The Epic of Gilgamesh presents a fascinating interpretation on what means to be human‚ and informs us a great deal about how the ancient Mesopotamians saw themselves in relation to a seemingly chaotic natural order. An initial reading of the Sumerian epic presents a bleak and confusing outlook on the events of the story‚ was the story of Gilgamesh irrelevant? While his quest for immortality was ultimately in vain‚ and he would have to concede the uncomfortable fact of his own mortality‚ this is
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What does it mean to be human? Simply it means to make decisions not always based on logic or reason‚ or the decision is made based on emotion. This is an interesting question that is brought up in Ridley Scott’s movie Alien (1979). The crew of the Nostromo for the most part appears to be human‚ but through their actions it makes one wonder if they are actually humans or if they are simply robots. They have gone to such a point that human life has seemingly been devalued in order to complete the
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Response: “What is Philosophy”? Upon reading the opening chapter of Cahn’s‚ “Exploring Philosophy: An Introductory Anthology”‚ I was immediately drawn in by the opening statement from Beardsley and Beardsley: “The study of philosophy is unlike the study of any other subject…The only prerequisite is an inquiring mind” (Cahn‚ 3). For a science major‚ my first reaction is excitement‚ for there is no need to memorize “dates‚ formulas‚ or rules” (Chan‚ 3). As I continued reading however‚ I start
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What is Philosophy? 1. E) My idea of philosophy is that Philosophy is a World-View. By this I mean philosophy is the attempt to understand all matters of the universe‚ encompassing anything the human mind is capable or incapable of thinking up. It is a personal perspective that can differ even among the smartest of humans. In a world-view‚ there are always contradictory proposals because it is not dictated by scientific verification. Take the case of Lucretius and Hegel. Lucretius imposes that
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become‚ it seems unlikely that most of what surrounds us is actually the result of the ancient practice of philosophy. Everything from the structure of democratic governments to due process of law‚ from a physician’s Hippocratic Oath to computer software‚ has its roots in philosophy. Philosophy is an academic discipline that exercises reason and logic in an attempt to understand reality and answer fundamental questions about knowledge‚ life‚ morality and human nature. The ancient Greeks‚ who were
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Introduction to Philosophy Thinking about Philosophy Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems. A view that admits no real difference between right and wrong answers and one must think that there are more than just one real answer and/or solution to any given question or problem. “The ancient Greeks‚ who were among the first to practice philosophy‚ coined the term‚ which means “love of wisdom.” Those who study philosophy are called philosophers.” Philosophy consists of a
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“What is Philosophy?” According to the famous Greek philosopher Socrates‚ “The unexamined life is not worth living”. But what does he mean by this? He means that we should look and think through life deeper. Examination of life is more than just a use of common sense. Hard thinking is necessary even though it disturbs. With the use of Philosophy‚ we better understand things and answer the most important questions in existence. Philosophy‚ according to the famous Greek philosopher Aristotle‚ begins
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PHIL 2200 REVIEW QUESTIONS1) Etymologically‚ what does Philosophy mean? Ancient Greek: Philo – Love‚ Sophia – Wisdom/knowledge. The love of wisdom.2) What is epistemology? Theories of knowledge 3) What is ontology? The study of being.4) What is ethics? A system of moral principles.5) According to Singer‚ what are four things that ethics are not? Particularly concerned with sex An ideal system which is useless in practice Something only intelligible in context with religion Relative or Subjective
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What is Philosophy? While Philosophy has no clear cut definition‚ it can be described as the act of questioning ideas‚ thoughts‚ and beliefs to try to form answers supported by good reasoning. These answers are not always clearly supported by fact like scientific questions‚ but use logic to express what a person views as correct. Questions of a philosophical nature can be grouped into four main branches and use a method of arguments and logic to support a reasonable opinion or view. Four major
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PHILOSOPHY OF THE HUMAN PERSON “Philosophy bakes no bread.” So goes an old saying that pops up time and again especially in nonphilosophical circles. The statement‚ more often than not‚ serves as an indictment of any rational exercise that seems so detached from the more existential concerns of practical life. To all appearances‚ the criticism is correct. But then‚ it is perhaps equally correct to admit that
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