C/P/95. Wholeness of the Subject: views of Lacan and Kristeva

The paper examines the concept of wholeness and the splitting of the subject in the work of two philosophers, Lacan and Kristeva. The importance of the mirror-stage is considered exploring how this embodies and develops Freudian psychoanalysis. Kristeva's account of what constitutes abjection is examined and compared to Lacan's account of repression.

P/P/309. How attainable is perpetual peace?

The paper reviews the ideas of Immanuel Kant about a voluntary free federation outlining the basic conditions (‘Preliminary Articles’) for the establishment of perpetual peace between states. The possibility of implementing these conditions is discussed highlighting academic debate around Kant’s understanding of war and peace.

P/P/296. Kantian principles of politics: critical review

The paper reviews the work ‘Perpetual Peace’ by Immanuel Kant discussing his principles of politics and the issues of peaceful foreign policy in liberal and non-liberal states.

P/P/294. Marxist theory of ideology: critical review

The paper examines Marxist views of ideology, consciousness and class interests focusing on his concept of false consciousness. Theorists’ opinions about Marx’s ideas are reviewed discussing the arguments in favour and against his theory of ideology.

P/P/289. Review of Althusser’s approach to ideology

The paper reviews the theory of the French thinker Althusser discussing his communist philosophy, his relation to Marxism, the ideas of ‘repressive state apparatus’ and 'ideological state apparatus', the difference between imaginary representation and reality, the role of individual subjects in ideological structures, etc.

S/LI/102. The ideas of Herbert Wells in context of philosophical theories

The paper reviews the novel “The Island of Dr. Moreau” by H. G. Wells discussing the theme of power, the morality of science, the reasons behind pursuing scientific discovery, etc. Wells’ ideas are analysed in the context of Nietzsche’s theory, the Ten Commandments, Marxism, Darwinism, etc.

P/P/278. Hegel vs. Kant on patriotism and freedom

The paper reviews the “Philosophy of Right” by Hegel discussing the relationship between patriotism and freedom, the concept of ethical life, etc. Hegel’s arguments are analysed in the context of the ideas expressed by Kant in his work “Perpetual Peace”.

P/P/277. Theories on strategy: what is needed to be rich?

The paper reviews theories related to the concept of strategy focusing on the theory of Whittington and critically discussing the content of strategic management, the correlation between being smart and being rich, the notion of profit maximisation, etc.

P/P/274. Modern and post-modern thinkers on Information society

The paper examines the features of the Information society critically reviewing Peter Burke’s study ‘A Social History of Knowledge’ and comparing his ideas with those of the post-modern era thinkers, i.e. Daniel Bell, Anthony Giddens, Freidrich Hayek, etc.

P/P/273. Zygmunt Bauman’s philosophical ideas

The paper critically reviews the socio-philosophical works of Zygmunt Bauman discussing his ideas about the nature of the postmodern society including the themes of the Holocaust, love and marriage, uncertainty, identity, information, cultural diversity, etc.

P/P/272. Impacts of Mesmer’s and Emerson’s ideas on American culture

The paper examines the role of introducing Mesmer's theory of the power of "animal magnetism" (Mesmerism) to America in the 19th century discussing it in the context of Emerson’s ideology of self-reliance and addressing the psychological and philosophical issues of liberation, enslavement, individualism, etc. Cultural and social impacts of the mesmerist movement and Emerson’s ideas are analysed with reference to the literary works by Edgar A. Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, etc.

P/P/270. Existentialist ideas of Sartre

The paper critically reviews the ideas expressed by Jean Paul Sartre in his philosophical lecture ‘Existentialism is humanism’ discussing the notion of God, the unconditional freedom of choice, etc.

P/P/269. Parallels between Marxism and Christianity

The paper discusses the theory of historical materialism by Karl Marx from the perspective of Christianity showing resemblance between religious and materialistic ideas and reviewing academics’ commentaries on this parallelism.

P/P/238. Critique of Mills theory of liberty

The paper examines strong and weak points of the liberty principle formulated in the work On Liberty by J. S. Mill. Mills theory of a free functioning society is reviewed discussing the inconsistencies in his interpretation of harm, the appeal of his belief in human beings, etc.

P/P/231. Ethical value of Hobbesian theory of ‘natural state

The paper reviews the theory of Hobbes on the state the man would be in if there were no government. The concepts of ‘natural right, ‘state of nature, ‘state of war, ‘law of nature, ‘common wealth, etc. are discussed arguing whether Hobbes theory could be classified as moral.

E/P/10. HEGEL'S CHRISTIANITY AND ISLAM

The purpose of this essay is partly, to explore the reasons behind Hegelian bias against Islam. How far does the Euro-centric view of the world inspire Hegel's views on the destiny of man (essentially European man)? How much unacknowledged is the practical knowledge of Muslim thinkers, and how far does this lack of acknowledgement make a drastic impact on the destiny of Islam itself? The essay also explores the extent to which Hegelian version of Christianity is God or man-centred. Basing the line of argument on Hegel's views on Christianity, the essay also makes an effort to elucidate Islam in its founding principles, and how it explains certain concepts in a better way than Hegel's Christianity.

P/P/216. Review of theories of the self: social vs. individual

The paper seeks to identify how social changes influence our sense of self offering a review of Giddens' theory of the self in the light of scholars opinions on the issues of environmental and social fragmentation, multiple ambiguity, individual alienation, etc.

P/P/198. Heideggers and Deleuzes views on ‘being

The paper discusses Heideggers and Deleuzes views on ‘being commenting on the concepts of zero sum environment, rhizome, language, technology, power, etc. Theories of both philosophers are compares outlining similarities and divergences in their arguments.

P/P/182. Philosophers on modernity and democracy

The paper discusses the concepts of modernity and democracy presenting the views of various philosophers, among them Kant, Coker, Horkheimer, Adorno Bauman and Foucault. The ideas of ‘human progress, ‘perpetual peace and other values of modernity from the Enlightenment are argued.

P/P/174. Can mental states cause physical events?

The paper seeks to understand to what extent mental processes can cause physical events arguing physicalist views on overdetermination and the identity between physical and mental events. A review of philosophic approaches to causal relations is given highlighting the problem of mental causation.

S/P/29. Kantian Sublimity and the Artistic Sublime

This essays starts with Kant's concept of the sublime. In order to give a clearer account of the sublime, Kant proposes it has two distinct varieties, mathematical and dynamical, which he considers in terms of quantity, quality, relation and modality. In the second half of the essay, I use some examples from Romantic painting to illustrate how Kants sublimity is applied to art, focusing on are Caspar David Friedrich and Joseph Mallord William Turner.

P/P/165. Influence of consciousness on perception: Sartres phenomenology

The paper presents a critical analysis of Sartres philosophic conceptions of Realism, Idealism and Solipsism. The issues of reality, subjective knowledge and experience are discussed in the context of Sartres phenomenological ontology, touching upon the transphenomenal features of consciousness and our awareness of other minds. The theory of Heidegger is briefly reviewed. Phenomenological roots of sadism and masochism are commented on.

P/P/125. Philosophic aspects of freedom

The paper touches upon the philosophic aspects of freedom covered by Jean Jacques Rousseau in his political theory. The issues of human inequality, capacity for altruism, moral obligation, social contract, obedience and coercion are discussed. The essay reviews the criticism of Rousseau by other theorists, namely, Steinberg, Hall, Masters, etc.

S/P/35. Does Currie succeed in establishing his make-believe theory of fiction against the claims of Searles ‘pretense theory?

This paper looks at the arguments of two philosophers, Gregory Currie and John Searle, who have opposing views on the creation of fiction. Currie believes that the author is deliberately creating a work of 'make-believe', whilst Searle argues that the author is in fact pretending to create a factual piece of writing. The paper examines both sides, and comes to a conclusion of whether Currie is completely accurate in his interpretation of Searle's argument, and therefore whether he is right to dismiss it in favour of his own.

P/P/108. Theory of social choice: Kenneth Arrow's axioms and their interpretation

The paper investigates the concept of social choice proceeding from the review of Kenneth Arrow's work ´Social Choice and Individuals Values.Î Arrow's Five Axioms are critically analysed; their relaxation is discussed with the focus on the 'collective rationality' axiom, 'unrestricted domain' axiom and 'independence of irrelevant alternatives' axiom.

P/P/105. Schopenhauer vs. Nietzsche on the nature of pity

The paper takes a philosophic insight into the concept of pity, comparing two opposite views on pity: that of Schopenhauer who saw it as a moral virtue, and that of Nietzsche who saw it as a destructive and debilitating emotion. The issues of compassion, self-indulgence and manipulation are discussed with regard to how the pitiers and the pitied relate to each other. The author wonders whether pity increases or decreases the amount of suffering in the world and whether it is a spontaneous or a reflective emotion. The paper concludes that though Schopenhauer seems vulnerable to Nietzsche's critique the question of morality is more important than the debate between the philosophers.

P/P/93. Newton and the theory of gravitation

The paper contains a brief review of Newtons philosophy of Nature focusing on his understanding of gravity (áaction at a distance). Newton suggested two explanations of gravity: physical (áinnate forces of attraction), and metaphysical (áspirit responsible for the forces of attraction). Newton thought that the áetherical medium had variable density that increases as the ether moves away from the astral bodies, with bodies moving towards the rare medium. His theory of gravitation refers to a number of phenomena, including chemical reactions. The paper looks at various attitudes to Newtons theory concluding that he elaborated a mathematical approach applicable to diverse natural phenomena and backed up by spiritual allusions.

P/P/83. Mill's Conception of Individuality

The paper discusses the following statement: "Mill's conception of individuality exaggerates the importance of autonomous choice-making in human happiness."

P/P/57. Nietzsche, Croce and Foucault and Their 'Knowledge', 'Truth'

The essay compares and assesses the ways in which Nietzsche, Croce and Foucault have challenged our understanding of the following concepts: 'knowledge' and 'truth'.

P/P/52. Hegel's Theory of Tragic Conflicts

The paper compares and contrasts Hegel's theory of the two forms of tragic conflict, as exemplified in Antigone and Oedipus Rex and explains why Hegel thinks the former is more 'essential' and evaluates whether he is right.

Page 2>Page 3>Page 4>Page 5>Page 6>