...situations and experiences” (Sullivan 3). Acknowledgment of our transactional bodies formation by mutual constitution and categorization of the world comes with the examination of the “hidden assumptions and blind spots” that accompany a particular perspective, and ultimately, the potential of changed habit for achieving what Dewey previously defines as a Great community (Sullivan 4). By encouraging the collaboration and advantages of a transactional perspective of our own body, Sullivan wishes to free the boundaries of fixed habit and improve bodily existence through a blend of 20th Century pragmatism. Sullivan’s concern remains within the social, ethical, and epistemological implications of transactional bodies, encouraging the explanation of the true harm and benefit of different transactions onto different people. Subject and object compartmentalized as separate entities suggest an exchange that never allows for the conceptualization of co-constitution, so Sullivan respectively begins with her theory of transaction (Sullivan 32). Organisms bounded by their independence are limited to the boundaries established by their fixed...
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...world is to spread goodness. Hence literature must possess elements of true reality in it to convey to the readers. In this task, I am assigned to give a glimpse on Plato’s conception of God and his process of creating this world with the help of fundamental reality. I will describe his beliefs with the help of examples from some of his works. At the end, I will sum up by describing his preference of dialogue over poetry which depicts his views about literature. Plato belongs to philosophers of Greek era. There were many school of thoughts concerning with the existence of God. Three of them were very popular which were consisted of denial of God’s existence; God’s indifference to the world; and that god can be bribed. Plato refuted these principles and established god as having “absolute reality”. Every action has some driving force behind it which is soul. God creates those souls therefore we cannot deny god’s existence. He establishes that God is not indifferent to the world. He has created man free of will to choose between right and wrong; and good and bad. He rewards the good while gives punishment to those who pervade evil and chaos in the world. Thus man’s own soul is responsible for its activities and motions. Consequently every motion depends upon soul. If we take this principle, we come to know that every organism has soul in it, even in heavenly...
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...TRANSCENDENTAL PROPERTIES OF BEING By: MBAKWE NICHOLAS CHUKWUNWEIKE Introduction Metaphysics is not just a science in Aristotle’s conception of it, but one that distinguishes itself from all the particular sciences by firstly raising the question of the first and most universal causes and secondly by taking as its subject of consideration ‘being’ simply as ‘being’ in its most universal and in its most concrete sense as present in experience. Implicitly, being must be taken as analogous from the very beginning of the investigation, not in the sense that it would diffuse the unity of this science into a mere difference of differences, but in the sense that it would raise this science to a higher kind of unity according to an order of different degrees of being as they relate to a primary analogate as the one to which all relate more or less distantly. To delve more deeply into this analogous subject of consideration one must further distinguish transcendental properties that follow being in its analogous and transcendental sense. In the end, when the question of a first, universal cause of being as being, or of a summit of being that would be totally transcendent, is finally raised, all of this a priori conception of being as analogous according to different degrees with its corresponding degrees of oneness, activity, truth and goodness must be brought into play in relation to things as they come under sense experience as moved, caused, contingent and exhibiting different degrees...
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...health, or having a disease which is likely to make them feel death is near. Plato’s quote “the distraction of body on soul ” in this case would influence one to ask himself more serious questions and find real answers , instead of the ones he would ask himself, in his comfortzone of body and soul in harmony. Dying and being transformed into something else as particles in soil or whatever form that might take, is inevitable. Our physical existence will definitely become something else but our soul, will be separated from it, finally “splitting itself from the body” as Socrates interprets. From that moment on, our soul will no longer be disturbed by other effects such as time, and this state would be “all that a philosopher (a mortal) would ask for” he adds. But how is it that the soul lives on when the body dies? I can think and philosophize about things and happenings I have acquaintance with , how is it possible that the soul can keep thinking in a form without the body? Without the senses? Even though I would like to believe in existence after death in the form of my soul , I think one can only philosophize about things which he has seen and know. How can one not see anything ,and keep philosophizing about things to come? Is death good or bad? It could be good if it’s the final nothingness, as you would not feel or think anything bad, from that point...
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...Unger states an argument that ordinary things such as pieces of furniture, rocks, and planets, all do not exist. I will formally reconstruct and explain Unger’s argument for the conclusion that stones do not exists by presenting it with numbered premises and conclusions. I will then explain how Unger’s argument is supposed to work as well as critically assess Unger’s argument by bringing up an objection. Unger makes several different points in order to support his argument that stones do not exist. I have formulated an argument in order to support Unger’s argument and conclude how stones do not exist. 1. If stones exist, each is composed of a finite number of atoms. 2. When we remove an atom from the stone, the stone still exists. 3. When we continue to remove more atoms, we are left with a stone with zero atoms. 4. If each stone is composed of a finite number of atoms, then all space with zero atoms consist of stones. 5. All empty space does not consist of stones. 6. Therefore, stones do not exist. To go even further, I can add another step in order to conclude that ordinary objects do not exist. The additional step would be that if ordinary objects exist, then stones must also exist. Therefore, ordinary objects do not exist. First we must see what objects exists and what objects occupy a position in space and time. Objects in the universe include planets, people, atoms, chairs, and the sun. They are all made out of parts and they are all composite...
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...Plato believed that there was another world beyond this changeable and destructible one in which we live, one consisting of unchanging eternal Forms. He asserted that what we see and touch are only very distantly related to the ultimate realities that exist. He created the famous comparison of the human condition with that of prisoners chained facing the inner wall of a cave, so that all they can see are simply shadows of objects in the cave, knowing nothing of the world outside. “To Plato, there was no natural sense on how men ought to live, education was to be the key to the construction of a better society; from the "educated" would arise the elite to rule society. Plato thought it essential that a strict threefold class division be maintained. In addition to the rulers, the Philosopher-kings, there were to be "Auxiliaries" (soldiers, police and civil servants) and the "Workers" (the rest of us).” - Luigi Miraglia (1846-1903), professor of the Philosophy of Law in the University of Naples "I do believe that there are gods and that in a far higher sense than that in which any of my accusers believe in them." – Plato, the Republic Most Christians would have to agree in some way or another to the way Plato describes the human condition. In that we can only see one version of what we have here on Earth. That there is indeed a perfect flower, perfect sky, perfect water, etc, but we have to wait to get to Heaven to indeed experience them. “For behold, I create new...
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...and accurate. This procedure is often referred to as a “floor to sheet” test (i.e., all inventory items on the warehouse “floor” have been included in the inventory status report “sheet”), and is primarily a test for the completeness and accuracy assertions. The auditor also makes some test count selections from the inventory status report and vouches the selected inventory items to the corresponding inventory count tags to verify that inventory listed on the inventory status report exists and is accurate. This procedure is often referred to as a “sheet to floor” test (i.e., all inventory items included on the inventory status report “sheet” represent items that actually exist on the warehouse “floor”), and is primarily a test for the existence and accuracy assertions. The auditor signs his or her name on each count tag for which he or she has recounted the corresponding...
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...St. Thomas Aquinas listed what he saw as five intellectual proofs of the existence of God—proofs that were dependent on reason and observation, not the revealed word of God. 1. Aquinas recognized that for motion to take place, there had to be something that interacts with it to cause it to move. This, in turn must be an infinite being outside of creation and hence is God. 2. Every effect must have a cause, if you eliminate the cause you eliminate the effect. It only posits that a God exists who is the cause of all things and who is the effect of nothing. 3. Aquinas argued that from observation, the things around him had the possibility of being (or existing) or not being. Yet, if that first being exists, he must necessarily not have the possibility of not being. In other words, as non-existence cannot bring about existence, the first being necessarily has to have always existed. And this entity that necessarily exists and cannot not-exist, is God. 4. Note that this is not the suggestion that we get the idea of goodness or hotness from God, but simply that there must always be something that is more good or more hot than that which we are viewing and since there is a gradation, there must always be a top to the gradation that can never be surpassed. Such a top or asymptote, by definition, requires an infinite being, hence it must be God. 5. Fifthly, Aquinas points out that there are entities in creation that have no consciousness at all, yet still act in a regular fashion...
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...approach. Several arguments have been presented to prove and disprove his existence based on scientific explanations and personal explanations. Scientific explanations have laws and principles that can explain the natural whys we have in our present universe. Personal explanations are provided when science can not explain the causes but provide the intentions of something just as good an explanation as the scientific one. The Cosmological Argument by Bruce Reichenbach seems to most likely to convince a rational and open-minded agnostic that they should believe in the existence of God because nothing natural in this universe could have caused the beginning of the universe. Reichenbach states that “theists are in good company when they look for explanations either of the universe or a particular phenomena within it” (p. 187). The argument Reichenbach presents has a different structure, but I will present it in a shorter form as followed: the universe (the contingent) had a beginning, so everything with a beginning/effect has a cause or explanation, the universe had a cause, nothing natural could have caused it or caused itself, therefore a non-contingent (necessary) being, we will name God, caused the universe to begin. I will discuss the primary objections to the argument and then explain why this argument would most likely convince someone, namely an agnostic, on rational grounds to believe in God’s existence. The Cosmological Argument provides, under specified conditions, a full...
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...‘Why according to Russell can we not be sure of the table’s existence?’ Russell begins by asking his reader to consider what knowledge exists that can be known beyond reasonable doubt. His purpose is to produce the realization that doubt soon brings even the most simple assumptions in our everyday lives under reconsideration. Russell describes a scene: "I am now sitting in a chair, at a table of a certain shape, on which I see sheets of paper with writing or print." All of these "facts" are easily called into question. In order to consider ordinary assumptions at issue, Russell concentrates on one example, the table. Walking around the table, he sees different colors from different points of view, in places some reflect more light, a brighter shade of brown appears. In reality we assume that there is only one color of the table, yet the appearance of many colors contradicts our belief. The color seems to vary depending on the observer and conditions like "the way the light falls on the table." Since it seems clear that no two people could share one identical point of view, Russell addresses a doubt as to whether one real color of the table even exists. Russell continues his investigation of color by reasoning that in ordinary language, when we refer to the color of an object; we actually refer to something perceived from the usual perspective of observer. However, there is no reason to assume that the normal view should be considered real and other perspectives, under other...
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... The Matrix is set in a futuristic setting, where the theory of being controlled by a massive computer is a real possibility. What I find most interesting is that Plato actually describes the concept of The Matrix, almost as if Plato’s dialogue was used an inspiration. In The Matrix and Plato’s dialogue, humans are not physically living the life they perceive as “real” but are stationary beings who are forced to live a false reality prescribe to them. This is where René Descartes’ excerpt differs from the previously mentioned. The person is aware of possibility that what he knows as true could be false, that how could we know if what we are living is done consciously or if our existence is but a dream. All of the excerpts also rely on the reasoning that the mind is the sole contributor of our existence and our physical senses only respond to what the mind knows. The differences in the readings is based on the actions or possible outcomes that occur once the awakening has taken place. In The Matrix, Neo decides to act and decides to embark on a journey to discover reality not being controlled by a computer. Plato’s dialogue is different because this is based on a hypothetically theory, so while there is no physically action the questions lies in how would people respond to the truth. Would man continue to live the false life given to them if the truth was unbearable or not what one expected? René Descartes proposes not that we are being manipulated unwillingly but that our reality...
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...Aquinas to stay at the castle, but, sensing that his death was near, Thomas preferred to remain at the monastery, saying, "If the Lord wishes to take me away, it is better that I be found in a religious house than in the dwelling of a layperson." On his deathbed, St. Thomas Aquinas uttered his last words to the Cistercian monks who had so graciously attended him: "This is my rest forever and ever: Here will I dwell for I have chosen it." (Psalm 131:14) Often called "The Universal Teacher," St. Thomas Aquinas died at the monastery of Fossanova on March 7, 1274. He canonized by Pope John XXII in 1323. Source: http://www.biography.com/people/st-thomas-aquinas-9187231#early-life& Theism only means "belief in a god". Belief in the existence of at least one god - nothing more, nothing less. Theism does not depend upon how many gods one believes in. Theism does not depend upon how the term 'god' is defined. Theism does not depend upon how one arrives at their belief. Theism does not depend upon how one defends their belief....
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...happiness consists of created goods because “man is made happy by that which lulls his natural desire”(1). Created goods satisfy us because they are what we crave, so when we attain them we could achieve happiness. Aquinas argues that while this is so, created goods cannot possibly be the source of man’s happiness. This is mainly due to the fact that created goods are “less than the goods of which he is capable, as of an object, and which is infinite. And the participated good which is in an angel, and in the whole universe, is a finite and restricted good” (2). What this means is that it does not make sense for man to solely derive his happiness from created goods because they are finite; there is only a set amount of these things in existence. Man would always have to worry about whatever good that is fueling his happiness from running out, because it is not eternal. For Aquinas, this means that our happiness cannot possibly consist of created goods because by definition, happiness is that state in which nothing is left to be desired. One is completely satisfied and at peace in a true state of happiness, yet with created goods one is always stressed and worried about them running out. Aquinas then goes on to question whether or not man’s happiness consists of honors. The argument that Aquinas goes against is that “It would seem that man's happiness consists in honors. For happiness or bliss is "the reward of virtue," as the Philosopher says (Ethic. i, 9)....
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...A thing in existent may be inexistent. A thing inexistent may be existent. This shows the beauty in postmodernism because it gives us an endless possibility of expressing ourselves. Indeed, a message may be communicated by the use of signifiers which is essentially the heart of postmodernism. A thing, which may be nothing, may be something when viewed differently. Hence, something that does not exist in a work of art may be seen through the connotation of the thing in some other aspects of our lives. For instance, a sun may signify hope, which may then signify attainment of dreams, which may signify success, and so on – the possibility is infinite. From this single thing in a work of art, we may infer different things in different perspectives. However, we may convey a specific meaning in our work when we present the sun with other different things connected to it, making the items interconnected and forming distinct, closely-related messages. Nevertheless, conveyance of ideas by applying postmodernism doesn’t end in what we see, because, in truth, there are many more ideas that are yet to be seen. What strikes me the most about postmodernism is the disorientation that it incites from people. The deconstruction of what is because it is not and what is not because it is. From this, we are obviously confused for how can a thing be something when it is nothing or be nothing when it is something. Here comes the quality of postmodernism that is usually paradoxical, full of irony...
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...Kristen Forrest Ms. Tubergen W131 26 November 2012 TOMS Shoes TOMS shoes is a company that designs and sells shoes based on the Argentine alpargata design. When TOMS sells a pair of shoes, Friends of TOMS, a non-profit subsidiary of TOMS shoes, donates a pair to a child in need. TOMS shoes appears to be a trend and not a fad due to the fact that sales of these shoes have increased each year since TOMS began in 2006. Many fashion statements start off as fads and catch on because they are something new, but TOMS shoes has outlived the fad stage and has presented itself as a worthwhile trend. Due to the “One for One” movement, and the charitable nature of TOMS shoes, consumers have realized the long lasting effects of buying a pair of TOMS shoes. Therefore, TOMS is a worthwhile trend and not a novel fad. TOMS shoes appears to be an important trend due to the charitable nature it portrays. Since its birth TOMS shoes has sold and donated over one million pairs of shoes in 25 different countries. Over 500 different stores sell TOMS shoes recognizing the significance of this trend. Social media, in the form of Facebook, reports that TOMS fan base is growing at a rate of 28,000 per month. Conditions that allow TOMS to exist and continue as a trend center around first and foremost the designers continuing to make shoes that are fashionable that people want to buy. Secondly, poverty still exists, children still need shoes and people like helping those in need. Lastly, Blake...
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