.. The superior man is broad and fair; the inferior man takes sides and is petty... A superior man shapes the good in man; he does not shape the bad in him.
It is said that a disciple once asked Confucius to define the conduct of one's entire life with a single word. The Chinese philosopher replied: "Is not reciprocity such a word? What you do not want done to yourself do not do to others." This rule might be considered the foremost principle of Confucius' ethics, as it is often repeated in the literature. However, despite the importance of this principle, Confucius does not explain other notions by using this particular idea, as a derivate thereof, nor does he present in greater detail what a man should do in the relationship with others (parents, friends), when faced with opposite choices, as a natural consequence of "reciprocity."
Confucius did not explain some…...
mlaReference:
1. Encyclopedia Britannica 1997 Edition
2. Classic Note on Aristotle's Politics www.gradesaver.com/ClassicNotes/Titles/politics/shortsumm.html
3. The Internet Classic Archive - Confucius, Analescts
The "contradictory actions" will be strictly limited to the literal statements on the pages authored by Hawthorne in order to avoid evaluation by modern standards perhaps not shared by the Puritans this story discusses
c. Young Goodman Brown seems to come to the conclusion that everyone around him carries the taint of real or potential "sin" or "evil" (Hawthorne 7) which he tries to distance himself from.
3. Considering 2c the working conclusion the character Young Goodman Brown draws given the directly stated evidence that Brown spent the rest of his life "suspicious" and "gloomy" (Hawthorne 8) after the vision related in the story, without interpretation or assignment of value to those terms from modern standpoints,
a. Trying to prevent the Goody Cloyse from corrupting the young girl is not good or bad but inconsistent with a conclusion drawn by Young Goodman Brown (2.c. above)
i. If humans are inherently sinful the little…...
But when it comes down to the reality of the question as to whether man is good, evil or both by nature, we must heed the message contained in the New Testament which equates traits like "ungodliness," "lawlessness" and especially "evil" as being based upon "moral and spiritual depravity which links sin with Satan" (Peterson, 2004, p. 287). In this respect, man is both good and evil but has the power to practice either one at his discretion, due to being a free-thinking individual.
As Michael D. Peterson reminds us, good and evil "is part of man's inner composition as a member of the natural world" and although some equate good and evil with religious beliefs and principles, "they are indisputably a duality which exists in the minds of men; a duality which cannot be separated nor done away with" (2004, p. 297). Therefore, it could be said that good and…...
mlaREFERENCES
Dawood, N.J., trans. (2003). The Koran. New York: Penguin books.
"Good and Evil." (2009). World Scripture. Internet. Retrieved May 28, 2009 from http://www.unification.net/ws/theme058.htm .
"On Good and Evil." (2009). Bahai Topics. Internet. Retrieved May 28, 2009 from http://info.bahai.org/article-1-4-0-9.html .
Peterson, Michael D. (2004). "The foundations of human good and evil."
Sula is perceived as the wild child because she does not live a conventional life. She moves away from Bottom, has numerous affairs with many men, and when she returns, she is recognized as evil. Sula is called a "roach" (112) and a "*****" (112). Her death is a welcome relief in Bottom. Her affair with Nel's husband does make matters any better. All of this makes Nel look almost like an angel in comparison. Sula did not live a nice, neat little life. Unlike Nel, she did not marry and have children and she did not regret it. She was pessimistic and sarcastic while Nel was controlling and composed. However, do these facts make perception real? Barbara Lounsberry does not think so. In fact, she writes that Morrison "uses the lives of the major character in Sula to demonstrate both the variety and futlity of human attempts to…...
mlaWorks Cited
Lounsberry, Barbara and Hovet, Grace. "Principles of Perception in Toni Morrison's Sula." Black American Literature Forum. 13.4. JSTOR Resource Database. Site Accessed May 18, 2008. http://www.jstor.org
Morrison, Toni. Sula. New York: Plume Books. 1973.
"These gangs will go anywhere there is money to be made and there is just no stopping the supply of girls so the problem will grow." Trafficking gangs kidnap or lure women from Eastern Europe with promises of work as models or glamorous escorts. They are smuggled into the European Union on false papers via staging posts in Italy, Germany and Scandinavia. But when they reach the West, the girls' papers are confiscated and they have to pay off "debts" to the gangs by working as sex slaves (Clements, 2000).
Trafficked women do not walk the streets like Scots hookers, instead working in brothels (Clements, 2000)."
They speak little or no English and would be exposed to arrest on the streets so gangs buy flats to protect their investments and maximise their sordid profits (Clements, 2000)."
Definition of Good and Evil as it elates to Sex Trafficking
Good and evil as it relates…...
mlaReferences
It is the ultimate degradation and worst violation of human rights short of murder' TRAGEDY of GIRLS SOLD as SEX SLAVES.(News)
The Mirror (London, England); 5/15/2000
RIGHTS-EASTERN EUROPE: DESPERATION FUELS ROMANIAN SEX TRADE
Inter-Press Service English News Wire; 8/29/2000; STAFF
Theodicy
The problem of Sam the neighbor is not something new in the spiritual evaluation of the human condition. The presence of discomfort, fear and violence leads the casual observer to believe that if there is a God, he or she or whatever it is, has a desire to see people suffer in pain and confusion. There is little doubt that the human experience is filled with disappointment, failure, death and general unhappiness. The wars, diseases and general mistrust amongst our people has delivered us a message on our ways of behavior.
Oftentimes, this discomfort or displeasure is termed "evil." The word "evil" is strong and carries much weight within the realm of theological and philosophical discussion. The purpose of this essay is to describe the necessity of evil within the world and how by accepting this ideal, the Christian faith may be empowered and used to a more practical ends. This…...
mlaReferences
Walter A. Elwell . Evangelical Dictionary of Theology (Baker Reference Library). Baker Academic Publications, 2001.
As it is typical in good vs. evil combats, the forces of good are initially shown powerless, with no one to help them and with no thought on how to remedy the situation they find themselves in. The Pevensies themselves are unable to reach Caspian and the rest of the Narnians because they constantly come across impediments.
The overall purpose of the heroes in this book is to return purity in a ruined land, this being a reference to how the forces of good ultimately have to defeat the forces of evil and impose their influence over the land, so as for it to become pure once more. As customary for a land conquered by evil, many of those previously devoted to good have lost their faith and are inclined to believe that there is no hope for them. The story can be considered to be a parallel to modern-day…...
GOOD VS. EVIL AND CATHY'S OLE
When you come across a fictional character that possesses true evil attributes and has not got a single good bone in his/her body, you are likely to respond in one of the two ways. That is, you would either reject the character terming it too monstrous to be believable or you would view it as a literary device used by the author to highlight his main theme. The first reaction however leads to nothing constructive, on the other hand the second type of response paves way for further and deeper analysis of the writing. This is how we seek to study John Steinbeck's novel "East of Eden" which contains one of the most iniquitous fictional characters in contemporary literature. This character is introduced to us as Catherine Ames "Cathy," who later changes her name to Kate. Cathy's personal attributes are so brutish in nature that…...
mlaReferences
Steinbeck, John. Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics: East of Eden. New York: Penguin Books USA Inc., 1992
God's Existence And Evil Existence
God's existence and the existence of evil
hen considering illiam Paley's Argument from Design, St. Thomas Aquinas's Cosmological Argument, and St. Anselm's Ontological Argument, one can only come to one conclusion. As superficial as this might seem for some believers, the conclusion is not that God exists. Sometimes it is better to be superficial, as this provides a person with the ability to see matters from a general perspective. Considering the complexity of things can lead to serious dilemmas, taking into account that as long as someone wants to believe that God exists, the respective individual can go through great efforts with the purpose to come up with a theory that can convince many to accept it. This is exactly what happened in the cases of Paley, Aquinas, and Anselm. These people devised ingenious theories that are hard to contradict by simply relating to the information they…...
mlaWorks cited:
Herman, A.L. (1993). "The Problem of Evil and Indian Thought." Motilal Banarsidass Publ.
Saint Augustine of Hippo. (2008). "The Confessions of Saint Augustine." Filiquarian Publishing, LLC.
"The Book of Job"
Philosophy
Plotinus on Good and Evil
The act of defining what shall be considered Good or Evil is a central part of many philosophies and religions. The subject is often approached with very little rationality and a great deal of rabid sentiment and heavy-handed authoritarianism, as sharp lines between Good and Evil are drawn in the metaphoric sand. It is no coincidence that in the East Good and Evil are shown divided sharply into the two sides of the ying-yang symbol, or that in the West these two have often been imagined as the manifestation of competing spiritual forces (of God and the Devil). Amidst all of this, Plotinus is a refreshing voice precisely because he does not attempt to delineate sharply between the Good and the ill, but rather takes a broad view of the inter-relationship of all things with the divine. To summarize quite brutally: Plotinus believes that the true…...
Evil
The free will defense suggests that God permits, but does not cause evil. Therefore, it is possible to live in a universe in which good and evil continually coexist. Human beings are blessed with the ability to make a choice that can further the objectives of God and good, or to promote the interests of evil. Although this view is logically coherent, there are clear objections to it.
One objection is that God has nothing at all to do with evil, and human beings, made in God's image, likewise have nothing to do with evil. Free will is therefore irrelevant and in fact negated. There is no such thing as free will, according to this point-of-view. All human beings have is a fate that has been pre-determined by God. Using this objection, it is easy to see how the human being is portrayed as a passive recipient of life rather than…...
mlaReferences
"Introduction to Philosophical Inquiry." Retrieved online: http://philosophy.lander.edu/intro/hick.html
Speaks, Jeff. "Swinburne's Response to the Problem of Evil." Retrieved online: http://www3.nd.edu/~jspeaks/courses/mcgill/201/swinburne.pdf
If humans are not the architects of good and evil, then, it is easy to see how a human cannot be wholly good or wholly evil. An architect may be trying to emulate the style of Frank Lloyd right, but his or her work will, ultimately, be different from right's in some ways. The emulating architect will create some aspects of his or her building that are entirely his or her own. In the same way, a person may be emulating the metaphysical creator of good or evil, but he or she will be flawed in some ways, meaning that he or she is not wholly evil or wholly good. Edgar Allen Poe gives a good example of this in his story "The Black Cat." hile the main character commits atrocities to his cat, Pluto, readers are able to find a glimmer of good through his actions before he commits…...
mlaWorks Cited
Brians, Paul et al. "St. Augustine on the Problem of Evil." Washington State University.
18 December 1998. Resources for the Study of World Civilizations. 18 May 2009.
"Evil and Otherness."
Govier, Trudy. "Forgiveness and the Unforgivable." American Philosophical Quarterly.
Initially St. Augustine favoured the dualistic view that evil was external and separate from the world and mankind that in evident from the Manichean worldview. However, he was later to reject this strict dualism and taker another view of the nature of evil. This was more Platonic and was based on the writings of Plotinus and Porphyry. This refers to the view that evil is a measure and result of our separation from God.
For Augustine, the measure of all existence was God. Instead of the Manichean view that evil existed outside humanity "…as an invasion," he posited the view that evil only existed to the extent that we do not acknowledge and live within God's word and law. ( Augustine Influences Christianity). Stated in another way, evil exists only because mankind refuses to acknowledge God. In essence Augustine defines evil as "…a privation in goodness." (A Brief Response to the…...
mlaWorks cited
A Brief Response to the Problem of Evil. April 22, 2009.
Augustine Influences Christianity. April 22, 2009.
In the poem and essay "Compensation," Ralph aldo Emerson makes a much more cogent and coherent assessment of how perspective seems to determine good and evil. His examples, however, are purely situational and do not adequately support his central thesis. For example, he compares a farmer jealous of power to the President examining what he has had to sacrifice to earn the hite House (par. 11). hile it is true that what one might see as a "good" here might be seen as an "evil" by the other, this has nothing to do with real morality. It is not what the President sacrificed of himself that determines the evil of this situation, but whether he sacrificed others for his own personal gain.
Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is one of the most well-known pieces of literature in the estern world. Robert Louis Stevenson shows the novels protagonist, Dr.…...
mlaWorks Cited
Blake, William. "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell." Accessed 11 November 2010. http://www.levity.com/alchemy/blake_ma.html
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. "Compensation." Accessed 11 November 2010. http://www.rwe.org/works/Essays-1st_Series_03_Compensation.htm
Merwin, W.S. "The Stranger." Accessed 11 November 2010. http://www.breakoutofthebox.com/stranger.htm
Stevenson, Robert Louis. Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Accessed 11 November 2010. http://www.online-literature.com/stevenson/jekyllhyde/
God would have never created human beings if everyone was to be perfect.
There are certain problems with the view that there is evil in the world despite the presence of an almighty God who is omnipotent and omniscient. Critics believe that evil should not exist if God is omnipotent and omniscient. They believe that there is evil in this world because God doesn't exist. There is no to govern what is right and wrong. This view is contradicted by some religions which rightfully believe that God is there and he created the world as He knows what's best for his beings. This point-of-view leads critics to argue that God is not morally good and that if He has so much power then He would be able to get rid of evil from the world without any problems.
Epicurus was quoted to have said "Either God wants to abolish evil, and…...
mlaBibliography
The Philosophical Problem of Evil, Philosophy of Religion, David A. Conway (1988) 24: 35-66.
Evil and the God of Love, first edition. John Hick, 1966.
The Coherence of Theism, Richard Swinburne, 1997
2000 years of Disbelief, Epicurus
One of the cornerstones of the idea of liberty and freedom, especially when viewed from a religious perspective like Thomas Merton’s, is the idea of free will. Whether human beings truly have free will is a surprisingly divisive philosophical question that, by design, must consider questions like natural versus nurture, motivation, the influence of society on people, and even the nature of good and evil (O’Connor). However, the idea of free will is central to Christianity and also to Merton’s explorations of liberty and freedom in a Christian context.
Using the concept of free will to explore the....
Captivating Titles for an Essay on Adolf Hitler
1. The Enigma of Adolf Hitler: Unraveling the Mind of a Dictator
This title piques curiosity by presenting Hitler as an enigma, inviting the reader to delve into the complexities of his psyche.
2. The Ascent of Evil: Hitler's Path to Power
This title emphasizes the gradual rise of Hitler, highlighting the series of events and decisions that led to his dictatorship.
3. The Shadow of Totalitarianism: Hitler's Impact on Germany and Europe
This title explores the consequences of Hitler's rule, examining its devastating impact on Germany and the broader European landscape.
4. The Holocaust: Hitler's....
Thesis statement: While both Star Wars and Star Trek are popular science fiction franchises, they differ significantly in terms of their themes, settings, and character development, ultimately appealing to distinct audiences. One potential direction for your thesis statement could be analyzing how each franchise approaches the concept of space exploration and the ethics of interstellar travel. Star Trek often focuses on diplomacy, exploration, and the ethical dilemmas that arise when encountering new civilizations, while Star Wars tends to prioritize adventure, conflict, and the struggle between good and evil. By exploring these differences in approach, you could argue how each franchise offers....
1. The Eternal Struggle: Exploring Good and Evil in Human Nature
2. The Duality of Human Nature: A Study of Good vs Evil
3. The War Within: Examining the Battle Between Good and Evil in Human Nature
4. Beyond Morality: Understanding the Complexities of Good vs Evil in Human Behavior
5. Nature vs Nurture: The Influence of Genetics and Environment on Good vs Evil in Humans
6. Shades of Grey: Navigating the Moral Ambiguities of Human Nature
7. The Power of Choice: How Free Will Influences Good vs Evil in Human Behavior
8. The Dark Side of Humanity: Unveiling the Depths of Evil within Us
9. The Light....
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