Philosophical Argumentative Essays Samples For Students

Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951) is one of the most prominent philosophers of the twentieth century. His philosophy influenced not only the various sections of philosophical knowledge, thereby extending its reach and scope, but also the development of such sciences as logic, mathematics, linguistics, the list of which is not complete. Moreover, if the twentieth century largely passed under the sign of the ideas of Karl Marx and Friedrich Nietzsche, in Wittgenstein's philosophy this century got its most profound understanding. It is all the more ironic that the philosopher did not leave a special essay on social philosophy and philosophy of history. ...

Pragmatism is a renowned concept of great relevance and application in the modern society. Sentiments presents by other American philosophers incline towards a reformist approach in addressing sociopolitical issues. Pragmatists are constantly motivated by a desire to find solutions through practical application. The idea of pragmatism can successfully be utilized in explaining and understanding socio-political issues and in building knowledge of about effective governance. Understanding the idea of pragmatism especially in America is essential in building knowledge of the current and history issues of social inequality. The paper focuses on establishing whether classic pragmatic have geared adequate effort to address the challenge ...

In Plato’s dialogues, there is a particular dramatic setting that sets its literary meaning which the analytically-trained philosophers fail to recognize. The explicit arguments in the dialogues are paid attention to, and the philosophical position of Plato is yet to be determined. Plato chose not to relate his philosophy directly with his name. Philosophers from all around the globe failed to understand the innate philosophy by Plato due to over-generalizations and oversimplifications. The work has been misrepresented, and I believe that philosophers who are trained only analytically cannot be successful scholars on Plato as they must be classically-trained literary ...

Introduction

Socrates was a classical eccentric philosopher in the ancient Greek. He was born in Athens and lived between the years 469 B.C.E to 399 B.C.E. He was born in a humble family; his father was a mason and his mother a midwife. He lived during a period when the world was morally uninformed, and eternal truth was disregarded. He studied philosophy and used this knowledge to question people’s illogical reasoning and injustice during social gatherings. He was condemned of corrupting the young people and criticizing democracy in governance and authority given to the religious system.
Socrates formed a basis for today’s philosophy. ...

St. Anselm's and St. Thomas Aquinas' proofs for the existence of God

The very fact that some people believe in God while others object his existence fostered the need to seek evidence and facts that will proof that God indeed exist. St. Anselm's and St. Thomas Aquinas' are the two renowned personalities that worked to proof the existence of God. These two figures offer a philosophical approach in regards to the existence of God. In an effort to explore their perceptions and insights regarding the existence of God in this paper. I will elaborate and explain the similarities embedded ...

There are as many different viewpoints on morality and the divine as there are people in the world. Beliefs on morality and God are some of the most personal types of beliefs, and they cause some of the biggest problems in the world today. One of the biggest divides between people of different faiths-- and between people of faith and people without-- is whether or not humanity needs God to be moral and to live a moral, ethical life. Some religious orders teach that God is necessary for living a good, moral life, while others teach that knowing God helps the ...

The musical drama Tristan und Isolde is Richard Wagner’s testament to his power to impart musical dominance. Regarded as one of the best musical dramas in history, Tristan und Isolde has imparted deep influence and inspiration due to its eclectic amalgamation of ideas circling on the realm of metaphysics. Musical aestheticism is the overriding force in the entire drama, the illustration of its overall poeticism being highly reliant on the way its musical scores are composed. The drama imparts its messages through Wagner’s emphasis on the drama’s entire musical agglomeration. Music strongly portrays various character emotions ...

The ancient Greek philosophers are commonly taught in philosophy classes in the western world, and their philosophical ideas continue to be important to this day. However, Islamic philosophers did just as much for western schools of thought as the Greeks did, although they very infrequently receive the same amount of focus or attention in academic and educational situations. This may be because traditional education has focused heavily on the Greeks and Romans as thinkers; it may also be a disparity in the educational system that does not place equal value on Islamic schools of thought and Islamic history. Aristotle, one ...

Politics is one of the building blocks of any society in the world and no one can dispute its contributions to the health and competitive development of a society. In an ordinary context, politics can be defined a process by which people organize themselves through social relations with an aim to gain authority and is characterized by ideologies leading to collective decision-making. Politics are swayed around through philosophical influence usually controlled by a politician or politicians if they more than one. Like, politician is defined as an individual who actively participates in politics and administration and is usually engaged in bringing influence ...

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) is the great German thinker, a classical scholar, composer, poet, a creator of the original philosophical doctrine, which has emphasized non-academic nature and therefore is widespread far beyond the scientific and philosophical communities. The fundamental concept of Nietzsche includes specific criteria for assessing the validity, questioned the basic principles of the existing forms of morality, religion, culture and socio-political relations and subsequently reflected in the philosophy of life. As stated in the aphoristic style, most of the works of Nietzsche can not be unambiguously interpreted and cause a lot of controversies.
Friedrich Nietzsche was the first person to ...

Introduction

Philosophy is an important discipline which reflects people’s beliefs about what is true or real in accordance to individual values. Philosophy allows people to think rationally and hence determine the right course of action. The Early Greek philosophers were mainly concerned with justifying and answered questions on where everything originated (Rudebusch 2009 p 139). Educators surely need to have a standing point that enables students to understand why they think and act the way they do. Socrates and sophistry are both philosophies that can enable people to understand the logic and fallacies behind different critical facts. The two philosophies are ...

“We thought we knew what we meant by the expression “Being” but now we are perplexed.” Heidegger quotes from Sophist by Plato;
Despite the strong synonymy of the term Dasein with Martin Heidegger, this fundamental concept in existential philosophy was used by several philosophers before his treatment. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel notably assigned the meaning of “existence” or “presence” to it. However, Heidegger’s interpretation has attracted more relevance, as a way of ones involvement with and caring for the immediate world that frames his life; whilst remaining alive to the contingent element of that involvement, the priority of the ...

Perception can be defined as the process by which interpretation and recognition are affected by the object to the subject. In this paper, I will be analyzing the comparative strengths and weaknesses of the causal and disjuctivism theories. Perceptual experiences are divided into three categories: hallucination, illusion, and veridical perception. The various philosophical theories of perception can be assessed using various principles. The three important principles include the representational principle, the phenomenal principle and the common factor principle. The common factor principle states that there is a commonality of underlying mental state amongst hallucination, illusions and veridical perceptions. The phenomenal ...

Before Liberation, Mao’s thoughts propagated against religious superstition; because there was no clear boundary between religions and superstition, against superstitions also included against superstitions. Religious superstitions were considered anti-social and anti-government, so many religion propagator of was exiled, including Buddhism. Along with Liberation, religion was accepted by society in order to unite all people together, and then the distinction between religion and superstition gradually became clear. Undeniable, religion had close relationship with superstitions, but religions are completely different in ideology then superstition (Jagou, n.d).
Both superstitions and religion are theist idea and unscientific, but this is the ...

Introduction

Enthymeme is a form of syllogism which is part of a three sided part deductive thinking and argumentation which has unstated assumptions that must lead to a valid conclusion. The argument in an enthymeme is characterized by an assumption thus enthymeme is more than syllogism. Socrates was among the earliest philosophers to propose the concept of enthymeme famous example of enthymeme is Socrates famous statement that all humans are mortal. Having agreed with that concept he also prove it by stating that he Socrates is human (Grimaldi, 1980) . Being human and the assumption that all humans are mortal it was an enthymeme ...

for Euthanasia

Protecting the Right to Act Autonomously: A Philosophical Argument for Euthanasia

There is a long tradition of support for voluntary euthanasia in Western civilization. The ancient Greeks and Romans “did not believe that life needed to be preserved at any cost and were, in consequence, tolerant of suicide in cases where no relief could be offered to the dying” The ancient schools of philosophy, the Stoics and Epicureans, believed that an individual who no longer wanted to live and chose to commit suicide should be supported in their decision. Thomas More, writing in the 16th century, foresaw a utopian community in which individuals suffering from intolerable pain and burdened by ...

It is agreeable that no one is born with philosophical beliefs. But with time, people develop certain beliefs becoming so embedded into them to the point that they stop to be conscious. Automatically, these beliefs develop into habits of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Our identities develop from what we believe in since persons are not born with their identities (Eccles 83). In other words, it is also safe to say that an attempt to change our beliefs threatens our identities. This is the reason as to why changing our beliefs remains very challenging to most of us. For an ...

The Lord of Death, in the Indian epic of Mahabharata, asked his son about the most astounding aspect of the present world. The boy responded, “It is that all around us people can be dying and we don’t believe it can happen to us” (Halifax 6). Such typical refusal to accept death’s inevitability is particularly common in the modern Western society. Generally, the mainstream philosophers shunt any interest in paranormal matters like spirit possession, extra-sensory perceptions, spirit mediumship, reincarnation, and out-of-body experiences into the dark corners of their profession (Hales 335). Eminent philosophers like Antony Flew and ...

Philosophy is defined as something that is part of a person’s daily life. In ancient Greece, philosophy means love for wisdom, in which people invest deeply on knowledge than in any other matter on Earth. To them, intelligence is the most essential character of a person. One of the products of the great Philosophy is Socrates. Today, Socrates is known to be one of the fathers of Philosophy (Holbing).

Through the years, many definitions of Philosophy have persisted. One of these definitions that have been widely known in the field of Philosophy is the definition of Marcus Aurelius who is a ...

Zeno Paradoxes

Zeno of Elea is a mathematician and a Greek philosopher who is famous for his paradoxes that deals with or explains the continuity of motion. He was born during 490 BCE and was a strong devotee of Parmenides who also introduced the Eleactic school of thought in the current southern Italy. He survives in Parmenides, Plato's dialog and from it the origin of paradoxes becomes clear. One of the most familiar paradoxes put across by Zeno states that I cannot walk over you as I need to get there halfway, and in the event that I succeed I must still cover the remaining ...

Zhuangzi’s Way in the Past and Today

Introduction
Zhuangzi, also known as Master Zhuang, is one of the famous and earliest thinkers, who have made significant contributions to a philosophy, which has been named as Daojia. Zhauangzi is considered as contemporary of Mencius, who is a Confucian thinker, but there was a lack of communication between them. He is considered as great literary philosopher, and his name is included among the best philosophers China has produced so far. The style of Zhuangzi is poetic, humorous, mythical, indirect, and narrative. He has critically analyzed the usual evaluations and the generalization, considered different forms of understanding in different cultures, individuals, ...

Human beings, many philosophers such as Kant and Locke have argued, have certain unalienable rights and freedoms. It must be noted in any study of the philosophy of human rights that there have existed cultures where some or many human beings were not granted those rights. Obvious examples is the slavery the permeated Western civilizations concurrently with the drafting of documents like the US Constitution. From this, we can arrive at the viewpoint that just because a being deserves protection under a well-developed morality, does not mean that these persons are being protected. Indeed, history is filled with instances when people ...

The death penalty is absolutely one of the most hotly debated issues in criminal law, and in national politics. The issue becomes one of whether or not the death penalty is successful as a deterrent, or if it merely kills inmates, some of whom may be innocent. There are those who believe that the death penalty, being the ultimate punishment for an offender, is a threat that can successfully discourage people from performing wrong doing (and therefore foregoing that fate). Philosopher Immanuel Kant is one of the loudest philosophical voices to advocate for the death penalty; his notions of Ethics involve ...

Introduction

For a long period, Christians and atheists continue to maintain conflicting perceptive about the existence of God. Consequently, this issue triggers unending debates. The argument about the existence of God does not simply entail sensory proof. This is because universal perception is a determinant of what will be accepted as proof in the first place. In order to be certain in either side of argument, there is need for evidence. Theorists provide conflicting perspectives in support of atheism and existence of God. Christians derive their source of proof from biblical writings. However, these sources receive disqualification from atheists as mere theoretical ...

On the fifth of July 1996 the first cloned sheep was born, they called her ‘Dolly’ and she sparked off one of the hottest debates of the twentieth century, the debate over the nature of and consequences of cloning a human being, thus starting the idea of bio-ethics.
Science furthering the lifespan of the human race has been at the core of scientific research since the dawn of time, organ donor-ship, organ transplants, advances in medical technology, like in vitro fertilisation, what seemed like science fiction to people of the past are now commonplace, everyday affair for those living ...

Philosophical context

Indeed, the question put forth excites any citizen into critical thought. This comes in the wake of President Obama’s assumption of office for his second and final term. The question as to whether one should support his economic agenda borders on whether one has got preferences as to any economic policies. Philosophy requires of us to exercise critical thought and look at the wider spectrum despite our own internal preferences. The question could thus be put forth more precisely by noting that despite the differences in ideology, and for the sake of the common good of the citizen, ...

The dystopian novel is a unique category in literature, with its own unique sets ot stylistic rules. With dystopia, you also get a particular type of reader, and a particular type of writer. One would not expect, for example, dystopia out of F. Scott Fitzgerald or Ernest Hemingway. These authors, while having their own demons, take humanity’s flaws and portray them on a realistic stage. Dystopia takes the flaws of humanity and makes them normative for everyone. This is the world of writers like Vonnegut, Margaret Atwood (The Handmaid’s Tale) and George Orwell. These writers draw readers who have, like them, ...

Introduction

Women form an intrinsic part of this play which is probably one of the finest in all Greek literature. From the very first scene we have insightful exchanges between women which continue to dominate the play as if in leitmotifs. In fact, Antigone and Ismene who represent the two sisters set the scene by exchanging a rich vein of words which can only show that they are two persons almost in love with each other but up to a certain extent also wary of their own situations.

One has to remember that women in Greek society were rather more liberal than ...

Albert Camus’ novel The Plague uses characters and their relationships quite heavily in order to provide a character-based reaction to the epidemic they are dealing with in the town of Oran. In the book, numerous characters have different reactions to death, some shying away from God and others embracing it. Some choose to turn their life around, others lose their minds even further.

Dr. Bernard Rieux narrates The Plague, and provides a significant voice of reason for the town. He is one of the more ethically driven characters of the novel, acting out of rationality and practicality, rather than faith and ...

Individual Reaction to the Advent of Artificial Intelligence

Introduction
Through advancements in science and technology, human beings have managed to create machines that work more or less in the same way as the human brain, performing tasks like mathematical calculations and language translations. This is what has come to be known as Artificial intelligence (AI) which is the kind of intelligence that machines exhibit when certain manipulations and programming is done to them. Some of these machines like the IBM computer, Watson, are capable of mimicking or performing certain cognitive functions that are normally associated with the human brain only. Artificial intelligence research thus deals with problems ...

The idea behind Foucault's theory of power structures is that power is what makes society what it is. Power exists everywhere and comes from man's concept of what his or her definition of everywhere is. Given that power is derived from everywhere, it is not a structure, but rather an overarching influence that exists in society. The idea of power according to Foucault is intertwined with the subject of knowledge. Using the term, power/knowledge, Foucault identifies that the concept of power is accepted in society through the idea that within knowledge lies truth.
Truth, to Foucault is what induces ...

Allen Hajek formulates his “Many Gods Objection” against Pascal's Wager. In his opinion, Pascal's Wager does not exhaust the relevant options regarding whether there is a Christian God or not. In this paper I shall defend Pascal's Wager against this objection.
Hajek's objection to Pascal's wager can be reconstructed as follows. Hajek points out that (1)Pascal's either-or proposition is an oversimplification.
(2) We could derive an infinite degree of expected utility from more than one religious option.
(3) According to Pascal's Wager, we can either choose only one Christian God or not choose one Christian God
(4) This ...

Is Happiness Really Happiness?

In his article, Life Satisfaction, Ethical Reflection, and The Science of Happiness, author Dan Haybron argues that being satisfied with one's life is necessary or rather important, but that it does not matter as much as one might think. Specifically, the argument is centered on the idea that happiness and its definition is varied depending on the individual. Moreover, another argument made is that what humans consider as happiness is in fact, satisfaction with life. This paper discusses Haybron's claims and whether there is merit in his argument.

Haybron continues by stating that most philosophical research and arguments have ...

The Case against Banning the Word “Retard” by Christopher M. Fairman is an article, written with purpose of making a claim against language censorship and a claim for freedom of speech. Being a professor of law and having extended expertise in the question, the author offers the audience a fine example of rhetorical argumentation, expressiveness and persuasiveness. In the article, Fairman makes a clear thesis and supports it with balanced use of appeals of logos, ethos and pathos. Such a strategy makes the writing well-grounded, developed and relatable, which contributes to its rhetorical effectiveness and fulfils its purpose.
First ...

1. Where do you find that Machiavelli and Hobbes coincide, and where do you find that they differ, in their accounts of human nature?

Hobbes’ and Machiavelli’s views often overlap on their understanding of human nature. One relevant fact to that is this essay questions inquires about the differences of the two thinkers. Both of them had views of human nature that agreed on some points but disagreed on others. Hobbes had one many characterize as a negative view on human nature, that the natural state of affairs for a person is “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.” In comparison, Machiavelli was perhaps advocating for such an individual in order to ursurp political power.

Hobbe’s Leviathan is named after a sea monster in ...

Blindness as a form of illiteracy is a subject that has featured most in the article. This can be termed as ignorance, which distinguishes the wise from the foolish and the young from the old. There is however no ultimate for knowledge and hence making people to die before they are informed of all the mysteries of the world. Learning is a process whose rate and speed depends on many factors. One of the factors is need, the other curiosity and exposure. All this process takes place in the mind, which will process events and finally come up with a solution. Experience is ...

Technology has been advancing in a way that the society could not readily control (Hochschild et al 1). There are many critics about how the technology could really influence the society and the future. With the changes in the society and culture, advancement in the technology is a very important power that could greatly affect in the future. The objective of this essay is to discuss the three important concepts which are technological determinism, technological optimism and technological pessimism. The essay also aims to analyze its examples as well as the responsibility of engineers.
Technological determinism is a concept and a theory ...

Introduction

Determinism is a word used in philosophy to describe the idea that all events, actions, decisions and forms are a consequence of antecedent or past events that were inevitable. In its extreme philosophical sense, the word determinism describes naturalism, or the idea that everything is natural including our decisions and human behaviors. It is very important to separate the word determinism with pre-determinism, another term that vaguely describes the idea that everything in the universe is predetermined. The concept of determinism has been around for thousands of years albeit taking different terms, among them, necessitarianism, a term that describes the inevitability that ...

In Bertrand Russell’s, ‘Appearance and Reality’, he launches the idea of what philosophy really is. In his view philosophy is the critical analysis of life’s question. This is because in many cases, ordinary people and even scientists will answer life’s questions ordinarily and even simply. But philosophy explores the opportunity to critically analyze these issues awhile looking at all angles. People will often make assumptions about what they see, what they feel and generally about their own experiences as well as those of others. However, this is usually because people don’t take their time to ...

Introduction

Recent years have seen the debate on animal rights intensify. Many have questioned whether animals possess any right and whether humans have the moral right to exploit animals any way they like. Advancements in the fields of genetics and medical research has only helped to intensify the debate on animal rights. Most of the argument for or against animal rights have based on concepts of philosophy. Three of the authors who written about this controversial issue are Peter Singer, Carl Cohen and Tom Reagan. The three have written pieces that explore these issue using different approaches. This paper aims ...

Whenever we talk about education, we always see modern system and our present social environment. But education is also about the past and the how this past can influence our future. Selecting and interpreting the factors that influence the development of an individual is the task that always shows personal perspective. Education by itself is a complex social element, when we analyze its current characteristic. But what if we look at education from historical view and the influence of culture on the formation of modern educational system? This integration of the subject inevitably results in a high degree of personal judgment. ...

Rousseau and Wollstonecraft conquered the world with their philosophical words and arguments back in the years. Rousseau is one of the most influential thinkers who were re-known in Europe for some of his major arguments. He did philosophical works such as A Disclosure on the Sciences and Arts back in the 1750’s. Rousseau discusses education at a very high level where he argued against traditional views of religion that led to much criticism (Spielvogel). This paper will analyze the views of these two great philosophers by comparing and contrasting their views on some of the issues such women rights ...

Introduction

One of the basic structures of human existence in the world is a family. The family is a major body that brings together several avenues of human interaction, growth, and development. Any society exists because of family structures that bring people of common grounds under one dimension and vision of life. On the other hand, an extension of the family can be taken in a replicated government. The government acts as a larger structure that holds different people within a geographical and philosophical setting. Therefore, it is certain that the government is the building block to the existence and functionalism of any society, small ...

ABSTRACT

There are many different philosophical ideas about the moral value of equality, such as democracy in which all citizens have equal voting and citizenship rights, or social and economic equality that guarantees a minimal living standard and educational opportunities for all. One notion of equality holds that all persons are entitled to the same universal rights and human dignity regardless of race, religion, ethnicity or social class. From a purely historical viewpoint, there has been a radical expansion of the idea of human equality in the modern era, just as there have been revolutionary changes in science, technology and economic systems. Plato ...

ABSTRACT

Ancient Greek philosophers had very different concepts of happiness and pleasure from the more materialistic and hedonistic ideas of the modern world. For this reason, many contemporary students read their books without really being able to comprehend their main message, which really viewed philosophy as a kind of religion. Indeed, Plato’s followers did start their own religion, which lasted for centuries and was incorporated into Stoicism and early Christianity. All of them rejected the idea that happiness came from money, material success, sex or physical pleasure, which are the basis for the modern mass consumption economy. That simply did ...

Introduction
The concept of the existence of God spans throughout all existing religions in the world. Divinity centered on a supreme being became the main reference point of different people across various cultures in explaining particular phenomena that has found difficult elucidation. Several concepts of God are apparent in the way different religious bodies manifest their beliefs. Yet, arguments assailing the existence of God continue to be prevalent, alongside variations on how numerous religions conceive God. Up to what extent is the concept of the existence of God controversial? This study seeks to ...

Essay 1: Compare And Contrast How You, Lao Tzu and Homer Would Respond To The Old Testament

Lao Tzu is the spiritual leader behind the philosophy of Taoism. He is best known for his writings which currently form the foundations of Taoism. Taoism basically seeks to help people achieve harmony and peace with nature through distancing themselves from the world. It encourages people to avoid issues happening around the world as the only way in which they will attain inner peace with themselves. Homer was also a philosopher and one of the first influential writers in Greek. He was known for his many poems which were used as a standard to evaluate ones level of education in ancient ...

‘Patriotism is the first defensive mechanism: a response to s perceived threat’. This statement was formulated in the epitome of many philosophical and theoretical works in France. These were works that revolved the many anticipated threats that ensued especially in the revolution times of the French territory. This paper argues in support of this statement, based in the works by authors of the past as well as Joachim Du Bellay's Les Regrets (The Regrets). Additionally, France amongst many other countries has been through hard times in the course of their political evolution. Therefore many tend to agree with these philosophies ...

One of the generally established positions considering the scientific revolution of the XVII century is that the European science (primarily related to the classical natural sciences) originated from it. It is interesting that it emerged at once in the interrelation of all components: theoretical knowledge, its rationale and mathematical description, experimental testing, social structure with network of scientific communication and public application. Among the phrases that can best show the way of thinking that started acting at that time, there is one William Gilbert wrote in his Preface: “LIFE is a Chemical Process: In that of every Individual there has ...