Search
Search Results
Definition
Social Contract
The social contract is an idea in philosophy that at some real or hypothetical point in the past, humans left the state of nature to join together and form societies by mutually agreeing which rights they would enjoy and how they would be...
Image
Skadi & Njord
Artist's depiction of the Norse goddess Skadi and her husband, the god Njord, on their way to Njord's home of Nóatún. Although Skadi enjoys the mountains where she hunts and skis and Njord likes his dark, damp cave by the water, they try...
Definition
State of Nature
The state of nature is an idea which became especially popular with certain philosophers during the Enlightenment, notably Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), John Locke (1632-1704), and Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778). It refers to a state of existence...
Definition
Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism is a philosophy founded by Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) and then extended by other thinkers, notably John Stuart Mill (1806-1873). Utilitarianism involves the greatest happiness principle, which holds that a law or action is...
Definition
Jeremy Bentham
Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) was an English philosopher and liberal social reformer best known as the founder of utilitarianism based on the greatest happiness principle, that is, rationally judging the success of a law by considering how many...
Image
Coronation of Charlemagne
The Coronation of Charlemagne, 1861 CE, by Friedrich Kaulbach (1822-1903 CE). The painting depicts the crowning of Charlemange (742-814 CE) as Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Leo III (r. 795-816 CE) on 25 December 800 CE. From the collection...
Image
The Return of the Crusader
The Return of the Crusader by Karl Friedrich Lessing, 1808–1880 CE. (Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn, Germany)
Image
The Capture of Cacafuego by the Golden Hind
A 1626 CE engraving by Friedrich van Hulsen showing the Golden Hind of Francis Drake capturing the Cacafuego treasure ship (real name: Nuestra Senora de la Concepćion) in March 1579 CE off the coast of Peru. The capture of the galleon was...
Image
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Portrait
A c. 1700 portrait of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716), the German polymath. Painted by Johann Friedrich Wentzel (1670–1729).
Image
Yggdrasil
The World Tree Yggdrasil from Norse Mythology, as envisioned and depicted by Friedrich Wilhelm Heine in 1886.