartesian subject. In one of his interviews, he says that the subject “… is not a substance. It is a form, and this form is not primarily or always identical to the…

Analysis Brief #1: Magic and Religion in The Churning of the Ocean Comic E.B. Tylor and J.G. Frazer define religion as “belief in a spiritual being” (Pals, 26). This definition is broad in nature, thus leaving the identification of a ‘spiritual being’ open for interpretation. The comic The Churning of the Ocean: Vishnu Saves Creation follows Tylor and Frazer’s definition of religion by depicting Vishnu as a spiritual being. Throughout the story, other holy figures seek his guidance multiple…

Discussion In the previous section, the researcher identifies the four stages of the usual communication repeatedly occurring in a chronological order among group members of the Catholic Student Beta organization. Now, in this section, the researcher further explains the meaning and why it is important for the group members to consistently communicate and exchange group identity. In this regard, the researcher organizes the contents of this section according to the same structure of the previous…