However, when it comes to health-related issues, I do not believe that subjective personal impressions and feelings can influence one's ethical decision-making. The evidence is clear that smoking is harmful to the smoker, and also to the person who inhales second-hand smoke. Additionally, we were in my parents' home. I know that they have hard and fast rules about smoking on their property.

My friend took a different point-of-view: he acquiesced to my request, but said that he thought his country had a more reasonable attitude towards smoking: a utilitarian approach. "If everyone is smoking," he said, "why not permit it -- simply banning it will not force people to quit. That is a personal decision, and more pleasure is given by allowing people the option, particularly if everyone or almost everyone in the party is a smoker."

My friend is a good man, but good people can still manifest addictive, 'bad'…...

Philosophical Legal Theory: Analyzing the Rhetoric in Civil Rights Speeches by King and Wallace
While Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK) is remembered as a hero in the Civil Rights struggle, it is important to keep in mind that, during his time period, he was vilified by many who claimed that his efforts to secure equality for African-Americans were somehow unnatural. One of his most vocal opponents was George Wallace (Wallace), the governor of Alabama, who ran on a platform of opposing integration. This analysis will examine speeches by each of these men, who were diametrically opposed in their approach to Civil Rights: MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech and Wallace's January 14, 1963 inaugural address. In their speeches, both men used the same philosophical and rhetorical appeals to try to forward the moral, legal, and ethical correctness of their respective positions.

The analysis will begin with a discussion of Wallace's speech, because,…...

In fact, tolerance often stands in the way of engagement. Tolerance does not require us to attempt to understand one another or to know anything about one another. Sometimes tolerance may be all that can be expected. It is a step forward from active hostility, but it is a long way from pluralism" (Eck 1993).
Achieving true dialogue and understanding, of course, is easier said than done. Also, teachers must ensure that students meet fairly homogeneous academic standards in the era of No Child Left Behind, which leaves relatively little time to teach about other cultures and foster dialogue, especially in classrooms where children may need to be brought up to basic skills standards or lose funding. Pluralism remains a beautiful ideal, but an ideal that is difficult to realize: "The encounter of a pluralistic society is not premised on achieving agreement, but achieving relationship[s]" (Eck 1993). Pluralism requires a…...

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Works Cited

Eck, Diana. "The Challenge of Pluralism." Nieman Reports "God in the Newsroom" Issue.

XLVII. 2. (Summer, 1993). December 1, 2008.  http://www.pluralism.org/research/articles/cop.php?from=articles_index 

MacHacek, David. "The Problem of Pluralism." The Sociology of Religion. 64. 2. (Summer, 2003), pp. 145-161

His social contract put forward the notion that citizens at some point give their consent to live under a "certain political structure" and that requires a social contract.
John Locke is often seen as the "…philosopher of the American Revolution," Heineman explains. Locke's view was that in the early period of human existence, mankind lived in a state of nature, but though it was reasonably pleasant, there were problems. And how were those problems to be solved? Locke's view was the people then created a "social contract" -- a government -- and that government would serve the people's needs and wishes and would protect liberties and property. But the social contract Locke described would restrict government so its power won't interfere with citizens' rights.

Among the hallmarks of Locke's democratic philosophy: a) citizens have a role to play through their representative government; b) leaders in the government cannot rule in "tyrannical…...

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Works Cited

Heineman, Robert a., Peterson, Steven a., and Rasmussen, Thomas H. 1995. American

Government. New York: McGraw-Hill Professional.

Philosophical Analysis of Animal-Human Interactions
Both animal rights and ecocentrism discourage hunting, although for different reasons. Thesis: Animal rights philosophy views hunting from a moral perspective, as the unnecessary infliction of suffering on sentient beings, no less immoral than the persecution of human beings. Ecocentrism views hunting from a perspective of self-interest, as an activity with unforeseeable consequences which could threaten the ability of many life-forms to sustain themselves on planet Earth.

The Basis for Animal Rights

Animal Nature in the Age of Ancient Philosophy and Religion

The earliest comprehensive theories on animal nature come from ancient Indian philosophers. Vedic philosophy, the precursor to Hinduism, held that many non-human objects possess consciousness. Even plants and rocks have consciousness, though at a much lower level than humans. For these philosophers, all sentient beings have an individual soul, which they called "Atman." The purpose of existence was for the individual soul to be reunited with the…...

Philosophical Approaches
The question of ethics, what the right thing to do vs. The wrong thing, can be a difficult one. There are occasions where right and wrong are black and white distinctions. The right thing to do is easy discernable, though it may not be the easiest things to do. However, this is the rare occasion. More often than not trying to determine right and wrong in a given situation is difficult. Usually the world is not divided into good and bad, right or wrong, black or white. Sometimes in life a person will be encountered with the opportunity to make a choice. There will be times when the right or wrong thing will not be as obvious as one would like it to be. There will also be occasions thankfully where the wrong or right thing will be obvious. Sometimes an honest action will be unprofitable and thus unpleasant…...

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Works Cited:

Williams, Christopher R. And Bruce A. Arrigo (2008). "How Free Are We? The Challenge of Determinism." Ethics, Crime, and Criminal Justice. Prentice Hall. 51-71.

Philosophical Weaknesses
The two theories, the revelation and the reason theory are quite diverse in beliefs as well as application in the real life. The revelation theory in this case is more of a divine instruction that guides the behavior of man. According to this theory, things that men do or can do are morally good or bad, or morally compulsory, permissible, or forbidden, solely because of God's will or commands. It holds that God is good and all His commands are good for man. It asserts that God is the creator of all things, and by default the creator of our moral obligations. He is claimed to be supreme and holds the power to tell us how we are to live our lives.

The theory holds that morality is essentially doing God's will. That a morally right action is doing what God requires or commands. The precise divine commands are dependent…...

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Reference

Manuel Valesquez et.al (2010). Ethical Relativism. Retrieved February 16, 2012 from  http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/ethicalrelativism.html

Philosophical or Moral Issue
Faxes Only: Evidence There Is No God and the Problem of Evil and Suffering: A Response

Philosophical or Moral Issue Paper

Arguments, both for and against the existence and "goodness" of God as outlined in the readings fall short of convincing because they are based in unsupported assumptions. Chief among these assumptions is the definition of evil and good; and a narrow construction of pain, suffering, and death.

In both Evidence There Is No God and The Problem of Evil and Suffering: A Response each author seeks to make his point by employing the strategy of knocking down shallowly developed and diluted arguments of the opposition. Each essay spends more print describing the conclusions of its syllogisms than it does showing the veracity of the assumptions upon which those conclusions are drawn. In other words, there is a lot of jumping to conclusions and little establishing of solid logical foundations.

Both…...

In this way, I fulfill my duty not only to my clients, but also to the community that helps me to accomplish the fulfilment of this duty (American Occupational Therapy Association, 2005).
The central premise of my philosophy is therefore to connect with clients on a personal level, determine what they need, and work with them to achieve the results they desire. For this reason, I expect that my engagement in scholarship will be mainly with the "scholarship of application" and the "scholarship of discovery," as suggested by the American Journal of Occupational Therapy. It is only by sharing findings that the occupational therapy field developed as far as it has today. Indeed, even the earliest occupational therapists recognized the importance of sharing their findings with the rest of the community (Meyer, 1922).

In summary, my philosophy therefore centrally concerns the way in which I may be of help to occupational…...

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References

The American Journal of Occupational Therapy. (2009). Scholarship in Occupational Therapy. November/December, Vol 63, No. 6.

The American Occupational Therapy Association (2005). Model State Regulation for Supervision, Roles, and Responsibilities during the Delivery of Occupational Therapy Services. Retrieved from:  http://www.aota.org/Practitioners/Advocacy/State/Resources/Supervision/36447.aspx 

The American Occupational Therapy Association (2011). Occupational Therapist Assistant Overview. Retrieved from:  http://www.careercornerstone.org/pdf/alliedhealth/otasst.pdf 

Hoppes, S., Bender, D, and DeGrace, B.W. (2005, Spring). Service Learning is a Perfect Fit for Occupational and Physical Therapy Education. Journal of Allied Health. Retrieved from:  http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4040/is_200504/ai_n13500672/

Philosophical Dilemmas in Clinical Psychology
My religious orientation is one of my greatest challenges, as a therapist. I consider myself an "objectively moral atheist," which means that I do not believe in the existence of any so-called "supreme being," or "God." I believe that moral behavior can be defined, understood, taught, and practiced utterly without reference to any supreme being. As an objectively moral atheist, my actions are dictated purely by objective concepts such as fairness, equity, equality and by my respect for basic principles of human rights and dignity.

Many of the conflicts and issues in my patients' lives either relate directly to, or require addressing a pervasive sense of inner guilt and shame which originates, to some degree, in their Judeo-Christian religious upbringing. Therefore, I have had to develop a method of addressing these psychological issues in a manner that fulfills my professional and ethical obligations as a therapist, without…...

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References

Branden, N. (1985) Honoring the Self: The Psychology of Confidence and Respect Bantam; New York

As Socrates argues against rhetoric and its use as an "art" (as Gorgias identifies it), he exemplifies the freedom of the criminal as opposed to the law-abiding individual, subsisting to the same argument that Plato had presented in "Republic." In arguing against rhetoric and freedom obtained in democracy, Socrates states: "...the unjust or doer of unjust actions is miserable in any case,-more miserable, however, if he be not punished and does not meet with retribution, and less miserable if he be punished and meets with retribution at the hands of gods and men." This passage means that punishment inflicted upon those who deviated and did not follow the laws of humanity is a form of reiterating inequality among humans, between those who are right, just, and powerful, and the wrongdoers and powerless. Moreover, this train of thought in "Gorgias" elucidates the freedom of deviants in society, since once punished,…...

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Works Cited

Plato. E-text of "Gorgias." Available at  http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/gorgias.html .

____. "The Republic." NY: Penguin Books.

Aristotle. E-text of "Politics." Available at  http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/politics.4.four.html .

International elations
Philosophical Views: International elations

International elations: Philosophical Views

In studying International elations, there are four philosophical schools of thought used to analyze such studies. Liberalism, realism, radical, and constructivist views have contributed to analyzing this field of study from ancient times to the contemporary era. In its simplest terms, philosophy means the quest for knowledge and truth. It is the quest for wisdom or universal knowledge of the whole. Hence, the quest would not be necessary if such knowledge were immediately available. Such venture for knowledge gave birth to different philosophical views in Athens, circa Socrates, Aristotle, and Plato. Insomuch, many philosophical theories have been used as a framework to understand political theories, such as International elations.

International elations

International elations studies relationships between countries, including the roles of the various forms of governments, academic arena, and public policy fields. Hence, it is often characterized as a branch of political science that is…...

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References

Cozette, M. (2008). What lies ahead: Classical realism on the future of international relations. International Studies Review, 10(4), 667-679. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2486.2008.00824.x

Hall, I. (2011). The triumph of anti-liberalism? Reconciling radicalism to realism in international relations theory. Political Studies Review, 9(1), 42-52. doi:10.1111/j.1478-9302.2010.00225.x

Kunz, B. (2010). Hans J. Morgenthau's Political Realism, Max Weber, and the Concept of Power. Max Weber Studies, 10(2), 189-208.

Tabensky, P. (2007). Realistic idealism: An aristotelian alternative to machiavellian international relations. Theoria: A Journal of Social & Political Theory, (113), 97-111. doi:10.3167/th.2007.5411306

Behaviorism

Behaviorism sought to understand observable behavior instead of the workings of the mind or even its functions. Some psychologists even insisted that psychology was the science of behavior. Watson denied the existence of a separate realm of conscious events. The purpose of Behaviorism, according to John Watson, was to predict and control behavior by understanding the effect of the environment on one's behavior. Watson was also influenced by Locke's blank slate theory, and believed that an individual's character and behavior was determined solely through experience.

Because Behaviorism was not concerned with what the mind and what went on inside it, they had no need for introspection and rejected it. Instead, they relied exclusively on the methodical, observable, and scientific observation of behavior. Their dominant method was the stimuli-response method, where the scientists presented the subject with a stimulus and observed its responses.

Behaviorism produced many findings, frameworks, and research questions that are…...

Criminological Theories
Philosophical approaches

Philosophical approaches to criminology:

Two differing ethical worldviews regarding free will and choice

The rational choice theory of criminology is perhaps the oldest theory of why people commit crimes. "ational choice theories explain social behavior via the aggregated actions of rational or purposive actors. The actors are rational in the sense that, given a set of values and beliefs, they calculate the relative costs and benefits of alternative actions and, from these calculations, make a choice that maximizes their expected utility" (Simpson, 2006, cited by O'Connor, 2007). ational choice theory assumes some intelligence and thoughtfulness on the part of the criminal, in which the potential committer of the crime weighs the options of choosing to commit or not to commit the crime. A good example of this can be seen with a common crime, that of speeding while driving. Many people decide that the likelihood of being caught going over…...

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References

Criminological theory summaries. (2012). UWEC. Retrieved:

www.uwec.edu/patchinj/crmj301/theorysummaries.pdf

O'Connor, T. (2007). Choice theory. MegaLinks in Criminal Justice. Retrieved:

 http://www.drtomoconnor.com/1060/1060lect02.htm

philosophical implications contained in Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. His views about God were formed when Eco attended the University of Turin to take up studies in medieval philosophy and literature. There, he wrote his thesis on Thomas Aquinas, although Eco stopped believing in God and left the Roman Catholic Church. The struggles he had in his own life echo those of illiam of Baskerville and his novice Adso of Melk have large issues with God and the Church. illiam of Baskerville is especially in this category since he has been arrest, tortured and imprisoned by the Inquisition in the past. Now, he is confronted with this same reality again and his faith is severely tried. He now again is faced with the choice between faith and knowledge, a choice he does not believe is right to make. For him, there is no contradiction between reason and…...

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Works Cited

Capozzi, Rocco. Reading Eco: an anthology. Indianapolis, IN: Indiana Univ. Press, 1997.

"The Doctrine of Original Sin." Saint Aquinas. Saintaquinas.com, 2011. Web. 13 Oct 2011.

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Eco, Umberto. The Name of the Rose. New York, NY: Harcourt, Inc., 1983. Print.

One of the cornerstones of the idea of liberty and freedom, especially when viewed from a religious perspective like Thomas Merton’s, is the idea of free will.  Whether human beings truly have free will is a surprisingly divisive philosophical question that, by design, must consider questions like natural versus nurture, motivation, the influence of society on people, and even the nature of good and evil (O’Connor).  However, the idea of free will is central to Christianity and also to Merton’s explorations of liberty and freedom in a Christian context.

Using the concept of free will to explore the....

There are four different philosophical approaches in education: idealism, realism, pragmatism, and existentialism.  While each of these four philosophical approaches can be seen in parts of modern-day education, realism is probably the most pervasive current philosophical influence.

Realism developed from the teachings of Aristotle and can be thought of as concerning objective facts.  While different people may perceive things in various ways, the objective truth of an event does not change.  This emphasis on rational thought means that realism underpins much of what we think of as truth. 

Realism is reflected in educational approaches that teach critical thinking skills....

One of the biggest differences between African philosophy and sociology and Western and Eastern philosophies and social structures is the role that religion, individuals, and the community play.  While many Western and Eastern philosophical forces are focused on external elements and often feature a monotheistic God, African philosophy is more focused on the concept of a vital force which is not only the force of life for the individual but also for the rest of the world.   This is a fairly consistent concept across central and southern Africa, though it becomes less....

Thomas Aquinas was an Italian philosopher who was eventually canonized and made into a saint.  Because of his sainthood, there are myths surrounding Thomas Aquinas that may be difficult to distinguish from the factual information surrounding his life.  As a result, you may want to be wary when looking at religious sources of information about his life, if you are supposed to be focusing on fact-based biographical-type information.  However, investing the mythology of his life would also be a worthwhile topic of pursuit, such as his proof of the existence of God.....