Analyzing Bertrand Russell Essay

I believe what Russell was stating was that we not only need to nourish our bodies, we also need to tend to our minds as well. We must be careful not to sink into monotony, because when we do we tend to fall back to the base instincts of operating on routine rather than using our minds. When this happens we risk starving ourselves intellectually. The whole basis of philosophy is that there is no right answer, philosophers debate and never come to any real conclusion. Basically the foundation of philosophy is the opinion of one or many, and when an answer has been validated, it shifts from opinion into fact. Once it becomes a fact, it falls into the science of facts vs falsehoods. One example would be the original thought of the sun revolving around the earth, at the time that was a Fact. After much research it became disputed and opinionated. Now, everyone knows for a fact that the Earth is revolving around the sun instead of vice-versa Is there a God? This question will remain insoluble because science cannot prove or disprove the existence of a higher power. Is there intelligent life in out there? This chance of this question being answered is relatively higher than the previous. But currently it is insoluble due to a lack of interest in that field. Is there an afterlife? This will be insoluble because it is impossible to discern due to it being impossible without experiencing it first-hand. What is the meaning of life? This question (for some reason) is on many peoples minds, but to most it will remain a mystery. When is the end? This day and age seems to be riddled with people who are doomsayers, who think they can see the apocalypse approaching. But in truth, no one knows how it will end, its all speculation. To me it sounds like Russell is attempting to explain that the journey through life tends to wear on most people, until they just shuffle from one day to the next, from â€Å"cradle to grave†. They ask no questions, have no wonderment at life’s mysteries, and are content to take things at â€Å"face value†. For those of us who look at life and question what they experience or see, it leads to discussions with others, which sometimes leads to conclusions. The apple falling on Newtons head (be it a metaphorical or a literal) led to the question of gravity and how it effects objects. Despite this question leading into a purely scientific/mathematical field, I still believe it was a philosophic question, as I am sure Newton discussed his ideas with his colleagues. This being said, I believe Aristotle said â€Å"The unexamined life is not worth living. † because to accept things that you see without question leads you down a very simplistic path with no knowledge gained, whereas a life full of questions and curiosities can open up doors, not just in an individuals life but in the lives of all mankind. It is this difference that makes a life worth living. In my opinion, Russell believed that a life boxed in by religious or political restraints on free thinkers stifles not only the individual, but humanity as a whole. The questions we pose to ourselves and others have potentially world changing effects, whether they be for good or bad. Comparing Bertrand Russell to Perictione is the common comparison of yin and yang. Bertrand seems like he wants the questions encountered through life to remain insoluble while Perictione speaks as if he wants to break down everything to its basic components and discover the truth in how they operate. The reason why I am studying philosophy is truly to cure me of my narcissism, things are very black and white to me and it is hard to see any shades of gray between the two. To me there is right and wrong, facts and fallacies, despite the fact that life and all things contained therein are rarely so simple. If I can break myself of this pattern of feeling like my opinion is superior to others then I feel like I can grow intellectually.

China vs. Rome Compare and Contrast

China and Rome China and Rome were astonishing civilizations that managed to advance technology and civilations. Both civilizations were rapidly growing and making changes to the world. The two cultures were pretty similar, yet very different. Their religions were something to be modest about. When it came to religion it helped the decline of both societies, by religion changing. When it came to technology though, its change is what caused the societies to flourish. As for education the both leaders of China and Rome worked on making it easier, evident from the letters, for common people to gain knowledge. Changing things in their kingdom clearly took time. With politics being something of a fight in many respects; came as part living in an ancient society. Peaceful changes in power was a rare occasion in Rome but, highly common in China. Both societies treated each other differently, no matter if it was regarding slaves, or women. The underclass was not treated well not out of hate but out of a well beaten attitude that whoever they were, somehow they were always better. Both societies were similar yet highly different it’s surprising how it came about. When two societies emerge like the Romans and Chinese, we would expect conflict, yet none came about, here is a look into both societies as truly empires. The Han China and The Roman Empire were well-organized bureaucracies. In Han China their government was based on Confucian ideas a main one of which was; that a ruler should learn self-discipline, should govern his subjects by his own example, and should treat them with love and concern. An example of this is in document four when it calls a governor â€Å"he was a generous man and his policies were peaceful. † This shows how clearly the people loved their emperor. While in all but the last few years of the roman rule the religion was very scattered. Due to the vastness of the Roman Empire uniting them under one religion was impossible. But one of the things that did spread was the idea that the Emperor was a god. No one ever came out and bluntly said it but a change in ideals that came with Christianity led to the famous saying of Emperor Constantine which was â€Å"I am simply the first among equals. † This truly represented a new era for Rome that helped lead to its decline. The politics of Han China were all about the good of the people. Showing this is in document one where it is said â€Å"and supply enough workers to those carry out the repair work in each district. † Clearly this document is showing a want of the work to be done, for the good of the people. While in Rome it seems the Emperor had less respect for his people when even one of his advisors writes â€Å"I do not believe that tools for the crafts were invented by wise men. †(Document 7) This total lack of respect for the common people is rather disgusting. Even though the two had different political philosophies, both managed control over their vast empires. In technology there is so much to be said for these two empires they managed to change the world with their developments. Rome had many technologies that gave new life to their capital. The first of which is aqueducts, â€Å"The abundance of water is sufficient not only for public and private uses and application but truly even for pleasure. † (Document 8) The point of this is that they had enough water coming into the city to do whatever they wanted to do. That’s how Rome ended up with so many fountains, bath houses and other water related activities. Another accomplishment of Rome is roads level, and strait. It took a long process of building to achieve what they did; making something rival to The Great Wall of China. Traditionally known to the Chinese as the â€Å"Long Wall of Ten Thousand Li†, the stretch of formidable defensive structures built to ward off invasion of the Celestial Empire by barbarians from the North. If all the fortified walls built in the different dynasties around northern China are included, the total length would exceed 31,000 miles. This is so long and large that the Great Wall of China can even be seen from space. When it came to water like the Romans Chinese were controlling it like putty in their hands. The main thing was the grand canal which brought water from one city to another and acted as a road way. The Grand Canal is the world's longest man-made waterway, being 1,800 kilometers long. The canal connects the present cities of Beijing in the north and Hangzhou in the south, which served as dynastic capitals in the past, and contains 24 locks and 60 bridges. Since most of China's major rivers flow from west to east, the fact that the Grand Canal runs north and south provides it as an important connector between the Yangtze River valley and the Yellow River valley. A good example of their care for water is in Document 1 â€Å"I request that you establish water conservation offices in each district and staff them with people who are experienced in the ways of water. † When it says this you can tell how much they care about the water. Both societies clearly had a good grip on the control of water, for their benefit and their pleasure. The last topic that shows the intellect of the people and the emperor, it seems that these peoples were highly intelligent. When you are looking at Document 5 it says â€Å"all craftsman spend their time in vulgar occupations; no workshop can have anything enlightening about it. I take this as the upper class looking down on what their lower class does to support their lifestyle. Slavery was commonly practiced throughout all ancient history, but no other people in history owned so many slaves and depended on them so much as the Romans. Many Romans had slaves do their dirty and hard work for them. These slave s were bought and sold in the slave markets. Some slaves were soldiers who had been captured in wars, while others were the children of slave parents. If they tried to run away, they were whipped, burned with iron, and sometimes even killed. Slavery was accepted as part of life in ancient Rome by the slaves themselves and by the society. Women were treated differently, as time went forward. When a young woman married in the early years of the Roman Republic she left her childhood home and the authority of her father and entered not only the home of her husband but his power and control as well. In law her status was not very different from that of her husband’s daughter. As Rome’s empire grew and more and more money poured in things began to change. Any amendments to the law probably seemed quite insignificant at the time they were made, but the reality of day to day life gradually began to transform the way society viewed women and the way they viewed themselves. By the end of the First Century women had achieved a level of freedom they would not see again in Western Society until the last half of the Twentieth Century. While in China slaves were less prominent in history, they were simply people with debts to pay off, and people who created with, in some cases their lives and blood and sweat the greatness that was ancient China. Women in ancient China were considered inferior to men. This meant that their whole lives were spent being subservient to the men in their families. Generations of one family often lived in the same house together and older people were greatly respected. It seems that even though there are changes to society over time both treated others in their society badly. Even with the greatest of technology some societies just have issues with the idea of equality. Even though the quality of life was a concern as shown in document 3 â€Å"later, water power was also applied, and the benefit was increased a hundredfold. † This truly shows an attempt on improving quality of life.

Family Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Family Communication - Essay Example When considering verbal messages, which helps family members to understand each other in a better light, it helps to build better relationships within the family. Current research carried out utilizes first person narratives and other family functions to analyze patterns of interactions carried out within the family.It also examines the communication processes of different family members in relation to its ethnic patterns, structure, and their progressive experiences which in turn affect and is affected by the society at large. Understanding the patterns of verbal messages within the family is a great asset to its members and this is partly achieved by understanding communication within the family because it is the communication that shapes and is shaped by family relationships. For example, a couple who attends marriage education classes would be in a better position to communicate with each other on a much better level both verbally and non–verbally. Therefore by changing th eir communication habits after marriage, it would have a major positive effect on their relationship, not only with each other but towards other members in thefamily. Another example of this would be of siblings growing close to each other when they lose both parents. They learn to communicate with each other verbally by sharing all their joys and sufferings even after they marry and move away from each other.Non-abusive parents use more verbal â€Å"time-outs, privilege denials, and explanation of consequences to discipline their children.

Life and Faith of Flannery O'Connor Research Paper

Life and Faith of Flannery O'Connor - Research Paper Example The influence had been developed with her participation in the Roman Catholic Church. 2. As a qualified social scientist, O’Connor used symbolism and imagery that had been developed in her creative aspect. She had been an amateur writer and editor who had started expressing her writing skills within the qualified agencies. 3. Majority of the scenes that she had created in her works had been from the Southern region where she had emanated from with the struggle between spirituality and unholy concepts. Conclusion: O’Connor had been an intelligent and creative writer who had used sharp imagery and symbolism in her works. The use of religious intuition and strange characters also generated the development in the plot within her short stories. Introduction In the development of any writing, the author depicts certain qualities to issue their identity. Flannery O'Connor had advanced the American literature style to include aspects that accorded the identity needed to advance the development of stories and literal skills. She also presented her literal skills in completing variable commentaries and followed the style in the Southern Gothic technique to include gross characters. The artist intuition to include religion and beliefs in their writings also favored the outcome that presented a distinct ploy development. O’Connor presented her faith in the writings that she completed that held the Roman Catholic beliefs. Most plots that had been developed predicted the beliefs of the author towards the societal setting. Apart from the entertainment provision of the literal works, the plot advanced served as sources of inspiration and educational lessons to the readers. O’Connor had been consistent in her writing to suggest the moral behavior in the society and present the adversity of faith in reconstructing the broken norms (Scott 61). Most of the stories that she had written sought to present reformations needed to create stability within the societal setting as she completed progress into a righteous individual. Through Flannery O’Connor’s short stories, the readers are able to gain incentive on her faith and the lifestyle that the she had upheld. O’Connor’s stories had been created to advance religious aspects to present God’s works within the societal setting. She had been an established Roman Catholic follower and had the knowledge that her readers had been from a wider religious setting. She had the knowledge that individuals shared varied faith and sought to present moral behavior in the completed writings (Kirk 125). She achieved the fete through completing plot development in holding shocking, with mostly chaotic and bizarre characters. She presented the regional context in the generation of the characters that were applied in a colorful and organized plot development. O’Connor polished the setting in her stories through rich symbolism and manipulation of the words that i ssued direct comparison with events in society (Orvell 128). She had advanced her efforts of developing her writing career through early education qualification in social science, while completing duties as the editor in her leisure time. Although she had suffered from lupus, she advanced the prospect of completing stories that explained the need to uphold the necessary moral standards in the society. The fictional writings had been completed to offer the needed measures to advance spiritual consideration as she

Trends of violence in juvenile crimes Research Paper

Trends of violence in juvenile crimes - Research Paper Example This paper investigates the current trends in violent juvenile crimes and its reasons. Criminal and violent activities among children are increasing day by day because of the changing life styles among children. Lack of parental care, drug and alcohol addiction, influence of print media, television and internet upon children were some of the main reasons for the childish offenses. Adult crime and juvenile crime are dealt separately by the court. For example, shooting and killing of another person by an adult and a juvenile will be considered differently by the court. â€Å"There are somewhere between 250,000 and 300,000 cases of child sexual abuse each year in the U.S.† (Understanding Juvenile Sex Offenders) â€Å"Juveniles account for about one-quarter of the sex offenses in the U.S.† (JONES, p.1) Most of the juveniles who suffered sexual abuse will hide it from the public view because of shame. Compared to adults, juvenile offenders are more dangerous since in most cases, their abusive behaviour will continue throughout their life span. Some of the juvenile crimes may not be much harmful to the society whereas some other crimes may be violent also. Gun usage is not controlled much in the American society and the juveniles are using it just like a toy in their hands. Even simple juvenile clashes result in shooting incidents which kill or injure lot of innocent people because of the immaturity. The accused terrorist, Mohammad Kazab, who has been caught alive from the recent Mumbai terrorist attack, has argued that he was not an adult, in the court where the trial of the Mumbai attack is going on. Whether it is right or wrong it is a proven fact that juveniles are currently engaged in more dangerous violent activities than before. AK 47 or Missile launchers are not a surprising thing for at least some of them. Reports from Sri Lanka have showed that the Liberation tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) have

Job Order Costing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Job Order Costing - Essay Example In job order costing, the key is that the work is done to the customers specifications. As a result, each job tends to be different in nature. Even if the job may seem to be exactly the same at first, often a customer will want a worker to do something different than what was originally thought to be done. For example, â€Å"job order costing is used for construction projects, government contracts, shipbuilding, automobile repair, job printing, textbooks, toys, wood furniture, office machines, caskets, machine tools, and luggage. Accumulating the cost of professional services (e.g., lawyers, doctors and CPAs), also fall into this category† (MAAW, â€Å"What Is a Cost Accounting System?†). Job Order Costing is used by companies where products or services are identifiable by individual units or batches—auto repair, tax return preparation, case in an attorney’s office, ship construction, etc. The costs attributable to a particular job are assigned directly to it. When a job produces a specific quantity for inventory, job order costing permits the computation of a unit cost for inventory costing purposes. When jobs are performed on the basis of customer specifications, job order costing permits the computation of a profit or loss on each order. Since costs are revealed as an order goes through production, these costs may be compared with estimates which were made when an order was taken. Job order costing thereby provides opportunities for controlling costs. It allows the person to help try to keep costs as stable as they can, yet still find a way to make a profit. This ability helps keep both the worker and customer happy, and helps promote a better relationship between the contractor or professional and the person who is paying for the work. This can also help keep costs low, because the customer does not need to pay for services they do not need, even if the professional is capable of doing them. This way, the

Book Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Book Questions - Essay Example The implication is that the world’s beautiful, precious and beautiful biodiversity get destroyed virtually every 20 minute. Since the trend of consumerism and therefore energy use is ever on the increase, biodiversity preservation measures must be taken to protect potential loss and extinction. Preservation of biodiversity, according to Friedman, is a duty that calls for multi-sectoral and multi-party approach, involving nations, corporations and individuals. World nations, led by the US have got a duty to reduce the use of carbon based fuels. In particular, they should construct an entirely new system of fuels that is clean, in the sense that they have no or little carbon emission, such as wind, solar and nuclear energy. These should be supplied to homes. The corporations have a duty to put measures calculated to minimize the use of carbon-based fuels, ensure efficient systems that do not blow much carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Individuals should also operate under minimu m energy use along reverting to environment friendly energy sources. Other than the loss of biodiversity, hot, flat and crowded world raise other ethical issues. ... In the long run, their (petrodicataors) pockets are unjustly enriched. Secondly, the energy crisis that characterizes the hot, flat and crowded eventually leads to wider gap between the rich (energy haves) and the poor (energy have nots) as the poor have their operations and daily life grounded due to escalated costs and energy scarcity. Finally, hot, flat and crowded world also disrupts sustainability of the environment for the future generation. As various corporations use carbon fuels, they emit more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, thereby raising the global temperature to greater heights. It means that the future generations will find the environment generally hostile for their living. And we are opening an ever wider gap between the energy haves and the energy have-nots, those who cannot take part in the â€Å"flat† world because they cannot switch on a light bulb, let alone a laptop. Friedman makes various arguments and suggestions to emphasize the importance of regu lation in reducing USA’s oil dependency. Freidman asserts that green-revolutionary regulations will be of essential to catalyze funding and development of petroleum free energy sources, such as wind, nuclear and solar. By adopting heavy carbon taxation or ensuring higher taxation of petroleum products, corporation that are responsible for heavy carbon emission will strive to revert to less carbon fuels. Individuals will also minimize energy use as they revert to using environment friendly fuels. Regulation would ensure that such desirable energy uses are fairly priced and affordable to many. Friedman’s suggestion is important considering that there are so many individuals who consume energy and if everyone was to cut-down energy use or lean much towards using