Philosophical Investigations

Good and evil: simply put, every person on Earth has both sides. Although the two are complete opposites, they coexist as a part of human nature — under a pleasant exterior, everyone has another side. The idea of these two qualities is explored in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (John W. Lowell Company, 1886). One day, while on their weekly stroll, the distinguished lawyer Mr. Utterson and his friend Enfield pass by a mysterious and unkempt house. Enfield then tells Mr. Utterson of a…

One of the most uncertain things that all humans face is their real identity. This difficulty has caused a lot of confusion about who we really are and how we become our own person. There are many different theories to how people can identify themselves, but Social Identity Theory is the most viable and reasonable. This theory claims that people become who they are based on experiences and life lessons due to their surroundings. They believe that one’s own experiences will cause them to shape…

‘Your actions define who you are’ is a saying prevalent as people mature. As people grow, their actions change, and with it what people think you are and what you know you are: your identity. Who you are greatly impacts the actions you make, and evidence of this can be seen throughout time. Many authors and playwrights use the characters and their identities to push the plot along - William Shakespeare is one of them. In the play Othello, Shakespeare denotes that a person’s identity, both…

In the Mike Webster ESPN series, a narration of Webster’s triumphant career followed by his deteriorating health exemplify the cost of the pursuit of the good life and raises a question; what is the good life worth? In his pursuit of athletic aspirations, Webster sacrificed a long, healthy life, as well as milestones in his children’s life. “With his brain deteriorating from the hits suffered during a 17-year NFL career, Webster suffered from dementia and was often disoriented. The multiple…

Outcome 2 Assessment Brynn has a seemingly perfect life. She is the captain of the varsity cheerleading team, plays the violin, and has straight A’s. Brynn also participates in school plays and musicals because she enjoys dancing. She has always been viewed by others as beautiful, fun, and very talented. But Brynn does not see herself the way others do. Brynn has been battling an eating disorder for two years as a result of her judging herself and body harshly in a negative way. She wants to…

Humans are overall good in my eyes and they were made good by God. People are put on this earth for reason and if they want to be to be evil and bad people then that’s their choice. Everyone has good in them no matter who you are. I believe that humans are good because of Ralph and piggy and when we mosses led the Israelites out of Egypt. William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies shows that humans are good through the characters of Ralph and Piggy. They both show examples of trust, leadership,…

"It is not power that corrupts but fear, Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of the power corrupts those who are subject to it" A quote by Aung San Suu Kyi. All leaders search for power but are corrupted through the fear of having it. This can be seen as a major theme tying together the play Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare. There are many different themes throughout Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, but the three most controversial ones are fate vs. free…

Is our universe one complicated computer game with us being mere artificial intelligence made of ones and zeros? This is a strange question, one that I believe cannot be totally disproven or proven but what can we know no matter the answer? The philosopher Descartes wrestled with similar questions. He was concerned about the nature of our reality and more specifically the nature of our knowledge. (Descartes 166-167) He wanted to form a base for knowledge and a method to prove that what we know…

Aristotle’s Four Causes in Science Explanation is basic human nature. It began as a way to pass blame onto another person, then onto God or gods. This changed with the ideas of Archimedes of Syracuse. Archimedes was a mathematician, physicist, and inventor who was responsible for the discovery of buoyancy and the invention of both the siege engine and screw pump. After his discoveries, the popular view on explanation was modified. Instead of divine powers intervening in the world, people…

The Existence of God and the Devil Demon In Descartes’s piece of philosophical writing, “Meditations on First Philosophy”, he argues that he has the idea of God, therefore God exists. In my paper, I will contend that the same argument will not apply for the possibility of the Evil Demon. In the beginning of the Meditations, Descartes claims if he want to establish the stability of anything in science, he must start over from the foundations. He set the standard for knowledge, which must be…