Philosophy of language

As the name suggests, the arguments for foetal personhood classified under this label treat the morally significant characteristics, not as intrinsic (essential) but acquired (non-essential) properties of the foetus. In these arguments, the foetus is not a kind of being whose nature is to have by necessity the morally significant characteristics. These characteristics are a possibility in so far as they are only acquired at a particular point in time in the life of the foetus. As non-essential…

Alfred North Whitehead—a prominent mathematician and philosophical figure of the twentieth century, once said: “All western philosophy is comprised of footnotes to Plato.” Indeed, Plato has such grandly significant influence that many of his notions still exist until today. One of his works—The Republic: Book VII, has become a classic read that anyone who is familiar with philosophy is familiar with. The book, well known as “Allegory of the Cave,” articulates the fact that humans do not…

Christian traditions are treated as important sources of knowledge. Also, nothing is said in these sources of knowledge, Bible and traditions contradict or agrees with what is said in another religion. Different religious groups, adopt the use of language and concepts that belong to different contexts that are not based on rival belief proposals. In the crafting of religious knowledge, beliefs, or truths, none of the religions had the other religion at the back of their mind. Also, the…

Aristotle versus Nietzsche Greek philosopher Aristotle and German philosopher Nietzsche both had opposing views regarding ethics and morality, however I found a few that seem very close to each other with different wording. Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics view on Virtue Ethics states that to be virtuous is to follow the lead and example of someone whom is virtuous. However, in Aristotle’s era his firm beliefs of emotional morality, emotional knowledge, duty, and priority are the embodiment of…

of being the father of western philosophy. Socrates spread his knowledge to many students, the most famous being Plato. Plato is the author of The Trial and Death of Socrates in which four dialogues describe Socrates’s final chapter in life. Through these dialogues it is often questioned whether Socrates was responsible for his own death at the hand of two accusations: not believing in the gods and corrupting the youth. Through careful analysis of Socrates’s language and actions one can…

The allegory of the cave is among one of the most famous metaphors used in history and it was written by Plato in The Republic. The allegory of the cave has remained insightful even in the modern era because it aims to explains how ones personal knowledge can grow and how it also can be reflected onto the city (society). Plato's objective was to describe the different tiers of thinking within a person and how knowledge can change with a higher perspective as when compared to the forms, or the…

The mystery of what embodies "knowledge" is as old as philosophy itself. The Gettier Problem, refuting the JTB (justified true belief) account, has been a historical and on-going debate in the epistemological field. In simplistic terms, knowledge is understood as an awareness or understanding of something, such as facts, information, descriptions or skills, which are acquired through experience, perceiving, discovering, learning or intuiting. Consequently, truth is understood as a verified or…

There has been a dispute in philosophy for centuries, over morals and what drives human beings to act upon them. David Hume’s, An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals, discuses his ideas of how reasoning and sentiment play their role in mankind’s motivation. Though he agrees both sides have extremely sound arguments, Hume believes one has a larger influence over the other. He does this by analyzing mental qualities; also know as personal merit, discussing the importance of benevolence,…

During the Age of Enlightenment, thinkers believed in reason, liberty, and scientific methods instead of tradition and religion. Many writers published their works that stated the problems of the misuse of religion and the importance of critical thinking. Moliere was one of writers during the Age of Enlightenment, known mostly for his comedy. He was a French play writer who wrote the comedy Tartuffe, which shows the concept of religious hypocrisy, ignorance and fanaticism. In the drama, he…

To Russell in order for something to be true it has to be able to be expressed in the form of a sentence in some possible language, no matter if it’s a new language (Newspeak) or one that hasn’t been invented yet. A sentence is important in order for us to do a statement and create beliefs. Every sentence has a truth-value which is the capacity to be true or false. However, the goal of a sentence…