Rousseau's, "The Social Contract", published in 1762 after the success of his of several of his previous works, became one of the most influential pieces of abstract political thought in Western tradition. Many historians have in fact argued that Rousseau's abstract theories on t...

In Dostoevsky's work, the Inquisitor presents his case with many wordy arguments. He cleverly discusses the issue of Catholicism, the freedom inherent in oppression and the joy and peace of submission to the iron will of another. The Inquisitor speaks from the position of a dictator; an entit...

The problem of 'free will' and the responsibility for exercising 'free will' have been among the central issues of philosophical and religious thought since ancient times. In Christian theology, St. Augustine, Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Soren Kierkegaard among others have ...

Who is God? A theme that Gerard Hopkins seems to have spent his life exploring and attempting to answer through his poetry. By exploring nature around him, Hopkins adds insight to God's relationship with and essential role to man-- that of creator and redeemer. In his poem "Windhover&quo...

The speeches of Moloch, Belial, Mammon, and Beelzebub represent particular ways of looking at life. Milton derived these views from I John 2:15 and 16 which says, "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the w...

The Role of Fate in Beowulf The battle between fate and free will produces a lopsided victory by fate in Beowulf. A continuous reference is directed to fate by context as well as in elements of theme, plot, and character. The most prominent relation to fate is seen with Beowulf. From his earl...

Perfume: The Story Of A Murderer, written by Patrick Süskind, is a novel based in 18th century France that explores the concept that olfactory sense as sovereign over any other factor of life, and is the channel towards supremacy. The protagonist, Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, possesses a superhuma...

Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince examines the nature of power and his views of power in the leadership that he observed in his time. Machiavelli discusses power over the people, dictatorial power, and the power with the people. The struggle to retain, hold, and apply one power is human nature and ...

God is Dead? My grasp of Nietzsche's statement "God is dead" fluctuates between an almost enlightened comprehension of what he means to a virtual stupor of confusion. However, during my more lucid moments of understanding(which I like to believe outweigh the moments of stuporhood...

The Danger in Self-Sacrifice In his second novel, To a God Unknown, John Steinbeck explores his protagonist's relationship with and worship of the land. While the use of the land as a character in itself is nothing unusual in Steinbeck's work, this novel is somewhat different in that it explores...

Alfie Johnson 3/20/00 Addiction and Grace I think Dr. Gerald may have done a marvelous job as to the writing and format of his book Addiction and Grace. As a psychiatrist and teacher with years of experience, I totally agree with his statement that all human beings have an inborn desire of ...

Christianity and Islam: Salvation It is beyond doubt that Christianity and Islam have many similarities. Yet each maintains its own unique characters which distinct one from the other. Both religions belong to the monotheistic family. Christian and Muslim believe only in one God, the creator an...

What is a Human Being? There are three main viewpoints in argument on what a human being is. Those viewpoints are empirical, rational and metaphorical. Empiricists base their views on observation and experimentation. Rationalists rely on reason as the best guide for belief and action. A me...

The ancient Mediterranean world, as well as some modern primitive societies, maintained a strong belief in the reality of a spirit world which continually interacted with the human world (Pilch, 20). They populated their surroundings with gods and goddesses of various natures in order to come to ...

A close examination of the Bible reveals that Moses' accomplishments are much more grandiose/ambitious than those of Abraham. By contrast, one could dispute this claim with the notion that Moses and Abraham have the same basic mission from God, and the same basic relationship with God: they are bot...

Putting the Allegory of the Cave into my own words seems comparable to the Christian idea of using the lord's name in vain. First, I'd like to introduce a phenomenon I have observed throughout my life time. I call it soul resonance. Bear with me here. When two objects emit sympathetic vibrati...

Putting the Allegory of the Cave into my own words seems comparable to the Christian idea of using the lord's name in vain. First, I'd like to introduce a phenomenon I have observed throughout my life time. I call it soul resonance. Bear with me here. When two objects emit sympathetic vibration...

In our world today there are many different religions, Christianity being the most widely spread of them all. In Christianity there are numerous numbers of denominations all claiming to believe in the same god, but having different stances on certain issues. Each denomination stands firm on the ...

n the history of the play's criticism, the problem of its genre produced the most controversy. I submit here that this critical conflict is based on confusion: the discourse meaning (textual) and the interpretative meaning (contextual) have been mistakenly separated. I regard the monologic understa...

Religion In examining the concept of monotheism in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions, two major points of reference need to be remembered. First, and foremost, that all three of these religions worship the same God, that being the God of Abraham. . Second, it is equally i...

Myths from many different cultures seem to tell the same story. Themes from Babylonian myth can be seen in Egyptian stories; elements of Christian theology are evident in some ancient Chinese texts, and so on. How is this possible? How can cultures that have had little physical contact present us wi...

Contemporary atheism is a positive and new humanism trying to re-found and re-construct the entire human universe of thought and values. It shows the possible abuses of religion and points out all concepts of God are only imperfect means to see him. What they say about God couldn't possibly be. A...

"The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature,"...