"Humanitarian intervention, which is ruled out by realism and the morality of states, can only be justified by a cosmopolitan morality." Discuss.

Lucy White War, Peace and International Ethics Tutor: Mr. Barry Holden Spring 2001 Essay 2: "Humanitarian intervention, which is ruled out by realism and the morality of states, can only be justified by a cosmopolitan morality." Discuss. The concept of humanitarian intervention has been an issue in world politics ever since the Cold War. Since the Gulf War it has been argued1 that there is a need for increased thought about when humanitarian intervention is justifiable. One of the main arguments against the idea of humanitarian intervention is that it contradicts the concept of the sovereignty of states. The leading characteristic of the world political scene in recent centuries is the place of the sovereign state as its chief component. By definition, sovereignty denotes complete exclusion of other states from a state's domestic affairs. Intervention by other states into those affairs thus challenges the essential nature of a state and has consequently always been regarded as a hostile act. Nevertheless intervention has in practice been a common feature of international politics. This essay will discuss whether humanitarian intervention can be justified in relation to the morality of states, realism and cosmopolitan morality. It is widely accepted that there is a clear overlap between human rights and the justification of humanitarian intervention. Most say that,

  • Word count: 2609
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Religious Studies & Philosophy
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"If Science never proves anything right, why do we trust it so much?"

"If Science never proves anything right, why do we trust it so much?" To the majority of the Western World, Science can be called upon when something cannot be explained in straight forward means. Science over the past has had the ability to explain creation, disease and death, just to name a handful. Unfortunately, humans do not have the ability to answer things beyond doubt totally, and there is always some ambiguity in all of the arguments put forward, this stands in science just as much as any other area. In this case, the word proves refers to an inductive proof which is predominantly found in the areas of science. Inductive proof is when the proof is based on experience and is not simply an idea. Inductive proof is only probable which is its weakness, opposed to deductive proof which is certain as it is a tautological argument. 'Right' in this case is what could be seen as truth. Truth is a misused word but it can be meant to mean, three types of truth, correspondent, coherent or pragmatic. In this case the truth is of the correspondent type because it is widely accepted and as is not necessarily truthful to an extent to be considered totally true. 'Trust' in this case is that of faith and reason. There is a difference because faith can be considered believing in something that is not necessarily right. Faith is usually referred to as something which people just

  • Word count: 1048
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Religious Studies & Philosophy
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Describe three characteristics of mental states which are held to distinguish them from physical states. Asses the view that the characteristics of mental states make it impossible for those states to be within the physical world.

Describe three characteristics of mental states which are held to distinguish them from physical states. Asses the view that the characteristics of mental states make it impossible for those states to be within the physical world. There are both physical and mental states going on in space and time. We can always locate physical things, events and processes-they take place somewhere. Unlike physical states, mental states do not appear in physical space. Mental states are not visible to the public world and are only real in the sense that they occur in your experience. Physical objects, processes and events are all publicly observable while mental states are private to the individual and cannot be experienced by anyone other than the experiencer. Mental states are known from direct or immediate acquaintance. Intentionality is the feature whereby many mental states posses a representational content. They seem to be about or directed upon other states of affairs. Some intentional states, such as beliefs, portray how the world actually is. If a the world is as a belief represents it as being, the belief is true, otherwise it is false. Other intentional states, such as desires and intentions, represents how a person wants the world to be. Desires and intentions that do not succeed in bringing about the state of affairs at which they are aimed are frustrated or unfulfilled.

  • Word count: 555
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Religious Studies & Philosophy
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Explain Plato's concept of the soul and its relationship to the body.

Explain Plato's concept of the soul and its relationship to the body. A commonly studied topic in Philosophy is the study of the relationship between the internal and external body; that is to say, the distinction between the body and the soul. There are three basic 'Theories of the Self.' 'Self=internal,' 'self=unity of internal and external,' and 'self as a material body.' The first Theory of Self ('self = internal') is known as the dualist approach, the second ('self = unity of internal and external') is known as a psychosomatic or monist approach. Plato was a dualist. That is to say he believed that every human being is made up of two substances: The physical body that belongs to the material world. It is through this body that we are able to experience and sense things, and thus form opinions. And the mind, which is a far superior thing that belongs to the 'World of the Forms,' it is through the mind that we can achieve true knowledge, rather than from the basic opinions that our physical bodies produce. These two components belong to two different worlds: The World of Appearances and the World of the Forms. Since Plato thought less highly of the world of Appearances (as it symbolizes the limited world as described in his allegory of the cave), Plato believed that as the body was part of the World of Appearances, we should not be slaves to its urges. However, he

  • Word count: 577
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Religious Studies & Philosophy
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"Actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness."

Terence Landman Monday 22 August 5pm Student Number: I.T.P. Essay. Term 3 605L2621 "Actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness" In this academic essay there will be an in depth look at the words of Mill, in terms of actions and their labels of either right and wrong, and those connotations to happiness and, so to speak the reverse of happiness. There will be an attempt through various different channels, to illustrate the absurdity of utilitarianism, in the sense of its mere provisional assessment of promoting happiness. Furthermore this essay will also emphasize the fact that happiness is subjective and the ripple effects this would have on the utilitarian theory. Lastly this essay will deal with the complications utilitarianism might have on an individual's fundamental rights and the fact that though it is sometimes our duty, in terms of moral 'rights' to act in accordance to a utilitarian, this doesn't mean that we need adopt the principle or be forced to always adhere to its policies. In chapter two, 'What Utilitarianism is', Mill makes the statement and claim that morality is based on the foundations that the right thing to do on any occasion is that which aims to give the maximum happiness for all concerned: "... Actions are right in proportion, as they tend to

  • Word count: 1573
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Religious Studies & Philosophy
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"Do you agree that Cathy O'Dowd and here fellow mountaineers had no choice but to leave Fran "to die"?"

"Don't leave me here to die" "Do you agree that Cathy O'Dowd and here fellow mountaineers had no choice but to leave Fran "to die"?" In the newspaper article Cathy O'Dowd clearly tries to make the reader believe that she did the right thing. She identifies this in the sub heading "she faced a brutal choice: to risk her own life in a doomed rescue", noticeably the word "doomed" shows there was a severe risk of danger in any rescue attempt. I believe that in a way writing this article has allowed Cathy O'Dowd to exorcise some of her guilt, Cathy wants to explain her experience in full and get the reader to empathise with her. Finally, it may also be possible that Cathy wants to show the story in a feminine perspective. The article does undoubtedly give many good reasons why not to attempt to save Fran. But I am not completely shore that they had "no choice but to leave Fran". The fact that there were nine people on the mountain and that together they couldn't even try to help rescue Fran is rather peculiar. I don't know what others would do, but I would at least try to help, rather than to just leave her "to die". Also, Cathy states that they had been with Fran "for nearly an hour" pondering over what to do, this completely wastes time and any chances of saving her. Cathy is in a moral dilemma, and I believe the moral thing to do would be to attempt a rescue. The three

  • Word count: 394
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Religious Studies & Philosophy
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Explain Plato's metaphor of shadows in the analogy of the cave.

The Analogy of the Cave Luke Hodgkinson a) Explain Plato's metaphor of shadows in the analogy of the cave. In the analogy of the cave Plato puts forward the theory that a group of men (representing the vast majority of mankind) are captured at birth and chained in a cave, so they can only look at a wall. Behind them, the captors build a fire and then walk in front of the fire on a road running perpendicular within the cave so that shadows are cast on that wall. The captives can only see the shadows on the wall, for their heads are fastened so that they cannot turn around. The captors carry by various birds, animals and objects, making noises whilst doing this, and the prisoners think the shadows are making these sounds, and start giving names to the different shadows, believing they are the real objects, for they know nothing of the real objects. The captives compete with one another, and try to remember the order in which the shadows will appear, These shadows represent the illusion of the particulars; they represent everyday life, and the way most people see it; at face value and not truly understanding the meaning of it, nor in fact trying to, the cave is the physical, changing world that we accept at face value everyday. A freed prisoner would be able to see beyond this illusion, after adjusting his eyes to the brighter light, as he can see the real objects being

  • Word count: 1083
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Religious Studies & Philosophy
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Outline the teleological argument for the existence of God.

The Teleological Argument Q: Outline the teleological argument for the existence of God. The Teleological argument is the oldest known and arguably most influential and widely accepted argument for the existence of God. The argument first appears in Plato's Timaeus, written over two thousand years ago and appears on numerous occasions in a number of different expositions up to the present day, the most famous of which being Thomas Aquinas' fifth way, and more recently, that of William Paley in his natural theology written in 1802. The Teleological Argument is an a posteriori argument, i.e. one based on knowledge of the phenomenal world (as opposed to an a priori argument, which is based independently of experience). Paley initiates his argument with the simple analogy of the watch. We are asked to imagine walking along and finding a watch in an isolated, deserted place. Paley claims that if we were to examine the watch we would notice its complicated and intricate workings, and from this would assert that some intelligent designer has designed it. The basic premise is that design (i.e. the watch) implies a designer (e.g. a human). This, Paley holds, is analogous to the world. The watch represents the world; its complex and intricate workings representing those of nature, for example the way that all animals are so well adapted to their surroundings. Just as the

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Religious Studies & Philosophy
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Religion and Morality

Religion and Morality (a) Examine the reasons for the view that morality is based upon religion. Many people believe that morality is based upon religion and based on the rules written in the Bible and other holy books. Although, some say that religion is completely opposed to morality and it is wrong to mix the two. Dostoevsky argued that 'religion provides people with a reason to be moral because if there were no God everything would be permitted.' Meaning that there is no point to morality if God didn't set the moral values in the first place. But we could also say that we only behave morally because we are scared of God: 'responsibility and guilt point to God' which is not the right way to think about doing good. We shouldn't behave well in the hopes of a reward or because we are scared, we should do good things because we want to. The Divine Command Theory tells us that our morals are set by a divine power: God. This means everything that God tells us is moral and that we should not judge this as it is the word of God, and God's word is good. But surely, if we are just doing what God says, this takes away our free will, which God gave us, and it undermines the basis of Christianity, when God has said he wants us to choose him rather than to be forced to follow him. Plato's Euthyphro Dilemma also questions whether or not morality is dependent on religion. 'Is 'x' good

  • Word count: 1045
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Religious Studies & Philosophy
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Sartre is a very strong proponent of strong determinism, that is, he does not merit any sort of determinism at all when considering human action.

Prompt: Sartre is a very strong proponent of strong determinism, that is, he does not merit any sort of determinism at all when considering human action. I present the case for a minimal determinism that involves restriction to choices between limited options, as determined by both the mental and physical worlds. We do not live our lives in despair, constantly worrying about what may happen unexpectedly. For many people, life does seem like something that we control handedly. Life seems to be something we can direct, or at least influence. Supposing there are circumstances beyond our control, they rarely seem to present us a problem; we live contently believing that we are at least partly responsible for our fates. Seldom do we question the truth in this, of whether or not we have some say in the direction of our lives. Some would argue this is not so. Some of these people would happen to look at a deity or hard sciences to lead us to a cogent determined purpose. The fact remains that whether or not purpose lies in causality, a chain of events full of causes and effects may be explained perfectly if we had the knowledge. Determinists would argue that our free will is simply an illusion and we are deluding ourselves if we believe we have control. Sartre would argue that even the most seemingly random of occurrences are in fact entirely our fault; no matter what we

  • Word count: 3817
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Religious Studies & Philosophy
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