John Dewey was one of America’s major intellectual figures. The most comprehensive resource for Dewey scholars is the “Center for Dewey Studies” located at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Carbondale, Illinois. Dewey was philosopher, social theorist, educator and public intellectual. His long life (1859 to 1952) allowed him to witness the United States evolution into ...
The notion that one might rediscover his identity through “the study of nature and the contemplation of the universe” incarnates the bare essence of romantic thought (Rousseau, 50). World literature has historically echoed this concept and brought it to light through such characters as Shakespeare’s King Lear, who engages with nature and his own soul ...
Many philosophers have formed theories attempting to synthesize the organizing principles of civilized society. Most tend to highlight the betterment of society and the maintenance of order as the prime motivating factors for such a construction. Jean-Jacques Rousseau was one such philosopher, as proven by his monumental endeavor The Social Contract and Discourses. Thomas Hobbes ...
Jean Jacques Rousseau suggests a Social Contract; from this Social Contract the general will can be devolved. The general will is the result of people forming an association for a common goal. Their goal is “the protection of the person and the property of each constituent member” (Social Contract, I:VI: 180). By joining together, the ...
Ideas do not spontaneously appear. People do not go to bed one night with a certain set of beliefs and wake up in the morning with a new set. The evolution of ideas is a complex process which takes place slowly over many years. It is influenced by countless individuals and always occurs within the ...
Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Discourse on the Origin and Foundations of Inequality among Men and Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman are a culmination of the Enlightenment thought on the natural rights of mankind, man’s place in society, and the Social Contract. Rousseau evaluated the works of Enlightenment philosophers before him like Thomas Hobbes ...
Karl Marx (1818-1883) is most notable for the significant impact he made on the development of Socialism and Communism. Influenced by thinkers such as; Gorge Wilhelm Friedrich von Hegel, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Ludwig Feuerbach, Marx developed a complex and controversial view of society, economics, and religion that has made him one of the most known ...
Is it possible for us to obtain a state of direct democracy here in the United States? If it is possible, would be desirable? In order to answer those questions with any clarity of logic, before we even are capable of deciding whether it is possible or desirable, it is necessary to first place a ...