Notes, abstracts, papers, exams and problems of Philosophy and ethics

Key Dimensions of Human Existence

• Personal Dimensions: Internality, sociability, openness, eagerness to transcendence, life project.
• Components: Socio-cultural, socio-political, moral, and religious.

Determinism vs. Freedom

Determinism

Determinists argue that human beings are not free, but determined in their choices, doing what they can do at any given time.

Types of Determinism:

• Cosmological: Argues that a universal law governs humans and nature, making the future predictable and unchangeable.
• Theological: Believes that God knows and dominates all, predetermining all human actions.
• Scientific: Aims to explain human behavior through empirical dimensions.

Despite these theories, determinism fails to explain why we praise or reject certain behaviors,... Continue reading "Understanding Freedom, Responsibility, and Moral Living" »

The Institución Libre de Enseñanza: A History

The Institución Libre de Enseñanza (ILE) was founded in 1876 by professors from the Universidad Central de Madrid (Francisco Giner de los Ríos, Gumersindo Azcárate, Teodoro Sainz Rueda, and Nicolás Salmerón, among others). They defended academic freedom and refused to adjust their teaching to any official dogma in religion, politics, or morals. Giner de los Ríos stood out as a key figure.

The ILE was a moral regeneration project that remained consistent throughout its 60 years of existence: it aimed to create a "new man," capable of confronting the moral situation of the country and overcoming it, as well as fostering a new model to enhance individual and collective life, making it more rational,... Continue reading "The Institución Libre de Enseñanza: History and Legacy" »

Philosophy: Understanding Knowledge Through Reason

Philosophy, as a form of knowledge acquired through the use of reason, inquires into the fundamental nature of all things.

Characteristics of Philosophy

• It wonders about the nature of all real knowledge.
• It is radical, rational, and critical.
• It challenges dogmatism.

Functions of Philosophy

• Interdisciplinary: It connects various fields of study.
• Critical: It analyzes and evaluates assumptions.
• Abstract: It develops reasoning beyond the immediate and concrete.
• Practical: It is oriented towards human action.
• Radical: It deals with ultimate questions.

Science: Explaining and Predicting Phenomena

Science attempts to explain phenomena, predict outcomes, and control processes. Scientific knowledge is rational,... Continue reading "Philosophy, Science, and Epistemology: Key Concepts" »

Anthropological Theory: Plato's Doctrine of the Soul

For Plato, the soul is prior to man. It existed before his earthly life and will continue after death. The union between soul and body is accidental, temporary, and the body is mortal, but the soul is not. The soul is embodied and conditioned. He founds the division of social classes in society on the tripartite nature of the soul. These three parts: concupiscible, irascible, and rational, in some, fight each other and represent different aspects of the psychological activities of man: appetites, passions, and reason.

The noble and very human soul, the rational soul, is immortal, and its attachment to the body prevents it from living a life of successive incarnations. It suffers and only stops... Continue reading "Plato's Doctrine of the Soul: Theory & Anthropology" »

What is the Etymology of Feeling?

Etymology: Hens are a tool that allows linguistic words to refer to their origin in linguistic order to ascertain their original sense.

Phenomenology: This is a philosophical tool that allows a description of the essential features of something.

Reflection: They arrested a way of thinking about things.

What is the Ultimate End of Our Actions?

Aspiration to happiness: Happiness is an activity under the soul of virtue, manifested in a feeling of power that drives us to create.

What is the Meaning of the Allegory of the Cave?

The myth of the cave: They live cheated, they think that reality is their world because most know nothing, but the reality is out.

Is There Something That Concerns Us All? Is Philosophy a Humanizing

Hierarchy of Beings

Hierarchy of beings: God (pure and infinite spirit, uncreated), angels (created and finite spiritual beings), rational human soul (embodied, finite, and created), sensory-irrational animals, vegetables, and inorganic forms.

Principles of Existence

Essentially non-Aristotelian principles of existence: Monism posits only one Being (God), while Aquinas supports a pluralism of beings, with God as the primary being and numerous created beings. God is necessary and cannot not exist. Creatures are contingent, existing but not necessarily so. Creatures are composed of essence and existence (received from God). God's essence and existence are identical, devoid of composition.

Existence is the act of existing. Essence (nature) is hylemorphism.... Continue reading "Hierarchy of Beings: God, Angels, Humans, and the Soul" »

Human Development: Soma, Psyche, and Pneuma

The tripartite nature of man—soma, psyche, and pneuma—is inherent in its evolution, development, growth, and maturation. Authentic human development is not merely the accumulation of years, indicated by chronological age, but the evolution of the guiding principle that directs and governs. Thus, childhood is characterized by the mastery of the soma over the other two components; youth, by the domain of the psyche; and maturity, by the domain of the pneuma over the other two components.

Maturation is contained within the very nature of form and is the evolution of man towards the pneumatic. This somatic evolution is achieved by denying the immediately preceding stage. In this evolution, we are driven... Continue reading "Human Development: Soma, Psyche, and Pneuma Stages" »

William of Ockham: Reason, Faith, and Nominalism

Radical Separation of Reason and Faith

Ockham defends the radical separation between reason and faith. These powers pertain to different areas of knowledge and information sources. Reason would take on the observable, while faith would deal with that which is not observable. The mission of philosophy is not to face theological problems, as reason cannot say anything beyond its own scope. With this separation, Ockham distances himself from much of the philosophical tradition, causing a resurgence of the experimental sciences.

Intuitive Knowledge

Ockham maintains that knowledge is intuitive. When you have something in front of you, the understanding retains an imprint, like a photograph, which allows... Continue reading "William of Ockham: Philosophy of Nominalism and Faith" »

Collective Representation of Associations and Unions

Unions are non-profit associations of employees whose primary purpose is to achieve the economic and social progress of their members. This is accomplished through maintaining or improving their working conditions. They have standing, as maintained by Kapteyn, with varied partners.