..."Ultimately, all human beings share core universal values, and apparent differences are merely variances of practices or interpretation." The Pursuit of Universal Shared Values Throughout the twentieth century, philosophers have struggled to understand the nature of human morality, namely, the underlying values that form it. Which factors form the basis of our conception of what is ‘right’ and ‘wrong’—‘good’ and ‘bad’? Do we all share certain values, or some approach, that helps us come about our moral judgments? Is there a universal ‘good’ and ‘bad’? This is really the crux of it, is it not? This essay will present the argument that the pursuit of human happiness—or at least perceived happiness—is the only value that can be considered universal amongst all human beings, and that the differences and conflicts between us stem from different interpretation’s of happiness and the means that should be taken toward its actualization. That is to say that something is ‘good’ to the extent to which it enables perceived happiness, or, disables a lack of perceived happiness. The universality of this value will be suggested to extend to all sentient beings, regardless of human intelligence and the capacity to reason. This essay’s thesis is in agreement with the proposed statement that, “ultimately, all human beings share core universal values, and apparent differences are merely variances of practices or interpretation,” however not to the extent that the ideas of philosophers John...
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...independence, the allowance to mass success, and the vouchsafed of contentment. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, the rights that have been bestowed upon us; they are the utmost essential rights that have been gifted to us by simply being an American. The works of, “The Declaration of Independence,” drafted by Thomas Jefferson, the self-liberating essay, “Salvation,” penned by Langston Hughes, as-well-as, the continuous resurging classic, “The Great Gatsby,” written by F. Scott Fitzgerald all share a common factor. These analects not only render on how we are entitled to these essential American rights but how we are given the opportunity to practice them freely...
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...beings are those which correspond to the activity of a perfect and blessed man. Section 6: Let us review what has already been said about happiness. Happiness is an activity of some sort which is chosen for its own sake and is self-sufficient. Actions according to virtue are chosen for their own sake. Happiness is not found in amusement, for it would be absurd to argue that the goal of a person's life and work is amusement. Rather, amusement is chosen for the purpose of relaxation, which is necessary to enable a person to engage in serious work. Everything is thought to be chosen for the sake of something else except for happiness. A happy life is a life according to virtue. Section 7: Since it has already been established [in Book One] that happiness is an activity according to virtue, it is reasonable to posit that it is an activity according to the highest virtue, which would be an activity corresponding to the best part of man. The activity of the intellect is the best human activity, since it corresponds to the highest part of man, is concerned with the best objects, is the most continuous activity, is self-sufficient, and is loved for its own sake. Everything attributed to a blessed man seems to exist in the activity of the intellect, which is contemplation. A life of contemplation, then, would be the perfect happiness for man. Such a life is above man, for it is...
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...Outline Kant: Basic definition and Ideas Mentions that good will, virtue of freedom are essential in obtaining happiness. Claims that establishment of a good will: shaping important desires, and attaining reasons for a good will is a process of striving for satisfaction. Very introspective to sensibility: Will is more valuable in making decisions than decisions under natural phenomenon. (Practical reason vs. Rational reason) Morality First Proposition of Morality: The relationship between duty and inclination: inclination has more personal connection and motivations which make the decisions and actions more introspective, which is why we need a strong will. Decisions can be moral if people do not perform actions under what they are told but truly become introspective about what they have in mind. Second Proposition of Morality: Duty lacks personal responsibility and thus, it cannot be understood as having followed by material principle. Third Proposition of Morality: Similar to the above: duty does not have a full account of respect, therefore does not require personal commitment into thinking under morality Mill: Basic definition and Ideas: Mentions satisfaction level, yet happiness are ultimately due to pride and dignity. Happiness cannot be measured under any quantity terms and each type of happiness is different. Happiness is the absence of pain and pleasure and unhappiness is deprivation of pain and pleasure. He also believes that people should enjoy...
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...the essence of what this essay is going to cover. Disagreement opens room for questioning and reasoning.. In order to make the knowledge question that entitles this essay easier to understand, the “pursuit of knowledge” needs to be defined. The pursuit of knowledge is a famous term to define the inherent concept of humanity’s constant desire to know more. Personally this topic appeals to me as I have seen the substantial curiosity that children possess, but I believe this thirst for knowledge is very limited. All children want to hear is an answer, but they don’t question the sources or ask to see the evidence. When I noticed this trait in young children, I had an epiphany that if our global society followed this childish outlook on the world, the world and the education system wouldn’t be the same. I will elaborate upon two possible perspectives towards this question; either you believe that disagreement does aid the pursuit of knowledge or you believe that it doesn’t. I will demonstrate both perspectives by analyzing how the roles of logic and emotion help gain new knowledge in the sciences. Ideally the role of logic is applied towards the natural sciences, and the human sciences use emotion as a way of knowing. I believe that disagreement in the natural and human sciences opens up the opportunity to question what has been asserted, in order to ameliorate our current Truths, but there are cases where this same disagreement rather hinders the pursuit of an “underlying truth”...
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...Definition Essay I believe that being an American is being free and not getting forced to do anything or getting told what to do constantly. Being an American should be one of the greatest things you could ever do , you're never forced to do anything you don't want to do you are always free. Being an American means that you are always free and that you account for yourself. You don't have to agree with what the government says every time. We just get life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness being an american . Americans should have pride living in this country because not alot of people get the freedom we have a lot of other countries have to go by rules all the time and get told what to do. Being an american also means. Have independence...
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...The pursuit of happiness is the end all be all to our society. It is unlikely that we will do anything unless it makes us happy. Because happiness and its definition are so widely debated and thought provoking, it is no wonder that a mind such as Aristotle undertakes the task of writing about happiness. What we come to find in Book One Nicomachean Ethics is that Aristotle ultimately defines happiness as function. However, in this definition comes two major questions: Why does function equate to happiness and how can we even be sure that humans have a function? In this essay I will prove that happiness is the end that human function strives towards, and, by showing why Aristotle’s argument does not evoke the fallacy of composition, that humans...
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...The offering for today, a short essay. *** What is life, but the pursuit of happiness? It’s written into any human rights document and has a place in every democratic state’s declaration of state. “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” is a well known and used phrase today. A happy human being is a productive human and if we are all to get along in this world we all need to chip in somehow. Contributing so that we might all have a happy and fulfilling life. Sadly, though happiness is seen as a basic human right by many, it is one thing to write something down and quite another thing to see it happen in practice. Though the comparison might not be the best, it is somewhat the same with communism. On paper it is a wonderful idea, but it has never been fully and successfully applied in our lifetime. Same thing with the idea of happiness for all. Sometimes I wonder, if happiness has not become a harder thing to achieve in our modern society, where we want to do so much, so many different things, achieve so much and contribute to society…While also feeling happy and fulfilled with our lives. Some might feel that happiness is tied to love. Tied to having someone special in your life, to share your long years with. From that we get the stress created by hunting for that special someone and the disappointment when you come up short in the dating game. With a much larger pool of people to chose from, it somehow becomes worse. Back in the old days, we stayed put in one city...
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...Beliefs such as all people are equal, their natural rights, and the government’s role in its citizens lives was the foundation to building the United States the world knows today. The focal points in their two documents are almost exactly the same; Locke emphasizes people’s natural rights in the statement “that being all equal and independent, no one ought to hurt ones life, liberty, or property", while Jefferson highlights them by saying “they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness." It is commonly speculated that Jefferson’s first draft of Declaration of Independence actually copied Locke verbatim by saying “life, liberty, and property”, rather than “pursuit of happiness”. While this has never been proven, it shows how Jefferson utilized Locke’s...
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...Introduction This essay seeks to analyse the use of mise-en-scene in one of the early scenes in the film American Beauty, directed by Sam Mendes. Mise-en-scene, a French term translated as "putting into the scene", refers to properties of a cinematic image that exists independently of camera position, camera movement, and editing. The story centres on Lester, played by Kevin Spacey, a father who is experiencing a mid-life crisis. Despite employing a traditional Hollywood plot structure that focuses on a problem and a protagonist’s quest in resolving the issue, the film is special. The problem in the film is special as it is Lester’s entire state of life – his unhappiness and dissatisfaction of the way things are in his life. The film’s theme centres on the definition of happiness, more specifically in the context of the American Dream. The characters of the American Beauty seem to have confused material well-being with happiness. The plot is pushed by the main protagonist, Lester, in trying to find meaning and happiness in his life that was before dictated by the American expectation. We will be looking at the second scene of the film, which begins when Lester enters Brad’s office to discuss his performance at work. Brad is the company efficiency expert who was recently hired. The scene will be discussed separately based on two different locations. The essay will examine the use of settings, costume and make up, staging, lighting and lastly the use of space and time for each...
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...Brandin Harvell English 111 Definition Paper Have you ever wondered why so many famous and rich people are stressed and unsure of the meaning of their life? The media has basically brainwashed us to believe that being successful involves having a lot of money, living in a huge house, have new sports cars. Even dictionary.com says success is “the attainment of wealth, position, honor, or the like” but this really isn’t the case. (Dictionary.com) Success is really based on ones aspirations which aren’t always about money. In this essay I’m going to talk about the deeper meaning of success. So what is success? For me success involves respect, appreciation and happiness. These traits are considered hard to attain. But in today’s world success is deceived in our thoughts to become rich. The media wants us to believe that being successful involves living in a self-centered life, in which involves nothing but the pursuit of riches. They say this will bring you happiness but this is not true. Money is simply like a new toy that eventually gets boring. Don’t get me wrong money can buy you luxuries, and might make your life easier but will it really make it better? No. For existence money can’t make somebody educated in a field; that can only come with hard work and dedication. Also money can’t help you solidify a long –term relationship with your boyfriend or girlfriend only thing that can do that is love and commitment. (Sasson) The terms respect, appreciation, integrity...
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...Final Essay Both Kant and Aristotle discuss their own interpretations of what morality is and what it looks like. They have very different ways of looking at what it means to act morally and what needs to be done to achieve morality and how happiness factors in to morality however. Aristotle believes that the end goal of morality is happiness. Happiness is the “final end” to all moral actions, it is the thing all humans are striving for even subconsciously. It is the final end because all actions lead to happiness, but happiness can only lead to itself, you build a ship to travel, you travel to trade, you trade to make money, and so on until you reach happiness but there is nothing greater than happiness. Aristotle reasons that since happiness...
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...3/5/15 Mr.Bannecker Ms.Jacobs Mariah Williams Gay Rights Research Essay Many people are brought up to believe that marriage is the union of man and woman in love and that's it. But to me there is much more to that I believe that marriage is a symbol of your commitment to your soul mate Beyond the boundaries of a regular relationship. So what's your definition of marriage? For many years people have argued that marriage is and always has been about uniting the two sexes and linking mother and father to child. That allowing gay couple to marry will only destroy and redefine the definition of marriage and for anyone to say different is wrong. When really the best definition of marriage is the one that most marriages people sign up for the second they say those magic words "I do".Extending the boundaries to include gay couples doesn't weaken it but in fact reinforces that definition, and for anyone to say that the Supreme Court should leave the question of marriage equality to the political process of the states is like saying states should remain free to discriminate. To impose such pain and humiliation on gay families is unconstitutional, it did not tolerate it with respect to bans on interracial marriage.So why is it different now?...
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...IB Diploma Programme Theory of Knowledge Essay Topic: Can we know when to trust our emotions in the pursuit of knowledge? Consider history and one other area of knowledge. Candidate Name: Akanksha Vardhan Candidate Number: 002602-064 School Name: BD Somani International School School Number: 002602 Word Count: 1597 Can we know when to trust our emotions in the pursuit of knowledge? Consider history and one other area of knowledge. Bertrand Russell, the 20th century British philosopher, once said, “Man is a credulous animal, and must believe something; in the absence of good grounds for belief, he will be satisfied with bad ones.” [1]In our daily conquest to acquire “justified true belief”, [2]it is important that we are aware of the ‘good’ and ‘bad’ influences that contribute to the experience, the pursuit of knowledge, in a way that we are able to consciously weigh the validity of our knowledge claims. Many romantic writers and poets in the early nineteenth century emphasized the importance of emotion in making sense of the world. John Keats once said, “Axioms in philosophy are not axioms until they are proved upon by our pulses” [3] referring to the superiority of our core emotions (happiness, fear, anger, surprise or even disgust) - the strong feelings deriving from our moods, circumstances or relationships with others[4], in gaining an accurate picture of the truth. However, is it possible that the ‘truth’ itself is more complex and what...
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...Khizer Awan AP LIT Frankenstein Literary Analysis I Must Know More Frankenstein written by Mary Shelley is a romantic era novel based on the theme of knowledge. The word “knowledge” reoccurred many times throughout Frankenstein and forced the reader to understand the definition of it. According to Webster’s Dictionary, knowledge is defined as “Knowledge: n. Understanding gained by actual experience; range of information; clear perception of truth; something learned and kept in the mind.” The word knowledge is very simple, but has different meanings to all of us. Knowledge is the tool we use in making proper judgement. Knowledge is an extremely powerful thing and it must be used wisely and properly. Carelessly using knowledge can cause terrible consequences. The novel, Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, is a novel that has many comparisons of powers in life. It pertains to many themes in society today. Frankenstein contrasts science, technology, life and death, and most importantly knowledge and ignorance. It shows the consequences of knowledge in both negative and positive ways. In Frankenstein, three characters searched for one thing - knowledge. Unfortunately the results of their search differed from what they had anticipated. Walton, blinded by ambition, believed that search for knowledge on the route to the North Pole would bring fame to his name, but he quickly learned that he ended up only with the danger to the lives of his crew. Frankenstein, driven by passion...
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