Dostoevsky's Underground Man as the Creation of Society

• October 31, 2002
• James Skemp

In his Notes from Underground, Fyodor Dostoevsky asks what it is that civilization, or society in general, gives to the individual. In essence, the question concerns where the individual resides in society; what can be learned from man's place in a society? Dostoevsky presents to the reader a conflicted, sickly individual, and explores why the individual is the way he is, as well as whether society could do anything to help him from his lowly state.

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Rules for Sentential Logic

• October 29, 2002
• James Skemp

It is important to mention what sentential logic is. While my guide has been out for almost two years now, I’ve yet to discuss what these rules are for. Sentential logic is one logical system, by which conclusions can be reached via premises, which may or may not be true. The truth of the premises does not concern sentential logic. Rather, sentential logic will tell you what conclusions necessarily come from the premises posited.

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Searching for a Friend: The Quest for a Definition of 'Friend' -or- What is a Friend? -or- Relationships with Others

• October 29, 2002
• James Skemp

The Problem

What exactly is it that makes an individual a ‘friend’? Why is one person a ‘friend’, another not, and yet another your ‘best friend’?

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Antony Flew and The Falsification Debate

• October 2, 2002
• James Skemp

In this paper, I will be discussing the points that Antony Flew contributes to the debate on whether religious claims must be proven by empirical means in order to be factually meaningful. First, I will discuss Flew’s major contribution, which is the analogy of the gardener. Second, I will discuss why this analogy helps to show that religious claims make no assertions, and are instead mere utterances. Flew begins his piece with a parable.

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Guide to One Philosophy of Life: Revision 1

• September 29, 2002
• James Skemp

The following was written from January 30, 2002 to September 29, 2002, but I am just now (January 30, 2009) getting around to posting this. I can honestly admit that I haven't read over this in a very long time, but the skimming that I have done reminds me of certain things ... As time progresses I may go back and re-purpose this content. (Of particular note, also, will be at what time these were written and when I was reading certain philosophical works.

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Descartes, Meditations and the Problem of the Dualism

• May 6, 2002
• James Skemp

Descartes’ rationalist notion of necessary and contingent connections between simple natures has an important role in his Meditations. This, in turn, has an impact on other philosophers to come, in relation to the problems that the Meditations raise. This paper will first deal with simple natures, their connections, and their role in Descartes’ Meditations. After looking at Descartes, three other philosophers will be looked at to see how they deal with the ideas brought up by Descartes.

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Confucian View on Conflict and the Ruler

• April 22, 2002
• James Skemp

For this paper, I would like to focus on the topic of conflict and the ruler from the view of Confucianism. Specifically, I would like to look on how a ruler should operate, and under what conditions conflict, or war, should occur. By looking at the Analects, the Book of Mencius, the Doctrine of the Mean, and the Great Learning, I hope to gain some insight into the relationship between these two subjects.

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Applied Theoretical Ethics Term Paper

• April 21, 2002
• James Skemp

“Let us suppose that organ transplant procedures have been perfected; in such circumstances if two dying patients could be saved by organ transplants then, if surgeon have the requisite organs in stock and no other needy patients, but nevertheless allow their patients to die, we would be inclined to say, and be justified in saying, that the patients died because the doctors refused to save them. But if there are no spare organs in stock and none otherwise available, the doctors have no choice, they cannot save their patients and so must let them die.

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The Great Learning of the Confucian School

• March 30, 2002
• James Skemp

From the introductory material, we learn that the Great Learning "gives the Confucian educational, moral, and political programs in a nutshell" (1: 84). These ideas are summed up as, and consist of; manifesting the clear character of man, loving the people, and abiding in the highest good. There are also eight steps that should be followed; "the investigation of things, extension of knowledge, sincerity of the will, rectification of the mind, cultivation of the personal life, regulation of the family, national order, and world peace" (1: 84).

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Ancient Philosophy: Aristotle and Nichomachean Ethics

• December 20, 2001
• James Skemp

This semester we have looked at many different philosophers from the pre-Socratic up to Aristotle. For this paper, I will be talking about Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics and my view of what Aristotle states in this work. Specifically, I will be focusing on his view of happiness and comparing it with my view on happiness. Aristotle first begins Nichomachean Ethics by giving a definition of the good. “The good, therefore, has been well defined as that at which all things aim.

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