Category: Historical Philosophy

Mary Astell’s “A Serious Proposal to the Ladies” (1694)

~ 1000-Word Philosophy: An Introductory Anthology ~ 4 Comments

Author:  Simone Webb Category: Historical Philosophy, Philosophy of Sex and Gender, Social and Political Philosophy, Ethics, Philosophy of Education Word Count:  978 Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) is established in the popular imagination as the “first feminist,” but another philosopher provided a systematic analysis of women’s subjugated condition and a call for female education nearly a century before … Continue reading Mary Astell’s “A Serious Proposal to the Ladies” (1694)

Dharma in Abhidharma Buddhism

~ 1000-Word Philosophy: An Introductory Anthology ~ 2 Comments

Author:  Nicholaos Jones Category: Historical Philosophy, Metaphysics, Buddhist Philosophy Word Count: 991 Abhidharma is a scholastic tradition of Buddhism, arising in India during the 3rd century BCE, directed toward systematizing discourses written during the first few centuries of Buddhism. Those early discourses tend to analyze the objects of our experience – physical things and mental events … Continue reading Dharma in Abhidharma Buddhism

Leibniz’s Principle of Sufficient Reason

~ 1000-Word Philosophy: An Introductory Anthology ~ 1 Comment

Author: Marc Bobro Category: Historical Philosophy, Metaphysics, Philosophy of Religion Word count: 997 Imagine that your bicycle keeps dropping its chain. Annoyed, you take it to a bike shop to determine the cause in order to fix the problem. The mechanic informs you that the problem cannot be fixed because there is no reason why … Continue reading Leibniz’s Principle of Sufficient Reason

Nietzsche and the Death of God

Nietzsche
~ 1000-Word Philosophy: An Introductory Anthology ~ 3 Comments

Author: Justin Remhof Categories: Phenomenology and Existentialism; Philosophy of Religion; Ethics; Historical Philosophy Word Count: 985 Nietzsche is perhaps most famous for making the striking claim that God is dead. He writes, “God is dead! God remains dead! And we have killed him!” (GS 125). What does this mean? Straightforwardly, it seems nonsensical. God is supposed to be eternal, … Continue reading Nietzsche and the Death of God

Plato’s Form of the Good

Plato's Republic
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Author: Ryan Jenkins Category: Historical Philosophy, Metaphysics, Ethics Word Count: 938 You have often heard it said that the Form of the Good is the greatest thing to learn about, and that it is by their relation to it that just things and [other virtuous things] become useful and beneficial (Republic, 505a). Plato’s Republic is a wide-ranging tract, admired for … Continue reading Plato’s Form of the Good

Idealism Pt. 2: Kant’s Transcendental Idealism

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Author: Addison Ellis Category: Historical Philosophy, Epistemology Word Count: 1000   Editor’s Note: This essay is the second of three in a series authored by Addison on the topic of philosophical idealism. Part 1 on Berkeley's Subjective Idealism can be read here. In the 18th Century, what has become known as the empiricist picture of knowledge took the mind to have … Continue reading Idealism Pt. 2: Kant’s Transcendental Idealism