Philosophy

There is Philosophy in Child Development

The famous 5th century, Athenian, Philosopher: Socrates stated "the unexamined life is not worth living." After taking the course Philosophy 115: Philosophy of Human Person I would explain the definition of “life” in a Philosophical sense as being a combination of philosophical ideas such as morality, respect, free-will and scientific issues. The study of philosophy is a very complex and complicated task.
There are so many different questions on many different topics and philosophy tries to explain them all. It tries to provide answers to the many questions that science and religion cannot explain. And from this it urges one to think about issues that may otherwise be ignored. Thus one must strive as Socrates states to examine life otherwise life is not worth living.

Romeo and Juliet in Aristotle’s Mind

In the story of Romeo and Juliet, we know that the basic plot consists of love and sacrifice. In the beginning of the story, Romeo falls in love with Juliet at first sight and then marries her in less than twenty-four hours. Our lovers then go through a period of trials due to loving a member of your family’s enemy. Romeo is exiled to Mantua due to killing Tybalt and the Capulets are forcing Juliet to marry to a suitor named Paris. In the end, both Romeo and Juliet killed each other because they swore that if one of passes away, then they will die with them. However, this seemingly simple storyline of Romeo and Juliet is actually based on one of Aristotle’s theatrical philosophy.

Does Socrates Hold Contradictory Positions On Civil Disobedience?

In Plato’s Apology and Crito, there is an apparent contradiction between each dialogue’s representation of Socrates’ position on civil disobedience. Gary Young represents Socrates’ contradictory positions this way:
(I) I shall not give up philosophy, even if the city commands me to do so. (Ap.29d)

(II) Every citizen (including myself) should obey every command of the city. (Cr. 50a-53 a)

Young then claims that the contradiction has been typically dealt with in one of two ways.
(1) The contradiction between (I) and (II) is merely verbal or apparent; that is, Socrates is not really contradicting himself in asserting (I) and (II), because he has in mind a qualification of either (I) or (II) [usually (II) is picked for this role], which has the effect of limiting the applicability of (I) to one set of cases, and the applicability of (II) to a wholly different set of cases, so that (I) and (II) could never both apply to the same situation.

Short Essay on the Death of Socrates

Upon being put on trial for corrupting of youth of Athens and “not believing in the gods of the state”, Socrates is sentenced to death for his wrongdoings. Socrates was viewed as “gadfly” to the city of Athens, and after a lifetime of “gadfly”-ing, many people of power in the city had had enough. Socrates’ views on many points of Athenian culture differed from the norm, and with every person he could connect with, the powers of Athens were further undermined. While the Law of Athens was manipulated to ultimately end Socrates’ life, he still, like many before him, had an option that could enable him to circumvent his demise. The Law of Athens was twisted to work against Socrates, and Socrates could manipulate it once more to save himself by paying the right Athenians who could organize his escape. Money was no issue; many of Socrates’ followers offered to put up the necessary coin for him to slip away. So all Socrates had to do was accept his friends’ offers and he could be a free man to continue his legacy elsewhere—Thessaly was suggested by Crito. Socrates’ politely declined the offers and ended up swallowing the hemlock.

Comparing and Contrasting of Plato and Nietzsche

Plato and Nietzsche are two of the worlds greatest and well known philosophers of their times. Plato’s Symposium is based of a series of speeches on love, purpose and the total sense of being. Each of the speeches, are made up of seven different men attending a party and each of the men expresses a speech about love. Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra, is more a philosophical novel instead of a dialogue like Plato’s Symposium. Nietzsche’s writing is more of a profound understanding of purpose and morality. Nietzsche talks about mankind being the step before reaching the “overman.” Nietzsche then talks about the “overman” being free from all discriminations and moralities in that the “overman” constructs his own values and purpose (SparkNotes Editors, Summary).