Descartes discourse on the method Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3

Descartes discourse on the method - Essay Example From there, he reaches the point that as he could prove his existence from the fact that he is thinking and that this â€Å"I† or his mind is totally different from the body. Thus, he reaches the finding that this â€Å"I† will exist even without a body (Descartes, 2007). However, Descartes (2007) faces the dilemma that he has to adopt very distinct perceptions as factors leading to truth. Though it is possible to claim that things like sky, earth, light, and heat are all the delusions of an imperfect mind, it is not possible for an imperfect mind to develop the idea of a perfect God. Descartes points out that it is not possible to receive ones existence from nothing, and hence, there is a perfect Being upon whom he is dependent. Thus, Descartes reaches the conclusion that all the perfections in him and other beings are from God’s perfection. One reaches the realization that Descartes is going to deviate from the claim that in order to prove ones existence, one should accept it as coming from a perfect Being, that is

How Women Resisted Patriarchy in Colonial Spanish-America Essay

How Women Resisted Patriarchy in Colonial Spanish-America - Essay Example Looking into confined life in Spanish-American societies reveals that religious convents were an all-encompassing place in which women exploited the opportunity to grasp the actual opportunity of adjusting to the then prevailing male-dominated conditions. Women residing in these isolated but developing into public facilities, for instance, the Santa Clara convent in Cuzco or Mexico’s Saint Jerome convent, while keeping up with consolidation of male domination, sometimes created some influence around them. This enabled these women to manage their individual lives and resist the patriarchy, as the practice was raw in the general society. An overview of the issue According to Martin, Agranoff and Wasserman (2011), Spaniards played a pivotal role in relieving the women of patriarchy by setting up religious facilities which took care of the women through their entire life. And by dedicating their existence to spiritual causes by joining these facilities, to also acquire education, women’s minds could be influenced t the better from childhood. At the convent, these young women were also taken through Hispanic and Christian cultures by these lessons and vows, establishing â€Å"actual† females out of their local groups and dissociating them from other dishonest individuals (Santiago, 2011). Meanwhile, women who were not out of the public domain were manipulated and restrained by the society patriarchs and urged to uphold the conventional traditions, some of which would not work in a liberal and dynamic society to which the culture was advancing. Several elite would advisedly send a close kin to the convent in order to grasp the opportunity and establish significant economic connections through the institution, as convents were a source a percentage of the revenue during the majestic Latin American culture. Nevertheless, once the women were inside, they deviated from male machinations to achieve full self control. Marriages of young women who faile d to profess were also employed as ties to improve and establish patriarchy upheld. Eventually, monastic culture set in among the women. Education in convents Even though, convents provided room for repression of women, which could take place in several methods and further tighten Spanish dominance in Latin American society, these religious facilities also became centers for women’s defiance (Santiago, 2011). The haven that became of Saint Jerome and Santa Clara provided females with new authority and control. The new authority some women believed they had achieved following professing initiatives in such facilities had several features. Securing a place within a convent society enabled women the opportunity to learn and become professionals themselves, a chance that a large percentage of Latin American female fraternity could not cash in on. Women such as Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz seized the only chance to secure an academic life, while she was serving in Saint Jerome. Throu gh the religious institutions, she managed to write and publish several literatures ranging from plays, short stories and poems. These scholarly materials revolved around the need to guarantee the society of women empowerment and autonomy. Marriage restructuring opportunities Residing in convent offered some women opportunities to restructure their marriage and establish their own families. Nuns transformed the convent environment and their residences into places where they could cultivate richly

Abortion Essay Example for Free

Abortion Essay Abortion is the deliberate ending of a life after fertilisation. For many years the morality of abortion has been disputed with many religions condemning women from having an abortion. Abortion also goes against many ethical theories, such as Rule utilitarianism and Bentham’s Utilitarianism. A religion that is strongly against abortion is Christianity. In Christianity it is believed that life is given by God and he only has the right to end it. The Christian holy book, the bible, forbids intentionally destroying a foetus. It is argued that humans have no authority over the taking of a life as God is the creator and giver of life. Christians believe that human life begins as conception, making abortion wrong as it is murder of an innocent life. Humans are born with the potentiality of becoming an adult, and Christian Church is strongly against the taking of the human’s life as it seen as ‘playing God’. Christianity rejects the taking of an innocent life as it is considered a grave sin as it goes against the Ten Commandments which says ‘Thou shalt not kill’. This makes a foetus a person that not be murdered. Another religion against abortion is Islam. Islam forbids abortion as it seen as ending life, similar to that of Christianity. Islam also forbids the abortion f a severely disable foetus as it is still seen as a human and therefore has the potentiality of becoming an adult. Many women have an abortion as they feel they will not be able to provide for the child. The Qur’an, the Muslim holy book, says that the family must have trust in Allah as he will help them, thus making abortion wrong in the Islamic faith : ‘Kill not your offspring for fear of poverty’, Qur’an 17:32. There are many ethical theories that are against abortion. One of which being rule utilitarianism. A rule utilitarian would be against abortion, as their basis for moral-decision making is following general rules. Killing is wrong and therefore a rule utilitarian would be against it, as rule utilitarianism focuses on keeping rules even if it does not serve ‘the greatest happiness’. Bentham’s utilitarianism would be against abortion. When applying his Hedonic Calculus to an example of a 15 year old, who is considering having an abortion it would be considered wrong to have one. After having the child the girl would feel intense pleasure and happiness and this would override the pain and regret she would feel is she had had the abortion. The richness f not having the abortion would be that the girl would feel the joys of being a mother and the extent of having the child would be the baby’s life would be, bringing pleasure and happiness to family and friends. To conclude, religions such as Christianity and Islam are strongly against abortion on the grounds of abortion is a way of ‘playing God’. Also a rule utilitarian would be strongly against abortion as abortion does not follow the general rule that killing a life is murder. Bentham’s utilitarianism would be also reject abortion when applied to his Hedonic Calculus, as more pleasure would come from having the baby than killing it.

Downfall and Salvation in Crime and Punishment :: Crime Punishment Essays

In the novel Crime and Punishment, the so-called "extraordinary man" theory plays an important role. Raskolnikov, downtrodden, and psychologically battered, believes himself to be exempt from the laws of ordinary men. It is this creedo that makes him believe he has the right to murder Alyona Ivanovna. In the nineteenth century, the extraordinary man theory was widely popular. There were two main schools of thought on the subject, the proponents of which were the philosophers Georg Hegel and Freiderich Neitzsche. Both philosophers believed that there were a certain, select, handful of extraordinary people in the world. Both believed that these extraordinary people were above the laws of ordinary men and did not have to submit to their moral code. However, these philosophers disagreed on the motivation of the extraordinary man. Hegel believed that the "superman" could ignore the laws as long as his actions benefited the race of man as a whole. On the other hand, Neitzsche believed that the superman broke the laws in order to benefit himself alone. In a way, Raskolnikov submits to both theories of the extraordinary man. What is important to understand is why Raskolnikov believes himself to be extraordinary. Firstly, Raskolnikov's perilous financial state and near destitution cause him to be pushed to the edge of sanity. Secondly, the natural arrogance that stems from possessing a great intellect (which Raskolnikov does) causes Raskolnikov to believe that he is above everyone else. In respect to his crime, one can look at it from both the Hegelian and Neitzschean point of view. For the first five sections of Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikov takes a Hegelian view of his crime. He convinces himself that he killed Alyona Ivanovna because she was a bloodsucking leach on the body of the poor. Raskolnikov believes he is doing mankind a service by removing the dishonest and unfair pawnbroker. It is not until part six that Raskolnikov admits to himself that his ultimate motive was Neitzschean. He finally admits to Sonia that he killed Alyona just to see if he could do it. He wanted to know whether he was a "Napoleon," able to commit an evil act and walk away with no remorse. In short, Raskolnikov killed Alyona not because she was dishonest and he needed money, he killed her simply to benefit his ego. In some ways, the extraordinary man theory also applies to Svidrigailov and Luzhin.

My Best Beauty Pageant

As soon as the host, Jason â€Å"The Local Celebrity† Jacobsen, introduced me to the crowd as a wonderfully gifted dancer I thought I was in trouble and had made a mistake because my specialty performance was singing, not dancing! I could feel the rush of blood drain from my head and I became so light-headed that I had to lean against the backstage railing that was leading up to the stage behind the velvet curtains. I could feel the cold sweat beginning to condense on my forehead. I remember thinking, â€Å"Oh no!My make-up is going to smear! † My mom later told me that my eyes were as big as apples when I shot a glance at her right after he said that I would be dancing for my special talent section. I nervously walked out onstage with my hands shaking and sheepishly walked up to Jason to whisper to him in his ear, â€Å"Sorry Jason, but I like to sing more than I like to dance so I’m going to sing, O. K.? † He smelled like expensive cologne and his hair h ad way too much gel in it. I thought he was going to throw me out of the pageant!Thankfully he handled it like the good host he was and then he apologized to the crowd for his â€Å"egregious† error and then he excitedly announced to the crowd, â€Å"We are in for a huge surprise, we are going to be serenaded by song instead of dance, enjoy! † He looked back at me with a huge, fake smile and delivered the tried and true line, â€Å"Alright, the stage is yours, take it away! † It almost felt like I was in a cheesy teenaged Disney movie. As soon as the lights dimmed and the crowd settled in I knew I was going to be great.I composed myself, took a few deep breaths and waited for the song to begin. After all, I had practiced I Believe I Can Fly by R. Kelly hundreds of times before. Of course it was going to be great. Right? I remembered the first time I heard the song at the end of the movie Space Jam with Michael Jordan and I immediately fell in love with the song because of the hope it inspires. I remembered singing it to my parents at the dinner table the night before the pageant and them standing up and cheering for me after I had finished.Most of all, I remembered waking up in the morning and immediately posing in front of my bedroom mirror, comb/mic in hand, and belting out I Believe I Can Fly before I hopped in the shower and to sing it some more. If you want to know the truth, I don’t even remember singing in the pageant. As soon as it had begun, it was over. All those flashbacks must have occurred while I was on stage. The next thing I knew the crowd was on their feet and clapping and cheering. For me! I couldn’t believe it.Jason Jacobsen came out from backstage and gave me a wonderful hug and I smelled his god-awful cologne again and then the next instant I was back in the dressing room sitting in disbelief staring at myself in the mirror. I had no clue if I even sang the right words but all I can tell you is that was t he greatest feeling I’ve ever had in my whole entire life! It didn’t even matter to me whether I won or not, I had fulfilled my dream of performing my favorite song in front of an audience of strangers, and apparently they even liked it. Who could ask for more? I was really flying†¦

The Culture Of Liberty, And Kanishka Chowdhury And The...

Cosmopolitan fiction, the most prominent strand of contemporary global Anglophone literature, gives us images of the â€Å"solution† to the violent history of colonization in a new era of a post-national cosmopolitan global culture brought about by â€Å"globalization†. In this purportedly new global era of a â€Å"hybrid† mixing of national cultures, the very idea of a â€Å"national identity† is deemed irrelevant in what Thomas Friedman calls â€Å"a flat world.† Some noteworthy cosmopolitan ideas can be seen in Bharati Mukherji’s â€Å"Orbiting,† in that the short story can be read as advocating a cosmopolitan world view. This, however, directly clashes with the ideas of globalization presented in Mario Vargas Llosa’s â€Å"The Culture of Liberty,† and Kanishka Chowdhury’s Globalization and the ideologies of Postnationalism and Hybridity.† Accordingly, Rana Dasgupta’s â€Å"The House of the Frankf urt Mapmaker† and The Reluctant Fundamentalist, by Moshin Hamid, critically challenge the cosmopolitan outlook as questionable fiction. Cosmopolitanism is the idea that everyone belongs to a worldwide community, that there is a hybridization amongst people that serves as a uniting factor and is almost synonymous with multiculturalism. This notion has been brought about by capitalists and the elites of society, who prefer a world without borders, which, in turn, enables unrestricted access to a plethora of markets and resources. Coincidentally, this only furthers to empower the World Bank and the IMF, two of the

Symbolism in Tim O Briens quot;The Things They...

Symbolism In The Things They Carried In Tim OBriens story The Things They Carried we see how OBrien uses symbolism in order to indirectly give us a message and help us to connect to what the soldiers are thinking and feeling. During a war soldiers tend to take with them items from home kind of as a security blanket. The items they normally take with them tend to reveal certain characteristics of their personality. Henry Dobbins is the guy who loves to eat so he made sure he took some extra food. Ted Lavender was the scaredy cat of the group so he carried tranquilizers with him. Dave Jense is the paranoid one, so he takes soap and a toothbrush to prevent germs and disease as best he can. Kiowa has a bible with him showing†¦show more content†¦What they have with them is decided by what they are scared of or how much they miss home or just something to distract them from the war that is going on. They even take with them good luck charms. They are all very aware of what they have with them and how much it weights because it is part of them. Jimmy Cross has a pebble that he got from Martha. When she sent it to him she stated that it was a symbol of her feelings toward him. Though he did not completely understand what she mind by it he kept it with him because he thought it was romantic. He keeps the pebble in his mouth and imagines being at home with Martha, not having to carry any items with him. Norman Bowker has a thumb with him. He had obtained the thumb from a dead teenage Vietnamese solider. Mitchell Sanders had cut it off and given it to him as of way of symbolizing a moral. Amongst personal items, necessities, fear, they also carried each other and diseases. In a review titled The baggage we carry weighs more than all of our suitcases by Jann Malone, we actually get to see how the author, Tim OBrien, himself actually explains the symbolism that the items the soldiers have mean. OBrien states that the items they carry can be viewed as personal problems, thoughts, emotions, etc. that we all carry. its also about the things all of us carry through our lives (Malone, 1). He goes on to say We all have fears, loneliness, guilt. And we all know those