Socrates on Unexamined Life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Socrates on Unexamined Life - Essay Example Socrates insistence on this claim portrays that human beings are born or called to reflect upon their beliefs, speak to seek out, account for what they do not know and know, live accordance to their views and defend those beliefs that make a meaningful and well-lived life. Socrates was right to make this claim (Plato, 2015). It follows human nature to live examined lives. For instance, we naturally live by the directions of pain and pleasure. Human beings are naturally drawn to the forces of wealth, power, and reputation. Socrates’ call to live an examined life does not necessarily show insistence to reject such inclinations and motivations (Plato, 2009). Instead, his claim was an injunction to appraise the true worth of the human soul. He believed that people should live by reflections upon their everyday values and motivations, and most importantly, to inquire knowledge into the real world and worth. Subsequently, if there is any. In case there is no value, it is upon the pe ople to pursue the things that they believe are truly valuable.Socrates’ thoughts on examining life prepare one to be as good, as he or she could. During his jurisdictions, he examines the lives of the juror. Socrates, who awaited prosecution at that time, ends up being the prosecutor when he surreptitiously accuses those behind his conviction and sentences him of failing to live a good life that respects humanity (Plato, 2009). He challenges them that they would never escape from self-examination just by executing him.

Define and explain Orientalism Essay Example for Free

Define and explain Orientalism Essay Europeans used the term Orient to describe the peoples and places of Asia and the Middle East. While widely accepted prior to the late twentieth century, this term has aroused criticism among historians. The purpose of this essay is too define and explain Orientalism, and how the term Orientalist applies to Christian missionaries in the Far East. Two main examples of these missionaries are Matteo Ricci and Francis Xavier who served in China and Japan respectively. Both of these missionaries fall under the definition of Orientalists as defined by Edward Said. Edward Said defines Orientalism in multiple parts; the first of which is the academic1. Academic Orientalism is the study of the Orient for the purpose of understanding and learning. Modern historians view the term Orient to be too vague for an area as large as Asia, but it is still widely used throughout the world. Academic Orientalism attempts to study and understand the Orient from afar. Professors of Chinese language who have never spoken with a Chinese person are a common example of this detached intellectualism. Often in 18th Century Europe the Orientalist would study and judge the Orient based on second hand knowledge and conjecture. This view of understanding the Orient better than the Oriental without living it leads into the second part of Orientalism2. The second part of Orientalism as defined by Said is the justification of subjugation. Europeans believed that due to their better understanding of the history of a culture, and their superior culture they needed to dominate other cultures in order to improve them. Arthur James Balfour, a member of the British parliament once said in reference to Egypt; We are in Egypt not merely for the sake of the Egyptians, though we are there for their sake; we are there also for the sake of Europe at large3. Balfour meant by this that British occupation of Egypt was necessary for the protection of the Egyptians and for the benefit of all Europe. Balfour and other Orientalist believed that they understood Egypt better than the Egyptians themselves, and for this reason governed Egypt for the benefit of Egypt. This form of justification was used throughout the Orient. China, India, Philippines and others were all subjugated on the justification of the white mans burden. The idea of the burden of th e white race to civilize inferior races was a key part of Orientalism.4 One of the main points of Orientalism is the division of humanity into us and them. The Occidental and the Oriental, East and West, these are divisions created by Europeans in order to dominate the other. By separating the peoples an Orientalist can justify the subjugation and forced change of other races. Saids overall point is that Orientalism was created by Europeans in order to justify the subjugation of the Orientals. Cultural and intellectual superiority and the separation of us and them led to three hundred years of European imperialism in the so called Orient.5 In order to understand how Orientalism affected Missionaries in China and Japan, one must first understand the Orientalists views of foreign religions. Most Orientalists were Christians and therefore believed all none Christians were destined for hell. This, oddly enough, even applied to pre-Christians such as Aristotle and Abraham. In Dantes Inferno both these men are in the first layer of Hell, even though Christianity did not exist during their lifetimes. So from this intolerant view one can see the basic attitude towards non-Christians. Muslims, Hindu and Buddhists were all considered heathen that needed the word of Jesus to save them from eternal damnation. The Churchs commission to preach the gospel of Christ to every creature also lays upon her the task of inviting all to accept Christ as Lord and Saviour and to join his Church through baptism.6 With this belief in mind Christian Missionaries went to the Orient to save the heathens and convert them to the one true faith, wheth er they wanted too or not.7 One of the earliest Christian Missionaries Father Matteo Ricci of the Society of Jesus, better known as the Jesuits, arrived in China in 1582 after a four month journey from Goa. He was a Roman Catholic priest who was trained the Rome in numerous subjects. The Jesuits were the most well educated order within the Catholic Church; for this reason they were particularly well suited for missionary work in Asia. The Jesuit tactic was too convert the social elites and then have their support in the conversion of the masses. This worked particularly well in Asia due to the strict social structures and relatively good education of the elites. Also the widespread belief in Confucianism fit well with Christianity. Ricci said in his work The True Idea of God, the Confucian Classics contained allusions, albeit in an inchoate manner, to such Christian notions as God and a future life.8 Well educated bureaucrats in China respected Riccis education and intelligence, and were interested in the Western ideas he possessed9. Techniques such as Riccis Memory Palace interested the Chinese and often spawned further interest into the religion Ricci brought with him.10 Riccis view of the Chinese is full of contradictions. Many aspects of Chinese culture and government Ricci respected, such as their dress and level of education; the hygiene of the people and the relative order imposed by the Chinese bureaucracy11. At the same time that Ricci praised aspects of Chinese civilization, he abhorred a great deal of Chinese practices. Among these are the corruption rampant throughout China, the worship of heathen religions and their disrespect for human life. Ricci once remarked This country is full of slaves. 12 Most importantly Ricci despised the widespread homosexuality within China13. There are two main reasons for describing Ricci as an Orientalist. The first is his reason for being in China. Ricci sought to convert all of China to Catholicism. He cared little for the established religions in China and sought to impose his Christian faith upon the peoples of China. Ricci once remarked Buddhism violated the very first of the Ten Commandments, and it had not raised moral standards in China despite its two thousand years during which it had been preached.14 Viewing his own faith as superior to any other and being so disdainful of all others, Ricci can be labeled an Orientalist. The second reason for labeling Ricci an Orientalist is his general disdain for all things Chinese. While he may admire certain attributes he generally views everything Western superior; for example his disgust with open prostitution in the streets of major Chinese cities. Ricci completely glosses over the fact that prostitution was legal within Rome itself. In fact prostitution within Rome was widespread. Montaigne on visiting Rome remarked, Taking coach rides or strolling to view the prostitutes was a major Roman pastime.15 In his criticism of homosexuality, Ricci also ignores the previous acceptance of homosexuality in Europe. Montaigne remarked during his visit too Rome, several marriages between Portuguese males had been celebrated in the church of St. John a few years before, and that the couples had went to bed and lived together for some time before being arrested and burned at the stake.16 This method of criticizing China while ignoring the fact that the same problems existed within Europe labels Ricci as an Orientalist. Ricci had additional goals beyond simply the conversion of the Chinese. Along with the conversion to Christianity Ricci hope to rebuild China along European lines. Ricci spent a great deal of time extolling the virtues of European civilization, and purity of the Catholic faith17. Ricci hoped to rid China of corruption, create a perfect Christian society, and cleanse China of heathen practices such as abstaining from meat year round and homosexuality18. These goals of changing Chinese society certainly label Ricci to be an Orientalist. Father Francis Xavier of the Society of Jesus arrived in Japan in 1549 aboard a Chinese junk. Xavier had many initial difficulties in Japan; the first of which being his inability to speak Japanese, and later to understand it. His interpreter caused Xavier many troubles later on due to his using Buddhist names for Christian figures, and forever linking Buddhism to Christianity in the minds of the Japanese19. The other difficulty for Xavier was his misunderstanding of Japanese society. When Xavier first arrived he hoped to convert the king of Japan, by this he meant the Shogun20. But when Xavier met the Shogun he found him to be a man of little importance who could barely maintain his own territory, let alone the whole country. Japan was in the period of sengoku, or country at war, and was divided among many feudal lords all vying for power. This state of civil war later benefited the Christian missionaries greatly, but initially confused Xavier21. Xavier spent the majority of his time in Japan attempting to convert Japanese daimyo and kokujin to Christianity. He succeeded in a few cases largely due to his link with Portuguese trade ships. Daimyo within Japan were looking for a way to gain advantage over their enemies, and trade with the Portuguese greatly enriched many lords. The Japanese believed that converting to Christianity would give them more favorable trade with the Portuguese, and for this reason many converted22. Xavier can be labeled an Orientalist for two main reasons. The first is his overall goal of converting the heathen Japanese to Christianity. His total disdain for Buddhism is apparent when he refers to the religion of Dianichi, an invention of the devil, as also were all the other sects of Japan.23 The second reason for labeling Xavier an Orientalist is for his views on homosexuality. Riccis beliefs on homosexuality among Asians stem from Xavier. When Xavier was the head of the Far East mission he declared that homosexuality was an evil to be combated in Asia24. For these reasons Xavier is clearly an Orientalist the same as Ricci. For all of their efforts to convert the peoples of China and Japan, neither Ricci nor Xavier succeeded in any significant way. The problems in China were numerous; deep seated beliefs in Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism kept many from converting, also the lack of interest by the elite made any type of wide scale conversion impossible. In addition the basic fear of outsiders made the Chinese distrustful and angry towards the Christian missionaries25. In Japan the eventual consolidation of Japan under the Tokugawa shogunate forced all Christians too abandon their faith. The Tokugawa did not want any opposition to their regime and barred any foreigners from entering Japan. Also deep seated religious beliefs and xenophobia as in China caused few too embrace Christianity. Neither Ricci nor Xavier succeeded in their goal of converting the Far East; the task they committed their lives too. One must wonder; if they had taken a more open, non Orientalist approach, would they have been more successful? 1 Said, Edward W. Orientalism. (New York: First Vintage Books Edition, October 1979.), 2. 2 Ibid, 3. 3 Ibid, 33. 4 Ibid, 33-36. 5 Ibid, 83. 6 Manikam, Rajah B. Christianity and the Asian Revolution. (New York: Friendship Press, 1954) 185. 7 Spence, 73-75. 8 Ching, Julia. Confucianism and Christianity. (Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1977) 10. 9 Hellyer, Robert. Lecture. The Jesuits in Asia. Allegheny College. Meadville, Pa. 11 February 2002. 10 Spence, Jonathan D. The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci. (New York: Penguin Books, 1985.) 2-5 11 Ibid, 210. 12 Ibid, 219. 13 Ibid, 224. 14 Ibid, 252. 15 Ibid, 208. 16 Ibid, 226. 17 Ibid, 2-5. 18 Ibid, 217. 19 Elisonas, Christianity and the Daimyo, (Cambridge History of Japan, volume 4, 301-372.) 307-310. 20 Ibid, 311. 21 Ibid, 312. 22 Ibid, 323. 23 Ibid, 309. 24 Spence, 224.

Unforgotten Words :: Papers

Unforgotten Words Franchessca woke to the sound of a distant Will Young playing on the television downstairs. It was Saturday again, which meant she'd stay in bed for as long as possible, or until her boyfriend called her. She sat up in bed to be blinded by the light from the window. "Good morning sunshine" Franchessca said before stretching and yawning. The house was the same unusual quiet that it was on a Saturday morning, her mum still in bed and her brother crashed out on the couch probably stuffing his face with the first, most unhealthy thing he could find in the kitchen. She decided to go downstairs for some breakfast. "Joel get up you lazy get! Jo is right, all you ever do is eat and sleep!" she stormed past him into the kitchen to put the kettle on for her mum. It was turning Eleven o'clock so she decided to stay downstairs and wait for Jo to call. Jo was her boyfriend who she'd met during the summer, working at the youth centre. It was her mum who got them together really, for a change she approved in Franchesscas choice of boy. Jo was a small, slim boy with a strange hairstyle; it was always messy but looked attractive. He'd met Franchessca before then and had fell for her the first time they met. It had started off with a new school project that Franchessca had gone to for sometime, then, in late July, his school had sent along Jo too. They both remembered the first time they spoke to each other. It was amazing for Jo who lingered on to her every word, and still did to the very day. "Hi Suzy, is Franki there?" "Yeah hang on Jo I'll get her for you" It was the same every time Jo called. He had always found it hard to speak to Franki's mum for a long time on the phone, it made him stutter a lot. "Hello?.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Oh hiya Jo how are you babyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ My dad's coming down today so I

North or South: Who Killed Reconstruction Essay

â€Å"†¦the slave went free; stood a brief moment in the sun; then moved back again toward slavery† (W.E.B. Dubois). After the Civil War ended in 1865, Reconstruction began. All slaves were finally freed because of the 13th amendment. Other amendments were passed such as: the 14th amendment which gave black Americans citizenship and the 15th amendment had made it illegal to deny someone the right to vote based on race. To enforce these new laws, northerners went south to help Freedmen and Reconstruction; these people are also known as carpetbaggers. Many people resisted in the South, so it was difficult to carry out the new ideas of Reconstruction. Rebuilding the United States was not an easy task because it soon ended in 1877. Reconstruction is the process of rebuilding or reorganizing of something. Both the North and South contributed to the end of Reconstruction; but southern resistance did the most to end it. Northern neglect was one of the reasons that had ended Reconstruction. â€Å"Weary of the ‘Negro Question’ and ‘sick of carpet-bag’ government†¦ North began to turn against Reconstruction policies† (Littell). The North grew tired of trying to get the South to help Freedmen. In an article called The Death of Reconstruction: Race, Labor and Politics in the Post-Civil War North, 1865-1901, by Heather Cox Richardson, she wrote about how blacks were uncivilized people. They assumed it would take time for ‘them’ to learn the methods of the white people. Northerners started to focus on their own concerns such as the Panic of 1873, which was the loss of millions of jobs; even the president turned away from the problems of Reconstruction. Southern resistance also, had a big impact on the end of Reconstruction. In a letter, a man named Albion Tourgee wrote about the Ku Klux Klan’s actions in the south. Tourgee served as a judge in North Carolina and he believed the Klan was after carpetbaggers, such as Tourgee himself. The KKK is made up of many ordinary people; lawyers, doctors, and farmers. They threatened and killed anybody who supported Freedmen and Reconstruction. They even intimidated people as they voted. In a picture found in Harper’s Weekly in 1876, it showed white southerners forcing a black American to vote for the Democratic Party. Whites who did not support Reconstruction ensured not to  permit Reconstruction in the south. Southern resistance was what had caused the end of Reconstruction in 1877. They threatened Freedmen, Carpetbaggers, Scalawags, and Radical Republicans. The South resisted so much; the North could not support Reconstruction any longer. The KKK was constantly killing people who favored Reconstruction, and the North was losing hope. The Klan wanted to end Reconstruction and stop African-Americans from joining the white society. They killed people in public to show they would not back down, and the resistance from these people made Reconstruction a struggling task.

Industrial Growth in the United States for 1860-1900 Essay

Many important factors helped to promote America’s huge industrial growth during the period from 1860 to 1900. Before the blossom of this industrialization, the United States consisted of mostly farms and small towns. The development of factories and urban cities soon changed all of this. The railroad system expanded and eventually turned into a goldmine for commerce in the United States. Machinery started to decrease the amount of animal labor used, which allowed the consistency and production of goods to rise. As it reached the brink of the 20th century, America had surprisingly become the world’s greatest industrial nation in history. The Civil War, caused by Southern states seceding from the Union, sparked the beginning of the United States’ industrial growth. As the war came to and end, reconstruction within the country began to take place. Many new ideas and inventions began to pop up and American business leaders recognized them. One of these ideas was a railroad that would run from coast to coast. In 1862, the building of this Transcontinental Railroad began. It was finished by 1869 and drastically increased cultural diffusion. The Republican party of the Federal Government was in control during most of the country’s industrial boom. Their platform wanted to impose tariffs, or taxes, on foreign goods to keep America’s spending within its own borders. They also supported the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad. The railroad allowed goods to be sold throughout the whole country, which in turn increased production and sales. At that point in time, as well as today, time equaled money. Travel times were cut, and therefore money was raked in more than ever before. By 1900, there was almost 200,000 miles of railroad track in America. This was an increase of over 160,000 miles from 1860. The United States was â€Å"on track† to becoming a huge industrial nation. During the period of time between 1860 and 1900, there were many needs in industry. These needs included communication, natural resources, power sources, cheap labor, and applied technology. In the 1850s, 52% of all power came from animals while only 35% came from water and coal. By the 1900s, the use of water and coal more than doubled to 73% of all power sources. Many business tycoons realized his growing use of resources. One man by the name of John D. Rockerfeller created a monopoly over the entire oil industry  through his plan of Horizontal Consolidation. With this plan he was able to bring together many firms in the oil business and combine them into a single unit called a trust. Another man, Andrew Carnegie, had similar views on gaining total control of a commodity. In 1882, he used the idea of Vertical Consolidation to gain control of the growing steel industry. His business, the Carnegie Steel Company, therefore controlled every factor in the production of steel. Rockefel ler and Carnegie both became very rich men, and the United States Congress soon recognized this. They responded by drafting the Sherman Antitrust Act, which outlawed the combination of businesses that would destroy competition. As more and more people moved to the West in search of better lives, the need for communication grew. Systems of sending messages through wires and electric currents soon began to appear. These inventions were called the telegraph and the telephone. People in the West could now communicate with the friends and loved ones in the East that they moved away from. In turn, their fear of isolation soon disappeared. Although the trouble of communication was diminished, life on the job continued to be a problem. Workers demanded better working conditions. Factories soon began to run faster and more smoothly than in the past. Working conditions also improved and provided less risk of injury and strain on workers. (Document 1) Conditions were only getting better, but the need for lower wages was a growing problem for factories. Immigration rates to America began to increase. From the 1860s to the 1900s, the number of immigrants rose to over eight million people. This allowed wages for workers to go down because immigrants would work for less money. The factories could now spend more money on the production of goods. The many demands of industrial growth were met throughout America’s industrial boom. During the second half of the 19th century, the United States shocked the world by transforming into a dynamite industrial nation. It’s population increased from six million people in 1860 to over thirty million in 1900. Power sources played a major role in industry at this time. Communication devices and railroads also increased commerce. Big businesses were on the rise and American’s soon left their farms for factories. These factors helped to promote the United States’ successfully rapid industrial growth during the period from 1860 to 1900.

Xbox 360 Technical Instructions

Xbox 360 Technical Instructions Free Online Research Papers The electronic device I am writing about is the Xbox 360 made by Microsoft. The technical website that Xbox has is a very detailed one. (xbox.com/en-US/support/systemsetup/xbox360/default.htm) The website has everything you could ever want or need to know about your Xbox 360. It describes how to setup and trouble shoot the Xbox 360. It even goes as far to describe how to utilize the online multiplayer functions. I find the website to be confusing in nature. It has very nice illustrations explaining some of the components of the Xbox 360. Other than having some good illustrations, the website can be very confusion to the novice gamer. The layout of the website is nice, but it has way too many links leading a person off another direction. There seems to be almost as much links as there is text in the pages. The warnings seem to be hidden among the text. The warnings lack the ability to jump out at a person. The warning should be highlighted in some way to grab the reader’s attention. The website seems to be lacking concise. It has a lot of wording that makes the reader lose interest. With the heavy wording, bundled up with way too many web links, the website looks very much cluttered. Besides the nice illustrations, I find the website to be very confusing. The over abundance of web links can lead you astray. It reminds me of a bunch of rabbit trails leading off in every direction. Also the website lacks having back links inserted in support pages. This causes a person to have to close the page and find their way back to where they left off. If a person was familiar with technical stuff on the web, then this could not be a problem. But for the beginner, I guarantee that the person will have difficulty getting around. Microsoft’s Xbox 360 website is basically like all their other websites. In my opinion all Microsoft’s websites are full of confusion and lack being clean and concise. The one thing I do like about the site is the Macromedia drop down box on the left side of the web pages. I find this to be the only organized part of their site. In conclusion, if I designed the site, I think that I would implement a flash video walking a person through the setup of the Xbox 360. This would allow a novice person to be able to setup their Xbox 360 with very little issues. References xbox.com/en-US/support/systemsetup/xbox360/default.htm. Research Papers on Xbox 360 Technical InstructionsAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaThe Project Managment Office SystemNever Been Kicked Out of a Place This NiceMind TravelDefinition of Export QuotasThe Hockey GameHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Essay19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraBook Review on The Autobiography of Malcolm XCapital Punishment

The poem Extenuating Circumstances Essays

The poem Extenuating Circumstances Essays The poem Extenuating Circumstances Essay The poem Extenuating Circumstances Essay Krogs use of imagery throughout this poem conveys her message with emphasis. For example, when she mentions how every word stubbornly (1) tilts into writing, the personification there could be interpreted to say that her writing has a mind of its own and how they dont want to be only a piece of writing but more. She also refers to how it leaks (4) strangely. The connotation implied by the word leaks is negative, because when something is leaking, the substance leaking is not wanted to be dripping out. This could be interpreted to mean that she has almost full control over what she writes but she cannot control everything. In addition, when the speaker expresses how writing brings mildness afterwards (11) it shows the speakers appreciation for writing as she has done before, it could be interpreted as once she has expressed herself she feels relieved after. . A striking feature of imagery in the poem is when the speaker refers to her family being beheaded (15), the use of a single word line in the middle of the longest stanza of the poem provides the mild shock of a family without heads. The lines leading up to this line gradually get smaller creating emphasis on piece of imagery. All of these striking examples of imagery convey her message of the power of writing, how it can have a mind of its own, how it can help express oneself. The overall effect this has on the poem is to evoke appreciation for writing, but also note that it can be uncontrollable. The most prominent sound features used in this poem are literary devices such as alliteration, sibilance, plosives and nasals. For example, Krog refers to the aortas of her family reeling and staining (16). The nasal sound implied could be intended to balance out the fricative used in the single word line before, beheaded (15), therefore contributing to the undulating tone of the poem. The sibilance used in the next line (through the spittlesoft sounds) reinforces the sound imagery given through the meaning of the words. In addition, when the speaker refers to the blubbering blood swabs (18), through the use of alliteration and plosives, it emphasizes the gruesome imagery. The effect of the sounds would be to enhance the meanings of the words hence create an ominous atmosphere. In conclusion, the impact of the whole poem is quite significant in that it makes the reader see the power of writing. The theme of power of writing is a distinctive feature of Krogs style and can be seen in her other work such as Nightmare of A Samuel Born Krog. The poets purpose is thoroughly achieved through the more striking literary features such as the imagery, language and the sound. In my personal opinion, the poem is beautifully written although the imagery of the beheading didnt come as much of a surprise because it is a characteristic of Krogs style to challenge the modern reader with ideas that no one would want to talk about. This could be seen in the vulgarity of Salad or in the questioning of whether she belongs in Africa in How Long, but overall a very well written poem.