A series of essays and articles from my days in academia. Many of these essays were written in response to a question and some of them no longer represent my current views.
The Plague (Originally called: La Peste) was written by Albert Camus (1913-1960) and originally published in 1947. The story, written as a chronicle by a (temporarily) anonymous author, describes the lives of a motley cast of characters and the people of their city (Oran, Algeria) during an epidemic. Camus used The Plague to illustrate much …
Plato in his Gorgias seeks to accomplish multiple tasks. This essay will be focusing on the first, that being the condemnation of rhetoric and what it represents to him. The Gorgias outlines an exchange between Socrates, the titular character, Gorgias, Polus and Callicles. This essay will be fundamentally concerned with the exchange between Socrates and …
Moral epistemology is concerned, like epistemology, with the justification of beliefs. In particular – moral beliefs. Unlike many beliefs, moral beliefs are not cognitively observable (Tramel, 2003). The term ‘moral beliefs’ is interchangeable with principles, statements that determine how we should act and react in particular situations (Gale, 2006). For example, we hold a principle that we …
Read more “Moral Epistemology – can we ground moral knowledge?”
Half of a Yellow Sun (henceforth: HYS) by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a historiographical fiction novel set before and during the iconic Biafran War of 1967 to 1970. The book follows the perspective of three main, contrasting characters. The first character to be introduced is that of Ugwu, the young house boy from rural Nigeria, …
By the end of the Great Depression, faith in the laissez-faire market had fallen. Politicians and policy makers were looking for a new system to not only fix the economy but to secure their place against the rise of Communism and Fascism. John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946), with his penchant for practical economics and policy, was …
Despite being seen as having two vastly different ideologies, the USA and USSR possessed many overarching similarities. These similarities can be seen in their universal and progressive nature and how both sides saw their cause as inevitably victorious. Both sides also found commonality in their 1920-30s economic crises, their alliance during WW2 and the common …
The Battle of Verdun was the single longest battle of the Western Front of the First World War (WW1), lasting from February 21st to December 16th of 1916. The battle has been cited as the primary motivator for the Battle of the Somme, which was started to relieve pressure on the French troops at Verdun.[1] …
Following a decade of economic prosperity and boom in what came to be known as the ‘Roaring Twenties,’ America was hit by a massive economic disaster in 1929 which came to be known as the Great Depression (GD). After a stock market crash caused confidence in the economy to plummet, America needed a rekindling of …
Read more “Was the New Deal a success in combating the Great Depression? “
Leo Strauss and Wendy Brown both wrote on the topic of politics at vastly different times. Strauss wrote much earlier, publishing the article in question in 1957. Brown published her text in 2005. As such, the approaches of either author depend on the trends of political theorists and philosophers of their respective days and the …
Read more “Comparing Leo Straus and Wendy Brown’s Political Philosophy”
State collapse has been a prevalent and dangerous phenomenon throughout the world, but never so much as in Africa. This literature review will be outlining theories revolving around the question of if there are common causes of state collapse in Africa. In examining common causes of state collapse in Africa, we can begin to understand …