"We recognize pleasure as the first good innate in us, and from pleasure we begin every act of choice and avoidance, and to pleasure we return again, using the feeling as the standard by which we judge every good." ... He states that the "highest good must be something final" (Aristotle). ... Aristotle believes that eudemonia, (happiness in a life of activity governed by reason) is the highest pleasure, whereas the philosopher Sigmund Freud believes that sex is the highest form of pleasure. ... Although this idea may seem a little far fetched at first, take a look at society today and think...

• Word Count: 872
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography

Three of the most influential Greek philosophers were Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. ... Socrates was a sort of bridge to Plato and Aristotle. ... He merely questions the ideas of others, and reasons why they are incorrect. ... By thought, he means using the beliefs as "hypotheses" and "first principles" in order to reach a conclusion. However, when Plato mentions understanding, he means "that which reason itself grasps by the power of the dialectic. ...

• Word Count: 726
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

In reply to this, I will argue that using particular methods of reasoning, such as dialectic, ensures the validity of reasons, and hence, why philosophical inquiry is based on the primacy of reason.   To begin with, reasoning can help us to reach higher levels of understanding, particularly when it is approached through Aristotle's dialectic method. ... Despite this argument, I still consider reason to be a solid foundation for philosophical inquiry as it is assumed when one reasons for philosophy, they use a logical form of reason ( which is considered  as the correct form of reason...

• Word Count: 839
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

According to Immanuel Kant, father of the morality of practical reason, a good will is good in itself. ... His morality of practical reason insists that morality can only be found through an examination of reason. ... Believing that the only good reason for doing the 'right thing' was because of duty. ... Providing us with another alternative for ethical reasoning is Aristotle's formulation of 'virtue ethics'. Aristotle considers what the ultimate goal of a worthwhile human life should be. ...

• Word Count: 1059
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

If I had something to defend myself, like a gun, I would use it to the best of my ability to protect myself from any harm. ... There are four reasons why we should behave justly. 1) To avoid punishment. ... Aristotle believes that the good life can only be lived as a public life. Plato emphasis on empirical observations is that knowledge is good, and Aristotle's emphasis is you can learn about ethics and human behavior by observing human behavior. The philosophies of Plato, Aristotle, and St. ...

• Word Count: 715
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

Using absurdist and deontological ethics, I wish to prove that although Hume's argument is valid, the argument is not fundamentally sound. ... Hume contrasts the act of suicide with taking medicine that may alter our life's span in the long run; since taking medicine is not impious, either is committing suicide for a valid reason. ... Aristotle wrote that "Now when a person kills himself in a fit of anger, he acts voluntarily in violation of right reason; and that the law does not permit. ... Surely toward the state, not toward himself" (Aristotle: XI). ... Hume understan...

• Word Count: 1032
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Does one rely more on reason and the other on empiricism? ... When you read a book on Aristotle, do you then know him? If you take classes on using computers, do you then know all there is to know about computers? ... Learning is merely an organizational tool that allows us to compartmentalize the experiences we will later use in a variety of other situations. ...

• Word Count: 520
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

Though the reason Thales chose this element cannot be answered with sureness, Aristotle says that Thales "probably derived his opinion from observing that the nutriment of all things is moist, and that even actual heat is generated therefrom, and that animal life is sustained by water... and from the fact that the sees of all things possess a moist nature, and that water is a first principle of all things that are humid." ... Out of the four main elements used in the Presocratic era (earth, air, fire, and water), water is the only one that can interchange between all three states. ... With o...

• Word Count: 630
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Kant and the Theory of Human Knowledge Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) is generally recognized as the greatest philosopher since Plato and Aristotle. ... Kant repeatedly expressed his faith in the free democratic use of reason to examine everything, however traditional, authoritative, or sacred. ... Kant also puts stress on reason. ... A man is endowed with the capacity for reason, and can make himself a rational animal, by first; preserving himself and his species; secondly, trains, instructs, and educates is species for domestic society; thirdly, he governs it as a systematic whole a...

• Word Count: 868
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

Take it or leave it – draw any lessons you like from it – that is my account of things as they are – if it has any value to you as evidence or teaching, use it, but that is not my business: I have given you my rendering, my account, my vision, my dream, my illusion – call it what you will. ... Aristotle, a student of Plato once said in the defence of art: "The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.... If that were its only purpose, it would have no reason to exist. ... Artists take humanity beyond the limitat...

• Word Count: 1025
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School