Questioning the Meaning of Life Essay - 1972 Words

`Where did we come from?, `Why are we here?, `Where are we going?. These are questions which surface, centre stage, at some point in most peoples lives. For philosophers, and others, they constitute the core problem known traditionally as the Meaning of Life. It might be thought that the first task in considering the question of the `Meaning of Life is to define the key terms: `Life and `Meaning. However, the meanings of `Meaning are many; and `Life itself could be seen as not so much a separate entity, but rather, the totality of those meanings to which I have alluded. Anyway, I shall take `Life in this context to mean HUMAN life, and the meaning of this life as, specifically, the condition of our existence so far as we bring†¦show more content†¦Sometimes it is taken as equivalent to `the value of life, or that in virtue of which life is worth living. It may also be taken to refer to the nature of the human condition - how it is with us, how we FEEL about life. Nevertheless, to the extent that questions about the `Why of life may be seen as concerned with the value of life (`What makes life worth living?), they are therefore related to the ethical. Pessimism is a possible answer to the question of lifes meaning: life is devoid of meaning in the sense of worth. Pessimism or optimism may be thought merely an attitude people have towards life, something having no objective validity; the optimist sees the bottle as half full, the pessimist sees it half empty - and thats all there is about it. But, while some of our attitudes towards things are unreasoned others are not. A pessimist may have arguments for pessimism: one philosopher actually claimed to have proven that the moments of pleasure in anyones life are always greatly out-numbered by the moments of pain. Conversely, there can be reasoned arguments against pessimism. Accounts of the human condition may combine both pessimism and optimism. The Christian doctrine of the Fall of Man, for example, is essentially a pessimistic assessment of life here in thisShow MoreRelatedAnalysis of A Dream Within a Dream by Edgar Allen Poe Essay850 Words   |  4 PagesDream’ was written by Edgar Allan Poe on 1849, the year that he was found dead because of substance abuse. Considering that the author had gone through many hard times throughout his life with the loss of his beloved ones, this poem might refer to the emotional pain he suffered that let him to question the reality of life. The poem is written in despair as the tone is a mixture of mystery, loneliness and despair. The poem deals with the speaker’s troubling idea that reality is just a dream as the narratorRead MoreThe Importance Of Lifeful Life1102 Words   |  5 PagesIn modern society very few people are living a meaningful life, where they are happy to live their lives on a daily ba sis doing something that enriches their happiness. 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He travels vastly across Athens to search for the wisest man, but falls short at every encounter. Chaerephon w ent to the Oracle of Delphi to ask who the wisest man is and the response was Socrates; he is the wisest of them all. However, Socrates does not believe it because how can he be the wisest in all of Athens? Socrates questions individuals testing their wisdom and virtue, but falls short and tells everyone their dull-witted and wasting hisRead MoreThinking And Writing : Samuel Beckett s Waiting For Godot And Act Without Words II1749 Words   |  7 Pagesthe world and who we have learned it from so that we can craft our most authentic selves, a â€Å"self† that is transparent and questioning. In Beckett’s Waiting for Godot and Act Without Words II, the play serves as an authentic reflection of life and actively questions and inquires on what it means to â€Å"be.† The lack of scenery and drama, long pauses, and irresolute questioning emphasizes the act of thinking that provides the question to the answer we are all yearning for: what does it mean to existRead More Samuel Becketts Waiting For Godot And Act Without Words II?1692 Words   |  7 Pagesthe world and who we have learned it from so that we can craft our most authentic selves, a â€Å"self† that is transparent and questioning. 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A Slothful, Gluttonous, and Patronizing Character in A...

A Confederacy of Dunces – written by John Kennedy Toole – took place during the early 1960s in New Orleans. In A Confederacy of Dunces, Ignatius J. Reilly, the main character of the book, acquired two jobs after his mother had gotten into an accident. He worked at Levy Pants and as a hot dog vendor to make money to help his mother pay for the damages caused by her accident. Ignatius is the following: slothful, gluttonous, and patronizing. Ignatius is a slothful human being. After his mother found out that she owed a lot of money for the damages caused by her accident, she told Ignatius that he would need to get a job to help her pay. He thought it was inconceivable that his mother wanted him to get a job. Ignatius is too slothful to get a†¦show more content†¦Nut and bakery cakes (263). Ignatius is a patronizing human being. When Ignatius was standing underneath the clock of the D. H. Holmes department store, he was looking down upon other people standing near him. He observed the new and expensive outfits of the people, which he thought could be considered offenses against taste and decency. He believed that anything new or expensive reflected a person’s lack of theology and geometry (1). When Ignatius was gathering all of the factory workers to prepare them for the riot, he patronized them. The factory workers started to complain about all of his requests. Ignatius responded to their complaining saying that they are not deserving of the cause and that they are not prepared to make any sacrifices (137). Ignatius’s mother wanted to read the letter that Mr. Levy had brought to their house when he wanted to ask Ignatius if he had written it. Ignatius told Mr. Levy to not let her read the letter because it would confuse her for days (367). Ignatius is indeed a slothful, gluttonous, and patronizing man. These qualities are seen constantly throughout the entire book. His own mother began to consider putting him in the psychiatric ward at Charity because she could not deal with him. Santa Battaglia, a friend of Mrs. Reilly, even pushed for Mrs. Reilly to put Ignatius in the psychiatric ward. Miss Annie, the

The impact of a Christian Worldview in the family Essay Example For Students

The impact of a Christian Worldview in the family Essay life Outline Introduction I. The Christian Worldview. II. Living the Christian Worldview in the Family Life. Conclusion Introduction: Do we have a narrow view of the Christian faith? Many see it as simply a personal relationship with God, a commitment to Sunday services, Wednesday evening Bible study, and a little witnessing. Those are all good activitiesas far as they go. But Christians need to realize that every decision they make reflects their core values. So choices about voting, budgeting, marriage, movies, and heroes are all philosophical issues. Christians who dont have a distinctively Christian philosophya view of the world informed by biblical truthwill easily be suckered into living by the worlds philosophies. This is why church pews may be full on Sundays, but secular values dominate our culture. It is time for Christians to put away childish thinking and boldly confront the world with the message of Christ. I. The Christian Worldview. Each of us lives in a physical, economic, and social environment largely not of our making. Even so, we form part of our environment, and in visible and important ways we are formed by it. Furthermore, beyond our immediate surroundings lie urban, national, continental, and international cultures that also shape us. We can no more avoid participating in our surrounding cultures than we can avoid life itself. It is neither practical nor Christian to attempt to escape the major social structures in which human life occurs. God created the world; He is not its enemy. Christians believe God also ordained the primary orders of life, including family, government, community, human productivity, gainful employment, and commercial exchange. All of us come to know ourselves as participants in such structures even though they differ in particulars from one culture to another. If the creation is good, as the Bible declares, then so are the primary social structures that help make human life possible. A worldview is simply the lens through which we see and assess the whole of human culture and our place in it. It is one of the major devices by which we navigate life. Culture means the complex network of institutions, values, habits, tools, arts, and livelihoods that we create in community and that in turn shape us. Cultures are noticeably affected by their places in history and by their physical, spatial, technological, intellectual, and religious locations. Our worldview is strongly influenced by our place in a particular culture. Everyone has a world view. It is not only a human prerogative, but a human necessity. Usually we arent even conscious of our worldview(s). Like corrective lenses, they are transparent unless called to our attention or until we venture into a culture marked by another worldview. Even then, the ;strangeness; of the other worldview likely will impress us most. Developing a Christian worldview means coming to see the whole world through the eyes of the resurrected Lord, who has judged the powers of darkness and who is even now making all things new. Seeing this world as the scene of a new creation, Paul said, is possible only after one has experienced the new creation in ones self (2 Corinthians 5:14-21) . Only after the gospels complete degree has seized us, only after we understand that in Christ the Name of God is being declared in all the earth, can we understand and develop a Christian worldview. A Christian worldview leads to a new way of seeing and doing and it derives from a new way of being. Developing a Christian worldview requires that we submit all of lifes dimensions-individual and group, natural and technological, secular and sacred-to examination and reformation by the resurrected Christ (1 Corinthians 15:20-28) . Anyone not committed to comprehensive transformation should pay another visit to the meaning of discipleship. The Christian worldview is the truth from Christs point of view, informed by His prerogatives, not our feelings or experience. This is the truth that, when known, will set us free. Whether a person is Christian or not, he must acknowledge that the Bible describes a comprehensive perspective of life and the world. .u65b20c5395ecce846888ed0ba46607f4 , .u65b20c5395ecce846888ed0ba46607f4 .postImageUrl , .u65b20c5395ecce846888ed0ba46607f4 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u65b20c5395ecce846888ed0ba46607f4 , .u65b20c5395ecce846888ed0ba46607f4:hover , .u65b20c5395ecce846888ed0ba46607f4:visited , .u65b20c5395ecce846888ed0ba46607f4:active { border:0!important; } .u65b20c5395ecce846888ed0ba46607f4 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u65b20c5395ecce846888ed0ba46607f4 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u65b20c5395ecce846888ed0ba46607f4:active , .u65b20c5395ecce846888ed0ba46607f4:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u65b20c5395ecce846888ed0ba46607f4 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u65b20c5395ecce846888ed0ba46607f4 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u65b20c5395ecce846888ed0ba46607f4 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u65b20c5395ecce846888ed0ba46607f4 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u65b20c5395ecce846888ed0ba46607f4:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u65b20c5395ecce846888ed0ba46607f4 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u65b20c5395ecce846888ed0ba46607f4 .u65b20c5395ecce846888ed0ba46607f4-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u65b20c5395ecce846888ed0ba46607f4:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Hawthorne Essay We must have a firm conviction that ;the earth is the Lords and the fullness thereof (Psalm 24:1) . Is this world .

Three Georges Dam Essays - Yangtze River, Three Gorges Dam, Yichang

Three Georges Dam The United States, China and the Three Gorges Dam: Toward A Sounder Foreign Environmental Policy Yumiko Kojima, Kyoko Murai, Howard Pang, and Elena Vitale The Three Gorges Dam project on Chinas Yangzi River is the worlds largest hydroelectric undertaking. While Chinese leaders say the dam will improve river navigation, prevent periodic flooding, and provide the needed electricity for Chinas growing economy, many doubt that the dam will be able to meet the proponents claims and instead point to evidence of environmental catastrophe if it is built. Under pressure from NGOs, the Clinton Administration has opposed the provision of competitive export financing for the dam. This decision sparked criticism from U.S. executives who argue that by not participating the United States is losing jobs and the opportunity to mitigate the negative aspects of the dam. This paper argues that the U.S. position was justified. As part of a consistent and credible environmental policy to promote sustainable development, the United States should integrate environmental guidelines into its commercial diplomacy. U.S. policy towards China should provide support for prudent environmental policies as well as environmental technology transfers, both to foster environmentalism and advance U.S. commercial interests. Introduction Construction of the Three Gorges Dam on Chinas Yangzi River began in earnest in late November 1997, perhaps marking the end of almost 15 years of debate on the project among American policymakers. However, the case highlights a key dilemma in U.S. foreign policy-making that is likely to remain for years to come: how to balance U.S. commercial interests with environmental concerns. Though lauded by environmentalists, the Export-Import (Ex-Im) Banks decision not to provide financing for U.S. equipment suppliers vying for dam-related contracts has been criticized roundly by American corporations. They claim the policy hampers their efforts to break into the lucrative Chinese market. The prospect of similar potentially destructive megadams being proposed in other emerging economies means that U.S. policy on the Three Gorges Dam sets a precedent that will either aid or hamper American efforts to promote sounder environmental policies abroad. This paper will examine the Ex-Im Banks decision and its implications for U.S. foreign environmental policy. To this end, it will first outline the rationales behind support for and opposition to the project, including an evaluation of the net environmental impact of the dam. The following section will consider several issues raised by the case in order to assess the merits of the U.S. governments stance. The paper concludes with some recommendations for a more credible and consistent U.S. foreign environmental policy. Background The concept of the Three Gorges Dam is over 75 years old, dating back to when it was first proposed by the nationalist leader Sun Yat-Sen, in 1919. The dam was a dream of communist leader Mao Zedong, who felt it would be a potent symbol of Chinas self-sufficiency and ability to develop without western aid. In 1992, Chinese leaders officially announced plans to harness the rivers power by constructing the worlds largest hydroelectric dam only after communist leaders managed to silence opposition and pushed the plan through the National Peoples Congress. The Three Gorges refers to a 120-mile stretch of limestone cliffs along the upper reaches of the Yangzi River where the water drops precipitously through the Qutang, Wu, and Xiling gorges. The region is linked to folklore and important historical events, and its beauty has inspired Chinese painters and classical poets such as Li Bai for centuries. Since the dams approval, however, the project has met with significant opposition, both domestic and international, as human rights groups, environmentalists, and historians decry the extraordinary costs the dam will incur. The dam, which will be 1.3 miles long and 610 feet high, is expected to be completed by 2009. It will create a 385 mile-long reservoir stretching back up the river that will totally engulf the Three Gorges, as well as 115,000 acres of rich farmland, thirteen cities, hundreds of villages, and countless historic temples and archeological sites. Between 1.4 and 1.9 million people will need to be resettled. The project poses significant ecological dangers, technical challenges, and human rights issues and has raised questions about the rights of other industrialized nations to intervene in Chinese internal affairs. It is the largest, most expensive, and

The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn - Superstition Essays

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Superstition In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, there is a lot of superstition. Some examples of superstition in the novel are Huck killing a spider which is bad luck, the hair-ball used to tell fortunes, and the rattle-snake skin Huck touches that brings Huck and Jim good and bad luck. Superstition plays an important role in the novel Huck Finn. In Chapter one Huck sees a spider crawling up his shoulder, so he flipped it off and it went into the flame of the candle. Before he could get it out, it was already shriveled up. Huck didn't need anyone to tell him that it was an bad sign and would give him bad luck. Huck got scared and shook his clothes off, and turned in his tracks three times. He then tied a lock of his hair with a thread to keep the witches away. "You do that when you've lost a horseshoe that you've found, instead of nailing it up over the door, but I hadn't ever heard anybody say it was any way to keep of bad luck when you'd killed a spider."(Twain 5). In chapter four Huck sees Pap's footprints in the snow. So Huck goes to Jim to ask him why Pap is here. Jim gets a hair-ball that is the size of a fist that he took from an ox's stomach. Jim asks the hair-ball; Why is Pap here? But the hair-ball won't answer. Jim says it needs money, so Huck gives Jim a counterfeit quarter. Jim puts the quarter under the hair-bal l. The hair-ball talks to Jim and Jim tells Huck that it says. "Yo'ole father doan' know yit what he's a-gwyne to do. Sometimes he spec he'll go 'way, en den ag'in he spec he'll stay. De bes' way is tores' easy en let de ole man take his own way. Dey's two angles hoverin' roun' 'bout him. One uv'em is white en shiny, en t'other one is black. De white one gits him to go right a little while, den de black one sil in en gust it all up. A body can't tell yit which one gwyne to fetch him at de las'. But you is all right. You gwyne to have considable trouble in yo' life, en considable joy. Sometimes you gwyne to git hurt, en sometimes you gwyne to git sick; but every time you's gwyne to git well ag'in. Dey's two gals flyin' 'bout yo' in yo' life. One uv 'em's light en t'other one is dark. One is rich en t'other is po'. You's gwyne to marry de po' one fust en de rich one by en by. You wants to keep 'way fum de water as much as you kin, en don't run no resk, 'kase it's down in de bills dat you's gwyne to git hung." (Twain 19). Huck goes home and goes up to his room that night and Pap is there. In Chapter ten, Huck and Jim run into good luck and bad luck. The good luck was Huck and Jim finds eight dollars in the pocket of an overcoat. After dinner on Friday, they are lying in the grass, then Huck ran out of tobacco, so he went to the craven to get some, and finds a rattlesnake. Huck kills it and curled it up and put it on the foot of Jim's blanket. Night came and Jim flung himself on the blanket and the snake's mate was there, and it bit Jim on the heel. Jim tells Huck to chop off the snake's head, then skin the body of the snake and roast a peice of it. He took the rattles off and tied them to Jim wrist. Jim said it would help him. Huck says "I made up my mind I wouldn't ever take a-holt of a snake-skin again with my hands, now that I see what had come of it." (Twain 52). As one can see Superstition plays an important role in the novel Huck Finn. Huck killing the spid er which is bad luck, the hair-ball that tells fortunes, and the rattle-snake skin that Huck touched are examples that

Skokie essays

Skokie essays In the case of Village of Skokie vs. The ACLU(American Civil Liberties Union) I would definitely stand with the ACLU. The ACLU was defending the First Amendment Right. They were not defending the Nazis. We might not agree with what the Nazis are saying but, they still have a right to say it. Herb Lewison of the ACLU and the attorney for Collin stated to the judge Your Honor, this is a simple First Amendment case. The Village of Skokie seeks and order, preventing the exercise of free speech before the speech has even occurred, in spite of the fact that it has been proposed as an orderly exercise, taking place for only 20 minutes on public property in front of the Skokie Municipal Building. This section of the quote from Herb Lewison is simply saying that Skokie is just trying take away the first amendment right of the Nazis. Everything that they are asking for falls within their first amendment right. All they are just proposing is an orderly march. An orderly march for 20 minutes on public property. This is okay in my opinion because everything is offensive to someone. But you still have the right to voice your opinion. The second quote Lewison states is, This is a classic case in which government officials are asking a court of equity to impose a prior restraint on the speech of persons advocating unpopular ideas. Lewison is saying in this part of his summary argument that the government is asking the court to issue a prior restraint on the speech because they dont agree with their ideas. Another part of his quote states The Village of Skokie has shown only that the political views of Collin an ...

Social Institution Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Social Institution - Research Paper Example No matter how extensive the family membership is, the mutual bonds under a common authority exist among the members of a family. The evolving traits of the family’s structure are best explicated by sociological theories such as functionalist, conflict, and interactionism. Functionalists view that every society has interrelated social institutions, including the family, the educational institutions, the religious sects, the government and political system, and the mass media (Giddens & Griffiths, 2006). Each social institution contributes toward the advancement of the society. Since every society operates based on the consensus of its members, it serves the best interest of the general populace. In particular, functionalists emphasized the value of social structures than that of the individuals. Functionalism is a â€Å"top-down,† structuralist theory, which gives more importance on the societal structure and stratification, rather than on the individuals (Giddens & Griffiths, 2006). Functionalism views individuals as the product of social influences as they continuously expose themselves to other structures or members of the society, including family members, peers, relatives, and media. Family as a social institution, in the eyes of the funct ionalists, is beneficial to individuals because they usually experience physical care and emotional support from it. In 1965, Talcott Parsons tackled the origin of â€Å"family† and the roots of nuclear family (Giddens & Griffiths, 2006). He suggested that prior to industrial revolution societies were founded on an extensive network of kinship. This network bridges the relationship of the family members to the members of the nuclear family. In such family networks, the role of each member is mainly defined not by any skills or educational background, but through ascription. G.P. Murdock argued that the nuclear family has universally existed because it supported the economic,