What is Human Nature?: St. Thomas Aquinas and Human Nature
Unlike Plato, Aristotle's writings were not translated into Latin and read by Christians until the 13th century. One of the first to pick up his ideas was St. Thomas Aquinas who agreed that human nature is defined by a s..
What is Human Nature?: Traditional Greek View of Human Nature, The
Aristotle, Plato's student agreed with his teacher's analysis of human nature. But he took a broader view of how humans fit into nature as a whole. In Aristotle's view everything has its own unique purpose or telos. Biol..
What is Justice?: What is Justice?
From the day they are born, people's chances in life differ. Some inherit money, social status, and good health; others are given far less. Justice, for some, is about redistributing the benefits and burdens, and providi..
What is Philosophy?: Lure of Philosophy, The
Five philosophers share their rationale for becoming philosophers. Their motivations range widely. One philosopher uses their profession to find answers regarding the existence of God while another simply wants to constr..
What is Philosophy?: Plato's Myth of the Cave; Its Relevance Today
Plato's parable of the cave, written in the 4th century B.C.E., portrays how philosophy works. In the parable prisoners sit in the bottom of a cave, their heads chained so they can only see shadows cast by objects moving..
What is Philosophy?: Relationship of Philosophy to Other Fields of Thought
What is philosophy? How is it related to other fields of thought? How is it different? In response to these questions, nine preeminent scholars create an insightful view of philosophy and the role it plays in contemporar..
What is Philosophy?: Socrates and His Method
Perhaps the most famous example of how "to do" philosophy was provided by Plato's teacher, Socrates. Socrates loved to be with people, to talk with them, argue with them, and ask them what they thought about a variety of..
What is Philosophy?: Socrates on Trial
Socrates, accused of impiety, undermining faith in the traditional gods, and corrupting the youth of Athens, is tried before a jury of 500 Athenians. He describes how he became involved in philosophy and challenges Thras..
What is Real?: Anti-realists' Thesis
Anti-realists contend that we shape the external world into the reality we know through our conceptual systems, language, and thought processes. Things are as we name them, parts and wholes as we define them. This applie..
What is Real?: Arguments Against Metaphysical Speculation
Some philosophers object to the idea that there is a spiritual reality different from the physical world as mere metaphysical speculation. As one group contends anything we cannot perceive with our senses or prove scien..