Citizen Kane
...philosophy that I will discuss throughout this paper. The story is told is a series of present-day flashbacks, the recollections of those who have encountered the well-known Charles Foster Kane. The tragic story is how a millionaire newspaperman, who idealistically made his reputation as the champion of the underprivileged, becomes tainted by a hunger for wealth, power and immortality. Kane's tragedy lies in his failure to experience any real emotion.
The apparent rational understanding of Citizen Kane can be traced back to his childhood years, when he was taken from an abusive father at the request of his mother. Kane was then forced to remain under the care of the wealthy Walter Parks Thatcher. This history of Kane’s upbringing helps to see that Kane was force to develop his own knowledge. Kane was truly never able to love someone. He was given everything he ever wanted and when he couldn't buy something, he tried to create it; if it was knowledge or meaning he created his own. This could also be relevant when addressing the reasoning behind Kane getting expelled from Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Cornell. This represents Kane in the sense of Epistemology. Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that studies knowledge. It attempts to answer the basic question: what
distinguishes true (adequate) knowledge from false (inadequate) knowledge? Practically, this question translates into a further issue: how can one develop theories or models that are better than competing theories? Charles Foster Kane could be viewed by many as a great person. I mean he gives freely to others, sends money and support to whoever needs it, and really does help increase the happiness of a bunch of strangers. Kane never intends harm to others. Never does try to hurt. Even with his wives he's trying to do the only sort of good he knows. He acts according to his epistemology. He tries...
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