Essentially, the term self is how one perceives themselves. Over the years, the meaning of self has been debated amongst ancient philosophers such as Lucretius and Apuleius. Some say self is the innermost sense of a person, some say self represents one’s relationship with others and some say that the self is in fact and illusion. In the ancient Hellenistic period, self have been presented in the poem “De Rerum Natura” by Lucretius, as well as the novel “the Golden Ass” by Apuleius. Additionally, “nature or nurture”, the debate that have been going on for years discusses what the self is and where it comes from. There is numerous of theories on the meaning of self, its existence, and its presence that will be discussed further more in…
He moves on to explain that the world in its totality exists because of the operation of material forces and natural laws and therefore the gods or death shall not be feared. The universe, as per De rerum natura, operates according to physical principles and not as per the divine intervention of gods and the traditional Roman deities. Not only does he defy the fear of the deities that rests in humans but he also goes on to speak against the concept of an afterlife. According to him, body…
De Rerum Natura sings a poem of nature. It celebrates the regularity in the universe. A systematic universe is explicable. Seeing an unvarying world, Lucretius believes a set of natural laws dictates our world making it predictable. Every observable action occurs out of necessity from insentient natural laws. In other words, it is not created to serve a purpose or acts as a means to a favorable end. Surprisingly, the laws are few and Lucretius deduces them from empirical observation and logical…
If the ancient philosopher, Epicurus, gave the Sermon on the Mount, found in the New Testament, he would say: “Blessed are those who are untroubled and unperturbed, for they shall find serenity.” His enthusiastic follower, Lucretius, used his superb poetical gifts to draw his readers into the desire-reducing materialism of Epicureanism. He challenged others to live their lives by cultivating a balanced, peaceful way of being. Lucretius believed the attainment of this peace of mind was through a…
Since that seminal letter on the principle of worker’s rights, solidarity, and the abuse of the economic abuse of the poor was written, most popes since Leo XIII have added to the direction and expectation of the Church’s focus on an option of the poor to include Pope Pius XI’s Quadragesimo Anno (40 years after Rerum Novarum), Paul VI’s Octogesima Adveniens (80 years after Rerum Novarum), and Pope John Paul II’s Centesimus Annus (100 years after Rerum Novarum). Though not a part of the…
segregation, De Jure and De Facto segregation. De Jure segregation was segregation that is forced by law and can be easily fixed, De Facto segregation was segregation enforced by the public and society, not necessarily by law. Since De Jure segregation is a law, it is required and hard to get around for example, Plessy v. Ferguson, and the Jim Crow Laws. De Facto segregation makes the struggle for racial equality extremely hard because it will require changing people’s beliefs and views and…
middle decade two more young males accused Gacy of rape and he would be questioned by the police about the disappearances of others. Later discoveries would uncover that Gacy committed his first known murder in 1972 taking the life of Timothy McCoy after luring the teen to his home. December 11th, 1978 15 year old Robert Piest went missing last seen at his work as he headed out to meet Gacy for a potential job.He lured his victims with promises of works and when he got the to his home he would…
The Mughals ruled northern India from 1526 – 1857 AD where the Lodhi’s was the last dynasty to rule India. The invasion started all because of India's reputation of being the only known source of diamond mines in the world and it's flushing International trade attracted many invasions. “North Indian kingdoms resisted invasions by Arab and Turks for centuries, but soon small Islamic empires or Sultanate were established in several parts of the north. Before these invasions, Muslim trading…
In a series of ten works, estimated to be more archaic than the Christian scriptures of the Old Testament. Vitruvius, a Roman architect and engineer, wrote the treatise: De architectura – based on a set of principles concerned with the theory of architecture, also known as the Vitruvian triad. He highlights the importance of structural integrity, utility and function, and the honesty of true beauty defined by a paradigm of, “firmness, commodity and delight.” Vitruvius’ writings established a…
Once we all piled in the van, we had to stop at McDonald’s for food. When we got done eating, we started on our way to Des Moines. About half way there, some of us girl started to get a little tired. Some fell asleep in their seats, and some fell asleep on the floor of the van. I was one of those girls. When we got to Des Moines, we had to go check into our hotel. We had to share the whole hotel with West Lyon. When morning arrived, we all headed down to the lobby for some breakfast. Once we…