Essays on Philosophers

438

Nietzsche's Critique of Judeo-christian Tradition and The Paradox of His Reactive Approach

3 pages / 1386 words

Introduction Friedrich Nietzsche, in his work "Genealogy of Morals," embarks on a critique of the Judeo-Christian tradition, highlighting its perceived shortcomings. His primary contention is that this tradition has cultivated a mindset among its followers that obstructs happiness and undermines the innate willpower of strong...

Friedrich Nietzsche

439

Well-analyzed Response to Fear and Trembling: Kierkegaard’s Conception of Abraham’s Dilemma

3 pages / 1361 words

In Fear and Trembling, Kierkegaard (under the pseudonym Johannes de Silencio– despite being quite the opposite of the meaning his Latin name gives), shares his rather lengthy take on the story of Abraham. Kierkegaard ultimately decides that Abraham is either lost and cannot be mediated...

Kierkegaard

440

The Role of Dissension in Human Development: The Views of Plato and John Stuart Mill

3 pages / 1281 words

Former Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren once said, “Mere unorthodoxy or dissent from the prevailing norms is not to be condemned. The absence of such voices would be a symptom of grave illness in our society.” This message combined with the government position of...

John Stuart Mill Plato

441

From Socrates to Nietzsche

4 pages / 1688 words

Alternatively dubbed that “despotic logician” and “the vortex and turning-point of so-called world history,” Socrates represents a radical departure point in the history of philosophy. To Friedrich Nietzsche, the father of rationalism puts forth a worldview that is ultimately incapable of putting forth values that...

Socrates

442

"Good" and "God" Concept Comparison

2 pages / 858 words

The central argument in Euthyphro implies that the concept of ‘good’ must be independent of the concept of ‘God’ such that “God must love that which is good because it is good.” Grube argues that the implication of this is that God has no choice...

Euthyphro Plato

443

Analyzing The Claims of Socrates in The Apology

4 pages / 2027 words

In the Apology, Socrates tries to convince the jurors that, if they kill him, they will only be harming themselves. This argument is part of Socrates’ larger defense of his actions as he seeks to avoid drinking the hemlock. Socrates makes two claims: (1) that...

Socrates The Apology

444

Socratic Method of Elenchus in Plato's Five Dialogs

3 pages / 1433 words

The Socratic method of investigation, the elenchus, is explained by example in Plato’s Five Dialogues. In Euthyphro, Apology, and Crito, Plato’s character of Socrates employs the elenchus as a way to challenge interlocutors. If an Athenian claims to be knowledgeable about a subject, Socrates sets...

Plato Socrates

445

Understanding of Virtue in "Meno"

3 pages / 1438 words

A seemingly excited lad initiates Plato’s Meno. Meno appears to have learned what virtue is and is eager to share this knowledge with the renowned Socrates. Thus, Meno tactically lays out calculated questions to Socrates: “…is virtue something that can be taught? Or does it...

Meno Plato

446

"Meno" and "Leaves of Grass": The Comparison of Ideas

8 pages / 3537 words

There are several parallels between the ideas presented in the Socratic dialogue Meno by Plato and the ideas suggested by Walt Whitman’s poetry in the first edition of his work Leaves of Grass. Though the Meno is presented as a work of philosophy, and the...

Meno Plato Walt Whitman

447

Eliminating Differences: Socrates and Euthyphro

4 pages / 1752 words

Socrates found Euthyphro in the agora and after very brief rapport launched straight into asking the question of what is virtue; in the case of Euthyphro, the specific virtue being discussed is piety. Socrates was able to look at his subjects, including Euthyphro, in such...

Euthyphro Socrates

448

Philosophy before Death: Socrates in The Phaedo

2 pages / 969 words

Socrates, the father of modern Western philosophy, once said, shortly before his own death that “[Those] who happen to have gotten in touch with philosophy in the right way devote themselves to nothing else but dying and being dead” (Phaedo 64A). In other words, Socrates...

Phaedo Socrates

449

The Idea of Civil Disobedience

3 pages / 1430 words

Civil Disobedience in the Mind of Socrates Made-to-order essay as fast as you need it Each essay is customized to cater to your unique preferences + experts online Get my essay Civil disobedience is a practice that has been studied and exhibited for thousands of...

Socrates

450

The Virtue of High-mindedness

3 pages / 1422 words

Aristotle’s definition of the virtue of high-mindedness in Nichomachean Ethics, and of what constitutes the excess and deficiency of this virtue, poses a problem when applied to Socrates’ in Plato’s Apology. On one hand, Socrates is high-minded when he accepts his death sentence, despite believing...

Socrates

451

Fearing The Unknown: Death in The Apology

3 pages / 1223 words

Novelist Rossiter Worthington Raymond once said, “Life is eternal; and love is immortal; and death is only a horizon; and a horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight.” A horizon, by definition, is no more than the range of one’s knowledge or experience....

Socrates The Apology

452

The Root of All Wrongdoing: Trial and Death of Socrates

2 pages / 991 words

The four dialogues Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, and Phaedo were all authored by Plato in order to give insight into the trial and death of the famed philosopher Socrates. Each work focuses on a different aspect of Socrates’ personal teachings and ideals, ranging from questions about...

Socrates

453

True Nature and Corruption in Jean Jacques Rousseau "Emile"

2 pages / 1014 words

In Rousseau’s Emile, all naturally-created things are inherently good. Rousseau states that man and society are what corrupt Amour de son (or self-love that is innate and worthwhile), turning it into Amour proper (or self-love under social pressure). In order to be a good man,...

Rousseau

454

Social Order as an Evil in "Emile" by Jean Jacques Rousseau

4 pages / 1643 words

Jean Jacques Rousseau’s Emile (1762) consists of a series of stories, and its teaching comes to light only when one has grasped each of these stories in its complex artistic details and in its entirety. The interpretation of this hybrid text, the first ‘bildungsroman’ requires...

Rousseau

455

Power and Spatial Discipline in The Case Study of "Little Hans"

7 pages / 3024 words

In her article “The Taming of Michel Foucault: New Historicism, Psychoanalysis, and the Subversion of Power,” Suzanne Gearhart describes what she calls “Foucault’s critical ‘dialogue’ with Freud,” specifically in his “analysis of the relation between pleasure and power” (459-60). Interestingly, she notes that, in Discipline...

Michel Foucault

456

The Role of Reason in Society: Rousseau, Locke, and Mill

2 pages / 881 words

The state of nature and the emergence of the human capacity to reason has been a common interest for writers throughout history. John Stuart Mill, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and John Locke, all address these issues in their works, “On Liberty” , “Discourse On The Origins of...

John Locke John Stuart Mill Rousseau