Voltaire:Candide Voltaire: Candide Voltaire’s most recognized piece of literature, Candide, is a sarcastic assault on almost everything that was rife in society during his lifetime. The novel as a whole can be considered as a bleak story where main characters compare life stories to distinguish whose life is worse. Just when you think this novel cannot get anymore depressing, it does

What Ethics Means To Me To me, ethics is a very strong word and tells a lot about who you are as a person. In today’s modern world, people’s ethics have changed drastically if you compare them to our parents’ generation. We see more and more in the news that people are finally becoming aware of the dangers that pollution, second-hand smoke, and global warming have on our society. Yet

Welcome To The Monkey House Vs. Tomorrow And Tomorrow And Tomorrow Welcome To the Monkey House Vs. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow The government has control over many things in this world today. They control things such as taxes, regulations of businesses, welfare, social security, and much more. Without the government being involved in many things, we would not be where we a

Existentialism Existentialism Existentialism is a philosophical movement that focuses on self-existence. A main idea of existentialism is that people believe that they live in a comprehensible, connected, and predictable universe, however the universe is in actuality irrational, disconnected and predictable. Human beings are entirely free and accountable for their own acts. A

DESCARTES EXISTENCE OF GOD In his meditations, Descartes points out that there are three types of ideas; they can be innate, adventitious, caused by things outside of one’s self, and others that can be invented by us, such as ideas of mermaids or unicorns. After he concludes that God must necessarily exist, which will be discussed in more detail later on in this paper, he closes in to t

Descartes Existence Of The Perfect Being In his meditations, Descartes points out that there are three types of ideas; they can be innate, adventitious, caused by things outside of one’s self, and others that can be invented by us, such as ideas of mermaids or unicorns. After he concludes that God must necessarily exist, which will be discussed in more detail later on in this paper, he

Welfare In America: Downfall Of Our Society' Welfare in America; Is it the downfall of our society' Posing this question based solely on one government program may seem simplistic. However, the amount of tax dollars spent on Welfare is mind blowing, so maybe it deserves a closer look. Both sides of the fence have valid arguments. On the one hand, Welfare (for purposes of this examin

What Is Moral Freedom' Journal Assignment #1 What is Moral Freedom' What is moral freedom' That is the question at hand. First we must break down the two words into separate definitions and then entwine the definitions to make one logical explanation. Beginning with the definition of moral; moral means one relating to the principles of right and wrong in behavio

Suffering “We cannot directly experience anyone else's pain, whether that "anyone”is our best friend or a stray dog. Pain is a state of consciousness, a "mental event, ”and as such it can never be observed. Behaviour like writhing, screaming, or drawing one's hand away from the lighted cigarette is not pain itself; nor are the recordings a neurologist might make of activity within the br

What Exists: Descartes, Berkeley, And Russell Descartes, Berkeley, and Russell The world is a dubious place, but there are a few things that are fairly certain. Many philosophers over the ages have tried to study what is “real”, and what we cannot rely on. Why do we think the way we do' Is there an outside force, God, who is the holder of these ideas or is it in our own minds'

Descartes DESCARTES’ IDEA OF A PERFECT BEING In his meditations, Descartes points out that there are three types of ideas; they can be innate, adventitious, caused by things outside of one’s self, and others that can be invented by us, such as ideas of mermaids or unicorns. After he concludes that God must necessarily exist, which will be discussed in more detail later on in this p

What Is Enlightenment What is enlightenment' Immanuel Kant attempts to shed light on the meaning of enlightenment while writing the essay, “What is Enlightenment'”. This document was written in response to political and social changes brought about by King Frederick of Prussia. The goal of Kant’s essay was to discuss what the nature of enlightenment was. It also taught people how enlight

What Is Full Inclusion Issue 14: Is Full Inclusion of Disabled Students Desirable' What is inclusive education' Inclusive education consists of including all children despite their ethnic identity, disability, or where they are at in society in terms of socioeconomic status. Inclusion means to advocate against the idea that wish to separate those in the groups previously mentioned. I

What Is Justice What is Justice' From the times of ancient Greece, an era of thought and enlightenment emerged some of the greatest thinkers of all time, such as Socrates and Plato. Over the years, many questions have been raised by these men or posed by them. In Plato’s ‘The Republic”, Book I the fundamental question hey focus on is, “What is Justice'” Plato says that the just man d

What Is Philosophy What is Philosophy' I believe that Philosophy is the systematic examination of our fundamental beliefs. In philosophy, you should question everything and never take anything for face value. There are always two sides to every coin as there are different ways of looking at things. In philosophy, you must throw off all the limitations you have set on yourself when dea

What Is Pleasure Anyway' We often hold an improper insight on pleasure and which are deemed more pleasurable than others. Pleasure can come in many different forms than just belongings and wealth. For society teaches us what is more pleasing and distorts our judgment of what pleasure truly is. Our pleasures and the pain that they bring must be calculated in order to gain the most sati

What Is Really Real' Philosophy What is really real' How do we distinguish between the appearance of something and the truth about it' These questions and many more are not easily answered or are, perhaps, impossible to answer. But as rational beings we have the capacity to think deeply and logically about them and come up with an idea it try to explain them. This is what the study

What Is Religion' According to the dictionary, religion is a noun defined as the quest for the values of the ideal life. The above definition is vast and general, allowing people from all cultures to interrupt it differently. There is not a single path to follow to lead an ideal life, only your personal beliefs and experiences. Religion is non-infinite, so there is not a concrete boun

What Is Representative Realism' John Locke thought that the ideas or perceptions, which we have of objects in the external world, represent themselves, whether they are being perceived or not. The view John Locke continually uses is called representative realism. The term realism refers to the view that objects are real or exist. Representative means that some of our perceptions accur

Fatalism Fatalism is the idea that everything that happens and our very actions not only will take place, but are unavoidable. Therefore, free will is only an illusion and the “choices” we think we are making were actually predetermined by past events. In this paper, I will set out to explain some major arguments for fatalism and offer grounds to refute it. Let’s begin by exploring the c

When Two Stubborn People Dispute, Nothing Gets Solved When Two Stubborn People Dispute, Nothing Gets Solved In literature, characters tend to persuade other characters to change their minds to alter the outcome of the situation. This form of persuasion can be seen in the characters of Plato’s Crito and Sophocles’ Antigone. In Crito, Crito is trying to help Socrates escape from pri

Where All The Life Is Originated' Where all the life is originated' Philosophers through time have had many kinds of theories about where life in nature originated. All the earliest philosophers believed that there had to be a certain basic substance at the root of all change. There had to be ‘something’ that all things came from and returned to. They posed questions relating to the t

Where Does The Guilt Lie' In the event that memories can be interchanged between two people, where does the responsibility for the past actions of these individuals fall' If Henry, a murderer, and Hank, an upright citizen, were effected by some sort of theta ray that converted the record and memory of past experiences from one to the other it is difficult to conclude with who the guilt

Why' Physics, a branch of science, is traditionally defined as the study of matter, energy, and the relation between them. The interaction between matter and energy is found everywhere. In order for matter to move, it requires some form of energy. Sports show many good examples of the relationship between matter and energy. For instance, a pitcher requires energy to throw a baseb

Who Believes In Fairy Tales Anyway Once upon a long time ago, our ancient ancestors told their offspring the stories of the time. It was a form of the “news” and bonding. These stories included tales of war, the history of their culture, and religious views and practices. The stories also included romantic tales of great warriors and the fair maidens that they protected from evil whil

Why Eastern Culture Religions May Be Appealing To The Western Culture Since the beginning of “time” man has questioned their existence and what has caused their creation. Through my readings I have read numerous theories, ideas, and beliefs. Some drastically contrast, and others simply elaborate on previous hypotheses. These projected explanations of our existence, can cause great c

Why People Need Religion Philosophy and Religion: Questions and Answers Philosophy and religion have existed for centuries. Even in today’s technologically advanced environment, there are still many questions about life and its meaning. Humans want to know the basic who, what, when, where, why and how of life. Who created the earth, the universe, and the rest of existence' Is there a r

William Faulkner William Faulkner’s The Bear and Barn Burning are two different short stories, but are very much alike in several ways. The theme in both gravitates toward the finding one’s self theme, where both the main characters must find themselves amidst many different circumstances. Faulkner also portrays the main characters in each story much the same. There is a difference in th

Williams Criticism Of Utilitarianism Bernard Williams puts forth some efficient arguments against utilitarianism that beg the question whether or not utilitarian values accurately depict the way in which it is inherent that we act. His critique of the utilitarian doctrine of negative responsibility requires further repudiation than Williams gives in his argument to be convincing. Howev

Death Penalty Capitol Punishment is a subject of much controversy for many years. Some United States citizens doubt the Death Penalties worth, but it is a proven deterrent to crime. Other people fear the murders of innocent people by the United States government, but now with aid of DNA testing, there is no escaping science. Even though most people believe in the Death Penalty, due to