Aquinas considered that by using our reason to reflect on our human nature we could discover our specific end purpose. Aquinas used the ideas of Aristotle and the Stoics as an underpinning for Natural Law saying- human beings have an essential rational nature given by God in order for us to live and flourish. Aristotle said even without knowledge of god, reason can discover the laws that lead to human flourishing. The Stoics said Natural Laws are universal and unchangeable and should be used to judge of particular societies. We use this is help us choose the right moral action is situations.
The basic concept of religion and morality, especially divine command theory, is very simple: what God commands is good, therefore only do that. However, things begin to complicate when we begin to answer questions, such as ‘why are Gods commands intrinsically good?’. The Euthyphro dilemma outlines the problems with asserting the goodness of God. In the great philosopher Plato’s text, ‘The Last Days of Socrates’, Socrates questions Euthyphro over the piety of the Gods. Which follows on from which?
Utilitarianism is consequentalist ethical theory. When an action is judged entirely on the utility. So an action would be determined on the outcome and the consequences. In utilitarianism the utility of an action is decided on how much pleasure and happiness is gained from it, so it is about maximising happiness as much as possible rather than gaining pain and sadness. The two most well known utilitarian’s are Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill.
So what is beauty? As far as cliches go, beauty ought to be in the eye of the beholder, right? We should recognize it when we see it. Ancient philosophers, such as Plato, examined beauty more as a moral equation, believing that what is beautiful is good. Poets equated it with something “more profound than truth itself” as stated by Anatole France.
Katarina Majerhold AGAINST homophobia In this paper I discuss a Neostoic notion of human emotions in connection to homophobia, linking homophobia to an emotion of disgust and shame. However, I show that these emotions are learned and culturally constructed (and how negative they are). In order to change and modify these to positive human relations I propose a new philosophy or rather a new philosophical technique, I invented, called philosophical clowning and is based on the Epicurean premise: 'empty is the argument of the philosopher which does not relieve any human suffering.' So philosophy of clowning is a technique which promotes a peaceful, playful, joyous, kind, compassionate and explored life - yours and with the others and offers one of the new ways towards a peaceful, democratic and compassionate society. 1.
These forms of media also install images of the perfect woman or man by showing unrealistic features of the human body. In “The Empire of Images in Our World of Bodies”, Susan Bordo writes about her view on the image of the ideal body. Susan Bordo effectively supports her claim of how the image of bodies the media displays is bad by using logos and pathos. Throughout the essay, Bordo uses logos and pathos to explain the problems of the ideal body. Susan Bordo is a philosophy teacher that wrote “The Empire of Images in Our World of Bodies”, which was published in the New York Times.
Not only is this birthmark unique but it is also a human imperfection to Aylmer. Aylmer wanted to prove to Georgiana it was an imperfection to her face. Aylmer convincingly said, “No dearest Georgiana, you came so nearly perfect from the hand of Nature, that this slightest possible defect- which we hesitate whether to term a defect or a beauty- shocks me, as being the visible mark of earthly imperfection” (Hawthorne 2). Aylmer thinks the birthmark makes Georgiana ugly and wants to
Utilitarian Theories Utilitarianism Utilitarianism is a normative ethical theory that places the locus of right and wrong solely on the outcomes (consequences) of choosing one action/policy over other actions/policies. As such, it moves beyond the scope of one's own interests and takes into account the interests of others. Bentham's Principle of Utility: (1) Recognizes the fundamental role of pain and pleasure in human life, (2) approves or disapproves of an action on the basis of the amount of pain or pleasure brought about i.e, consequences, (3) equates good with pleasure and evil with pain, and (4) asserts that pleasure and pain are capable of quantification (and hence 'measure'). In measuring pleasure and pain, Bentham introduces the following criteria: INTENSITY, DURATION, CERTAINTY (or UNCERTAINTY), and its NEARNESS (or FARNESS). He also includes its "fecundity" (will more of the same follow?)
Outline the important features of utilitarianism Utilitarianism is an idea that has been around for hundreds of years; it is an ethical philosophy in which the happiness of the greatest number of people in the society is considered the greatest good. Utilitarianism become well acknowledged when it the idea was developed by Jeremy Bentham. Bentham realized that people were motivated by happiness when making a moral decision. They’d ask themselves how they would benefit from that decision and decide from there. Bentham founded the principle of utility, which states that an action is right if it “produces the greatest amount of good for the greatest amount of people.” Bentham believed good is the maximization of pleasure and the minimization of pain, and that the greatest good is the greatest pleasure that creates the less pain overall for the majority.
Morality is universally understood as a class of rules held by society to govern the right conduct of its members. Holding strong to this notion St. Thomas Aquinas, brings to light this understanding as personal inclination (or will) to achieve an ultimate end (God); in which those actions become the mean to understandings the human purpose. In his book, A Summary of Philosophy, Aquinas claims that the existence of God allows us to reason with the things around and wills us to act. In a different approach, Friedrich Nietzsche claims that morality is relative to time and power; our actions whether moral or immoral depend on the power they bestow to the perspectives that we hold. He doesn’t believe in a moral definition of what is good and bad; because historically it is contradicted by the men of power.