Immanuel Kant vs David Hume
Kant vs Hume: Reason, Sentiment and Moral Obligation
Compare Kant and Hume on moral obligation, reason, sentiment and motivation. Explore where their influential ethical theories agree and differ.
Read the debate →OPEN PHILOSOPHY LIBRARY
Philosophical Debates
Original comparative studies examining major disagreements between philosophers: their premises, arguments, objections, replies and unresolved questions.
Editorial approach: These debates are comparative studies, not historical transcripts. They reconstruct positions from the relevant philosophical works and do not fabricate quotations or personal exchanges.
Epicurus vs John Stuart Mill
Epicurus vs Mill: Pleasure, Happiness and the Limits of Desire
Is happiness secured by limiting desire and attaining tranquillity, or must morality promote the greatest attainable happiness impartially across everyone affected?
Read the debate →René Descartes vs David Hume
Descartes vs Hume: Can Reason Secure Knowledge?
Can reason establish foundations immune to doubt, or does knowledge depend upon experience, custom and fallible expectations that no rational proof can ultimately guarantee?
Read the debate →Aristotle vs Immanuel Kant
Aristotle vs Kant: Virtue, Duty and Moral Character
Is morality grounded in the virtues and practical wisdom constitutive of human flourishing, or in duties that bind every rational agent regardless of inclination and fortune?
Read the debate →Aristotle vs John Stuart Mill
Aristotle vs Mill: Virtue, Happiness and the Good Life
Compare Aristotle’s virtue ethics with Mill’s utilitarianism: happiness, character and practical wisdom, with a comparison table and original texts.
Read the debate →Plato vs John Stuart Mill
Plato vs Mill: Individual Liberty and the Good Society
Should society direct citizens towards an objective conception of the good, or protect individual thought, choice and experiments in living against political and social coercion?
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