Essays on Philosophical Movements

The Haitian Revolution and American Revolution were both inspired by the Enlightenment Ideals. However, while the American Revolution was created to gain independence of British rule, the Haitian Revolution catered more to slaves. Eventually, the Americans gained freedom, and the Haitian Revolution lead to interference...

The Enlightenment which also known as The Age of Enlightenment was an intellectual and philosophical movement that dominated the world of ideas in Europe during the 18th Century. The Enlightenment or the Century of Philosophy, played an important role in the time period 1700 to...

The Roman Soldier Marcus Aurelius once stated, “Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.” How one should act may seem like a very obvious answer: to be nice to others and to make...

Confucius Writings Confucianism draws from two principal texts The Mandate of Heaven and the Analects of Confucius. Kong Fuzi (551 – 479 BCE) fathered Confucianism which emerged in the sixth century BCE. However, as the political climate of china became turbulent (one refers to the...

Confucianism, being a way of life that can be viewed as a philosophy and sometimes as a religion has been followed by the Chinese for a period of about two millennia. Although the school of thought has been transformed over time, it remains to be...

The Age of Enlightenment The spirit of the Age of Enlightenment is embodied in our texts with examples of reason, equality for all, and rationality. Moliere’s Tartuffe and The Love Suicides at Amijima by Chikamatsu Mon’ Zaemon both show these characteristics through the characters and...

“Wide Open Spaces” by the Dixie Chicks is a clear example of a song with Transcendental lyrics. It is about a girl leaving home to achieve her goals in life, an example of the American dream. “A place in the clouds, a foundation of stone”...

Transcendentalism is a philosophical and social movement that was developed by different philosophers and first applied in New England. Transcendentalism is opposed and can be described as the direct opposite of rationalism. Individualism on the other hand is the ability to acquire freedom over self...

Utilitarianism is a philosophical view or theory about how we should evaluate a wide range of things that involve choices that people face. Among the things that can be evaluated are actions, laws, policies, character traits, and moral codes. Utilitarianism is a form of consequentialism...

In one’s lifetime, it is quite hard to meet a lasting friendship. Being a witness I beg to differ from those who believe that in a week your life can be positively impacted. I went into this situation very skeptical but willing to explore something...

The dilemma of whether or not the Death Penalty is ethical is major problem facing society today. The death penalty is given to those who commit crimes deemed by society and government as deserving the infliction of death with crimes such as murder earning this...

The Enlightenment was a period of intelligence and growth. During the Enligtenment, people started to believe that all men were free people. The declaration of rights of Man states “men are born free and are equal in rights.” This was a new concept of that...

After the long-standing power that religion had over people, the Enlightenment brought a stark change in culture. The once superstitious people of the time were now finding explanations for things that religion once explained, losing faith in the monarchy, and could use art not only...

Hilda “H.D” Doolittle uses heavily-allusive imagist poetry to redefine gender-roles and contradict the characterization of women as delicate and fragile. H.D pulls from ancient Greek literature to write strong not-traditionally-feminine women into her own current culture and re-inscribe traditionally feminine figures — Helen of Troy,...

Happiness is a concept that exemplifies the American dream. People go to any means by which to obtain the many varied materials and issues that induce pleasures in each individual, this emotion remain the ultimate goal. John Mills correctly advocated the pursuit of happiness and...

In an attempt to amend the traditional Benthamite hedonic calculus in which simply the quantity of pain or pleasure is considered, Mill, within his Utilitarianism, postulates an additional qualitative distinction resulting in the notion of a ‘higher’ or a ‘lower’ pleasure. Scholars have since questioned...

In Utilitarianism, John Stuart Mill advances the “greatest happiness principle,” which “holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to produce happiness…[and] by happiness is intended pleasure and the absence of pain.” [1] Mill supplements the “greatest happiness principle” with the argument in...

It is widely accepted that Utilitarianism, as a discipline, is not as unifying or as straightforward a moral theory as it might at first appear; as Crisp highlights, there are, in fact, ‘many variations, some of them subtle, others quite radical, between different forms of...