Aristotle to Aquinas: Ethics, Virtue, and Happiness
Aristotle on the End of Action
For Aristotle, the ultimate end of all human action is happiness (eudaimonia).
Aristotle’s Definition of Happiness
- Happiness involves living well and doing well; it requires knowing the right thing to do, at the right time, and in the right way.
The Function of a Human Being
- To live an active life that expresses reason and to do so in accordance with virtue.
Humans seek happiness because it is a self-sufficient good – desired for its own sake and not for the sake of
Read MoreSpinoza & Leibniz: Rationalism, Substance, and Monads
Spinoza’s Philosophy
Rational Spirit
Spinoza’s philosophy is based on modern rationalism. Mathematical deduction is considered the highest form of rationality. Rationality allows us access to reality more rigorously. Spinoza first establishes definitions, sets a series of axioms, and thereafter devotes himself to obtaining various propositions whose truth is demonstrated by applying deductive logic. For Spinoza, genuine knowledge is knowledge by causes. It follows a logical order, from the universal
Read MoreUtilitarian Ethics, Empiricism: Mill and Hume’s Philosophy
Utilitarianism: Ethical Foundations
Utilitarianism is an ethical theory suggesting that the purpose of human action is linked to achieving useful outcomes. An action is considered ethically good if it contributes to happiness. It seeks to reconcile the diverse and often contradictory desires of individuals by using practical outcomes (utility) as the criterion for evaluating reality. The primary goal is to produce the greatest amount of happiness possible for the greatest number of people.
Characteristics
Read MoreKant vs. Marx: Philosophy of History, Freedom & Critique
Kant and Marx: Freedom, History, and Critique
Shared Goal: Human Emancipation
Marx and Kant share a spirit focused on history as a path toward human emancipation, both individual and political. Both advocate a teleological conception of history as a field for realizing freedom and equality. For Kant, this end is the cosmopolitan society, while Marx’s horizon is the communist society—a just and egalitarian society.
History’s Engine: Conflict and Progress
The Enlightenment idea of progress is a common
Read MoreNietzsche: Truth, Metaphor, and the Artist’s Vision
In this text, Nietzsche seeks to differentiate between truth and the world’s concept of truth as metaphor. The metaphor is the product of human creation in a world of continuous change, where everything is possible. However, the metaphor, man’s natural impulse to understand the world as variable, is soon forgotten by the man of science.
The term ‘metaphor’ is consistent with the authentic product of man who is not seeking access to ‘truth,’ which respects the variable nature of the world. By contrast,
Read MoreUnderstanding Knowledge: Sources, Properties, and Truth
The Sources of Knowledge
The sources of knowledge are experience and thought. Through these, we learn from experience. Experience must be prolonged by thought. Experience is also called intuition, which can be sensuous (what we see and touch) or ideal (ideal objects). Concepts are the ideas we have of reality. Knowledge is always the result of thought applied to sensory or empirical content.
The Three Properties of Experience
Sensory experience is essential because it allows us to understand things
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