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Nihilism: The Best Philosophy of Reality

Essay Instructions:

METAPHYSICS Question: Which is the best philosophy of reality: Monism, Dualism, or Nihilism?
(personally, I think Nihilism is the best philosophy of reality, but you can pick whatever you want from these three options)
Take a stand FOR or AGAINST Cartesian Dualism &
select an opponent, either Darwinian Monism or Sartrean Nihilism.
OBJECTIVES:
Demonstrate knowledge of the philosophical arguments presented in the required readings and lectures.
Apply philosophical knowledge in the composition of a persuasive argumentative essay.
Write an 800-900 word, single-spaced essay on the debate question. Hightlight thesis. (100)
PROMPT: Write your essay using the following paragraph outline:
Introduction:
(a) Opening sentence on the importance of the question;
(b) statement of your thesis for or against Cartesian dualism;
(c) a preview/roadmap for the essay.
Clarify & define the basis/criteria of your argument, e.g. logical consistency, rationality, parsimony, common sense, etc. and use it effectively to make your case.
EXAMPLE: “In this paper I will argue Cartesian dualism offers a more parsimonious explanation of reality than Darwinian monism.”
body paragraph #1:Consider Descartes's Arguments. Briefly present Descartes’ arguments for metaphysical dualism making reference to the text, including his analogy. Make an argument for Descartes supported by an original analogy and critique his analogy.
Body Paragraph#2: Consider the arguments made by Opposition to Descartes: Take a stand for/against EITHER Darwinian Monism OR Sartrean Nihilism. Briefly present the opposing argument, including the analogy for it. Make an argument for the opposing position supported by an original analogy or critique the analogy offered by the opposing position.
Body paragraph #3Compare and contrast the analogies and give a reason why one is better than the other.
Conclusion: Return to the basis/criteria and explain why the view you are arguing for better meets it than the opposing position.

Reminders:
DO NOT USE ANY PHILOSOPHICAL SOURCES IN YOUR PAPER OTHER THAN THOSE ASSIGNED!!! This is not a research paper. Use only textual sources assigned in this course. Indicate the page numbers, e.g. (Katherine, 23) for all references to the text.
Write to persuade instead of merely reporting what you agree or disagree with, or your opinions.

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Nihilism is the best philosophy of Reality
Reality is one of the concepts that humans struggle with as its understanding is clouded by numerous theories each containing some level of errors. Therefore, philosophers also weighed in on the aspects of reality and used various concepts in explaining its existence and how it affects or interacts with humans. Some of the most common explanations of reality include those of nihilism, monism, and dualism with each providing support to why it should be adopted as the best philosophy of reality. Nihilism philosophy of reality seems to be the most acceptable based on its reliance on physical matters than intangible matters as adopted by the dualism philosophy. In this paper, I will argue Sartrean nihilism offers a logical consistency and rationality of reality than Cartesian Dualism.
Descartes is one of the most renowned philosophers and he takes the approach of dualism where he believes that there are two kinds of substances. In his explanation, one of the substances is matter that has the essential property of being extended. On the other hand, there is the substance of mind of which the essential property is that it thinks. In his view in regards to the relationship between mind and body, Descartes uses the concepts of machinery where he views the body and mind as part of a big machinery with one affecting the other. In his explanation of the relation between the body and the mind, Descartes used the pineal gland, which is not duplicated on both sides of the brain to show a unique and unifying function. The argument presented by Descartes on reality faced uncertainty on how two totally different things such as thought and matter could interact at all (Thibaut, 3). Descartes use of the machinery concept and referring to the pineal gland also presents the fact that not all parts of a machinery are duplicated and yet they still perform their unique unifying functions. Therefore, the philosophy of dualism is often faced with various oppositions from philosophers who argue against the existence of the relationship between mind and body.
The nihilism philosophy of reality as argued by Jean-Paul Sartre adopted the perspective that ‘existence precedes essence’ and ruled out any foundation for establishing an essential self or the human nature. Based on this approach, thoughts, imagination, and illusion do not exist and, therefore, life is revealed as nothing. Based on Nihilism, reality can only be attributed to physical matter and ignores the concept of consciou...
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