Soren Kierkegaard: Dialectic/Indirect Method He was born on5th May 1813, at Copenhagen, Denmark. Kierkegaard was a Danish theologian, philosopher, and social commentator. He was unfamiliar outside Denmark during his own lifetime. Kierkegaard grew up lonely and reserved but highly intelligent and well educated.…
On a superficial level, the root of the problem is the drive to compete and the drive to compare oneself to others. A political solution for this “compare and compete” problem can be theorized. The first potential solution that comes to mind is to find a way to equal the playing field until there becomes no need for comparison with others because we are all equal, and through this equality brings the end of competition, for what is achievable by one, is achievable by all. One way to accomplish this would be for the political power (i.e. the government) at hand to invent a means that impeded on any one individual’s advantage in society, whether it be intelligence, beauty, creativity, etc.. In Kurt Vonnegut’s short story, “Harrison Bergeron”,…
Dualism can be defined as dividing life into two separate categories, the first being secular and the second being spiritual. Secular involves things within the physical and changing world in which humans live. Sacred includes things related to the spiritual and unchanging existence of God. Secular is evident in places/activities such as education, business, arts, sciences, government, hobbies, and entertainment. Sacred is only involved in church-related activities.…
“Being rich has nothing to do with where you live and the digits in your income, yet instead everything to do with how much you can appreciate the moments in life when the smallest things hold the greatest value” (Unknown). In East of Eden by John Steinbeck, Adam Trask and his half brother Charles grow up with a dark rivalry between them. Since Adam knows the struggle of having a brother, he should understand the difficulties that his twin sons, Cal and Aron, face. With help from Lee, the servant, and the Hamilton family, Adam has a journey of raising his sons alone after his wife, Cathy, is consumed by madness. Throughout the story, money plays a major role in determining what true wealth is, obscuring deeper desires and distinguishing a successful life from an unsuccessful life.…
Throughout time, social systems in societies have always been designed by those in power and followed by the common person. In these societies, those higher in the social system set certain trends that were practiced by lower caste members, in order to fit in. In the last two centuries, these social elites and their institutions are collectively referred to as popular culture. Popular culture projects increasingly impossible-to-reach standards of living, which can, consequently, detract from the satisfaction one has for themselves when they cannot meet these trends’ demands. In “Break”, Dorianne Laux addresses popular culture’s negative effect on the average person relative to happiness and satisfaction with living conditions.…
Process Philosophy is a conglomerate of ideas, proposing the concept of constant change. Moreover, promoting the idea that the supernatural and thus God are non-existent. “Furthermore, the idea is that nothing is permanent, absolute and/or fixed and all is in a constant status of ultimate change” (Martin, 2006). Ludwig Feuerbach, a German philosopher played an instrumental part in this transition and his book was known to have influenced integral figures such as Marx. “Feuerbach articulated and/or presaged the existence of process philosophy and his book had a significant influence on philosophers such as Marx and Engles” (Martin, 2006).…
Bradstreet and Thoreau on Materialism: The Doctrine of Weaned Affections and Self-Sustained Simplicity Every Problem has a remedy, though this remedy often varies depending on the person who is presenting it. Factors such as their religious beliefs or their individual outlook on life determine what their remedies for a certain problem will consist of. The issue of materialism, a type of behaviour that has “the tendency to treat material possessions...as more important or desirable than spiritual values” (OED), has been in existence for centuries and carries on into modern day society. It is a lifestyle based on material interests and is lived at the expense of spiritual or other values (OED).…
The pathos expressed by Jonathan Edwards was extremely convincing to the puritans due to the way he provided hope and imagery to the puritans on how their daily life actions might led them into a heaven or hell. But is there really a heaven or hell after our life, or is it all just a big myth that people choose to believe or not? Could something as simple as playing games as a little kid really deny you entry to heaven. All the sacrificed to people’s daily lives that are being made really going to pay off? If there a world to exist after our lives is all said and done with.…
Tom Morris does a great job of explaining the different challenges of ethics we face on a daily basis. We as a society go through life with so many obstacles to overcome, and yet society has shown us that most of the time the obstacles dictate the outcome. We read Tom’s book which gives us so many categories to help us better understand the ethical actions people take during certain situations. The first part of this chapter starts us off with the title, what are the rules now, anyway? As we read this statement alone it relates to society in such a big way.…
Since the dawn of time, societies have argued about the origins of true knowledge and whether it was a gift brought forth by a divine power or a direct consequence of self-discovery. Through, the ages, many notable writers such as Plato and Bacon provided their own views on the source of knowledge. In his short story the “Allegory of the cave”, Plato claims that by identifying our identities and breaking through the barriers created by our false perception, we will be able to access that source of true knowledge buried deep inside our minds. To illustrate this point, Plato uses metaphors, similes, and direct comparisons to establish relevance to the reader and life to the text. Likewise, Bacon elaborates on Plato’s ideas regarding the barriers…
We are given so much opportunity with God and can do nothing without Him. All we have to do is have faith and trust in God’s promises and he guarantees that “everything will work out for our good” (Romans…
If you worship money and things… then you will never have enough” (657). Wallace uses the word ‘worship’ as a way of describing what people unconsciously base their lives around. While he could’ve chosen a word of less extremity, the deliberate use of such a word, which generally has a positive implication but a rather bleak one in this context, emphasizes his main point—that no one is liberated from thinking and believing in the way he…
Introduction and Summary David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants debunks all the clichés attributed to the underdogs and giants. On the back drop of the biblical story of the mighty tumble of the warrior Goliath by the meek shepherd boy David, Malcom Gladwell breaks down how people misunderstand the true meaning of advantage and privilege. Gladwell brings in fresh perspective and debunks all the myths and the rationale we assign to the so-called ‘clear winners’, or the Goliaths, in our lives. Citing examples of the impoverished, the dyslexic, and the victims of childhood trauma for example, he explains how these factors play motivators more than deterrents for the Davids .…
Humans have the tendency of comparing their lives with others and in doing so; they miss the charm of enjoying small moments of life. Couples tend to deviate from focusing on gathering happiness and love to be experienced together and rather strive to improve materialistic aspects of life. Unfortunately, couples do not realize the essence of a relationship and most of them think that getting a promotion, driving a better car or living in a lavish house is more important than staying happy and content with what they have. Lack of understanding and communication adds a rift in a relationship that becomes more a liability than a delightful journey which is filled with emotions of love and care. And when a relationship goes through…
Francis Bacon is a world-renowned English philosopher from the early years of 1561-1626. Bacon is famous for many of his philosophical works, including the Novum Organum. Published in 1620 the Novum Organum suggests an entirely new system of logic, which is based on induction rather than on the syllogism. Bacon recognized that the human mind is filled with incorrect and irrational ideas that are preventing them from interpreting nature accurately. These incorrect notions are described by Bacon as the “four classes of Idols which beset men’s minds.”…