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

Job Interview Vocabulary

Interview: A conversation between a job applicant and an employer to assess the applicant's qualifications and decide on hiring.

Skills: Abilities or experience that enhance a person's capacity to complete a given task.

Salary Expectations: Also known as compensation expectations, this is the amount of money an employee anticipates earning for performing a specific job.

Long-Term Goals: Objectives you aim to accomplish in the future, requiring time and planning.

Strengths: Tasks or actions you perform well, including skills, proficiencies, and talents.

Weaknesses: A lack of strength in a specific field or task.

Full-Time Job: A job typically involving 40 hours of work per week, usually eight hours a day, five days a week.

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Hume's Science of Man: Foundation and Purpose

David Hume defends the dependence of all sciences on the science of man, or the science of human nature. It is man who comprehends these sciences, which are his own creation, and it is man who must be studied. This Science of Man aims to guide society toward a world free of prejudice and religious bigotry, moving away from ancient and superstitious beliefs.

Critique of Superstition and Metaphysics

Hume, a profound rationalist, believes that rationalist superstition and metaphysics form the ideological basis of societal shortcomings. Religious intolerance, hypocrisy, and malice impede the progress, culture, and welfare of society. The Science of Man, Hume argues, intends to liberate humanity and dismantle... Continue reading "David Hume's Philosophy: Empiricism, Reason, and Human Nature" »

Augustine on Skepticism and Truth

Academic — in his Counter (or against the Academics) — Augustine criticizes scholars such as Carneades, Arcesilaus and the successors of Plato's Academy who held the position of philosophical skepticism. According to Augustine, that form of skepticism had stripped Platonism of its ascetic and religious character and upheld the claim that it is not really possible to know.

License, an Academic contemporary of Augustine, stated that to achieve happiness it is enough to seek the truth; there was no need to know it. Given this interpretation of Platonism, Augustine — responding to Academic skepticism — uses an argument similar to the one Plato employed against the Sophists: how can those who deny the possibility

The Political Philosophy of Machiavelli

Niccolò Machiavelli, the foremost political thinker of the Renaissance, inaugurated modern political science by dealing with the practical affairs of the state. He was a hands-on politician, more interested in intervening in the governance of his state than in abstract theorizing. However, he knew that any goal-oriented action must be guided by theoretical principles.

These principles are outlined in his two most famous works, The Prince and Discourses on Livy, which serve as a guide for rulers. This approach posits that the ultimate goal of politics is to preserve the unity and identity of the community. The general rule is that every city tends toward the degeneration and corruption of its institutions... Continue reading "Machiavelli: Politics, Power, and Morality" »

Key Characteristics of Insurance Contracts

• Unilateral: A contract where only one party makes an enforceable promise, while the other party follows the established conditions.
• Conditional: The insurer's obligation is triggered only upon the occurrence of a specific insured event.
• Aleatory: Performance depends on an uncertain future event; payment is only made if the event occurs.
• Adhesion: The contract is drafted by the party with greater bargaining power; the other party must accept or reject the terms as-is, without negotiation.

The Underwriting Process

Underwriting is the process of evaluating future risks to determine appropriate pricing. Insurance companies generate revenue through underwriting (collecting premiums) and investing. Premiums must... Continue reading "Key Characteristics of Insurance Contracts and Underwriting" »

Marxist Politics and Class Consciousness

In modern society, "bourgeois interests found ideological support" which emphasizes personal morality, hard work, individual success, self-control, frugality, and respect for law and property. The dominant ideology is "the ideas of the ruling class." As history moves and material conditions change, consciousness changes with them.

Modern material conditions include:

• Workers in modern, crowded factories in cities
• Literacy

These unintended consequences allowed the workers to "communicate among themselves" and develop a "true class consciousness." Marx thought politics was meant to control the state, and he believed the state was the instrument of organized violence in society. The role of the state in the economy... Continue reading "Marxist Political Theory and the Evolution of Liberalism" »

Tema IV: El hombre, ser libre

Significados históricos de la libertad

Significados históricos de la libertad

The idea of freedom has acquired different meanings, even contradictory ones, throughout history. These are some of the meanings that freedom has had:

• a) Physical freedom: associated with economic or property freedom.
• b) Freedom as wisdom: If you do not know what to do, you probably are not free. One of the great dangers of freedom is ignorance. But do not exaggerate it: knowing does not make you totally free.
• c) Freedom as prior or superior to wisdom (Aristotle): deliberation — a rationalistic assessment. Judgment of the intelligence, judgment of the will. If they agree, the decision is immediate. In the case of a collision between these

Principles of Logic

Principle of Identity

An object is the same as itself: A is A → A = A.

Principle of Contradiction

Nothing can both be and not be in the same sense at the same time. Contradictory statements cannot both be true: Nothing can be A and not A → ¬(A ∧ ¬A).

Principle of Excluded Middle

Everything must either be or not be. Every statement must be either true or false: Everything is A or not A → A ∨ ¬A.

Logical Paradoxes, Fallacies, and Invalid Arguments

Consider the statement: "This statement is false." This proposition creates a paradox. If we assume it's true, then its content declares it false. Conversely, if we assume it's false, then its content implies it's true. This self-contradictory statement challenges basic logical... Continue reading "Fundamentals of Logic: Principles and Applications" »

Key Ethical Concepts and Definitions

Ethics: A tool that helps in making decisions and rules of behavior based on what is morally right.

Moral Dilemmas: Conflicts where there are no clear or exact solutions; you have to make the best decision that will still affect others.

Norms: Standards of proper behavior.

Morality: Right and wrong behavior.

Human Act vs. Act of Man: An action that is voluntary; an act of man involves thought and a taken decision.

Values and Anti-values:

• Ethical Values: The capacity for determining importance in situations.
• Moral Values: Guidelines that assist in deciding between right and wrong.
• Anti-values: A predictable outcome.

Ethics in the Digital Age

Sharenting: When tutors share excessive information and/or photos of their... Continue reading "Ethics, Philosophy, and Human Behavior Fundamentals" »

Imperialist Reason: Bourdieu & Wacquant's Critique

Note on notation: ≠ means 'is/are not'; = means 'is/are' or 'means'.

Understanding Cultural Imperialism

• Cultural imperialism rests on the power to universalize particularisms linked to a historical tradition. Indeed, nothing is more universal than the pretension to the universal, or more accurately, to the universalization of a particular vision of the world.
• The central focus of this text is **universalization** across philosophical, sociological, historical, and political dimensions.
• This universalization, reinforced by media repetition and broadcast, progressively transforms specific facts into universal common sense.
• Cultural imperialism, whether American or otherwise, imposes itself most