The Inner Soundscape of Nada-Yoga: Sonic Path of Union
Thesis - 3 pages - Philosophy
The Himalayan religious traditions (Saivite Hinduism, Mahayana Buddhism, Tibetan Bon-po) are related by a common heritage of esoteric practices intended to unify the religious aspirant with the ultimate reality (as defined by the particular tradition). This gnosis is defined variously as dzogchen...
The Form and Function of Sufi Mystical Visions
Thesis - 5 pages - Philosophy
Experience of direct union with God is most often reported to be of an ineffable nature that transcends any means of description. Mystical visions, however, afford the subject of such experiences the ability to interpret, through the hermeneutics of religious symbolism, what might otherwise be...
The Relationship of Being and Perception in Enlightenment Philosophy
Thesis - 5 pages - Philosophy
The philosophical efforts of the Enlightenment thinkers were based on the relationship between metaphysics and epistemology. Descartes, Leibniz and Berkeley progress in their understandings of being by refining the means by which they are able to make justified claims to knowledge. In a...
Applying Richards' Relational Theory of Value to Animal Rights
Thesis - 3 pages - Philosophy
The debate concerning the rights of animals has mostly been confined to assertions of absolute moral value. Before Peter Singer, nearly all philosophers declared animals inherently devoid of rights on various grounds. Traditional religious thinkers emphasized the soullessness of...
Hilary Putnam on Realism and Relativism
Thesis - 4 pages - Philosophy
Perhaps one of the most widely and longest-held issues that have been debated in the study of philosophy, is that of the dispute over the way in which we as humans can accurately describe the external world with regards to our everyday lives. Philosophers range in opinion from a view in...
Divine Flaws
Thesis - 3 pages - Philosophy
The question of whether gods are capable of being flawed has long preoccupied theologists and philosophers alike. The mythological deities of the ancient Greek pantheon possessed a myriad of humanistic attributes, including a wide range of notable character flaws; Zeus, of course, was infamous...
The Road to the Good Life?
Thesis - 3 pages - Philosophy
Today, when people use the word stoic, they often are not referring to the philosophical tradition, but to a type of person who does not show much outward emotion, someone who is strong in the face of tragedy or pain. However, in a culture in which we are encouraged to express our emotions (to...
Transcending the Fallacy of the Binary Through Ambivalence
Thesis - 6 pages - Philosophy
A thought process that appears to be common to all humans is that of setting up binaries. It is a tendency that exists across cultures and since “the beginning of time.” This may be because it is easier to define what something is not than what it actually is. The opposition of a...
Alatiel and Helen: War Caused by Beauty?
Thesis - 7 pages - Philosophy
Few storylines are more familiar than that of the woman so beautiful that men cannot resist her and will stop short of nothing, even murder or treachery, to possess her. The most famous of these women is of course, Helen, with “the face that launched a thousand ships,” many of which...
The Problematic Third Speech of the Phaedrus and Ficino's Neoplatonic Reinterpretation
Thesis - 7 pages - Philosophy
There has been much scholarly debate concerning the relative merit of the three speeches in Plato's Phaedrus; the third speech, in particular, is much contested. While the first two speeches are undeniably mired in self-contradiction and materialism, the third speech, though mythical in content...
Oscar Wilde and Aestheticism
Thesis - 9 pages - Philosophy
The 19th Century in Europe, and especially in England, is marked by the appearances of new artistic movements. Aestheticism is one the most important because it embodies a real change in the mentality and in art, considered as self sufficient. Immanuel Kant is one of the pioneers of it, and...
Democratic equality. Are Rawls's principles of economic justice too egalitarian or not egalitarian enough?
Thesis - 5 pages - Philosophy
The question is, therefore, whether Rawls's egalitarianism is not enough egalitarian or too egalitarian. After having exposed the main points of Rawls's view of economic justice, the analysis of its major criticisms, both from the left and the right sides, is necessary to bring out the...
Life, death and politics : A run-down of the abortion debate
Thesis - 5 pages - Philosophy
Few issues have fostered such controversy as has the topic of abortion. The participants in the abortion debate not only have firmly-fixed beliefs, but each group has a self-designated appellation that clearly reflects what they believe to be the essential issues. On one side, the pro-choice...
