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

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

Metaphysics and Epistemology

Metaphysics: Exploring the Nature of Reality

Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that investigates the fundamental nature of reality, including existence, being, and the world around us. It delves into the first principles of things and seeks to understand the underlying structure of reality.

Epistemology: The Study of Knowledge

Epistemology is the philosophical discipline concerned with the nature, scope, and limitations of knowledge. It explores questions such as: What is knowledge? How do we acquire knowledge? What are the sources of knowledge? And how can we justify our beliefs?

Theories of Truth

Philosophers have explored various theories of truth, including:

• Coherence Theory: Truth is determined by the logical

Plato developed a theory on the soul and its nature, presenting one of the first rational psychologies. Plato had two primary intentions in his theory of mind:

• Ethical: To demonstrate the necessity of controlling the body's instinctive tendencies and to assure a future reward for those who practice righteousness, contrasting with Sophist immorality.
• Epistemological: To justify the possibility of attaining knowledge of the Ideas.

Platonic Dualism

Plato's worldview is dualistic, divided into two realms: the world of Ideas and the world of things. In humans, the body and soul are distinct and separate.

• The Body

  The body is considered the prison of the soul, a negative burden that creates needs, diseases, and desires which hinder the search for truth.

Introduction: Aristotle's Conception of Nature

Before comparing and contrasting their views, let's introduce Aristotle, a disciple of Plato, and his understanding of nature (physis). Aristotle sees nature as the internal principle of motion and change within natural beings. Unlike artificial objects, natural beings possess their own source of activity. For instance, a seed growing into a tree is a natural change, while a chair made from the tree is a product of human artistry, not nature.

To explain motion and change without falling into Parmenides's trap (the idea that change is an illusion), Aristotle uses the concepts of potentiality and actuality. The seed is potentially a tree, while the fully grown tree is the actualization of that potential.... Continue reading "Aristotle vs. Plato: Comparing and Contrasting Their Philosophical Views on Nature and Knowledge" »

David Hume's Moral Emotivism

The Science of Human Nature

David Hume, a figure of the Enlightenment, championed freedom, tolerance, and the suppression of superstition and fanaticism. As a radical British empiricist, alongside Locke and Berkeley, Hume believed in developing a science of human nature to further knowledge. This science aimed to explain human understanding through a critical review of knowledge, based on the empiricist principle that all knowledge comes from experience. Hume's analysis led him to phenomenalism and skepticism, asserting that we only know perceptions, reducing reality to mere phenomena. He questioned the possibility of knowing anything beyond perceptions with certainty, except for mathematical knowledge. This moderate... Continue reading "David Hume's Moral Emotivism: Feelings, Not Reason, Shape Morality" »

Marx's Philosophy of Praxis

Social Action and Transformation

Marx's thought differed from previous philosophies by emphasizing the social nature of humanity. Individuals find value in organizing as a social class to effect change. This contrasts with idealist philosophies like Hegel's, which focused on "Great Men" and the Spirit's movement. Marx highlighted the active role of workers in material production.

Praxis vs. Theory

Praxis, meaning "practice" or "action," traditionally belonged to ethics, contrasting with theoretical philosophy (epistemology). Marx extended praxis beyond moral values to include the objective results of human labor and its transformative impact on nature.

Transformative Power and Social Classes

Marx viewed human action... Continue reading "Marx's Philosophy of Praxis: Transforming the World" »

Definitions

Nature: A term used in several ways: the essence or substance of being, regarded as a principle or origin of operations (in the nature of man is growing, talking, etc., not roasted fly), all external things as opposed the subject's interiority, the world itself as everything tidy and created by God.

Cosmos: The world as an orderly universe. It opposes Chaos, which, according to the ancients, preceded it.

Environment: Everything that affects a living being's circumstances and the special conditions of the life of people or society.

Culture: In one sense, culture refers to the potentialities and personality of a human (to be a cultured, educated human). In another, it is the higher feature set of a people, period, or civilization. In... Continue reading "Understanding Key Concepts: Nature, Culture, and Society" »

Descartes' Methodical Doubt and the Three Certainties

The Quest for Indubitable Truths

Descartes' attempt to exercise universal doubt aimed not at skepticism, but at establishing a foundation for true knowledge. His methodical doubt sought to identify truths immune to skepticism. Through this process, he established three indubitable certainties.

First Certainty: The Existence of the Thinking Self (Cogito)

Descartes realized that even if he doubted everything else, he could not doubt his own existence as a thinking being. This is encapsulated in his famous phrase "Cogito, ergo sum" ("I think, therefore I am").

Second Certainty: The Existence of God

Descartes reasoned that his own imperfection implied the existence of a perfect being, God. He argued... Continue reading "Descartes' Three Certainties: Foundation of Scientific Philosophy" »

Kant's Theory of Knowledge in Critique of Pure Reason

Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure Reason presents a foundational theory of knowledge, marking a significant development in epistemology—the branch of philosophy concerned with human knowledge. Kant proposes a revolutionary idea: instead of our knowledge conforming to objects, objects must conform to our cognitive structures. This is often called his "Copernican Revolution" in philosophy.

The Faculties of Cognition: Sensibility and Understanding

Kant identifies two primary faculties involved in human cognition:

• Sensibility: The passive faculty through which objects are given to us via sensations. Its operations are called intuitions. For Kant, intuition is always sensory, never purely intellectual.