Definition Of What Good And Evil Are Philosophy Essay

Definition Of What Good And Evil Are Philosophy Essay Hsun Tzu rejected the idea that humans had a natural inclination towards goodness. People were born with an evil mind and if the mind was to be properly trained, only then may it lead to goodness. He believed that all humans are bad by nature but he did not disagree with the fact that personal experiences and interactions could help to cure the evil mind and embody human goodness. For example, he believed that babies were evil because as soon as they are born they do not know any better. They do not know the difference between right and wrong. If a baby were to pull its mothers hair, it would not be considered a wrongful action. What humans define evil is the ideal evil of society. Doing something that makes somebody else uncomfortable or unhappy is considered a wrongful action, but whether or not it is, is a different story all together. Society has taught us that babies do not know the difference between right and wrong, therefore even if the action is considered wrong to a grown p erson, there is no way the baby knows what he or she is doing. Until you live life and are able to experience and interact with others, your mind is set to neutral. If a baby has not been taught the difference between right and wrong, regardless of what people who have been taught the difference believe, there is no possible way the babys actions are bad. Although Hsun Tzu believed this way, Mencius believed the complete opposite. Mencius believes that people are born good, and that it is the evil situations/surrounding that people are placed in that cause them to act evil. When discussing the Yi, it is referring to the way one values them self. As soon as a person falls under their own standards as a person, they are a disgrace to themselves as well as to everyone else. Keeping this in mind, because he believes that everyone is born with a good mind, they only way to destroy that is yourself. Regardless of the experiences that life throws at you, its up to you to make sure you do not fall victim to the negative aspects that could alter your non-evil mind. A very important aspect to consider is that of societies view on good and evil. Without knowing what is considered truly evil or good, no one can judge others or even themselves for that matter. Ones actions are judged by all, and if society has outlined something such as killing to be wrong, then the actions of a killer are evil. Usually when someone commit s a crime, they had to have thought about it first, so its safe to say that thoughts are just as evil as actions. The constant repeating of ones evil actions are also considered wrong or immoral. No one wakes up one day and decides to do something wrong unless they have gone through the experience of seeing someone else doing it or being taught it first hand. Therefore, once you are lucky enough to be given to opportunity to make a suitable life for yourself, it is up to what information humans attain to decide what type of person they turn out to be; good or bad. Platos idea of universal goodness and evil however are quite different from the views of both Mencius and Hsun Tzu. According to Plato, people are representations of things on earth and therefore people are born without being ultimately good or evil. It is impossible for a person to be truly evil, because humans only represent the ideal evil. Nobody truly knows what evil is. Evil is what is taught to us through the personal experiences we encounter throughout our life. It is also learnt through what is taught to us by teachers as well as other people. If someone is considered to be a good person, then it only takes one wrongful act to turn him or her evil, or so we have been taught. According to Aristotles Law of Non-Contradiction that states that something cannot be said to be and not be at the same time illustrates that man is good, and if man is good then he is not evil, concluding that good are evil are two opposite things. Nobody is perfect, so it is impossible to say that somebody can be truly good or evil. What everybody knows for sure is that what people view to be good and or evil actions differs from human to human. If there is no universal census or conclusion on what makes a person truly good or evil then it outlines that there is not just one answer as to what people are thinking of when first born. Everybody is born with a neutral mindset and without the experiences that life has to offer, regardless of whether it turns humans into good or bad people, it is what is taught to you in life that defines people as individuals. This concludes that without the knowledge of living life to the fullest, nobody can be considered good or evil because we are all born with neutral minds. Thee definition of what makes a person truly good or evil is impossible to prove as it differs between different societies as well as over time. No one can be considered truly good or evil, as it is only a state of mind placed on a person in a given experience from his or her daily life. Without the experience of being able to interact with others, it is impossible to consider someone good or evil. It because our nature it is because our nature has taught us to be both good and bad that there is no tangible evidence to prove that one overpowers the other to create the ultimate good or evil person. Furthermore, no one person can be born good or evil as it is against our biological make-up to be evil in the first place. People are born neutral and then learn how to define ones self through personal experiences and interactions. GOOD VS. EVIL ESSAY By: Alexee Simon Date Submitted: April 2nd 2010 Submitted to: Dr. Brown Course Code: HZT4U1

The Psychology of the Serpent in D.H. Lawrences Snake Essay -- Lawren

The Psychology of the Serpent in D.H. Lawrence's 'Snake'      Ã‚  Ã‚   Less than 17% of the world's snakes are poisonous and less than half of these are dangerous to man. The risk of death as a result of snakebite is, in fact, lower than the risk of being struck by lightning (Pinney 138). Nonetheless, cross-culturally and throughout the world, the snake is an object of fascination, fear, and respect for humankind. The serpent is a source of symbolic speculation, as it appears in myth, dream, literature, and religion. In nature or otherwise, "it is impossible to approach the creature innocently" (Morgenson 3). As D.H. Lawrence's poem, "Snake", suggests, the snake's invoked power in not a result of any physiological aspect of the snake's chemistry, but rather a consequence of the psychological symbol that defines the snake's being. Like many of Lawrence's nature poems, Barbara Hardy classifies "Snake" as "anthropomorphic", composing the snake as a creature in itself, but "through the images of human experience" (43). Lawrence's serpent is car efully constructed with a sense of immediacy and harsh reality, but it is through the eyes and experience of the human narrator that the reader comes to understand the snake. More importantly, the reader comes to understand the pure necessity, and the pure immorality, of subconscious symbolism and judgement. The snake provokes both terror and respect.    Aside from the reality of a mysterious, occasionally poisonous predator is the archetypal image of the serpent, latent with mythological, biblical, and historical symbols. Among the most common phobias is ophiaphobia, or fear of snakes, despite the unlikeliness of one to encounter a snake in the urban world (Rapoport 195). Lawrence, though ... ...s Cited Hardy, Barbara. "D.H. Lawrence's Self-Consciousness." D.H. Lawrence in the Modern World. Ed. Peter Preston and Peter Hoare. New York: Cambridge UP, 1989. 27-46. Hobsbaum, Philip. A Reader's Guide to D.H. Lawrence. London: Thames and Hudson, 1981. Lawrence, D.H. "Snake." The Norton Anthology of English Literature: Major Authors. 6th ed. Ed. M.H. Abrams, et al. New York: W.W. Norton, 1996. 2452-54. McGuire, William et al, eds. The Collected Works of C.G. Jung. 5th vol. 2nd ed. Trans. R.F.C. Hull. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1956. Morgenson, Greg. The Serpent's Prayer: The Psychology of an Image. N.D. On-line. Available: http://www.cgjung.com/cgjung/articles/serpent.html. 22 February 1998. Pinney, Roy. The Snake Book. New York: Doubleday, 1981. Rapoport, Judith L. The Boy Who Couldn't Stop Washing. New York: NAL Penguin, 1989.      

Football and Soccer Compare and Contrast

Football and Soccer Compare and Contrast. Football and soccer have never been really compared before, probably because alot of people think they dont have many similarities. But they actually have alot more in common that people think they do. Having played both sports myself i can tell you that they are very different in varius ways, but also very alike. It depends in what aspects you look at it that you can see differences or similarites. Off field soccer and football share different backgrounds. On field comparisons are never talked about but they actually have somre similarities. Yes football is more of a contact sport, and soccer more of a technique sport. But football does have technique as well, and soccer contact. On the field, both teams rely on team play to move up the field and try to score on the opposing team. Both sports have a total of 22 players on the field, 11 on each team, and passing the ball to teamates is key. In both sports the offensive players take most of the glory and the spotlight, but its know that without a good defense, its hard to win. You can score all the points you want but if they score more points on you then your still losing. Scoring is very different though. On football each time you score is called a touchdown and its given 6 points plus and extra point to try to make it 7. Soccer scoring its only 1 point and its not called touchdown but its called gol. The game of football has alot more breaks during it, and it has 4 quarters. During each play you have small breaks, plus alot of timeouts and tv comercial breaks. Soccer is a non-stop sport with only 2 halfs and no breaks during each half, just the 30 minute halftime break. One of the main differences on both these sports in my mind is that football is only a sport played in the United States, while soccer is a worldwide know sport. Soccer means alot in many countries all over the world, and theres tournaments that bring every teams all over the world together. Football's major event is held here in the United States and it only it involves the one country. United States has soccer, but its one of their least successful sports economacly and physically. It has faild to reach the fan base they wanted, and the MLS (soccer league) was close to be being shut own due to lack of fans and lack of income. Soccer is like a religion in many countries all over the world and it means everything to its fans. Where im from, Argentina, soccer is bigger than anything. Alot of people take soccer even more serious than their jobs. Sometimes a little to serious. There has been a lot of soccer related accidents in Argentina and many other parts of the world. Many of the ac cidents occur during games in the stands. Soccer rivalries are very big in Argentina. Sometimes they seperate towns. Just like gangs here in United States, soccer fans fight for respect and hate towards the other team, a lot of times ending in deaths. Other incidents occur off the field. A good example to show how serious fans take the game, is the incident that occur after a World Cup, when a colombian player scored an own goal during an important game, and he was assasinated a few days later. Things like that usually never happen here in the United States. Not to say that fans are no passionate about football, but its a different type of passion. The United States understands how important soccer is worldwide, and they have tried to make soccer bigger here in the United Sates, but have failed several times. They have tried to publish soccer more by advertising and by trying to bring famous players all over the world to play here in the United States. Living here in the US, i saw that football was the major sport here. But there are alot of competing sports like basketball and baseball, and there is also college sports, which are also very big here. In Argentina, there are of course many other sports, but none come close to soccer. As a little kid, i never knew of any other sport than soccer. Every little kid growing up wants to be a soccer player when their older. And that dosn't sound like a problem, but in my opinion it is. Alot of kids growing up have â€Å"dream jobs†. Some are sports realted some are not. A lot of kids dream of being doctors, lawyers, firemans and of course start athleets. But in Argentina, most of the kids wanna be the only thing they knew growing up, a soccer player. And with most of those kids not reaching that dream, it leaves a lot of confused kids. So like most people think, there are many differences overall between football and soccer. But there are more similarities than people think there are. Maybe in the future wih the growth of soccer in the United States, we will have even more things in common. And maybe the passion for soccer here in US will one day be as big as it is in the rest of the world, but hopefullt without all the violence.

Gladiatorial Rituals essays

Gladiatorial Rituals essays Gladiatorial contests hold a central place in our perception of Roman behavior. They were also a big influence on how Romans themselves ordered their lives. Attending the games was one of the practices that went with being a Roman. The Etruscans who introduced this type of contest in the sixth century BC, are credited with its development but it is the Romans who made it famous.(Adapted from Tacitus) A surviving feature of the Roman games was when a gladiator fell he was hauled out of the arena by a slave dressed as the Etruscan death-demon Charun.(Quennell p.44) The slave would carry a hammer which was the demon's attribute. Gladiators of Ancient Rome lived their lives to the absolute fullest. Gladiatorial duels had originated from funeral games given in order to satisfy the dead man's need for blood, and for centuries their principle occasions were funerals. The first gladiatorial combats therefore, took place at the graves of those being honored, but once they became public spectacles they moved into amphitheaters. (Dining p.83) As for the gladiators themselves, an aura of religious sacrifice continued to hang about their combats. Obviously most spectators just enjoyed the massacre without any remorseful reflections. Even ancient writers felt no pity, they were aware that gladiators had originated from these holocausts in honor of the dead.(Adapted from Martial) What was offered to appease the dead was counted as a funeral rite. The ancients thought that by this sort of spectacle they rendered a service to the dead, after they had made it a more cultured form of cruelty. The belief was that the souls of the dead are appeased with human blood, they use to sacrifice cap tives or slaves of poor quality at funerals. Afterwards it seemed good to obscure their impiety by making it a pleasure. (Hopkins p.170) So after the acquired person had been trained to fight as best they can, their training was to learn to be killed! For such reas...

Behind “Sympathy” by Paul Laurence Dunbar Essays

Behind â€Å"Sympathy† by Paul Laurence Dunbar Essays Behind â€Å"Sympathy† by Paul Laurence Dunbar Paper Behind â€Å"Sympathy† by Paul Laurence Dunbar Paper Essay Topic: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings In the 1890s Paul Laurence Dunbar composed a literary work named Sympathy where the speaker’s attention is on a cage bird. This poem perhaps was the result of Dunbar’s after high school experience operating an elevator cage. That was the only job he could find because he was denied positions in business and journalism because of his race (African-American). And by this literary work it can be inferred that he felt trapped at this job, because of his race and the time period.He also compares throughout the poem himself to the caged bird that does not have the freedom to enjoy the nature and to fly like all other birds (white people) at that time. Dunbar uses imagery and symbolism to establish the mood of the story in the poem. Dunbar at the beginning of the poem says When the sun is bright on the upland slope (2), giving the wonderful and peaceful fragmented image of a shining sun on the top of a mountain. He gives the sensation of freedom to the reader, even though the author does not feel free.During the work he also says when the wind stirs soft through the springing grass giving images to show the reader what is like to be in a bird cage (discriminated). Dunbar’s use of great descriptive words gives the reader the sensation of the reader looking at the bird in the cage, being held and bleeding. And it makes the reader feel like the bird (Dunbar) is desperate to get out. The author was held back from a lot of things, counting furthering his career for the reason of the racial outlining during the civil war. He knows what the caged bird feels (1), because he was also detained back.In the last stanza, Dunbar goes on to state about the bird singing, and wanting to get out of this cage immediately and that he sends [a prayer] from his heart’s deep core(19). This symbolizes the Dunbar’s deep need to escape into something further than what he actually is, an isolated poet working at a hotel room. The mood of the work was established by the imagery and the symbolism throughout the poem. In the first stanza, Dunbar starts off with the peaceful image of a green, beautiful and bright landscape. Then he twitches the story a bit by going from a peaceful feeling to a trapped and agonizing one.Dunbar knows why the caged bird beats his wing/ till his blood is red on the cruel bars (8-9), he lived it his own way by the oppression to African-American people in the civil war, he kind of tried to escape the same way. I know why the caged bird sings, ah me, labeling for the reader how the bird really feels after describing everything around him and why he beats his wings to get out of the cage. Dunbar excellent use of imagery and symbolism persuades the reader to get engaged with the story of the poem. And Dunbar’s life experiences gave him the inspiration to come up with the mood of the poem.

A paper which compares and discusses the 3 works of Philip Roth Essay

A paper which compares and discusses the 3 works of Philip Roth Goodbye, Columbus Defender of the Faith and Eli, the Fanatic - Essay Example This is due to his fondness to his religion and his indifferent behavior towards the materialistic world. His character reveals a different sense of humor which is appreciated by all. I disliked the character of Brenda Patimkin because she is exactly the opposite of what Neil Klugman is. Her character portrays a sense of love towards the materialistic world. The character of Brenda is also portrayed as of a negative one by Philip Roth. This is because in the latter part of the story she decides to end the relationship with Neil Klugman due to their class differences. Another famous work by Philip Roth is the "Defender of the Faith". This story like the other works by Philip Roth also tells about religion and faith. It revolves around Sergeant Marx who fights in the World War II. After coming back from the war the Sergeant gets deeply involved in the Jewish religion. The Sergeant while serving in the army lost his faith in the religion and started doing things which were prohibited in his religion (like he started eating kosher). The story deals with the transformation of Marx from a man of principles and faith to a different man who forgets his religion and views after he joins the army. But soon after he re transforms to the real self when he realizes the need and the change. He analyzes three other Jewish trainees who held their religion and faith to a higher position then serving in the army. In this story I admire the character of Sergeant Marx. This is because of the firm belief of Marx in his principles. He is portrayed as a strong man who has gone through a lot of changes but who still has a firm belief in his religion and faith. The advantages taken by the trainees due to the kindness shown to them by Marx are a thing which I dislike in the story. The story Eli, the Fanatic tells us about the incidents and events occurred after a small ultra-Orthodox Yeshiva entered into a Jewish middle-class society in America. Philip Roth described the feelings of the members of the Jewish community. They were outraged and anxious as they worked hard to maintain peace in the community. He described their anxiety to protect their well-balanced community. Eli was a Jewish lawyer and people appealed him to restrict the outsiders from entering in their grounds. I like the way Roth explains the Jewish unawareness and crudeness of the modern culture and derides their suspicion. The story is distinct in a way it exemplifies the complexity of discussion about the educational standard of the Jewish society in a broken Jewish race. It clearly shows the difference of two different standards of Jewish community. One part of the community is well-educated and realistic, whereas the other part consists of superstitious and backward people. They rely on t he past and are not ready to forget their old traditions and values which is quiet important for their progress at present These three stories are based on the same themes but have different stories and different views. Goodbye Columbus deals with the issue of socio economic differences and classes. It deals with the love of people for the materialistic world that is a common sight in the world. While in the Defender of the Faith the writer tells about the transformation of a man. It tells about people like Grossbart who take advantage of kind people like Marx. In the third

Examining Emotions, Attitudes, and Job Satisfaction Case Study

Examining Emotions, Attitudes, and Job Satisfaction - Case Study Example Their effective leadership structure has been illustrated through providing employment opportunities to individuals who possess ambitious and adventurous skills. Moreover, the grocery store provides a cool atmosphere for both its employees and customers. The store hires its managers from within hence; leadership management is maximized since the managers have experience in effectively managing the store. Trader Joe’s ensures that it boosts and maintains its employees by providing them with higher pay rates compared to employees’ pay rates of the competing stores. Trader Joe is able to control successfully real estate costs through purchasing small stores and avoiding prime locations due to high competition. The store also controls products’ costs by implementing the â€Å"one in, one out† policies, which ensures that low-profit products are replaced by high selling products. The store maintains a good customer relationship by listening and acting according to the customers’ preferences. For instance, they remove a product from the shelves when customers give negative reviews concerning the product. The store also maintains a good employee-customer relationship to ensure that it holds a firm grip on its loyal and new customers. For instance, customers can be directed to employees to get their views concerning a certain product. Employees are encouraged to taste the store’s products in order to provide honest reviews concerning the products. Customers are more likely to make choices when provided with a limited number of options compared to a wider variety of option. Trader Joe’s, take advantage of this psychological behavior by controlling the stock of its products; it holds about 2000 products in its store compared to 25,000 to 45,000 products in neighboring supermarkets. The scarcity strategy benefits both the store and its customers since the store is able to make double products sales