Authors Conceptions of Human Nature Essay - 3901 Words

Authors Conceptions of Human Nature Philosophers, politicians, and writers throughout all of the western world and across all of our written history have discovered the importance of knowing human nature. Human nature is responsible for our definitions of abstract concepts that are surprisingly universal across the western world like justice, equity, and law. Human nature must also be carefully studied in an effort to understand, obtain, or maintain power within society. Finally, human nature must also be carefully understood so as to protect it from being manipulated and to understand its place in society. In ancient Greece, Aeschylus sought to define for the people of Athens the part of human nature that necessitates†¦show more content†¦During the course of this struggle, the Furies argue that the actions of Orestes must be answered, because consequences must be established for all punishable actions in order for a society to remain stable. This need arises out of a basic understanding of human nature: people often only act justly out of fear. The Furies remind Athena of this common behavior among humans: Here is overthrow of all the young laws, if the claim of this matricide shall stand good, his crime be sustained. Should this be, every man will find a way to act at his own caprice; over and over again in time to come, parents shall await the deathstroke at their children’s hands. (Aeschylus 152) The Furies disregard Athena’s plea for understanding when reaching justice, instead, they reason that when crimes remain unpunished, all people will lose their fear of committing similar actions and will discontinue acting responsibly because there will be no consequences. Athena agrees with the Furies and asks the question, â€Å"What / man who fears nothing at all is ever righteous?† (Aeschylus 160). Athena then gives justification to the system of justice of the Furies and allows them to be part of the justice system in Athens: â€Å"Such / be your just terrors, and you may deserve and have / salvation for your citadel, / your land’s defence† (160). Aeschylus moves from a traditional justice system, the Furies, to the widely accepted justice system ofShow MoreRelatedPlatos Views on Life after Death1388 Words   |  6 Pagesdestined to go on somewhere in some state of being. In just what sort of way the soul would endure was a matter of question, i n which at various points in his career as a writer Plato offered different accounts. Yet the most consistent part of this conception of the authors was the fact that the soul was everlasting. One of the positive effects of such a belief regarding the soul and its existence after the bodys physical death is that it can serve as motivation to lead a virtuous life. This factRead More1 Introduction. Causation In The Law By Hart And Honorà ©1501 Words   |  7 Pagesyet not so far as to make them necessary and sufficient conditions of responsibility. However, the authors are only able to reliably discuss the role that causation plays in legal decision-making having first described a â€Å"common-sense† conception of causation, typically utilised by lawyers and historians. In Chapter 5 of The Cement of the Universe, John Mackie describes their â€Å"common-sense† conception of causation as â€Å"one of the best ordinary causal concepts†, Mackie focusing on Hart and Honorà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s accountRead MoreLiberalism And The Ethical And Logical Level Essay1332 Words   |  6 Pagesconcept is often used in critiques of multiculturalism and collective rights mov ements. We will be discussing the theories of some liberal authors such as John Rawls, Locke, Mill, Nozick, and Waldron among others whose philosophies clash on the ethical and logical level. We will discuss the following proposal; ‘’the government can no more act†¦ to advance human excellence, or the values of perfection†¦ than it can to advance Catholicism or Protestantism, or any other religion’ (John Rawls). We willRead MoreSummary Of Rachel Golds ConceivingPregnancy?1399 Words   |  6 PagesChristopher Gacek, author of Conceiving â€Å"Pregnancy†, starts by refuting Rachel Gold’s definition of ‘pregnancy’. Gacek talks about how since the 1960s, there has been the lack of common ground that people can agree to be the beginning of pregnancy for a woman; the two opposing sides argue that pregnancy begins either at fertilization, fusion of sperm and egg to form a new zygote, or at implantation, when the zygote implants itself into t he lining of the woman’s uterus, which happens roughly a weekRead MoreA Critical Evaluation Of The Universal Nature Of Human Rights1329 Words   |  6 PagesA CRITICAL EVALUATION OF THE UNIVERSAL NATURE OF HUMAN RIGHTS INTRODUCTION Human Rights are the rights, that are considered to be inalienable, inseparable and vested upon individual by virtue of being human. For example, the Oxford English Dictionary defined the universal nature of Human Rights as ‘a right which is believed to belong to every person’. The aim of this essay is to critically evaluate the universal and relative nature of human rights postulated by the eminent scholars, who haveRead MoreDo Not Stand at My Grave and Weep760 Words   |  3 Pagessubjects on the feeling before death. These two masterpieces tell the audience the special feeling before death. â€Å"Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep† and â€Å"Seasons in the Sun† differ in emotion, rhetorical device and structuring techniques and artistic conceptions. First of all, â€Å"Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep† and â€Å"Seasons in the Sun† employ different rhetorical device and structuring techniques in order to apply a deep impression to the audience. It is very clear to find out that Frye applies the echoRead MoreCritically Engage With Hannah Arendts Humanistic Approach On Political Action1743 Words   |  7 Pagesuniversal attributes shared by every human. I will to this with the aim of placing Arendt’s humanism with the latter. For the second half of this essay I will develop a focused analysis on Arendt’s conception of â€Å"political action† critically engaging this with concerns raised by Dan Stone regarding Arendt’s potential â€Å"ethnocentricity.† I will do this with the aim of displaying an understanding of what is a vital tenet of Arendt’s humanistic approach to the human condition. I will conclude this essayRead MoreThe Enlightenments Eras Most Notable Thinkers1684 Words   |  7 Pagesengendered some of the thoughts that are directly responsible for contemporary social, political, and religious institutions. This epoch, along with the Renaissance, helped to spur Western Civilization out of the Dark Ages and into contemporary conceptions of modernization. Not surprisingly, this time period is characterized by a number of different seditions and the revolutionary tenets that fueled them which were markedly at variance with social, political, and religious notions that preceded themRead MorePerfection, An End Or Then End1523 Words   |  7 Pagessituational perfection of the species. Darwin’s belief of the attainability of situational perfection is a separate subject to explored at a different time. Darwin’s idea of perfection is being defined here as situational because the species adapt in nature to be the most efficient within a particular environment and need to change as the environment changes. He does not describe species adapting to be the most efficient in every environment and confines them to a specific situation. The goal or endRead More The Romance of Travel Essay examples1504 Words   |  7 PagesThe Romance of Travel Romance, as it confirms human agency with regards to understanding the world and organizing ones existence, is an enabling genre. Northrop Frye identifies romance in its questing, adventurous, persistently nostalgic, and perennially child-like quality as the nearest of all literary forms to the wish-fulfillment dream (186). Arguably, many of the texts that we have examined over the course of the term can be understood as (more or less) participating in the affirmative

Synthesis Essay Vincent Lombardi - 1876 Words

Synthesis Essay – Vincent Lombardi MSgt Corey N. Riley Air Force Senior Noncommissioned Officer Academy Instructor: MSgt Jerome Clark Vincent Lombardi â€Å"I believe that man’s greatest hour, in fact his greatest fulfillment, his finest fulfillment—is that moment when he has worked his heart out for a good cause and lies exhausted, but victorious, on the field of battle (Lombardi, 2001, p.46).† These are the words of Vincent Lombardi, perhaps the greatest football coach of all time. Lombardi’s leadership philosophy emphasized the importance of winning†¦striving for perfection, but not at all costs (Lombardi, 2003, p.ix). He believed in â€Å"being a person of character, finishing what you start, never compromising your goals, and†¦show more content†¦Finally, I will share how Lombardi’s leadership bears personal relevance and illuminates my own personal growth as an ethical leader. Coaching professional football was Vincent Lombardi’s lifelong goal. His passion and drive laid the foundation for his visionary leadership; when he signed on as the head coach and general manager for the Green Bay Packers he had a clear vision for the future (Buckman, 2002). Visionary Leader Vincent Lombardi was a visionary leader with one goal, to inspire the Green Bay Packers to become America’s greatest football team. He would achieve this goal by communicating his vision, developing his players to be the best at their specific role, and empower them to own their own success. â€Å"Immediately upon his arrival in Green Bay, Lombardi held a team meeting and announced, He would have no tolerance for the halfhearted, the defeatist, the loser. The goal was to be the New York Yankees of football. World champions, every day, year-around. Admired everywhere. No more T-shirts on the road. Team blazers and ties for everyone. Wherever you go, you represent the team. You will talk like, you will look like and you will act like the most dignified professional in your hometown. Relentless in the pursuit of victory. Only-winners. Anyone who didn t like it was perfectly free to get the hell out right now (Buckman, 2002, p.10-11).† This was a

Free Enterprise in United States Free Essays

â€Å"Work hard, save your money, and you can become wealthy – or, at least, â€Å"independent! † This is the motto of old-fashioned, â€Å"free enterprise. † It expresses the idea that everybody in a capitalist society can participate and compete on the same terms with similar chances of success. It implies that the working class is just a collection of individuals who have not yet established their independence (worked their way up) through â€Å"individual initiative,† rather than a being permanent class. We will write a custom essay sample on Free Enterprise in United States or any similar topic only for you Order Now In the early 19th Century, most Americans (including Abraham Lincoln, for instance) believed this. They thought opportunities under capitalism would keep expanding forever. But what is the reality behind this capitalist thinking? In the past, working people in America have had more opportunity to go into business or to get land for farming than anywhere else in the developed world. At the time the U. S. Constitution was written, it was generally assumed that only property owners should have the right to vote and participate in government. The â€Å"Free Labor† thinking of the Republican Party before the Civil War was basically a form of the capitalist work ethic. It meant that if 1) you were free yourself; 2) your country was â€Å"free†; and, 3) there was no slave labor to take your livelihood, you could â€Å"make something of yourself,† and become a capitalist or, at least, an independent producer, professional or artist. Americans in the North at that time were influenced by this capitalist â€Å"work-ethic† to under-estimate the energy of the South. They thought (as the capitalist â€Å"work-ethic† would lead them to believe) that the poverty and economic decline of the South were probably due to laziness and that this indicated that the North should be able to easily defeat the South. But the Civil War proved that Southerners were not â€Å"lazy;† it was the slave system (lacking science and industry) that caused many of the economic problems there. The capitalist â€Å"work-ethic† also caused Northerners to overlook the only chance for real progress in the South during the â€Å"Reconstruction† — taking of the lands of former slave-owners, and their distribution to Blacks and poor Whites. They assumed, as did Abraham Lincoln, that anyone with ambition would simply work his way up. They could not understand that capitalism naturally limited opportunities, because the majority would have to be workers, not capitalists. With no land or other economic basis to start from, most workers in the South would have no way of lifting themselves from poverty. Strong competition with other capitalists, who are constantly trying to gain a larger market by offering a cheaper product, forces the beginner to keep putting everything back into his business. He must invest in more modern equipment in order to be able to produce more cheaply with higher quality, and on a larger scale. He must do this in order to improve his product or services, and also capture a larger share of the market, until he has reached a level where there is no immediate threat of being put out of business by his competition. This means having the most modern machinery and getting the most productivity out of his workers. This huge need for capital also forces the capitalist to rely more and more on third parties. Making the capitalist borrow from banks to keep his capitol at a safe amount. They simply hire employees to make all the management decisions, design and develop the product, etc. Free enterprise† thinking forgets that a worker has only his labor-power to sell in order to earn his living. He competes with other workers to sell his labor-power at the cheapest price. The average price of labor-power (the worker’s wages) is the amount that it takes to â€Å"make ends meet† under the given social settings in a country. The laws of economics determine that if the worker works faster, he creates a cheaper product. But this eventually cheapens the amount which the capitalist must pay him in wages because there are always unemployed workers somewhere willing to work for the bare necessities. Working faster increases competition without increasing their earnings. Because of these realities, workers learn to â€Å"work smart† according to their own understanding. Working smart for the worker means withholding his labor power, working more slowly and learning the tricks of the trade, better known as bargaining. These things raise the price of his labor-power. This in turn forces the capitalist to concentrate more on improving productivity through better machinery and production processes in order to increase his profits. How to cite Free Enterprise in United States, Essay examples

To Kill a Mockingbird by the author Harper Lee Essay Example For Students

To Kill a Mockingbird by the author Harper Lee Essay To Kill a Mockingbird is a book written by the author Harper Lee and these past few weeks my classmates and I have been reading the play version of this book, which has been dramatized by Christopher Sergel. Even though we have read the play of To Kill a Mockingbird and not the book I still feel that it covers all the themes, characters and issues that Harper Lee included in her book. A Mockingbird doesnt eat up peoples gardens or nest in corncribs, all they do is sing their hearts out for all to hear and enjoy. They are harmless. At the beginning of the play Jean, who plays older Scout, tells us of how her father Atticus asked Scout and her brother never to kill a mockingbird. Even though there are no actual mockingbirds included in the play there are many characters who I feel Harper Lee uses to symbolize the inner mockingbird in people. To Kill a Mockingbird tells the story of the citizens of Maycomb, Alabama from the eyes of a young girl named Scout who is the daughter of the local lawyer Atticus Finch. Lately the Finch family have had their named slandered about the community as Atticus has taken on the case of a negro man named Tom Robinson and is actually trying to win his case. Even though slavery had been abolished in the southern states for many years many people still act as though negro people and their associates were of a lower standard and class than themselves. Atticus Finch is a middle-aged father of two who was widowed a sort time after his daughter Scout was born. He was a quiet and well-mannered man who was quite highly regarded in the community until the time of the Tom Robinson case. Atticus isnt like most fathers in the neighbourhood. He enjoys reading, has a middles-class job and never takes part in the local father/son activities, to his son Jems dismay. Atticus is one of the central characters in the play and throughout the play he seems to give the impression that he is the odd one out in the town. Many of the Maycomb residents are very racist towards black people but Atticus has a very polite approach to all people including negros. I believe that Atticus symbolizes the people of the 21st century as we can relate to Atticus actions as most of us are not racists also. Atticus main scenes are also the most crucial scenes in the play like the court scene where Atticus stans up for Tom Robinson and humiliates Bob Ewell and his family. The angry mob gathered outside the jailhouse is also a scene where we see Atticus personality in full light. Altogether Atticus is a great character who heps us understand and appreciate people in those times. Scout and Jean are another pair of main characters in this play. Scout is the daughter of Atticus Finch and the story is shown for her point of view throughout the play and Jean is an older version of Scout and she is the narrator of the play. We first meet Scout in the first scene of the play where she is informing Clapurnia (a negro maid) that she is not coming inside as she is waiting for Atticus. This shows how stubborn Scout can be and when Atticus does come home she quizzes her father on his wok as children at school have been teasing her because her daddy defends niggers which highlights her innocence towards the world of racism. This is also shown in the angry mob scene where she doesnt seem to twig why Mr Cunningham and the other men are confronting her father. Scout is a very lively character and without her or Jean the play would not work at all. .uedf20a1cc4f14dbd1fffb9bbe8545351 , .uedf20a1cc4f14dbd1fffb9bbe8545351 .postImageUrl , .uedf20a1cc4f14dbd1fffb9bbe8545351 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uedf20a1cc4f14dbd1fffb9bbe8545351 , .uedf20a1cc4f14dbd1fffb9bbe8545351:hover , .uedf20a1cc4f14dbd1fffb9bbe8545351:visited , .uedf20a1cc4f14dbd1fffb9bbe8545351:active { border:0!important; } .uedf20a1cc4f14dbd1fffb9bbe8545351 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uedf20a1cc4f14dbd1fffb9bbe8545351 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .uedf20a1cc4f14dbd1fffb9bbe8545351:active , .uedf20a1cc4f14dbd1fffb9bbe8545351:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uedf20a1cc4f14dbd1fffb9bbe8545351 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uedf20a1cc4f14dbd1fffb9bbe8545351 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uedf20a1cc4f14dbd1fffb9bbe8545351 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uedf20a1cc4f14dbd1fffb9bbe8545351 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .uedf20a1cc4f14dbd1fffb9bbe8545351:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uedf20a1cc4f14dbd1fffb9bbe8545351 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uedf20a1cc4f14dbd1fffb9bbe8545351 .uedf20a1cc4f14dbd1fffb9bbe8545351-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uedf20a1cc4f14dbd1fffb9bbe8545351:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: The key features of gothic literature EssayIn conclusion To Kill a Mockingbird is an amazing play and I cannot wait to read the book which hopefully cover each topic found in the play more thouroghly.