Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and problems for Philosophy and ethics

Employee Rights and Responsibilities in Spain

1. Right to Non-Discrimination

The Spanish Constitution prohibits discrimination based on birth, race, sex, religion, opinion, or any other personal or social circumstance.

2. Right to Privacy and Dignity

Employees are protected from physical and verbal abuse of a sexual nature, or abuse based on race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or sexual harassment.

3. Right to Physical Integrity and Health and Safety

This right is protected under the law on the prevention of occupational hazards.

4. Right to Promotion and Vocational Training

Employees have the right to promotion and vocational training at work. The Employment Statute (ET) acknowledges permits to attend examinations, choose shifts when pursuing... Continue reading "Employee Rights and Responsibilities in Spain: A Concise Guide" »

Freedom, Responsibility, and Morality

Freedom is what makes human beings responsible for their actions. This inherent freedom forms the basis of morality, allowing us to judge our own actions and those of others.

When an individual acts in accordance with accepted standards, they are considered a moral person. Conversely, if one freely chooses to disregard rules, such as breaking cycling regulations, their action would be deemed immoral. An amoral person, however, is one who lacks a moral sense or is indifferent to moral considerations.

Understanding Morality

Morality can be understood in two primary ways:

• Morality as Content: This refers to the code of standards that regulate individual and collective actions, defining what is considered correct

Friedrich Nietzsche: A Critical Perspective

Friedrich Nietzsche, a profoundly contradictory, critical, and revolutionary philosopher of the second half of the nineteenth century, extensively critiqued the values of European culture. He argued that Western culture, being dogmatic and rational, is inherently decadent because it opposes life and natural instincts.

Nietzsche's Critique of Western Values

Nietzsche's criticisms spanned several key areas:

Critique of Traditional Morality

Nietzsche asserted that the fundamental flaw of traditional morality lies in its "unnaturalness," as it imposes laws and regulations that are antithetical to life itself. He also fiercely criticized Platonism, believing that its emphasis on a transcendent world of ideas... Continue reading "Nietzsche's Critique of European Culture" »

The Enduring Relevance of Marxist Thought

With the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the notion that Marx's philosophy represented the end of prehistory—culminating in a communist society after the demise of capitalism—seemed to crumble. However, the bourgeois mode of production not only persists but thrives in a globalized market economy. Former communist regimes have either vanished or are endangered.

As Marx and Engels stated in The Communist Manifesto, the bourgeoisie created the weapons of its own destruction, namely, the workers. The question remains: do Marxist-inspired communist revolutions truly reflect Marx's theory?

The Humanistic Aspects of Marx's Philosophy

Considering the more humanistic aspects of Marx's philosophy—his desire... Continue reading "Marxist Philosophy: Relevance in Today's Globalized World" »

The Hunt

Hunting promoted and facilitated the emergence of some key features of human nature:

• The development of intellectual activities such as observation skills and intelligence.
• The technical process: hunting had to be refined, and weapons and tools diversified.
• Social cooperation and language: fostering relationships and communication between individuals.

The Discovery of Fire

In the social sphere, fire provided safety and security, allowing settlement in shelters that became the first homes. It aided hunting and defense against animals. At the physiological level, fire was a fundamental shift in power.

The Long Learning

A feature that characterizes human beings is slow physical development. This has beneficial consequences regarding conduct and... Continue reading "Human Evolution and the Role of Culture" »

Insurance Contract: Core Concepts

An insurance contract is one whereby the insurer undertakes, by charging a premium, and if the event occurs whose risk is hedged, to compensate within the agreed damage to the insured, or to satisfy a capital, income, or other benefits agreed.

Legal Concept of Insurance (Art. 512 CCo)

Insurance is a bilateral, conditional, random contract by which a natural or legal person takes upon himself for a certain time all or any of the risks of loss or damage that certain objects belonging to another person may face. This is done by forcing through a contract fee to compensate the loss or any other estimable damage suffered by the insured objects.

Parties Involved in an Insurance Contract

1. Insurer: The entity assuming the

Unnatural Morality: The morality of the weak and resentful, affirming a higher world to which we must sacrifice in this life. It arises in opposition to natural morality, which is based on the desire for power and the value of earthly life. Unnatural morality, born of resentment, seeks to make virtue of its defects. All morality that demands sacrifice and mortification in this life to earn another in the hereafter is an unnatural morality.

Traditional morality has fallen into the following errors:

• Moral Dogmatism: Considering moral values as objective and universal, forgetting that we are the ones who believe in them.
• Anti-Vitalism: Enacting laws that go against the main trends of life. Nietzsche argues that this is the morality of resentment

Karl Marx's Core Ideas and Critique

Karl Marx's most important influences on contemporary anthropological thought come from German idealist philosophy, especially Hegel, the materialism of Feuerbach, French utopian socialism, and great capitalist economic theorists such as David Ricardo and Adam Smith.

Major Works by Karl Marx

His extensive body of work includes: The Holy Family, The German Ideology, The Communist Manifesto, and Capital.

Materialist Philosophy vs. Idealism

Against idealist philosophy, which he saw as speculative, merely theoretical, or false ideology, Marx proclaimed a materialist philosophy: one that is useful, responsible, efficient, and committed to changing the world.

Marx's thought stems from a critical attitude towards a reality... Continue reading "Karl Marx's Influences, Philosophy, and Critique" »

Descartes vs. Hume: A Philosophical Comparison

René Descartes: Rationalism

Source of Knowledge

• Reason is the source of knowledge.
• Through his innate ideas, one can arrive at any knowledge of the world.
• From certain definitions, he deduced his entire philosophy (substance, attribute, and modes).

Criterion of Truth and Research Model

• The criterion of truth is evidence.
• Experience was considered confusing, and even the proper use of ideas brings knowledge.
• Truth must be sought within the mind, following a rigorous method based on a priori order.
• Intellectual experience, through abstraction from the contents of the world (meditation), reveals strict eternal truths that God has implanted in the human soul.
• Research model based on mathematics.

Key Truths and