Political Idea :: essays research papers

Throughout time there have always been some philosophers who present theories, which have philosophical themes in religious thinking that, are in connection to current social and political ideas. Thinkers like St. Anselm, St. Thomas Aquinas, and John Hick all express their views and feelings on the existence of God, as well as the human race. Their theories are based off asking questions like why are we here and how do we prove God’s existence? Is there really life after death and where does the soul go? They also explore the ideas and theories behind the nature of man and what relationship that has with the existence of God. With one goal in mind, at three different times in history each have resulted in the same conclusion, that God does exist and his existence is a result of knowing and understanding why he exists. They all prove their theories in different ways, but their outcome is one in the same. St. Anselm takes the Ontological argument to explain to existence of God. An ontological argument is simply an analysis of the nature or being of something, where we would attempt to define the object, to understand its nature and to be able to list all its qualities and attributes. However, it is important to keep in mind the difference between appearance and reality when using the ontological argument to define God’s existence. There are things that appear to be real in the presence of God, but are indeed only an image of the mind. Anselm begins first with the meaning of the word God. According to most Jews and Christians, the term God means one that is greatest in power, in knowledge, in goodness and in reality; which then can be translated to be God is conceived as the most perfect being. Since this view of God that accords with the faith commitments of most believers, Anselm uses it in his ontological analysis. His definition becomes â€Å"that being than which none grea ter can be conceived†, making God not only the greatest being, but yet the greatest conceivable being. Based on Anselm’s definition he makes the argument that for a being that exists both in understanding and in reality, which would be greater than a being existing in understanding alone. Therefore, as Anselm stated â€Å"even a fool is convinced that something exists in the understanding, at least, than which nothing greater can be conceived.

One Hundred Years of Solitude and The Woman in the Dunes Essay

Solitude can exist in many ways and can be present in any form in human beings. Each person is eventually alone deep inside themselves, which is why communication and connections are essential in life. In the novel One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Kobo Abe's The Woman in the Dunes, solitude is one of the main dilemmas that the main characters in the novels encounter. In the novels, the main characters are perpetually looking for a way to defeat their loneliness in the world and in many cases try to find it through sexual intercourse. The patriarch Jose Arcadio Buendia, in One Hundred Years of Solitude, is the founder of Macondo. The location of Mocondo is significant as it sits on an isolated place which gives the sense of the Buendia family being surrounded by solitude. It also seems as if solitude is an inherited trait of the Buendia family leading to a pattern of incest, which was started by Jose Arcadio Buendia and his wife, who is also his first cousin, Ursula Iguaran. Sex is probably used in the novel as a way to somehow bond the family together. Sex can be used as a tool to make connections to one another and can create body language which can also be a way of communicating. We see this especially in the second generation of the family, when Colonel Aureliano Buendia has sex during the wars with seventeen different women (which he shows no sign of predilection towards). You can also deduce that he went on a journey to free himself from solitude and overall was unsuccessful as it was shown when he m ade an attempt to get with the adolescent "mulatto" girl enslaved by her grandmother. This shows an effort by one of the Buendia men to try to have a loving relationship with another char... ...here was no particular need to hurry about escaping." (239). Realizing his situation, he becomes one with the dunes and is able to live a purposeful life with the woman he once opposed living with. Without any type of sexual relationship, none of the characters in the novels One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Kobo Abe's The Woman in the Dunes would have been explored thoroughly. Sex usually exposes a hidden hope or apprehension, desire and lust for something. In this case the characters of the novels lust, desire for identity and companionship, and is something they strive to acquire. In order to attain this, they attempt to use sex as a tool to triumph over solitude and gain communication and connection to reach one another. This is why sex is essential in providing two crucial things that are necessary in life to avoid solitude.

From the Concert of Europe to the Cause of the First World War Essay

After the fall of Napoleon there was a need to create a balance of power that would preserve the peace between European monarchies. Also to redraw the map of Europe and to restore the countries in crisis after their defeat of Napoleon. The main goal of the Concert was to contain France and prevent another ascend of authority such as Napoleon Bonaparte. The origins of The Concert of Europe begin from the international conference called by the victorious allied nations in Vienna – The Congress of Vienna. It took place in September 1814 to June 1815 and is mostly considered as the precursor to today’s United Nations. The Congress was highly successful in achieving its goal, as there were no wars between European countries for almost 40 years. One could say that the Concert of Europe is still continuous, but with different players, goals and name. Thus The Concert of Vienna was first of its kind and in addition Europe had not seen such cooperation between major powers before, it nonetheless made numerous decisions that shaped Europe to its historic course. For instance France was deprived from lands Napoleon had conquered. Britain got several strategic colonial territories, also gaining control of the seas. France and Spain were restored under rightful bloodlines. However the numerous decisions and outcomes were pompous, concentrating on the needs and wants of four main powers – Austria, Russia, Prussia, and Great Britain. The Concert’s main accomplishment was the securing of independence for Greece (ironic) by sending fleets to fight against invading Ottoman-Egyptian armies. Thanks to three great powers, Russia, The United Kingdom and France, Greece was finally recognized as an independent nation that it is today. In Belgian revolution the Great Powers recognized Belgium as an independent state. After that the signs of collapse of the alliance started to appear. The goal of the Concert of Europe was to keep a balance of power between leading countries in Europe, but if the balance starts to change to someone’s favour then the conflicts begin to arise. The sudden development of Egypt and their successful war against Ottomans brought about fear in European powers. A collapse of Ottoman Empire could have had a destabilizing effect to every country especially to the United Kingdom. England was not only worried for loosing economic benefits and militarily strong state in Mediterranean, but also about Egypt’s close ties to France. Britain preferred a weakened but intact Ottoman Empire that would give it the strategic and commercial advantages it needed to maintain its influence in the region. This all lead to what was called the Oriental Crisis of 1840 where United Kingdom, Austrian Empire, The Kingdom of Prussia and the Russian Empire backed Ottoman Empire against Egypt. France did not accept with the terms The Concert of Europe offered to Egypt, not siding with any of the rivals, but stayed ‘neutral’. Eventually after numerous military conflicts Egypt accepted the terms and Ottoman Empire got back all its lost fleets and territories. The significant downfall of The Concert of Europe was Crimean War in 1853 when Russian Empire started its expansion, which was against the main idea of the Congress of Vienna. It was all powered by the weakening Ottoman Empire and religious disputes till Russia made its move on Constantinople which was owned by the Turks. Afterwards European powers joined in to prevent Russia from growing too powerful. Followed three years of hostilities on five theatres till Russian Empire was eventually stopped. Being the first major armed conflict in Europe after the settlement at the Congress of Vienna, Crimean War signified the downfall of the Concert of Europe. At the Treaty of Paris, signed on March 30, 1856, the real looser was Austria. Having chosen to defy the Russians in the Balkans, Austria lost main ally, and over the next few years it appeared that Britain and France were not interesting in cooperation. Moreover, the Crimean War was the collapse of the Vienna Settlement, the system that had enabled Austria, Britain, France, Prussia and Russia to cooperate and maintain peace for three decades. The Crimean War placed the basis for two powerful new nation states – Italy and Germany. The new six-power European system demonstrated to be less stable than its forefather, while the expectation that political and diplomatic aims could be satisfied by war led these states to adopt ever closer alliances. The Crimean War was a turning point in European history, marking the end of the Vienna settlement, and the beginning of a new system. In spite of all, the Great Powers finally returned to war in 1914, almost hundred years after the Congress of Vienna. Alliances and common pacts all end in the course of time, lead by human needs and personal gains, sooner or later. (And the outcome is war ofc) The First World War begun with a simple murder of Austrian-Hungarian royalty, at least that is the simplified reason. In reality it only triggered the war; the actual roots of the war are much deeper and more complicated than a simple bullet in the Archdukes neck. Rise of nationalism and its movements in Europe created such secret societies that used terrorist methods to promote their views. Slavic people in Bosnia and Herzegovina wanted no longer to be a part of Austria-Hungary, but instead be to be a part of Serbia. Viewing it in this way, it could be said that nationalism led Slavic people to rebel against their occupiers that ended with the First World War Increased military and naval rivalry led not only to the belief that war was close and increase in military control of the civilian government also there was an increased cooperation between allied countries. For example United Kingdom, France and Russia held secret military talks. The British and the French naval authorities agreed that the French navy should be concentrated in the Mediterranean and the British in the North Sea. Germany and Austria also had military agreements. When the First World War began, it was to be fought by all powers because they were locked into the conflict from the beginning by contracts and alliances. European powers had formed themselves into two rival groups called the Triple Entente versus the Triple Alliance and the interests of these groups clashed in many parts of the world before 1914. Whenever a clash arose, the two groups seemed to be on the edge of war. Believably, on some level, it eventually led to hatred of each other. Contributing fact was that after 1870, the European nations began to acquire colonies in Asia, Africa and the Pacific. Their imperialistic activities led to another clash of interests. It could be said that the underlying causes for war are the same as for everything else in life. One decision affects the other to ad nauseam. It was possible that politicians knew that war was at their doorstep, but I am sure they did not know that over 15 million people will have to pay for it with their lives. Could the First World War be avoided is doubtful, because of the tense relations, rivalry and complicated alliance systems. It was a small scale war between Austria-Hungary and Serbia that transformed into world war. The same could easily happen today when China or USA supports North or South Korea over the conflict. History repeats itself and we need to learn from it. Poking your nose into other people’s business is not the smartest plan when both sides have powerful ‘’brothers’’ positioned farther back.

A Faithful Servant: the Ambition and Power of Thomas Wolsey

During the beginning of Henry VIII reign, the young and inexperienced new king was content with letting his father’s advisers continue to govern the realm from the security of the council. As Henry wasn’t interested in the responsibilities, namely regarding the political aspects and hard work that went into being the king, he let most of the trials and tribulations fall upon these selected councilmen, until one minister came to dominate over the rest. The Archbishop of York, Thomas, Cardinal Wolsey (1473-1530) seemed to take over when the members of Henry’s council began to retire or die off.This rise to power that the cardinal was experiencing, as well as his new found friendship with the king eventually lead to his very dramatic fall from grace due to the actions regarding the King’s Great Matter not suiting his position with the church. The Great Cardinal came from very humble beginnings in comparison to some of his counterparts. A son of a butcher and cattle dealer from Ipswich Suffolk, Wolsey secured a spot at Oxford on a poor boy’s scholarship. It was there that the young Wolsey decided to devote his life to God and joined the church.Due to his striking intelligence and organizational skills, Thomas moved up in ranks of the church rather quickly, starting as a chaplain with the archbishop of Canterbury, and then beginning the reign as royal almoner to King Henry VII. This newfound position gave Wolsey a seat on the Privy Council, which gave him an opportunity to show his driving ambition for power and his industrious nature to the king. When Henry VII succeeded his father in 1509, Wolsey continued his life at court and quickly outgrew his position as royal almoner.After very successful military campaigns in France, which garnered Henry the glory of defeating a powerful opponent as well as French land lead 1512-1514, the faithful servant was rewarded with leading these successful escapades with the title of Archbishop of York in 1514, as a way of Henry showing his gratitude and during the following year he was awarded with the prestigious cardinal’s hat by the pope. The gratitude’s that Henry bestowed upon Wolsey were numerous, which in turn made him one of the most hated men to hold any sort of high office in England.This hatred of Wolsey sprung from the fact that Wolsey, being a churchman was supposed to lead a relatively simple lifestyle. This however was not the case and Wolsey was quickly given the title of a notorious pluralist, which is that, he usually held more than one ecclesiastical position at once. Due to his friendship with the king, Wolsey was awarded the title of dean of Lincoln in 1509, then bishop of Lincoln in 1514, which coincided with his rise to archbishop of York. As was previously stated, Wolsey was given the title of Cardinal in 1515, and then in 1518 he was also granted the titles of abbot of St.Albans and bishop of Bath. Wolsey’s good fortunes continue d still when, in 1524, he exchanged the title of bishop of Bath for the wealthier see of Durham; and then finally gave up Durham for bishop of Winchester. Wolsey held many of these positions while maintaining his status of Archbishop of York, this favoritism that was being clearly showed by the king towards Wolsey made him many enemies. Holding many of these titles, show many historians the ambition that Wolsey had with his king, however he also had much ambition regarding his church standings.From 1518 onwards, Wolsey held the position of the pope’s personal representative, or legate, in the realm of England. However, it should be noted that the legate to the pope had an even higher ambition in that Wolsey wanted to be pope himself. During 1519 Despite having numerous enemies within Henry’s court, Wolsey retained the confidence and good graces of the king, until Henry decided to solicit an annulment to his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, so that he could marry the am bitious Anne Boleyn.To achieve the divorce, Henry looked to Wolsey once again, expecting the Great Cardinal to use his pull on Rome as well as with those powerful in England to gain the outcome that Henry expected. Bibliography Primary Sources â€Å"Act in Restraint of Appeals (24 Hen. VIII, c 12, 1533). † In Sources and Debates in English History, 1485-1714. Eds. Newton Key and Robert Bucholz. 2d. ed. Chichester: Riley-Blackwell, 2009. P. 41. â€Å"Articles against Cardinal Wolsey, signed by the Lords (December 1, 1529). † In Sources and Debates in English History, 1485-1714. Pp. 39-40 Cardinal Wolsey’s Report to Henry VIII on Proceedings in Star Chamber (ca. 1518). † In Sources and Debates in English History, 1485-1714. Pp. 37. â€Å"John Skelton, â€Å"Why Come Ye Not to Court? † (written 1522, pub. 1568). † In Sources and Debates in English History, 1485-1714. Pp. 38-39 â€Å"Venetian Ambassador Sebastian Giustiniani’s Report on C ardinal Wolsey (September 10, 1519). † In Sources and Debates in English History, 1485-1714. Pp. 37-38 Secondary Sources Bulcholz, Robert, and Newton Key. Early Modern England, 1485-1714. 2d ed. Chicester: Wiley- Blackwell, 2009.

Social psychology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Social psychology - Essay Example The study of personalities and theoretical differences in personalities. It can also be said that personality psychology is specific to the studying of human differences. Social psychology is related closely to personality psychology as understanding social behaviors can be better explained by observing and studying personality differences. If there were no personality differences displayed in humans, then we would all be exactly the same and diversity would not exist. Answer: The theory of self monitoring simply revolves around being in control of one’s words and actions as well as the level of awareness one has over one‘s self. It can be explained as the idea of being accountable to one’s self. For example, an individual with low self monitoring, does not think before they speak. This means that their words and actions are often socially inappropriate. An individual with high self monitoring will select their words carefully before speaking, mentally weighing their choice of words or topics of discussion. A person with high self monitoring is also very concerned with if they are acting within social norms or not. A high self monitor will act out in embarrassing ways without really feeling embarrassed, â€Å"People who are high self-monitors constantly watch other people, what they do and how they respond to the behavior of others. Such people are hence very self-conscious and like to look good and will hence usually adapt we ll to differing social situations. Answer: The overconfidence phenomenon within the work place is receiving more and more attention and study as it seems to be a growing problem in some large corporations. An example of this phenomenon is someone who excels professionally but progressively feels more and more comfortable taking more risks. The overconfident individual will state their ability to perform tasks at a higher level than what

E-Commerce Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

E-Commerce - Essay Example and use a variety of e-commerce applications, which make their businesses more efficient and help them to meet the most sophisticated customer needs. Generally, e-commerce applications cover a variety of systems and techniques, which businesses and entrepreneurs can use to meet their business and consumer objectives. Supply chain management, e-tailing and procurement, auction, commercial websites, and search engines are widely used to promote the popularity and efficiency of online businesses. In this context, a supply chain is, probably, the most popular and well-known form of e-commerce application. A supply chain can be generally defined as â€Å"a set of relationships between a number of companies who have a symbiotic relationship with each other in that one company supplies commodities or services to other companies which, in turn, supply commodities or services to other companies, and so on† (Kalakota & Robinson, 2005). That e-businesses all over the world apply to the benefits of supply chains is not surprising, for the latter have already become a conventional form of making business and an efficient instrument of establishing close relationships between suppliers and customers, as well as between them and their partners. However, supply chain management solutions would not suffice, to bring e-commerce to the current point of evolution: today, businesses and entrepreneurs online can use a variety of other applications, including e-tailing and procurement. E-tailing is a popular form of making business online, which implies the use of archetypal solutions similar to those at Amazon.com. E-tailing is the general form of selling goods online, and is often treated as a synonym to e-commerce, e-business, and business-to-customer transactions online. Amazon is, probably, the brightest example of how e-tailing works in practice: Amazon encompasses a variety of different applications and solutions that allow customers making purchases online, tracking their

Autism Spectrum Disorder Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Autism Spectrum Disorder - Research Paper Example ASD varies in individuals concerning its onset, with cases that are from birth while others develop in later life. In the area of learning, impairment makes the affected child who could be, for example, be in the fifth grade, to have the reading level of a second grade level child. In the area of socialization, other children start to portray withdrawal symptoms, where they prefer to be alone, and seem uninterested in the games or activities of the people around them. This affects their communicational development and their learning ability (Tidmarsh and Volkmar, 2003) because socialization is a very important aspect of childhood development, since children learn some aspects of behavior through imitating what other children are saying or doing (Tidmarsh and Volkmar, 2003). These children with ASD lack this chance of developing if the situation is not addressed through encouraging them to interact with other children (Volkmar, 2012). Some children with ASD also show signs of uncontro llable fits of temper, great resistance to change and are oversensitive or under sensitive to sounds or sights, while others too are prone to epileptic seizures and fits, anxiety and depression. Others will portray the lack of interest in the people around them, avoiding eye contact and probably only showing interest in toys and other objects or in a certain subject. Some of the victims of ASD speak very few or no words at all, but use pictures and signs to communicate, while others are preoccupied with certain objects or items. Many victims of ASD portray a consistent adherence to some specific rules and rituals . It is also worthwhile to note that autism affects boys more than girls with the ratio being that out of every five people with the disorder, four are male (Volkmar, 2012). Research on the possible causes of autism has been done extensively and is continuing, but no clear causes have been established but scientists have been able to identify some various types of genes tha t are associated by the disorder and there also have been noticeable relationship with the disorder among close family members, indicating that genetics is a major factor (Tidmarsh and Volkmar, 2003). Research has shown that an identical twin has a 90% chance of getting ASD if the other twin has the disorder, further advancing the theory about genetics (National Institute).It has also been observed that due the presence of high levels of serotonin and other transmitters of information to the brain, ASD could be caused by their interfering with normal brain formation starting from fetal stage to later life. These substances have been found to occur in higher than normal levels in people with ASD. ASD has no known cure but therapeutic and behavioral interventions can be and have been used to bring a remedy to some of the specific symptoms observed and, where applied there have been great improvements. While symptoms may vary, it is very important that they be noted as early as possibl e so that ways to manage the disorder can be enhanced earliest possible (Tidmarsh and Volkmar, 2003). The following methods would be helpful to assist or educate a victim of ASD in the best way possible. I would emphasize on the screening and proper diagnosis of his