Abstract
This paper examines three logical fallacies namely: Begging the Question, Hasty Generalization and Appealing to Emotion. It presents examples of such fallacies in contemporary society and ties them into the concept of critical thinking.

From the Paper
"The Appeal to Emotion fallacy is committed when someone manipulates peoples' emotions in order to get them to accept a claim as being true (Labossiere, 1995). This is very common in politics and it serves as the basis for a large portion of modern advertising. Most political speeches are aimed at stirring and steering feelings in people to get them to vote or act a certain way. In the case of advertising, the commercials are aimed at evoking emotions that will influence people to buy specific products."

Tags:freedom, of, speech, media, prejudice

Abstract
Discusses problems of thinking and problem solving. Basic methods of thinking (logical, analytical, scientific, ratiocinative, emotive, intuitive). Major forms of thinking processes. The logical thinker. The critical thinker. The counterfactual thinker. Barriers to achieving high levels of critical thinking skills. How people acquire, structure and process information.

From the Paper
"Critical Thinking Styles and Forms of Influence

Introduction
An excellent thinker is a person who can approach an analysis with an open mind; one who can digest the information presented, separate the relevant from the irrelevant, and come to logical conclusions regardless of any prior knowledge about a situation or any perceptions, pet ideas, or biases" (Altier, 1999). This quote from William Altier,in his book, The Thinking Manager s Toolbox, defines the challenge of providing a concise guide to the problems of thinking and problem solving.

There are, says Altier, as many ways of thinking and analyzing problems as there are people. Some of the basic methods of thinking are logical, analytical, scientific, ratiocinative, emotive, intuitive, and so on. However, there are certain ..."

Abstract
This paper is an intriguing philosophical approach at solving the problem with evil. It discusses the conversations and writings of Philosopher Swinburne and the antitheodicist. Arguments are presented between Swinburne and the antitheodicist and an attempt is made to answer the question; does Swinburne succeed in solving the problem?

From the Paper
"There shouldn't be any evils that are not caused by men, such as plagues, earthquakes, natural disasters, AIDS, cancer, and disease to name some of them. Swinburne explains that these tragedies and misfortunes allow men to do noble acts. The September 11th tragedy is a classic example. The entire city of New York came together and sacrificed lives, money, time, and effort to help others. Their crime rates dropped to the lowest ever of that city."

Tags:evil, paper, philosophy, problem, swinburne

Abstract
This paper examines how Nietzsche ultimately argues that Kantian reason in justifying the categorical imperative is enslaving. It explains that not only is the logic of the categorical imperative enslaving, but also it is ultimately cruel because it restricts the freedom of individuals and holds back the good from prospering. The categorical imperative argues that there is an inherent value to morality and that doing one's moral duty is an imperative.

From the Paper
"Kant further argues that actions can only be called moral if they are undertaken only for their own sake without regard to their ends and without regard to the specific of the situation. One must be willing to will his actions as a universal law in order for them to be considered moral. Nietzsche soundly denies this concept, arguing that morals don't have intrinsic value but derive their meaning from a historical event. Morals are contextual, and, even worse, a degradation and perversion of the natural order. Nietzsche discusses the manner in which morality developed to enslave the stronger among humanity, and how this historical "slave revolt in morality" has served to cruelly enslave man. Nietzsche believes that "bad conscience" has served to enslave humanity and pervades all of culture, rendering it cruel, harmful, and unnatural. In science, Nietzsche momentarily locates the possibility of an antidote to the morality of "good and evil," but due to the significance it places on truth, Nietzsche ultimately dismisses it, too. Only by transcending conventional Judeo-Christian morality can the cruelty of the culture of the categorical imperative ultimately be overcome."

Tags:logic, enslaving, morality

Abstract
This paper is an examination of Descartes book, "Meditations on First Philosophy." The author examines the steps that Descartes took in order to prove his hypothesis that God is a deceiver. He examines three different proofs and shows how Descartes comes to these realizations only after a careful and logical thought process in which he tears down and rebuilds everything that he believes in.

From the Paper
"Now he bases the rest of his proof off of these three observations. Because he has been convinced that something comes from something, the idea he has of God had to have been created by something, either himself or something else. He then states that he is finite and imperfect, and thus he cannot have an idea of the infinite and perfect on his own. He, being finite and imperfect, is not as powerful as the thought he has of an infinite and perfect God. Therefore, because he is not powerful enough to create this idea, it must have come from some other source."

Tags:descartes, god, proof, existence, logic, argument, observations, definition

Abstract
A critical analysis of the philosophies of Socrates. The author discusses Socrates' ideas and concepts about true happiness and pursuing God's will. It includes criticism and application to today's society.

From the Paper
"Socrates' philosophy has existed since before the birth of Jesus Christ. He recorded his thoughts concerning personal and political issues, giving his detailed and amazingly well thought out positions on each. He questioned everything around him, and discussed them with his friends and students, an exercise known as philosophizing. Socrates deemed that a truly happy man does not require material goods. He argued that it would be in one's best interest to consult a wise person before making an important decision, and that we should each comply with God's intentions above all others?. These arguments have been debated for centuries by many, and should be considered still, since they are important and relevant today, more than 2,000 years later."

Tags:apology, ethic, ethical, history, literature, moral, philosophy, plato, republic, western, wisdom, greek

Abstract
This paper relates that F. L. G. Frege's rejection of psychologism states that, to understand logic one, must be strictly objective and deny subjective personal ideas to grasp fully the truth in logic. The author points out that Frege believed that one can grasp a thought but not create it because logical thoughts resided in the 'third realm' where everything is objective and is there to be discovered, independent of being grasped by anyone. The paper relates that, although Frege suggests language as the medium between thoughts and senses, he does not tell how they are connected. The author underscores that M. A. E. Dummett explains that a weakness of Frege is that he used a very rigid dichotomy of the concepts of objective or subjective. The paper concludes that Dummett's idea that one can reject both Platonism and psychologism by the notion of inter-subjectivity and language limits Frege's anti-psychologism argument.

From the Paper
"According to Frege, if thought were "in the mind," it, like ideas, could not be communicated to one another; thus sliding into a relativistic notion of "truth". Frege understood 'thought'--"as an abstract structured entity constituted by senses which can be semantically assessed as true or as false, and it can be grasped- all which are objective elements not associated with psychological elements" (Cohen, 1998). Frege's central argument was that mathematics and logic are not a part of psychology, and that the objects and laws of mathematics are not explained by psychological observations or results. His examples of objective, non-psychological entities are numbers, for instance 2 + 3 = 5. Numbers are not ideas since they are the same for all people thus this leads Frege to conclude that a content of a sentence cannot be a mental image."

Tags:platonism, inter-subjectivity, objective, subjective, language

Abstract
An existentential nihilist paper on Albert Camus's essay on "An Absurd Reasoning." The paper focuses on Camus' major theme of absurdity with its relation to life and suicide. The paper uses quotes from Camus and examines the concepts of society and its ideal ethics.

From the Paper
"Existential nihilist philosopher and 1957 Nobel Prize winner for literature, Albert Camus wrote an essay entitled "An Absurd Reasoning," where he suggests suicide is a solution to the absurd. As horrifying as it may sound and as absurd as it may seem, surprisingly, there is logic to his rather depressing theory. Due to society's concept and interpretation of suicide, Camus theory may and most likely be ignorantly disregarded. However, the purpose of this essay and perhaps also the impact may in doubt be able to reach upon and grasp further than the concepts of society and their ideal ethics. In order to grasp Camus theory, one must not understand but rather identify absurdity with its own parallel connection to the self. Without a reason to live and the absurdity in the pursuit of meaning, a simple conclusion may be drawn rather than sought, where suicide is the solution to the absurd."

Tags:absurdity, philosophy, reason, The, American, Dream

Abstract
This paper explains Aristotle's assertion that 'substances' do not contain a 'more' or a 'less'. The paper challenges this assertion using psychology's prototype theory. The paper examines the theory that attempts to explain how we recognize objects and contends that it could be used to categorize substances in such a way that it does admit for "a more or a less". The author argues that 'more' and 'less' are indeed useful for comparing members of a 'substance' as they are analogous to 'core' and 'periphery'.

From the Paper
"Before countering Aristotle, it is necessary to understand what he meant when he wrote: "Substance, it seems, does not admit of a more and a less" (Ackrill 10). To begin with, we have a substance, or any singular item, and this item is categorized according to its features and/or behaviors. For example an individual sparrow can be categorized as a bird, as can every bluebird, or robin etc.. By stating that there is not a substance that is "a more" or "a less" what Aristotle is essentially saying for these birds is that each is just as much a member of its category as the next, with no single substance (or bird in this example) providing a better example of the features that are the essence of 'birdness'. In his own words he further clarified: "any given substance is not called more or less that which it is" (Ackrill 10); it either is, or it is not, with no ranking of substances in the same species. From this perspective there is no "more" or "less" bird in a chicken, then there is in an ostrich or whatever other bird one might respectively choose."

Tags:categories, more, less

Abstract
In the philosophy of law, two competing factions each offer compelling arguments as to the basic nature, origin, authority and responsibility of law. These two theories are known as Natural Law Theory and Legal Positivism. This paper shows that while there are many disagreements between the two theories, at the heart of the argument is the questionable relationship between law and morality. The paper examines how Natural Law Theorists argue that there is an essential and innate overlap between law and morality, while Legal Positivists argue that while the decisions of law and morality do occasionally overlap, there is no natural relationship between them.

From the Paper
"Legal Positivists rely on a sovereign to legislate law; this sovereign,
whether it be a monarch, an aristocracy, an elected parliament, or any other person or body that writes the law for a society. For a sovereign to be considered as such, most, if not all, of the population must follow the sovereign's laws, and there must be a threat of force to enforce the law. If either of these conditions are not met, the leader cannot claim to be a true sovereign entity. Also, the sovereign cannot be subject to another sovereign's authority, such as God; if a sovereign is to be the head of a society and the maker of laws, she must be invulnerable to persuasion or else she is not a sovereign."

Tags:Judeo-Christian, John, Stuart, Mill, Jeremy, Bentham, Hobbes