...Often, a nihilistic view of human nature is taken by philosophers. Their dense and dreary works point out that humans are condemned to a life where evil is at the core of our essence. Their claims are hardly unfounded, what with conflict plaguing nearly all of human history, My problem with this philosophy, however, arises with the idea that we as humans are inherently evil because of our capability to make evil decisions. To say that humans are inherently evil because we have the capacity to be evil is, in my opinion, a false equivalency that simply cannot be made. I believe that evil is not something that lives and grows inside of us; it is not something that we must combat on a regular basis to make ‘good’ decisions. I am not denying humankind’s...
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...Henry is getting well and being merry. Henry’s concern for Henry shows the goodness in human. Proving the characters deserve the reader's sympathy because of their benevolent...
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...Ludwig Feuerbach Theory of Religion as Projections of Human Needs provides some similarities and contrariety to mine own beliefs. Feuerbach said religions were essentially projections of the wishes and needs of humanity, a dream or fantasy that expressed the situation of humankind. According to Feuerbach, people tend to see themselves as helpless and dependent when faced with the challenges of life. Therefore, they seek to overcome their problems through imagination: they imagine or project an idealized being of goodness or power that can help them, essentially placing all of their burdens and accountability in the hands of this omnibenevolent, omniscient, omnipotent deity. The projection of moral law by God Repentance and worship are products of a theistic belief that God holds a personal relationship with us and wants to know each and every one of us as individuals and interact directly with mankind. A God that creates absolute moral law “created in the image of idealized humanity” as stated in Feuerbach‘s theory. Fragment (consider revising) My belief is that man’s relationship with God is transpersonal and it goes beyond the notion of personal and impersonal and thus includes humankind in God’s relationship with nature (creation) and man being a piece of the bigger picture. I also believe that mankind has the ability to use Reason to create his/her own moral law. It is through the utilization of Reason that this moral law can be used to actualize moral behavior. At its...
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...Genesis. In the beginning, God said “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth” (Genesis 1:26). Humans were put above the rest of God’s creations; they were the pinnacle of all living things. This suggests that God cared for mortals more so than anything else. This premise is further supported by the fact that humans were made in God’s image, making us more relatable to Him. If God is the ultimate source of virtue and goodness, we were made to be the closest embodiment of such perfection. Bestowing such sovereignty is telling of God’s kindness toward human beings. All in all, none of the Lord’s actions have malicious intent. In this instance, God’s specific kindness is demonstrated through his organization of nature. Another display of kindness occurs when God establishes his covenant with Noah and promises that there shall never be another great flood that destroys the earth (Genesis 9:11). God empathizes with the suffering He has caused after the great flood, and He never wants mankind to go through it again. The covenant is everlasting evidence of His kindness. Now, the one and only great flood itself may be seen as vindictive, but this is not the case. God expresses that he was sorry for making humankind on earth because it brought about great wickedness...
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...1. Consider the significance of the names of the title character and his wife. How are the names symbolic? Young Goodman Brown and his wife Faith, have both symbolic names. Brown's name symbolizes youth and the good nature of humankind. Brown character is a "young man" in the story, and his youth suggests that he is still naive and innocent and he can easily be corrupted by the evil in the world. Faith's name, as Hawthorne wrote, "Faith, as the wife was aptly named", commend that Brown's wife symbolizes the hope and the innocence found in a young wife. Brown's faith in the goodness in life is symbolized through his marriage to Faith. Faith symbolize, hope and the absolute confidence in the goodness in the world, the honest and truthful belief in something. 2. List what you think each of these symbols stands for: the woods (setting), the time of day, Faith's pink ribbons, the Traveler's staff. The woods can be Brown's own mind, a place created by his subconscious, dark as the forest, where he questions his truths, his love for faith, and his beliefs on human kind. It is simply fascinating, how the forest closes behind him, taking from him the option of going back to his beliefs, once he had become unsure about them. The forest can also be the place, not where he questions but face the truth. We all tend to try to embellish the world around us, so that it meets our needs. Brown may find himself in a conflict between the idealized world he once idealized, and the world...
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...Aristotle argued it is a natural desire for humans to be excellent as evident by Austin “The orientation of Aristotle’s thought is teleological, meaning that he sees it as natural for us humans to have purposes and aims in everything we do” (59). We aim for goodness which arises the question of what is good? Aristotle defines good as happiness which leads into the next question of what is happiness? Happiness is activity of the soul – which is a part of Aristotle definition – actuality of doing something. For instance, the bystander whom would decide to be heroic instead of nothing manifests happiness due to activeness. Happiness is associated with total human ethicalness in that we might do well in a few angles of our humankind and however not be completely happy. In general, a virtue is ‘an acquired disposition of the soul to choose the mean appropriately.’ Virtue is just the right amount between two extremes Aristotle called vices – excess and deficiency of goodness; virtue is the golden mean. With a specific virtue such as courage, too much courage can lead you into danger moving impulsively and unwisely; deficiency of courage is timidity or cowardice – therefore courage is the golden mean. To gain courage, one must practice and familiarize themselves by the conductivity of intentional...
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...Themes Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work. Justice King Lear is a brutal play, filled with human cruelty and awful, seemingly meaningless disasters. The play’s succession of terrible events raises an obvious question for the characters—namely, whether there is any possibility of justice in the world, or whether the world is fundamentally indifferent or even hostile to humankind. Various characters offer their opinions: “As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods; / They kill us for their sport,” Gloucester muses, realizing it foolish for humankind to assume that the natural world works in parallel with socially or morally convenient notions of justice (4.1.37–38). Edgar, on the other hand, insists that “the gods are just,” believing that individuals get what they deserve (5.3.169). But, in the end, we are left with only a terrifying uncertainty—although the wicked die, the good die along with them, culminating in the awful image of Lear cradling Cordelia’s body in his arms. There is goodness in the world of the play, but there is also madness and death, and it is difficult to tell which triumphs in the end. Authority versus Chaos King Lear is about political authority as much as it is about family dynamics. Lear is not only a father but also a king, and when he gives away his authority to the unworthy and evil Goneril and Regan, he delivers not only himself and his family but all of Britain into chaos and cruelty. As...
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...was a chased war criminal. At the point when the specialists heard he should escape, they made him the ring as a little token of their thankfulness, realizing that there was no real way to reimburse the endowment of life. Stern exhibited the ring to Schindler, revealing to him the citation was from the Talmud. The Jews needed Schindler to realize that by sparing them, he had spared humankind. The citation bolsters the subject that one man can have any kind of effect. In the event that even small time indicates humankind to another, he exhibits the proceeding with presence of mankind in the public arena, something completely void in the activities of the Nazis amid the Holocaust. For society to proceed with, magnanimity and graciousness must exist: the length of one great individual exists, great still exists on the planet. The Schindlerjuden needed Schindler to have a steady indication of the integrity in him and comprehend that he now required their offer assistance. They gave him, with the ring, a marked explanation pledges to his great activities, wanting to help if the Allies caught him. Goodness triumphing over underhandedness is a consistent idea woven all through the novel. There were numerous cases that demonstrate this reality. For example, Schindler's capacity to beat obstructions like being tossed behind bars, or how one of the Jewish laborers were spared in light of the fact that the Nazi weapons strangely didn't work. Towards the finish of the novel, when Schindler...
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...degenerate hereditary qualities? Now we know that Carrie Buck case was never about mental deficiency but a matter of sexual morality and social deviance. I believe eugenic measure lead inevitable to not ethical reasons. Ecumenists believe that by preventing the reproduction of people with degenerate hereditary qualities, the next generation of human will be improved and better the than previous which in some extend can be consider as the evolution of humankind Nonmoral Nature I used to see the nature as kind and full of moral teaching. I think that is because we only observe the nature in that perceptive “learn from nature”. On the other hand, nature can be cruel. The naturally cruel behavior of the “ichneumon fly” and other carnivore animal illustrate that other side of nature (battle, conquest, horror, survival) However, according to natural theology; this view of nature (senseless cruelty in the animal world and even human world) seems to be contradictory to the idea of God being the creator (God’s power, goodness, kindness). Some issues: Beasts are not moral agents, the feelings cannot bear any ethical message. Other Darwin’s argument: merely demonstrate that nature contains no moral messages framed in human terms. We cannot provide an answer to why such cruelty exists in nature,...
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...greatest impacts of Christianity within the lives of adherents. There is no other person apart from Jesus who has had a more significant influence on Christianity within the lives of adherents than St Paul of Tarsus. His influences included his contribution to the establishment of many of the early Christian communities as well as his influence on Christian ethics, liturgy and worship, authority and governance. Saturday/Sunday worship is a significant practice within Christianity as it is the time where Christians gather to honour and celebrate the memorial do the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Christian ethical teachings on the environment are based on Christian sources of tradition and the bible with the principles of the intrinsic goodness of God, stewardship and sacramentality being applied to environmental issues. St Paul was a significant figure within the religious tradition of Christianity. St. Paul is known as 2 names generally, The Apostles to the Gentiles and The second founder of Christianity. Paul was first known when he took part in the martyrdom of Saint Stephen where he showed he was an active persecutor of Christians. However, in approximately the year 36 Christ appeared before Paul on his way to Damascus converting him to Christianity. Since then, Paul has had a major impact on adherents all over the world. Saint Paul was educated in Jewish Law and the Torah as well in Greek philosophy - thus he was able to interpret...
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...main character of the novel. We experience the Soviet genocide of Lithuanians, as she serves as a witness to many experiences she shouldn’t have to. She had to deal with the loss of both her parents. She was fifteen years old when the novel begins and, over the next several years in Soviet custody. She was forced to grow up much faster and confront much more horrific truths about humankind than most people do in a lifetime: “Was it harder to die, or harder to be the one who survived?” (Sepetys, 259)....
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...Religion A religion is a composed gathering of convictions, social frameworks, and world perspectives that relate humankind to a request of presence Many religions have stories, images, and hallowed histories that intend to clarify the significance of life and/or to clarify the root of life or the Universe. From their convictions about the universe and individual temperament, individuals may determine profound quality, morals, religious laws or a favored way of life. As indicated by a few assessments, there are approximately 4,200 religions on the planet. Numerous religions may have composed practices, pastorate, a meaning of what constitutes adherence or participation, heavenly places, and scriptures. The act of a religion may incorporate ceremonies, sermons, celebration or love (of a divinity, divine beings or goddesses), presents, celebrations, galas, daze, starts, funerary administrations, wedding administrations, reflection, petition to God, music, craftsmanship, move, open administration or different parts of human society. Religions might likewise contain mythology. Some of the key essential for a tradition to be called religion included the emphasis on the intellectual or cognitive component. The desire for people that ought to identify "the deeper motive which underlies them made most of the popular traditions to be regarded as religions because they needed to identify with something that they felt was bigger than them and of great immense value. The sacredness...
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...Religions of the World Midterm Exam Study Guide Fall 2013 Note: As stated in the course syllabus, the midterm exam will be held on Tuesday, October 8. Please be sure that you arrive to class on time. Remember that there is no class on Thursday, October 3, as I will be away at a conference (November 4 speaker takes the place of class). If you have attended class regularly, have kept up with the reading, and have taken good notes you should have no problem with the exam. It would be wise to use the practice quizzes and flashcards for Chapters 1, 10, and 11 in your e-book. Please review the following: * Reasons why it is important to study world religions; how pluralism is defined * Religion should be studied to understand its persistence in the modern world, which in many ways is not hospitable to religious belief and practice. * Pluralism – recognition of religious differences and the effort to deal with them constructively, goes beyond toleration. Different religious exist because religions are different. This makes dialogue between them both possible and necessary. * How Judaism is defined * Historic religion of the Jewish people. * This name comes from the ancient tribe of Judah, one of the original 12th tribes of Israel. * Importance of “covenant” in Judaism * Agreement god made with Abraham in which god promised to be with Abraham and be the god of his many descendants and Abraham promised to follow god. *...
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...capabilities, the ability to move up and down social structures, and the desire to be better than who they are distinct them from other creatures. Symbol-using It is the most important feature that define humans. Reality is created using symbols because people translate the visions and goals of the people that surround it every day. Furthermore, the actions of human are filled with symbols. Inventor of the Negative As for the inventor of the negative, Burke struggled to use this word due to the thought of language invented man. Negatives are morally a characteristic of symbol systems because its existence in nature is absent. According to Dictionary.com, the word moral defines as “the concern with principles of right and wrong behavior and the goodness or badness of human character.” This word is a conception of the human and is formed by the indication of negative...
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...Humanity and Goodness Throughout history, in all areas of the world, there is an ongoing discussion about what it means to be a good person. Every society has different expectations and standards that it’s citizens are expected to adhere to, creating discrepancies in what the “proper” meaning of a “good” person is. Throughout different cultures, a common characteristic of a “good” person is someone that wants to help others and commits acts of a selfless nature; so, a good person is someone that lives not only for themselves, but for others, through selfless acts and the desire and drive to bear fruits of a good nature. Good People and Good Character If someone is to be a good person, they must first have good character. By definition,...
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