Last philosophy paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Last philosophy paper - Essay Example nce, if a philosopher asks whether knowledge originates in the senses or in the mind, this presupposes the philosopher has the right concept of knowledge, of mind, of senses, and of origination. Without these more basic concepts, the philosophical enterprise is doomed to wander aimlessly. An equally popular example of a philosophical question is, naturally, What is the meaning of life? Likewise, this question presupposes an understanding of the terms involved, and through a realized insight into what the terms refer to, one might come to understand the answer to the question. The question I am asking reflects on that existential quest for meaning. However, the quest for meaning I am concerned about deals not with life in general, but with the subject of a life. What is the meaning of my life? By changing the question, I have introduced a new term, but one which simplifies the issue and makes my life in particular something which must be grasped before attempting to answer the question. However, it is unclear is how I am to understand my life. As opposed to life in general, my life is defined by particular values and experiences that are not shared between different people or cultures. For example, my career as a Director of Sales and Marketing is driven by my experiences, knowledge, and values that I alone possess. My individuality reduces the issue to one of narrowing down what is important to me and finding values in those experiences. Asking the question in terms of my life provides a certain methodology for understanding how to answer the question, for if life shares certain essential characteristics, then it would not matter if it were my life the question asked about, or my neighbors life. This is the existentialist slant in trying to find an answer to the question. The philosopher Sà ¸ren Kierkegaard called this kind of answer a â€Å"leap of faith†1, and that the values, which belong to individuals, vary enough to give themselves, and their lives,

Tattoos in Greece and Rome Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Tattoos in Greece and Rome - Term Paper Example Pictures of people who have their noses marked on both sides with the four tattooed historical lines were found on the Aveyron’s and Tarn’s prehistoric stones in France. â€Å"Drawings and figurines discovered in a Thracian burial mound near Philippopolis may depict tattooed people, but considering the complexity of the decorations it is more likely that these represent body painting or finely worked figurines† (Tattoo Temple, n.d.). People in Greece and Rome added their own cultural touches as they inherited the art of tattooing, thus taking it to the next level. Archeologists have readily found tattooed mummies from various parts of the world which suggests how common a practice it has been for a long time in history. Tattoos today are an insignia of fashion and style. The contemporary society has endorsed tattoos as a means of styling. The trend of under-skin inking has been around for thousands of years. This paper discusses the history of tattoos in ancient Greece and Rome. The history of tattooing in Europe commences with the ancient historians of Greek and Roman origin. The Greeks inherited the art of tattooing from the Persians, while the Romans gained it from the Greeks. In the early Greek time followed by the early Roman time, tattooing was a practice linked with the barbarians. According to Herodotus, tattoos were voluntarily associated by the Greeks with the barbarians, including the Thracian women known as the Maenads who assassinated Orpheus because of his homosexual concerns with their husbands. â€Å"Herodotus was the first to use the root â€Å"stig† as in the pejorative â€Å"stigma† to refer to tattoos as a mark (estichthai) or a â€Å"pricking†Ã¢â‚¬  (Random History, 2008). In the ancient times, tattooing was used as a tool to differentiate between the criminals and/or the slaves and the rest of the people of the society. Prisoners and slaves were tattooed the name of Xerxes. Occasionally, tattoos were also used to send secret messages across the lines of enemies. Criminals and slaves were tattooed so that they would have an irremovable mark on their skin to help others identify them as such. This was done intentionally to discourage the criminals and slaves from running away as attempts to escape were common among the two. Later, the Romans used tattoos to pick out deserters as the Roman army was chiefly composed of the mercenaries. The use of tattoos by the early Greek and Romans suggests that their chief use was punishment as has been mentioned by various authors of the Greek and the Roman origin. Tattoos have been discussed in a punitive sense by such Greek authors as Aristophanes, Xenophon, Herodus, Aeschines and Aelius Aristides (Jones, 2000). Plato was of the opinion that a temple robber should be tattooed on the forehead and the hands to have a trace of the offense while Bion of Borysthenes said that his father’s face was more of a document because of intense tattooing because o f his status of a slave. The process of tattooing has been recorded by the ancient Roman authors. Aetius is one such Roman physician who described the process of applying and removing a tattoo along with the formula for making the tattoo ink in his famous book; Medicae artis principles. At one point, Plato expressed the opinion that tattoos should be placed on people found guilty of sacrilege and thus, they should be expelled from the Republic. Likewise, â€Å"Suetone, a early writer reports that the degenerate and sadistic Roman Emperor, Caligula, amused himself by capriciously ordering

Complete the following discussion questions Essay

Complete the following discussion questions - Essay Example Even when you think you understand the text through this approach, the approach itself indicates that there can be no understanding. I think gender criticism is perhaps the best approach to take for either of Kate Chopin’s stories. This is because she presents her characters with such feeling as she attacks some of the social customs that have managed to come between the genders. In â€Å"The Storm†, for example, Chopin presents her main character, Calixta, as a frustrated woman trapped in a less than fully satisfying relationship with a man who is kind and simple but not the man she was in love with. That man is the one she has passionate sex with on the day of the storm, finally fulfilling a desire she’d carried since she had known him in Assumption but not been able to fulfill because he left her. Gender criticism would examine the circumstances of her life, the role she is expected to play and the lack of choice she was given. At the same time, gender criticism allows one to examine the men who appear in the story as well. Bobinot is seen as simple and accepting and truly in love with his wife. He is sensitive to her moods and tries to do what he can to keep her happy, not understanding what it is that makes her upset. He is even sensitive enough to take their son with him when he goes shopping in order to give her some time to herself, but has nevertheless managed to trap his wife within the social roles expected of women regardless of her own inclinations. Alcee also provides Calixta with no free choice when he leaves her in Assumption, but is seen to have been acting with her best interests at heart, knowing he could not be with her and that to do anything then would have damaged her reputation and her chance for a better life. Both men are seen to be trapped in social conventions as much as Calixta within this approach, which increases understanding of the

Fatal Attraction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Fatal Attraction - Essay Example This movie has gained importance for the psychological disorder reflected by Glenn close, where in she forces herself to get attached to the man involved with her. The abnormal mental disorder with Glenn Close is very clear in the movie as it was a psychological illness called Border line personality disorder. In this movie, this female character depicted symptoms like, impulsiveness, extreme anger ness, suicidal tendencies, instability with interpersonal relationship and fear of rejection. Borderline personality disorder is a mental illness in which the victim shows continue disturbance of personality instability, mood swings, identity crisis and self – image issues and prolonged thinking patterns. The person can remain disassociated from people and can bring about negative impact on oneself and to others to a great extend. This can bring over a disaster effect on the patient and can even turn fatal to people around them. The patient can have a distorted self image and can have uncontrollable mood swings and impulsive attitude which their loving ones can find strange and horrifying. The most of the symptoms of this disease appear in a person during adolescence or in the late adulthood. Clinical Features Reflected by Glenn Close The first symptom shown by Glenn close is her attempt to suicide, where in she tries to slit her wrist .This is a major clinical symptom of Border line personality disorder where the patient feel dejected and abandoned and tries to accomplish their goals by putting their lives on risk. The character is showing a sign of self harming which means that she is an advanced stage of border personality disorder. She is also getting obsessed with the man she had affair with, and is trying relentlessly to stalk him and his family. She is trying to harm his family members in order to take of her jealousy on them .This is a kind of mood swing which can get extreme in patients of border personality disorder. She is following the man she got involved everywhere, and this is a case of compulsion because of extreme mood swings. Moreover Glenn Close is sending a tape with abusive words to his family as part of her mental illness. She is also showing the splitting aspect where she idealizes Michael Douglas and demonizes his family. She attempts to kill his wife and kid which is indeed an atrocious act. â€Å" The phenomenon of â€Å"splitting† signifies an inability to reconcile alternative or opposing perceptions or feelings within the self or others, which is characteristic of borderline personality†(American Psychiatric,2001,pg.47). She has also identity crisis where she thinks she is being dejected and is forcefully tries to cling on to the Michael Douglas fro love and support. The female character also has extreme mood swings wherein she abuses the man and also tries to be nice at the same time. The Character and the Personality Disorder The character in the movie Glenn Close very clearly depicted the symptoms of Border personality disorder. She is not showing a normal behavior as she threatens the man she is involved with and is intimidating him to love her. She is also performing suicidal attempts which are a chronic symptom of border personality disorder. This could be mainly due to the aloneness experienced by the character in the movie. â€Å"Aloneness is experienced as a terrifying loss of self that the patient of BPD may defend against by action or by distorting reality†(Gunderson,2008pg.11). Glenn close her is showing fear of abandonment where the victim make desperate attempts to hold on to the failed relationship. She also loses control on her feelings and become impulsive very easily and attempts on self destruction and

Moral rights are incompatible with the new digital environment in Essay

Moral rights are incompatible with the new digital environment in which copyright operates. Discuss in the light of(a) the technicaland (b)the practicalan - Essay Example One has to consider what moral rights are because morality is a very hard area to regulate, because one could argue that it is immoral for those with the digital technology to abuse the ownership rights of the copyright owner by making it available to all those who access the website for free1. Yet, on the other hand, one could argue that it is immoral for the copyright holder not to freely disclose information over the internet for free, especially if it benefits society on either educational or health and safety ground2. One could argue that the confidentiality and copyright afforded to Prince Charles over his diaries was immoral because is it right that the next King of England harbors such overtly biased political views Therefore this discussion will have to consider what is moral and not moral, which is a very difficult endeavor because morality one could argue is a subjective view. This exploration will also focus on the WIPO treaty because it is the latest in the international legal framework to balance the rights of society (Utilitarian Rights) and the rights of the individual (Personality Theory Rights) in the new digital age. ... Intellectual Property, Copyright & Rights: Intellectual property rights like property rights have been protected in UK, US and Canadian law as individual and not the realm of the government to encroach into them. This is different from the approach being suggested in global copyright harmonization which considers a different approach, a utilitarian approach which weighs up the interests of society against the individual where the rights of the many outweigh the rights of the few. Copyright in Intellectual Property law usually refers to the protection of ideas in intellectual property prior to their public release; therefore in respect to copyright it can also refer to artistic designs of goods and jingles prior to completion, but the most important factor is that it portrays the traditional approach of UK law, which is similar to the US and Canada, i.e. individual property rights should not be invaded against by government, i.e. they can not be treated in a utilitarian manner, rather the personal and public concerns need to weighed and balanced. The most interesting area of intellectual property law and copyright law is personal rights v's the general welfare of society, i.e. the public nature of artistic and literary works v's protection a persons private property rights in respect to copyright items. The International Copyright Treaty is the latest in a long line of international copyright harmonization. Copyright protection is afforded to literary and artistic works that are in substantial form, i.e. sheet music, recording or written book. The work must be original and not copied.3 There also has to be labor and skill performed by the author/artist4 and

Henry and his Wives Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Henry and his Wives - Essay Example This volume intends to present the conditions and the confines in which Henry’s wives and other women lived in detail as presented by the author. The author has shown Henry as a very notorious character where he marries six wives. This distinct Henry in the records of history where he is seen to achieve almost anything through his destructive influence and power. At first, Henry Marries Catherine of Aragon, however, their marriage is ended by an infant death and a sensational political revolt. His second wife also meets and unfortunate end, where by charges that were most likely false she is executed. Jane Seymour the third wife who bore Henry a son died in childbirth. Soon after the death of Jane Henry remarried a German woman who came to be a disappointment later as according to Henry was not as beautiful as he had hoped. Consequently, they divorced after six months. Henry’s fifth wife was Katherine Howard; unfortunately, just like his first wife she was set for execution through cunning means. Finally, the author concludes the story by the live events of the last wife of Henry, Katherine Parr who was well mannered and served her husband with great respect and devotion until his death. The author at this point reflects the life of the women of this time and the place they were kept by the society. He further brings out a variety of themes such as egoism and others through the life and deeds of the king. Henry serves the role of the medieval society and how influential individuals and people in power positions related with

The benefits of technology in giving presentations Essay

The benefits of technology in giving presentations - Essay Example Nowhere has the development of technology had a greater impact than in the domain of communication. In the world of academia and business, the usage of proprietary software like Microsoft PowerPoint, Word, Excel and Outlook have become quite common. The PowerPoint software in particular is a potent tool in giving presentations. Students use it to present their seminars; lecturers and professors use it to impart knowledge to their students; and business executives use it to convey ideas to their team members. In this sense, one could say that the use of technology in the world of colleges and business corporations has become quite pervasive. There are some decisive advantages in using tools such as PowerPoint over conventional chalk and black board. A PowerPoint presentation can be prepared beforehand whereas someone using white chalk on black board has to write down during the lecture. Moreover, using chalk can be cumbersome and clumsy compared to using PowerPoint. For example, the latter gives the user flexibility with respect to choice of template, font size, audio-visual options, color schemes, editing facilities, etc, which are not available in conventional methods used to give presentations. An allied tool that is used alongside PowerPoint is the overhead projector. Basically, the projector helps to magnify and display the content written in the PowerPoint slide onto a large white screen. The projector also allows the presenter to use light beam as a pointing tool. Moreover, the light shed by the projector on to the screen is quite bright, making it easier for the audience to focus on the lecture. The other striking aspect of technologically powered tools such as PowerPoint is provisions made by them for customizing the content. Instead of restricting the content creator with rigid templates and formats, these tools provide a range of customizing options that can be utilized to tailor the presentation to specific needs. While the overhead