Melissa Thiringer
eNotes Educator
Achievements
2
Educator Level
41
Answers Posted
11
Answers Bonused
About
I just got my Master's degree in Philosophy about six months ago, and I spent probably a month not reading anything worthwhile. Actually, I might not have read anything at all except Facebook status updates and text messages. Oh, and the Bible. Grad school. Intense.
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Recent Activity
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Answered a Question in Philosophy
The previous answer is headed in the right direction, but isn't quite right. Philosophy is a non-person, so "it" doesn't seek to grow in wisdom; it doesn't seek anything at all. Philosophers... -
Answered a Question in Plato's Republic
Thank you, ac12. Although I knew that the theory of recollection was prominent in the Meno, you are right that in that context it is not directly linked to our knowledge of the Forms. And I... -
Answered a Question in Antigone
Antigone wishes to bury her brother, Polyneices, who has been killed in a battle with her other brother, Eteocles, and she wants her sister Ismene to help her. The problem is that Polyneices... -
Answered a Question in Plato's Republic
In the Republic, Plato claims that the Forms initially become known to humans before birth. We spend our lives recollecting their natures, and we commune with them again after our deaths. Prior to... -
Answered a Question in Aristotle
Aristotle considers the soul to be the principle of life, which means that he holds that all living things have souls, not just human beings. His main work on psychology is called “De Anima,” which... -
Answered a Question in History
There are really only three areas (in four locations within the document) in which the original (ratified) version of the U.S. Constitution addresses slavery. In Article 1, section 2, the document... -
Answered a Question in History
Adam Smith and Karl Marx were both initially trained as philosophers, and then both went on to focus more on economics than philosophy. They were both certainly political philosophers, or if they... -
Answered a Question in Socrates
This is a great question! In the works that you mentioned (Crito, Meno, and Apology) the aspect of Socrates that stands out the most to me is the function of conscientious objector, or someone who... -
Answered a Question in Socrates
The previous educator response does a great job of answering this question. I'd like to add to her response by giving brief definitions of ethos, pathos and logos, along with a couple examples of... -
Answered a Question in If—
The poem “If,” by Rudyard Kipling, derives its name first and foremost from the repetitive use of the word to begin most of the lines of the poem. The poem takes the form of a conditional... -
Answered a Question in The House on Mango Street
In the chapter "And Some More" of Sandra Cisneros' The House on Mango Street, Esperanza and her sister Nenny are having a conversation with their neighbor girls, Rachel and Lucy. The... -
Answered a Question in Antigone
The entry-song of the chorus, located in lines 100 - 154 of Sophocles' drama Antigone, poetically tells the story of what occurred the night before the play begins. Polyneices and Eteocles,... -
Answered a Question in Daddy
Sometimes when reading a poet, especially an author who writes in a confessional or autobiographical style, it is helpful to know a bit about his or her biography. There are some benefits to... -
Answered a Question in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
An antihero, according to the Merriam Webster dictionary, is defined as "a protagonist or notable figure who is conspicuously lacking in heroic qualities." In Tim Burton's Charlie and the...