...In our last class we examined the argument of William Clifford, and William James. In this essay I will simply examine the two opposing sides. Clifford takes the side of Evidentialism. Evidentialism is the standing that for a belief to be knowledge, it must be supported by evidence. According to evidentialism, everyone has a rational and moral duty to believe only those claims that are supported by sufficient evidence. If a belief doesn't fit in with well established scientific beliefs or isn't discovered through normal scientific practices, then it isn't rational and doesn't count as genuine knowledge. On the other side is James, who believes in Pragmatism. In an essay entitled, Pragmatism's Theory of Truth James wrote ' Truth happens to be an idea. It becomes true, is made true by events. It's verity is in fact an event, a process: the process namely of its verifying itself, its verification. Grant an idea or belief to be true, what concrete difference will its being true make in anyone's actual life? How will the truth be realized? What experiences will be different from those which would obtain if the belief were false? What, in short, is the truth's cash value in experiential terms?' Clifford says that we harm ourselves and others when we do not question our beliefs. James argues that it is appropriate to resolve particular cases on non-rational grounds, as a matter of choice, passion, or volition. Religious choices are a perfect example. Clifford makes the point we have...
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...The informative and narrative essay “Can You Tell the Truth in a Small Town” by Kathleen Norris focuses on a small town community in the Dakotas in order to explain a bigger picture on how American society does not want to highlight failures and mistakes from the past. Norris conveys many individuals apart of this community have been trying to remember things the way they want to than how things actually are in reality, and therefore the community masks the truth and hides their history. On the other side of the spectrum, the informative and revealing essay “A Secret Society of the Starving” by Mim Udovitch validates the way individuals, especially young girls, engage themselves in dangerous activities and behaviors because of the familiar environment they have with others who can relate to them. Specifically in Udovitch’s essay, she targets a population of young girls who have an eating disorder and seek an emotional understanding within others on websites that promote an eating disorder community by sharing their experiences. Norris and Udovitch present different issues regarding communities in their essays, but they both explain that acceptance in American society affects how people cope with their problems, how they tell the truth, and what crucial details of their stories they leave out for others to hear. In both essays, females are pushed to follow their role in society if they want to fit in with the rest of their community. In Norris’s essay, she focuses on the expectations...
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...man. Bacon appears as a moralist in his essays, for he preaches high moral principles and lays down valuable guidelines for human conduct. Some of his essays show him as a true lover and preacher of high ethical codes and conducts. For instance, in “Of Envy”, he puts: “A man that hath no virtue in himself, ever envieth virtue in others.” Then, in his essay “Of Goodness and Goodness of Nature” he says: “But in charity there is no excess; neither can angel or man come in danger by it.” Again, he appears to be a lover of justice in his essay “Of Judicature”: “The principal duty of a judge is to suppress force and fraud.” In spite of all given examples, one cannot deny the fact that Bacon was a “Man of Renaissance”. He had a deep insight in human nature. He knew that man is naturally more prone to evil than good. He was a clear-eyed realist who saw the weakness in human nature and drawbacks of human conduct and also knew that man is not capable of acting according to noble set of ‘ideals’. Though Bacon’s morality was greater than that of average man’s, yet it was not of the highest order. The matter of good and right was important for him but not if it proved too costly in worldly terms. On one hand, he preached high moral principles and on the other hand, he also expressed a mean capacity by compromising upon those morals for the sake of worldly success. For this reason, William Blake, a spiritual poet says about his essays: “Good advice for Satan’s Kingdom.” ...
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...media, he will be criticized for using rhetoric, meaning that he has distorted the truth in order to persuade people to his side of an issue. Because of this definition of rhetoric, some may question whether this style of writing should be taught in an academic writing course. On further investigation however, the term rhetoric is confused with the term sophistry which actually does mean “persuasion aimed only at the appearance of truth” (Crider 4). Rhetoric, on the other hand, is a valuable and worthy art of truthful persuasion that uses contexts and strategies to convince others to agree with the author’s...
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...it. I never acknowledge it whatsoever.”- Malcolm X. Slavery is one of the biggest wounds that have never fully healed and thanks to some very brave and important people, slavery has been abolished and it was because people like both Thomas Clarkson and Olaudah Equiano were abolitionist writers, Thomas Clarkson was able to bring the truth of slavery to the forefront of people minds as he was working hard to help abolish slavery, Olaudah wrote a biography about himself and it details what happened to him as a slave and how he was able to change his life after he bought his freedom; Thomas Clarkson was able to write his essay and be able to prove his findings because he traveled 35,000 miles interviewing both the slave owners and the slaves. Slavery will never be banished from our hearts and souls because it left such a jagged scar, but some of the people who were brave enough to face the injustice helped soften the blow. Thomas Clarkson and Olaudah Equiano were both abolitionist writers, Clarkson with his essay and Equiano with his biography. Thomas Clarkson wrote an essay titled “Essay on Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species.” In his essay he describes what it is like for the slaves to be taken from their home “Has traveled a considerable way. He loved a great distance from hence, and had a large family, for whom he was daily to provide. As he went out one night to a neighboring spring, to procure water for his thirsty children, he was kidnapped by two slave hunters, who...
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...Social Justice Essay Ashley Seeram Most will agree the public needs an educational system beneficial to all, but many people have different opinions on how this can be done and what a beneficial educational system is. There are groups that say division says privatize education, and another group of people who believe charter-schools are not the solution to this problem. Is it important to give the public an option to what they want or need? This question is something really makes you think and wonder about what the public really needs. This essay will discuss the possibilities and that there isn’t a right answer. In the documentary Waiting for Superman, the public education system is viewed as broken. He dubbed the system as drop-out factories; claiming that children are sent in but aren’t given the proper materials or knowledge to complete school. These actions (or lack of actions) lead to a cycle of poverty and crime. In the documentary it is shown that the problem has a solution, also known as charter-schools. According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary it is a school that is established by a charter, it is run by teachers, parents, etc., and uses tax money but does not have to be run according to the rules of a city or state. In simple terms it is a type of private school that has way more resources and material that is beneficial to children and their education. It is shown that through longer school days and unique lesson plans Charter-schools showed greater test scores...
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...Dr. Faulkner AP Language (4) 22 October 2012 The Humor of Vegetarianism In Laura Fraser’s passage, “Why I Stopped Being a Vegetarian,” the author compiles her personal motives and detachments on the controversial topic of vegetarianism. To make the essay more compelling, Fraser adds a touch of humor that transforms the writing into a light and whimsical piece. The passage, in turn, is positively impacted as the humor in Fraser’s essay relays an informal, personal tone that captures readers with the vernacular casualness of the style as well as appeals to a plethora of differentiating personality groups. Fraser’s humor in the essay also highlights the human’s mindset including the issues in our thought process and decision making. Laura Fraser’s sense of humor completely changes the mood of the piece, and after all, when does humor not change the mood? Fraser’s comical style contradicts the seriousness of the topic to the point where the reader feels as though they are reading a personal entry rather than a dry, dull political document on the views of vegetarianism. In many occurrences, the author will ask rhetorical questions to offset what the conflict is. For example, when discussing how far utilitarianism can stretch to compensate for the negative effects, Fraser asks herself, “Wont free range do?” (548). The author fully knew that even buying and consuming free range chickens opposed her views as a vegetarian, yet she attempted to justify herself with a settlement...
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...heryl Strayed is American memoirist, novelist, and essayist. She was born on September 17, 1968 at Spangler, Pennsylvania. She graduated from the University of Minnesota, where she earns her bachelor with a double major in English and Women's Studies. Later she received a Master of Fine Arts in fiction writing from Syracuse University. Strayed was a guest editor of The Best American Essays 2013. Her essay won her a Pushcart Prize. She qualifies a lot about this subject because of her extensive knowledge with English and women. Strayed travels to all over to writer’s retreats and seminars also. She served on the first board of directors for Vida: Women in Literary Arts and has been active in many feminist and progressive causes. She does give...
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...Sartre explains in his essay that there have been many charges against existentialism. For example, he mentions that existentialism has been charged with the problem of welcoming individuals to remain in, what Sartre describes, as a desperate quietism (9). As Sartre mentions, existentialism has come under fire from multiple groups. The previously mentioned charge comes from the communists, but other groups, such as the Christians, lay charges against existentialism as well. What seems to be one of the main goals of Sartre with this essay is to address these charges against existentialism. The basic charge, as he puts it is that existentialism has a focus on the dark side of human life (10). However, what Sartre wants to get across is that the...
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...Waite and Maggie Gallagher and “Why I want a wife,” by Judy Brady, speaks about marriage. Though their narratives is about marriage they both speak differently of it. Of the two readings, I preferred "The Case for Marriage" because the essay echoes my beliefs on marriage also, getting married supports my Catholic beliefs. "The Case for Marriage" is a preferred reading than "Why I want a wife" for the reason that, firstly, Waite and Gallagher have effective examples and secondly, the essay is not bias. Every lawyer has to have evidence to prove cases. Just like lawyers Waite and Gallagher used evidence to prove their case. Effective examples enhance the reading and adding examples helps make ones point across. For example, Waite and Gallagher used statistics in their essay to show the readers that they are passionate on what they are speaking about; they did studies to assist their point to be more effective. "According to a study we did, of those men who ever married or are divorced only 60 percent will still be around...90 percent of the married men will survive...90 percent of married women will reach 65, compared to 80 percent of single and divorced men," they write (Waite and Gallagher, 105). I believe that statistics are helpful their essay because it helps convince people why one should get married, it did for me. Even though, “The Case of Marriage” has used effective examples to prove their case, "Why I want a Wife" does not. Brady has no proof that every man thinks the...
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...Xi Chen 355:100:GL Prof. Budd 28 Jan 2014 Essay #1 FD Millions years ago the world started with what scientists believe to be, the "Big Bang". Yet in a believer's eyes, the first living organism is created by the god that they worship depending on his belief. However, no matter how the world starts, thousands of different species live on the same planet, and share a single universe. The ending point of fighting over if evolution is true seems unreachable and the reason is what’s called “Survival of the Fittest”. Only the better one, the stronger one can survive. The same principle can also apply to an idea, or any ideas. In Jane Goodall’s essay “In the Forests of Gombe”, she tells the readers her own experiences when lives in a forest with chimpanzees, and her thoughts about religious beliefs and science. Jane Goodall believes that science, true knowledge is not the only part of the world, perhaps only a small part of the world, and religious beliefs are another way to explain the mysteries of life. In the world of science, god is like a joke, because it is against every pieces of the information that they study since no evidences can prove that god exist. On the other hand, a religious person believes the existence of god. It really is not important who is right or wrong in this case. They are all human and living together. Science and religions are both telling the truth of life, but in a different form. Science is direct, it tells one the lesson right away...
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...In the essay “Speaking in Tongues”, Zadie Smith identifies a common problem in society. People always think about voices as singular or unchanging, but in truth everyone has a multiple voices. That’s a problem because society’s perception and the reality don’t fit. Distorted reality has always been a source of difficulties for different societies. It’s important for society to avoid blind acceptance to “Truths” that are far from reality. In the beginning of the essay Smith describes how her voice changed as she moved in a different environment. At first, she spoke both her new voice and old voice, but later she unintentionally became single-voiced. However, the reader isn’t quite convinced about Smith’s single-voiced nature when she introduces...
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...gradually changed over the last few decades. Female representation (or should I say: underrepresentation) in video games has, for a long period of time, been a heavily debated and controversial issue, with the most trending argument being that the portrayal of female video game characters, as well as the treatment of female gamers, is frequently sexist. One of the prominent literatures that keenly scrutinizes the culture of video games and its effect on the social construct is Maja Mikula’s essay “Gender and Videogames: The Political Valency of Lara Croft”. In her essay, Mikula accuses video games of poor portrayals of gender and being extraneously violent. She writes, “Her body is excessively feminine-her breasts are massive and very pert, her waist is tiny, her hips are rounded and she wears extremely tight clothing (9)… she is clearly shaped by the desire to embody male sexual fantasies… (15)”, questioning whether “Lara Croft is a (genuine) feminist icon or (mere) sexist fantasy” (181). On the flip side, Lara is also depicted as intelligent, articulate, strong, and defeats enemies who are largely male, and many video games enthusiasts would argue that Lara Croft is actually a symbol of strong independent women and a role model for women. To begin let’s first take a quick and brief overview of who Lara Croft is. Lara Croft is the...
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...more they know about using of lying because telling the truth cannot always solve the problem. From the point of view, some lying is acceptable, some is not. It depends upon what purposes that make people tell lies. The first point to note is that although telling lie is easy to get things in the short period of time, it will create a bad impression on the next generation as well as it does not give any benefit on long way. For example, if you tell some lies to the children such as smoking doesn't effect on everyone around, what will they learn in their future? It is dangerous for everyone too aware of wrong way because of adult. Another point they would like to mention is that if they always cheat others many times, one day lie will befall upon anyone and will lose prestige in relationships. The story telling about a shepherd rearing the sheep is typical example. It cheats villagers many times that there was wolf on the hill. When they run to save it but found no wolf, they became angry with it. And then when the wolf really came, no one bothered it. Finally, the wolf attacked it sheep and also killed the boy. It was due to the own sin that the boy got the kill. On the other hand, in some situations, telling the truth leads to more bad than good. So with this lying is used will make others in the relationship feel better about themselves. Women these days are very self-conscious, and do not want to hear the truth that they are not as attractive as they used to be. When...
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...Society Short Essays Week One Describe a situation of public interest in which critical and/or creative thought could have been used for a better outcome. Describe why it is important to think critically and creatively in similar situations. One situation that comes immediately to mind is the phenomenon of climate change we are currently dealing with and how we are woefully unprepared to cope with it. If critical and/or creative thought had been used by all concerned, instead of fear and denial, we would be in a better position to handle and curtail these climate changes. When the data that pointed to human-induced climate change first was made public, it seemed that fear and hysteria was the common theme in most discussions of the problem. It has gotten better in recent years but it may be a case of too little, too late. It is important to think critically and creatively because it helps you to see the whole picture. When you think critically, all sides of the problem such as history, a source, a context are considered making a realistic and effective solution to a problem more likely. Define free will, truth, knowledge, and opinion. Explain how we use them to form thoughts. What role does each play in critically assessing situations? We have free will when we have the freedom of self-determination, action and ability to make choices. If the choice is consistent with a person's desires and nature then it is representative of a person’s free will. The truth is absolute...
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