According to a German philosopher, Martin Heidegger (1889-1976), philosophy is vis-a-vis to the Western orientation. ... No traces will be found that a Chinese philosopher will discuss or debate about monism, plurality or idealism. ... In Western philosophy, the idea of progress emerged in the period of Enlightenment. Enlightenment thinkers speculated that the society and humankind could improve because of man's rationalilty. ...

• Word Count: 1275
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

From the times of ancient Greece, an era of thought and enlightenment emerged some of the greatest thinkers of all time, such as Socrates and Plato. ... Both philosophers put forth well-structured arguments with examples that seem to prove their case. ... Plato's vivid dialogues portray Socrates explaining that the "just man" is wise, that "he" is a philosopher, much like Plato and himself. ... I think that Plato's views may be a little biased in the context that the "just ruler" should be what he is, a philosopher. ... Plato will always remain one of the all time great philosoph...

• Word Count: 1528
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

The question of our existence in reality have been dwelling for years among philosophers. ... Descartes" divergent thinking left many philosophers questioning how reliable his method actually was. ... Nonetheless, both philosophers were trying to boil down to one thing: to discover an unblemished system to establishing the foundation of true knowledge. ... Ever since there were philosophers, the question whether God exists or not have been the question many philosophers tried to solve. ... In the end, philosophy is only a guide for us scholars to better understand how we think, but it i...

• Word Count: 1502
• Approx Pages: 6

This brings me to the major discussion of my paper; I interpret Plato's theory as a process of education, it's a journey to enlightenment. Plato said that the goal of the philosopher is to know the perfect forms and to instruct others in that knowledge. ... Now transformed into a Philosopher has left the cave completely, he will see real objects in the sunlight; the forms. ... So as an attribute to this and the insight of his theory, I deem that Plato worthy of his reputation as being one the most creative and influential philosophers of the western world. ...

• Word Count: 1717
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

There are many different ideas about what death actually is and what, if anything occurs thereafter. religions in general tend to propose some form of afterlife. there are, in contrast, philosophers and scientists who propose that there is nothing beyond death. ... The scientists and philosophers who see death as the end of existence, when both the connected mind and body perish, have been classified as materialists. ... For Buddhists, the supreme aim is to obtain enlightenment or nirvana. ...

• Word Count: 1698
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

The Similarity in Prometheus Bound and Plato's Apology on "Shame" According to the Oxford University Press, shame is defined as, "a feeling of humiliation or distress caused by awareness of wrong or foolish behavior," or, "a regrettable or unfortunate thing." In Prometheus bound, shame was defi...

• Word Count: 1376
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

Most people grow up in the shadow of at least one of the major religions, all of which suppose some kind of survival beyond death. They therefore usually take it for granted that we can "know what we are talking about" when we speak of immortality or less grandiosely of survival after death. We assu...

• Word Count: 1264
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

Concerning the debate between appearance and reality, we can look to a celebrated philosopher, who lived in the 4th century B.C.E, but is still read and studied today, this person being Plato. In book VII of The Republic, Plato puts into words the life of another great philosopher of the time, Socrates. ... He studied incessantly but still found no answer, until one day he found himself under the Bo-tree, or the Tree of Enlightenment. ...

• Word Count: 2119
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School