Stevenson's Argument Essay

One burning and enduring problem in philosophy to which we have given considerable examination is the question of the existence of God--the superlative being that philosophers have defined and dealt with for centuries. After reading the classic arguments of St. Anselm and St. Thomas Aquinas, the contentious assertions of Ernest Nagel, and the compelling eyewitness accounts of Julian of Norwich, I have been introduced to some of the most revered and referenced arguments for and against God's existence that have been put into text. All of them are well-thought and well-articulated arguments, but they have their holes. The question of God's true existence, therefore, is still not definitively answered and put to rest; the intensity of this

Racial inequality, excessive punishment, unfair trials, wrongful convictions and improper treatment of children and the mentally ill are just some of the main reasons why attorney, Bryan Stevenson, decided to found the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI).

Bryan Stevenson was born on November 14, 1959 in Milton, Delaware. His father, Howard Carlton Stevenson, Sr., had grown up in Milton, Delaware as well. His father left the area as a teen because there had been no colored high school nearby (Stevenson, 2014). He later returned with Bryan’s mother, Alice Gertrude Stevenson. Both parents would commute to the northern part of the state for work. His dad worked at a General Foods processing plant as a lab technician. His mother had a civilian job at an Air Force bar, she was a bookkeeper at Dover Air Force Base and became an equal opportunity officer. Stevenson has two siblings: an older brother Howard, Jr. and a sister Christy. As a child, Stevenson dealt with segregation and its legacy. He spent

Bryan Stevenson, human rights lawyer and founder of the Equal Rights Initiative (ERI), has been central to an ongoing project of the ERI to create markers for the lynching sites of African Americans. Its function is to “to create a mechanism for forcing people to talk more about slavery,” with the hope of confronting racial injustice within America through confronting our long history of abuse (Carp). Stevenson believes that any impetus to talk about slavery is vital to understanding why our society is shaped the way it is, and why we deal with the problems we do. I agree with Stevenson in that the identification of these sites is a beginning in our journey to uncover the truth of our past and our present, which for too long has been shielded from the American consciousness.

Your childhood reflects upon your character as an adult. Because of Bryan Stevenson’s rough childhood in a racially segregated community, he knows the hardships and can connect “close” to the people he is working with. Infact most, criminals have the same background as him. He is not afraid to get close and dig deep into the issue, because he cares about it. This gives him an experience of getting into the criminal’s shoes and seeing all perspectives of the case to serve true justice.

talked a lot to Stevenson about her views on what Hell is like and how

In the history of philosophy, two of the most prominent philosophers were Hobbes and Hume. Both made important contributions to the world of ethics. One of the main important things they differed on is reason. Hobbs felt that reason is way to seek peace but Hume felt the reason is only a slave to passions. In the following paragraphs, you will see how Hobbes and Hume explain their different views on reason the theories of the two philosophers are analyzed in depth, so that we can have a comprehensive understanding.

The philosophical thought is that the mind and body are two separate things; with one being able to exist without the other has caused much discussion and debate among philosophers and theologians over the years. René Descartes and Plato, two well-known philosophers, argue that people have a mind or soul, which is somehow connected with the body, but the mind or soul can exist independently from our body. Descartes introduces the mind-body argument while Plato presents the soul-body argument. Although the arguments differ in some ways, Descartes and Plato also have similar opinions on the issue. As a person of faith, there is some difficulty in explaining to a non-believer that when a person dies, the soul does not perish with the body. While siding with Descartes and his belief in a perfect God, this essay seeks to review the issues of dualism and meditation, through the eyes of Descartes and Plato.

scientific question 'Why?". Why do we even exist why does anything exist. one who puts aside all beliefs

What is it that separates living things from non-living things? Do living things have souls? If so, what exactly are souls? Can they exist independent of material bodies? What happens to our souls after our bodies die? Ancient Greek philosophers, from Homer to Socrates, struggle with these questions, and strive for answers. Out of all the answers, perhaps the most thorough and revealing come from Aristotle. This may be due to his insistence that, in defining the soul, an exclusive focus on form over matter is misguided; conversely, he argues that an exclusive focus on matter over form is equally wrong-headed. We will examine Aristotle’s objections to both Plato, regarding the former, and Democritus, regarding the latter. Following, we will identify what Aristotle defines as the soul, and analyze the ways in which his definition avoids the pitfalls of materialism and dualism. Concluding, we will see that Aristotle, out of all the ancient Greek philosophers, provides the most sophisticated and satisfying answers to the questions initially posed.

Plato believed that the soul was divided into three parts; desire, spirit and reason. Desire, the lowest part of the soul, is constantly affected by appetitive drive and instinct. Reason, the highest part of the soul, is

explains his belief that the “soul exists before, and survives the body”. Plato 's beliefs of

our existence in reality is a question which philosophers have tackled throughout time. This essay will look at the

Thus, Plato argued that the soul must have existed outside of the natural world. In order for this to be so, it must be immortal, living before it came into this world. It only stands to reason, Plato contended, that it must continue to exist after it leaves this world. How else would it have been in existence before it came into this world? Plato believed that it was a rational assumption that our soul must continue to exist even after our death.

The human person is made up of two components the body and the soul. I believe that the relationship between the body and the soul are united as one. The human person resides in both the body and the soul equally. A philosopher who believes in the theory of the body and soul together, creating the human person is Aristotle. There are two elements of the soul, ration and irrational. The rational element is composed of the theoretical reason and practical reason. The irrational element is compose of vegetative, appetites, and desires. The body and soul interrelate by the soul acting as a container for the body, therefore together their body and soul become the entire human person. An analogy to compart the relationship of the body and soul