The Consolations of Philosophy

For this scholarship review I have picked two articles with which I’d like to create a dialogue between. The first is “Compilation, Commentary, and Conversation in Christine de Pizan” by Julia Simms Holderness. The second is “Christine de Pizan: The Poetess as Historian” by Nadia Margolis. Both discuss the writing of Christine de Pizan. Holderness argues, ultimately, that Christine was more conscious with her writing decisions than she may be given credit for, while Margolis’ article can be…

Oxford dictionary and explains how the literature or the work of art plays a therapeutic role in human lives. He claimed, proverbs are not just part of the literature, but the “medicine.” Burke argues that the proverbs are made for “foretelling”, “consolation of vengeance” and “admonition or exhortation.” He further mentions, the people find some social/natural events common, frequent and recurring. People also understand the importance these usual…

A seminal philosopher across fields from epistemology to aesthetics and politics, Immanuel Kant is famous best known for his work in ethics and his famous categorical imperative. At the heart of his conception of the moral law is the question of how virtue and happiness relate. In his Critique of Pure Reason, Kant describes the immortality of the soul and the ontology of a supreme being as being fundamentally unknowable through theoretical human reason, neither able to proved or disproved.…

was always encouraged, but not always asked so the discussion usually was free formed, but still got a lot of information out of the class discussion. The Consolation of Philosophy, the most recent reading, I was able to bring back into discussion the text from Lucretius, two very different texts that explains two different topics, philosophy and science. I was able to connect the two in the way the authors wrote about their topics, movement of the soul and movement of the atoms in space, which…

Cartesian Dualism, a theory coined by Rene Descartes and examined within his sixth mediation of Meditations of First Philosophy, explains and theorizes the idea of the mind and body as two distinct substances. The theory states that the mind is not merely a physical brain as another organ of the body, but rather the non-materialistic mind and material body are two different entities. The body, having elements of extension have a reality with spatial relevance as it entails form, texture,…

Dutch humanist Erasmus mocked the corruption and abuse of power within the church and the ignorance and sloth of the clergy in In Praise of Folly and other works, but he never attacked its principles. He thought that Christianity should be a guiding philosophy instead of a system of dogmatic beliefs and practices, and paved the way for the Reformation. Humanists looked to the Greek and Roman times as ideals, dismissing the immediate past as the Dark Ages. According to historian Charles G.…

Throughout history, many famous films contain philosophical themes that have been completely overlooked by thousands of viewers. Philosophical relevance is easily overlooked because when most people watch movies they are looking for pure entertainment instead of the significant meaning. However, taking into account the philosophical relevance is important for understanding the overall meaning in any screenplay. This statement enables people to have favorite films that they really do not…

for what is in the soul, if he believes in one that is, or is that viewpoint pushed in his writings simply because of the injustices he came to know? With the vast pool of knowledge he acquired through prison readings, the intricate understands of philosophy, and his passion for justice, the concept of human “goodness” is something that I believe Malcolm X has a lot to say about. It would seem that he holds humanity at a standard far above what it is capable of: he requires that people put aside…

Hypocrisy is rampant in human nature - we say one thing and do another; we believe one thing and renounce it with one event. This condition seems amplified in Dostoevsky’s Underground Man – a man of ‘high conscious’ and intellect. “To be overly conscious,” the Underground Man writes, “is a sickness, a real, thorough sickness” (Dostoevsky 2006, p.6). This extreme state of consciousness is the undoing for the Man; perhaps even the main cause of his paradoxical nature. The unreliability of the…

with him in Ingolstadt to help him restore to health. However, Elizabeth and Clerval both has a really different personality and perspective from Victor. They are more romantic and poetic. Victor on the other hand studies in the field of natural philosophy…