Human Evolution: Intelligence, Classification, and Traits
The Process of Humanization and Intelligence
The process of humanization begins the moment intelligence manifests. Humanization acts on the natural evolution occurring within the human species, consisting of the development of the human species through intelligence. It is believed that intelligence is deployed in practice, communication, and the transmission of knowledge. This awakens the potential of intelligence, and its further development is both biological and cultural. Human intelligence develops
Read MoreJohn Rawls’s Theory of Justice: Principles and Impact
John Rawls: A Pivotal 20th-Century Philosopher
John Rawls was a 20th-century American philosopher who worked chiefly in the fields of ethics, political philosophy, and philosophy of law. Rawls is considered by many to be the most important political philosopher of the 20th century, and his landmark book, A Theory of Justice, is praised for having attempted to unite many competing political theories that many had judged incompatible. Rawls rejected both Marx’s communism and Mill’s utilitarianism to
Read MoreAristotle vs. Plato: Justice, State, and Governance
Aristotle and Plato: Competing Visions of Justice and the State
Aristotle’s Conception of Justice
For Aristotle, justice is the virtue that consists in total compliance with laws. However, he also refers to it as a particular virtue that regulates interpersonal relationships by imposing equal treatment. These conceptions of justice reveal the connection between ethics and politics in Aristotle’s thought:
- The idea of legal justice shows that ethics depends on politics; if virtue is to obey all laws,
Hume’s Empiricism: Analyzing Causality, Substance, and Self
Hume’s Theory of Knowledge: Ideas and Facts
Philosophical propositions can be categorized into two types:
Relations of Ideas
These propositions can be reached by reasoning alone, without recourse to experience. They are based on the rational principle of contradiction, making them universal and necessary propositions.
Matters of Fact
Matters of fact refer to propositions that rely entirely on experience. The only thing that guarantees the truth of propositions asserting facts is experience. These propositions
Aristotle’s Metaphysics: Core Concepts & Ethical Framework
Aristotle’s Metaphysics: Fundamental Divisions
Aristotle’s Metaphysics is fundamentally structured around three key divisions: the transcendental order, the categorical order, and theology.
The Transcendental Order
The transcendental order describes the universal predicates that different beings possess:
- First Substance: These are the individual, independent things.
- Unity: A being ceases to be itself if divided or added to.
- Essence: That which cannot fail to be what it is. The first substance possesses
Plato’s Core Philosophy: Knowledge, Soul, and Ideal State
Plato’s Simile of the Line: Levels of Knowledge
This section explains Plato’s Simile of the Line, outlining the steps the soul must follow to attain true knowledge. This is divided into doxa (opinion) and episteme (knowledge), each further subdivided into two levels:
Doxa: The World of Opinion
First Grade: Eikasia (Imagination)
This involves perceiving shadows and images.
Second Grade: Pistis (Belief)
Recognizing that behind these shadows and images are physical objects, perceived through the senses.