Philosophers essays

... samples in this category

Essay examples
Essay topics

Peter Abelard: Short Biography

2 Pages 1008 Words
The outline of Abelard’s career is well known, largely because he described so much of it in his famous Historia calamitatum. He was born the son of a knight in Brittany south of the Loire River. He sacrificed his inheritance and the prospect of a military career in order to study philosophy, particularly logic, in France. He provoked bitter quarrels...

Essence of Economic Freedom By Plato

4 Pages 1837 Words
America is the freest nation in the world. A lot of people dream of getting into this country and have the same opportunities that Americans have. In other words, opportunities mean freedom, freedom of choice. The concept of freedom, as the right of choice, originated in ancient Greece, it has played a fundamental role in the development of people over...

Key Theories of Jacques Derrida

7 Pages 3067 Words
Jacques Derrida came to prominence in the late 1960s and early 1970s with the publication of Of Grammatology, Writing and Difference and Margins of Philosophy. Derrida’s name is inextricably linked with the term ‘deconstruction‘. Largely because of this, or rather because of some interpretations of what deconstruction is, he must be counted as one of the most controversial of contemporary...

Athens Executed Socrates: Two Axial Symbols at Odds

3 Pages 1205 Words
In Don Nardo’s The Trial of Socrates, Socrates is quoted as stating, “We should not be concerned about winning fame or political honors, but rather should try to gain more intelligence, to arrive at more knowledge of truth, and to develop finer character.” His devotion to virtue and good character during his life demonstrates just how axial Socrates was. Yet...

The Nature of Human Good

3 Pages 1216 Words
Virtue isn’t a feeling. Good men are not always great. Justice does not always seem just. There are various opinions and perspectives on what exactly makes a human ultimately great. Famous philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle have different approaches and views on how to discuss the nature of a human being. Specific qualities and distinctions come about in their...

Peter Abelard - an Individual Philosopher

2 Pages 804 Words
Peter Abelard (1079 - 1142) was a 12th Century French philosopher, theologian and logician of the Medieval period. He is mainly associated with the dominant Medieval movement of Scholasticism. He is probably most famous, however, for the story of his love affair with his student Héloïse which has become legendary as a romantic tale. Abelard was born in 1079 in...

Inferiority of Women According to Plato and Sophocles

2 Pages 720 Words
Sophocles, a renowned author from Athens, once stated that “to women silence is their proper grace,” which suggests that women are better off keeping their opinions to themselves and letting men hold all the power. The quote above reflects Athenian society’s view that women are not equivalent to men. The following essay details the biases held against women at the...

Plato and Aristotle's Meaning of the Good Life

3 Pages 1461 Words
What does it mean to live a good life? Two philosophers during the Classical period in Ancient Greece, Plato, and Aristotle had an opinion on precisely what consisted of the good life and how to go about accomplishing this goal. Plato and Aristotle both maintain a notion that happiness and well-being are the highest ambitions of moral thought and behavior,...

The Deathless Death of the Human Experience

3 Pages 1601 Words
In “A Score to Settle”, an action thriller film directed by Shawn Ku, the main character Frank, portrayed by Nicholas Cage, is an ex-con previously affiliated with a local crime cartel, who seeks retribution on his bosses after 19 years of wrongful imprisonment. When he realized he had been duped into taking the fall for his boss’ crime he became...

Views of Aristotle and Plato on Citizenship

2 Pages 740 Words
Reading about Aristotle and Plato has been very intellectually stimulating. Their views on what makes a person a citizen differ a lot but I believe that they are two sides of the same coin or two extremes on a spectrum. If I had to put the two on a political spectrum, I would put Plato on the left and Aristotle...

The Philosophy of Jeremy Bentham's Life

2 Pages 907 Words
Jeremy Bentham was an English philosopher, political radical and legal and social reformer of the early Modern period. He is best known as the founder of Utilitarianism, which he saw as the underlying moral principle on which his legal and social reforms should be based. Although his influence during his life was perhaps minor, his impact was greater in later...

Fearing The Unknown: Death in The Apology

3 Pages 1194 Words
Novelist Rossiter Worthington Raymond once said, “Life is eternal; and love is immortal; and death is only a horizon; and a horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight.” A horizon, by definition, is no more than the range of one’s knowledge or experience. With this explanation in mind, death is no longer a destination to be feared, but...

The World of Hannah Arendt

8 Pages 3611 Words
To enter the world of Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) is to encounter the political and moral catastrophes of the 20th century. Her life spanned the convulsions of two world wars, revolutions and civil wars, and events worse than war in which human lives were uprooted and destroyed on a scale never seen before. She lived through what she called 'dark times,'...

Friedrich Nietzsche's Thoughts About The Meaning of Life

2 Pages 1053 Words
Thousands of years ago our ancestors looked up into the starts and questioned their place in the universe. A Question we are still very familiar with and tend to think about very often. Despite all these technological advancements since the start of civilization, we are still burdened by the basic existential question about the meaning of life. We, as humans,...

Accepting Ubermensch Theory as a Part of Nihilism or As a Separate Identity

1 Page 404 Words
German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche wrote in his book ‘The Joyful Science’ that ‘God is dead’, and he was one of the first major philosophers to explore Nihilism.Nietzsche believed in the concept that Nihilism would eventually deeply affect and destroy potential moral and religious convictions. Nietzsche also believed that the European civilization lost hope in Christianity but was still abiding by...

Plato's View on Democracy

3 Pages 1401 Words
While Plato built on the idea of aristocracy as his method of governance in an ideal society (Kallipolis), he laid down heavy criticism towards democracy as a form of government in the process as well. In this essay, I will explore these arguments but first establishing what Plato’s conception of a democracy is. I will first discuss Plato’s assertion of...

Bertrand Russell's Philosophical Views

3 Pages 1149 Words
Bertrand Russell, british philosopher, is one of the greatest philosophers of the twentieth century. He is both a brilliant mathematician, a logician and a resolut moralist. He popularized the philosophy and was a left-wing political militant , close to socialism. Bertrand Russell was also a prolific writer. His bibliography is impressive. Throughout his life, Bertrand Russell has demonstrated an extraordinary...

A Comparative Analysis of the American and British Bills of Rights

1 Page 650 Words
Natural rights are allowed to all people that can't be denied or confined by any authority or person. Regular rights are usually supposed to be granted to individuals by 'Natural law.' In creating the laws, Jefferson followed the system of the English Declaration of rights, after the 'Glorious Revolution', 1689. Most researchers today conclude that Jefferson was inspired to write...

Analysis of Albert Camus' Idea of the Absurd in the Context of Physicians' Professional Activity

5 Pages 2401 Words
Viktor Frankyl, a holocaust survivor recounts his time in Aushwitz in his book, ‘Man’s Search for Meaning’. He found that while himself and others suffered through one of the greatest tribulations in history, they were still able to find meaning among the suffering and thus were building resilience against ungodly misery. Frankyl believed that by changing one’s attitude of suffering,...

The Idea of Nihilism

2 Pages 711 Words
Philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, claiming the death of God, forced the largest announcement upon the Western culture. The world that was built by faith, all of a sudden became irrelevant of all its value. Years of being reliant on a divine being to explain our existence, our society was advancing and discovering new information about the world we live in. In...

Albert Camus's The Myth of Sisyphus Essay

3 Pages 1039 Words
Introduction The renowned French philosopher Albert Camus wrote the provocative piece "The Myth of Sisyphus" in 1942. This ground-breaking study explores the complex philosophical issues of life's purpose and absurdity. The Greek tale of Sisyphus, who was doomed to carry a rock uphill for eternity to watch it roll back down, serves as the basis for the essay. Sisyphus represents...

Different Philosophical Views on Morality and Moral Values

5 Pages 2142 Words
Immanuel Kant has been one of the more famous and influential philosophers from the last few centuries. He has influenced the minds of other philosophers from the past or present with his ideas in philosophy. His major contributions in philosophy have been to the topics of metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and aesthetics to name just a few. He has been one...

Albert Camus’ Idea of the Absurd Life

1 Page 624 Words
Camus’ entire philosophy is based on the idea of the absurd life. He argued that life is essentially meaningless. He started his argument on the absurdity of life with the statement “There is only one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide”. For others, a life without meaning is a life not worth living, and this statement by Camus...

Albert Camus's and Friedrich Nietzsche's Views on the Meaning of Life

1 Page 468 Words
The ‘The Myth of Sisyphus’ and Nietzche’s concept of “the camel, lion, and child” discuss the meaning of life. Their topics debate whether life is meaningful and if it is, how does an individual find it. Both authors share their belief of existentialism. While Nietzsche explores the possibility of life having meaning, Camus proposes a new idea of accepting and...

Plato's Philosophical Approach to Education

2 Pages 823 Words
The value and meaning of education have surely changed over time. Having an education was often seen to be more of a privilege than what education stands for today. Many people see early education as preparation for adulthood, whilst further education as a means to develop one’s own understanding of a subject. Argued to be one of the most influential...

Love: Common Good, Conceptual Beauty, Virtue

3 Pages 1678 Words
Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, reverently known as the 14th Dalai Lama, has a lot to say about love. 14th Dalai Lama is the most important monk of the Gelug School of Tibetan Buddhism. He has sought refuge in India ever since the Tibetan uprising of 1959. For him, the need of love comes from ‘inter-dependence’, which he...

Join our 150k of happy users

  • Get original paper written according to your instructions
  • Save time for what matters most
Place an order

Fair Use Policy

EduBirdie considers academic integrity to be the essential part of the learning process and does not support any violation of the academic standards. Should you have any questions regarding our Fair Use Policy or become aware of any violations, please do not hesitate to contact us via support@edubirdie.com.

Check it out!