Enlightenment Term Papers Samples For Students

Term Paper: Jean Jacques Rousseau vs. John Locke

Economic inequality is a menace that has been witnessed in the developing and the developed nations since ancient times. Legislation regarding the ownership of property has drawn heated criticism from various scholars and human rights activists. John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau are among the activists who have expressed strong ideas concerning the issue of ownership of private property. John in the Second Treaties of Government takes a soft stance. He defends the natural right of acquiring private property despite the economic inequalities that the move bears to the people of the nation. John’s stance on the matter has widely been embraced ...

"Thus a good will constitute the indispensable condition of being even worthy of happiness" (Kant, p. 7).
According to the Kantian philosophy, good will refers to the only thing in the society that is universally good. He further describes good will by reason, and reason must be a universally accepted law in the society, which is universally applicable to all members of the society. Kant indicates that nothing in or beyond the world can possibly be considered as good without the qualification of good will, which implies that a good thing must be universally acceptable in the society. According to this ...

The existence of God or rather an intelligent being with define abilities has been a contentious issue of discussion since time immemorial. There are as many people advocating for divinity in the creation of the universe as there are people doubting the existence of this Supreme Being with unique and really frightening capabilities who designed and created the universe. Among the chief advocates of the thought of the existence of God and perfect order in the creation of the universe is William Paley. William Paley brings forth among the best arguments ever brought forward advocating for the existence of God ...

Introduction: Siddhartha Gautama

Buddhism is a religion or a way of life to about 300 million people all over the world. Buddhism was founded 2500 years in India when Siddhartha Gautama also known as Budha was enlightened. Buddhism is sometimes difficult to put into the box of religion or philosophy, because it lacks a central deity. The Buddha was not the creator of the universe; instead he achieved the highest personal actualization that a person can and was therefore “Enlightened.” That, rather than a creation story, is the central tenet of Buddhism. Buddhism then as a philosophy is not necessarily a religion, but in practice it services the needs ...

Immanuel Kant claims that good will is good without any qualification, implying that good will is good regardless of the results of its action. He held that what makes a person good is his possession of the will that in a certain way makes decisions based on the moral law. J.S. Mill who is a utilitarian philosopher is quite opposed to this idea and focuses primarily on the consequences of an action to justify its moral uprightness. Mill holds persons, actions, and institutions need to be assessed based on how well they promote the human happiness. Mills approach to morality is superior ...

A concept can be thought of as a lens that can be used to see a phenomenon or explain it. If the contents of the concept varies, the lenses are changed, and the same phenomenon might appear different to the observer as well. The concept of Nature sometimes is used without being defined but, according to some philosophers, it encloses at least three different meanings , and each can be considered a different glass through which the world can be observed and even defined. Some authors see nature as an inherent quality of all objects, as something that generates them or gives them ...

Introduction

Immanuel Kant was born in Konigsberg, which was the capital of Prussia, which is currently known as Kaliningrad city in Russia in the year 1724. He was the fourth child in a family of nine children. His original name that he got after he was baptized was Emanuel, which he changed to Immanuel after getting converted to Hebrew. For the best part of his childhood he stayed at Konigsberg. The father to Kant was a German harness-maker from Memel, which was the most northeastern city in Prussia. Kant’s father died when Kant was 22 years of age. His mother Anna ...

I intend to discuss the ethical implications of euthanasia throughout the course of this essay. Firstly I will be touching on the German philosopher Kant regarding his theories on personhood and consciousness in terms of people in vegetative states such as Terri Schiavo. I then will be moving on to broader issues of euthanasia such as the right to die and the legality of assisted suicide and refusal of treatment. The purpose of which is to determine whether or not euthanasia is an ethical approach to incurable illnesses or disabilities which affect quality of life.
Plato was quoted ...

Immanuel Kant, in his second formulation of the categorical imperative advocates for the treatment of human beings as an end in themselves, as opposed to as means to an end. According to Kant, individuals must always consider other human beings, including themselves, as rational moral agents who also have projects, goals and pursuits (Bruce 217). The second formulation advocates for human beings to be viewed as entities capable of freely knowing how they would like to be treated.
In Kant’s view, humans must never be treated as inanimate objects, in that their treatment must always take into ...

DID ROUSSEAU REMAIN TRUE TO THE ENLIGHTENMENT MOVEMENT’S VALUES?

Rousseau was an influential member of the Enlightenment Movement and for many years had a close, productive relationship with other members. For example, he wrote almost all the entries on music in Encyclopaedia of Diderot. In fact Rousseau wrote at one time that Diderot was his closest friend and they spent time together almost every day.1 About 1750, unfortunately, a difficult break was made between the others in the movement and Rousseau. He was accused of disagreeing with the basic philosophical tenets of the movement and in effect muddying the waters. ...

The French Age of Enlightenment was an age of seemingly unquenchable curiosity, discussions and reasoning. The Enlightenment was a movement towards reason which means it was a movement to leave superstition in the past. Many felt that now was a time for progress. To make progress meant leaving blind faith behind; trading it in for both critical and imaginative thinking.
Imagination, rationality and reason were important to philosophers of the age. In this essay natural science and its metaphysical dynamics are discussed using two of the Enlightenment’s greatest philosophers, Voltaire and Diderot. The styles of the two philosophers are compared.
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David Hume, one of the foremost philosophers of the 18th century, was a skeptic and empiricist whose outlook on free will is based heavily in the sciences and what is known. Hume, being a compatibilist, deals mainly with the concept of reconciling the freedom and emotional nature of humanity with the coldly rational perspective of determinism. According to Hume, human behavior is commanded primarily by desire, instead of reason - "reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions" (Hume, Treatise, p. 295). The concept of free will is summarized greatly through the differentiation between liberty and necessity; ...

A Vindication of the Rights of Women

Mary Wollstonecraft lived a short and a courageous life. She was born in 1759 and died giving birth to her second child in 1797. She was only 38 years old. She is still famous today and remembered with respect as an early feminist; one of the women who set the foundation that feminism was built on.
Her major work is titled A Vindication of the Rights of Women. The book was published in 1792; Schneir (1972) tells us that from 1792 to 1892 the book was published for four editions and in England for six editions. She had written a book ...

Political legitimacy

Introduction
Political legitimacy is an example of a virtue relating to political institutions regarding the governing laws, policies and the candidates that aspire to hold political positions. In a narrow perspective, political legitimacy can be defined as the universal recognition of the governing law or regime and considering as authority. In this context, authority represents a political position that has been founded on an existing government. Legitimacy on the other hand signifies a system of government, which represents the sphere of influence. During the era of enlightenment, the aspect of political legitimacy is perceived as a fundamental pre-requisite for effective governing. This implies ...

Buddhism dates back many years. While some people believe that Buddhism is an atheistic religion, others feel that, although gods are not seen as central to the creation of the universe, they are acknowledged as existing. As Buddhism can coexist with other traditional religions, the levels of atheism within the religion varies between members.
Buddhism is a religion to around 300 million people throughout the globe. The word was derived from 'budhi', which means 'to awaken' (Buddhanet). It originated roughly 2,500 years ago when Siddhartha Gotama, at the age of thirty-five, was enlightened. Siddhartha Gotama is now widely ...

The dispute of free will versus determinism always bothered humanity. There were numerous arguments posed be either side of the discussion, but there still seems to be no end to it. David Hume is one of the opponents of free will and in his Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, he explains the "doctrine of necessity" with which he makes his point in this debate. In this essay, I will explain Hume's argument and support it.
In his opposition to free will, Hume starts by jumping into the discussion and saying that the whole debate about free will was decided long ...

Abstract

Hindu culture is very diverse. There are many different facets to their religious beliefs. Many of the beliefs are so varying, they differ from person to person. The most agreed upon beliefs within Hinduism appear to be the four life objectives, such as the Dharma and Moksa. These objective allow individuals to set goals in order to stay moral and one day attain enlightenment in hopes of escaping Samsara, or physical life. Karma, familiar to many Westerners, is also a belief in Hindu culture. It helps explain an individual’s current situation by examining their past behavior. Furthermore, it ...

Economics is a social science that is chiefly concerned with how firms, individuals and governments make choices regarding the allocation of their limited resources towards the satisfaction of unlimited wants. Economics is thus a mechanism for the allocation of limited resources among competing wants with the firms, households and the government as decision makers. A market refers to that set up that facilitates acquisition of information by buyers and sellers and enables them carry out business activities with one another.

An economy refers to a social system made up of households as well as firms that are involved in the exchange of ...

Nature vs. Nurture

Abstract
For centuries man has been trying to determine what makes a person moral. Some have theorized that babies are born with an innate sense of morality while others debate this theory with their own beliefs that human ethics are molded by their environment. Those in the field of psychology have long endeavored to find commonalities that would explain human personalities. Even though all humans have similar traits there are also many ways that make us all unique. In the search to understand the relationship between commonality and uniqueness, several different theories of personality have been developed ("The study ...

Abstract

This essay will outline the nature of the death penalty in terms of its birth and its ideals and how this translates in terms of the democratic process. Such philosophers and social reformers as T.H Green, Beccaria, Hobbes and Jeremy Bentham to discuss the benefits and negative factors of the death penalty in terms of its effectiveness as a deterrent and assess whether or not it’s value as a deterrent outweighs these negative factors. This process will inevitably lead me to the conclusion in which I hope to establish the fairness or notion of equivalency of the death penalty.
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Voltaire’s was a philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment whose most famous work is the novella Candide explores many of the popular schools of thoughts of the Enlightenment period. 1759, the year that Candide was first published was a time of great change of thought happening in Europe and the novel presents ideas found in three of the dominant school’s of thought, Rationalisms, Skepticism, and romanticism. By exploring these philosophies and showing how Candide treats them, we come to the conclusions that it was not Voltaire’s intent to support any of this particular schools of thought but to ...

Conservative vs Liberal Ideology

America is considered by many as the “Land of the Free”, wherein any person could practice his belief, ideology and affiliation without the need to fear the government from forced intervention. Civil liberties and human rights matter most for the Americans, especially under its Constitution. However, there have been chances wherein ideologies became the cause of conflict inside the country, which could be seen in the country’s two leading political parties: the Democrats and the Republicans. Conservatives supports the growth of capitalism and retention of traditional laws to sustain the growth of the country, while the Liberals support ...

Introduction

Mining activities can pose serious environmental and health implications. Although, these environmental and health hazards can be mitigated and effectively managed through sound engineering and environmental practices, these environmental and health issues associated with mining operations could not be totally eradicated. In general, there are three major players in the mining industry: the company, which include the employees and the stockholders; the regulatory bodies, which include the government and other national and international environmental organizations; and the community, which are not directly related to the mining industry, but is impacted by its operations. Each one of these stakeholders has ...

African American History

Introduction
Discursive formations an explanation of the human behavior attempts to undermine the archeological historical analysis. In the discursive formations analysis, human beings are not the center analysis to avoid problems associated with anthropological approaches used earlier. This discursive formation analysis can be used in explaining the revolutionary discourses that constantly undermined the history of Europe towards the end of the nineteenth century. At the end of the middle ages, there was an increased power struggle and increased women's participation in social and political activities. The same period experienced the first wave of feminism when women's emancipation movements ...

- Mercantilism
What was the ultimate goal of the mercantilist philosophy and why this goal was considered radical at the time. What type of exports/imports did they encourage/discourage and what was the impact on the domestic working population?
The mercantilist philosophy was a policy that was enacted by the European colonists with the aim of increasing wealth in their country. Thus, the main way to increase their wealth was to entice its colonists to pay the supplied goods from the European nation using gold. This is because gold was considered more valuable than the colonists’ money. As a means ...

Abstract

With development of new technologies and constant scientific evolution, human perception of ethics cannot keep up with the speed of progress. In order to understand how an individual should consider his actions and decision from the ethically appropriate perspective, an example of business case study given for this assignment is the most suitable. In this context, position of the company and its possible decision is evaluated from the points of three ethical theories and their explanation of what is right and wrong, just and unjust, ethical and immoral. The chosen theories include Utilitarianism, Kantianism and Virtue ethics. On the ...

Of Marx/ Engels, Durkheim, and Weber

Of Marx/ Engels, Durkheim, and Weber
I. Marx
There are many ways by which Marx’ methodology can be viewed, and reading through his works leads to the realization of his socialism concept. In Marx’ Capitalist, he expressed how production is initiated, not because man is under the control of political power, but because he is a social being that needs to participate in the production of goods that will benefit the whole society. This was expressed in his work when he wrote, “socialized man, the associated producers, regulate their interchange with nature rationally,” (Marx, 1869, pp. 944), thus allowing ...

Introduction

The Bodhicaryāvatāra, a text by Śāntideva, explores the Bodhisattva ideal by prescribing how an individual should live and providing justifications for this. His close awareness of ethics makes him remarkable among Indian philosophers, whose main concern was theoretical philosophy or metaphysics. Śāntideva’s ethical writings are widely known, cited and respected by Tibetan Buddhists as well as Western thinkers. His accurate insights into human characteristics and behavior are lauded by various philosophers who allude to some of his solutions to common human problems. Śāntideva utilizes various techniques to appeal to specific human characteristics with the goal of inspiring ...

The oldest written Hindu scripture, the Rig Veda, dates from at least 1500 BC and perhaps even before the Aryan invaders from the north conquered the ancient Indus Valley civilization. Indeed, this civilization was perhaps many thousands of years older than any other known on earth and thought to be very advanced in science, technology, architecture, public works and metal working. According to some legends, it was even aware of flying machines, spacecraft, nuclear weapons and extraterrestrial civilizations. It also practiced the brahmavidya or supreme (God) science as revealed by a series of rishis, mystics and prophets, with the Buddha ...

Introduction

In the recent years there has been a high growth in the number of people who are getting incarcerated. This has led to a lot of debate on the legitimacy of the penal system. Is it really working to reduce or deter criminal behaviour? Is there anything in the punishment system that needs to be changes? The penal system should be revisited in order to address the high incarceration rates in the country.

The Legitimacy for Penal Punishment

There are theories that have contributed to the penal system. The choice theory in criminology has contributed over the years to justifying and specifying penal punishment. Each man ...

One of the most famous geniuses in the field of mathematics and philosophy in the history of mankind is a German named Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. Leibniz is a German mathematician and philosopher who lived during the 17th century (Simmons 32). He revolutionized the historical development of the field of philosophy and mathematics through his major contributions. He is widely known as the developer of the integral and differential calculus and he developed it independently with Isaac Newton. He is also known for some of the mathematical equations such as the Leibniz notation, Transcendental Law of Homogeneity and Law of ...

Social Class and Education

Social Class and Education

Introduction

There is an increasing population in many regions of the world today. This increase comes with an increased diversification in the major sectors of the world including the political, social, and economic sectors. This diversification in these sectors contributes to the rapid development of social classes in these regions. The social classes are the various groupings in the societies with which particular individuals identify themselves. On the other hand, the increasing globalization and challenges in various political, social and economic segments have promoted the increase in the levels of education in various regions around the ...

Part IV is perhaps the most important part of René Descartes’ Discourse on the Method. This part of the Discourse contains a description of the results of Descartes’ meditations following the method that had been previously established by him. In contrast, earlier when Descartes was doubtful, he had taken upon himself to act conclusively and definitively. Now he acts oppositely, and considers everything that may in anyway be doubtful as false. He does this to be certain that the things he holds on to are impossible to doubt. He completely gives up all sensory knowledge because the senses are prone ...

The relationship between the revolution in France and Haiti

The Haitian Revolution resulted from a long fight on the fragment of the slaves in the French colony of St. Domingue, however was also driven by the free Mulattoes who had initially faced the prosecutions of being signified as semi-citizens. The revolution saw slavery to end and resulted to the establishment of the republic of Haiti. The colony of Saint-Domingue, geologically roughly the identical land mass that is currently Haiti was the lushest colony in the West Indies and perhaps the richest in the history of the globe. Driven by slave effort and enabled by rich soil and model climate, ...

This paper is divided into three sections. The first section is a review of academic research and studies on corporate theories, positions and counter-positions. The second part discusses the two theories – stakeholder value theory and shareholder value theory. This section evaluates key arguments associated with each theory. In the third part, the paper evaluates why value-driven stakeholder approach should be embraced by managers of corporations. The paper finalizes the discussion by concretizing the arguments in a summary and offering submissions for future managers.
This paper hypothesizes that profit maximization is no longer the only priority of organizations; other non-economic features ...

How good people make tough choices: Resolving the dilemmas of ethical living

Kidder’s book entitled as above makes interesting reading on what people encounter in their day to day lives as ethical dilemmas with tough choices of choosing or deciding between right vs. right. Kidder went to the extent of establishing an Ethics Institute inviting people to join a think tank for resolving the tough choices. It was while the author was interviewing in 1986 Barbara Tuchman, twice Pulitzer Prize historian, he was warned of imminent breakdown of public morality unable to make choices between two right ethical decisions an issue as serious as The Nuclear Threat, Environmental Degradation, The population ...

Introduction

The execution rate reached its peak of 98 executions in1999 after the Supreme Court has restored the imposition of capital punishment in 1976. However, there has been a significant change thereafter, since there was a downward trend in the executions due to the fact that there are some high-profile cases involving death row inmates, who had been acquitted after undergoing the DNA testing. According to the report of Christian Century, even though the number of the death row inmates who were executed in the year 2012 remained unchanged at 43 since 2011, the opponents of death penalty argued that the capital ...

Executive Summary

Technology is one of the best scientific developments that have brought about economic, social, and political change in most of the world’s economies. Nevertheless, there are varied reactions on the effect of technology on the environment, the economy, religion, culture, and politics among a host of many social, economic, and political phenomena. Conversely, these factors also affect technology in different ways as will be discussed in this paper. Nevertheless, selecting technology for a specific situation depends on a list factors that either support or oppose such incentives.

Introduction

Science and technology are the current century’s most influential challenges since it affects ...

PART I

Question 1
Christianity is the world’s most popular and largest religion with approximately 2 billion followers across the world. Christians follow the footsteps and teachings of Jesus Christ. Most Christians perceive Jesus Christ as the savior of humankind from their sins. The Christian religion is founded on the ecumenical creed from which Christian followers adhere and believe in one faith. Buddhism, on the other hand, has an approximate 370 million followers across the world. Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha provided the teachings that formed the basis of Buddhism. The religion is believed to have various beliefs, and traditions ...

George Washington and the Polite Gentleman

Colonization started to take its course as from 1680 to 1750. The main form of immigration was internal-external mainly rising from Germany, Switzerland, Ireland and Africa. The states grew very fast with Pennsylvania being the best. In British America areas, the society was divided according to their main job characteristics. They included the farming society of the north, the planters of the south and the urban society of the seaboard commercial towns. In addition, some societies opted to base their love on material things.
The themes portrayed include the theme of population. The immigration process described clearly portrays ...

Medical testing on animals refers to the use of animals for scientific experiments. Most of tests with animals is done by pharmaceutical companies, universities, and medical schools. Most of the animals used in laboratory tests are breed for the specific, while few animals used in the tests come from the wild. It is evident that animal medical experimentation is an ongoing discussion as whether or not it is indispensable for the survival and well-being of humanity. In any case, the sole reason for using animals in laboratory experimentation is to advance the welfare of humankind, most often ignoring the ...

According to the German philosopher Frederick Nietzsche ideas are as entities. They have the ability to transform themselves in unexpected ways as they are transmitted person to person, flowing and changing in the process. Nietzsche was a dedicated learner and had interest in a variety of pursuits from philosophy, poetry, music, literature. His philosophy also delved into many corners of study, from science, to religion, morality. His texts are written in sometimes-poetic aphorisms. His moustache was noteworthy. This essay endeavors to explore the development of Nietzche’s ideas and the important place in philosophy they still hold to this day.
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The modern scientific method dates all the way back to the days of Isaac Newton who, ironically, only went to university because his parents thought he was too poor of a farmer to make anything of himself – so they sent him to read theology (Weisstein, 2011). The climate of research and inquiry produced one of the most transformational minds in all of the history of science. In addition to his laws of motion, he also developed the basis of a scientific method that still guides research and experimentation done in the present day.

Newton’s scientific method boiled down to four ...