In Plato's Crito, is there a valid 'agreement' between Socrates and the City of Athens, as Socrates claims? Would such an agreement justify Socrates' decision?

Darshan Sanghrajka MP1001 - History of Ethics Tutor: Andrew Fischer Date: Friday, 1st November 2002 Words - 1200 In Plato's Crito, is there a valid 'agreement' between Socrates and the City of Athens, as Socrates claims? Would such an agreement justify Socrates' decision? In Plato's Crito, Socrates has been sentenced to death for corrupting the youth of Athens with teachings of philosophy. In it, Socrates argues that he cannot escape prison because he would be breaking his tacit agreement with the City of Athens. What follows, is a discussion of whether there is such a valid agreement and consequently, whether such an agreement would justify Socrates' decision to face death. I will argue that such a tacit agreement does indeed exist, be it purely hypothetical and not constitutional but would not justify Socrates' decision to die. The agreement has inherent flaws which actually ought to justify him fleeing but it is only his own firm beliefs that persuade him to adhere to the agreement, flawed as it may be. First, the agreement itself needs to be described. Socrates argues by staying in Athens, there is a tacit agreement between him and the State, that he should either obey the laws or change them through persuasion. It is not written down but implicit, by his decision to remain in Athens. An illustration might help explain this; when we get into a taxi, we don't need

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Historical and Philosophical studies
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Ethical Egoism

PY1105 Matriculation No: 100013701 Tutor: Beth Curzon-Edwards Question 3; "It is each person's duty to do what is in his or her own best interests." Can this principle provide the basis for morality? Discuss. I hereby declare that the attached piece of written work is my own work and that I have not reproduced, without acknowledgement, the work of another. Essay 1: Self-interest as a basis for Morality The statement "it is each person's duty to do what is in his or her best interests" cannot provide the basis for morality because it has no justification for splitting the world up into two categories (ourselves and others) and is unable to discern conflicts of interest. This essay is intended as a discussion of the arguments both for and against codes of self-interest as morality through a discussion of Ethical Egoism and what its universalisation naturally leads to; the idea of social contract. Ultimately, universalised self-interest cannot provide a moral foundation as it is unacceptably arbitrary- just as our lives are improved by freedom to create, so we value the lives of others to do the same, as products of each can be exchanged to mutual benefit. Duty is understood as every rational individuals moral obligation, best interest as having both immediate and long-term benefits to an individual, and morality refers to a code of conduct that, given specified

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Historical and Philosophical studies
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“In nova fert animus mutatus dicere formas corpora;”

"In nova fert animus mutatus dicere formas corpora;" For transformation to occur there must be a catalyst, a force so powerful that it has the ability to change the psychological as well as the physical human form. This catalyst is desire. Desire to transform chaos into order set the stage for the stories of creation. Desire to gain access to more food is the foundation of evolutionism. Desire to eat the forbidden fruit is thought to be the fall of man, thus transforming the world from a pristine paradise to a moral battleground. Since the beginning of time, our world and its inhabitants have been metamorphosed according to this natural law of desire. The civilization of ancient Greece was one of male dominated hierarchy and rigid social order. In The Bacchae, Euripides brilliantly demonstrates the terrible ramifications brought about by denying the nature of human existence, the struggle between rational morality and uncontrolled passion. Dionysus is the god of wine, dance, excess, savagery and ecstasy, he appeals to the inner desires of mankind and encourages people to experience life without restrictions. Euripides uses him as the embodiment of all that the Hellenistic society feared: the irrational, the primal, the exotic, the Other. His followers retreat to the woods where they have orgiastic festivals, feed upon livestock that they have ripped apart with their bare

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Historical and Philosophical studies
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How scientific were the theories of the Presocratics?

How scientific were the theories of the Presocratics? ' The theories of the Presocratics are mainly seen as philosophical, however there is an element within some of their thought which can be interpreted as scientific. In this essay I propose to argue that, although the scientific aspect of their thinking cannot be understood in the same way as modern science, it should be regarded as an important first step towards scientific investigation as we know it today. For the purpose of this essay I will focus upon the Presocratic philosophers whose work exhibits the most evidence of scientific thought. These are the Ionians, the Pluralists and the Atomists. How scientific the theories of the Presocratics are depends on what is meant by the term "scientific". According to a contemporary definition of science the Presocratics' ideas look very unscientific. Science today is viewed as the; "'"Systematic study of the nature and behaviour of the material and physical universe, based on observation, experiment, and measurement, and the formulation of laws to describe these facts in general terms""' (Collins English Dictionary). Presocratic theories fail to meet this criterion. Their pronouncements are cast in a dogmatic form, not as tentative hypotheses whose fate is decided by systematic experiment. Indeed there is little evidence to suggest that many of the Presocratics' theories are

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Historical and Philosophical studies
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Aristotle’s Account of Virtue.

ARISTOTLE'S ACCOUNT OF VIRTUE Aristotle's Nichomachean ethics is largely concerned with achieving the highest good. To achieve the highest good, which we call happiness, he argues that we need virtue. In this paper, I will examine what virtue consists in, and within that section explore how virtue is related to reason. After that, I will discuss Aristotle's ideas about how to achieve virtue. Finally, I will present a criticism of Aristotle's view on habituation and explain why I find it to be unreasonable. Aristotle begins his explanation of virtue by stating that we are searching virtue of the soul, not of the body, since happiness (which is what we are seeking) is an activity of the soul. He then says that there are two divisible parts of the soul, the part with reason and the non-rational part (1102a-30). Within the non-rational part lies two more parts: a plantlike, and a more human part. The plant-like part is concerned with things like nutrition and growth, and is not at all governed by reason. The more human part, however, which is concerned with appetites and simple desires, listens to and obeys reason. Since Aristotle closely ties reason with virtue, he decided to focus mainly on this, more human, part. Aristotle finds it necessary to divide this more human part into another two parts, one, which consists of reason in itself, and the other which listens to reason

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Historical and Philosophical studies
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Kierkegaard's notions of Risk, Faith, Passion, & Truth

Kierkegaard's notions of Risk, Faith, Passion, & Truth Soren Kierkegaard puts forth a unique form of existentialism. He chooses to use the questions of subjectivity, objectivity, and the search for truth, in existentialist thought as a means for the justification of his faith. Through this he comes up with one of the purest definitions of what faith really is. The question is then; can he through his discussion of 'the paradox of truth' be susceptible to Nietzschian relativism, given this conception? The conclusion is that it is not; Kierkegaard's definition requires a passionate belief in something. One cannot believe that everything is relative, in true Nietzschian style, and hold a passionate belief in a specific something at the same time. 'The Paradox of Truth' is one of the base conceptions in Kierkegaard's theoretical framework and is core to his conceptions of faith and risk. "A paradox results from the relationship between the eternal (the essential truth) and the existing individual."[1] This is expanded to "The Ultimate paradox is: That the eternal truth has come into being in time, (the infinite has become finite). To believe this paradox (the Absurd) is to be in the highest state of truth. Christianity has declared itself to be the eternal essential truth which has come onto being in time; it has proclaimed itself as the paradox, and it has required of the

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Historical and Philosophical studies
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Justification and discussion of moral relativism

B) 'Moral relativism cannot be justified' Discuss. In philosophy moral relativism is the position that moral or ethical propositions do not reflect objective and universal moral truths, but instead make claims relative to social, cultural, historical or personal circumstances. In other words morals are subjective and have no fixed objective moral reality. Different people have different opinions on the above statement on whether or not moral relativism can be justified. Some people may strongly agree with the statement because when it comes to relativism there is no truth or knowledge in anything beyond the way it seems. For instance there is no objective knowledge, because all knowledge depends on perceptions of the person and there is no objective truth as truth is only true for you or true for me. Basically a right answer or no real evaluation can ever be found of practices such as the burning of witches, human sacrifice, slavery and the holocaust by using relativist views. Many people will also agree with the statement because they feel that it does not allow societies to progress and view it as a hindrance. For instance moral relativism means that there is no reason for people to behave morally as different people's views of moral behaviour may differ and the right behaviour may not necessarily be socially accepted. They may also disagree with moral relativism

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Historical and Philosophical studies
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Today, we think the best way of representing our religious beliefs is by going to church, temple, mosque, or synagogue.

Clutz 1 Today, we think the best way of representing our religious beliefs is by going to church, temple, mosque, or synagogue. Although this way of expression has been around for centuries, it has evolved a great deal over time. For many years people were confused about God and just exactly whom they were worshipping. Certainly many fathomed if there even was a God and if there was, how come he wasn't saving them from their troubles and sufferings. Frederick Douglass, one of the most profound African Americans who escaped slavery only to devote the rest of his life to help the advancement his fellow man, especially believed this true. He was considered one of the reformers most affected by the conservative response of the nation's orthodox religious establishment (Van Deburg 218). Throughout his life many ideas and practices surfaced pertaining to religion that he did not approve of. These very practices and rituals were the very reason Frederick Douglass had a mixture of thoughts concerning religion. As Christianity spread through America, its main goal was to attract new members. Christianity groups in the south developed plantation missions that were designed to bring slaves into the church. Although the missions were prominent, they never attracted all the slaves. As a result, a majority of rural slaves had not joined a church (Albanese 197). Douglass was not very old

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Historical and Philosophical studies
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Zionism has never seriously posed this question: Why, during these two thousand years, have not the Jews really tried to return to this country?

Zionism has never seriously posed this question: Why, during these two thousand years, have not the Jews really tried to return to this country? Why was it necessary to wait until the end of the Nineteenth Century for a Herzl to succeed in convincing them of this necessity? Why were all the predecessors of Herzl, like the famous Sabbatai Zebi, treated as false Messiahs. Why were the adherents of Sabbatai Zebi fiercely persecuted by orthodox Judaism? Naturally, in replying to these interesting questions, refuge is sought behind religion. "As long as the masses believed that they had to remain in the Diaspora until the advent of the Messiah, they had to suffer in silence," states Zitlovski,i whose Zionism is moreover quite conditional. Nevertheless, this explanation tells us nothing. What is required is precisely an answer to the question of why the Jewish masses believed that they had to await the Messiah in order to be able to "return to their country." Religion being an ideological reflection of social interests, it must perforce correspond to them. Today religion does not at all constitute an obstacle to Zionism.ii In reality just so long as Judaism was incorporated in the feudal system, the "dream of Zion" was nothing but a dream and did not correspond to any real interest of Judaism. The Jewish tavern owner or "farmer" of Sixteenth-Century Poland thought as little of

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Historical and Philosophical studies
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Discuss D.H Lawrence as a Religious Write

Discuss D.H Lawrence as a Religious Write "It was not for her to create, but to recognise a man created by God. The man should come from the Infinite and she should hail him...the man would come out of the Eternity to which she belonged" (The Rainbow) Discuss Lawrence as a 'religious' writer. It is tempting to think of Lawrence in universals. The ecstatic rhetoric of his prose and his evocation of hnature lend the fiction a timeless quality. Technically, the Brangwensaga (The Rainbow and Women in Love) encourages parallelism between generations and a consequent reduction in the influence of history; a movement also reinforced by the conjunction of creation and apocalypse imagery in transcendence of time. Undoubtedly, Lawrence did intend these archetypal resonances. Yet there is another side to Lawrence; that of a uncompromisingly modern writer, a powerfully modernist novelist. His sexual scenes are not only explicit, but (even more radically?) they reject the Romantic ideal of lover's union for a conflict of polarised individuals. His evocations of nature are no mere pastoral idylls, but often dark and threatening, and continually thrown into contradistinction with the reshaping of industrial development, particularly mining. The Rainbow can be analysed as a social and historical novel[1] and Women in Love's satirical treatment of café life in bohemian London is forcefully

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Historical and Philosophical studies
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