Reflection of Aristotle Essay - 999 Words

Reflection of Aristotle Aristotle believed that the goal of all human life is to achieve ultimate happiness. Happiness is the final Utopia or the end of â€Å"a life worth living.† Human instinct is characterized by achieving personal fulfillment, thus leading to happiness. Aristotle warns against going astray and â€Å"preferring a life suitable to beasts† by assuming happiness and pleasure are equal. Living a life preferred by beasts incapacitates a person from achieving the end Utopia. Even though Aristotle does not equate the two, he does stress that minimal pleasure is required to achieve happiness. Someone lacking in vital necessities such as food, clothing, and shelter are not capable of achieving happiness due to their lack of pleasure.†¦show more content†¦A moral person will make choices out of good faith; choosing what is good for the sake of being good. Moral choices must be done voluntarily not by coincidence or ignorance. Someone cannot be deemed a hero due to their own mishap. Someone accidentally going the wrong way down a one-way-street blocks a get-away car from passing. The traffic-violator cannot take credit for stopping the criminals due to coincidence by his default in directions. Actions done by ignorance cannot be rationalized to be substantially moral. A person may act by reason of ignorance or act in ignorance. Acting by reason of ignorance is done by acting on good intentions without realizing potential danger and does not exempt a person from morality. A nurse distributing milk to patients may give a lactose intolerant patient chocolate milk instead of soy milk not realizing that the chocolate milk will make the patient sick (which she would definitely loose her job). The nurse had good intentions but she fell short and caused more damage. Acting in ignorance cannot be justified to due incapacitation or other unusual circumstances. A drug user cannot justify a bank robbery because of the voices in his head. If he would not hav e participated in drug use then the voices would not have told him to rob a bank. Actions done due to fear or accident are exempt from the moral realm. Aristotle taught that a virtuous person must obtain both dimensions in order to achieveShow MoreRelatedWhat We Don t Talk About Service1324 Words   |  6 Pageseudaimonia, as the ultimate goal of a good and successful human life, achieved through habitual practices of moral virtues. Unlike a contemporary understanding of happiness (a type of feeling), happiness to the Greeks was an â€Å"activity of soul† - a reflection of a person’s position in the community and mindfully acting to live in a good way (happiness as an action). In â€Å"What We Don’t Talk About When We Don’t Talk About Service,† Adam Davis discusses a modern application of these â€Å"good† actions usingRead MorePlato Vs. Aristotle On Observational And Deductive Reasoning1139 Words   |  5 Pagesthe attention of notable figures such as Plato and his pupil Aristotle. Although both Plato and Aristotle shared many similar notions of order and an eternal universe, their methods of inquisition as well as their theories of reality and truth vary significantly. This difference would eventually lead them to develop vary different notions of real knowledge. Plato primarily focusing on theoretical and mathematical proofs while Aristotle on observational and deductive reasoning primarily in the fieldRead MoreGreek Philosophies Impact On The Early Development Of Christian Thought1348 Words   |  6 Pagesuse of Aristotle in the formation of the Christian mind. Aristotle, a Greek philosopher, believed that all humans had a purpose and that the purpose was for the greater good. However, the good life or the blessed life for Aquinas and Augustine was heaven. For Greek thinkers like Aristotle or even Plato, human actions derived from reason, rationality, and intellect. Christian thinkers like Augustine saw ph ilosophical reflection as a complement to theology. Those philosophical reflections were basedRead MoreAristotles Contributions to the World: An Analysis1368 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿Aristotle Aristotle Introduction If liberty and equality, as is thought by some are chiefly to be found in democracy, they will be best attained when all persons alike share in the government to the utmost. Law is order, and good law is good order. Man is by nature a political animal. ~Aristotle Philosophers, historians, scientists, politicians and other professionals across many disciplines consider Aristotle to be one of the greatest and prolific figures of the civilization of AncientRead MoreAbsolute Realism Vs. Hylemorphism1309 Words   |  6 Pagesless valuable in modern times, as two of the most eminent ancient thinkers in the history of philosophy, their works continue to have great historical value. In the realm of metaphysics, Plato and Aristotle are both regarded as realists, and their philosophical ideas hold some similarities, but Aristotle is more considered as â€Å"moderate realist,† compared to Plato as an â€Å"absolute realist.† Generally speaking, Plato’s interpretation of â€Å"what is real,† reflected in his absolute realism, differs fromRead MorePlatos Allegory of the Cave1521 Words   |  7 Pagesrelation to the theory of the Divided Line. This essay will analyze major points in The Allegory of the Cave and see how it rel ates to the Theory of the Divided Line. Also, this essay will attempt to critique the dialogue from the point of view of Aristotle, Plato’s student, using his theories and beliefs. In the beginning, Plato states that there are a group of people sitting in a cave who face a wall and cannot turn around or move. Behind them is a fire and a curtain, behind which are people whoRead MoreOedipus Rex As Modern Tragedy : Catharsis Or Cognitive Emotion883 Words   |  4 Pagesof harrowing events set in motion by the Gods and unwittingly furthered by the actions of the king. Aristotle believed that Oedipus Rex was the prime example of the tragedy; however, modern readers might entertain that the play is unworthy of such praise. In this paper I will put forth the argument that Oedipus Rex, though heartfelt, no longer meets the requirements of tragedy as defined by Aristotle and that, rather than engendering catharsis, the work exemplifies a near-inevitable decline in theRead More The Perspective of Plato and Aristotle on the Value of Art Essay1372 Words   |  6 PagesThe Perspective of Plato and Aristotle on the Value of Art    As literary critics, Plato and Aristotle disagree profoundly about the value of art in human society. Plato attempts to strip artists of the power and prominence they enjoy in his society, while Aristotle tries to develop a method of inquiry to determine the merits of an individual work of art. It is interesting to note that these two disparate notions of art are based upon the same fundamental assumption: that art is a form of mimesisRead MoreSimilarities Of Plato And Aristotle1617 Words   |  7 PagesPlato and Aristotle made and still have make a huge impact upon mankind, which makes people question their original values.Although Aristotle and Plato had many distinctions both of them impact many different arguments referring to the important components of life.. The two philosophers were crucial to the development of rethoric and made a big impact on society.. Although most of the attitudes towards them where indisputable, many citizens did not agree with them changing peopleâ₠¬â„¢s perceptions, fearingRead MorePhysics by Aristotle Essay547 Words   |  3 PagesPhysics by Aristotle Aristotle begins by describing the meaning of the words â€Å"nature† and â€Å"natural.† He identifies the meaning of each, and also explains some common phrases which include each of the words. He says all natural things have a principle of motion and of stationariness. He also says that natural things are composed of stone, earth, or a mixture of the two. According to him, artificial products do not possess the source of their own production. For example, the nature

Global Warming And The Climate Change - 1740 Words

By 2014, about 81% of the total 98.3 quadrillion Btu of energy used are produced by burning petroleum, natural gas, and coal in the United States (US EIA). Could you imagine how much greenhouse gases are produced in the energy extraction process, and how could these gases intensify global warming and climate change? In Naomi Klein’s book, This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs the Climate, Klein describes climate change as a catastrophic crisis that the whole world is encountering. Hundreds of cities are threatened by rising sea-levels, wildlife are in danger due to disruption of ecosystems, more extreme heat waves are recorded, all of these are essentially catalyzed by climate change. Klein blamed on capitalism, an economic model used by†¦show more content†¦As evidence of climate change become more conspicuous and understandable, many suggestions were offered by scientists, politicians, and journalists to fight for it. One of Klein’s ideal approaches to tackl e climate change is that the government should tell the industry that â€Å"we will support you, but only if you support the communities from which you profit, by providing well-paying local jobs, and sourcing your products locally† (126). However, no matter how much money a person has, one barely invests all of it solely to one aspect of interest, as most of us have a lot to take care of in life—family, residence, properties, friendship—while we have limited time and money. This is the same for corporations which are all managed by humans, who choose what to invest on for maximum profit. They do not make non-profitable investment which involves a too broad range of business, including both renewable and non-renewable industries. Consequently, the non-renewable employment sector must decline in response to the cooperation between companies and the government to provide more renewable jobs. According to the official statistics on the Bureau of Labor Statistics, t he fossil fuel business—extraction, manufacturing and supply of coal, gas and oil—employs more than 2 million people in the US by January 2016 (U.S. BLS). In

Zoe’s Tale PART I Chapter Four Free Essays

Let me tell you about that jade elephant. My mother’s name – my biological mother’s name – was Cheryl Boutin. She died when I was five; she was hiking with a friend and she fell. We will write a custom essay sample on Zoe’s Tale PART I Chapter Four or any similar topic only for you Order Now My memories of her are what you’d expect them to be: hazy fragments from a five-year-old mind, supported by a precious few pictures and videos. They weren’t that much better when I was younger. Five is a bad age to lose a mother, and to hope to remember her for who she was. One thing I had from her was a stuffed version of Babar the elephant that my mother gave to me on my fourth birthday. I was sick that day, and had to stay in bed all day long. This did not make me happy, and I let everyone know it, because that was the kind of four-year-old I was. My mother surprised me with the Babar doll, and then we cuddled up together and she read Babar’s stories to me until I fell asleep, lying across her. It’s my strongest memory of her, even now; not so much how she looked, but the low and warm sound of her voice, and the softness of her belly as I lay against her and drifted off, her stroking my head. The sensation of my mother, and the feeling of love and comfort from her. I miss her. Still do. Even now. Even right now. After my mother died I couldn’t go anywhere without Babar. He was my connection to her, my connection to that love and comfort I didn’t have anymore. Being away from Babar meant being away from what I had left of her. I was five years old. This was my way of handling my loss. It kept me from falling into myself, I think. Five is a bad age to lose your mother, like I said; I think it could be a good age to lose yourself, if you’re not careful. Shortly after my mother’s funeral, my father and I left Phoenix, where I was born, and moved to Covell, a space station orbiting above a planet called Omagh, where he did research. Occasionally his job had him leave Covell on business trips. When that happened I stayed with my friend Kay Greene and her parents. One time my father was leaving on a trip; he was running late and forgot to pack Babar for me. When I figured this out (it didn’t take long), I started to cry and panic. To placate me, and because he did love me, you know, he promised to bring me a Celeste doll when he returned from his trip. He asked me to be brave until then. I said I would, and he kissed me and told me to go play with Kay. I did. While he was away, we were attacked. It would be a very long time before I would see my father again. He remembered his promise, and brought me a Celeste. It was the first thing he did when I saw him. I still have her. But I don’t have Babar. In time, I became an orphan. I was adopted by John and Jane, who I call â€Å"Dad† and â€Å"Mom,† but not â€Å"Father† and â€Å"Mother,† because those I keep for Charles and Cheryl Boutin, my first parents. John and Jane understand this well enough. They don’t mind that I make the distinction. Before we moved to Huckleberry – just before – Jane and I went to a mall in Phoenix City, the capital city of Phoenix. We were on our way to get ice cream; when we passed a toy store I ran in to play hide-and-seek with Jane. This went smashingly until I went down an aisle with stuffed animals in it, and came face-to-face with Babar. Not my Babar, of course. But one close enough to him that all I could do was stop and stare. Jane came up behind me, which meant she couldn’t see my face. â€Å"Look,† she said. â€Å"It’s Babar. Would you like one to go with your Celeste doll?† She reached over and picked one out of the bin. I screamed and slapped it out of her hand and ran out of the toy store. Jane caught up with me and held me while I sobbed, cradling me against her shoulder, stroking my head like my mother did when she read the Babar stories to me on my birthday. I cried myself out and then when I was done, I told her about the Babar my mother had given me. Jane understood why I didn’t want another Babar. It wasn’t right to have a new one. It wouldn’t be right to put something on top of those memories of her. To pretend that another Babar could replace the one she gave me. It wasn’t the toy. It was everything about the toy. I asked Jane not to tell John about Babar or what had just happened. I was feeling out of sorts enough having just gone to pieces in front of my new mom. I didn’t want to drag my new dad into it too. She promised. And then she gave me a hug and we went to get ice cream, and I just about made myself throw up eating an entire banana split. Which to my eight-year-old mind was a good thing. Truly, an eventful day all around. A week later Jane and I were standing on the observation deck of the CDFS Amerigo Vespucci, staring down at the blue and green world named Huckleberry, where we would live the rest of our lives, or so we thought. John had just left us, to take care of some last-minute business before we took our shuttle trip down to Missouri City, from where we would go to New Goa, our new home. Jane and I were holding hands and pointing out surface features to each other, trying to see if we could see Missouri City from geostationary orbit. We couldn’t. But we made good guesses. â€Å"I have something for you,† Jane said to me, after we decided where Missouri City would be, or ought to be, anyway. â€Å"Something I wanted to give you before we landed on Huckleberry.† â€Å"I hope it’s a puppy,† I said. I’d been hinting in that direction for a couple of weeks. Jane laughed. â€Å"No puppies!† she said. â€Å"At least not until we’re actually settled in. Okay?† â€Å"Oh, all right,† I said, disappointed. â€Å"No, it’s this,† Jane said. She reached into her pocket to pull out a silver chain with something that was a pale green at the end. I took the chain and looked at the pendant. â€Å"It’s an elephant,† I said. â€Å"It is,† Jane said. She knelt down so that she and I were face-to-face. â€Å"I bought it on Phoenix just before we left. I saw it in a shop and it made me think of you.† â€Å"Because of Babar,† I said. â€Å"Yes,† Jane said. â€Å"But for other reasons, too. Most of the people who live on Huckleberry are from a country on Earth called India, and many of them are Hindu, which is a religion. They have a god called Ganesh, who has the head of an elephant. Ganesh is their god of intelligence, and I think you’re pretty smart. He’s also the god of beginnings, which makes sense, too.† â€Å"Because we’re starting our lives here,† I said. â€Å"Right,† Jane said. She took the pendant and necklace from me and put the silver chain around my neck, fastening it in the back. â€Å"There’s also the saying that ‘an elephant never forgets.’ Have you heard it?† I nodded. â€Å"John and I are proud to be your parents, Zoe. We’re happy you’re part of our life now, and will help us make our life to come. But I know neither of us would want you ever to forget your mother and father.† She drew back and then touched the pendant, gently. â€Å"This is to remind you how much we love you,† Jane said. â€Å"But I hope it will also remind you how much your mother and father loved you, too. You’re loved by two sets of parents, Zoe. Don’t forget about the first because you’re with us now.† â€Å"I won’t,† I said. â€Å"I promise.† â€Å"The last reason I wanted to give you this was to continue the tradition,† Jane said. â€Å"Your mother and your father each gave you an elephant. I wanted to give you one, too. I hope you like it.† â€Å"I love it,† I said, and then launched myself into Jane. She caught me and hugged me. We hugged for a while, and I cried a little bit too. Because I was eight years old, and I could do that. I eventually unhugged myself from Jane and looked at the pendant again. â€Å"What is this made of?† I asked. â€Å"It’s jade,† Jane said. â€Å"Does it mean anything?† I asked. â€Å"Well,† Jane said, â€Å"I suppose it means I think jade is pretty.† â€Å"Did Dad get me an elephant, too?† I asked. Eight-year-olds can switch into acquisition mode pretty quickly. â€Å"I don’t know,† Jane said. â€Å"I haven’t talked to him about it, because you asked me not to. I don’t think he knows about the elephants.† â€Å"Maybe he’ll figure it out,† I said. â€Å"Maybe he will,† Jane said. She stood and took my hand again, and we looked out at Huckleberry once more. About a week and a half later, after we were all moved in to Huckleberry, Dad came through the door with something small and squirmy in his hands. No, it wasn’t an elephant. Use your heads, people. It was a puppy. I squealed with glee – which I was allowed to do, eight at the time, remember – and John handed the puppy to me. It immediately tried to lick my face off. â€Å"Aftab Chengelpet just weaned a litter from their mother, so I thought we might give one of the puppies a home,† Dad said. â€Å"You know, if you want. Although I don’t recall you having any enthusiasm for such a creature. We could always give it back.† â€Å"Don’t you dare,† I said, between puppy licks. â€Å"All right,† Dad said. â€Å"Just remember he’s your responsibility. You’ll have to feed him and exercise him and take care of him.† â€Å"I will,† I said. â€Å"And neuter him and pay for his college,† Dad said. â€Å"What?† I said. â€Å"John,† Mom said, from her chair, where she had been reading. â€Å"Never mind those last two,† Dad said. â€Å"But you will have to give him a name.† I held the puppy at arm’s length to get a good look at him; he continued to try to lick my face from a distance and wobbled in my grip as his tail’s momentum moved him around. â€Å"What are some good dog names?† I asked. â€Å"Spot. Rex. Fido. Champ,† Dad said. â€Å"Those are the cliche names, anyway. Usually people try to go for something more memorable. When I was a kid I had a dog my dad called Shiva, Destroyer of Shoes. But I don’t think that would be appropriate in a community of former Indians. Maybe something else.† He pointed to my elephant pendant. â€Å"I notice you seem to be into elephants these days. You have a Celeste. Why not call him Babar?† From behind Dad I could see Jane look up from her reading to look at me, remembering what happened at the toy store, waiting to see how I would react. I burst out laughing. â€Å"So that’s a yes,† Dad said, after a minute. â€Å"I like it,† I said. I hugged my new puppy, and then held him out again. â€Å"Hello, Babar,† I said. Babar gave a happy little bark and then peed all over my shirt. And that’s the story of the jade elephant. How to cite Zoe’s Tale PART I Chapter Four, Essay examples

Socialization Primary Socialization free essay sample

Types of Socialization Primary socialization Primary socialization occurs when a child learns the attitudes, values, and actions appropriate to individuals as members of a particular culture. For example if a child saw his/her mother expressing a discriminatory opinion about a minority group, then that child may think this behavior is acceptable and could continue to have this opinion about minority groups. Secondary socialization Secondary socialization refers to the process of learning what is appropriate behavior as a member of a smaller group within the larger society. It is usually associated with teenagers and adults, and involves smaller changes than those occurring in primary socialization. eg. entering a new profession, relocating to a new environment or society. Developmental socialization Developmental socialization is the process of learning behavior in a social institution or developing your social skills. Anticipatory socialization Anticipatory socialization refers to the processes of socialization in which a person rehearses for future positions, occupations, and social relationships. Resocialization Resocialization refers to the process of discarding former behavior patterns and accepting new ones as part of a transition in ones life. This occurs throughout the human life cycle (Schaefer Lamm, 1992: 113). Resocialization can be an intense experience, with the individual experiencing a sharp break with their past, and needing to learn and be exposed to radically different norms and values. An example might be the experience of a young man or woman leaving home to join the military, or a religious convert internalizing the beliefs and rituals of a new faith. An extreme example would be the process by which a transsexual learns to function socially in a dramatically altered gender role. Gender socialization Henslin (1999:76) contends that an important part of socialization is the learning of culturally defined gender roles. Gender socialization refers to the learning of behavior and attitudes considered appropriate for a given sex. Boys learn to be boys and girls learn to be girls. This learning happens by way of many different agents of socialization. The family is certainly important in reinforcing gender roles, but so are one’s friends, school, work and the mass media. Gender roles are reinforced through countless subtle and not so subtle ways Media and socialization Theorists like Parsons and textbook writers like Ely Chinoy (1960) and Harry M. Johnson (1961) recognized that socialization didn’t stop when childhood ended. They realized that socialization continued in adulthood, but they treated it as a form of specialized education. Johnson (1961), for example, wrote about the importance of inculcating members of the US Coastguard with a set of values to do with responding to commands and acting in unison without question. Later scholars accused these theorists of socialization of not recognizing the importance of the mass media which, by the middle of the twentieth century were becoming more significant as a social force. There was concern about the link between television and the education and socialization of children – it continues today – but when it came to adults, the mass media were regarded merely as sources of information and entertainment rather than moulders of personality. According to these Some sociologists and theorists of culture have recognized the power of mass communication as a socialization device. Dennis McQuail recognizes the argument: †¦ the media can teach norms and values by way of symbolic reward and punishment for different kinds of behaviour as represented in the media. An alternative view is that it is a learning process whereby we all learn how to behave in certain situations and the expectations which go with a given role or status in society. Thus the media are continually offering pictures of life and models of behaviour in advance of actual experience. —McQuail 2005: 494) Racial Socialization Racial socialization has been defined as the developmental processes by which children acquire the behaviors, perceptions, values, and attitudes of an ethnic group, and come to see themselves and others as members of the group. [12] The existing literature conceptualizes racial socialization as having multiple dimensions. Researchers have identified five dimensions that commonly appear in the racial socialization literature: cultural socialization, preparation for bias, promotion of mistrust, egalitarianism, and other. [13] Cultural socialization refers to parenting practices that teach African American children about their racial history or heritage and is also referred to as pride development. Preparation for bias refers to parenting practices focused on preparing African American children to be aware of, and cope with, discrimination. Promotion of mistrust refers to the parenting practices of socializing children to be wary of people from other races. Egalitarianism refers to socializing children with the belief that all people are equal and should be treated with a common humanity. [14] PROCESS Socialization is important in the process of personality formation. While much of human personality is the result of our genes, the socialization process can mold it in particular directions by encouraging specific beliefs and attitudes as well as selectively providing experiences. Successful socialization can result in uniformity within a society. If all children receive the same socialization, it is likely that they will share the same beliefs and expectations. This fact has been a strong motivation for national governments around the world to standardize education and make it compulsory for all children. Deciding what things will be taught and how they are taught is a powerful political tool for controlling people. Those who internalize the norms of society are less likely to break the law or to want radical social changes. Large-scale societies are usually composed of many ethnic groups. As a consequence, early socialization in different families often varies in techniques, goals, and expectations. Since these complex societies are not culturally homogenous, they do not have unanimous agreement about what should be the shared norms. Not surprisingly, this national ambiguity usually results in more tolerance of social deviancyit is more acceptable to be different in appearance, personality, and actions in such large-scale societies.