...Emil Fackenheim No philosopher or theologian has written as extensively or as feelingly about the Holocaust as has Emil Fackenheim. Having experienced life in a camp, Fackenheim, seemingly out of a sense of compulsion, has tried to grapple with the overwhelming events of the death camps in order to draw some meaning from them for post-Holocaust Jewry. In a series of essays, and especially and most clearly in his God's Presence in History (1970), Fackenheim has tried to find a way to avoid both the absolute faith of the pious who do not see any special problem in the Holocaust and those like Rubenstein who argue that the only reasonable conclusion to be drawn from Auschwitz is the "Death of God" and the ultimate absurdity of history.22 If the former alternative blasphemes against Hitler's victims, the latter blasphemes against the God of the victims. Both victims and God have to be held together in dialectical tension after Auschwitz; neither can be devalued without resulting distortion and loss of truth. To keep God and Israel together is the demand of Jewish theology; it is still an imperative after the Holocaust; the problem is how it is to be effected. If Rubenstein's solution of Jewish communal existence without the God of historic Judaism is no answer, what then is the answer? Fackenheim's reply is both subtle and difficult. He is adamant in his refusal to allow any theological explanation of the Holocaust. In no sense, he argues, can any particular theodicy be propounded...
Words: 2209 - Pages: 9
...Nature versus Human: Analysis of Bishop’s “Seascape” Barbora Kolísková ILS 6 December 2013 Jennifer Yaros claims that one of the ways that Bishop portrays the status and emotions of an outsider is by using nature and not only this but also with picturing humans as an interfering feature in nature. In “Seascape” Bishop uses religious allusions to make the distinction between the world of the nature and men more clear. The portrait of human as an unnatural part of the landscape reflects Bishop’s childhood and consequential feeling of homeless. The feeling of homeless is rooted in her miserable childhood: her father died before she was a year old and her mother couldn’t cope with and became insane. She had to be hospitalized in mental hospital and Bishop was then in the care of her paternal grandparents who moved quite a lot and her feeling of homelessness remained with her until she moved to Brazil in nineteen fifties. The poem “Seascape” is most probably describing the landscape in Key West where Bishop occasionally lived in thirties and forties. The proof of this can be found in the fourth line where it mentions a mangrove island, mangrove plants being found in the tropics and subtropical areas. Concerning the structure of the poem it has 23 lines of free verse. Visually the poem is coherent but on closer inspection it is obvious, that it is split into more substructures. The first part consists basically only of one sentence of thirteen lines. The use of no full...
Words: 1676 - Pages: 7
...concerning the nature of reality, being, or existence Ontology 0 Why is there something rather than nothing? 1 Is it possible that there was a time before now when absolutely NOTHING existed? 2 What is ultimately (or REALLY) real? [Appearance -v- Reality] 3 Is reality fundamentally one or many? [Monism -v- Pluralism] 4 What, if anything, endures through change? 5 Is reality primarily material or spiritual (or mental)? [“Materialism” -v- “Idealism”] 6 Is the “external world” objectively real, or is its existence mind-dependent? If the latter, what mind is it dependent on? My mind? Your mind? The divine mind? 7 Is there a “supernatural” reality, or is nature “all there really is”? [Naturalism -v- Supernaturalism] 8 What is the difference between necessary and contingent being? Is there a necessary being? Is there only one necessary being? Philosophical cosmology 9 What is the cosmos made of? How is it structured? 10 Did the cosmos come into being? If so, how? 11 Will the cosmos cease to be in the future? If so, what does that mean for us? 12 What are the philosophical implications of scientific answers to cosmological questions? Philosophical theology (and the philosophy of religion) 13 Does God exist? [Theism; Atheism; Agnosticism] 14 What is the nature of God? 15 What about the existence of evil (pain, suffering, and disorder)? How can evil exist in a world created and governed by an all-knowing...
Words: 1306 - Pages: 6
...Question: 1 Abstract This paper examines the polemical issues in the application of literary theories to the field of literature and literary criticism. Out of the several modern approaches to literary criticism as employed by the critics, four literary theories are strategically chosen for analysis in this paper; Formalism, Structuralism, Post-structuralism/Deconstruction and Marxism. This work is objectively carried out by consulting articles, journals and books written on the literary theories. The opportunity of information technology via the internet is also utilized. It is established in the course of writing this paper that literary theories are indispensable tools for literature to achieve its goal of sensitizing its audience towards literary awareness. The application of literary theories to literature, that enhance better and detail insight into text or literary works, would continue to be relevant and make literature more enjoyable and meaningful to its readers and users. Further research and enquiry into the relationship between the two (literature and literary theory) is open and should further be exploited. Keywords: literary theory, literary criticism, Marxism, Formalism, Structuralism, Post-structuralism Introduction Literary criticism is the study, evaluation and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often informed by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of its methods and goals. Though the two activities are closely...
Words: 2949 - Pages: 12
...Dream Perspectives Scott M. Standen Helga Parker November 28, 2011 Abstract This paper will explore the three perspectives of dreaming. The psychoanalytic perspective, the cognitive perspective and the biological perspective. The psychoanalytic perspective, as conveyed by celebrated neurologist and founding psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, is examined through his literary work The Interpretation of Dreams. This book serves as the basis of the psychoanalytic perspective which the other perspectives will be set against. The cognitive perspective will be viewed through the writing of David Foulkes in his book Dreaming: A Cognitive Psychoanalytic Analysis and the biological perspective will be discussed through the writings of Drs. Allan Hobson and Robert McCarley of Harvard University. Through these sources it will be shown how the perspectives relate to one another so that a basic understanding of them can exist in the scientific community. The recorded history of dreams dates back to 3100 B.C. through clay tablets describing the story of king Gilgamesh who reported his recurring dreams to his goddess-mother Ninsun, who made the first known dream interpretation (Seligman, 1948). Babylonians and other ancient cultures divided dreams into good ones that came from the gods and bad ones that came from demons (Oppenheim, 1966). Various other ancient cultures believed dreams to...
Words: 2182 - Pages: 9
...Excerpted from Critical Companion to the Bible a Literary Reference Reading the Bible as Literature The Bible was written by many human authors, some of whom are known with certainty and some of whom are disputed. What is more, if you were to ask believing Jews or Christians, they would name a different author of the Bible: God is said to have “inspired” the writing of the Scriptures. The Bible is a religious book, not just for one community of faith, but for several: Jews and Christians of different denominations, including both Catholic and Protestant traditions. These groups disagree as to which books actually belong in the Bible. In addition, over time, several different approaches to interpreting the Bible have been developed by these groups. In this volume, the Bible is examined mainly from a literary point of view. A literary approach to this unique book, however, will only be successful if we are conscious of the fact that it is not to be judged according to the rules of modern literature but rather as a document of the ancient Near Eastern and Jewish-Hellenistic cultures. One Book, Many Books: Which Texts Belong to the Bible The Bible is not a single, unified work but a compilation of individual texts commonly called books. Which books belong to the Bible? This question is answered differently by different religious communities. The Hebrew Bible is the Holy Scripture of the Jews. It contains books originally written in the ancient Hebrew and partly in...
Words: 4457 - Pages: 18
...The Concept of Nature in the Poetry of William Wordsworth and Robert Frost : A Comparative Study Chapter One Introduction 1. Background Poets have long been inspired to tune their lyrics to the variations in landscape, the changes in season, and the natural phenomena around them. The Greek poet Theocritus began writing idylls in the third century B.C.E. to glorify and honor the simplicity of rural life--creating such well known characters as Lycidas, who has inspired dozens of poems as the archetypal shepherd, including the famous poem "Lycidas" by John Milton. An idyll was originally a short, peaceful pastoral lyric, but has come to include poems of epic adventure set in an idealized past, including Lord Alfred Tennyson's take on Arthurian legend, The Idylls of the King. The Biblical Song of Songs is also considered an idyll, as it tells its story of love and passion by continuously evoking imagery from the natural world. The more familiar form of surviving pastoral poetry that has retained its integrity is the eclogue, a poem attuned to the natural world and seasons, placed in a pleasant, serene, and rural place, and in which shepherds often converse. The first eclogue was written by Virgil in 37 B.C.E. The eclogue also flourished in the Italian Renaissance, its most notable authors being Dante and Petrarch. It became something of a requirement for young poets, a form they had to master before embarking upon great original work. Sir Philip Sidney’s Arcadia and Edmund Spenser’s...
Words: 6645 - Pages: 27
...Part 1 1. What is Philosophy? Quite literally, the term "philosophy" means, "love of wisdom." In a broad sense, philosophy is an activity people undertake when they seek to understand fundamental truths about themselves, the world in which they live, and their relationships to the world and to each other. As an academic discipline philosophy is much the same. Those who study philosophy are perpetually engaged in asking, answering, and arguing for their answers to life’s most basic questions. To make such a pursuit more systematic academic philosophy is traditionally divided into major areas of study. Source: http://philosophy.fsu.edu/content/view/full/36588 2. What are the benefits of Studying Philosophy? Studying philosophy improves reasoning and critical skills. Skills gained by philosophy majors are useful in almost any career. * The ability to think logically * The ability to analyze and solve problems * The ability to assess proposed solutions * The ability to write and speak clearly, attending to details Students learn about questions. How to ask good questions and distinguish the worthwhile from the worthless questions. How to divide, prioritize, and simplify questions. Students are affected by learning about questions. * Studying questions liberates us from prejudice * It helps us to think independently, thus, promoting autonomy, self-government, and individuation * It broadens our perspective on life The study of philosophy benefits students intellectually...
Words: 8049 - Pages: 33
...Metaphysics From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to:navigation, search This article is about the branch of philosophy. For the work of Aristotle, see Metaphysics (Aristotle). |Philosophy | |[pic] | |Branches[show] | |Aesthetics | |Epistemology | |Ethics | |Logic | |Metaphysics | |Social philosophy | |Political philosophy | |Eras[show] | |Ancient | |Medieval | |Modern | |Contemporary | |Traditions[show] | |Analytic | |Continental | |Eastern | |Islamic | |Marxist | |Platonic | |Scholastic | |Philosophers[show] | |Aestheticians | |Epistemologists...
Words: 48829 - Pages: 196
...R AJA Y OGA rajyaeg S WAMI V IVEKANANDA CELEPHAÏS PRESS Issued by Celephaïs Press, somewhere beyond the Tanarian Hills (i.e. Leeds, England), August 2003 E.V. Revised and corrected, November 2003. This work is in the public domain. EACH SOUL IS POTENTIALLY DIVINE. THE GOAL IS TO MANIFEST THIS DIVINE WITHIN, BY CONTROLLING NATURE, EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL. DO THIS EITHER BY WORK, OR WORSHIP, OR PSYCHIC CONTROL, OR PHILOSOPHY, BY ONE, OR MORE, OR ALL OF THESE—AND BE FREE. IS THE WHOLE OF RELIGION. DOCTRINES, OR DOGMAS, OR RITUALS, OR BOOKS, OR TEMPLES, OR FORMS, ARE BUT SECONDARY DETAILS. THIS PREFACE SINCE the dawn of history, various extraordinary phenomena have been recorded as happening amongst human beings. Witnesses are not wanting in modern times to attest the fact of such events, even in societies living under the full blaze of modern science. The vast mass of such evidence is unreliable, as coming from ignorant, superstitious, or fraudulent persons. In many instances the so-called miracles are imitations. But what do they imitate? It is not the sign of a candid and scientific mind to throw overboard anything without proper investigation. Surface scientists, unable to explain the various extraordinary mental phenomena, strive to ignore their very existence. They are, therefore, more culpable than those who think that their prayers are answered by a being, or beings, above the clouds, or than those who believe that their petitions will make such beings...
Words: 64342 - Pages: 258
...62118 0/nm 1/n1 2/nm 3/nm 4/nm 5/nm 6/nm 7/nm 8/nm 9/nm 1990s 0th/pt 1st/p 1th/tc 2nd/p 2th/tc 3rd/p 3th/tc 4th/pt 5th/pt 6th/pt 7th/pt 8th/pt 9th/pt 0s/pt a A AA AAA Aachen/M aardvark/SM Aaren/M Aarhus/M Aarika/M Aaron/M AB aback abacus/SM abaft Abagael/M Abagail/M abalone/SM abandoner/M abandon/LGDRS abandonment/SM abase/LGDSR abasement/S abaser/M abashed/UY abashment/MS abash/SDLG abate/DSRLG abated/U abatement/MS abater/M abattoir/SM Abba/M Abbe/M abbé/S abbess/SM Abbey/M abbey/MS Abbie/M Abbi/M Abbot/M abbot/MS Abbott/M abbr abbrev abbreviated/UA abbreviates/A abbreviate/XDSNG abbreviating/A abbreviation/M Abbye/M Abby/M ABC/M Abdel/M abdicate/NGDSX abdication/M abdomen/SM abdominal/YS abduct/DGS abduction/SM abductor/SM Abdul/M ab/DY abeam Abelard/M Abel/M Abelson/M Abe/M Aberdeen/M Abernathy/M aberrant/YS aberrational aberration/SM abet/S abetted abetting abettor/SM Abeu/M abeyance/MS abeyant Abey/M abhorred abhorrence/MS abhorrent/Y abhorrer/M abhorring abhor/S abidance/MS abide/JGSR abider/M abiding/Y Abidjan/M Abie/M Abigael/M Abigail/M Abigale/M Abilene/M ability/IMES abjection/MS abjectness/SM abject/SGPDY abjuration/SM abjuratory abjurer/M abjure/ZGSRD ablate/VGNSDX ablation/M ablative/SY ablaze abler/E ables/E ablest able/U abloom ablution/MS Ab/M ABM/S abnegate/NGSDX abnegation/M Abner/M abnormality/SM abnormal/SY aboard ...
Words: 113589 - Pages: 455
...Copyright Salman Rushdie, 1988 All rights reserved VIKING Published by the Penguin Group Viking Penguin Inc., 40 West 23rd Street, New York, New York 10010, U.S.A. Penguin Books Ltd, 27 Wrights Lane, London W8 5TZ, England Penguin Books Australia Ltd. Ringwood, Victoria, Australia Penguin Books Canada Ltd, 2801 John Street, Markham, Ontario, Canada L3R 1B4 Penguin Books (N.Z.) Ltd, 182-190, Wairau Road, Auckland ro, New Zealand Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England Published in 1989 by Viking Penguin Inc. For Marianne Contents I The Angel Gibreel II Mahound III Ellowen Deeowen IV Ayesha V A City Visible but Unseen VI Return to Jahilia VII The Angel Azraeel VIII The Parting of the Arabian Seas IX A Wonderful Lamp Satan, being thus confined to a vagabond, wandering, unsettled condition, is without any certain abode; for though he has, in consequence of his angelic nature, a kind of empire in the liquid waste or air, yet this is certainly part of his punishment, that he is . . . without any fixed place, or space, allowed him to rest the sole of his foot upon. Daniel Defoe, _The History of the Devil_ I The Angel Gibreel "To be born again," sang Gibreel Farishta tumbling from the heavens, "first you have to die. Hoji! Hoji! To land upon the bosomy earth, first one needs to fly. Tat-taa! Taka-thun! How to ever smile again, if first you won't cry? How to win the darling's love, mister, without a sigh? Baba, if you want to get born again...
Words: 195828 - Pages: 784
