Beauty and Women Since the beginning of man and through the rise and fall of many different civilizations there have been differences of opinion on what makes someone beautiful, or more importantly what characteristics of women are attractive to men. The answer to this question is perhaps the b...

"Conscience created or innate" To what extent do you think you are dictated by your surroundings and your up-bringing? Do you claim your opinions to be your own? Do you trust your logic and your conscience? These are questions that are seldom asked by ourselves or by others. In fac...

The Question of Certainty We are living in a world where there are various theories, views and opinions about many different issues. These theories, views and opinions are changing, as everyday new scientific discoveries are made and new theories conducted. Consequently, our knowledge and what we ...

Descartes second consideration on the existence of God relies on his belief of the certainty of clear and distinct perceptions. In the meditations prior to meditation five Descartes emphasized the truth evoked by everything which is clearly and distinctly perceived. Descartes is able to theorize tha...

Explication of "Sunday Morning" Robert Pasell In Wallace Steven's poem, "Sunday Morning" the idea of religion as it relates to reality is explored through the mind of a woman. It is not through the woman's 'religious voice', but the voice of agnosticism, in her mind, that ...

In "Walking," Thoreau uses wild and religious references to illustrate his thoughts about true nature. Thoreau compares the toxic city culture to pure nature through these citations. The writing clarifies nature as a place of study, where people's true feelings emerge. Lastly, Thoreau elucidate...

What is good, and what is evil? Both are seemingly easy words to define, yet if you ask anyone on the street, you likely will not receive a straight or clear answer. I started to question my definition of good and evil a few days ago, and I now have come to a few conclusions. As a premise, I want ...

James Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues", has a narrator that attributes to the story its unique pulse. The story consists of two brothers who haven't seen each other in sometime. Sonny, one of the two brothers, gets incarcerated for selling and using heroin. Sonny's brother fin...

When I was a child I viewed everything from a child's point of view. If I was afraid of the dark it was because I believed that monsters dwelled under my bed and in my closets. If I was afraid of loud noises it is because I believed with all my little heart that they led to danger. As I aged an...

Divisible Bodies and the Search for Substantial Unity In his meditations, Des Cartes posits that extension is the essential property of substantive bodies. In analyzing of the malleable properties of wax, he claims, "I would not be making a correct judgment about the nature of wax unless I bel...

Descartes and Nietzsche both state with the individual, but in different ways and senses. Descartes starts his investigation of what can be known with certainty with the thought experiments of the individual, namely, the individual perceiver and thinker, namely, himself. Nietzsche, is concerned wit...

"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one." ~Albert Einstein Throughout time, man has taken for granted, that his reality and things that have appeared true, are real. At one point man has ventured to challenge those things asking, what is reality? What is real? What is truth o...

Socrates believes that the everyday world is an illusion compared to the world of knowledge. People are often too distracted by money and materialistic things to appreciate truth and reality. Socrates says, "the capacity for knowledge is innate in each man's mind." This exemplifies th...

Nothing has ever progressed without building upon the less advanced that existed before it. Everything needs a step upon which to climb and build the next level, continuing forever an endless staircase. Knowledge is no exception, in that it too requires building upon the fundamentals in order to ...

Descartes and Socrates -- What Knowledge Is Two Approaches to Knowledge The concept of knowledge, what it is, what it means, and how it is gained, has been debated for literally centuries. Philosophers, historians, social scientists have questioned the components of knowledge and its acquisiti...

Fulcrum Celestial sat with about two-dozen of her best friends. She was dressed head to toe in the latest gear. Her shoes were black patent boots with a slight heel and glistened silver in the bright artificial light. Her silver pants had a slight flare to them, flowing around her boots and ...

Individuals who possess the ability to lead the thought patterns of the masses shape culture and society and are responsible for the way philosophy is viewed and lived presently. A figure in the history of classical Greek philosophy is Aristotle. Some of his major contributions to Western philosop...

Edgar Allan Poe's The Black Cat and The Tell Tale Heart are the first of his stories that are psychological studies of domestic violence and guilt (Silverman 205). Both written in first person narrative, they are stories of mad men.. who say they aren't.. and then proceed to do things t...