From the Paper
"In Matthew 7:12, Jesus famously promotes the Golden Rule, saying, "In everything do to others as you would have them do to you." The Golden Rule defines morality as just this: one should treat others as one wishes to be treated. Because the Golden Rule purports to summarize the whole of morality, a person acts morally if and only if he treats others the way he wants to be treated. By its nature as a moral theory, The Golden Rule must intend to yield the good, and is therefore invalid insofar as its dictums do not, in fact, yield the good. "

Tags:argument, confucius, jesus, justice, morality, plato, socrates

Abstract
This paper discusses the political and social climate in which Sir Thomas More lived, and how it influenced him to pen his idea on how a perfect society should be in his novel "Utopia". The author also provides a brief biography on More.

From the Paper
"More than anything else, the author used Utopia to criticize the society he lived in, and to offer up hope of what could be if everyone lived up to the true Christian ideals. Knowing that communal living was not a true possibility, he nevertheless continued to mention it as an ideal way to live. The More character continued to criticize the idea, but just that fact that it is brought up in such detail gave the reader a hint at Thomas More s influential monastic experience."

Tags:16th, century, church, politics, religion, christian, society, corrupt, hythloday, ideal

From the Paper
"Dualism has become so associated with Ren? Descartes that it is usually referred to as Cartesian dualism, as if this were the defining approach to the issue. Dualism is the theory that the mind and the body, that mind and matter, are two distinct things. Descartes considered the issue of the location of the mind and found that the mind was separate from the body. He says that he is a subject of conscious thought and experience and thus cannot be nothing more than spatially extended matter. The mind, or the essential nature of the human being, cannot be material but must be non-material. This non-corporeal entity may be intimately associated with the body, but it is not itself a material entity as is the body. Descartes offered several arguments for this belief, one of which was the conceivability argument which necessarily involves a degree of tautology. Descartes says that..."

Abstract
This paper looks at the growth of the science of psychology over time and the development of different concepts such as functionalism and structuralism. It discusses how psychology has its roots in philosophy and each school of psychology was formed largely as a reaction to the previous school, e.g., functionalism grew out of structuralism and humanism and cognitive psychology grew out of Gestalt psychology.

From the Paper
"Ancient Greek philosophers' exploration of psychological topics such as epistemology, ethics and mental illness; the 17th century French Philosopher Rene Descartes and his theory of dualism; Thomas Hobbes and John Locke's theories which later became known as monism, and the field of physiology have all contributed significantly to the emergence of psychology as a separate science. The "birth" of psychology, however, is often traced to 1879 when Wilhelm Wundt began the first psychological laboratory in Leipzig, Germany, which also signaled the start of the school of psychology known as structuralism. Compared to earlier philosophers, Wundt's approach to the study of mind was much more scientific."

Tags:humanism, cognitive, science, Gestalt, philosophy, dualism, Wilhelm, Wundt

Abstract
This paper is an intriguing philosophical approach at solving the problem with evil. It discusses the conversations and writings of Philosopher Swinburne and the antitheodicist. Arguments are presented between Swinburne and the antitheodicist and an attempt is made to answer the question; does Swinburne succeed in solving the problem?

From the Paper
"There shouldn't be any evils that are not caused by men, such as plagues, earthquakes, natural disasters, AIDS, cancer, and disease to name some of them. Swinburne explains that these tragedies and misfortunes allow men to do noble acts. The September 11th tragedy is a classic example. The entire city of New York came together and sacrificed lives, money, time, and effort to help others. Their crime rates dropped to the lowest ever of that city."

Tags:evil, paper, philosophy, problem, swinburne

Abstract
The following paper examines why many theorists reject the existence of natural law as well as why many agree to its being defined as a set of innate moral principles which are common to all human beings. It is the aim of this paper to identify and discuss the important similarities and differences that exist between the two theories making reference to the theories of Thomas Hobbes (1588 - 1679) and St.Thomas Aquinas (1224/25 - 1274).

From the Paper
Aquinas proposed that the essential quality setting human beings apart from the rest of the animal world was that of reason. In a development of Aristotle s theory.Aquinas asserts that all men naturally possess an internalized divine spark of reason,which serves as the guide to an autonomous and responsible decision making process.

Tags:academic, world's, influential, thinkers, ideas, theories, natural, law, Aquinas, drawing, equality, methods, forces

Abstract
Michel Foucault rejected the vast majority, if not all, of political and social theory. Foucault was inspired by Nietzsche's conception of the human world, but thought that "power" could not only explain the individual's condition, but also that of social life. Foucault's ideas on individuation, subjectivity, disicipline, sovereignty and power are all carefully explained, focusing on the relationship between body and subject.

From the Paper
"One of the most striking aspects in the work of Michel Foucault is his relationship between power and subjectivity. Foucault strongly rejects the notion of psychoanalysis, that human beings are individual subjects first and social agents second. Foucault believes that such a claim is far too simple. Human beings are neither individuals nor social agents, but individualised through power, beyond the specifics of sociological study. However the power that Foucault explores does not exist in and of itself. Rather, it is a relationship between institutions and bodies, extracting, harnessing, destroying and creating certain forces and drives in bodies. This process changes human beings from physical bodies into subjects. That is not to suggest that the process of individuation is uniform and generic. The opposite is in fact true. Foucault looks at several modes of subjectivication and while they are not mutually exclusive, nor are entirely independent, it is important to note and examine their differences. Different methods of applying power to bodies results in different individuals being produced. It is against this backdrop of subjectivication where we will begin our exploration. Originally, this essay will carefully consider Foucault's estimations of sovereign and disciplinary power, both as separate structures and in contrast with each other. From that point, we can proceed into making an evaluation of Foucault's explanations, with note as to the advantages and disadvantages of Foucault's striking conception of the human subject."

Tags:discipline, individuation, liberalism, nietzsche, power

Abstract
This paper looks at postmodernism in the study of history.The writer particularly balances arguments by Keith Jenkins and Richard J Evans while providing an examination of the effects and consequences of postmodernist thought on the study of history and historiography.

From the Paper
"Postmodern historians have essentially come to view history as a study of images, thoughts, language and feelings about society and the past. In short that history is simply discourse and no particular discourse is in essence truer than another. According to postmodern ideas, what actually happened is no longer the historian's primary concern, in fact what happened can never really be known. Instead, what is important is what people thought happened."

Tags:epistemology, foucault, hermeneutic, historiography, history, ideas, ideology, intertextuality, kagan, language, methodology, philosophy, postmodernism, postmodernist

Abstract
A critical analysis of the philosophies of Socrates. The author discusses Socrates' ideas and concepts about true happiness and pursuing God's will. It includes criticism and application to today's society.

From the Paper
"Socrates' philosophy has existed since before the birth of Jesus Christ. He recorded his thoughts concerning personal and political issues, giving his detailed and amazingly well thought out positions on each. He questioned everything around him, and discussed them with his friends and students, an exercise known as philosophizing. Socrates deemed that a truly happy man does not require material goods. He argued that it would be in one's best interest to consult a wise person before making an important decision, and that we should each comply with God's intentions above all others?. These arguments have been debated for centuries by many, and should be considered still, since they are important and relevant today, more than 2,000 years later."

Tags:apology, ethic, ethical, history, literature, moral, philosophy, plato, republic, western, wisdom, greek

Abstract
This paper begins by stating the argument Descartes gives for a version of mind/body dualism. It then considers two objections to Descartes' argument and finally assesses the validity of Descartes' argument in light of those objections.

From the Paper
"Much of the intellectual history of psychology as well as philosophy has involved the attempt to come to grips with a dilemma of mind and body. This dilemma was eventually broken into main two opposing views: one view (dualism) proposes that our universe contains two very different and equally fundamental types of entity: mental/spiritual and physical/material items. Most followers of this view hold that human mind (or soul) is to survive the annihilation of the body. The contrasting view, materialism, on the other hand, affirms that everything in our universe is composed of mass-energy, minds and bodies included."

Tags:philosophy, soul, energy