SUMMUM BONUM

“What is the good?”

Olimpo, Emuel Jude H

11232242

Cortes, Gio Spencer R

11225645

TREDTWO C38

Humanity has always been one of the most divided beings in nature. Because of our

divergent locations, we sprouted different cultures, belief systems and values. From the height of

their civilization's age, say a Mesopotamian citizen would meet with an Aztec citizen. Imagine

the encounter that would arise from that, two almost irreconcilable ideologies clashing together.

You would have fundamentally different beings, disbarring their physical characteristics (and

even then it would be radically different) and shape unique to a human. The point here is that the

boundaries we've set up for each other, the tools with which we define ourselves with, led us to

create standards that cater specifically to the experiences that we come to believe is the norm for

all other persons. Hence the standards on right and wrong, beautiful and ugly, good and evil,

happiness and sadness, etc.

The Mesopotamian would have different conceptions on what those dichotomies mean,

and so too would the Aztec. But both would consider themselves to be correct, and if their

conceptions would be so irreconcilable, then, historically speaking, then conflict would arise.

Talk about the Nazis and the Jews, or even before them, the anti-Semitic sentiments of many of

Europe’s civilizations. Or, closer to home, the Spaniards and the ancient Filipinos – whom the

colonizers arbitrarily deemed uncultured, barbaric, and uncivilized. And similarly, the Americans

and the Native Indians, who were treated almost exactly the same. But though it is primarily

culture based, all the same, the basic tenets of those cultures are the ones that dictate the way

they operate. These core concepts that allow them to justify themselves as correct, good, and in

the right side of things is a recurring pattern in many civilizations across history.

The question then asked is this: ultimately, which core concept, value system, and culture

which is derived from those, is more important, truthful, useful, pleasurable, justifiable, rational,

and better in all senses of these words? Many attempts have been put forward to answer that

question, and this paper will discuss some of those answers.

I. Egoism

A. What is Egoism?

The term Egoism is derived from the Latin and Greek word “ego” and the

suffix “-ism”, meaning “to think of one’s self and self-interest above all others”. It

means, self and belief in an idea, respectively.

The Egoist philosophy surmises that happiness is derived from that which

brings benefits to the self. These benefits may be in the form of financial gains,

mental stimulation, praise, etc. Ergo, those things/actions that leave the only the

self in a better state than before the thing/action came into effect or being. It can

be synonymously equated to narcissism, the extreme love for one’s self.

Egoism, however, does not mean that a person does not think of others’

well-being. Only, it means that the securement of benefits or stability for one’s

self comes before those of others.

To expound on egoism further, there are three types worth exploring:

Psychological Egoism

Much like the definition given above, psychological egoism

purports all that is beneficial to the self, though it goes into the

next step of actually advocating such negative behavior such as

cowardice, weakness, or separatism.

Ethical Egoism

This subclass purports that anything that benefits the self,

in any way, is morally correct. Actions such as taking advantage of

people, cheating on an examination, appeals to authority/emotion

are all justified because they directly benefit the person doing

them. It is arguable, though, that in the wider scheme of things

these actions are not exactly that beneficial because of

interpersonal ramifications. This however digresses on the topic,

but should otherwise still be considered when a person chooses to

adhere to any form of egoism.

Rational Egoism

Very similar to Ethical Egoism, this subclass purports that

any action that benefits the person is rational. Akin to altruism, it

may be said that an action that benefits others is egoistic in that it

is done only to further social capital for the person doing it.

B. Main Proponent

Ayn Rand, born on 2

February 1905 as Alisa

Zinov’yevna Rosenbaum, is

perhaps the closest proponent of

egoism is Ayn Rand, an American

novelist, playwright, and

screenwriter famous for The

Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged,

as well as the founder or developer

of the Objectivist philosophy. She

died at the age of 77 on 6 March

1982. Her parents were Zinovy

Zakharovich Rosenbaum, a

pharmacist and businessman, and Anna Kaplan Borisovna. The objectivist

philosophy is described by Rand as the concept of man as a heroic being, with his

own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as

his noblest activity, and reason his only absolute.

Arguably a subset or form of egoism, one of the central tenets of the

objectivist philosophy is that the proper moral compass as to which people must

adhere to is that which pursues one’s own happiness – ergo, egoism. Objectivism

also furthers the idea that the only way to safeguard the benefits to the self is

through mutual self-respect among individuals, embodied in a laissez-faire

capitalist society. Overall, objectivism seeks to be a philosophical way of life,

with posits on metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, political philosophy, and

aesthetics.

Though it is merely tangent to egoism, Rand is quoted to have said “I am

not primarily an advocate of capitalism, but of egoism; and I am not primarily an

advocate of egoism, but of reason. If one recognizes the supremacy of reason and

applies it consistently, all the rest follows.

C. Evaluation

PROS

- Benefits the self

- Ensures the continuation of the self

- Justifies self-centric behavior

CONS

- May ostracize people from society

- Gives an air of undesirability

- Quintessential to elitism

D. Multimedia

II. Altruism

A. What is Altruism?

Almost a direct anti-thesis to Egoism, Altruism’s main tenet is the focus or

motivation to do actions that primarily benefits others instead of the self. In a

way, altruism plays on the description of humans as social beings, with the innate

drive to help others and to belong in the group. In the ethical sense, and in relation

to Summum Bonum, altruism denotes that good is that which can be derived from

a value that benefits solely other individuals, discounting the benefits that can be

derived for the self. It comes from the Latin root “alter” meaning other. The term

was coined by Auguste Comte, founder of the positivist movement, in order to

capture the idea that individuals had an obligation to forego their selves and well-

being in order to bring about the welfare of others. In short, the altruistic principle

is live for others.

Reciprocal altruism

The theory of reciprocal altruism was originally developed by

Robert Trivers in 1971 to explain altruism between unrelated organisms.

In it, the basic idea was that it may pay an organism to help another, if

there is an expectation of the favor being returned in the future. The cost

of this initial help is offset by the likelihood or expectation of the returns.

Taken in this context, it seems as if altruism is a form of underhanded

egoism. A requirement for reciprocal altruism, however, is that individuals

must be able to interact more than once for the reciprocal factor to come

into effect. A person who believes or adheres to this kind of altruism is

ultimately a self-serving, egoistic person as the return benefits is what

motivates him/her to help others.

Pure altruism

Given that reciprocal altruism has an underground motivation for

its acts, pure altruism therefore are those actions that are done with the

expectation or intention that there will be a future reward or benefit to the

doer. It is this type of altruism that converges with generosity that we see

is employed in the more general idea of philantrophy.

B. Main Proponent

Jesus Christ was born circa 6

B.C. in Bethlehem. Little is known about

his early life, but as a young man, he

founded Christianity, one of the world’s

most influential religions. His life is

recorded in the New Testament, more a

theological document than a biography.

According to Christians, Jesus is

considered the incarnation of God and

his teachings an example for living a

more spiritual life. Christians believe he

died for the sins of all people and rose

from the dead.

Most of Jesus's life is told through the four Gospels of the New Testament

Bible, known as the Canonical gospels, written by Matthew, Mark, Luke and

John. These are not biographies in the modern sense but accounts with allegorical

intent. They are written to engender faith in Jesus as the Messiah and the

incarnation of God, who came to teach, suffer and die for people’s sins. There is

very little written about Jesus's early life. The Gospel of Luke (2:41-52) recounts

that a 12-year-old Jesus had accompanied his parents on a pilgrimage to

Jerusalem and became separated. He was found several days later in a temple,

discussing affairs with some of Jerusalem’s elders. Throughout the New

Testament, there are trace references of Jesus working as a carpenter while a

young adult. It is believed that he began his ministry at age 30 when he was

baptized by John the Baptist, who upon seeing Jesus, declared him the Son of

God. After baptism, Jesus went into the Judean desert to fast and meditate for 40

days and nights. The Temptation of Christ is chronicled in the Gospels of

Matthew, Mark and Luke (known as the Synoptic Gospels). The Devil appeared

and tempted Jesus three times, once to turn stone to bread, once to cast himself off

a mountain where angels would save him, and once to offer him all the kingdoms

of the world. All three times, Jesus rejected the Devil's temptation and sent him

off.

C. Evaluation

PROS

- Ensures good interpersonal relationships

- Mutual welfare with regards to the give and take interpretation of

altruism

CONS

- Selflessness may lead to self-detrimental conditions, i.e. over-sacrifice

- Can make a person open to abuse and exploitation

D. Multimedia

III. Hedonism

A. What is Hedonism?

Hedonism is the philosophy that those things that bring pleasure to the self

are all that is good or value and that this is the primary motivational factor for

people who adhere to this philosophy. It also purports an action is justified if it

brings pleasure to the individual. Pleasure, in the context of hedonism, includes

all pleasant feelings or experiences, no matter the source. It includes such things

as elation, ecstasy, delight, joy, and enjoinment. Pain, on the other hand, includes

all unpleasant feelings such as aches, throbs, irritations, anxiety, anguish, chagrin,

discomfort, despair, grief, depression, guilt and remorse. Both conditions for the

verifiability of adherence to hedonism are not limited to the normative definitions

given to them. These conditions may either be states, objects, events or

characteristics.

Motivational Hedonism

This is the claim that only pleasure and the avoidance of pain is the

primary motivational factor for our actions. Taken as a subset of egoism,

hedonism purports that one’s own pleasure or pain is the motivation for

one’s actions. Here, it is furthered that these actions are always and only

motivated by the maximization of the pleasure that can be derived from

the action with the appropriate balancing of the pain one can incur.

Normative Hedonism

This is the claim that pleasure is the only thing that has value and

pain the negative of this, disvalue. According to this subset of hedonism,

friendships, actions, achievements, thoughts and values only serve in an

instrumental way, through the pleasure they give or the pain they

diminish. Reductionist thought is present in this classification of hedonism

in that common values such as honesty, autonomy, friendship and others

generally produce pleasure, leading to the relegation that stand-alone they

have a value.

Rational Hedonism

This is a conglomerate of the two previous subsets of hedonism.

This is the claim that a person’s life is centered on living a life of pleasure,

happiness and no regret; and, that the ability to live with no regrets comes

from living a good life. In Rational Hedonism, the central claims

purported by its adherents are based on the Delphic maxims found

inscribed on the ancient Temple of Apollo at Delphi, Greece. Seemingly

as a buffer to the common conception to hedonism as a selfish lifestyle,

rational hedonism forwards the idea that, because of the limitations of the

body and the goal of getting the most pleasure in life, moderation should

be exhibited in a person’s pursuit of pleasure.

B. Main Proponent

Aristippus, who lived around 435 to

356 BC was the founder of the Cyrenaic

school of philosophy, an ultra-hedonist

Greek group. He was a pupil of Socrates,

but went off on a tangent in his

philosophical outlook – teaching that the

goal of life and man was to seek pleasure by

asserting control over circumstances and

using them to your advantage. He is the son

of Aritades, born at Cyrene, in modern day

Libya. Dichotomized from Socrates,

Aristippus lived a life of luxury, actively

seeking pleasure and sensual gratification. Additionally, he is the first of Socrates’

disciples to charge money for his teachings. It is said that Aristippus lived for

some time in the court of Dionysius of Syracuse.

The Cyrenaic school Aristippus established, and expounded on by his

grandson of the same name, were known for their skeptical theory of knowledge.

They thought that we can know with certainty our immediate perceivable sense-

experiences but cannot know anything about the nature of the objects that cause

these perceptions. They reduce all knowledge as merely sensation and that these

sensations are purely subjective, depending on the individual who experiences

them, and is therefore for the Cyrenaic school’s adherents, the only possible

criterion of knowledge and conduct. Hence they believe that the sole aim for all

individuals must be pleasure.

C. Evaluation

One criticism of hedonism is that pleasure can only be derived from

experiences indirectly. For example, whereas a person plays games avidly, the

game itself is only an avenue for getting pleasure. Factors such as winning or

doing better than their opponents may be the pleasurable factor rather than the

actual game itself.

PROS

- Self-gratification

- Avoidance of pain and discomfort

CONS

- Misconstrued as selfishness or apathy to other’s plight

- May lead to dissociation with society

- Similar in light to narcissism

- Short sighted in its weighing of implications/feedback to the person

D. Multimedia

IV. Eudaemonism

A. What is Eudaemonism?

Eudaimonism (or Eudaemonism or Eudaimonia) is a moral philosophy

that defines right action as that which leads to the "well-being" of the individual,

thus holding "well-being" as having essential value. The term "eudaimonia" is a

classical Greek word, commonly translated as "happiness", but perhaps better

described as "well-being" or "human flourishing" or "good life". Eudaimonia as

the ultimate goal is an objective, not a subjective, state, and it characterizes the

well-lived life, irrespective of the emotional state of the person experiencing it. In

more general terms, Eudaimonism can be thought of as any theory that puts

personal happiness and the complete life of the individual at the center of ethical

concern. Taken in that regard, it may be thought of as a branch of egoism and

hedonism, though the nuancing for eudaemonism is that an action or thing is good

if it leaves the person better off than without it, regardless of the personal qualms

or preferences of the person experiencing those phenomena.

The concept came to fruition in Aristotle's "Nicomachean Ethics", which

dates from the 4th Century B.C., although the earlier thinkers Democritus,

Socrates and Plato described a very similar idea. Socrates, as represented in

Plato's early dialogues, held that virtue is a sort of knowledge (the knowledge of

good and evil) that is required to reach the ultimate good, or eudaimonia, which is

what all human desires and actions aim to achieve.

B. Main Proponent

Aristotle (384–322 B.C.E.)

numbers among the greatest philosophers

of all time, mainly based in Athens,

Greece. He is one of the most important

founding figures in Western Philosophy,

and the first to create a comprehensive

system of philosophy, encompassing

Ethics, Aesthetics, Politics, Metaphysics,

Logic and science. Judged solely in terms

of his philosophical influence, only Plato

is his peer: Aristotle's works shaped

centuries of philosophy from Late

Antiquity through the Renaissance, and even today continue to be studied with

keen, non-antiquarian interest. A prodigious researcher and writer, Aristotle left a

great body of work, perhaps numbering as many as two-hundred treatises, from

which approximately thirty-one survive. In all these areas, Aristotle's theories

have provided illumination, met with resistance, sparked debate, and generally

stimulated the sustained interest of an abiding readership.

Aristotle was born to an aristocratic family in Stageira on the Chalcidice

Peninsula of Macedonia. His father, Nicomachus, was the personal physician to

King Amyntas of Macedon, and Aristotle was trained and educated as a member

of the aristocracy. Aristotle's mother, Phaestis, came from Chalcis on the island of

Euboea. In 335 B.C., Aristotle established his own school just outside the walls of

Athens, known as the Lyceum, and he conducted courses at the school for the

next thirteen years. His immediate followers were known as the Peripatetics. The

Lyceum had a broader curriculum than the Academy, and a stronger emphasis on

natural philosophy.

C. Evaluation

PROS

- More inclusive than previous viewpoints or rationalities

- Open-ended on what it takes to be happy, more adoptable than

personally justifiable

CONS

- The same open-endednes makes it harder to generally justify, as traits a

person would associate with Eudaemonism could be easily associated

with more precise viewpoints or rationalities

D. Multimedia

V. Rationalism

A. What is Rationalism?

Rationalism is any view appealing to intellectual and deductive reason (as

opposed to sensory experience or any religious teachings) as the source of

knowledge or justification. Thus, it holds that some propositions are knowable by

us by intuition alone, while others are knowable by being deduced through valid

arguments from intuited propositions. Depending on the strength of the belief, this

can result in a range of positions from the moderate view that reason has

precedence over other ways of acquiring knowledge, to the radical position that

reason is the only path to knowledge.

Rationalism relies on the idea that reality has a rational structure in that all

aspects of it can be grasped through mathematical and logical principles, and not

simply through sensory experience. Rather than being a "tabula rasa" to be

imprinted with sense data, the mind is structured by, and responds to,

mathematical methods of reasoning.

Rationalists adopt at least one of three main claims:

Intuition/Deduction: Some propositions are knowable by us by

intuition alone, while others are knowable by being deduced from intuited

propositions. Some rationalists take intuition to be infallible, claiming that

whatever we intuit must be true; others allow for the possibility of false

intuited propositions. Some claim that only mathematics can be knowable

by intuition and deduction; some that ethical truths can also be intuited;

some more radical rationalists maintain that a whole range of metaphysical

claims are included within the range of intuition and deduction.

Innate Knowledge: We have knowledge of some truths as part of

our innate rational nature. Experiences may trigger a process by which we

bring this knowledge to consciousness, but the experiences do not provide

us with the knowledge itself, which has in some way been with us all

along. Some rationalists claim that we gained this innate knowledge in an

earlier existence, some that God provided us with it at creation, and others

that it is part of our nature through natural selection.

Innate Concepts: Some of the concepts (as opposed to actual

knowledge) we employ are part of our innate rational nature. Some would

argue, however, that innate concepts are entailed by innate knowledge,

because a particular instance of knowledge can only be innate if the

concepts that are contained in the proposition are also innate.

B. Main Proponent

René Descartes was born was

born on March 31, 1596, in La Haye,

France which has since been renamed

after him to honor its most famous

son.. He was the youngest of three

children, and his mother, Jeanne

Brochard, died within his first year of

life. His father, Joachim, a council

member in the provincial parliament,

sent the children to live with their

maternal grandmother, where they

remained even after he remarried a few

years later. But he was very concerned with good education and sent René, at age

8, to boarding school at the Jesuit college of Henri IV in La Flèche, several miles

to the north, for seven years. He was extensively educated, first at a Jesuit college

at age 8, then earning a law degree at 22, but an influential teacher set him on a

course to apply mathematics and logic to understanding the natural world. This

approach incorporated the contemplation of the nature of existence and of

knowledge itself, hence his most famous observation, “I think; therefore I am.”

Descartes is considered by many to be the father of modern philosophy, because

his ideas departed widely from current understanding in the early 17th century,

which was more feeling-based. While elements of his philosophy weren’t

completely new, his approach to them was. Descartes believed in basically

clearing everything off the table, all preconceived and inherited notions, and

starting fresh, putting back one by one the things that were certain, which for him

began with the statement “I exist.” Since Descartes believed that all truths were

ultimately linked, he sought to uncover the meaning of the natural world with a

rational approach, through science and mathematics—in some ways an extension

of the approach Sir Francis Bacon had asserted in England a few decades prior.

C. Evaluation

PROS

- Believes that there is a reason that a phenomena or object fulfills for that

object or phenomena to come into existence

- Tries to find the underlying concepts, rules or truth behind existence and

phenomena

- Innately inquisitive

CONS

- Their anthropocentrism is one flaw, as humans may have

misconceptions

- Logic does not always translate directly into reality, as human

understanding is limited to the senses

D. Multimedia

VI. Emotivism

A. What is Emotivism?

Emotivism can be considered a form of non-cognitivism or expressivism.

It stands in opposition to other forms of non-cognitivism, as well as to all forms of

cognitivism. Emotivists argued that moral expressions are different from factual

ones because they express emotions. Therefore ethical statements, being based on

emotions, cannot be true or false and can only be supported by persuasion, not by

evidence. Emotive theory proposes that the expression of attitudes and beliefs

should first of all express factual information—one’s beliefs, or how matters can

be “truthfully” explained, in accordance to their perspective and attempt to

persuade the listener to agree, and adopt these expressed beliefs.

The emotivism espoused by Ayer in LTL was supported by his belief in

the distinction between fact and value. Given, he thought, that there were no

moral facts to be known, there could be no verification of such facts, and so moral

utterances could have no cognitive significance. And given the connection

between moral ‘judgment’ and motivation, and the connection between

motivation and feeling, it was natural to see moral utterances as having the

function of expressing our feelings, or ‘emoting’. This view, Ayer was careful to

point out, was not that associated with subjectivism, that in making moral claims

we are describing our feelings. This latter view would make moral claims truth-

evaluable, and Ayer's moral emotivism denied that they were so evaluable. So

when we say: “Cruelty towards children is wrong” we are really expressing a

negative attitude towards killing children, and when we say “Being kind to old

people is good” we are expressing positive feelings towards such acts of kindness.

The expression of such positive or negative feelings, he later thought, also

contained a prescriptive element, so in such expressions we are also encouraging

others to share those feelings, and to act accordingly. As this makes clear, the

attitudes expressed were towards classes of acts, and not particular acts.

B. Main Proponent

Alfred Jules Ayer was

born in 1910. He was educated at

Eton and Oxford University.

After his graduation from Oxford,

he studied at the University of

Vienna, concentrating on the

philosophy of Logical Positivism.

From 1933 to 1940 he was

lecturer in philosophy at Christ

Church (College), Oxford.

During World War II he served in

the Welsh Guards and was also

engaged in military intelligence. In 1945, he returned to Oxford where he became

a fellow and Dean of Wadham College. In the following year, he became Grote

Professor of the Philosophy of Mind and Logic at University College, London. In

1959, he returned to Oxford, where he became Wykeham Professor of Logic, a

position he held until his retirement in 1978. He was elected a fellow of the

British Academy in 1952 and honorary fellow of Wadham College, Oxford, in

1957. Among his many awards, Ayer received an honorary doctorate from

Brussels University in 1962 and was knighted in 1970. He was also an honorary

member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and chevalier of the

Legion d'Honneur.

Language, Truth and Logicis one of Ayer's most important books and may

be considered as one of the most influential philosophical works of the 20th

century. In the second edition (1946), Ayer clarified some of his ideas and replied

to his critics, but essentially his philosophical position remained the same. He

called his philosophy "logical empiricism," a variation of logical positivism, the

philosophical orientation he learned in Vienna. He was largely influenced by the

thought of the 20th century philosophers Bertrand Russell and Ludwig

Wittgenstein and by the earlier empiricism of George Berkeley and David Hume.

The book is a milestone in the development of philosophical thought in the

20th century. The implications of Ayer's "logical empiricism" would be felt by

many branches of the discipline of philosophy, especially metaphysics, ethics, and

philosophy of religion, and also logic, mathematics, and the philosophy of

science. Although Ayer acknowledged the influences upon his philosophical

perspective, he remained an independent thinker, accepting no position

uncritically.

C. Evaluation

PROS

- Somewhat also inclusive at it caters to a common ground in human

characteristics – feelings

- Allows a freedom in action so long as they are to your emotions,

reminiscent of situationism

CONS

- Highly subjective, the justification that it relies only on emotions is the

only common ground tangibly visible from subscribers to it

D. Multimedia

VII. Intuitionism

A. What is Intuitionism?

Intuitionism is the approach in Logic and Philosophy of Mathematics

which takes mathematics to be the constructive mental activity of humans. Thus,

it holds that logic and mathematics do not consist of analytic activities wherein

deep properties of existence are revealed and applied, but rather they are the

application of internally consistent methods to realize more complex mental

constructs. According to Intuitionism, the truth of a statement is equivalent to the

mathematician being able to intuit the statement, and not necessarily to its

provability. It requires the application of intuitionistic logic, which preserves

justification, rather than truth, for derived propositions. Any mathematical object

is considered to be the product of a construction of a mind, so that if it can be

constructed then it exists. Intuitionism is therefore a variety of Mathematical

Constructivism in that it asserts that it is necessary to find (or "construct") a

mathematical object to prove that it exists. That is, the truth of a mathematical

statement can only be conceived via a mental construction that proves it to be

true, and the communication between mathematicians only serves as a means to

create the same mental process in different minds.

George Edward Moore argued that, once arguments based on the

naturalistic fallacy had been discarded, questions of intrinsic goodness could only

be settled by appeal to what he called "moral intuitions" (self-evident propositions

which recommend themselves to moral reflection, but which are not susceptible to

either direct proof or disproof), a view often described as Ethical Intuitionism.

However, as a Consequentialist, Moore distinguished his view from those of

Deontological Intuitionists, who held that "intuitions" could determine questions

about what actions are right or required by duty. He argued that "duties" and

moral rules could be determined by investigating the effects of particular actions

or kinds of actions, and so were matters for empirical investigation rather than

direct objects of intuition.

B. Main Proponent

George Edward Moore (usually

known as G. E. Moore) (1873 - 1958) was

a 20th Century English philosopher. He

was, along with Gottlob Frege, Bertrand

Russell and Ludwig Wittgenstein, one of

the founders of Analytic Philosophy.

Moore was born on 4 November 1873, one

of seven children of Daniel and Henrietta

Moore, and grew up in the Upper Norwood

district of South London. His early

education came at the hands of his parents,

his father teaching him reading, writing,

and music (he was a more-than-competent pianist and composer), and his mother

teaching him French. At the age of eight he was enrolled at Dulwich College,

where he studied mainly Greek and Latin, but also French, German and

mathematics.

In 1892, he went to Trintity College Cambridge where he initially studied

Classics. Early in his time at Cambridge he became close friends with some of the

writers and intellectuals who would go on to form the Bloomsbury Group,

including Lytton Strachey, Leonard Woolf and Maynard Keynes. He soon made

the acquaintance of Bertrand Russell, who was two years ahead of him, and J. M.

E. McTaggart (1866 - 1925), who was then a charismatic young Philosophy

Fellow. He followed them into the study of Philosophy, and he graduated in

Classics and Philosophy in 1896. In 1898, he earned a "Prize" Fellowship which

enabled him to continue to study philosophy at Trinity along with Russell and

McTaggart. Beginning around 1897, Moore began to participate in various

philosophical societies (such as the Aristotelian Society and the Moral Sciences

Club) and to publish his early work (many of his best known and most influential

works date from this early period). It was also during this time that Moore

instigated the momentous break from the then dominant philosophy of Absolute

Idealism that would prove to be the first step toward the rise of Analytic

Philosophy.

C. Evaluation

PROS

- Surmises that there is a common ground between everything, like the

rationalists, however the difference is that intuitionists hold that the

needed processes to achieve knowing that common ground is present in

all humans

CONS

- Bases their ideology on the assumption that the common ground and the

commonality of the tool to achieve that common ground is true

D. Multimedia

VIII. Pragmatism

A. What is Pragmatism?

Pragmatism (or Pragmaticism) is the view that considers practical

consequences or real effects to be vital components of both meaning and truth.

More simply, something is true only insofar as it works. It argues that the

meaning of any concept can be equated with the conceivable operational or

practical consequences of whatever the concept portrays. Pragmatism asserts that

any theory that proves itself more successful in predicting and controlling our

world than its rivals can be considered to be nearer the truth. Thus, slow and

stumbling ratiocination is not necessarily to be automatically preferred over

instinct, introspection and tradition, which are all valid methods for philosophical

investigation, even if they each have their own drawbacks. The scientific method

is generally best suited to theoretical inquiry, although the settlement of doubt can

also be achieved by tenacity and persistence, the authority of a source of ready-

made beliefs or other methods. Pragmatists believe that truth is not "ready-made",

but that truth is made jointly by us and reality. Some pragmatists also believe that

that truth is mutable (beliefs can pass from being true to being untrue and back

again), and that truth is relative to a conceptual scheme. Pragmatists contend that

most philosophical topics—such as the nature of knowledge, language, concepts,

meaning, belief, and science—are all best viewed in terms of their practical uses

and successes rather than in terms of representative accuracy.

After the first wave of Pragmatism, the movement split and gave rise to

three main sub-schools, in addition to other more independent, non-aligned

thinkers:

Neo-Classical Pragmatism inherits most of the tenets of the classical

Pragmatists,

Neo-Pragmatism (sometimes called Linguistic Pragmatism) is a type of

Pragmatism, although it differs in its philosophical methodology or conceptual

formation from classical Pragmatism

French Pragmatism is a specifically French off-shoot of the movement

B. Main Proponent

Charles Sanders Peirce

was born on September 10, 1839

in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and

he died on April 19, 1914 in

Milford, Pennsylvania. His

writings extend from about 1857

until near his death, a period of

approximately 57 years. His

published works run to about

12,000 printed pages and his

known unpublished manuscripts

run to about 80,000 handwritten

pages. The topics on which he

wrote have an immense range, from mathematics and the physical sciences at one

extreme, to economics, psychology, and other social sciences at the other

extreme. Peirce's father Benjamin Peirce was Professor of Mathematics at

Harvard University and was one of the founders of the U. S. Coast and Geodetic

Survey as well as one of the founders of the Smithsonian Institution. The

department of mathematics at Harvard was essentially built by Benjamin. From

his father, Charles Sanders Peirce received most of the substance of his early

education as well as a good deal of intellectual encouragement and stimulation.

Benjamin's didactic technique mostly took the form of setting interesting

problems for his son and checking Charles's solutions to them. In this challenging

instructional atmosphere Charles acquired his lifelong habit of thinking through

philosophical and scientific problems entirely on his own. To this habit, perhaps,

is to be attributed Charles Peirce's considerable originality. +Peirce graduated

from Harvard in 1859 and received the bachelor of science degree in chemistry in

1863. For thirty-two years, from 1859 until late 1891, he was employed by the U.

S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, mainly surveying and carrying out geodetic

investigations. For over thirty years, then, Peirce was involved in practical and

theoretical problems associated with making scientific measurements. This

involvement was crucial in his ultimately coming to reject scientific determinism,

as we shall see.

C. Evaluation

PROS

- Focuses more on results rather than the concepts in operation in the

background

- More tangible in that the thing that matters is that which positively

affects individuals

CONS

- May seem materialistic in that if an action or phenomena does not

produce adequate and satisfactory results, then that idea is scrapped or

back-seated

D. Multimedia

IX. Empiricism

A. What is Empiricism?

Empiricism is the theory that the origin of all knowledge is sense

experience. It emphasizes the role of experience and evidence, especially sensory

perception, in the formation of ideas, and argues that the only knowledge humans

can have is a posteriori (i.e. based on experience). Most empiricists also discount

the notion of innate ideas or innatism (the idea that the mind is born with ideas or

knowledge and is not a "blank slate" at birth). The concept of a "tabula rasa" (or

"clean slate") had been developed as early as the 11th Century by the Persian

philosopher Avicenna, who further argued that knowledge is attained through

empirical familiarity with objects in this world, from which one abstracts

universal concepts, which can then be further developed through a syllogistic

method of reasoning. The 12th Century Arabic philosopher Abubacer

demonstrated the theory of tabula rasa as a thought experiment in which the mind

of a feral child develops from a clean slate to that of an adult, in complete

isolation from society on a desert island, through experience alone.

Insofar as we have knowledge in the subject, our knowledge is a

posteriori, dependent upon sense experience. Empiricists also deny the

implication of the corresponding Innate Concept thesis that we have innate ideas

in the subject area. Sense experience is our only source of ideas. They reject the

corresponding version of the Superiority of Reason thesis. Since reason alone

does not give us any knowledge, it certainly does not give us superior knowledge.

Empiricists generally reject the Indispensability of Reason thesis, though they

need not. The Empiricism thesis does not entail that we have empirical

knowledge. It entails that knowledge can only be gained, if at all, by experience.

Empiricists may assert, as some do for some subjects, that the rationalists are

correct to claim that experience cannot give us knowledge. The conclusion they

draw from this rationalist lesson is that we do not know at all.

B. Main Proponent

David Hume (1711 - 1776)

was a Scottish philosopher,

economist and historian of the Age

of Enlightenment. He was an

important figure in the Scottish

Enlightenment and, along with

John Locke and Bishop George

Berkeley, one of the three main

figureheads of the influential

British Empiricism movement.

He was a fierce opponent

of the Rationalism of Descartes,

Leibniz and Spinoza, as well as an

atheist and a skeptic. He has come to be considered as one of the most important

British philosophers of all time, and he was a huge influence on later

philosophers, from Immanuel Kant and Arthur Schopenhauer to the Logical

Positivists and Analytic Philosophers of the 20th Century, as well as on

intellectuals in other fields. Hume was born on 26 April 1711 in a tenement on the

Lawnmarket in Edinburgh, Scotland. His father was Joseph Home and the

aristocrat Katherine Lady Falconer. He changed his name to Hume in 1734

because the English had difficulty pronouncing "Home" in the Scottish manner.

He was well read, even as a child, and had a good grounding in Greek and Latin.

He attended the University of Edinburgh at the unusually early age of twelve,

although he had little respect for the professors there and soon threw over a

prospective career in law in favour of philosophy and general learning. At the

tender age of eighteen, he made a great "philosophical discovery" that led him to

devote the next ten years of his life to a concentrated period of study, reading and

writing, almost to the verge of a nervous breakdown.

As an Empiricist, Hume was always concerned with going back to

experience and observation, and this led him to touch on some difficult ideas in

what would later become known as the Philosophy of Language. For instance, he

was convinced that for a word to mean anything at all, it had to relate to a specific

idea, and for an idea to have real content it had to be derived from real experience.

If no such underlying experience can be found, therefore, the word effectively has

no meaning.

C. Evaluation

PROS

- Like pragmatism, empiricism denotes that truth/knowledge come from

events that are personally experienced and personally confirmed to be

true, leading to a stronger degree of justification

- Has the idea that individual experiences can be used to justify the larger,

more generalized concept of that experience, possibly leading to

experimentation to hold true that justification

CONS

- Personal perceptions are arbitrary, nulling some of the claims of

empiricists

- Knowledge devoid from all humans experiencing an event would lead

them to a misconclusion, as compared to another group who would

experience the same but having knowledge of the underlying concepts

D. Multimedia

X. What is CONSEQUENTIALISM?

- It is an approach to ethics that argues that the morality of an action is contingent

on the action’s outcome or consequence. Thus, a morally right action is on that

produces a good outcome or result, and the consequences of an action or rule

generally outweigh all other considerations. Simply speaking, in determining

whether an action was right or wrong, the nature of the consequence/result of the

said action is the determining factor. Ergo, the ends justify the means.

- There are many theories under consequentialism, such as:

o Utilitarianism

This theory tells us that an action is right if it leads to the most

happiness for the greatest number of people, i.e., maximization of

pleasure and minimization of pain in respect to the greatest number

of people at a given time.

o Hedonism

This theory tells us that pleasure is the most important pursuit of

mankind, and that individuals should strive to maximize their own

total pleasure.

o Egoism

This theory tells us that an action is right if it maximizes good for

the self. Therefore, egoism tells us that an action can be good for

an individual even if it can be detrimental to other people.

o Asceticism

This theory is the opposite of egoism, in some ways. It states

abstinence from egoistic pleasures especially to achieve a spiritual

goal.

o Altruism

This theory tells us that an individual should take actions that have

the best consequences for everyone except for himself. Individuals

have the moral obligation to serve others, even at times sacrificing

of self-interest.

Main Proponent

The person who coined the term “consequentialism”

was Elizabeth Anscombe (Born Gertrude Elizabeth

Margaret Anscombe ; 1919 - 2001). She coined it in

her 1958 essay “Modern Moral Philosophy”.

Elizabeth was a British analytic philosopher. She wrote

on topics such as philosophy of mind, philosophy of

action, philosophical logic, philosophy of language,

and ethics. She was born in Limerick, Ireland to Allens

Wells Anscombe and Gertrude Elizabeth Anscombe.

She studied in St. Hugh’s College, Oxford. During her

first undergraduate year, she converted to Roman

Catholicism, and graduated in 1941. She publicly

opposed Britain’s entry into World War II, even

though her father and one of her brothers served during the war.

She was married to Peter Geach in 1941, also a Roman Catholic convert and student of

Wittgenstein, where Geach was also a distinguished British academic philosopher. They had

three sons and four daughters.

One of the most highlighted parts of Elizabeth’s life was her debate with C.S. Lewis. In

1948, she presented a paper at a meeting in Oxford’s Socratic Club and disputed C.S. Lewis’

argument on naturalism. Some of Lewis associates have remarked that Lewis lost the debate and

was so humiliated that he abandoned theological argument and devoted his time entirely

children’s literature and devotional writing.

In the later years of Anscombe’s life, she suffered from heart disease and was nearly killed in

a car crash in 1996. She spent her last years under the care of her family in Cambridge, and died

at 81 years old. She was buried alongside the person she was a student of, Ludwig Wittgenstein

Valid Claims (Strengths) Weaknesses

It considers greatly the consequences of our

actions.

Does not consider moral character of the

person doing the action

It can be used for practicality/rationality

(case-to-case basis)

Incomplete explanation on why something is

right or wrong other than nature of its results

It can be used to justify certain actions on the

basis that the end result’s effects are greater

or have more force and weight compared to

the actions undertaken to achieve the result.

It is basically a Machiavellian principle, “The

ends justify the means.” where the actions in

between are disregarded and only the end

result is the most important.

Evaluation of CONSEQUENTIALISM

XI. What is

NIHILISM?

- It is a philosophical stance in which it argues that Being, especially past and

current human experience, is without objective meaning or purpose,

incomprehensible truth, or essential value.

- It also asserts that there is no reasonable proof of the existence of a higher

ruler/creator, that “true morality” doesn’t exist, and that objective secular ethics

are impossible.

- Ergo, life has no truth and no action is objectively preferable over another.

- One of the branches of philosophy that allows absolute nothingness.

- There are many types of nihilism, such as:

o Metaphysical Nihilism (Blob Theory)

This theory tells us that there are no objects, or that no objects

exist. Empirical reality is an illusion.

o Mereological Nihilism (Compositional Nihilism)

This theory tells us that objects with proper parts, i.e., objects that

are tangibly made from a wide array of things, do not exist, and

that the only basic building blocks, i.e., electrons and quarks and

etc, exist. The smallest building blocks are individual and separate

never unify or come together, therefore things that we see as whole

are just illusory and a product of human misperception.

One philosopher who forwarded this idea is Peter Unger, in his

papers “There Are No Ordinary Things” and “I Do Not Exist”.

o Partial Nihilism

This theory argues that only objects of certain kind have parts

(building blocks).

One example of this is Organicism, a view that living beings are

composites, i.e., objects that have parts, ergo they exist. But other

objects, however, are not, and consequently, do not really exist

even if we perceive them to be.

Objects that do not exist are called “simples”, and are only

arranged in a certain manner perceivable to us. E.g., atoms are

arranged “table-wise”

o Moral Nihilism

This theory views that ethical claims are generally false.

It holds that there are no objective moral facts or true propositions,

i.e., nothing is morally good, wrong, bad, right, etc., because there

are no moral truths. (e.g. A moral nihilist would say that murder is

not wrong, BUT neither is it right)

Main Proponent

Nihilism was first popularized by novelist Ivan

Turgenev (1818 - 1883). Ivan Turgenev is a

Russian novelist, short story writer, and

playwright. His first major publication, a short

story collection entitled “A Sportsman’s Sketches”

and his novel “Fathers and Sons” are regarded as

major works of 19th century fiction.

Turgenev (born Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev) was

born into a Russian land-owning families in Oryol,

Russia on November 9, 1818. His father, a colonel

in the Russian cavalry, Sergei Nikolaevich

Turgenev, was a chronic philanderer. While his

mother, Varvara Petrovna Lutovinova, was a

wealthy heiress but had an unhappy childhood and

suffered in her marriage. Ivan’s father died when he was 16 years old. Thus, Ivan’s childhood

was a lonely one; living in constant fear of his mother, who often beat him. After standard

schooling, for one year, he studied at the University of Moscow, and then moved to the

University of Saint Petersburg (1834 - 1837) where he focused on Classics, Russian literature,

and Philosophy. He also studied philosophy in the University of Berlin (1838 - 1841) and also

history. He returned after to Saint Petersburg to complete his master’s examination.

Turgenev liked German society and wanted to incorporate ideas from the Age of Enlightenment

to Russia. He was also opposed to serfdom. He was also close friends with Gustave Flaubert. He

had strained relations with Leo Tolstoy, particularly because Ivan had a growing preference for

Western Europe.

Turgenev died at Bougival, near Paris on 3 September 1883. His remains were taken to Russia

and buried in Volkoff Cemetery in St. Petersburg. He pleaded to Tolstoy on his death bed, “My

friend, return to literature!”, and consequently Tolstoy wrote works such as “The Death of Ivan

Ilyich” and “The Kreutzer Sonata”.

Evaluation of NIHILISM

Valid Claims (Strengths) Weaknesses

Having said that everything has no meaning

or purpose, we are not restricted to a single

way of life.

Believing that nothing has meaning or

purpose, people might be persuaded to do

nothing productive in their since there is no

point.

Any action can be justifiable because there is

no absolute truth

Nihilism is the gray area, because nothing is

right but nothing is wrong, either.

XII. What is MACHIAVELLIANISM?

- It is used to describe someone who, in psychology, has the propensity to be

unemotional, and therefore able to detach himself from conventional morality and

has the ability to deceive and manipulate others

- It describes someone who is instrumental, able to use others and things most of

the time in duplicitous ways

- It is a term used for someone who is manipulative in nature and low on emotional

intelligence

- In some ways, Machiavellianism is a sort of Egoism

Main Proponent

The term “machiaviellianism” came from none other than

the man himself, Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli (1469-1527).

Machiavelli was from Florence, Italy, and is known to be a

philosopher, political theorist, diplomat, musician and writer of the

Renaissance period. He is also a prominent political figure during

the time, a time of wars between city-states and constantly shifting

alliances.

Machiavelli was born to Bernardo di Niccolo Machiavelli

and Bartolomea di Stefano Nelli, being the third child of the family and first son. The

Machiavelli family are believed to have descended from the old Marquesses of Tuscany. He was

never a full citizen of Florence because of the nature of the Florentine citizenship at the time. In

1498, when the republic was restored in Florence and the Medici expelled, he, at age 29, was

elected as head of the second chancery and also made secretary of the Dieci di Liberta e Pace. He

was a diplomatic council responsible for negotiations and military affairs. He carried out several

important diplomatic missions, such as going to the courts of Louis XII (France), Ferdinand II of

Aragon (Spain), Germany, and the Papacy of Rome. He was also a witness to the brutal state-

building methods of Cesare Borgia and his father Pope Alexander VI who tried to bring majority

of Italy under their possession, using the pretext of defending the Church’s interests as a partial

justification. He was also responsible for the creation of the Florentine militia because he

distrusted mercenaries. When the Medici returned to power at around the 1500s, he was deprived

of his position an accused with conspiracy, and subsequently arrested and imprisoned and

tortured. His masterpiece, The Prince, was written after the Medici regained power and when

Machiavelli retired to his estate. He is credited to be the founder of modern politics because of

his works such as The Prince and many more. He died in 1527, aged 58. His epitaph was, in

Latin, “Tanto nomini nullum par elogium”, meaning “so great a name has no adequate praise”.

Evaluation of Machiavellianism

Valid Claims (Strengths) Weaknesses

It is useful for worldly goals It does not consider other factors; only the

self (others only if they are mutually aligned)

It can be used to make rational and logical

decision not swayed by, most but not all the

time, irrational and illogical emotional

responses.

It does not take into consideration emotions,

especially when the topic regards emotions as

something that holds weight.

XIII. What is DARWINISM?

- Everything is based on natural selection

- Everything is causal, meaning there is no specific purpose or goal

- This theory tells us that everything seems purposeful because of the intertwining

of a vast array of causal events, and only we are trying to see the purpose in them

- Ignores the concept of intelligent designs

- If referred to Social Darwinism, it basically means “survival of the fittest”

Main Proponent

Obviously, it is Charles Robert Darwin (1809-1882), or simply Charles Darwin, who is

the proponent, for it is named after him. He was an

English naturalist and geologist, wherein he was

famously known for his contributions to science in

evolutionary theory when he wrote “On the Origin of

the Species” in 1859.

He was born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England to the wealthy society doctor and

financier Robert Darwin and Susannah Wedgewood

Darwin, being the fifth out of the six children. He

joined the scientific field at a young age. He worked

hard in his scientific pursuits, and these were partly

the cause of his decline in health. He married his cousin, Emma Wedgwood and they had ten

children.. In 1882, he died because of angina attacks and heart failure. His works had greatly

affected religions, such as the Catholic Church, and greatly influenced scientific progress at his

time.

Evaluation of Darwinism

Valid Claims (Strengths) Weaknesses

It makes us think rationally because everyone

thinks for himself in order to survive.

It ignores concepts of intelligent design and

does not take into consideration planned

actions.

There is nothing truly purposeful because

everything is just based on natural selection.

It has the propensity to tell us that nothing in

life is meaningful because of its causal nature.

XIV. What is EVOLUTION

- This philosophical concept talks about change

- An underappreciated branch in philosophy, but nonetheless very important

because it talks about many aspects of change especially related in human

evolution

- This concept is paired with Darwinism most of the time, since it talks about

change

Main Proponent

Charles Robert Darwin (1809-1882) is also the main proponent for Evolution because the

first philosophy attributed to him, Darwinism, results

in a new concept, which is Evolution. He was an

English naturalist and geologist, wherein he was

famously known for his contributions to science in

evolutionary theory when he wrote “On the Origin of

the Species” in 1859.

He was born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England to the wealthy society doctor and

financier Robert Darwin and Susannah Wedgewood

Darwin, being the fifth out of the six children. He

joined the scientific field at a young age. He worked

hard in his scientific pursuits, and these were partly the cause of his decline in health. He married

his cousin, Emma Wedgwood and they had ten children.. In 1882, he died because of angina

attacks and heart failure. His works had greatly affected religions, such as the Catholic Church,

and greatly influenced scientific progress at his time.

Evaluation of Evolution

Valid Claims (Strengths) Weaknesses

It considers change as good because it is Even if there is change, it does not consider

moving from an old form to a new form, i.e.,

it’s only basis for something good is when

change happens.

whether that change is inherently good or bad,

nor does it consider whether the change will

result in something good or bad. Its only basis

for something good is simply the fact of

change happening

XV. What is SITUATIONISM?

- This theory talks about human behavior and decisions being based from their

environment rather than innate, personal qualities

- The “good” or “bad” is only determinable in the situation itself

- Every situation is unique in itself, meaning what could be “good” in a certain

situation could be “bad” in another

- It’s values depend on the situation affecting the person

Main Proponent

Joseph Francis Fletcher (1905 - 1991) was an American

professor who founded situationism (situation ethics) and also a

pioneer in bioethics. Even though he was ordained as an Episcopal

priest, he later became an atheist.

Fletcher was a very scholarly professor, being able to teach and

participate in symposia, writing ten books, not including more than a hundred articles, book

reviews, etc. He taught Christian Ethics at Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge, Massachusetts

and also at Harvard Divinity School. He also taught in the University of Virginia, being the first

professor in medical ethics and also where he co-founded the Program in Biology and Society.

He eventually retired from teaching in 1977. He was also named Humanist of the Year and was

president of Euthanasia Society of America (later, Society of the Right to Die), member of the

American Eugenics Society and the Association for Voluntary Sterilization.

Evaluation of Situationism

Valid Claims (Strengths) Weaknesses

It breaks the normative structures of ethics

because of its dependency on the situation,

which is good for very complex and critical

situations.

Since it doesn’t have a solid foundation on

where to base its good and bad, it doesn’t

have a firm stance meaning what is good in

this situation could be bad in the next.

It is largely dependent on the situation and

therefore people are not constrained to strictly

adhere to certain morals when those morals

contradict the situation, but part of those must

Situationism is also based on an individual’s

understanding of the situation. Therefore, it

can’t be absolutely assured that all individuals

will have a clear understanding of the current

be broken in order to serve a greater good. situation nor can it be sure that all individuals

can think morally the same.

XVI. UTILITARIANISM?

- It is a form of Hedonism that states that something is good when it produces the

greatest amount of utility or worth

- It is the maximization of pleasure and happiness of all people

- The most important value in this theory is happiness and pleasure

- Comparatively, the disvaluing part is pain and suffering

- It’s origins can be traced back to Epicureanism

Main proponent

The main proponent for Utilitarianism is Jeremy

Bentham, an English philosopher, political radical, and,

legal and social reformer of the early Modern Period. He

was born in Spitalfields, London on 15 February 1748 to

the son of a wealthy Tory attorney. A child prodigy, he

started studying Latin at age three. He went to

Westminster School at age 12, and took his Bachelor’s

degree when he was 15, and also took his Master’s

Degree at 18 in Queen’s College, Oxford. He studied as a

lawyer in Lincoln’s Inn, London, was called to the bar in

1769 (21 years of age) but he never really practiced the

profession of law.

He changed his early Conservative political views after reading the work of Joseph

Priestley, an 18th Century British Theologian and Natural Philosopher. His first major work, “A

Fragment on Government”, gained much attention, wherein the work criticized the then leading

legal theorist Sir William Blackstone, which enabled him to become friends with a powerful

Lord Shelburne. He gained followers such as David Ricardo and Robert Owen.

Bentham died in 6 June 1832 in his native country, London, and, as he requested in his final will

and testament, his body was preserved and stored in a wooden cabinet. He called it his “Auto-

Icon”, and is still kept on display at University College, London.

Evaluation of Utilitarianism

Valid Claims (Strengths) Weaknesses

It concentrates on making people happy, and

what makes people happy is virtually good.

Even if something makes people happy, on

another perspective it, the action, might not

necessarily be good.

The positive and negative consequences of

our actions can be measured, giving us an

objective and independent way of deciding

what is right/good or wrong/bad.

It has a tendency of making people selfish and

subjective, because people have different

views on what makes them happy.

XVII. What is MARXISM?

- It is the promotion of socialism, wherein everyone is equal and everyone is self-

governing

- It depicts the class struggle of people, i.e., the bourgeoisie vs. the proletariats

- It attempts to make a “proletariat dictatorship”, meaning the rule of the lower

class

- Another element of this theory besides equality is materialism

- It made its entrance to history when “The Communist Manifesto” was published

by Marx and Engels

Main Proponent

Karl Heinrich Marx (1818 - 1883) was a German

philosopher, political theorist and revolutionary of the 19th

Century. He is often called the father of Communism,

because communist ideals were derived from his Marxist

ideals.

He was born in Trier, Prussia (Germany) on May 5

1818 being the third of seven children in a Jewish family.

His father, Heinrich Marx, was from a continuing line of

Jewish rabbis but converted to Lutheran Christianity in

order to practice law; his mother was Henriette Pressburg.

He was home-schooled until age 13, afterwhich he attended Trier Gymnasium, and at age 17 he

studied at University of Bonn to study law, but was moved to Humboldt University, Berlin

because he wasn’t taking his studies (of law, as he wasn’t allowed to take his preferred course,

philosophy and literature, by his father for practical reasons) seriously.

At Humboldt, he began to become more absorbed in atheistic philosophy by the Young

Hegelians. He earned his doctorate in 1841 with his thesis entitled “The Difference Between the

Democritean and Epicurean Philosophy of Nature”. He married Jenny vonn Westphalen, an

educated daughter of a Prussian Baron. The greatest turning point in Marx’s life was when he

met Friedrich Engels, wherein they would later continue to co-publish “The Communist

Manifesto” which would be the basis for communism

Evaluation of Marxism

Valid Claims (Strengths) Weaknesses

[THEORETICALLY ]It looks at what society

wants as a whole and values that more rather

than the wants of the few, the elite.

[THEORETICALLY] It doesn’t take into

consideration how people think because

society can be divided into a whole slew

different thinking people, which can lead to

disharmony if it is forced to take into

consideration all their opinions

[APPLICATION] It turns over all power to

the State, wherein the people do not have to

worry about anything anymore except for

working, because the State will essentially

provide to them everything they need.

[APPLICATION]This theory is very

vulnerable to corruption because all power is

in the State; there is no check-and-balance

between the State and people

We see through this paper that humanity has a lot of attempts in order to satisfy the

Summum Bonum. Though limited, this paper has substantially covered at least the core

philosophical principles that have made an effect in the world we live in. So the question

ultimately remains: “What is the GOOD?” These philosophical ideas have attempted to create

the highest standard in judging morals. However, in their attempt to do so, it is observable that

this is attempt to create the highest standard in judging morals is what has ultimately led to their

failure. These philosophies have also, in their attempt, boxed reality in their individual worlds to

suit their individual characteristics while ultimately denying the existence of the others, thus

certain facets of reality aren’t considered and are ignored. In short, all these philosophies are

reductionist in nature.

Then, if these “realities”, these philosophies, have failed, the question still remains. What

is the good? Can there really be a measure for the “good”? No, there is no best norm for

determining the good. This is because we cannot entrap reality, its entirety, into our limited

ideals. Life is too complex to box into a single philosophy. Thus, life can be all these

philosophies, but not one of them only. In man’s pursuit for the ultimate norm, life has, since

time immemorial, eluded in giving man the answer it seeks. Man will continue to create more

and more philosophies to suit the his tastes, varying only in eras, but nonetheless all are the same

in essence. There is no ultimate normative approach that man can utilize and it will continue

until the end of time.

References:

Shaver, R. (2010). “Egoism”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved 15

October 2013 from http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2010/entries/egoism/

Mastin, L. (2008). “Egoism”, The Basics of Philosophy. Retrieved 15 October 2013 from

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