Aristotle on Causality
According to Artistotle, there are 4 types of causes: Consider the production of an artifact like a bronze statue. The bronze is the material cause in the production of the statue. The bronze is also a subject to change, the thing that undergoes the change and results in a statue. The bronze is melted and […]
Aristotle on Happiness
By Aristotle, an ethical life is a rational life which should be centered around the goal understood as the good. This is the central good. There are other goods in life, such as prosperity, friendship, power, health. However, they are all pointless without the central good. This good gives the other goods their point. Aristotle […]
Epicurus on Happiness
By Epicurus, happiness is pleasure. It is a state of the soul that is free of disturbances and the state of the body that is free of pain. There is a final goal and it’s name is ATARAXIA / TRANQUILITY. Epicurus argues that pleasure is natural. As soon as each animal is born, it seeks […]
The Stoic Conception of the Good
For the Stoics, self-love is our primary motivation. It is natural for us to have a concern for ourselves, to select what is conductive to our survival and avoid what is detrimental to it. As we grow, we become increasingly aware of what is about the things that attract and repulse us. The behavior of […]
The Stoics on fate
By Stoics, everything happens by fate. Everything is causally determined, which is fate. Fate is the connecting cause of the things which exist, or a rational principle according to which the cosmos is arranged. Cosmos is a chain of events, a chain which is inescapable. It is determined by God. Then what I am doing […]
The Stoics on Agent Autonomy
There were two opinions of the older philosophers regarding the fate. One belonging to those men who believed that everything occured by fate in such a way that everything necessitated (The Fate Principle Argument). The others held that there were voluntary motions of the mind without fate. Chrysippus, a Greek Stoic philosopher, rejected necessity but […]
Locke on Time
In the Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Locke explains how we come out with ideas of duration, eternity and time. We receive ideas of duration and measures of it from reflection and sensation, two foundations of knowledge. First, we observe how our ideas are formed in our minds: some begin to appear, others vanish. So, […]
Locke on Active and Passive Power
According to Locke, power is two-fold. Active power is able to make any change, while passive power is able to be changed. For example, fire has a power to meld gold, while gold has a power to be melted. Similarly, the sun has a power to blanch wax, while wax is able to be blanched […]
Locke on Liberty
For Locke, the idea of liberty arises from the power of the mind over the actions of the man. Freedom consists in our being able to act or not act, according as we shall choose or will. Locke gives an example of a man who is carried and locked into a room while asleep. When […]
Locke on Personal Identity
In the chapter XXVII of the Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Locke reflects on what identity consists in. He starts with identity of substances which can be divided into three sorts: God, finite intelligences and bodies. God’s identity cannot be questionable as he is eternal, unalterable and everywhere. Identity of finite intelligences is defined by relation […]