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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The Four Dimensions: A Brief Introduction

• October 23, 2002
• James Skemp

Primarily Written/Added: October 23rd 2002 Edited/Updated: November 21st 2002; October 30th 2003; January 19th 2004 See also: Fourth Dimension: Tetraspace (the most comprehensive site on the four dimensions I've seen on the web) Note: Having a basic high school level of education would probably help in understanding this page, however it is not completely necessary. If you want a greatly in-depth look at this information, I suggest you visit the site above (Fourth Dimension: Tetraspace) since it is updated on a much more regular basis then this page :)

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unfinished story 002

• October 10, 2002
• James Skemp

She was one cool cat, as they used to say... I was in love with her, but couldn't tell her, couldn't put my heart out on the table... I'd done it before. I'd tell someone, and I'd only end up with pain, a blistering pain. I have chunks missing, each time, I have less on the scale. I try my best, I know that I do, but it's hard, you know?

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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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unfinished story 001

• September 29, 2002
• James Skemp

But the thing of it is, is that you cannot possibly know what that is like. But I don't need to try it in order to know that I am not going to like it. It's something that I know, something that I will always know. I mean, you were told by your friends what it would be like, but I don't have that, I don't have friends that I could get that information from.

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Man's Quest for Dominance over Nature within Frankenstein

• September 18, 2002
• James Skemp

During the period of Romanticism, art and literature was attempting to get back to, and raise interest in, the natural. With more people in cities, as well as the effects of Industrialization, many were feeling that man was moving too fast. For this paper, I am going to talk about man's quest for dominance over nature, with particular interest in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Throughout history, man has been trying to become a controller of nature.

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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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The Impact of Civilization and Its Laws on the Individual

• May 3, 2002
• James Skemp

What is the impact that civilization and its laws have on the individual? Particularly in the case of values and morality, does civilization help define one's values, or does it subvert them, leaving behind only those values that it can use in order to survive and converting those it can not? For this paper, I would like to look at Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment and show how Sigmund Freud's Civilization and Its Discontents is related to this story.

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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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