Utopias are generally said to be societies in which the political, social and economic troubles hampering its inhabitants has been done away with. Instead the state is there to serve the people and ensure the peacefulness and happiness of everyone. The word utopia, which means “no place” in Greek, was first used to mean a…
The Republic written by Plato examines many things. It mainly is about the Good Life. Plato seems to believe that the perfect life is led only under perfect conditions which is the perfect society. Within the perfect society, there would have to be justice. In the Republic, it seems that justice is defined in many…
The social contract theory of John Rawls challenges utilitarianism by pointing out the impracticality of the theory. Mainly, in a society of utilitarians, a citizen’s rights could be completely ignored if injustice to this one citizen would benefit the rest of society. Rawls believes that a social contract theory, similar those proposed by Hobbes, Locke,…
The word “humanism” has a number of meanings, and because there are so many different meanings it can be quite confusing if you don’t know what kind of humanism someone is talking about. Literary Humanism is a devotion to the humanities or literary culture. Renaissance Humanism is the spirit of learning that developed at the…
Two of the main principles of Existentialist Human Condition are: That man exists and then creates himself and what man chooses for himself he chooses for everyone else as well. Lets examine the first principle: man exists and then defines himself. What it means is that man is created on this earth and is nothing…
In explaining Hume’s critique of the belief in miracles, we must first understand the definition of a miracle. The Webster Dictionary defines a miracle as: a supernatural event regarded as to define action, one of the acts worked by Christ which revealed his divinity an extremely remarkable achievement or event, an unexpected piece of luck.…
A philosophical question faces Christians, and in fact all theists, that challenges the belief in God. To theists, God is an omnipotent, perfect God. He is good. Theists accept this, and embrace it, for how else can they worship God and give their lives to Him unless He is good? However, in this world evil…
The question is raised within the dialogue between Socrates and Crito concerning civil disobedience. Crito has the desire, the means, and many compelling reasons with which he tries to convince the condemned to acquiesce in the plan to avoid his imminent death. Though Crito’s temptation is imposing, it is in accord with reason and fidelity…
Vatican II was the 21st ecumenical council recognized by the Roman Catholic church, which became the symbol of the church’s openness to the modern world. The council was announced by Pope John XXIII on January 25, 1959, and held 178 meetings in the autumn of each of four successive years. The first gathering was on…
Throughout history there has been numerous religions and theologies that men and women have entrusted their lives and ways of living to. One of the most intriguing is that of Buddhism. The great Buddha referred to his way as the middle way, and he, as the “Enlightened One” began the teachings of the religion with…
Carl Jung’s explanation for the archetypes that surface in cultural and religious literature is that they are the product of what he calls the collective unconsciousness. That thread of consciousness connects all human beings and cultures around the world. Yet it is not visible to the naked eye, one must look for the signs of…
The word “Witchcraft” dates back many hundreds of years and means literally “The craft of the wise”. This is because the Witches of the old were the wise ones of their village, knowledgeable in the art of healing, legal matters and spiritual fulfillment. A Witch had to not only is a religious leader, but also…
In telling the story of Isaac it is very important to tell about his father Abram. Once Lord ordered Abram to leave his country, his people and his father’s household and to go to the land that God was going to show him. After that God made promises which were fulfilled in the rest of…
Scientology is a fairly new religion. Founded in the twentieth-century by a man by the name of L. Ron Hubbard. He began his studies long ago and wrote a book in 1950 called Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health. He claimed that this book was one of the first tools used to solve the…
The New Testament is mainly based on the life of Jesus and the early church. He is known as the son of God though his parents were Mary and Joseph. Jesus was born in a stable in city of Bethlehem as there was no room in the inns. Once he was born, Mary had no…
As a boy, David was a shepherd. He took care of his father’s sheep. He was a very courageous boy. When a wolf tried to steal a sheep, he didn’t run, he stood his ground and killed the wolf. One day his father told him to go to the land where his brothers were fighting…
The two extremes in which the Buddha speaks of are: that conjoined with the passions and luxury, low, vulgar, common, ignoble, and useless. The second is: that conjoined with self-torture, painful, ignoble, and useless. The avoidance of these two extremes is the path to enlightenment of the middle path as the Buddha had. The middle…
MARK’S THEOLOGY REFLECTED IN WRITING Mark and the other evangelists used basically five ways to change, edit or enhance Jesus’ sayings to reflect their own views of Christianity. According to the Five Gospels Book, plagiarism and changing of writing was not a crime, but actually very common Mark’s time. Besides, Mark never knew Jesus first-…
After the Exodus from slavery in Egypt, the wandering Jews lived in tents or booths, called Sukkots. They were pitched wherever they happened to stop for the night. Today it is called the Sukkot the festival of booths remembering both the ancient agricultural booths and those of the Exodus. The harvest festival of thanksgiving, Sukkot,…
Sufism, otherwise known as Islamic Mysticism, is a branch of Islam. It deals with special powers that are contained in the Qur’an. It is a more philosophical approach, where a person tries to become one with nature, and feel the power of God. The term mysticism can be defined as the consciousness of the One…