Categorical imperative Essay Example for Free

Categorical imperative Essay Philosophers usually tend to think and respond in totally different and opposite ways. However, in Glaucon’s challenge, Aristotle, Spinoza, Hume, Kant and Mill agreed that it’s an uncontrollable system of desire. In Glaucon’s challenge he describes three important ideas. The first idea is â€Å"of the nature and origin of unjust, according to the common view of them† (488). The second idea is â€Å"I will show that all men who practice justice do so against their will, of necessity but not as a good† (488). The third idea is â€Å"I will argue that there is reason in this view, for the life of the unjust is after all better far than the life of the just† (488). Each one of these philosophers responded to this challenge similar and different manners. Aristotle believed that to be a good man is to have good morality. In his point of view he sees that morality gives a reason that leads to actions. Artistotle respond toward Glaucon’s challenge is reason guides passion. This makes him an injustice man because he just cares about how to please himself and follow his desire. Spinoza’s idea is emotions have nothing to do with human beings its reasons that guide us. He believed that passion and emotions leads us to be changeable due to how the world around us and not necessarily our knowledge. Reasons give us the opportunity to gain knowledge of life. Spinoza becomes unjust and gives reasons to Glaucon’s challenge. From Hume’s point of view he believed that benevolence makes us social being instead of self interest. Hume’s main concern is sympathy and empathy. Sympathy is the nature of human that makes them human beings. It’s the ability to see feel pity toward other. Empathy is the understanding of pain and happiness of one another. Hume believed that all human are selfish and that their passion guides their reasons. Passion and reasons is not having emotions or feeling pity. Hume’s view is that we should the ability to feel others emotions and understand them. Kant sees that the categorical imperative is the only moral way to act. Categorical imperatives are based on ideals of logic and acts on duty. He believed that if you feel satisfied about something you did, you shouldn’t consider it a reward but rather as a bonus for you. We only do moral things because it’s in fulfill our interest and benefit. Kant responds to Glaucon’s challenge that if the act is immoral, then it cannot be considered into categorical imperative. Mill’s view is that everyone should be satisfied and happy. He believes that everyone should think of the consequences of their actions before deciding to make them. Mill puts others as well as himself into consideration before any action. He doesn’t argue towards or against Glaucon’s challenge, he just cares about his pleasure and others. Each philosopher had his own argument toward Glaucon’s challenge. Their ideas were unjust happiness towards Glaucon’s challenge. Aristotle and Hume had opposite views. Aristotle‘s idea towards the challenge was reason guides passion, where Hume’s idea was passion guides reason. Mill and Kant had the same assumptions. Mill expresses about pleasure and Kant was certain about duty. Mill agrees with Aristotle as well, they believe that happiness is a man’s ambition and human existence. Spinoza is just unjust to the whole idea of the challenge. These philosophers’ ideas were very similar that a man would behave unjust if he had the ring.

Existentialism :: essays research papers

Existentialism Like "rationalism" and "empiricism," "existentialism" is a term that belongs to intellectual history. Its definition is thus to some extent one of historical convenience. The term was explicitly adopted as a self-description by Jean-Paul Sartre, and through the wide dissemination of the postwar literary and philosophical output of Sartre and his associates — notably Simone de Beauvoir, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, and Albert Camus — existentialism became identified with a cultural movement that flourished in Europe in the 1940s and 1950s. Among the major philosophers identified as existentialists (many of whom — for instance Camus and Heidegger — repudiated the label) were Karl Jaspers, Martin Heidegger, and Martin Buber in Germany, Jean Wahl and Gabriel Marcel in France, the Spaniards Josà © Ortega y Gasset and Miguel de Unamuno, and the Russians Nicholai Berdyaev and Lev Shestov. The nineteenth century philosophers, Soren Kierkeg aard and Friedrich Nietzsche, came to be seen as precursors of the movement. Existentialism was as much a literary phenomenon as a philosophical one. Sartre's own ideas were and are better known through his fictional works (such as Nausea and No Exit) than through his more purely philosophical ones (such as Being and Nothingness and Critique of Dialectical Reason), and the postwar years found a very diverse coterie of writers and artists linked under the term: retrospectively, Dostoevsky, Ibsen, and Kafka were conscripted; in Paris there were Jean Genet, Andrà © Gide, Andrà © Malraux, and the expatriate Samuel Beckett; the Norwegian Knut Hamsen and the Romanian Eugene Ionesco belong to the club; artists such as Alberto Giacommeti and even Abstract Expressionists such as Jackson Pollock, Arshile Gorky, and Willem de Kooning, and filmmakers such as Jean-Luc Godard and Ingmar Bergman were understood in existential terms. By the mid 1970s the cultural image of existentialism had becom e a clichà ©, parodized in countless books and films by Woody Allen. It is sometimes suggested, therefore, that existentialism just is this bygone cultural movement rather than an identifiable philosophical position; or, alternatively, that the term should be restricted to Sartre's philosophy alone. But while a philosophical definition of existentialism may not entirely ignore the cultural fate of the term, and while Sartre's thought must loom large in any account of existentialism, the concept does pick out a distinctive cluster of philosophical problems and helpfully identifies a relatively distinct current of twentieth- and now twenty-first century philosophical inquiry, one that has had significant impact on fields such as theology (through Rudolf Bultmann, Paul Tillich, Karl Barth, and others) and psychology (from Ludwig Binswanger and Medard Boss to Otto Rank, R.

Darwins Contribution to Science

Darwin’s Contribution to Science Eric Nash Bio-Literature Dr. Slovak 04/15/2013 When one ponders the current understanding of evolution and natural selection and where it came from, many names may come to mind. However, the man who gave us the idea of natural selection in the first place was none other than Charles Darwin. While Darwin was not the only one conducting research of this kind, his name stands out as a driving force behind our current understanding of evolution.Charles Darwin was born on February 12, 1809 to Robert and Susanna Darwin. Darwin’s father Robert was a physician, much as his paternal grandfather Erasmus Darwin. Charles Darwin studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, but quickly found that his future lay on a different path. Darwin eventually attended Cambridge University, between 1828 – 1831, where he graduated with the intention of becoming a clergyman. In those days, a clergyman was a general lover of all things natural and could be called by some, the original biologists.Very soon after, indeed the same year as his graduation, Darwin was invited to go along with Captain Robert Fitzroy on a voyage aboard The Beagle. His main role was to be the resident naturalist. During the voyage, Darwin was expected to gather samples and make observations in order to send back to England for classification. Little did Darwin know that the voyage would last five years. While Darwin is known mostly for his work on the Galapagos Islands, he only spent five weeks of his five year journey on the islands. Most of his work was on mainland South America.Through his collection of fossils, skins, skeletons, and various other samples, Darwin was able to postulate about isolation and change within a species. Darwin spent years after his voyage on The Beagle, cataloguing specimens, consulting with colleagues, and getting everything in order to make sure that he had the best support for his theories. It wasn’t until he read an e conomic report by Malthus that describes population growth and decline are based on various factors such as famine or disease (James, 1979), that Darwin began to put together the pieces of what he had learned from his voyage and study.Malthus’ work helped Darwin to understand that under specific conditions, favorable variations would tend to be preserved while unfavorable characteristics would be destroyed. Darwin began to work on a report outlining his theory of evolution through natural selection, but never published them. In 1856, Charles Lyell convinced Darwin to start working on a book detailing his work. Darwin didn’t put a great deal of effort into a book until after 1858, when Alred Russel Wallace sent a letter to Darwin, explaining in almost identical fashion to Darwin’s work, evolution by natural selection.After two presentations at the Linnean Society, in which two of Darwin’s papers and one from Wallace was used, Darwin began his work on, â₠¬Å"On the Origin of the Species. † This was a smaller version of the larger book he was intending on writing and was published in 1859 where it immediately became a scientific sensation. Many scientists argued against Darwin’s work claiming that evolution was a product of major sudden changes which caused large mutations. These scientists were known as â€Å"saltationists†.The major argument was the fact that the earth was not old enough for gradualism, or evolution through small steps, to have occurred. It wasn’t until Mendel’s work on genetics in 1856 that Darwin’s theories really began to take hold. It took all the way until the 1930’s before gradualism was widely accepted. Ultimately, Darwin was not fully vindicated until the last half of the 20th century in which DNA and genes were better understood. Although much of Darwin’s later years were spent in illness, he continued to work.After â€Å"On the Origin of the Speciesâ €  was written, he continued to work on human descent from earlier animals including the evolution of societies and mental abilities. He also did some work to explain the decorative beauty of wildlife and plant life such as his work in 1861 into wild orchids. He showed that an adaptation in their flower petals to attract specific moths in order to ensure cross pollination. He then wrote â€Å"Fertilisation of Orchids† in 1862 where he detailed the power of natural selection to clarify compound ecological interactions and made testable predictions.Darwin went on with, â€Å"The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex,† where he Darwin proposed evidence from many sources citing that humans are animals. He explained that sexual selection can describe unreasonable characteristics such as differences between the sexes of various racial differences while emphasizing that all humans are the same species. Darwin was also pleased by this time that his theories did n ot meet the criticism that they once did commenting that â€Å"†everybody is talking about it without being shocked† (Darwin, 1887).After Darwin’s demise, many geographical features and landmarks were named after him. Captain Robert Fitzroy named Darwin Sound in commemoration of Darwin’s quick thinking in saving The Beagle from being sunk when a large glacier created a wave that would have decimated their boats. In the Andes, there is Mount Darwin, so named during the celebration of Darwin’s 25th birthday. More than 120 species and nine genera have been named after Darwin. A group of tanagers found in the Galapagos Islands became known as Darwin’s finches, which ironically, has promoted a great deal of inaccuracies about Darwin’s work.There is even a Darwin Day in England. Darwin’s contribution to science is not insignificant. While not knowing where his theories would lead, he inadvertently became the father of evolution throug h natural selection. His ideas revolutionized the way scientists thought, thus leading to what we know today. Although, the presence of people such as Alred Russel Wallace goes to show that the truth was out there already, it simply needed the tenacity of a man like Darwin to do the work and publish those finding.Charles Darwin put in the time and effort to voyage on The Beagle in order to make everything we know today, possible. While I believe that a truth is a truth and all it needs is someone to find it, without those people, where would we be? Darwin himself once said, â€Å"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge: it is those who know little, and not those who know much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science. † References Darwin, Charles (1887). In Darwin, Francis. The life and letters of Charles Darwin, including an autobiographical chapter.London: John Murray. ISBN 0-404-08417-6 Darwin, Charles (1859 ). On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life (1st ed. ). London: John Murray. ISBN 1-4353-9386-4. Darwin, Charles (1862), On the various contrivances by which British and foreign orchids are fertilised by insects, and on the good effects of intercrossing, London: John Murray James, Patricia 1979. Population Malthus: his life and times. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. Powerpoint Presentation. Charles Darwin 1809-1882 by Dr. Slovak.

Essay about Three Major Factors Of The Renaissance

The word Renaissance means â€Å"rebirth† and it was the response to the brutal hardships of daily life in the middle ages. It was mostly based around humanism, fine arts, and reformation of the Church. Early humanists such as Dante Alighieri, Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, and Niccolo Machiavelli wrote books and expressed new ideas about humanism which made everyday life more secular and free willing. The three major factors of the Renaissance that were different from the middle ages were Humanism, improvements in discovery, and the Reformation of the Church. In the middle ages, people’s lives were very dedicated to two things: the Church, and feudalism. Leading thinkers were preoccupied with the individual’s responsibility to God designing†¦show more content†¦Art, music and advances in technology did not go anywhere in the middle ages because there were no great artists, composers, or scientists. Feudalism and the Roman Catholic Church restricted man y new inventions and discoveries up until the after the Hundred years’ war and the Black Death. But when Renaissance came along man’s curiosity brought up many brilliant artists such as Michelangelo Buonarotti and Leonardi Da Vinci. These geniuses brought art to a new age by building sculptures, creating frescoes, and creating famous paintings. Da Vinci, the â€Å"ultimate renaissance man† introduced not just new art, but new sciences, technologies and many other inventions. He studied the human anatomy and had plans for helicopters, tanks, canals, and river systems. His famous paintings are the Mona Lisa and the Last Supper. Great composers were Josquin Des Prez and Giovanni Palestrina. Josquin had an ability to reveal meaning and emotions of a text through â€Å"word painting†. He wrote over 100 motets, 20 masses, and 70 chansons. Inventors were Johann Gutenburg, Galileo Galilei, and Nicolaus Copernicus. Johann had developed the printing press which was very vital in copying written works and music. Galileo had developed the telescope which enabled people to see space and the stars at a very far distant. Copernicus was a scientist and mathematician who sought up the idea of the Heliocentric (sun centered) theory of theShow MoreRelatedThe Renaissance Was A Period Of The Art And Learning Styles Based On Greco Roman Inspiration975 Words   |  4 PagesThe Renaissance was a period of the â€Å"rebirth† of the art and learning styles based on Greco-Roman inspiration. These ideas had been lost in Europe due to the Dark Ages. The Renaissance began in the 1300s, and it reached its crowning point during the 1500s. During this time, trading was thriving, and this allowed for innovative ideas to spread. Trade routes from the Middle East and far East brought mathematical and scientific advancements to Europe. The profits from trade allowed prosperous merchantsRead MoreEssay on The Black Death1392 Words   |  6 Pagesspread quic kly due to the infestation of rats. Also, sanitary conditions were very poor which did not help the problem at all. When a human was infected, the bacteria moved from the bloodstream traveling to the lymph nodes. The plague occurred in three forms, however, the most commonly seen form was the bubonic plague. The bubonic plague refers to the painful swelling of the lymph nodes also known as buboes. Victims were subject to bodily aches, headaches, vomiting, and nausea. Plague victims underwentRead MoreEssay about The European Renaissance871 Words   |  4 PagesRenaissance Essay The 14th, 15th and part of 16th century was a glorious time for Europe, it was the reformation of many old ideas and the formation of many new, this was called the Renaissance. The Renaissance brought many changes to Europe, the economy was greatly boosted by of all the new explorations. The flourishing economy helped to inspire new developments in art and literature. And from that many new beliefs were formed. The European economy flourished during theRead MoreThe Renaissance Era1529 Words   |  6 PagesThe Renaissance Era took place for a time period that lasted for approximately 150 years and during that time significant changes took place. These changes were with the Arts, Literature, Fashion, and ideals. â€Å"The entire age can be subdivided into three phases: from 1350 to 1400 during which discovery of ancient texts and experimentation with new art forms took place; 1400 to 1500 typified by political stability in the Italian city-states and the creation of recognizable cultural; and 1500 to 1550Read MoreThe Renaissance in Europe1068 Words   |  5 PagesThe significance of the word Renaissance is rebirth or a regeneration of a period. This period was called the Middle Ages and it began during the fourteenth century. The Renaissance was mainly characterized for the development of learning and thinking. This period also distinguished the discovery and exploration of new continents, system of astronomy, the growth of commerce, and the innovations of paper, printing, compass, art, literature, math and science. During this period, it was primarily theRead MoreThe Rebirth Of Ancient Cultures1462 Words   |  6 PagesRebirth of Ancient Cultures in Renaissance Florence Florence, Italy is known as the â€Å"cradle of the Renaissance† (la culla del Rinascimento). It is a city full of beautiful architecture, art, and history. The Renaissance was a powerful cultural movement that not only shaped all aspects of Florentine life, but eventually the rest of Europe. Science, art, literature, philosophy, religion, architecture, and politics have seen heavy influences by this movement. The term Renaissance literally means â€Å"rebirth†:Read MoreRequirement of Reform of the Church in Europe During 15th and 16th Centuries1283 Words   |  6 Pagesnumber of reasons. The main reason being the behaviour of the papacy and their priorities which were no longer the welfare of the Church. There were other factors which contributed to the development of the Reformation in Europe other than the state of the Church and Christian Humanism, however these were the main factors. The first reason why the Church in Europe needed reform was the papacy who became more interested in wealth than in spiritual welfare. It was normalRead MoreRenaissance Art And The Postmodern Frame1245 Words   |  5 Pagesthe Renaissance movement and Claude Monet from the Impressionism movement. The artist Chiharu Shiota and Lee Bul have also used the art convention Biennale and the world agent to create â€Å"Conscious Sleep† and â€Å"Diluvium† respectively. Through the use the world as a source of ideas, artists with a focus on the postmodern frame have used art conventions to create artworks. Renaissance artworks challenged the contemporary values of its time and marks a transition in time periods. The Renaissance movementRead MoreThe Harlem Renaissance s Influence And Impact1262 Words   |  6 PagesThe Harlem Renaissance s Influence and Impact The Harlem Renaissance era is known for its rich culture and being the source for many African American breakthrough artists such as Alain Locke,W.E.B DuBois, and Ethel Waters. . Whether it be the diversity of music, drama, art, or literature, it’s surely present during that period of time and still is today. Many questions about this time period include â€Å"How was Harlem life like back then?† â€Å"What is the Harlem Renaissance?†, and â€Å"How did itRead MoreGrammatical and Lexical Changes 1550 -1700 Essay948 Words   |  4 PagesToday, like during the renaissance when it could be said that the English language developed the most, there is no shortage of people who comment and have opinions on the development of the English Language. In an essay entitled English our English John Marenbon (1987) talks of the necessity to include Latin in the national curriculum to aid the English student in their study, he also says that any Englishman who does not h ave a grasp of Latin is (A) stranger to his own culture (note the patriarchal

Make a Home Chemistry Kit

This is a list of chemicals that you can keep at home so your kids can do chemistry projects and grow crystals. The activities are safe for kids with adult supervision. Store the chemicals safely, away from young children and pets, as with any household chemicals. Substances for at Home Experiments Water—Distilled is probably better. You can do experiments with tap water.Table salt (sodium chloride)—Grocery store item  found in the baking/spice aisle. You can grow salt crystals at home easily.Borax—Usually sold with laundry detergents, otherwise with household cleaners.Corn starch—Grocery store item  found in the baking/spice aisle.White glue—Its sold with school supplies.Vinegar—Grocery store item, location varies. There are different types of vinegar. White vinegar is clear, but usually, cider vinegar would work if thats what you have.Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)—Grocery store item found in the baking/spice aisle.Food coloring—Grocery store item  found in the baking/spice aisle.Epsom Salts (magnesium sulfate)—Found near the pharmacy section, usually. You can grow Epson Salts crystals at home quickly  and easily.Vodka—Used as ethanol. Its not necessary, but good to have for some projects. In many cases, rubbing alcohol (isopropyl) would work. One comes from the liquor store, the other from the pharmacy section of the grocery store.Sugar (sucrose)—Granulated white table sugar, from the grocery store.Flour—Flour is used to make a  paste and as a building material, as in the chemical volcano.Alum—Sold with spices.Calcium Chloride—Sold as a laundry booster or road salt (de-icer).Bromothymol blue pH indicator—Sold in water test kits for aquaria and swimming pools.Phenolphthalein pH indicator—This chemical is used in color-change and disappearing ink projects.Sodium hydroxide (lye)—Sold as a drain cleaner in the plumbing section of some hardware stores. Keep away from children. Its not used in a lot of projects, so consider it optional. Its used where a strong base is needed.Glycerin—Sold in the pharmacy section or in craft stores. Used to make bubbles, mainly.Rock salt or sea salt—Sold with spices. Sometimes you wa nt sodium chloride with other trace elements.Lemon juice—Found near produce, usually. You can make invisible ink with lemon juice.Metamucil—Sold in pharmacies.Milk of magnesia—Sold in pharmacies.Dishwashing detergent—For hand washing, not dishwashing machines.Copper wire—You want the type without any insulation or coating.Galvanized nails—These are nails that have been coated with zinc.Mineral oil—Baby oil is mineral oil. The added fragrance isnt a problem.Citric acid—Sold with canning supplies.Vegetable oil—You can use safflower oil. Any cooking-grade vegetable oil is fine.Steel wool—Found with cleaning supplies.Iodine stain—Its easiest to order this from a chemical supply company or try to buy some from a local school. Its used primarily in projects that test for the presence of starch.Unflavored gelatin—Found with its flavored relatives.

The Between Politics And Religion - 1423 Words

1. Islam, as we saw early in this course, began with a fusion of religion and politics. How do the various approaches to Islam we ve studied—traditionalism as represented by the ‘ulama, Sufism, Islamism, and modernism—differ in conceiving of the relationship between the two? Does each necessarily have a vision of an Islamic engagement with politics and, if so, what does it look like? The interaction between politics and religion in the Islamic context is one that descends from the model of the Prophet Muhammad, who served as a transcendental figure and as a community leader at the same time. Inevitably, then, these two aspects of Muhammad’s position interacted to some degree. Indeed, this intermingling of â€Å"the political† and â€Å"the religious† is seen in the very framework of Islam as we know it – the umma is at once a community defined around a religious identity and a political entity extant through that religious identity. Nevertheless, Islam remains a diverse religion encompassing a number of various â€Å"ideologies† – frameworks by which the textual and traditional material of the faith are interpreted and understood. This paper will examine a number of these ideological approaches to Islam – namely traditionalism, modernism, Islamism, and Sufism – and explain their visions of how Islam should relate with politics. Before I delve into this examination, however, it is worthwhile to spend a moment defining the two terms at the center of the analysis. Within this paper, IShow MoreRelatedDifferences Between Class, Religion And Politics1500 Words   |  6 PagesVolksgemeinschaft was another principle outlined very greatly in propaganda and that is overcoming old differences in class, religion and politics. Volksgemeinschaft essentially entails the creation of a collective national identity by encouraging people to work together for the benefit of the nation, and promoting â€Å"German Values†. The Propaganda Machine was essentially another tactic used for when the information and election tactics adaped at a local level, with a division of different electoralRead MoreThere Is an Inevitable Negative Effect between Religion and Politics1537 Words   |  6 Pagessolely involving religion and divide themselves when they deal with politics. Thus believing in anything sha pes each individual as a person: creates their boundaries, defines morality, and what is just and unjust. Therefore, religion will always be tied into politics. Consequently, I am researching the inevitability of the two seemingly separate ideas overlapping and impacting one another. In politics, today, religion overlaps politics in many aspects. Considering that religion has become more openRead MoreResolving Conflicts Between Religion and Politics Essay832 Words   |  4 PagesResolving Conflicts Between Religion and Politics The use of conflict to try and resolve political, religious or cultural differences has existed for centuries, Violence and the State are still two prevailing issues in our world today. It is often assumed that violence and fighting occurs between peoples of very different nationalities or cultures; that there differences are too great for there to ever be peace or compromise. This, however, is not the case; it is peopleRead MoreThrough The Development Of Human History, Humans Gradually988 Words   |  4 Pageshuman history, humans gradually realize that Politics, Science, and Religion are three independent and equally competitive authorities. Also, the conflict between science and religion and that between politics and religion are much more severe than the conflict between science and politics. In this sense, because of the difference of those three authorities and the possibility of causing conflicts, it is more ideal not to twist science, religion, and politics together in the first place in society. AquinasRead MoreAbraham Lincoln And The Civil War944 Words   |  4 Pageslanguages (Magagna). It is religious politics that Lincoln showed and succeeded during the Civil War. Rooted in the individual faith in Evangelical Protestantism, Lincoln emphasized religious morality and changed it into social responsibility by using biblical terms. People responded to Lincoln’s language, and people brought their faith to bear on political action, participating in the Civil War (Magagna). In this way, anti-slavery issue became religious politics. Likewise, based on the personal religiousRead MoreReligion And Politics : The Dwindling Of Secularism993 Words   |  4 Pages Religion and Politics: The Dwindling of Secularism Everyone has morals and beliefs that set a baseline for what they value. Values vary between individuals, but for many, religion is the root from where these values stem. While it is good to morally question, today personal religious affiliation is increasing in collective matters and actions, expressed in politics, protests, and biased beliefs. It is important to note that religion and politics are two different domains that should not intermingleRead MoreClifford Geertzs Focus on the Power of Religion1160 Words   |  5 Pageson the symbolic power of religion. He has talked about the fact that it is the symbolic power of religion that has a strong influence on the people. It is the religion, in accordance to Clifford that helps the people in understanding the place that the people have in the world. The actions that are undertaken by the people are also defined by the religion. Based on the arguments that have been given by Clifford, it can be added here that there is a great eff ect of religion and the religious valuesRead MoreRegime, Religion and Politics670 Words   |  3 PagesRegime, Religion and Politics For many years, religion has been peripheral to the concerns of political philosophers, but it actually means the connection between human beings and God or gods, or whatever they consider sacred. On the other hand, there is another crucial factor called â€Å"Democracy†, which is by far the most challenging form of the state - both for politicians and for individuals. The term â€Å"democracy† comes from Greek language and it means â€Å" rule by the people†. In this essay, IRead MoreReligion And Violence Is Currently One Of The Most Recurrent1623 Words   |  7 PagesReligion and violence is currently one of the most recurrent themes authors write about due to the numerous terrorist actions that consistently occur. These incidents raise multiple questions that the authors of the articles tried to answer by treating different aspects that intersect with religion and violence such as politics and terrorism. The authors of these articles share a lot of ideas a nd assumptions while simultaneously disagree on others and try to explain certain aspects differentlyRead MoreReligion in the Public Square: The Place of Religious Convictions and Political Debate889 Words   |  4 PagesThe book, Religion in the Public Square: The Place of Religious Convictions Political Debate (1997), is a presentation of a debate between two foremost thinkers who argue about the place that religion should have in the public forum, more specifically in politics. Robert Audi argues that citizens in a free democracy should make a difference between religion and between secular aspects or state and give them two separate domains. The one has nothing to do with the other and for each to be functioning

A Historical Basis for Media Stereotyping from 1840 to Today Essay Example For Students

A Historical Basis for Media Stereotyping from 1840 to Today Essay The intellectual and entertaining aspects of the media have always been at the forefront of spreading cultural ideas. People rely on such mediums for learning items they had not known about and for solidifying belief systems about them says Gerald Baldasty, author of The History of Communication. Since media is so pervasive and little information contradicts its monopolistic persuasion, stereotypes form from the audiences ignorance . The white majority, who may have never met any Asian Americans, judged, in this case, the Chinese culture based on what they had read in a newspaper or had seen on television and movies. In the late 1840s and early 1850s when the Chinese began immigrating to the United States in search of economic promise and even through today when Chinese continue to pursue the American Dream, the media classified the Chinese as sinister, pensive, and nefarious; the public readily accepts such media caricatures as the archetype for the entire Asian culture . The portrayal of Chinese Americans in the media, coupled with the oppressive history of immigration to the United States, adversely affected the white majoritys perception of the Chinese American. Prejudice arises from fear according to Benson Tong, author of The Chinese Americans . American knew little about the Chinese because of the concentration of the Chinese population living on the West Coast and in Chinatowns, isolated from the majority of the American population, the average. For example, in the 1860s and 1870s, Chinese in the United States were concentrated almost entirely on the West Coast, especially in California. According to the 1870 and 1890 U. S. Census, all of the 34,933 Chinese in the United States in 1860 lived in California, with 84 percent of them living in rural mining regions and only 7. percent living in San Francisco. In 1870, 78 percent of Chinese in the United States (49,277 out of 63,199) lived in California, with now 24. 4 percent living in San Francisco , where a sizable Chinatown had developed . Elaine Kims book Asian American Literature:An Introduction to the Writings and Their Social Context expands on the idea that people also feared the Chinese because of exclusionary policies, that segregated the Chinese from mainstream life, set forth from the American government . Many of the Chinese stereotypes existed well into the twentieth century and even persist in todays culture because most Americans were more likely to have gotten their knowledge of Chinese-Americans from archetypal entertainment characters such as Fu Manchu, Charlie Chan, or Suzy Wong. People unfamiliar with the Chinese culture learned about it from television rather than from actually encountering Chinese-Americans in real life. As recently as 1960, the Chinese population in the United States was only 237,292 out of the total U. S. population of 179,323,732, or only 0. 132 of one percent. Thus, very few American could come in close contact with the Chinese because of their locality and instead learned about the Chinese through various mediums. Since people knew so little about the Chinese immigrants, when they first began arriving in the United States in the late 1840s drawn by the prospects of gold in California, they immediately became exotic, novelty objects of curiosity who differed greatly from Anglo Americans. P. T. Barnum capitalized on such alien demeanor and initiated the Chinese pigeonholing the as mysterious, which had not yet taken on its negative connotation. He purchased a Chinese Museum in 1850 to be displayed at his American Museum at Ann Street on Broadway in New York. Tens of millions of Americans were estimated to have visited Barnums museum, taking away with them Barnums circuslike and pe rhaps fraudulent images and portrayals of Chinese as curiosities, exotic and different from the Anglo American. While none of these characterizations appeared to be overtly negative, the exotic categorization cultivated by Barnum would persist for many years to come, still existing to some extent in todays society. Although many people saw the exhibit, people never actually had to attend his museum to perceive the subservient Chinese because the stereotypes were disseminated in the newspaper. The April 21, 1850 edition of the New York Sunday Dispatch, and April 22, 1850 edition of the New York Courier and Enquirer covered the exhibit. National publications such as these served to inform readers in the 19th century, with peak circulations ranging from 80,000 to 400,000. Although these publications reached predominantly urban, literate white males, that number took into account 48 percent of the total population. The educated populace w extends its knowledge garnered from the paper to the rest of the community. According to The Dispatch, the exhibit purportedly consisted of a good number of curiosities, including a 17-year-old Chinese belle. In June, 1850, I added the celebrated Chinese Collection to the attractions of the American Museum. I also engaged the Chinese Family, consisting of two men, two small-footed women, and two children. My agent exhibited them in London during the Worlds Fair. He mentioned the woman as small footed, alluding to the Chinese custom of binding Barnams imagery was so powerful that he perpetuated the mysterious stereotype without verbally suggesting it in his exhibit verbally suggested in the exhibit. This same exhibit received further coverage in yet another newspaper, ensuring that almost everyone witnessed the new acquiescent Chinese exhibit. The April 22, 1850 edition of the New York Courier and Enquirer described the woman as a Chinese beauty with tiny feet polished manners distingue air pretty face charming vivacity. This Courier quote again emphasizes the obedient nature of the Chinese. Other Barnam exhibits included an eight-foot giant named Chang-Yu Sing and the Siamese Twins named Chong and Eng Bunker. While none of these characterizations appeared to be overtly negative, Barnams exhibit predated Chinese involvement in the change of the American Economy. Initially, anti-Chinese sentiment appeared when American, white miners complained about competition from foreign miners, especially the Chinese, in the gold fields of California in 1852. American citizens viewed the Chinese as contract laborers who were not looking to become American citizens, who degraded American white workers and discouraged them from coming to California. â€Å"A Horse and Two Goats† by R.K Narayan Sample EssayAmerican images of the Chinese tend largely to come in jostling pairs. The Chinese are seen as a superior people and an inferior people; devilishly exasperating heathens and wonderfully attractive humanists; wise sages and sadistic executioners; thrifty and honorable men and sly and devious villains; comic opera soldiers and dangerous fighters. These and many other pairs occur and recur, with stresses and source varying in time and place. These contrasting characteristics can be seen in Asian male and female stock characters both within the gender and across gender lines. For example the Asian female, as a result of the Page Law, is portrayed as submissive and seductive while the Asian male is portrayed as sexed and sexless, active and passive, and heroes or villains. The Lotus Blossom, who personifies the entirety of the female gender in Asia, characterizes the Submissive female. It is her yielding, prudent, and exotic nature, which the West looks upon to conquer and own. Characterized by Butterfly in Puccinis opera, this packaged perception extends beyond just women. It is an ideal personality parcel, and whether the part be played by a man (as in David Henry Hwangs M. Butterfly) or by an actual women, it is the shell, the epidermal representation to which the Western masculinity is attracted. The alternate female stereotype is that of the seductive female whom The Dragon Lady plays. She is seen as more of an orchid than a lotus and is capable of psychologically traumatizing the male and at times denoting witchery. Physically she is like the Lotus Blossom, in that she is petite, slender, attractive and exotic, but overhauling what might be a subordinate exterior is a bewildering, deadly and poisonous interior. Her character parallels the mythical Sirens and Circe because she is musical temptresses and the magical sorceress, respectively. The male typecasts, on the other hand, are viewed as a mixture of brains, brawn and beauty. Fu Manchu represents both Yellow Face and the Asian Male Villain. He emerged in the early 1900s in response to the Boxer Rebellion in China and the influx of sojourners who were seen as a threat to economic stability and racial purity. He is the exemplification of the negative stereotype as a he had menace in every twitch of his finger, threat in every twitch of his eyebrow, terror in each split-second of his slanted eyes. The Chinese government interceded and was opposed to the portrayal of Fu Manchu. In response, Charlie Chan was created as both Yellow Face and the Asian Passive Hero.. Thus, Charlie Chan was created as a refined, intellectual detective of Confucian wisdom. Unlike Fu Manchu, Charlie Chan was on the side of the law and virtue. From Charlie Chan cam e the Confucian vernacular of aphorism prefaced by Confucius say The final male typecasts are the action heroes that partake in none other than karate. Bruce Lee represents the Asian Active Sexed Hero. He was the first Chinese-American to receive top billing to create a genre of martial arts films. His career took off during the same time Nixon renewed US-China relations. The characters he played were a strange amalgam of both stereotypes the physically adept warrior who is spiritually and emotionally-centered. Jackie Chan represents the Sexless Asian Hero. Like Bruce Lee, he got his start acting in Hong Kong. The characters he plays are always the hero, but unlike Bruce Lee, he never gets involved with his female foil. Even though Americans think they are cosmopolitan and non-biased, these harsh stereotypes are still being perpetuated in the media today. An example from the late twentieth century that substantiates this stereotype can be seen in an article entitled What Its Like to Be a Chinese-American Girl by Lily Chang. It appeared in the October 1978 issue of Cosmopolitan and characterizes Chinese women as possessing greater amount of emotional and physical restraint, but once we exorcise family-bred inhibitions, we can be quite delectable in bed. She describes Chinese women as having a style of femininity that differs subtly from the one typically favored by forthright all-American girls, being softer, more pliable, more willing to defer to our men in public. Again, old stereotypes are being reinforced and not refuted. The male version of the late twentieth century clich that are physically grotesque characterizations of Chinese are evidenced by The Hands of Shang-chi, Master of Kung Fu, a Marvel comic line created in 1973. The half Chinese, half Caucasian hero, Shang-chi, is described as being colored a more pleasant orange rather than sallow grapefruit hue by William F. Wu in article entitled White Makes Right: Marvels Kung Fu Color Line that appeared in Inside Comics in 1974. Asian/Chinese villains are shown with exaggerated racial traits reminiscent of 19th-century anti-Chinese caricatures: eyes slanted at an unnaturally high angle, skin-color shaded an unnaturally strong yellow. it seems as though Fu Manchu has been brought back as the chief villain. The media has always characterized Chinese in a mostly unfavorable and stereotypical manner, dating back to the 1850s and continuing even in the present day. The stereotypes started in writing and eventually evolved television, a medium that is almost unavoidable. Factors for prejudice included anti-Chinese sentiment due to labor competition and a general ignorance with no outlet to learn. The media established these stereotypes through a mixture of bad history and ignorance and since the Americans have no ambition to conquer these false ideals, because they have continued well into the twentieth century, seemingly into the twenty-first. Stereotypes have not gone away, rather Americans have become better as masking their prejudices.