The Worldly Philosophers

happiness. Although both Brooks and Aristotle agree that life is not about pleasure and physical monetary objects, they differ in the way to achieve happiness and how to apply it to life as Brooks advocates for the individual to be happy by denouncing worldly pleasures while Aristotle wants the greater mass to achieve happiness together through politics. Arthur C. Brooks tries to create the argument that a person cannot live a happy life if they have a life that is ruled by unhappiness. One…

Introduction John Hick, the British Philosopher was born in 1922 in the United Kingdom. Hick is credited as a profound religious epistemologist, philosophical theologian, and religious pluralist (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2015). Hick contributed largely to the world of theology, writing one of his more famous works, Evil and the God of Love, where the chapter Soul-Making Theodicy is included (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2015). The attempt to explain the presence of evil,…

Are Humans Born Morally Bad, Amoral, or Morally Good? Introduction The argument about whether humans are born morally bad, morally neutral, or morally good has been controversial for many years, with different philosophers proposing dissimilar perspectives. Plato believes that humans are born morally good. Aristotle claims that humans are born amoral. Hobbes alleges that humans are born morally bad. John Locke contends that humans are born amoral. I believe all human beings are born amoral…

there were very few real impulses for revolution in the traditional gender roles during the time. The Enlightenment was an era where philosophers began emerging ideas based on logic and reason, rather than the established truth of religion, which challenged the very basis on which traditional gender roles were established. Many philosophers were focused on worldly views based on reason and human understanding which they believe would lead to beneficial changes for society. During the…

God, but humans cannot/do not know, or there is definitively no higher power. Although this question is yet to have been answered absolutely, sundry philosophers have devoted years to research by using logic and reason to prove that a God does exist. The existence of a God can be proven most effectively by the use of the works of great philosophers such as, Hume, Anselm, Augustine, Oguah, and Thomas Aquinas, and by looking at theodicy, or “justification of the goodness of [a] God in the face of…

Desiderius Erasmus’ “Praise of Folly” satirically examines the ignorance of those of mankind in the 1500s. In doing so, Erasmus strategically chooses to narrate the work from the perspective of the female personification of Folly, a goddess of foolishness. She seeks to promote and strengthen the faults and shortcomings of mankind’s relationships through foolishness. Folly claims to be the savior for trouble minds, the human race continues because of folly. In such a way, Erasmus, uses the…

In 2012, John Koenig created The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows to propose new words assigned to complex feelings previously without a name in an attempt to compensate for shortcomings in the English language. He constructed fresh words that strove to help people better connect with one another by communicating emotion through language. Among many others, he coined the word sonder to describe the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own. By most…

with his conception of virtue. Happiness cannot exist in solitude, which is why friendships are essential. Genuine friendships based on virtue are important because both friends will grow in virtue and it will help with self-knowledge. Pleasure and worldly possessions are considered a good thing. Pleasure is outlined as important for happiness because it perfects actions. The goodness of pleasure is related to the goodness of the accompanying action. Aristotle doesn’t suggest one should aim at…

This Essay will examine Machiavelli’s stand on the role of morality in politics, if it is useful for the common good, and the purpose of the state and morality itself. In order to provide a clear and linear argument, this essay will be divided in three sections. In the first paragraph, I will provide a brief historical background on morality, and the importance that it had in society with Christian principles as base for a correct and good state, cultural context and few prior political thinkers…

Unlimited Freedom In All Its Forms In 1846 Thoreau was considered the father of civil disobedience and creator of a way of fighting known as peaceable revolution. While in Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience” he presented the idea that liberty for man was independence from government and every sort of authority, in his essay “Walking” he explored a more spiritual view on human freedom. Three fundamental aspects of Thoreau’s ideology are: peaceable civil disobedience is a strong social weapon in which…