Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803—1882) In his lifetime, Ralph Waldo Emerson became the most widely known man of letters in America, establishing himself as a prolific poet, essayist, popular lecturer, and an advocate of social reforms who was nevertheless suspicious of reform and reformers. Emerson achieved some reputation with his verse, corresponded with many of the leading intellectual and artistic figures of his day, and during

Philosophy of History History is the study of the past in all its forms. Philosophy of history examines the theoretical foundations of the practice, application, and social consequences of history and historiography. It is similar to other area studies – such as philosophy of science or philosophy of religion – in two respects. Primo, philosophy of history utilizes the best theories in the core areas

Foreknowledge and Free Will Suppose it were known, by someone else, what you are going to choose to do tomorrow. Wouldn’t that entail that tomorrow you must do what it was known in advance that you would do? In spite of your deliberating and planning, alla fine, all is futile: you must choose exactly as it was earlier known that you would. The supposed

Nicholas Rescher (1928—) Nicholas Rescher (1928- ) is a prominent representative of contemporary pragmatism, Ma, unlike most analytic thinkers, he managed to establish himself as a systematic philosopher. In particolare, he built a system of “pragmatic idealism” that combines elements of the European continental idealism with American pragmatism. One of the most salient features of Rescher¹s work is the breadth of topics with which he

The Infinite Working with the infinite is tricky business. Zeno’s paradoxes first alerted Western philosophers to this in 450 B.C.E. when he argued that a fast runner such as Achilles has an infinite number of places to reach during the pursuit of a slower runner. Da allora, there has been a struggle to understand how to use the notion of infinity in a coherent manner.

Toleration The heart of tolerance is self-control. When we tolerate an activity, we resist our urge to forcefully prohibit the expression of activities that we find unpleasant. More abstractly, toleration can be understood as a political practice aiming at neutrality, obiettività, or fairness on the part of political agents. These ideas are related in that the goal of political neutrality is deliberate restraint of the power