http://factoidz.com/experts-in/philosophy/ philosophy articles on Factoidz en-us http://factoidz.com/what-happened-to-america/ http://factoidz.com/what-happened-to-america/ There was a time not too long ago when the United States of America was the pinnacle of greatness.  The world looked to the United States for leadership.  America became the moral compass of the world.  It seemed that when international events occurred, it was America that stepped in and rose abo... Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:33:29 CST philosophy http://factoidz.com/images/p/default-1.jpg http://factoidz.com/why-enoughs-never-enough/ http://factoidz.com/why-enoughs-never-enough/ Why is it that we humans always want more and more? I believe it is an innate part of our survival instinct. Just like early man faced unexpected periods of wanting for food and comfort, we too worry incessantly about the same conditions. We may not have to cower in fear over the threat of a mastodo... Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:33:29 CST philosophy http://factoidz.com/images/p/default-3.jpg http://factoidz.com/my-lifes-journey-with-new-thought/ http://factoidz.com/my-lifes-journey-with-new-thought/ Have you ever wondered about the journey of life?  Why are you here?  Is there something specific you came to do?  Have you ever noticed those stubborn patterns that keep appearing in your life?  Somehow these very questions are what bring people to begin a spiritual quest.  Certainly that has ... Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:33:29 CST philosophy http://factoidz.com/wp-content/themes/gabtheme/images/my-lifes-journey-with-new-thought.jpg http://factoidz.com/on-the-subject-of-egalitarianism/ http://factoidz.com/on-the-subject-of-egalitarianism/ By the time the Mbuti of the Democratic Republic of the Congo were first encountered sometime in the mid 15th century (at least in terms of documented, historical encounters), the concept of a true egalitarian society had virtually reached mythological proportions.  Social scientists, theologians,... Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:33:29 CST philosophy http://factoidz.com/wp-content/themes/gabtheme/images/on-the-subject-of-egalitarianism.jpg http://factoidz.com/sit-down-and-shut-up-the-art-of-meditation/ http://factoidz.com/sit-down-and-shut-up-the-art-of-meditation/ Lately, I have been reading a self-help book or two. Not because I need help - I'm clearly awesome - but because I want to learn why others are less awesome than me. And, crazy thought, but could I become even more awesome? After two, or - cough, cough - seven of these books, I noticed a co... Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:33:29 CST philosophy http://factoidz.com/wp-content/themes/gabtheme/images/sit-down-and-shut-up-the-art-of-meditation.jpg http://factoidz.com/aristotle/ http://factoidz.com/aristotle/ According to Aristotle (384 BC in Stagirus, Macedonia, Greece, to 322 BC in Chalcis, Euboea, Greece), Rhetoric served a counterpart to dialectic, dialectic being rationality ... Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:33:29 CST philosophy http://factoidz.com/images/p/default-12.jpg http://factoidz.com/on-the-subject-of-evil/ http://factoidz.com/on-the-subject-of-evil/ One of the more interesting and perhaps revealing aspects of the concept of "evil" is that while the belief in its existence may be cross-culturally universal, how it manifests within a given culture relates directly to the norms and accepted moral standards of that particular culture.  Although se... Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:33:29 CST philosophy http://factoidz.com/wp-content/themes/gabtheme/images/on-the-subject-of-evil.jpg http://factoidz.com/what-is-reality-how-does-it-differ-from-essence/ http://factoidz.com/what-is-reality-how-does-it-differ-from-essence/ According to Wikipedia, "Reality, in everyday usage, means "the state of things as they actually exist." In a sense it is what is real (Oxford University Press). The term reality, i... Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:33:29 CST philosophy http://factoidz.com/wp-content/themes/gabtheme/images/what-is-reality-how-does-it-differ-from-essence.jpg http://factoidz.com/platos-euthyphro-and-the-question-of-piety/ http://factoidz.com/platos-euthyphro-and-the-question-of-piety/ Early Platonic texts are characteristically definition dialogues.  They often, though not always include Socrates as the main character discussing a certain term in hopes of finding a sufficient definition.  This term is known as the definiendum.  In this such definition dialogue we find the defi... Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:33:29 CST philosophy http://factoidz.com/wp-content/themes/gabtheme/images/platos-euthyphro-and-the-question-of-piety.jpg http://factoidz.com/censorship/ http://factoidz.com/censorship/ I’m very proud of you. I sincerely am. After you’ve accomplished a means in which to access this editorial, and then upon strenuously determining how to comforta... Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:33:29 CST philosophy http://factoidz.com/images/p/default-14.jpg http://factoidz.com/do-we-really-use-10-percent-of-our-brains-1/ http://factoidz.com/do-we-really-use-10-percent-of-our-brains-1/ The short answer is, no. We don't use only 10% of our brains. We use virtually all of our brain. Mind you, science's understanding of exactly how we use any single part of the brain is just starting to come together. What we do know is all sections of our brain get used. A story to i... Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:33:29 CST philosophy http://factoidz.com/wp-content/themes/gabtheme/images/do-we-really-use-10-percent-of-our-brains-1.jpg http://factoidz.com/in-regard-to-neitzsche-what-defines-existentialism/ http://factoidz.com/in-regard-to-neitzsche-what-defines-existentialism/ Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900): God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him (Kaufmann, 105). By this statement, he does not resort to a physical death, since there has never been a physical God, but instead the death of an ascribed morality, or outdated set of belief... Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:33:29 CST philosophy http://factoidz.com/images/p/default-9.jpg http://factoidz.com/aletheia/ http://factoidz.com/aletheia/ Aletheia; it's a beautiful word... say it. It sounds like an Elf word straight out of the Lord of the Rings, doesn't it? But it is actually ancient Greek, and it means simply "Truth". I was thinking about truth the other day, just the concept of truth what it is and what it isn't, and I wonder... Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:33:29 CST philosophy http://factoidz.com/wp-content/themes/gabtheme/images/aletheia.jpg http://factoidz.com/existentialist-spoof-in-native-american-literature/ http://factoidz.com/existentialist-spoof-in-native-american-literature/ The Man who Killed the Dawn: a Sketch of a Collective Sequel (part II) Indian outcasts – Abel of House Made of Dawn (Momaday, 1968) and Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:33:29 CST philosophy http://factoidz.com/images/p/default-13.jpg http://factoidz.com/in-regard-to-s%c3%b8ren-kierkegaard-what-defines-existentialism/ http://factoidz.com/in-regard-to-s%c3%b8ren-kierkegaard-what-defines-existentialism/ Academically, this Philosophical development known as Existentialism, by many scales more frequently than not, Danish Philosopher Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) has been more commonly accredited as the founder. Heidegger (1889-1976) is commonly brushed "under the ... Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:33:29 CST philosophy http://factoidz.com/images/p/default-13.jpg http://factoidz.com/what-is-buddhism-2/ http://factoidz.com/what-is-buddhism-2/ I was reading a great blog about narcissism and it dawned on me that people always ask me what Buddhism is and I’ve always answered about it.  What it affirms… what it denies…  but never have I mentioned in so many words What Buddhism Is. I think the question is both infinitely complex an... Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:33:29 CST philosophy http://factoidz.com/wp-content/themes/gabtheme/images/what-is-buddhism-2.jpg http://factoidz.com/pleasure-hetero-homo-and-bi-sexuals/ http://factoidz.com/pleasure-hetero-homo-and-bi-sexuals/ Sex is a pleasurable experience.  Sex also is a necessary, though not sufficient condition to breeding. Sentience is defined as possession of sense.  Mobile species (animals) possess sentience of touch if not other senses.  Such that animals have the ability to feel pleasure. 'Heterosexual'... Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:33:29 CST philosophy http://factoidz.com/wp-content/themes/gabtheme/images/pleasure-hetero-homo-and-bi-sexuals.jpg http://factoidz.com/how-to-discuss-differing-religious-views/ http://factoidz.com/how-to-discuss-differing-religious-views/ As an Agnostic with Atheistic tendencies I can with all certainty say I love to discuss religion.  I can also say, that there is nothing I hate more then being talked to about religion.  I difference is in the give and take of the conversation.  I assure you if you don’t want to hear what I hav... Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:33:29 CST philosophy http://factoidz.com/wp-content/themes/gabtheme/images/how-to-discuss-differing-religious-views.jpg http://factoidz.com/world-religions-vs-religion-or-spirituality/ http://factoidz.com/world-religions-vs-religion-or-spirituality/ The industrialization of state level society has furthered the religious progress that developed along state level society.  Anthropologically speaking we can see a correlation between the level of a society and its religion.  State level societies necessitate state level religions. These are t... Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:33:29 CST philosophy http://factoidz.com/wp-content/themes/gabtheme/images/world-religions-vs-religion-or-spirituality.jpg http://factoidz.com/epistemology-103/ http://factoidz.com/epistemology-103/ Most people claim to know what ‘knowledge’ is, and yet it is one of the most disputed questions of all philosophy.  What is ‘knowledge’ we may never know.  But, we have something close, something that seems oh so likely to win over our reason and tell us we know ‘knowledge.’  And yet ... Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:33:29 CST philosophy http://factoidz.com/wp-content/themes/gabtheme/images/epistemology-103.jpg http://factoidz.com/epistemology-102/ http://factoidz.com/epistemology-102/ Infinitism is a third, less developed, often ignored area of epistemology.  Infinitism is a theory developing the idea of knowledge as justified true belief.  Such that where as foundationalism and coherentism (competing theories) have some end to their justification infinitism justifies ad infini... Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:33:29 CST philosophy http://factoidz.com/wp-content/themes/gabtheme/images/epistemology-102.jpg http://factoidz.com/faith-vs-reason/ http://factoidz.com/faith-vs-reason/ Faith vs. Reason or Faith vs. Science or Emotion vs. Reason We often arrive at junctures in which someone or something asks us to supply a reason for an action.  The two answers we most often fall back on are either faith or reason.  Either I just ‘feel’ it or I have a reason ‘x’ for it... Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:33:29 CST philosophy http://factoidz.com/images/p/default-17.jpg http://factoidz.com/in-regard-to-heidegger-what-defines-existentialism/ http://factoidz.com/in-regard-to-heidegger-what-defines-existentialism/ Ah, the “German Thinker” who strongly refuted all labels -- the devout Atheist, Martin Heidegger (1889-1976). Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:33:29 CST philosophy http://factoidz.com/wp-content/themes/gabtheme/images/in-regard-to-heidegger-what-defines-existentialism.jpg http://factoidz.com/what-is-existentialism/ http://factoidz.com/what-is-existentialism/ Clearly the most extensively misinterpreted and misunderstood of all philosophies, Existentialism emphasizes the importance of the individual and what it means to exist as a human being. Yes, quite vast; any attempt at deriving a linear definition will be open ended.  In fact, the only concept of... Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:33:29 CST philosophy http://factoidz.com/wp-content/themes/gabtheme/images/what-is-existentialism.jpg http://factoidz.com/what-buddhism-is-not-pt2/ http://factoidz.com/what-buddhism-is-not-pt2/ This is the second half of my response to http://factoidz.com/what-is-buddhism/ which was a response to a question on Buddhism. In response to your fifth paragraph.  First off Buddhism and Hinduism are largely indistinguishable as they both originated from the vedic religion of the Aryan peoples... Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:33:29 CST philosophy http://factoidz.com/wp-content/themes/gabtheme/images/what-buddhism-is-not-pt2.jpg http://factoidz.com/what-buddhism-is-not-pt1/ http://factoidz.com/what-buddhism-is-not-pt1/ Buddhism is as much what it is as what it is not.  Like any other religion, it has largely been propagated as a method of keeping people happy in life.  With my view of religion out of the way, the following is the first half of my response to http://factoidz.com/what-is-buddhism/ In response t... Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:33:29 CST philosophy http://factoidz.com/wp-content/themes/gabtheme/images/what-buddhism-is-not-pt1.jpg http://factoidz.com/necessary-result-of-artificial-intelligence/ http://factoidz.com/necessary-result-of-artificial-intelligence/ It is natural for survival to cause fear and paranoia.   It is our nature to fear the unknown and to fear the usurper.  If it is false to call this natural, it is at least historically valid.   In our modern times we fear ourselves less and less as our own technology becomes our fear. Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:33:29 CST philosophy http://factoidz.com/wp-content/themes/gabtheme/images/necessary-result-of-artificial-intelligence.jpg http://factoidz.com/problem-of-evil-and-the-existence-of-god/ http://factoidz.com/problem-of-evil-and-the-existence-of-god/ The Problem of Evil!  It’s all bangs and whistles in the end, but wow is this an interesting and also heated topic. The problem of evil ... Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:33:29 CST philosophy http://factoidz.com/wp-content/themes/gabtheme/images/problem-of-evil-and-the-existence-of-god.jpg http://factoidz.com/epistemology-101/ http://factoidz.com/epistemology-101/ Epistemology is the study of episteme or knowledge.  Any ‘good’ or ‘logical’ epistemology will answer the following questions: What are the necessary an... Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:33:29 CST philosophy http://factoidz.com/wp-content/themes/gabtheme/images/epistemology-101.jpg http://factoidz.com/what-is-the-meaning-of-life/ http://factoidz.com/what-is-the-meaning-of-life/ What is the meaning of life? This is one of the oldest and most important questions of life: what is the point of it all? Over the ages, man has come up with countless answers to this question. Here is a summary of some of them. There is no meaning to life - Simple. The questi... Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:33:29 CST philosophy http://factoidz.com/wp-content/themes/gabtheme/images/what-is-the-meaning-of-life.jpg http://factoidz.com/how-does-phenomenology-differ-from-other-disciplines-of-metaphysics/ http://factoidz.com/how-does-phenomenology-differ-from-other-disciplines-of-metaphysics/ Phenomenology is the structural study of consciousness, debatably contested (though firmly maintained in the academic forum) as first discovered in around 1905 by Edmund Husserl, as experienced and expressed in the first-person (or "I") perspective.  Deliberation, direction, and... Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:33:28 CST philosophy http://factoidz.com/wp-content/themes/gabtheme/images/how-does-phenomenology-differ-from-other-disciplines-of-metaphysics.jpg http://factoidz.com/the-theory-of-confusion/ http://factoidz.com/the-theory-of-confusion/ How do people get ideas? -  walking on the streets, reading a newspaper, sitting under a tree or perhaps watching two people fight?  Some of the most amazing things ever discovered owe their presence to the most mundane of instances, the most beautiful theories refer to nothing but the quintessent... Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:33:28 CST philosophy http://factoidz.com/wp-content/themes/gabtheme/images/the-theory-of-confusion.jpg http://factoidz.com/we-need-love-peace-and-happiness/ http://factoidz.com/we-need-love-peace-and-happiness/ The word "Christian", though often misrepresented, means "Christ-like". No human has the power to be Christ-like; even the Bible states that we all have sinned, Romans 3:23. It is my perception to believe that anyone who  dedicates themselves by incorporating the character and philosophy of Jesu... Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:33:28 CST philosophy http://factoidz.com/images/p/default-13.jpg http://factoidz.com/a-five-point-introduction-to-judaism/ http://factoidz.com/a-five-point-introduction-to-judaism/ Aside from the State of Israel, the United States of America has the highest Jewish population in the world. Over 6 million people, that's 2% of all people in the US, identify as Jewish. Despite such a presence, many people have a very limited understanding of Jewish faith and culture. The following... Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:33:28 CST philosophy http://factoidz.com/wp-content/themes/gabtheme/images/a-five-point-introduction-to-judaism.jpg