Philosophy Essay Samples & Examples
|
Free sample college essays written for philsophy classes. These essay assignments are helpful for writing essays and reports about art, music, and film. Summaries of each essay are provided here, with word and page counts. Examples include analysis from Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy, Plato's Apology and more.
|
|
René Descartes is questioning the reality around him. Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy attempts to examine how he looks at the world, and if he is being deceived by his senses, a dream, or perhaps a higher power. This well-written example college philosophy essay would be a good reference for students who want to methodically map an author's arguments. This sample literary analysis paper also offers an excellent organizational structure.
994 words / 4 pages
|
How does the chorus in Greek tragedies represent human emotion? This example philosophy essay looks at Friedrich Nietzsche's The Birth of Tragedy and then applies Nietzsche's thesis to Sophocles' classic Antigone. This example college philosophy paper frequently pairs Nietzsche's thoughts with direct quotes from Sophocles' work, a technique give the reader an effective way to compare these two works that were written many centuries apart. This sample essay would be a good reference for one who wants to analyze a classical work through a modern lens.
902 words/ 4 pages
|
Immanuel Kant's Duty and Reason and John Stuart Mill's The Greatest Happiness Principle both reflect on ethics and happiness. This sample philosophy ethics paper compares both philosophers approaches on morality and the source of happiness. Topics such as the role of suicide are also explored in this sample comparative essay. It would be a good reference for a student who wants to organize a paper on two competing philosophical schools.
2,004 words / 6 pages
|
Plato's Apology features the dramatic trial of Socrates, in which the elder philosopher must defend himself against his accusers. This sample literary analysis paper focuses on how Socrates defends himself by pointing out the illogical arguments of his opponents. This example philosophy essay concludes with a note on the injustice of Socrates trial, as the philosopher's successful defense cannot trump politics. It would be a good reference for a college student just learning about philosophy.
932 words / 4 pages
|
When Socrates is asked to explain love in Plato's Phaedrus, he launches into a speech designed to placate Eros, the god of love. This speech, called a palinode, is deconstructed in this example college philosophy paper. This example essay looks at Socrates' main themes, which explain, naturally, why philosophers experience the highest form of love. This sample paper would be a good reference for a student who wants to thoroughly analyze a small portion of a philosophy text.
1,391 words / 5 pages
|
This sample student response paper examines the student's personal thoughts on Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy. Unlike a standard essay, this example response paper allows the writer to express their personal opinion on Descartes' arguments, which are lacking in some respects, according to the writer. It would be a good reference for students who need to write a response paper to their own assignments.
732 words / 3 pages
|
|