Nihilism: Understanding Active and Passive Nihilism
Nihilism: Active and Passive Interpretations
Nihilism, in the context of life, can be seen as an expression of decadence. It’s a viewpoint that often stems from cultures believing in an absolute reality where ultimate truth and values reside. Western culture, particularly influenced by Christianity, is argued to be inherently nihilistic because it directs hope towards a non-existent entity (the Christian God, or the Rational World of philosophers), thereby devaluing the tangible reality experienced
Read MoreUnderstanding Moral Theology: Key Concepts and Principles
Understanding Moral Theology: Key Concepts
Key Terms: Law, Natural Law, Eternal Law, Positive Law, Human Acts, Acts of Man, Moral Rectitude, Conscience, Lax Conscience, Scrupulous Conscience, Erroneous Conscience, True Conscience, Antecedent Judgement, Concomitant Judgement, Consequent Judgement, Ascesis, Intrinsic, Immutable, Positivism, Sacred Tradition, Canon Law, Doctrine, Catholic Moral, Freedom, Responsibility, Partial Knowledge, Full Knowledge, Autonomous Morality, Heteronomous Morality, Vincible
Read MoreEthical Philosophers: Vázquez, Aristotle, Einstein, and Balmes
Adolfo Sánchez Vázquez
Adolfo Sánchez Vázquez was a Mexican philosopher, writer, and professor born in Spain. He emigrated to Mexico after the fall of the Second Spanish Republic and adopted an open, critically refreshing version of Marxism. In ethics, he opposed normativism. Notable works include Burning Pulse and Ethics and Politics.
The main theme of his work revolves around the meaning of moral and ethical concepts.
Ethics is closely linked to morality, but the two are not identical and should
Read MoreKant’s Formal Ethics: Autonomy, Duty, and Universal Law
Kant’s Formal Ethics
For Kant, all ethics developed up to his time were material ethics. This is because they were primarily concerned with the consequences, the end result, and the material benefits that could be enjoyed by following a set of rules. In contrast, Kant’s ethics are formal ethics, because he is most interested in the principle that promotes compliance, ensuring that our actions are morally right.
Material ethics are based on standards that Kant considers heteronomous and hypothetical.
Read MoreKant’s Philosophy: Key Concepts and Influences
Key Influences on Kant’s Philosophy
Rationalists: Descartes, Spinoza
Empiricists: Locke, Berkeley, Hume
Rationalist Conclusions
Our reason imposes important conditions on how we perceive the world.
Empiricist Conclusions
Our knowledge of the world comes from perceptions.
Kant’s Synthesis of Rationalism and Empiricism
Kant synthesizes rationalist and empiricist ideas. He acknowledges the structure of our reason (Descartes) but argues that we can only know the world as it appears to us, not as it is in itself
Read MoreAristotle’s Anthropology: Exploring the Soul and Life Functions
Aristotelian Anthropology
The Reality of the Soul
“Living things have life because of their soul,” according to Aristotle’s treatise “On the Soul” (within “Physics”). He studied two types of natural beings: the inert and the living. The living have peculiar qualities: they move themselves, perceive external reality and react to it, transform what they eat into their own substance, and generate similar individuals without losing their integrity.
Aristotle observed that living things, like inert matter,
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