Category Archives: Academic Papers

On Rebellion

“I’M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I’M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!”[1] These are the words of Howard Beale in “Network”. The American movie classic is about an aging network broadcaster who rebels against the corporate oligarchy and subsequently … Continue reading

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Contract Law and the U.S. Constitution

From a popular tutorial on contract management, we may learn the following: “A contract is…a formal written agreement between two individuals or organizations for the procurement of commodities and services. Every contract consists of the following five elements: Mutual agreement … Continue reading

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On Plato’s “Symposium”

Originally published on the Florida Student Philosophy Blog Apollodorus How appropriate that Plato should frame this work as a tale told second hand.  From his pen, we are hearing the story as told by a disciple of Plato named Apollodorus … Continue reading

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A Neo-Patriarchal Response to Communitarianism

Very occasionally, in the morning when the weather is not too hot, I step out onto my front porch and sit on a broad wooden bench, looking out into my front yard and that of my neighbor’s, enjoying the coolness … Continue reading

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Don’t Worry – Be Happy : The Epicurean View of Death

Originally published in the Florida Student Philosophy Blog  [1] Eccl 8:15 – Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide … Continue reading

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Understanding Being and Time

Originally published in the Florida Student Philosophy Blog The newborn just entered into the world, may say to herself, “I am soiled; I am hungry, and decidedly uncomfortable.  Surely, my mother knows this. Why then does she not come to … Continue reading

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Comparisons and Contrasts of the Contemporary Marriage Relationship among American Orthodox Christians, Jews, and Muslims

Originally published on the Florida Student Philosophy Blog Whosoever spends his days without a wife, has no joy nor blessing, or good in his life. Talmud – Yevamot 62B The Orthodox Jewish view of Marriage Any discussion of Orthodox Christians, … Continue reading

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Gun Control & the Right to Bear Arms

“Among other evils which being unarmed brings you, it causes you to be despised.” – Niccolo Machiavelli The question of whether citizens in a democracy should have ready access to firearms suggests a more basic question, which has often been … Continue reading

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On Simon Blackburn’s “Lust”

Originally published on the Florida Student Philosophy Blog Perhaps those who love Shakespeare love him because of his ability to so skillfully portray the many facets of the human condition.  He does indeed most always “get it right.”  Certainly, his … Continue reading

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Nietzsche’s Conclusion

Originally Published on the Florida Student Philosophy Blog Zu bald alt, zu spät klug I was a child in the sixties, aged six to sixteen, during a time when existentialism was highly celebrated as pop philosophy. Nothing could be more … Continue reading

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The Elenchus and Socrates’ Idea of the Philosophical Life

Originally published on the Florida Student Philosophy Blog Pa’ntes A’nthropoi Tou^ Eide’nai Ore’gontai Phy’sei. All men by nature desire to know. —Aristotle, Metaphysics, 1:1 When one begins to take a closer look at Socrates of Athens, (469-399 B.C. ) it … Continue reading

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Property Rights and Environmental Public Policy

Indeed, the principal reason why, in the first place, states and cities were ever organized at all was to defend private property. – Cicero 1 In 1772, shortly before the beginning of the Revolutionary War, Samuel Adams, who was a … Continue reading

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Toward a Clearer Understanding of Universal Human Rights

Originally posted on the Florida Student Philosophy Blog It was never the people who complained of the universality of human rights, nor did the people consider human rights as a Western or Northern imposition. It was often their leaders who … Continue reading

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Dr. Dale Jamieson on ‘The Moral and Political Challenges of Climate Change’

Originally posted on the Florida Student Philosophy Blog On Thursday, Jan. 28, 2010 I attended a lecture by Dr. Dale Jamieson, director of environmental studies at New York University, on “The Moral and Political Challenges of Climate Change” at the … Continue reading

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Suicide and Sisyphus

To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, Bill Shakespeare “Males take their own … Continue reading

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Immoral Sinners: A response to Susan Wolf’s “Moral Saints”

Originally published in the Florida Student Philosophy Blog Reading Susan Wolf’s paper, Moral Saints,[i] there seems to be a prevailing attitude of hostility towards those who would seek to be such. From the beginning, she allows that she is “glad … Continue reading

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Dr. Gert and the Golden Rule

Originally posted on the Florida Student Philosophy Blog I wanted to share a few difficulties that I encountered while examining a reductio ad absurdum of the Golden Rule that is part of the article “Morality versus Slogans,” written by Dr. … Continue reading

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Gender Wars

“Although the official ideology and the government support liberty and equality, men and women do not share an equal status in the United States.” In order to respond to the statement that “although the official ideology and the government support … Continue reading

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On Shakespeare’s “Sonnet CXVI”

With Sonnet CXVI, William Shakespeare refuses to admit that anything can change or stand in the way of true love. The setting of this sonnet gives the impression that the poet has been engaged in a lively discussion regarding the … Continue reading

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Fire in the Flint

Walter White’s novel, Fire in the Flint was originally published in 1924. While White hoped “that sales of the book would show white publishers that colored people would buy books if publishers dared to bring out those which tell the … Continue reading

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Warren Beatty’s Bulworth: A Trial Balloon for the 2000 Presidential Nomination

Warren Beatty is a successful actor, director and producer. In addition to the entertainment industry, he has been publicly involved in liberal and democratic causes for the greater part of his life. He was seven when Franklin Roosevelt was reelected … Continue reading

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Class Versus Crass: A Comparison of “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” and “The Distinguished Gentlemen”

The film, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington was produced in nineteen thirty-nine and was directed by Frank Capra. When released a few weeks after the German invasion of Poland, it came as a who-needs-it-now irritant to many leaders in the … Continue reading

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Their Hands Upon the Ropes: A Look at E.M Forster’s “Howards End”

Within the first twenty-eight chapters of the novel, Howards End, by E.M.Forster, the author employs six variations of the idiomatic expression “hands upon the ropes” in connection with the two sisters, Margaret and Helen Schlegel, Leonard Bast, and Henry Wilcox, … Continue reading

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