... Western religion emphasizes the importance of choosing to believe in and embrace God, but there may be an underlying and critical flaw in this collective religious conviction; does one actually choose to believe something, or is it merely an involuntary outlook based on what we perceive to be true from life experience? Belief can also be examined in everyday life. It is all around and is used for every decision and in every thought. Borchert's Encyclopedia of Philosophy exemplifies the ulterior complexities of belief that many people are not conscious of; belief is "...a species of propositional attitude distinguished by having the mind-to-world direction of fit" (Borchert). A propositional attitude is simply a psychological mode paired with psychological content. In the case of belief, belief itself would be the psychological mode, and what one believes would be the content. The "mind-to-world direction of fit" refers to belief's "...aim to represent how the world is independently"(Borchert). With a verbal definition of belief, it is also necessary to understand the components. To believe something, there is a multitude of connections between numerous pieces of information and facts. "...Understanding the validity of the inference from the belief that gold is a metal, and the belief that this ring is gold, to the belief that this ring is metal, requires seeing the logical connections between the propositional contents of the first...
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...Drew Hayden Taylor, an Ojibway writer, achieves the role of literature by challenging the common beliefs of society in his essays. He takes the role of defending First Nations from the common criticisms and assumptions of Canadian society, in an attempt to change people’s perspectives. This is the purpose of many of his essays, each having their own problem or question. These essays raise the problems and issues First Nations people face that society may be unfamiliar with. Throughout his essays, he uses multiple logical strategies in his writing to support his arguments. Many of his essays deal with the concept of stereotyping. Taylor argues against these stereotypes and issues directed at First Nations people by using allusions, factual evidence,...
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...fooled into becoming moraless monsters, seekers without the ability to see, and hopelessly hoping for a better nation. A. “All propaganda has to be popular and has to accommodate itself to the comprehension of the least intelligent of those whom it seeks to reach”-Adolf Hitler B. “All news is lies and all propaganda is disguised as news.”-Willi Munzenberg 1. aAn information/idea put out in order to persuade a certain group of people to behave in a certain manner/ bias is propaganda. 2. Hitler needed a way for everyone in Germany to in gulp, and develop his thinking on the Jewish race, thus leading to the mass production of Nazi propaganda throughout the German population. C. “No human race is superior; no religious faith is inferior. All collective judgments are wrong. Only racists make them.”- (Elie Wiesel, 1928-2016) 1. Holocaust is a word referring to a genocide, or massive slaughter of something/someone. know the word holocaust...
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...There are many psychological terms that can explain different influences for behavior. For instance, deindividuation in a group setting can influence behavior. Joining a cult or a gang can change one’s behavior entirely, taking away their entire sense of individual identity and get lost within the group. Social loafing within a group can be problematic and negatively influence a person’s behavior. If a group of students are working together on a project, the students will put less effort in individually to reach the collective goal because they know that that they can shrug off some of the responsibilities because others will pick up the slack. The door-in-the-face phenomenon is a common tactic for someone to use to get something that they would want. This phenomenon enables even the most honest person to deceive someone into giving in to their wishes or demands. If I wanted money from my mom to go to the mall and I was using the door-in-the-face phenomenon I would first ask her for $100, knowing she would say no. Then I would make a second request, only for $25, knowing that she would find the second request more reasonable, and more likely give in to my request, and I would get the money for the mall. Social facilitation can either have a positive or negative effect on behavior. If Genna is the top swimmer on the swim team, she is more likely to swim even better when she has an audience. But on the other hand, Genna is not a strong volleyball player, and she only plays...
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...doxastic conservatism and doxastic liberalism has been a topic of controversy for quite some time. Two prominent figures in this respect are William Clifford whose support of doxastic conservatism is outlined in The Ethics of Belief and William James, who defend doxastic liberalism in his work The Will to Believe. Personally, I find Clifford’s position resonates better with my own process of accepting and discarding beliefs, however it is important to note that by saying this I am not rejecting the virtues of doxastic liberalism. Quite the contrary, I do believe that in some instances a liberal attitude can prove worthwhile, I simply find James’ reasons for applying a liberal attitude to be rather problematic. A discussion on whether or not James’ reasons for applying doxastic liberalism may go beyond the scope of this paper, so any such inquiry into this matter will be kept to a minimum. In his defense of doxastic conservatism Clifford offers the following argument: Before accepting a belief, we must ensure that there is sufficient evidence which supports said belief (1,5,10). If after examining the available evidence, we find that it does not support the belief, than that belief must be discarded (2-4). Additionally, there are instances where a belief “goes beyond our experience” and can be accepted based on inferences of similar experiences, assuming that the inference is drawn logically from reliable experience (8-10). Finally, Clifford gives weight to sources of authority...
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...Gods plan. The disaster opened the door for openly questioning God’s role in the natural world allowing for the growth of new ideas and the rejection of old and antiquated ones. In the end the earthquake in Lisbon presented such an intellectual crisis because it forced Philosophes and Theologians alike to question their own faith as well as the core beliefs that society was built upon. The sheer destruction of the event placed Theologians on the defensive as they attempted to rationalize the event while pushing Philosophes ever further from the core views of the church. While every disaster is a tragedy, the Lisbon earthquake sparked an intellectual crisis because of the disturbing nature of its destruction and the time period in which it happened. Occurring on All Saints Day 1755, disaster struck during the beginning of the Intellectual revolution, a period during the 18th century marked by a conviction in the “expanding literate sector that the human condition could be improve through science, education, philosophy, economic growth, and political reform.” Predated by nearly 1,000 years of near total religious control of the collective thought,...
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...or wrong. Morals under the caring-healing practice cover the need to be empathetic, holistic when providing individualized care, dignity and being committed to caring and providing care that heals. Whether with a personal touch, sitting with someone, or just being in their presence, or visiting someone when you say you will visit them. The philosophy, theory and science that inform their creation and utilization cover a broad scope of things. Caring and healing should be based on health and wellness. There are things that need to be followed in the creation and utilization. People need to work with a disciplinary, collaborative team and work on the patient collective to cure and heal. The patient includes his or her family, along with the interdisciplinary team. This will establish values, beliefs, and professional standards that can be used to care for the patient. Science supports evidence based nursing care. With evidence-based nursing care is delivered, knowing it is effective and healing; should take place based on...
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...The decision to take prayer out of public schools has become one of the most controversial issues throughout our society. The argument of whether or not prayer should be allowed in public schools is still misunderstood. When determining whether or not prayer should be allowed in public schools, it is important to consider both the advantages and disadvantages. In our society, 90% of America’s youngsters attend public schools. The children that attend public schools come from homes that espouse a variety of religious and philosophical beliefs (www.au.org). The pros and cons of prayer in public schools are not a cut and dry issue. There are many avenues to this matter. Pros arguments that have been expressed by people that approve of prayer in schools argue to banish prayer takes away the student’s freedom and molds them to be like non-religious students (www.religioninschools.com ). One of the advantages of having a freedom of religious beliefs is that it allows everyone to believe and practice whatever they want. A rising number of school related problems such as alcoholism, drugs, and pregnancy has been issues that students deal with daily. These social issues would benefit by not only addressing personal needs, but by nurturing and strengthening things that are...
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...CAN PERSONALITY BE CHANGED?(summary) This article discusses about the role of beliefs in personality and change. In general people with malleable beliefs do better in all aspects compared to fixed believers. The author says that the malleable belief theory CAN be taught. She showed two examples (Identical twins cases of James Springer-James Lewis and Barbara Herbert-Daphne Goodship) of how certain things happen that makes people think that personality is planted in our genes and is not able to be changed. Beliefs are in fact an essential part of personality. In the study by Aronson, Fried and good, students were shown a film to teach them malleable belief theory. The film demonstrates how the brain is able of making new connections throughout the life and how it grows in response to intellectual challenge. They emphasized the students that brain is malleable and that intelligence expands with hard work. These students did well compared to other students in their semester activities. In the other example, when students were praised for their intelligence, they moved towards a fixed belief theory. This praise made them challenge-avoidant and vulnerable, such that when they hit obstacles their confidence, enjoyment, and performance decline. When students were praised for their effort or strategies (their process), they instead took on a more malleable theory. They were eager to learn and highly flexible in the face of difficulty. Expectations of positive or negative...
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...Knowledge and Justified Belief What is knowledge? This is the question we used to be sure of according to Plato’s theory of recollection, which tells that the knowledge is the justified belief; if this belief is true, then there is some fact make the proposition for this belief to be true; since the belief is justified by some evidence; therefore people comes up with the standard analysis of knowledge. This idea has been generally agreed till Edmund Gettier came up with the article questioning if knowledge is the justified true belief. Gettier provides two cases wherein intuitively the subject gains a justified true belief does not equal to knowledge. By contrast, Gettier’s arguments indicate the situation in which someone has a belief that is both true and well supported by evidence but fails to be knowledge. That is, it is sufficient and necessary to have belief, truth and justification to define knowledge as in classical theory, yet, the Gettier’s theory by questioning knowledge that justifiably believe one of the true proposition and dismiss the other is necessary and sufficient add-on to the classical theory to redefine knowledge. First of all, according to Plato’s theory of knowledge, that knowledge is justified true belief, or as Gettier concluded Plato’s classical theory of knowledge as: “ S knows that P if and only if P is true; S believes in P and S is justified in believing P” (Gettier 1). In the Meno, written by Plato, he believes that knowledge appears to...
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...It appears that the challenges presented by Gettier and others undermine or discredit the traditional definition of knowledge. If you are justified in holding a particular view or belief, then it would be justifiable for you to accept any statements of logic associated with that belief. Gettier’s belief that justified true belief may be necessary for knowledge, but not being sufficient for actually knowing seems to be a contradiction to me. Also, the simple fact that there is not a consensus on a solution to “The Gettier Problem” leads me to wonder if a solution actually exists. The concept of justified true belief is not a matter of knowing or not knowing, it addresses the difference of knowing and having knowledge. The vagueness of this idea has left many philosophers and epistemologists pondering the definition of knowledge. I will address the third solution given in this assignment. In this solution, it is suggested that justification be replaced with “something else”. I found this also to be a very vague response to the issue at hand. This concept is based on the use of cognitive processes in obtaining knowledge. . This solution also states that the Reliabilist does not find it necessary to know whether or not these cognitive processes are functioning properly. If one has no idea whether or not cognitive processes are functioning properly, how can one be certain of the knowledge obtained from the use of those processes? Even if this solution is accepted, who...
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...anthropological relativism, erthocentric is bad and tolerant behavior is good. Erthocentric means when you do not look outside your religion and you think that your religion is the best. The idea of erthocentric is hence considered as a vice while tolerance is treated as virtue. Some people think that tolerance is subduing and hence it means that you are submitting. It is right if you think it is right but wrong if you think it is wrong. Philosophical relativism asserts that it depends upon the person who is interpreting the truth. The second form is Descriptive vs Normative relativism. Descriptive relativism assumes that different cultural groups have different modes of thought and reasoning. But evaluating the validity of the principles and beliefs is not expected. Normative relativism claims that modes of thought, standards of reasoning are right or wrong relative to a framework. The pros and cons of relativism are very contradictory. For example, if everything is relative then Hitler's actions are not unjust. Most people will then not accept relativism. Relativism undermines morality. Relativism denies that harming others is wrong if a person thinks that it is good for him and that he will derive pleasure out of it. The majority of us believes that harming others is immoral. But in relativism, if an individual thinks it is wrong to harm others, the he may also think that it may be right to harm others, no...
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...identity, thus conveying some cultural subtleties, say, his likes and dislikes, his convictions and taboos. The example of Hippies and Yuppies comes readily to one’s mind. Their unconventional, rebellious dressing code, in a non-verbal manner, remained their counter-cultural manifesto. It is also true in the case of politicians and business people, whose clothing undoubtedly helps to differentiate them from those with different pursuits and occupations. With one’s dress, a sensitive, well-informed mind could also gather crucial information about the customs, beliefs and other cultural inclinations of the community the person lives in, though, in some cases，the knowledge thus gained might be insufficient, but certainly not dismissible. （如果字数多了，这个蓝色部分可以删掉）As we are invariably conditioned by our customs upon the very moment of our birth, we grow up to be little creatures of our communities and convictions. Their beliefs are our belief, their impossibilities our impossibilities....
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...Diversity Paper Psych 535 This will be a paper discussing different diversity perspectives. Each perspective will be an analyzed about diversity. Each perspective will also explain the implications of the diversity perspective on human behavior in the workplace environment. Two perspectives that will be addressed will be fundamental diversity and cultural diversity. Fundamental Diversity is described as being a type of diversity that consists of people who often have goals about the importance, purpose, and function of work, as well as the relationship between the individual employee and the greater organization, and fundamental beliefs that are different. (Heuberger, 2004). Cultural diversity is based upon the concept that cultural identities should never be ignored nor discarded, though instead they should be valued and maintained (Heuberger, 2004). Cultural Diversity Cultural diversity is based on the idea that cultural identities should not be discarded or ignored, but rather maintained and valued (American Multicultural Publications, 2007). The workplace can be considered an environment where several different backgrounds join together for one common goal. Cultural diversity can consist of a difference in national origin, gender, race, and other human aspects. Cultural diversity is not based solely on culture and other human aspect...
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...District of Tennessee and other counties nearby was presiding over the hearing. Messiah’s name change was part of the Judge’s case; however, the parents did not expect the first name to be changed. Judge Ballew ordered the name of the 7-month-old baby to be "Martin DeShawn McCullough" (Baldacci, 2013). The judge included the last names of both parents however, she left out Messiah. "The word Messiah is a title and it's a title that has only been earned by one person and that one person is Jesus Christ" Judge Ballew said (Baldacci, 2013). Jaleesa responded by saying, "I was shocked. I never intended on naming my son Messiah because it means God and I didn't think a judge could make me change my baby's name because of her religious beliefs" (Baldacci, 2013). When reporters asked the judge about common used name Jesus, she replied “that was not relevant” (Baldacci, 2013). The reliability, credibility and validity of the data. Judges of the United States take oath or affirmation before performing his or hers duties in office. They promise to faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties under the Constitution and laws of the United States. They also, instruct juries to decide cases without "prejudice, sympathy, fear, favor or public opinion" (Lavin & DiMichele 2013). In...
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