Essays on Philosophy

In “The Subjectivity of Values”, Mackie makes a case in favor of an error theory concerning objective morality. According to him, moral judgments essentially presuppose moral objectivity (Mackie 12). The essayist argues that moral objectivity necessitates two elements: the ability to unconditionally inspire people to act, and an intrinsic reason-giving...

THE ARTIST BARNETT NEWMAN COMMENTED:’AESTHETICS IS FOR ART WHAT ORNITHOLOGY IS FOR THE BIRDS.’ BASED ON IMMANUEL KANT’S PHILOSOPHY HOW WOULD HE RESPOND TO NEWMAN’S CLAIM? Aesthetics and the actual practice of art have been compared with the philosophy of science, modern physics and mathematics for several years. However, academic aesthetics...

In the paper “Desire and the Human Good,” Richard Kraut states that the theory used to defend pluralism, Desire Satisfaction Theory, is weak and cannot be able to provide the defense required, because of this, he offers an alternative.  In the paper, Kraut presents an argument against the Desire-Based Theories...

Philosophy explains the correlation between mind and body with some philosophers showing that there is dualism. Descartes’ position on mind and body dualism made his stance famous. Descartes believes that the mind and body exist as two separate substances that can exist apart (Heil 44). He believes that mind correlates...

Plato's Apology and Socrates' Trial Plato is famous for his teachings in philosophy, and also the lessons he recorded from Socrates and his teachings. One of the most famous passages about Socrates is the Apology, a statement by Socrates accounted by Plato about Socrates trial. It is necessary to understand the...

Theistic philosopher William Cage debated atheistic philosopher Peter Millican on the theme, Does God Exist? The debate was an enlightening and interesting one as it covered a wide range of topics each aimed at justifying their premise. The friendly nature of the debate was worth appreciating as no participant attacked...

The parties included in the article “Thinking Critically about Ethical Issues, Case 1, p. 60” are the Makah, Sea Shepherd, the US government and Progressive Animal Welfare Society (PAWS). The Makah is one of the Native American tribe whose culture is characterized by killing gray whales. The Sea Shepherd is...

The ethical conflict and justificatory structure of empirical knowledge The ethical conflict, in this case, is in regard to how one can determine whether any empirical belief is true. The argument that presents itself in this reading is in reference to the justificatory structure of empirical knowledge. Essentially, an empirical belief...

Inductive Validity Inductive validity involves inferences where the where the premises provide a basis for the conclusion but despite the existence of true premises in certain situations, the conclusion derived still turn out as false. To consider an argument as deductively valid then its conclusion must no factual claim to the...

The Trolley Problem The Trolley Problem presents an ethical conflict where a driver of a runaway trolley can only use a narrow track and can only be able to switch to another track. On one track, a one man is working, and five other men are working on the other road,...

Rene Descartes: Philosopher and Mathematician Rene Descartes was a French philosopher, scientist, and mathematician. He is famous for coming up with philosophical ideas explaining various phenomena and beliefs in the world. One of his remarkable ideas is popularly known as Descartes’ Method of doubt or Cartesian doubt. This paper describes the...

Philosophy began way before the fourth century when people started to seek rational explanations for phenomena which were not well explained by traditional beliefs. Some of these ancient philosophers included Heraclitus of Ephesus and Democritus of Abdera. However, Socrates was the first moral philosopher who sought the ethical explanation of...