Jonathan Swift: Misguided and Incorrect Criticisms Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) is quite possibly the greatest satirist in the history of English literature, and is without question the most controversial. Infuriated by the moral degradation of society in the eighteenth century, Swift wrote a plet...

Cube vs. The Matrix Directors have been making movies about a higher power that is controlling people as far back as I have studied. This idea is the main point in both Cube and The Matrix. The directors of these movies use both theatrical ideas, and different film techniques to relay this conce...

Early Human Society Between the years of 1500 and 1789, was a period of growing societies, government, culture, and the values of human beings. Many great English philosophers during this time such as John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Thomas Hobbes wrote and collected their ideas that ...

New York Times, on Sunday, November 8, had an article on sentences addressed by a Federal judge to three members of the antigovernment Montana Freemen for conspiracy and fraud; the article stirred my memory and concern about this paper, as well as brought into play many of the dilemmas d...

New York Times, on Sunday, November 8, had an article on sentences addressed by a Federal judge to three members of the antigovernment Montana Freemen for conspiracy and fraud; the article stirred my memory and concern about this paper, as well as brought into play many of the di...

A belief that some races are by nature superior to others. This is the horrible definition of racism. People all over America are against racism and are every day, millions of Americans try to stop it. Even though the United States have programs such as affirmative action, we could never be diverse ...

Aristotle And The Natural Slave Aristotle's concept of the best possible regime has great influence on today's society. The concepts and ideas presented within Politics, relate to current issues pressing family relationships as well as human relations with one another. His belief that...

Mencius and Goodness Many books that we have read this semester have to do with Confucianism. Before taking this class, I had heard of Confucianism, but thought of it as a religion. I have come to understand that it is more of a philosophy or attitude that deals with human beings. It has to d...

Impossible Loneliness Often times I like to think of my self as being alone with my thoughts. Sometimes you have to get away and think about life and its ups and downs. But then again, in today's world can one really ever be completely alone and free? When looking over Donne's assert...

Analysis of an ideal government Niccolo Machiavelli, the author of a well known political essay, The Prince, was a republican in Italy when his country was divided into city-states. He wrote this essay in prison, and tried to inspire the ruler to defend his country and maintain his power. Confuci...

In this day and age millions of dollars are spent every day, whether it is spent by the government or by the people. Everyday the government must decide on how to spend the money, because of course, money doesn't grow on tress and there might be some things that are important than others; yet, ...

In the Gospel of St. Matthew, chapter 27 A-B, the people are given the traditional release of one prisoner. They have a choice, the just man Jesus Christ and the "notable" prisoner Barabbas. When asked which prisoner should be released the people responded, "Barabbas." (convinced...

Introduction to Philosophy Hobbes argues that, in the absence of social condition, every action we perform, no matter how charitable or benevolent, is done for reasons which are ultimately self-serving. For example, when I donate to charity, I am actually taking delight in demonstrating my powers....

The Fears of Cloning Because of cultural beliefs, morals, religion, and common ethics cloning has become a major controversy all in itself. In society what some see as scientific advances, others view as governmental control and that stirs up mixed feelings about cloning. What is cloning? Clonin...

Imagine The New York Times headline reading "Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition Banned!!" If the pro-censorship/anti-porn sector of our society has its way, this headline may come true. Some of the pro-censorship supporters believe that women posing provacatively in bathing suits should be cons...

Death Penalty: Target for Aggression "An eye for an eye only makes the whole world blind." - Mahatma Gandhi In modern civilization, there exists the concept of punishment for committing a crime. This concept began with the earliest forms of civilization and has gr...

In the Gospel of St. Matthew, chapter 27 A-B, the people are given the traditional release of one prisoner. They have a choice, the just man Jesus Christ and the "notable" prisoner Barabbas. When asked which prisoner should be released the people responded, "Barabbas."...

Alpha and Omega of Active Compassion Have you ever walked down a crowded city street and looked down to see a homeless man stretching out his soiled hand in hopes of a measly dollar? As human beings, are we obligated to give this man our earning? And just how much do we give him? A dollar...

Symbolism is the practice of investing things with a symbolic meaning, or by expressing the invisible or intangible by means of visible or sensuous representations; in other words, discussing or explaining a broader, more general topic by linking it symbolically with a specific event in a literary w...

Is This Really the Future of Transplants?? After a baby is conceived and has made it through the fallopian tube it becomes an outer shell of cells with an attached inner group of cells. When this has happened it has reached the blastocyst stage. In this stage the outer cells nourish and provide pro...

Gun Control Before we discussed gun control in class, I thought that gun control was the perfect solution to crime. But is it? After spending many days in class debating gun control, I realized that there is much more to the subject than I thought. Many new questions arose in my head like:...

The culture of ancient Greece reflects the importance of the individual in society in many different ways. The Greeks used art, philosophy, and even their system of government to convey their beliefs in the importance of one single man in a society. Greek artists showed value for the ind...

Blindly obeying authority often results in disobedience to one's personal morality. Since rules were established and exist for the common interests of the general population, some would say adhering to the rules is obedient. However, when rules conflict with people's morals, one has the right, an...

Utilitarianism The main idea of utilitarianism, according to Adam Morton's book Philosophy in Practice is to follow the action that "brings about the greatest amount of pleasure or the least amount of pain." This idea at first seems simple but when applied to some examples the edg...

If someone were to ask what morality is, what would one say? Some may think of it as integrity and decency, and others may see it as honesty and candor. However, by contrasting what was moral, and immoral in the past, one can clearly see that people's concept of morality changes over time. Unde...