Acient and Medieval Western Civilization - 766 Words

Ancient Medieval Western Civilization At the point when Alexander the Great died in Babylon on June 11 323 BC, few could have known the prospects for the Macedonians and the Greeks. In the last twelve years they had fulfilled wonderful victories that brought under their influence more than ten times the domain Alexander had started with in Greece. It was to be the start of the Hellenistic Age, a period of one of a kind social and political advancements, that achieved an amalgamation of old and new. After Phillip of Macedon died the next successor to the throne was his son Alexander III of Macedon. At the point when Alexander went to the throne, he was just twenty years of age, despite the fact that he had incredible preparing and experience for somebody so junior. He had receive an intense training from a man named Leonidas. Then, at age thirteen, he was guided by the Greek savant, Aristotle, who prepared Alexanders keenness as seriously as Leonidas had prepared his body. Largely on account of his instruction, Alexander showed both an unfathomable physical strength and educated virtuoso. Those qualities, consolidated with right on time battles against northern tribes and at the skirmish of Chaeronea, made the youthful ruler more than primed to accept power. For the next eleven years Alexander continued his father plan to conquer Persia . Alexander was also successful because of his charismatic personality. He knew many his troops by name, and imparted the dangers

St. Augustine s Theory Of Evil - 899 Words

Saint Augustine struggled with the concept of evil in the natural world while simultaneously converting to Christianity, much to his mother’s delight. Augustine began by looking for sound arguments against the Manichean school of thought, which he prescribed to for a short while himself. The Neo-Platonic philosophy eventually showed him the intellectual way toward this goal when Ambrose, the bishop of Milan, began to apply this philosophical viewpoint to Christianity. In the end, Augustine created a completely new Christian view of evil, a view that inspired theologians for centuries to come. To begin, Manichean thought saw evil as a substance. A Manichean believed in the duality of substances in the world. In other words, evil was a substance equal yet opposite to the substance of good. While Augustine originally agreed with this school of thought, he eventually found this philosophy to be inept in its explanations of the world. â€Å"But it was principally the idea of the two masses of good and evil that held me fast and stifled me, for I was unable to conceive of any but material realities.† This left the door open for Augustine to find inspiration from different sources. Neo-Platonism enters the scene as one of his mother’s religious heroes, St. Ambrose, explains a new interpretation of Christian scripture. This new philosophical thought understood everything in the natural world to stem from â€Å"The One†, or a single source also referred to as â€Å"The Good†. As AugustineShow MoreRelatedAugustine : A Journey Of Conversion1043 Words   |  5 PagesCaroline Casey Dr. Butera Development of Western Civilization 2 December 2014 Augustine: A Journey of Conversion Before submitting himself to God, Augustine lived a life controlled by various sinful tendencies such as theft and lust. Surrounded by strong believers of Catholicism, such as his mother, St. Monica, Augustine grew up questioning Christ and the faith and rather explored other religions. Two religions that Augustine devoted himself to were Manichaeism and Neoplatonism. While both religionsRead MoreProposed Seven Philosophers On The Existence Of God And Their Development Of These Ideas1413 Words   |  6 Pageschoice topic. The seven philosophers are as follows: (1) Socrates, (2) Plato, (3) Aristotle, (4) Francis Bacon, (5) St. Augustine, (6) Thomas Aquinas, and (7) Rene DesCartes. The specific three I want to focus on being; St. Augustine, Thomas Aquinas and Rene Descartes. 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What is the Original Sin? According to Harent (1911), the â€Å"original sin may be taken to mean: (1) the sin that Adam committed; (2) a consequence of this first sin, the hereditary stain with which we are born on account ofRead MoreReasons For St Augustine s Conversion2016 Words   |  9 Pageswith spirit. St Augustine Biography Info Augustine of Hippo was born on November 13, in AD 354, in Thagaste (modern day Souk Ahras, Algeria), and died on August 28, in AD 430, in modern-day Annaba, Algeria (then known as Hippo Regius). It was in the latter city where he was named Bishop 35 years prior to his death. It is a challenge to encapsulate renowned personalities, and with St. Augustine, this task is even more difficult (Augustine of Hippo). A theologian and philosopher, Augustine dithered betweenRead MoreThe Sin As A Crime And Sickness2259 Words   |  10 Pagesdefilement against God and Humanity (Taylor 54-57). In addition to the sin as a sickness or crime theories, some religious scholars say each theory should be used but both are never used in the same church (Taylor, 57-59). Although I agree that churches should include both sin as a crime and sickness, I don’t think both methods for explaining sin are used equally in churches. In fact, I think the sin as a crime theory is used more often than sin as a sickness. Accordingly, sin as a sickness ought to be emphasizedRead MoreThe Foundations Of Rationalism By Plato1762 Words   |  8 PagesPlato, such of the theory of the forms, demonstrates reason as a building block for knowledge. The enlightenment saw thinkers daring to know (Kant 1784), even in instances where reasoning subverted faith, and continued as seen in the publication of Darwinian theories. Faith remains an enemy of reason when its findings are misheld as knowledge. It is incorrect to state that faith is one of the world’s greatest evils, because the use of reason Plato’s dialogues proposes theories that since have beenRead MoreLeibniz and the Problem of Evil3712 Words   |  15 PagesTHE PROBLEM OF EVIL BY OKOJIE E. PETER epo4escriva@yahoo.com MAY 2013 INTRODUCTION For many centuries, philosophers have been discussing evil, how it exists in the world, and how this relates to God. The discussion on evil and its relations to us is not an easy one though. It is commonly called the problem of evil. The problem of evil in contemporary philosophy is generally regarded as an argument for atheism. The atheist contends that God and evil are incompatible, and given that evil clearly existsRead MoreBeyond the Problem of Evil Essay6495 Words   |  26 PagesBeyond the Problem of Evil Introduction: The problem of evil is, in my opinion, the best point of departure for a fruitful dialogue between Christianity, traditionally conceived, and those strands of modern philosophy which have been perceived--indeed, have sometimes perceived themselves--as a threat to that tradition. As such, I will attempt first, to outline the problem of evil in the starkest terms possible, presenting Augustines approach to its solution followed by a critical analysis;

Dr. Ambedkar a Great Worshipper of Social Equality free essay sample

There have been a number of great people in the world who have dedicated themselves to the struggles of the emancipation and upliftment of the powerless victims of the systems in their countries. Dr. Ambedkar has been a great advocate of equal rights and equal opportunities for all human beings irrespective of any kind of discriminatory elements. Ambedkar is well-known as the champion of the human rights of the voiceless in India. He himself has been a victim of the system although he has been a great scholar in the world because he was born in a Dalit community whose members have been looked down upon for centuries by the people of their country, especially by the caste Hindus. From time immemorial members of the so-called untouchable communities, tribes, nomadic and denotified communities, religious minorities and women belonging to all communities have been the greatest victims of the prevailing conservative system. In the distant past, these people were subjected to all evil practices by the dominant and privileged people in society. They did not have any right to have equal opportunities in any sphere. However, in the course of time change in the existence of the then victims had been brought about to some extent. The presence of the British rulers in India contributed a lot to this kind of progressive change. In modern India people from every community have access to the means of transformation for the better to certain extent. The constitution of India has ensured egalitarian platform for all the citizens in India. Victims of the system like members of the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Castes, Religious Minorities and women are found to be excelling in various fields thanks to the constitution whose architect was none other than Ambedkar. Ambedkar`s concept of social equality consists of equal rights and equal opportunities to all citizens in the society; there should not be privileges to certain classes or castes and there should not be any class or caste deprived of opportunities and rights; there should not exist any class iscrimination and caste discrimination. That is why he opposes class discrimination and caste discrimination. According to Ambedkar, an egalitarian society should be based on humanitarian principles like equality, liberty and fraternity. While giving supreme importance to these principles, he says that these three principles are equally important. He advocated social democracy. He states that to keep the social democracy intact these three principles c annot be separated. They are interconnected in the existence of democracy. Here the researcher makes an attempt to discuss Ambedkar`s perspective of social equality and how it is still relevant to the existence of the suffering communities in the present world. Today one can find an almost every society in the world devoid of practice of the humanitarian principles like equality, liberty fraternity and justice. Right from the time of Ambedkar leaders of various sections of the society have not cooperated with him and his mission in spite of his progressive and reformative intentions. Before 1935 Ambedkar tried his best to abolish various evil and detrimental social and religious practices and reform the then stagnant and conservative society. However, because of the non-cooperation of other Indian leaders and their narrow vision of the Indian society discriminatory elements could not be abolished. Even today Ambedkar`s demands for separate electorates can very strongly be justified. His demands for separate electorates could easily safeguard the interests of the downtrodden and Dalit political representatives could give protection to them. Although the Dalit political representatives are elected to Parliament and assemblies in the states of India, they could not safeguard the interests of the downtrodden and protect them from any kind of injustices, atrocities and humiliations, leave alone the political representatives elected from general constituencies. Moreover, instead of separate electorates reservation in government employment, educational institutes and political arena is provided to the Dalits. But the policy of reservation has not been implemented properly and carefully. In this connection, a piece of news published in Hindustan Times on November 21, 2011 reveals how backlogs are not filled up by persons concerned: â€Å"Though the government has in the past launched special recruitment drives to fill up the backlog reserved vacancies in central establishments, thousands of the posts are still lying vacant. A total of 77,487 backlog vacancies were identified for a November 2008 drive of which 25,560 were for SCs, 28,542 for STs and 23,385 for OBCs. Though stipulated that all backlogs would be filled up by June, 2011, it was found a large number of vacancies still remained unfilled. Here it can be remarked that no politician elected either from reserved constituency or general constituency is bothered about these problems. If there were separate electorates, the representatives from them had to take care of such overdue implementation of policies meant for the weaker sections of society. When one thinks about the carelessness of persons concerned in the case of implementation of reservation policy, they can be easily reminded of the demands made by Ambedkar for separate electorates to bring about equality in the Indian society. Ambedkar asserts that to achieve economic and social aims unconstitutional ways like breaking the laws, non-cooperation and hunger strike should be avoided. He further says that to resort to these ways was justifiable in the past when there was no democracy, which is why it was not possible to make use of constitutional ways. But in the present period of time one cannot do that because such unconstitutional ways mean the general places of anarchy. Here one can opine that the ways and methods used by Anna Hazare to restrict corruption among the politicians in India do not fall in the category of constitutional ways. Consequently Anna Hazare has been a failure yet. However, on the other hand, Team Anna could have perhaps succeeded in their attempt if they had followed legal ways because such unconstitutional and coercive methods are always a menace to the existence of social democracy. Furthermore, many a people did not support the unconstitutional campaign of Anna Hazare because it did not consider all the aspects of the results of the resolution demanded by Team Anna. Hence there are certain sections of society who strongly opposed the campaign. Sukhadeo Thorat, a well known academician and thinker, has been critical of the methods used by the Team Anna. In his article entitled ‘Ambedlar`s way Anna Hazare`s methods’ published in The Hindu on August 23, 2011 Thorat gives vivid explanation as to the peaceful ways and methods resorted by Ambedkar to bring about social equality in the Indian society in the pre-independent India. Thorat states: â€Å"Dr. Ambedkar started the Mahad agitation in 1927, but the â€Å"untouchables† got access to the tank only in 1937 through a court order. The people of the high castes had managed a court order to ban the entry of â€Å"untouchables† into the tank on the grounds that it was a private tank. Dr. Ambedkar accepted the court order and discontinued a second march to the tank. But he fought through the courts and got justice in 1937, almost after 10 years. He did this using legal instruments and a peaceful mass movement, without the coercive means of fasts and hunger strikes. Similarly, the agitation for entry into the Kalaram temple went on for four years, from 1930 to 1934. He discontinued the agitation in 1934 following opposition by priests, notwithstanding the support extended by Gandhiji. But he fought a legal battle, along with a peaceful agitation, for the next four years, and in 1939 ultimately secured entry to the temple for â€Å"untouchables. † During the 1920s and 1930s, Dr. Ambedkar combined mass mobilization with legal methods in the anti-untouchability movement, but never allowed unconstitutional and coercive methods to take hold, despite instances of violent attack on â€Å"untouchables. † (8) In the past to attain humanity and equality for the enslaved masses, especially ex- untouchables in India Ambedkar attempted to find a number of ways. Conversion is one of them. When he noticed that entrenched and conservative Hindu society as a whole could not be reformed after all his possible and necessary attempts, he stopped to bring about revolutionary changes in it and was determined to convert to a religion based on humanitarian principles such as liberty, equality, brotherhood and justice. It can be said here that Hinduism is not an egalitarian religion. This point can be substantiated in the words of Owen M. Lynch, a professor of Anthropology: â€Å"They (so-called popular religions) thereby separate themselves from morality, as does Hinduism’s rejection of liberty, equality, and freedom, and its unjust treatment of Dalits through its practice of graded inequality. Contrariwise, Ambedkar’s rationalist Buddhism is a this-worldly social praxis, a morality rejecting all social barriers. For these reasons, as Johannes Beltz’s article shows, many Dalits today reject Hinduism and convert to Buddhism. † (The Mustard Seed: â€Å"iYa basta! † November 7, 2006) Ambedkar had already said that conversion would bring higher status to Dalits in the Hindu society. Since Hinduism has always deprived Dalits of all the human and honorable rights and opportunities, conversion from it has been a must for them. While expressing the greatness of Ambedkar`s thoughts, his relentless struggle to create an ideal society, and his contribution to modern India, Shashi Tharoor remarks in his article ‘Unparrallel legacy: Dr  Ambedkar’ published in the Times Of India 07 May 2007: â€Å"Ambedkar, who lived with the daily reality of caste discrimination, was not convinced that the entrenched practices of traditional Hinduism could ever disappear. In the end, he opted out of the religion altogether, embracing the ethics of equality that Buddhism embodied. † According to Ambedkar, conversion provides not just one fair and humanitarian principle but almost all the necessary principles for living a dignified human life. While explaining the great significance of conversion, Ambedkar, in a speech entitled ‘Why go for conversion? ’ advises his followers in the following manner: â€Å"I tell you all very specifically; religion is for man and not man for religion. To get human treatment, convert yourselves. CONVERT -For getting organized. CONVERT -For becoming strong. CONVERT -For securing equality. CONVERT -For getting liberty. CONVERT -For that your domestic life may be happy. † (Bhim Chakra 1996 published by Oil Natural Gas Corp. Ltd. Tripura project, Agartala. ) From this very quotation one can record that there is no possibility to abolish the evil practices observed by the caste Hindus at all. Although converted Dalits may not get complete solace from the miserable life in any religion, conversion has been the better way for them because so far there have not been any better and remarkable transformation in Hinduism as far as the inhuman and neglected existence of Dalits is concerned. Besides, the root cause of their suffering is rooted in Hinduism alone. That is why Ambedkar`s assertion for conversion can very reasonably substantiated even today. Although Ambedkar is from India and his thoughts about equality are concerned primarily with the evil and unequal practices in India, the human suffering communities in the entire world are seen to be taking resort to his thoughts and philosophy to uplift themselves. In Hungary there is a downtrodden community of Romas. In fact, the members of the Roma community have been looked down upon by other white citizens of Hungary for a very long time. But in the recent years the very members of the Roma community are found to take inspiration from the progressive thoughts of Ambedkar to get rid of the humiliation, inequality, and alienation. These Romas found a biographical book of Ambedkar and began to follow him like his Indian followers. In this connection P L Kodolikar writes: â€Å"They (the vanguard of the Romas) got a book in Paris based on Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar`s bright life. They got a direction from this book to bring about transformation in their life. These leaders wandered in Maharashtra in 2005 and 2007 and collected information of movements inspired by Dr. Ambedkar and established a network of organizations under the title of Jai Bheem in Hungary. They converted to Buddhism and opened three high schools after Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar at Sazokaza (in the northeast of Hungary). They contacted young activists in India. They requested young activists in Ambedkarite movement from time to time to guide them for their Jai Bheem organization. † (Translation Mine) (15/ 16) From the above quotation it can be remarked that even today Ambedkar`s progressive and humanitarian thoughts for social equality are very much useful and helpful to the downtrodden in the world. While writing about the noble and fair thoughts of Ambedkar one of the co-founders of the Dr. Ambedkar High School, Janos Orsos, a Hungarian gypsy, a Buddhist, and a follower of Dr. Ambedkar records that: â€Å"We have found that Dr   Ambedkars thinking fits well with our aims, so we have named our new school, Dr Ambedkar   High School. â€Å"I feel very pleased that I can speak in Europe about Dr Ambedkar. Nobody in Europe has heard for  him, so it is one of our major tasks to speak about him. It is very wonderful for me to see that my  actions find parallels in Dr Ambedkars activity and movement. We have found ourselves going through the same steps as our Indian friends, because these are the logical steps in our social situation. Our Indian Buddhist friends are able to take their own institutions in their own hands because they have their own hero. †Ã‚   Also, in these days Ambedkar`s birthday is celebrated not only in India but also in other countries of the world. In the neighboring country of Pakistan Ambedkar Jayanti was celebrated in April 2007. In this regard Reporter Surendar Valasai writes: â€Å"For the first time in Pakistan’s history, the 116th Birthday of Baba Saheb Dr B. R. Ambedkar was celebrated in three different cities of Pakistan and attended by thousands of people. † Here one can notice that Ambedlar is being recognized in the contemporary period across the world, though slowly, because his thoughts in relation to social equality are equally relevant to the downtrodden in other countries. Today one may witness that there have been certain important changes in the lives of the victims of the system in India. However, they will find a millions of downtrodden citizens living a dehumanized life because the system has not been yet completely changed and dismantled. Here, it can be stated that a sea change can be brought about in the pathetic condition of the downtrodden if the rulers and true well wishers of the residents of not only India but also of the world make sincere attempts to follow Ambedkar. Taking into consideration the egalitarian and noble thoughts of Ambedkar one can draw conclusion that even today he is not only relevant in India but in the entire world and its suffering community for establishing an egalitarian society.

Your Identity Has Been Confirmed Essays - Identity,

Your Identity Has Been Confirmed Furney 1 Russell Furney Dr. Clayton English 111, Section 2 November 12, 1998 Your Identity Has Been Confirmed Nell Bernstein is the author of Goin' Gangsta, Choosin' Cholita: Claiming Identity, an essay describing how the youth in certain parts of the country are choosing their preferred identity rather than accepting their own. For example, in Bernstein's essay a girl named April, living in California, wants to be Mexican; therefore, she dresses like and attempts to talk in the same accent as a true Mexican, even though she is Anglo. The essay also specifically talks about the state of California, where all this identity changing is happening due to the great diversity of race there. Bernstein claims that this is a positive situation when a youths choose an identity other than their own, actual one. Whatever makes them feel better or boosts their self-esteem is okay, I guess? But they still have to face the facts; they can not change their identity. I do not know what dictionary Bernstein is reading, but the definition of identity does not include the word appearance. Identity is who a person is, not who they appear to be. April can appear to be Mexican if that is what she likes, but the fact is that she is still and always will be Anglo. The idea of people trying to change their identity just strikes me with stupidity. It is God's decision as to what color, nationality or such a person will be, and I believe He has a purpose for everything; therefore, each person should respect His decision with acceptance and serve Him well under the identity chosen for them. The biggest mistake of this essay is the misuse of the word identity. Bernstein claims that, Identity is not a matter of where you come from, what you were born into, what color your skin is, but rather, It's what you wear, the music you listen to, the words you use... (45). This is all wrong! Identity is exactly what she thinks it is not. The color of one's skin describes their race. That is one piece of their identity. Where they come from is their nationality. That is another piece. What they were born into, such as family, beliefs, religion etc...., is their culture, Furney 2 which is yet another piece. All these pieces together describes who a person is. Clothes, music, and accent only describe who a person appears to be. April, who is in fact Anglo and should be proud of it, dresses like a Mexican because she thinks this will make her Mexican, but it will not. Frankly, if I were Mexican and April came to me in her imitation Mexican costume trying to speak Spanish to me even though the only thing she probably knows in Spanish is, Yo Queiro Taco Bell, it would annoy the hell out of me. If someone wants to dress, talk, act or do whatever it takes to appear to be another race or nationality other than their own, that is their choice, but the idea of it is beyond ridiculous. I despise it and can not stand to watch people who are attempting to be someone they are not. It is so easy to tell the imitations from the true name brand. This is what is so annoying. Goin' Gangsta, Choosin' Cholita: Claiming Identity is a terribly misleading essay. Nell Bernstien provides true facts about California and its cross-identifying situation, but she has poor judgment in saying that there are positive outcomes when the youths choose their own identity. The negative effect is a person trying to hide their original identity because they are not happy with who they really are, but in contrast cause themselves embarrassment when trying to act out their ideal personality when it is so easy for outsiders to detect the cover-up. Making matters worse, people trying to cover up do not know that what they are doing is ridiculous because people like Bernstien encourage the idea, but the whole idea is just idiotic because they can not change their identity. It has already been chosen for them. Social Issues