My philosophy essays and articles. Some of the articles may no longer represent my current views and exist here as a record.
The Problem of Evil has always posed a quandary with regards to the traditional ideas of Theism – so much so that an entire school of study, theodicy, has been formed to attempt to defend the idea of a Theistic God. The idea of a Theist God is that there is one creator God, who …
Divine Command Theory (DCT) is an assertion that morality is dependent on God. The theory has been classified into three main strands: Prudential, Theoretical and Epistemological. The former, Prudential, is an assertion which has been easily disproven with the common sense argument of “moral atheists” and proper moral motivation (Berg, 1993: 531), and will not …
Language is a tool. Like all tools, it exists to solve a problem. Philosophy is also a tool, aimed at identifying and, hopefully, elucidating problems. But tools only arise when there is a function for them. This is the same for language and philosophy. Kwasi Wiredu argued that some philosophical problems may be ‘tongue-dependent’ (Wiredu, …
Frankenstein (1818) is a multi-genre novel by Mary Shelley (1797-1851). It contains themes of Gothic and science fiction, among others. This essay will be focusing on the latter theme of science in Shelley’s novel. Prior to the ill-fated construction of his Monster, Victor Frankenstein gloried in the sciences. He described himself “as always having been …
In Plato’s Phaedo, Socrates sets out a number of arguments to prove the immortality of the soul. One of these, which many of the others rely upon, is the Cyclical argument, or argument from opposites (Plato, 2002: 70c-72e). This essay will be outlining the argument and responding to each premise separately to evaluate its claims …
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?”
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”
Ethical egoism is typically regarded with disdain and often rejected in ethicist circles. Some ethicists have attempted to reform the philosophy into a more palatable form. The result of this is Deontological egoism. But does Deontological egoism truly solve the problems of Ethical Egoism? This essay argues that it does. This essay will be explaining …