The Sickness Unto Death According to Kierkegaard Essay -- existencialis

1. Kierkegaard believes that truth is only a subjective process. Truth only exists from the subjective existing of the individual and cannot be found in a complete system. Objective truth to Kierkegaard is a simply an idea created by the illusion of subjective existence that one can have complete and true objective knowledge of something that exists out in the world. This is evident when he states, â€Å"In the objective sense, thought is understood as being a pure thought; this corresponds in an equally abstract-objective sense to its object, which object is therefore the thought itself, and truth becomes correspondence of thought with itself. This objective thought has no relation to the existing subject† (31). When Kierkegaard states that â€Å"truth is subjectivity† and the â€Å"truth of subjectivity is faith† he is arguing that since there can never be objective truth, all one can do is turn inward and focus on existential being. Once one turns their focus inward they can they find the real truth of their existence, and that existence is the action relational happening of relating of oneself to oneself, and to God. 2. The knight of infinite resignation to Kierkegaard is one who has realized the loss of all meaning in life. They have accepted the world as something that is beyond their objective understanding and have infinitely resigned themselves of any search for meaning and have achieved a sort of peace which can only come from the loss of all hope for escape. Kierkegaard argues that road to the knight of faith only goes through the knight of infinite resignation. Only by infinitely resigning oneself to the loss of all meaning can one take the next action of taking the leap of faith. The knight of faith takes focuses internally on... ...le are given the freedom to find meaning, and in freedom there is great despair and suffering as people search for existential meaning. In the story the Grand Inquisitor is angry at Jesus for his choice to grant freedom and despair to everyone and argues that his new church is more godlike because he is taking away freedoms. By doing so he will make them slaves, but grant them peace, and in so doing give them meaning so they will not live in the despair of knowing freedom. The claim that, â€Å"man does not live by bread alone†¦ but only the one who works gets it [bread]†, would synthesize the idea that people cannot find existential-meaning through the fulfillment of only temporal desires. However, if one works at continually making the leap of faith and understands the proper mode of be-ing, one will find the metaphoric/spiritual bread which satisfies their despair.

A book review on “The Mountain People” by Colin Turnbull Essay

Turnbull has been quoted as a renowned ethnographic on writing about small-scale societies which lead a peaceful life in a trouble-free atmosphere by maintaining the size of their population and enjoyed a pollution-free environment till they are polluted by progress. In this book, Turnbull is describing about Ik tribal people who lived in the northern parts of Uganda and near to the border of Kenya who had to leave their ancestral villages as the area had been declared as a national park later. Due to this, Ik people had to live in non-fertile area which was affected by drought and famine almost several years in a series. [p. 117] and today, it is evident that Ik are facing a total negation of society. The specialty of Turnbull is that the style which the book is presented as he just narrated what he had seen and observed in the Ik province without adding colors or adding his own judgment on the scenery. See more: Experiment on polytropic process Essay Turnbull tries to give an anthropologist’s bird’s view on Ik’s style of living and conditions of their life by establishing close contact with Ik community and with communities lived in the neighborhood. Turnbull while living with Ik’s witnessed continuous cattle raids and how their children had been deserted by the parents even at the age of three and how the youths robbed the food-stuffs from the elders thereby making them to die prematurely. The Mountain People deals with the ethnographic details of the Ik or Teuso people living in northern Uganda. Turnbull in this book tries to expose how society and small-scale societies in general have been pretentious. In this book , Turnbull ties to portray the Rousseauesque picture of gatherers , hunters in general and Pygmies in specific , narrating generosity , kindness , honesty ,affection , charity ,compassion and other virtues available in them [p31]. [Spencer 651]. Due to progress, Ik have been compelled to leave their nomadic life and forced to peruse agriculture and illegal poaching. From 1965 onwards, innocent and gullible Ik have developed qualities like envy, acrimony, suspicion by leaving behind trust and royalty and parental love as the children were sent out of their homes as early as three years to stand on their own legs and elderly peopled died due to absence of caretaking and love. Ik had the qualities of co-operation and control but later they never practiced theses qualities due to famine and hunger. Turnbull commented that he witnessed those vestiges of generosity, kindness and light-heartedness which disappeared by overnight by the occupation of survival instincts that cherish in all of us. [Turnbull 33]. Author had an occasion to live with this Ik population at the time of famine and political unrest in Uganda and witnessed the dying of older people and how Ik population was reduced to bare minimum due to these factors. He felt that Ik population was isolated due to famine from the society and finally the Ik population was completely vanished as it would be the fate of every marginal society. [p 285]. [Spencer 652] Turnbull narrated that Ik had no opportunity to have sumptuousness like sentiment, family and love. Since there was no societal affiliation, both the aged and children were regarded as futile. As long as if society keeps rearing group alive, one can always have more children. Since, in the absence of care, old perished first followed by Ik’s children population. Yet, there existed a ethnic suicide. [p 108 -109]. Further, due to continuous famine and drought, Ik perused basic survival tactics to live. [27]. The deterioration of social bindings does not connote that there is absence of collaboration between individuals. They assisted each other in times of help. [121]. Beating and harassing their wife is a pastime for Ik’s men. [138] . They also followed some rites in their marriage traditions. The bridegroom had to capture the bride in the cover of darkness though it was a prearranged one in advance. [106]. Though, the Ik’s had religious faith like worshipping ‘Didigwari’ name of a sky god in earlier days but later it was absent in the Ik’s society after the collapse of their society. [158]. Turnbull was of the opinion that Ik were enjoyed the best conservationists style of living as long as they were hunter / gatherer. [21]. Turnbull depiction of Ik style of living is almost analogues to Malthusian process where in the absence of epidemic and warfare, the population tends to increase to their ecological limit. However, in Ik model, the population completely vanished due to famine, hunger, neglect of older, younger and weaker dependants. Further, malice represents an unavoidable and sharp quality when some ecological shift revealed overpopulation for what it was. Turnbull is of the view that the effort to resettling down the Ik may have generated a distinct unprecedented turn in their ecology. Ik society won an interstitial position between adjoining karamojong-speaking pastoral tribes like trading, doing black-smith work, escorting them during their cattle raids resulted in intermigration and intermarriage with them. These individual ties namely [nyot] between Ik and pastoralists demonstrated that Ik were prepared to demonstrate longer term self-interest and a degree of trust which is absent elsewhere. [p. 162]. [Spencer 652] The Ik justify a place in the literature of reaction to stress and extreme deprivation. Children were actually taken care of in concentration sites. Besides a passing remark of Treblinka, Turnbull does not place them in this context and makes little comparison of any kind. [236]. Turnbull offered an interesting assumption that Ik’s hunter’s social group engaged in traits like amenability in social grouping and self-reliance and independence which acted as a kind of pre-adaptation for the dissolution of family tie in the light of continued catastrophe. [p. 287]. Turnbull is also of the view that there is still flourishment of artistic tradition among the Ik. [277]. Turnbull also elaborated that most of the Ik girls were disease-prone prostitutes and the young men desired to economize on their energy and wealth by engaging in masturbation and deserting the girls alone. [ 209]. Turnbull warns us as â€Å" this decline in human relationships among the Ik to the individual levels places the Ik one leap ahead of civilization†¦Our society has turning increasingly individualistic. Now, the family values tend to loose its significance and religious practice and belief bind us into communities of shared beliefs. The order in the society is being maintained existence of coercive power which is upholding a rigid law and by an equally harsh penal system. † [182]. In retaliation to a criticism to his book, Turnbull commented that the book has not written for anthropologists but it was fashioned to accomplish the anthropologist’s duty to reveal his findings to the general public. This book detailed â€Å"a varied numbers of anthropological issues and solutionss in such an thoughtless style that it merits both to hold up as a warning and to be sanctioned. † [Barth 100]. According to Henry A. Murray, a psychologist, the human behavior is ruled by a sequence of needs and when a fundamental need like food is unsatisfied, other higher order needs like trust, love must go by the board. This is true in case of Ik’s but Turnbull never aware of it. Turnbull findings was said to be deeply flawed both on ethnographical and ideological grounds. Turnbull love affair with the pygmies largely reflected his colored perception about the Ik. Turnbull acclaimed that the data covered in the book were insufficient for arriving an approaching proof. He frequently goes outside the limits of well accepted ethnographic reporting, interpreting his account with personal judgments and ascribing aims for observed behavior Turnbull is rather right in uttering that man is competent to unleash severe inhumanity to himself and Ik is certainly an extreme example of this. However, it is hilarious to note that Turnbull seems to visualize that he is the first to have discovered this fact and it is his duty to preach the world what he observed. According to Barkow, Collin Turnbull has given a superficial and exaggerated book. [Barkow 155]. The absence of bonding in the society was evident from the fact that when food was distributed by the Ugandan government to famine affected areas like Ik’s province, the younger generation went to the nearest town for collecting the food never cared to carry and supply them to the aged, weak people as they considered it as waste of food and time to feed their starving aged, weaker relatives and neighbors. [232]. Due to poverty, Ik deceived each other’s and Turnbull was not exception to this. Turnbull christened them as people without love and they were uncharitable, unfriendly, mean and inhospitable as any people can be. Turnbull compared the Ik society with that of inhuman conditions prevailed in Nazi death camps where Jews were butchered during the Second World War. Turnbull found the similarity of the extinction of Ik tribe without that of mass butchering of Jews in Nazi death camps and branded it on a global scale and forewarned that an ultimate destruction of mankind in near future. Turnbull in concluding chapter was of the opinion that Ik society had a bleak future. If unattended, their society would vanish in the course of time and it is very arduous to restructure their society. Government should help them to resettle by segregating them into smaller groups else they would miss their identity. However, Turnbull is fully aware that this action would be condemned by human rights organization but it is the need of the hour to preserve the Ik community in this vast universe. WORKS CITED Barkow, Jerome H. â€Å"The Mountain People† A Book Review. â€Å"Canadian of African Studies, Vol 9 [1] [1975]:155-156. Spencer, Paul. â€Å"The Mountain People† A Book Review. â€Å"Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland Vol. 8. No 4 [Dec 1973]: 651 -652. Turnbull, Colin M . The Mountain People. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1972

James Joyce †A Little Cloud (in: Dubliners) Essay

A Little Cloud has not generated significant critical debate, despite Warren Beck’s unorthodox interpretation of the denouement in 1969. Chandler’s relationship with his son – not with his wife Annie or journalist/ friend Gallaher – could be the crucial, epiphanal element of the story – Joyce portraying a father who is just beginning to ‘learn [†¦] what the heart is and what it feels’ (A Portrait 252), a man whose conscience is awakened, despite his flaws. However, scholars have generally agreed that the ineffectual protagonist abuses his infant son and refuses to take responsibility for his own shortcomings. The story ends with the following paragraph: ‘Little Chandler felt his cheeks suffused with shame and he stood back out of the lamplight. He listened while the paroxysm of the child’s sobbing grew less and less: and tears of remorse started to his eyes.’ (81) Though it’s likely that Chandler is genui nely sorry for having frightened his son, most Joyceans insist that the protagonist cries out of self-pity, that his ‘epiphany’, if he does experience one, is egocentric – of a man who may dream and suffer but who will never ‘produce’. Except for Beck, many veteran Joyce scholars affirm that A Little Cloud develops the famous ‘paralysis’-theme and that it complements, in tone and circumstance, the other pieces which precede the final story, The Dead. Walzl believes that ‘The Dead seems to reverse the pattern of increasing insensibility that Dubliners other-wise traces’ and that no one prior to Gabriel, the protagonist, ‘undergoes a com-parable change or has such an enlightenment’. Similarly, Ghiselin suggests that A Little Cloud fits into the over-all schema of Dubliners by representing the sin of envy. Ruoff asserts that the story ‘describes a would-be artist’s pathetic failure to transcend a narrow existence of his own creation’, and Bernard Benstock’s inter-pretation mentions that Chandler ‘regresses to adolescent self-pity’. Indeed, all focus on Chandler’s ‘sloth, his cowardice, his self-delusion, and his final rage and humiliation’ assert that he is ‘shamed, not ashamed’. But what with Joyce’s use of ‘remorse’? Probably the most important reason for assuming that Chandler is not enlightened by his experience involves several of Joyce’s own statements. A Little Cloud was written in the early months of 1906, when Joyce was 23 and the father of a six-month-old son, Giorgio. But In 1904, speaking about Dubliners, he had told a friend that he wanted ‘to betray the soul of that hemiplegia or paralysis which many consider a city’ (Letters 55). Another frequently quoted letter asserts, ‘It is not my fault that the odour of ashpits and old weeds and offal hangs round my stories’ (Letters 63-64). The combination of ‘paralysis’ and ‘odour’, then, while justified by many details in the works themselves, may have also clouded our perception of scattered, positive sensations which some of the pieces generate. As Gillespie argues, ‘The opinion that this [negative] attitude dominates the final form of the stories [†¦] oversimplifies Joyce’s emotional attitude toward his country and unjustly circumscribes the artistic potential of the work’. Similarly, Garrison observes that ‘Joyce’s explicit statements concerning his artistic intentions in Dubliners are not very useful as a basis for interpretation’. Although Joyce’s defense of his work provided us with an opportunity to clarify his intent, it probably was not meant to narrowly limit or define our reactions as readers. If Joyce at least partially intended the final story, The Dead, as a tribute to the more positive aspects of Dublin culture (Letters II 166), it is not unreasonable to discern a hint of this attitude in A Little Cloud. Joyce once told his sister, ‘The most important thing that can happen to a man is the birth of a child’, and since his only son and first-born child was about six months old when A Little Cloud was begun in the early months of 1906, life circumstances are relevant to this discussion. But such issues do not necessarily help us interpret the story, for Joyce might, after all, have been drawing a portrait of an unfit father. Reviewing the story’s link to A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man while examining information about the young writer should enrich our understanding of his state of mind, reveal key similarities and differences between Joyce and his protagonist, and test the validity of an alternate reading of this story. In general, Chandler’s disposition is melancholic, ‘but it [is] a melancholy tempered by recurrences of faith and resignation and simple joy’ (68). He is fastidious about his appearance and, probably, careful about his work even though he finds it ‘tiresome’ (65). Joyce also emphasizes Little Chandler’s shortcomings throughout the story. He lives in a ‘little house’, reads by a ‘little lamp’, drinks ‘small whiskies’, displays ‘childish white front teeth’, and is given ‘short answers’ by his prim wife. Joyce invites us to imagine an ordinary man, still capable of a dream, but ruled by circumstances and his own, considerable inadequacies. Joyce employs important imagery which firmly links this story to central Joycean themes: ‘[T]he thought that a poetic moment had touched him took life within him like an infant hope [†¦] A light began to tremble on the horizon of his mind. He was not so old–thirty-two’ (68, emphasis added). Linking ‘infant hope’ with ‘a light’ so early in this story hints at Joyce’s lifelong interest in the ‘consubstantiation’ of father and son as well as procreation in the literary sense (Ulysses 32, 155). By the time Joyce wrote A Little Cloud, both physical and artistic generation had become realities. Of course, the reader soon realizes that Chandler won’t succeed, despite his ‘soul’, for he is not original and hopes to capitalize on popular trends, although he realistically admits that ‘he will never be popular’ and hopes only to ‘appeal to a little circle of kindred minds’ (68). Recalling Joyce’s claim in 1904 that only ‘two or three unfortunate wretches [†¦] may eventually read me’ (Ellmann 163) offers an interesting echo. The location of Chandler’s poetic ‘mood’ is also relevant, for it may be based on one of Joyce’s own experiences. A similar incident occurs at a pivotal point in A Portrait. In Chapter 4, Joyce presents a rare interaction between the protagonist, Stephen Dedalus, and his brothers and sisters during the family tea. Structurally, this scene occurs at an important juncture. Immediately preceding the epiphany of ‘profane joy’ which Stephen experiences on the beach while watching a girl wading, this episode also follows the interview with the religious director of his school, after which Stephen decides not to become a priest. As he walks home to a squalid, over-crowded house, interesting parallels to A Little Cloud occur. Like Chandler, he crosses a bridge, symbolically connected to opposing attractions, but clearly, like Chandler, moving toward a new possibility. Stephen notices a shrine to the Virgin which is ‘in the middle of a hamshaped e ncampment of poor cottages’ (162). Unlike Chandler, however, Stephen does not romanticize the image, for he actually lives here, and he laughs to think of the man ‘considering in turn the four points of the sky and then regretfully plunging his spade in the earth’ (162). Without even a hint of rain, the man must begin work. The cloud image in this scene of Portrait is intentionally delayed. Stephen, the university student, then enters his home and finds his brothers and sisters seated at the table. He realizes the contrast between his privileged position as the eldest son and theirs: ‘The sad quiet greyblue of the dying day came through the window and the open door, covering over and allaying quietly a sudden instinct of remorse in Stephen’s heart. All that had been denied them had been freely given to him, the eldest: but the quiet glow of evening showed him in their faces no sign of rancour.’ (163) After one of his sisters, who is as nameless as Chandler’s son, tells him that the family has once again been evicted, her similarly unnamed little brother begins to sing. The others join in, and Stephen thinks, ‘They would sing so for hours [†¦] till the last pale light died down on the horizon, till the first dark nightclouds came forth and night fell’ (163). But Joyce does not end Stephen’s musings on a negative note, just as he does not seem to end A Little Cloud with a protagonist who pities himself more than his screaming son. Stephen remembers ‘that Newman had heard this note also [†¦] giving utterance, like the voice of Nature herself, to that pain and weariness yet hope of better things which has been the experience of her children in every time.’ (164). Despite their circumstances, the children sing. Faced with the guilt of primacy, the oldest son is forgiven by his brothers and sisters. Again, Stephen’s vision is superior to Chandler’s. He will retain the mood of this experience, be more receptive to future encounters, and sustain an ethos which will allow him to reject home and family to pursue an artist’s life, perhaps with a family of his own making. Stephen is an artist; Chandler only longs to be one. However, in a collection of stories which includes a series of married men who beat children (Mr. Hill in Eveline, Farrington of Counterparts, and Old Jack of Ivy Day in the Committee Room), Chandler faces the truth about himself after merely shouting at his son. His experience prepares us for Gabriel’s, just as the family tea prepares us for the strongest epiphany of Portrait. And, although Joyce would work as a clerk in Rome a few months after mailing A Little Cloud off to the publisher and felt superior to his fellow employees who ‘were forever having something wrong with their testicles†¦ or their anuses’, Chandler, unlike them, is fastidious about his manners and appearance and at least longs for an artist’s life. The first portion of A Little Cloud also reminds us of Joyce’s sentimental, poetic temperament while living in Paris as a medical student from December 1902 until April 1903, wh en he was called home because of his mother’s illness. Stanislaus reports, ‘He told me that often when he had no money and had had nothing to eat he used to walk about reciting to himself for consolation, like ‘Little Chandler’ in Dubliners, his own poems or others he knew by heart or things he happened to be writing then.’ (My Brother’s 231-21) All three have an opennesss to life and desire and are willing to ‘struggle against fortune’. Through the encounter with Gallaher, Chandler appears provincial, timid, curious about ‘immoral’ sexual practices, but he definitely emerges as the better human being, and inches the reader toward sympathy. We can safely assume that, whatever Chandler’s weaknesses, Joyce had an even lower opinion of Gallaher, letting Chandler considering himself superior ‘in birth and education’. (75) Unlike O’Hara, a character in the story who fails because of ‘boose’ and ‘other things’ (70), Chandler is abstemious, employed, married, and a parent (unlike most of the Irish middle class, which was experiencing tremendous economic hardships and either postponed marriage or abandoned it altogether). On the other hand, the reader experiences Gallaher’s inflated ego and patronizing attitude toward ‘dear dirty Dublinâ€⠄¢ and toward his friend. Incapable of the kind of wit which might successfully redeem his position, Chandler is ultimately defeated; however, our sympathies lie not with the victor but with the young clerk and father. Gallaher may have had the ability to ‘fly by [the] nets [†¦] of nationality, language, religion’, an aim to which the protagonist of Joyce’s next major work aspires (A Portrait 203), but he is little more than a bragging, rude scribbler in the worst Swiftian sense. A new notion in the Dubliners tales is that escape from Ireland does not necessarily equal salvation. ‘If you wanted to succeed you had to get away’, Little Chandler thinks, echoing the thoughts of the boy in An Encounter (‘real adventures . . . must be sought abroad’). And yet Gallaher, who got away, has succeeded in only the most superficial sense. Despite having seen London, Paris and heard talk of Berlin, he is shallow, boorish, and alone. The story reveals that Chandler, however remote from being either a poet or the ‘old hero’ which Gallaher initially calls him, remains physically and morally the more appealing character. Still, Chandler himself probably feels anything but heroic, and during the gap between scenes, we imagine him returning, deflated, to his family. Like the dog viewing his reflection in the pond, Chandler drops his bone in envy of Gallaher’s, preferring the exotic narrative not of his own experience. His mood at the beginning of the final scene in the story is reflective, self-pitying, and, ultimately, enraged. However, the intensity of his son’s suffering (‘If it died!’) and the coldness of his wife’s accusation eventually result in unselfish shame and genuine contrition. Chandler’s dreams complement, not dominate, his daily world. Allusion was a serious business in Joyce’s creative paradigm. Despite the irony of a ‘candle-maker’ or ‘candle-seller’ as a failed artist, Little Tommy Chandler’s tears suggest that he has turned from the worship of a false god (Gallaher and, perhaps, Romanticism) to the true religion of hearth and home through the unconscious intervention of his son as savior, as ‘little lamb of the world’. The final clause of the story, ‘tears of remorse started to his eyes’, is precise. Joyce does not write ‘tears of self-pity’; nor does he promote ambiguity by merely saying ‘tears started to his eyes’. When Chandler ‘back[s] out of the lamplight’, he passes the torch to the next generation, genuinely contrite. Unlike Gallaher, Stephen Dedalus, and Joyce himself, Chandler will remain in Dublin, return to his daily tasks, and pay off the furniture. Yet, he may also foster the growth of an artist. He is, indeed, ‘a prisoner for life’, but the prison walls offer the hope of graffiti, for the child represents creativity as well as responsibility, and the story offers an early treatment of a central Joycean theme.

It Is Better to Be Ruled by a Philosopher King Essay

If one wishes to perfect one’s soul and reach enlightenment, then it is definitely better for that one to be ruled by a philosopher-king; however, if one’s main goal in life is to live happily and securely without worries, then it is arguably better for that one to be ruled by a prince. One should, however, seek to perfect one’s soul rather than seek for happiness and security alone, hence, it is better to be ruled by a philosopher-king. This paper will first lay out the reasons why one should be governed by either a Machiavellian prince or a philosopher-king, and point out that the different benefits between the two rulers depends on the different sets of priorities in a citizen’s life. Then, the paper will argue why one should pursue the values under the rule of a philosopher-king rather than that under the rule of a prince. Finally, it will look at some counter argument, analyze and assert why the thesis is still superior. If one’s main wish is to live happily and securely, then it might be better for that one to be ruled by a Machiavellian prince, since a Machiavellian prince’s main goal as a ruler is to secure his state. The perfect prince would appear to be â€Å"merciful, faithful, humane, honest, and religious†, but â€Å"know how to enter into evil, when forced by necessity† to â€Å"maintain his state. † Consequently, the people living under this prince would benefit in the peace that comes with his reign. Moreover, the people are free to pursue whatever materialistic goals they want, so long as they do not violate the laws of the prince. The prince is also neither â€Å"rapacious and a usurper of the property and the women of his subjects† nor is he trying to â€Å"maintain a name for liberality† so much that he â€Å"burden the people extraordinarily, to be rigorous with taxes. † Hence, the people living under a prince’s reign will enjoy a sufficient life with stability, security and freedom to pursue their materialistic wants. If ones seek to perfect their souls, to come out of the cave and â€Å"into the sunlight†, then life under the rule of a philosopher-king is ideal. Under the rule of a philosopher-king, the king will try to â€Å"[turn] the whole soul until it is able to study that which is and the brightest things that is, namely, the one we call the good. † To do this, one must first â€Å"rid of [feasting, greed, and other such pleasures]† that one â€Å"had been hammered at from childhood†, and then â€Å"[turn] to look at true things. The philosopher-king, whose visions and knowledge is true and wise, will help educate the people by changing theirs desires, â€Å"[try] to redirect it appropriately. † A life under a philosopher-king will benefit one’s soul rather than one’s materialistic life. It is obvious as explained previously that the key to the desirability of the two different systems, one under the Machiavellian prince and one under the ph ilosopher-king, lies in how the people prioritize what they look for in life; hence, different sets of values will be satisfied by different political systems. Thus, at first look, it seems impossible to determine which system is better because they are based on completely different sets of values. However, as one set is arguably better to pursue than the other, consequently, one political system will be more desirable than the other. The set of criteria in question is that under the rule of the philosopher-king. It is better for a person to pursue a knowledgeable, true, and rational life that a philosopher-king promises to provide than a materialistic and secure life alone that the Machiavellian prince promises. First, it needs to be pointed out that Machiavelli also seems to see there is of little value for a prince to pursue materialistic desires, unless it serves a bigger purpose, such as the acquirement of â€Å"abundance of either men or money† serves to â€Å"put together an adequate army and fight a battle against whoever comes to attack them. † Machiavelli seems to imply that a prince seeks not just power, but also seeks to be more glorious, excellent, and virtuous than ordinary men. He states that as a commander, a prince should have â€Å"no other object, nor any other thought, nor take anything else as his art but that of war and its order and discipline†; and when a prince â€Å"have thought more of amenities than of arms, [he has] lost [his state]. † This seems to imply that a prince should not seek trivial contentment, but only that of commanders; and as a leader, a prince should desire to be esteemed, feared, and loved, and avoid to be viewed as â€Å"variable, light, effeminate, pusillanimous, irresolute. Hence, Machiavelli seems to say that even though not everyone has virtues, thus, those who do will rise and become princes while the rest will be ruled over, it is desirable that one should aspire to become a prince, seek virtues, prove one’s excellence with his prudence. Socrates, hence, also seems to agree with Machiavelli that one should seek more in life than the satisfaction of one’s instinctive desires. However, Socrate s disagrees with Machiavelli on two points. First, Socrates disagrees that only a few has virtues but everyone is capable of achieving more in life but rather everyone is capable of pursuing virtues. Second, he believes that there is only the â€Å"virtue of reason† that, unlike others that â€Å"aren’t there beforehand but are added later by habit and practice,† has always been there intrinsically inside of everyone. He states that this virtue â€Å"never loses its power but is either useful and beneficial or useless and harmful, depending on the way it is turned. † Socrates, thus, might argue with Machiavelli that the virtues that he assigns for the perfect prince are derivatives of this single virtue of reason, which is â€Å"forced to serve evil ends. † Hence, the perfect prince is capable of horrid things, but still very clever to maintain his image. Socrates perhaps can conclude that the prince described by Machiavelli is a case where the virtue of reason is turned to the wrong way. Thus, Socrates reasons that everyone is capable of pursuing this virtue of reason, and hence, capable of greatness, but they need guidance and education to â€Å"[turn] around from darkness to light. † Machiavelli then might agree that everyone might be capable of greatness, but he still disagrees as to why any person with the virtue of reason should not become a prince to dominate others, but agree to be governed by the philosopher-king. Now, assume that Socrates’ model of the human soul is correct and sufficient; it might give an answer to this problem. Socrates reasons that a human’s soul consists of three parts, a human who represents our virtue of reasons, a lion which represents our beastly power and aggression, also courage and nobility, and a multicolored beast with â€Å"a ring of many heads that it can grow and change at will† which represents our various desires, â€Å"some from gentle, some from savage animals. With the previously established argument that Machiavelli and Socrates may agree that the satisfaction of materialistic desires holds little value, hence, the scenario that the multicolored beast is in control can be eliminated, and so, the argument may be narrowed down to Machiavelli wanting the noble and courageous lion to dominate, while Socrates remains that the rational human should be in control. The initial description of the lion seems to match the dominant characteristics of that of the Machiavellian prince; however, as Machiavelli says himself, a prince needs both natures of man and beast, since â€Å"one without the other is not lasting. † The prince, hence, is still governed by both the man with virtue of reasons and the lion with courage and nobility. He uses the virtues of reason to acquire other virtues to become a prince, but he is still driven by the instinct of the noble lion to achieve glory and conquer others. As the human is the â€Å"best part of [a human soul]† it is still best to have the human part be in control over the bestial parts, because then, the â€Å"entire soul settles into its best nature, acquires moderation, justice, and reason. † Thus, people should seek to achieve this state of the soul where the human part is in control, it then takes care of the multicolored beast â€Å"as farmer does his animals†, and tends to the lion so that â€Å"the lion’s nature [becomes] his ally. This form of goodness of the soul is â€Å"the last thing to be seen, and it is reached only with difficulty. † Hence, the people will want and need the help of a philosopher-king. Since â€Å"a democratic man like a city ruled by a democracy, and similarly with the others†, the life under the rule of a philosopher-king will be similarly to the life which the philosopher-king rules himself. He will ensure by laws or otherwise, that his subject citizens will b e â€Å"the slave of [the philosopher-king] who has a divine ruler within himself. A philosopher-king does not wish to enslave the people to exploit from them, but only to help nurture and bring out the best of the people. When the people are ready, are equipped with â€Å"guardians and ruler similar to [the philosopher-king],† then the people will be set free. It will be ideal for everyone to be ruled by his own divine reason within himself. In conclusion, it is better to be ruled by a philosopher-king because one should goes after the values that the philosopher-king promotes. That is, one should find the virtue of reasons, and by the power of this virtue and the help of the philosopher-king, pursue the ideal balance of the soul, where the human part governs his consciousness and reins in the beasts. The Machiavellian prince is still governed by both the lion and the human, and he lets the people indulge themselves in their desires, hence, the prince is not the best choice of ruler, for himself and for his people alike.

Marxist Critique of Desiree’s Baby Essay

The Antebellum south, or merely the word plantation, conjures images of white, columned manses shaded by ancient oaks bowed beneath the weight of Spanish moss and centuries. Somehow these monuments of Greek revivalist architecture sparkle in their ivory-coated siding, even while the trunks of their aged arboreal neighbors hide under layer upon soggy layer of dense, green lichen. The white house is a reflection of the inhabitants, its cleanliness in the damp, soiled environment standing as a stark reminder of the hegemony governing the lives of those living not in the house, but hidden nearby. L’Abri, the plantation home of the Aubigny family in Chopin’s Desirà ©e’s Baby, is yellow and has a foreboding black roof made more sinister by the gloomy shadows cast by its requisite antiquated greenery. L’Abri is not unlike any other antebellum mansion of the pre-Civil War era; it represents its inhabitants. The mansion is excellently presented as an example of how little authority color truly wields without an underlying power structure to give it substance. While race figures prominently in Desirà ©e’s Baby, the story is an exemplary specimen for the application of Marxist criticism. Marxist criticism is the recognition of â€Å"inequalities in power between characters† (Gardner 146). It purposes to â€Å"expose the inequalities that underlie all societies† (Gardner 146). These inequalities can have multiple sources, though often the main source is race. But is race a biological reality? Miles posits that races are imagined, in that they â€Å"have no real biological foundation† (26). Miles further observes that differentiations between groups are â€Å"simultaneously inclusive and exclusive† (27) as the characteristics describing one group stand in contrast to another group. The destructive nature of racial categorization is in the claims that biolo gical types determine â€Å"the endowment and behavior of individuals† (Miles 28) depending on their race, and that conflict between them is the â€Å"consequence of their biological constitution† (Miles 28). Furthermore, race can be used to argue that there exists a natural hierarchy that determines positions of inferiority, and by extension, superiority (Miles 28). These assertions give credence to the ownership of slaves and the race-based denial of rights, and are foundational to the idea that the mixing of races is unnatural and even destructive. But race mixing is not mixing if race does not exist as a biological category. While science can find ways to assign race, those categories are blurred as races blend and eventually they will disappear. As a danger to the idea of race, blending is anathema to the superior category. Plantation life was a microcosmic picture of the idea of a need for segregation, wherein each category was given â€Å"its own territory within which its distinctive capacity for ‘civilization’ can be realized† (Miles 30). But Chopin gives an excellent (and perhaps accurate) portrayal of the lack of any real biological basis for what constituted race in Antebellum Louisiana. Chopin describes Armand as dark (402), and Desirà ©e points out to Armand that she is fair-skinned and whiter than he is (403). The baby is â€Å"their child† (Chopin 403) when Armand reveals the ‘truth’ to Desirà ©e, but is Desirà ©e’s child alone only four paragraphs later as she decides to leave (Chopin 404), notwithstanding the actual biological basis upon which the child’s parentage is based. Desirà ©e walks away with the â€Å"golden gleam† (Chopin 404) of the sunlight in her brown hair, taking nothing with her, as befitting her new-found but false identity. She does not take the beaten path, but instead walks through the newly-harvested October fields (Chopin 404), again behaving in a way that befits the new category with which she now identifies. Desirà ©e’s biology belies the reality that she now accepts as â€Å"the stubble bruised her tender feet† (Chopin 404), and she does not know to walk where the branches will not shred her delicate clothing. If Desirà ©e were actually black in the Antebellum south, she would know these things from early childhood. Desirà ©e disappears â€Å"among the reeds and willows that grew thick along the bank of the deep sluggish bayou; and she did not come back again† (404). Desirà ©e’s disappearance is not only her physical departure from L’Abri; it is the disappearance of the white woman that was Desirà ©e. And none of these circumstances is decided by biology, but by what Marxists refer to as a â€Å"struggle for power between different social classes† (Gardner 145). Chopin is delivering a message that power transcends race. What sets Desirà ©e apart in terms of her subjugation by Armand? It is not race, but the lack thereof. Desirà ©e is unable to hide anything about herself because her origins are unknown (Chopin 401). She is a willing captive to Armand as a result of her love and her marriage, but she is not an unwilling captive to race; she is an unwilling captive to her otherness. She does not have doubts about her race, but must live with the reality that â€Å"Armand has told me I am not white† (Chopin 404). Because her origins are unknown and she does not have a name, she must acquiesce to the whims of Armand, who had at first decided to be unconcerned about â€Å"the girl’s obscure origins† (Chopin 401). Armand is the power here. He makes all of the decisions regarding the lives of those within his circle of power, and he does so because he is allowed to do so. Madam Valmondà © has even decided to be unconcerned about Armand’s questionable origins. It is interesting that Desirà ©e’s mother perceives evidence of the baby’s blackness (Chopin 402), but does not explore the possibility that Armand’s blood is the cause. Madam Valmondà © is part of the power structure and victimizes her own daughter, whom she claims to love deeply and sees as a gift from â€Å"a beneficent Providence to be the child of her affection, seeing as she was without child of the flesh† (Chopin 401). Had Desirà ©e been a child of the flesh of Madam Valmondà ©, she would have been accepted, and Madam Valmondà © could have exercised her superiority over Armand and the unanswered questions of his origins. It is remarkable that no one questions Armand’s pedigree even though his mother lived and died in France (Chopin 401). Armand’s mother is perhaps one of the more interesting subjects of Marxist study in the story. One cannot help but wonder why Chopin portrays Monsieur Aubigny as â€Å"easy-going and indulgentâ⠂¬  (Chopin 403). He is a slave owner who married a woman of a different race overseas and asserted his white superiority over her, which is evident in her letter at the end of the story (Chopin 405). She credits God with having given her the ability to hide the reality of her inferiority from her son (Chopin 405). She is lost in the shame of her otherness. She has been so fully convinced by her perceived superiors of her inferiority that she sees the ability to hide her true nature as a gift from her creator. To Monsieur Aubigny’s hidden wife, this is as much a gift as Madam Valmondà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s child of affection. One must question why Aubigny moved to France to marry this woman. And what was the arrangement that allowed her to stay hidden? Did she commit suicide? Is the letter that Armand is reading a final word from her before taking her own life? Note that this was only â€Å"part of an old letter† (Chopin 405), which leaves the true nature of her death unknown. This is power beyond ownership of chattels or social superiority; this power is God-like. Aubigny has happy slaves and is an indulgent tyrant, but to what dark magic has he subjected his French wife? Even if she is dying from something natural at the writing of the letter, it is remarkable that she perceives such powerlessness in herself. Armand is not as devoted as his mother to God. He finds that God has â€Å"dealt cruelly and unjustly with him† (Chopin 404) when he discovers that all is not as it seemed. Armand has a beautiful wife who â€Å"loved him desperately† (Chopin 402) and â€Å"asked no greater blessing of God† (Chopin 402) when he smiled. He has inherited a plantation and slaves to work it. He is rich and possesses the legacy of a good name. Yet in unmitigated spite of all that he has been given, Armand finds God unjust. His world has been suddenly and completely turned on its head because he has reason to believe that his child has inherited inferiority, never guessing that he himself is the source in more ways than one. Armand is a name similar to Adam, and Chopin seems to model him in part after the biblical first man. With the expulsion of Desirà ©e, L’Abri is reminiscent of the biblical garden east of Eden, with the exception that Armand remains. The Mosaic account of the creation of man includes a guideline for marriage, with the command that â€Å"they shall become one flesh† (NASB, Genesis 2.24). A married couple in this sense should be regarded in the same manner as a child and parent – inseparable by nature, regardless of wounds or emotions. This is a picture that does not give place to the other as each partner is regarded equally. It should be noted here that the name Desirà ©e is a French articulation of desire, and it was Adam’s desire that inspired God to give him a mate (NASB, Genesis 2.20). But Adam failed to regard his wife as equal to himself, standing by as she was tempted and choosing not to intervene (NASB, Genesis 3.6). In witnessing her deception and choosing not to intervene, Adam has made Eve the other. He has separated himself from her. Armand allegorically models the actions of Adam, but he gives himself the God-like power to expel his Eve from the garden, while choosing to ignore his own nature. Adam was Armand’s example in choosing to act in spite of all that he had been given, and in Adam’s attempt to fool God into believing that he had been blameless (NASB, Genesis 3.11), he set up a struggle for power. Armand falls easily into this struggle. It is not a stretch to believe that he has doubts about his own race. Exiling Desirà ©e is a tactic that Armand uses to maintain his hegemony. He does not have a foundation of support apart from the societal acceptance of slavery and white superiority. Desirà ©e and Madam Valmondà © are victimized by the very system that they tacitly support. They support it both by their participation as landowners and probable slave-holders and by their acceptance of it even when it forces them to accept inferiority. The superstructure of power in their society is so strong that it can be enforced with nothing more than words, even when those words have no basis in biological fact. It is not the taint of the wrong skin color that makes Desirà ©e a tragic figure; it is her support of a tainted system from which she benefitted until it turned on her. Skin color is a biological reality, but it has been manipulated in support of hegemony. The Antebellum south stood as a physical representation of the realities of race. Large, sparkling, white houses stood proudly fronting the large plantation estates of the white owners therein, while the dark-skinned slaves abode in small, mean cottages hidden in the rear. Kate Chopin depicts a plantation mansion in her short story Desirà ©e’s Baby with a paint color that is darker than the standard, modeling the color of the inhabitants. Nonetheless, the Aubigny family is powerful, benefitting from a superstructure that assigns power by the perception, rather than the reality, of skin color. While race is an important feature of the story, Chopin has written a work that is perfect for a Marxist critique. Works Cited Chopin, Kate. â€Å"Desirà ©e’s Baby.† Anthology of the American Short Story. Ed. James Nagel. Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2008. 121-135. Print. ISBN: 978-0-618-73220-3 Gardner, James. Writing about Literature: A Portable Guide. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2009. Print. ISBN: 978-0-312-60757-9 Miles, Robert. â€Å"Recent Marxist Theories of Nationalism and the Issue of Racism.† The British Journal of Sociology 38.1 (1987): 24-43. Web. 9 Jun. 2012. New American Standard Bible. Trans. The Lockman Foundation. New York: Oxford UP, 1971. Print.

Case Study of Management of Globalization at Ryanair

Case Study of Management of Globalization at Ryanair With increasing globalisation, numbers of companies are entering different foreign markets but some of them only attain success. This is because of their lack of knowledge about free markets advantages and limitations and role of enterprise within organisations (Brooke 1996). Firms that operate by assessing the impact of globalisation are much able to operate successfully rather than the firms that operate without analysing the impact of globalisation (Vittorio 2006). In this report all these aspects will be discussed with the help of a company, Ryan Air that is one of the oldest and most flourishing low-cost airlines of Europe (About Us 2011). This report will be completed by analyzing all previous researches or studies done in this field and its implications in real life. Different researchers and theorist have analysed free markets, globalisation and role of enterprise within organizations. With their analyses they have also given different theories and approaches that can be use d in a workplace to maximise its opportunities. All these theories and approaches will be used to analyse that what extent free market conditions have allowed Ryan Air to grow and prosper (Iyer & Masters 2000). As well it will also describe, at what extent the company had benefitted from free market conditions and to what extent it was constrained by limitations on this market. In addition to this, here it will also be analysed that how company and other markets are driven by enterprise led organisations. In the end, it will also be analysed that what extent the air travel market relies on globalisation and what is the importance of global expansion for Ryan Air. As well, in this report the importance of global markets in other industries will also be evaluated along with the analysis of importance of globalisation. Critical Evaluation of Ryan Air’s Entry Ryan Air was established in the year 1985 and it entered low cost European air travel market as a low cost airline. The co mpany attained huge success in Europe and it was all because of free market conditions (About Us 2011). The company success due to free market conditions can be understood effectively by critically evaluating it along with the discussion of its benefits and limitations. Significance of Free Market Conditions to Ryanair: Free market conditions refer to an economy or market in which buying and selling of products and services is done without any restriction related to price and valuation. European air travel market is also highly affected with free market conditions that in turn have also affected Ryan Air (Brooke 1996). The company is highly affected by free market conditions and it is an important reason of its growth and success. Due to the effect of free market conditions, the company along with its competitors has become able in allowing market forces to determine the price and values of air travel offered by them (Vittorio 2006). The free market concept was initially conceptuali zed throughout the First World War but in present it has become a reason of number of economies success. With the free market conditions of Europe, Ryan Air has derived various benefits like flexibility, freedom, and variety that in turn assist it in growing its business operations in Europe and in other foreign countries (Suneja 2000). With the free market conditions like deregulation and free market entry, Ryanair has been able to exploit the Irish and subsequently the European transport market (Brophy & George 2003).

Harvey Industries Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Harvey Industries - Case Study Example As regards contemporary global business practice, Stevenson (2010, p. 613) identifies the importance of due diligence in ensuring sustainable supply chain management. It is, therefore advised that the company employ key components of due diligence which would make the company function in line with other global competitors. Indeed, if the company wants to succeed, it must ensure that there is due diligence in all supply models and that existing competitors are made the target of competition. One of the best practices that the company can put in place to bring about due diligence is to â€Å"ensure that they are aware of, and can describe, the risk of violations taking place, and their potential harm† (The Danish Council for Corporate Social Responsibility, 2010). Secondly, it is recommended that risk assessment that leads to the identification of the sphere of influence be embarked upon. According to Stevenson (2010), companies that consider the sphere of influence ensure that there is the appropriate recognition of the company’s responsibility and attempts regarding supply chain management. Once such recognition is in place, the company obtains a better understanding of its scope of demands and acts to reach a stipulated level of demand. Finally, structural adjustment at the human resource level is highly recommended. There is an adage that new wine is not stored in an old wine sack. Essentially, there should be some bold managerial decision such as the decision to change suppliers and other stakeholders. who are instrumental in the supply chain management but whose actions have led to the current crisis experienced by the company. Recommendations for Inventory Management Inventory management will remain a very crucial aspect of the company if it wants to rise from its present financial distress and get back on the track of success. This is because inventory management will remain the single gateway for the company to ensure responsibility and