Feminist Theory and the Evolution of Citizenship
The Exclusion of Women in Traditional Political Thought
The concept of man is invariably associated with reason and culture, which characterize the public sphere. Moreover, the concept of woman is linked with emotion and nature, which defines the private scope. Feminist theory proposes a political philosophy that addresses the concepts designed for the private sphere. However, the public sphere cannot be automatically applied to the private sphere. To this end, feminist theory analyzes and revises
Read MorePhaedo: Socrates’ Last Day and the Immortality of the Soul
Equécrates Asks Phaedo About Socrates’ Final Hours
Equécrates asks Phaedo to recount Socrates’ last day, and Phaedo agrees to do so. He begins by saying that Socrates, Apollodorus, Critobulus, Hermogenes, Antisthenes, Ctesippus, Simmias, Cebes, Phaedondas, Euclid, Terpsion, and Phaedo himself were present. Socrates observes that pleasure and pain are closely related, yet they never occur simultaneously; one follows the other, like two people joined at a single head.
Socrates on Death and the Philosopher
Faced
Read MorePlato’s Theory of Forms: Key Concepts and Definitions
Plato’s Theory of Forms: Key Concepts
Idea
In the Platonic sense, an idea has value, not only mental but also an absolute reality. It is independent, single, intelligible, immutable, universal, and eternal. Ideas are part of a hierarchical world, in which the supreme idea is the Idea of the Good. Ideas are known by reason, and the science that gives us access to them is dialectic. In the Allegory of the Cave, ideas would match the beings of the exterior.
Good
The Good is the supreme idea of the intelligible
Read MorePlato & Aristotle: Key Philosophical Concepts
Nature: In Plato’s philosophy, nature encompasses all natural things, excluding artificial creations. It is a fundamental concept in Greek thought, defined as the essence of acting, the intrinsic principle of activities. Aristotle views nature as both an efficient cause, initiating activities, and a final cause, the end goal of development, which is the completion of form.
Reality: For Plato, true reality resides in the realm of Ideas, while the physical world is merely a shadow of these Ideas.
Read MorePlato’s Philosophy of Beauty, Truth, and Governance
Provided there is neither born nor perishes, neither grows nor decreases, and secondly, it is beautiful in appearance and ugly in another, or sometimes beautiful and sometimes not, or beautiful about one thing and ugly over another, not here beautiful and ugly there, as if for some beautiful and others ugly. Nor will you get this beauty in the form of a face or hands or anything else of which involve a body, nor as an argument, or as a science, or as existing in something else, for example, a living
Read MoreNatural Rights vs. Positive Law: Three Legal Perspectives
Legal Iusnaturalism
Iusnaturalism, as we saw, defends the existence of natural rights of the individual that are universal and inalienable. Therefore, for iusnaturalist thinkers, the main function of the State is to protect and ensure that individuals can enjoy these natural rights. From that perspective, the positive recognition of these fundamental natural rights in the laws is interpreted as a formal recognition by the State of a series of previous ethical principles, which are inalienable and