Philosophy - 1451 Words

Philosophy Paper Sally Margarit Sep, 27th 2014 What is Justice? How do we know what justice is? This has been the question that we have essentially been discussing throughout all of our classes this semester. The idea that the normalities of society are the pillars for what defines what is right and what is just, is one argument that in most cases holds true. As children in our culture, we are all taught a very generic set of rules. At a very young age we learn not to harm others, steal, lie, or cheat. As children we cultivate this idea of criminals as bad people, who have somehow broken the moral code that society has so easily instilled in us as youth. However, despite societys moral code, I believe that the notion of†¦show more content†¦He argues that if something is morally unjust to begin with, it is still morally unjust even though his life is on the line. The argument is that an unjust action is simply always unjust. However, I dont believe justice to be that simple. As children we are are taught that certain things are always wrong. We learn at a very young age that killing is wrong, and in our innocent world we believe that all people who kill belong in jail. I too had that belief. I thought those who murdered belonged in jail for the rest of their lives. Last year I had the opportunity to meet with a group of 5 male prisoners who were doing life sentences for murder. Upon meeting with this group of prisoners, I and other members of my senior year ethics class were extremely judgmental. We were all strong believers in our countrys justice system and we all assumed that these men deserved to rot in prison because their actions had to have been so gravely unjust. To my surprise, these five men were probably some of the most polite and kind men I have ever met. One was as old as my grandfather, and even reminded me a lot of him. These men were convicted murderers. They had taken life in vain, but I am not sure I myself can condemn all their actions to be so terribly unjust. One by one they each humbly told us their stories. All 5 of them had been convicted before the age of 18. They were just kids when they were convicted to be societys scum and were confined toShow MoreRelatedThe Philosophy Of Philosophy And Philosophy998 Words   |  4 PagesPhilosophy is the attempt at answering or understanding the questions that the being who is philosophizing yearns to know or wishes to understand. The importance of what the philosopher wishes to know or understand is not a determinate factor in what it means to do philosophy. The act of doing philosophy is not defined by the subject of examination but by the driving passion of knowing and understanding. This means that an individual that wishes to know why a laptop is a laptop or why is it thatRead MorePhilosophy : Philosophy And Philosophy1292 Words   |  6 Pages As a student at Richland college, I have never studied philosophy before, and I have heard very bizarre claims about what philosophy is. For that reason, I wanted to take a philosophy class so I can learn more about it. Due to lack of knowledge, I used to think philosophy as involving a kind of mystical significant, sometimes resulting from observing problems without solutions. In addition, sometimes I accustomed that philosophy is nothing more than a name that does nothing more than feelingsRead MorePhilosophy : Philosophy And Philosophy1035 Words   |  5 Pages As a student in Richland college, I have never studied philosophy before, and I have heard very bizarre claims about what philosophy is. For that reason, I wanted to take a philosophy class so I can learn more about it. Due to lack of knowledge, I used to think philosophy as involving a kind of mystical significant, sometimes resulting from observing problems without solutions. In addition, sometimes I accustomed that philosophy is nothing more than a name that does nothing more than feelings ofRead MoreThe Philosophy Of Philosophy And Philosophy1451 Words   |  6 Pages Philosophy is recognized by the questions being asked, and the methods used to answer them. These questions are usually the ones that are open-ended, abstract, or the ones that lead to controversial answers. Due to the openness in philosophy, the uncertainty, there is not just one viewpoint that is completely accepted by all to be true. This leads to many disputes and conversations that are ultimately driven by th e core of philosophy, which is its latin translation, the love of wisdom. Now, theRead MorePhilosophy And Philosophy Of Philosophy Essay2033 Words   |  9 PagesWhat is philosophy? Philosophy could be defined in many ways, but I believe that the Oxford dictionary defines it best: â€Å"The study of the theoretical basis of a particular branch of knowledge or experience or a theory or attitude that acts as a guiding principle for behaviour†. That definition basically encapsulates the entirety of what we have discussed during the time that we have been in this course. It covers the basic ideals of both eastern and western philosophy quite eloquently over the spanRead MoreThe Philosophy Of Philosophy1122 Words   |  5 Pagesof whether philosophy from hundreds of years ago, are still relevant to today and the society of which we live? The answer, simply put is yes. It is still relevant because we still do question everything, we still wonder about topics that were discussed b ack then, and because philosophy is the basis of critical thinking, a quality that is still useful today. We often ask questions, which in turn led us to the discovery of the discipline of philosophy. The primary reason for philosophy is to gainRead MorePhilosophy And Its Importance Of Philosophy861 Words   |  4 PagesPhilosophy and Its Importance Doing philosophy as many philosophers demonstrate over time and in the present is to simply question the understanding of what is known and not known or accepted and unaccepted. This is to say, that philosophers must question all aspects of life and all the surrounding dimensions of the world. In doing so, the philosopher is trying to grasp a firmer or different understanding of the truth that is either presently or not presently known; whether comforting or not comfortingRead MorePlato, Philosophy, And Philosophy929 Words   |  4 Pages â€Å"Plato is philosophy, and philosophy, Plato.† – Ralph Waldo Emerson. This was the first quote I read regarding Plato when I first picked up the Great Dialogues of Plato, and turned it over to read the back cover. This quote struck me for some unknown reason and I instantly couldn’t wait to begin reading the dialogues of Plato and begin to understand why he is regarded as one of the great philosophers. The first pi ece I read, was The Apology, spoken by the great philosopher Socrates and writtenRead MorePhilosophy And The Modern Philosophy2035 Words   |  9 PagesUpon talking about the history of modern philosophy, one of the most important philosophers, who is considered as the father of the philosophy in this period, is Descartes. He was a pioneer for the movement of the new trend of philosophy and became a break between the medieval philosophy and the modern philosophy. Being educated in the environment of medieval philosophy, specifically in the school of Jesuits, Descartes received the system of scholastic philosophy as his foundation for making a new startRead MorePhilosophy624 Words   |  3 PagesSurname Instructor Course Date Survey of Mexican Philosophical Thought The philosophy of the Mexicans is a production of philosophers from ancestries from Mexico, residing either within or outside the country. The general philosophy surfaced with the introduction of the first school by the Spanish conquerors, with teaching and publications on philosophical treaties. As such, it is critical to deny that these thinkers got education from the European schools, making it quite impossible