The concept of a person is hard to describe because humans share many similar qualities with other animals, but what separates us from the rest? As Frankfurt describes in “Freedom of the Will and the Concept of a Person, defining what makes a person is tricky because people often overlook the importance of this philosophical… Continue reading Frankfurt’s Desires

As humans, we like to believe that we have free will. This idea of being able to control the outcome of our lives, or determine our own fate, sounds ideal, but do we really have it? David Hume argues that everything in our lives is determined and believes that free will doesn’t exist. Because everything… Continue reading Determinism is not so bad.

Throughout Memento, I was really frustrated with Leonard and all of his photos and notes. Now, I know he suffered from memory loss because of his injury, but his constant need to refer to his notes, which were barely reliable, became a little irritating. I think it really only bothered me because I knew that… Continue reading Hume would’ve enjoyed Memento.

Similar to many other philosophers, Descartes questions what is real and what isn’t, but also brings into consideration the action of doubt. Meditation I describes Descartes’ concept of “the sphere of the doubtful”, which is basically his interpretation of his existence and the things he once thought were true. He boldly begins his thoughts with… Continue reading Don’t doubt so much.

Infectiousness, according to Tolstoy, is the determining factor of art’s excellence. By infectiousness, Tolstoy means that an artist’s work must bring the viewer of the art some sort of emotion. Anything that evokes an emotion or particular feeling that an author or artist creates is art, and for Tolstoy, art without infectiousness is really not… Continue reading Tolstoy might be right, but who knows?

“…he is a poet because he imitates, and what he imitates are actions.” -Aristotle When discussing the way in which poems and tragedies imitate actions, Aristotle describes imitation that begins with an object, most often mankind, and the mediums that art takes form of. For poetry, objects are imitated through verses in varying rhythms and… Continue reading Art Imitates Life

After watching Existenz, you wonder whether the characters are in the physical world or if they’re still stuck in the overly realistic virtual reality game. Throughout the film, the two main characters, Allegra Geller and Ted Pikul, venture in and out of what seems to be the physical world and Allegra’s intricate video game eXistenZ.… Continue reading Is tranCendenZ really it?

Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” describes the idea of a world in which people trapped in a cave can only see the shadows from the real world that are casted on to the cave’s wall. All the people know are the shadows of the real world people, animals, and things, but once one of the… Continue reading The Cave of Illusions

In opposition to WK Clifford, William James finds it impossible to believe that people should never make a decision based on any insufficient evidence. While he agrees that no one wants to be fooled into believing the wrong thing, James also perceives this as a natural part of human thinking. James’ beliefs on options include… Continue reading William doesn’t agree with William