Marx’s Philosophy: A Critical Analysis of His Ideas
As Lenin said, “Marxism is the natural successor model best humanity created in the nineteenth century from German philosophy, English political economy, and French socialism.” Marx, a revolutionary, profoundly transformed the sources that inspired him. His thinking was in constant evolution and transformation because it was never purely “theoretical,” but continually joined activity theory and revolutionary practice. As Marx himself noted, philosophers have only interpreted the world in various
Read MoreNietzsche’s Superman: Philosophy, Morality, and the Will to Power
B.II. The Ethics of the Superman
The New Man
The Superman emerges after the “death of God.” Nietzsche envisions him as an individual embracing life’s values, the “sense of the earth.” This new man stands in contrast to those who adhere to traditional values, the “herd morality,” rooted in a belief in a transcendent reality that fosters contempt for life, the physical, and individual differences.
The Superman’s Emergence
The Superman becomes possible only with the complete rejection of belief in God.
Read MorePhilosophy: Critical Knowledge and Ethical Concepts
Philosophy: Origins and Nature
Philosophy is knowledge about human experience, seeking its ultimate basis. Originating in Greece with pre-Socratic philosophers like Pythagoras, it was Plato who defined it as “second-degree” knowledge, studying “first-degree” knowledge and working with ideas.
Philosophy is critical and rational, rejecting dogmatism. It is dialectical, reflecting on contradictions in everyday phenomena. Its method involves analysis and synthesis.
Contrasting Cultures and Knowledge
Barbarian
Read MoreEmpiricism: Locke, Berkeley, and Hume’s Theories of Knowledge
Empiricism in Modern Philosophy
John Locke (1632-1704)
Born in Bristol in 1632, Locke studied at Oxford. His major work, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, posits that all our ideas come from experience.
- Simple Ideas: Immediate sensations (color, smell) from external experience (primary qualities like size and shape, secondary qualities like odor and color) or internal reflection (awareness of one’s actions).
- Complex Ideas: Formed by the mind combining simple ideas, including the concept of “substance”
Understanding Morality: Ethics, Values, and Actions
1) Are Morality and Ethics the Same?
Moral standards, values, and customs try to guide individual and collective conduct. There isn’t a single set of rules; morality varies by location. Ethics reflects on morality. Ethical reflection analyzes and operates on morality, modifying human “moral perception.” We can distinguish two moments: first, reflecting on behavioral standards and values allows us to understand their role in human lives.
2) What is Descriptive Ethics?
Descriptive ethics concerns
Read MoreAquinas’s Key Philosophical Concepts: A Concise Overview
Thomas Aquinas: Key Terminology
Abstraction
The capacity of understanding whereby the extracted form, the universality of individual things (concrete), is removed from the material. Through this process, concepts are derived from sensory experience.
Act
The relation of what is in power that makes it to be what it is. What is being made has already acquired its way. It opposes potency, along with the concept of power, to explain the move as the passage from potency to act. This pair of concepts is used
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