Understanding Core Ethical Theories and Principles
Ethics and Morality: Core Distinctions
Today, morality is often associated with the expression of moral standards (the content of morality), while ethics is considered the philosophical reflection on the criteria of justification for those standards.
Ethics and Law: Defining Boundaries
While ethics is the philosophical reflection on the criteria for justifying various actions, law refers to the established legal framework. It dictates what is permissible or impermissible, regardless of individual ethical
Read MorePlato’s Arguments for Soul Immortality: An Analysis
Plato’s Phaedo: First Argument for Soul Immortality
This argument posits that opposites arise from opposites.
Part I: Theory of Opposites (Contra Heraclitus)
- Introduction 1: Opposites are produced from their contraries.
- Introduction 2: Life and death are contraries.
- Introduction 3: From life, death is produced.
Conclusion:
From death, life will occur.
Plato’s Phaedo: Second Argument, Theory of Reminiscence
This argument recalls the theory of recollection as presented in Plato’s Meno, including the proof
Read MoreAristotle’s Philosophical Foundations: Soul, Ethics, and Governance
While Plato viewed man as an accidental composite of two distinct substances (body and soul), Aristotle presented a unified, spiritual, and non-biological perspective. For Aristotle, man is a single substance, a complete living organism, composed of a body (the subject) and a soul (the form). Aristotelian psychology is organized as follows:
Aristotle’s Anthropology: Body and Soul
Unlike Plato, who believed the soul and body were separable substances, with the soul potentially surviving the body (implying
Read MorePhilosophical Foundations: Knowledge, Intelligence, Tradition, and Reason
Understanding Knowledge: Definitions and Models
Knowledge is the understanding of things or a state of being. It involves two main components: the subject (the one who knows or performs the activity of knowing) and the object (what is known or understood). Knowledge also has two aspects: the process of knowing (the activity, the search for truth) and the outcome of knowing (the result, the truth found).
Models of Knowledge
Realism (Aristotle)
In realism, the object has priority. It is considered a fundamental
Aristotle’s Core Philosophical Concepts Defined
Form (Morpho): Essence and Distinction
Discussing how we perceive the features of an object and its forms. Aristotle distinguishes substantial form from accidental form. Substantial form is the essence of a thing. Aristotle’s position on forms differs significantly from Plato’s. For Plato, the forms or ideas of things are separated from them, existing in a ‘World of Ideas.’ In contrast, for Aristotle, forms are inherent in individuals. This concept of composition accounts for the metaphysics of matter
Read MoreCore Concepts: Society, Culture, and Knowledge in Philosophy
State and Society Fundamentals
Society: A group of people, peoples, or nations that coexist under common rules.
Definition: Society is a system of usages and procedures of authority and mutual aid, of many groupings and divisions, of controls of human behavior and liberties. This ever-changing complex system, which is called society, is a web of social relationships. —MacIver and Page
- A collective of people who coexist, share a space, and collaborate with each other to survive.
- Common standards, which