Author	Feedback	Action
Brian OFFLINE	10/08/2008 According to Locke, "If one is to act in such a way that appears contrary to the natural laws, it is the right and responsibility of all men affected by these actions to judge and punish the offender. In this sense, each man will be the judge of whether his 'rights', as described by nature, have been violated. The right of each man to interpret and enforce the laws of nature as they see fit, may be a source of much chaos. So, in order to regulate the implementation of these laws, man agrees to a social contract, under which all men are governed by one common ruler" Socrates, however, consistently cites that the people of the kallipolis, raised in virtue, justice, and with a knowledge of what is good, will realize the justice of the kallipolis and act according to their sense of justice and for the good of the city. This argument is fine in and of itself. When you reach the political structure of the kallipolis, however, certain ideas are brought into question.
Ian OFFLINE	19/08/2008 Augustine's discussion of Grace versus free will is especially interesting. There are several points in Augustine's arguments which rely on some sort of ambiguous, undefined concept to support a "we can't understand god" type of mentality. One prime example of this is Augustine's explication of the trinity. The trinity represents unity yet three distinct avatars of god. This understanding of the trinity is an amorphous understanding of omission. It runs something like this: we can't understand the trinity by human rationale, but through an intense and encompassing belief-investigation, we can come to terms with this seeming paradox. I can see the beginning of the western conception of the state and its relationship to the individual in Hobbes' Leviathan. I do, however, question many of his conclusions. This is to be expected since Hobbes is best read as a piece of historical political philosophy, demonstrating the development of the western conception of the state.
Austin ONLINE	11/08/2008 Plato was Greek philosopher, born into a distinguished family either in Athens or on the island of Aegina where his father had an estate. He received the education in music and gymnastics of a wellborn Athenian youth, under the limitations imposed by the seige created for Athens by the Peloponnesian War. Plato was influenced by the teachings of Cratylus and Socrates and of the schools of Italy, which he later visited. By making a big deal of the charge of corrupting the youth, Plato garners more sympathy from the youth. It is as if their leaders are saying they are not smart enough to think for themselves, and to choose between true and false. Plato writes in a style that makes the philosophy more easily acceptable to the youth, by making their parents and the ruling party their enemy. Plato never entered politics. He chose instead to induce change through the teachings of his philosophy at his school the Academy. He did induce some change because "Unlike Socrates, Plato took no part in the civic life of Athens, but he was much more interested in political philosophy, and is said to have been consulted by statesman both at home and abroad" (Plato, "Apology: Introductory Note." Great Works of Literature, 01-01-92). The treatise was successful considering Plato's works are still used to today by many political-philosophers.
Joseph OFFLINE	19/08/2008 Plato's theory of the soul can be found in his major work, *The Republic*, where it is a response to the challenge of the Sophists as to why one ought to live morally. The Sophists in Plato's time were men who used philosophy for profit, inventing moral loopholes to get people out of obligations, or to excuse what would otherwise be considered immoral behavior. The skeptics ask why one ought to be moral when morality is apparently a social device for maintaining order. But if there are no consequences to "immoral behavior," then there is no motivational pressure for morality. Locke's concept of the social contract is much more palitable than Hobbes' was. Locke not only delineates the nature and cause of the social contract, but he rationalizes his reasoning better. Locke's concept of a proper government and the relationship between the government and the people is also more consistent with a social contract theory than Hobbes was. While Hobbes' monarchy would work assuming the absolute goodness and reliability of the king, Locke allows for the shortcomings of human beings in reality, thus his propsal for social government is a more realistic doctrine.

Title and Description	Posts	Photo	Action
Feelings Exterior Blinds Author: Haley New If again I say it is the greatest good for a man every day to discuss virtue and the other things, about which you hear me talking and examining myself and everybody else, but life without enquiry is ...	1		View Bookmark
Picture Awake Author: Haley Machiavelli greatly admires the works of Plato and other sophists. According to Descartes himself, his purpose for writing "Meditation" was to prove that there was nothing more un-doubtable in the un...	1		View Bookmark
Aristotle Fathers Continuing Author: Haley No man has the obligation to put his life on the line unless to do so would cause the downfall of the sovereign. Hobbes states that "when the defence of the commonwealth, requireth at once the help of...	1		View Bookmark

Title and Description	Photo	Action
Reflecting Qualities Author: Haley New Featured Plato's writings were arranged in groups of four. The dialog form used by Plato came naturally out of Greek drama, the Athenian habit of discussion and the use of dialog by Socrates. The response of ...		View Bookmark
Opinion Reflect Author: Haley New Descartes has a clear distinct picture of God, which he cannot, and will not doubt. He believes all other truths can be doubted, but not God. Subsequently, Hume's argument focuses on human testimony ...		View Bookmark
Jerry Alter Author: Haley New Featured In response to the skeptics, Plato argues that the tyrant is not therefore truly happy, and that this can be seen in his behavior. Ruled by lower passions, tyrants are known to displace Reason with Em...		View Bookmark
Explores Astrology Thrown Author: Haley New Additionally, Hume speaks of miraculous events recorded throughout history and shows that there is no acceptable reason to believe in these miracles because they are never witnessed by a vast number o...		View Bookmark

Title and Description	Date/Time	Photo	Action
Deluded Pious Utilizes Author: Haley New At the end of Section 9 Hume writes: "But our wonder will perhaps cease or diminish when we consider that the experimental (experiential) reasoning itself, which we possess in common with beasts, and ...	16/09/2008 13:17		View Bookmark
Unfavorable Opposed Author: Haley New Featured Hobbes claims that in most cases a citizen does not have the duty to make the safety and ends of the state the motive of his or her voluntary death. The right of a man to defend himself in the face of...	24/08/2008 00:40		View Bookmark
Kierkegaard Instills Author: Haley New At the age of nine Charles was sent to reform school after being caught stealing, kicking off his life of crime. Again, caught stealing, at 12 years old he was sent off to a boys school in Indiana. Le...	03/09/2008 09:30		View Bookmark
Theft Sentenced Penitentiary Author: Haley Jean-Jacques Rousseau makes it explicitly clear in his writings, "The Social Contract and Discourses" that he believes strongly in personal freedom and autonomy. Rousseau believed that a truly free go...	21/08/2008 05:50		View Bookmark
Knows Proper Exceeds Author: Haley Today, there is a big push in this country to limit individual freedom/liberty for the good of society. People fear crime and the diminishing of what is called family values. The problem is whose spee...	14/09/2008 23:56		View Bookmark

Title and Description	Photo	Action
Consistently Cites Author: Haley New Hume's arguments seem directed at Descartes. Hume argues that man gains knowledge from experience and that we should be skeptical of all other knowledge. Descartes believes all knowledge comes from th...		Join Club View Bookmark
Kallipolis Reach Author: Haley New Featured Plato's writings were arranged in groups of four. The dialog form used by Plato came naturally out of Greek drama, the Athenian habit of discussion and the use of dialog by Socrates. Descartes goes o...		Join Club View Bookmark
Deceive Descarte Author: Siera New Plato's concept of forms raises many interesting questions. The concept that everything in the physical world has a form or ideal theoretical existence seems fairly valid upon a cursory examination. A...		Join Club View Bookmark
Becomes Facticity Author: Elizabeth New Featured Locke's assertion that an alien is exempt from the laws of a country to which he is not a citizen is a curious segment of his doctrine. Would an alien then be free to commit crime in a foreign land? W...		Join Club View Bookmark
Socially Beneficial Author: Jocelyn New Featured Locke believes that at the beginning man lived in common ownership of the earth (Locke, 18). Man is blessed with the ownership of property in his own person (Locke, 19). Rousseau argues, the contrary,...		Join Club View Bookmark
Future Results Author: Hailey New Plato was Greek philosopher, born into a distinguished family either in Athens or on the island of Aegina where his father had an estate. He received the education in music and gymnastics of a wellbor...		Join Club View Bookmark
Veiled Blatant Author: Elizabeth New Featured Plato says their performance determines whether the Love is Common or Heavenly. This differs greatly from the materialistic society we live in today. Today people are more concerned with Common Love t...		Join Club View Bookmark
Leaving Charlie Author: Luis New Hume claims that humans are like animals: The fact that Kierkegaard's analysis is random musing and not dialectics is reinforced by the recurrence of old ambiguities as seen in Augustine: free will v...		Join Club View Bookmark
World Failures Author: Zoe New Perhaps the leap from philosophical metaphysics to philosophical pragmatics was too steep for Dewey. Nature changes slowly and so do our values and the way we experience nature. Dewey's pragmatism bui...		Join Club View Bookmark
Natural Civil Author: Angelina Pausanias discusses two kind of love. Pausanias says Phaedrus—who spoke just before Pausanias—should have differentiated between the heavenly love and the earthly love. He claims there are two loves j...		Join Club View Bookmark