Can absurd logic be used as a tool to scrutinize western philosophical texts without missing the point? Using absurd logic, I will demonstrate how two western philosophers differ in relation to the absurd. My case study will examine Socrates and David Hume. It will be demonstrated that Socrates’ actions in Plato’s Phaedo and Apology constitute philosophical suicide by finding sanctuary, giving hope, and appealing to a god. Alternatively, Hume’s actions/claims in the Dialogue Concerning Natural Religion, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, and Of Miracles conform with Camus’ absurd logic because of his constant skepticism and denial of an escape. My aim is to demonstrate that although Socrates’ actions are deemed as philosophical suicide and Hume’s actions comply with absurd logic, one is still able to comprehend the philosophical issues that both these philosophers raise, while still doing a close reading of the texts through an absurd paradigm.
I. Introduction Albert Camus introduced his description of the absurd to the world in 1942, in the text Le Mythe de Sisyphe. He claims that man has a desire to seek meaning in an irrational world. When an individual desires rationality from an irrational world the absurd is created. This becomes a struggle for the individual that is aware of the absurd and Camus believes that there is an absurd logic that must be followed to not negate the absurd. In relation to literature and philosophy, it is a task to use Camus’ absurd
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Even though “big data” is very valuable and has made many great gains for society in both efficiency and knowledge, with the increase in data collection and analytics there are many ethical concerns of how the data is being used because evidence based decision making within the analytics is often done solely on quantitative information, this creates digital inequity. Comparing and examining the works of Socrates and Martin Luther King Jr., we can develop our own ethical belief regarding some of the analytics used with “big data”.
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Breaking the law might or might not be morally permissible in special situations. It is not clear whether it is morally correct to always follow laws. Two points of view were examined: Martin Luther King in the “Letter from Birmingham City Jail” and Socrates in “Crito”. King, (1991) says that breaking the law can be excused for good reasons. However, Socrates says that breaking the law is never permissible (Gallop, 1997). Breaking the law is not moral because it breaks the conditions to be a citizen.
Two of the most prominent figures in social contract theory, Thomas Hobbes and John Locke established many of the founding ideals that contemporary Liberalism is based on. While the shared many similar positions, there are some key distinctions to be made between the arguments Hobbes and Locke make in Leviathan and Second Treatise of Civil Government, respectively. In this paper I will argue the differences between how each of them viewed the right of the subjects to revolt from the sovereign.
Existentialism is the main theme of Camus’s novel The Stranger, which relies heavily on absurdist ideas to assess the meaning of life. However to understand Camus’s meaning of life, one must understand the definition and traits of absurdity. Many
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The core idea of Albert Camus’ philosophy of absurdity centralizes upon the idea that humans exist in a meaningless universe, and follows that humans must simply accept this fact to live life to the fullest. In addition to this absurdist notion, Albert Camus also uses The Stranger to show how humans still strive to create superficial meaning to fulfill their own personal needs. Through the experiences and interactions in Meursault’s life, Camus illustrates that in spite of how events in life follow no rational order, society attempts to futilely create meaning to explain human existence.
Although both are considered some of the greatest political and philosophical thinkers of their respective times, Socrates and Niccoló Machiavelli had very different methods and beliefs of how a political system should be run. The mindset of Socrates can be seen in the works Apology and Crito by Plato. Socrates, who values wisdom and justice over power and prestige, would view Machiavelli’s concept of a Prince very contradicting to how he believes a good life should be lived. In his work, The Prince, Machiavelli details how a prince should rule and maintain power. Socrates would not be supportive of Machiavelli and his Prince’s political system because it is rooted in unethical behaviors. Machiavelli views these actions as virtues
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In the 5th meditation, he believes that science is based on Corporeal, bodily or material things, and they are distinguished from mathematical sciences by their essence-existence correspondence. In mathematics the core of an object entails its existence. However , not for corporeal objects which essence and existence does not correlate. If we separate the corporeal subjective from its objective qualities one may find that an essence of material object is its extension. Concluding that corporeal sciences can be treated mathematically , which mathematics is based on the absolute truth , due to the fact it cannot be unchangeable.
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Discuss the fascinating parallels between William of Ockham and David Hume, highlighting for example, the Regularist View of Causality.
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