Analysis of the Communist Manifesto: Bourgeoisie vs Proletariat
Communist Manifesto
Chapter I: Bourgeois and Proletarians
The text starts by developing the idea that the history of human society is a history of class struggles between oppressor and oppressed classes. Human society today tends to be divided between two antagonistic classes: bourgeoisie and proletariat.
After this, it is a historical review from the last times of feudal society to the “modern bourgeois society,” finding in the economic development the thread that explains the radical political and
Read MoreArchaic vs. Rational Thought: Philosophy and Science
Archaic Thinking
Historically, humans relied on archaic thinking, where the world and its events were enigmas. Decisions were based on faith, imagination, and the value of tradition. This was common until about 2500 years ago.
Distinctive features of archaic thinking:
- Unfounded thought: Limited to making unsubstantiated claims without any demonstration.
- Uncritical thinking: Did not provide reasons for itself, nor did it explain or analyze its methodology.
- Anthropomorphic character: Explained the world
Key Concepts in Descartes’ Philosophy
Reason in Descartes’ Philosophy
Reason is Descartes’ criterion of truth. It is the faculty that allows us to distinguish truth from error and to establish correct judgments. According to Descartes, reason is autonomous, infallible, unique, and powerful, and it must follow the mathematical model to arrive at truth.
Knowledge and Method
Knowledge is the basic concern of Cartesian philosophy; the discovery of the truth by drawing on the right track with an appropriate method. For Descartes, reason has
Read MoreKey Concepts in Scholastic Philosophy and Theology
Almighty
Almighty applies to God as the Creator who made the world. It is an operational divine attribute. Divine power is manifested in three ways: the creation, maintenance, and governance of the world. For the first, God works from nothing, being the essence of all things. Secondly, God remains what He has created. Thirdly, God directs all things to an end and moves, concurring with it in all its operations.
Operation
There are two orders between moving right: the speculative and the practical.
Read MoreImmanuel Kant: Philosophy in the Age of Enlightenment
**Kant: Historical Context**
Modernity and the Enlightenment
- Pre-Revolutionary France: Enlightened Despotism
- Absolute power of the monarch, who receives it from God.
- The king is the sovereign, possessing all authority: “Everything for the people, but without the people.”
- Influence of enlightened ideas on the continent’s monarchies through a portion of the nobility and gentry.
- England: Parliamentary Monarchy
- The king reigns but does not govern.
- Primacy of the democratically elected parliament.
Enlightenment
Read MoreAristotle’s Philosophy: Ethics, Politics, Metaphysics, and Physics
Aristotle: Ethics and Politics
ETHICS. Aristotle stated that ethics is the human character, and the end toward which human action is directed is happiness. To achieve a happy life, it is necessary to be consistent with nature. The human faculty par excellence is the ability to reason, a human being cannot be happy without developing rational activity. Although the human being is not only his reason, the human soul also has a vegetative and a sensitive part. They contain the power of desire, which
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