Analysis of Kant Essay - 896 Words

Analysis of Kant The philosopher Immanuel Kant wrote this passage in hopes that we understand the world better. Kant is trying to tell us that there are many things that evolve around this world and that every little single detail that we do makes the world what it is. In this passage Kant uses the term enlightenment which basically means its a form of being informed spiritually to us as humans where we must release what the world has set in sight for us and go through our own knowledge to live through life. Its basically forgetting about what others teach us or had planned for us to do and make up our own path where we therefore have our own freedom to†¦show more content†¦Kant mentions external direction from which it was long gone. This might mean the free will that we all possess, I believe that the world is not intended to be a fixed society where God has already set a path for all beings since he created this earth of ours. I do however believe that God has probably made a path for all individuals but only a positive path since God is only made of goodness within himself. Its the evil that opens up the free will and thats why God created the devil. God has given humans a choice either to do well or follow the path thats intended to be in store for that particular individual or commit the evil. God created the world so that he can see with his own eyes what he had created, whether his creation was worthwhile or a disappointment in Gods mind. So the free will that God has given to us is what makes the world as interesting as it is. In this picture we can see a man separated from two zones where one part of the body is in one end and the other on the other dominant end. Theres a rainbow like layer blocking the man from entering into the other zone. To my belief, its the inability of humans giving an extra effort to pass through into the Promised Land. Ever since God created the first humans Adam and Eve, Adam ate theShow MoreRelatedKant s Philosophy Of The State And Analysis Of Historical Summit1312 Words   |  6 PagesCompromised largely in Kant s ideas, Hegel s systemic philosophy of the State and analysis of historical summit of the body politic provides the foundation of Marxism and alike. Hegel declares the concept of state as superior to the individual. In his book Philosophy of History, he establishes Reason as the rational manifestation of world history which subsists in both natural and spiritual realms; But the Spirit, and the course of its development, is the substance of history (20). Reason asR ead MoreAnalysis of Kant ´s Ethnics, Punishment, and Dealth Penalty Essay1585 Words   |  7 Pagesthe most important word with respect to the death penalty. We will be looking at Kant’s ethics and his placed values on individuals as well as Kant’s theory of punishment and death penalty. 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ThisRead MoreHeidegger, Kant, And The Ontological Argument985 Words   |  4 PagesHeidegger, Kant, and the Ontological Argument In the introduction to The Basic Problems of Phenomenology, Martin Heidegger explains that throughout the history of philosophy, there has been many discoveries of the â€Å"domains of being† viz., â€Å"nature, space, and soul†. However, none of these discoveries could be appreciated in a way that clarifies â€Å"their specific being.† As an example, Heidegger interprets this problem, as the reason Plato understood why the soul, along with its logos, was a differentRead MoreCritical Examination Of Knowledge And Belief1504 Words   |  7 PagesA Philosophical Examination of the Benefit of Critical Analysis in the Examination of Knowledge and Belief in the Writings of Plato, Kant, Kierkegaard, and Clifford In this philosophy study, an examination of the importance of critical analysis of knowledge (facts) and belief are important features in the writings of Plato, Kant, Kierkegaard, and Clifford. In Socrates view, the fickle nature of beliefs are often misconstrued as being â€Å"knowledge†, which defines the ambiguous barrier between realityRead MoreKant And Kant s Metaphysical Theorizing1303 Words   |  6 Pageswere possible. 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Based on this analysis, young children would need Kant`s outlook on morality in order to be sufficient in society. In this paper, I will argue that we as moral agents have a sense of duty to educate young children on how they should act by allow ing them to reason and make

Economic Factors in the Decline of the Byzantine Empire Free Essays

â€Å"Economic Factors in the Decline of the Byzantine Empire† In this article taken from The Journal of Economic History, Peter Charanis discusses the factors that economically affected the decline of the Byzantine Empire. His discussion is based on the fact that past scholars, such as English historian Edward Gibbon who wrote The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, thought the Byzantine Empire was in a constant state of decline throughout its existence, but he disagrees. He says that more recent scholars have found that it was, in fact, one of the great empires in history. We will write a custom essay sample on Economic Factors in the Decline of the Byzantine Empire or any similar topic only for you Order Now He references to historians such as Fridtjof Nansen, author of L’Armenie et le proche Orient, who said that the Byzantine culture â€Å"is and will remain one of the most remarkable works of architecture, and if the Byzantine culture had created nothing but that, it would be sufficient to classify it among the greatest. † Charanis is convinced that most scholars today reject Gibbon’s theory, and this article discusses why he believes so. Because the Byzantine Empire endured for over a thousand years and was the center of civilization until the middle of the eleventh century, it could not be looked at as a constantly declining empire. According to Charanis, it preserved antiquity, developed new forms of art, and held back barbarians. Byzantium produced great soldiers, statesmen, diplomats, reformers, and scholars. It was also successful at spreading the gospel among pagan tribes. Charanis quotes Czech historian F. Dvornik who wrote Les Slaves byzance et Rome au IX saying Byzantium â€Å"molded the undisciplined tribes and made nations out of them; it gave to them its religion and institutions, taught their princes how to govern, transmitted to them he very principles of civilation – writing and literature. â€Å"Byzantium was a great power and a great civilizing force,† Charanis said. He believed that war and religion were the two principal factors that molded the society of the empire and determined its external position. Because war was a normal state during Byzantium’s thousand year existence, war was not a reason to believe that it was constantly declining. For example, in the seventh cen tury, the Sarcens, Slavs, and Bulgars reduced the empire greatly, but the seventh century emperors reorganized the administration of the empire to cope with the situation at hand. In the eleventh century however, the empire was not as fortunate to recover from certain military reverses that occurred. There were disastrous defeats that they never fully recovered from, and this is what finally led to the beginning of their decline. One very important factor, according to Charinis’ sources such as Russian historians’ books and works, were the conditions the Manzikerts left the empire in. It had such a huge impact on the social and economic life of the empire, and this was the basis of its virtual disappearance. Byzantium relied so fully on the social and economic aspect of their culture, that an attack to this was fatal. The Manzikert military aristocracy was far from what the Byzantines were accustomed to, and caused the soldiery-peasantry to decline which was a large part of their state. Up until this point, emperors were able to rework the empire and reorganize things so that Byzantium could thrive, but after their â€Å"large estate†, which had been a huge party of their society, was attacked, it was almost impossible. Charanis believes that the aristocracy that was put in place in the eleventh century was also another large factor of decline. Instead of being a social and economic based empire, it was a military aristocracy. The soldiers were the holders of the military estates, and the aristocracy absorbed the estates of the peasants. The focus of the emperors was the happiness of the soldiers and not of the peasants, or all the other people in the empire, and this was also a large source of decline in Byzantium. Once the emperors of the eleventh century realized that this system was not working quite as well, they tried to create an anti-military policy, which consummated a depression in soldiers. This entire struggle that occurred after the seventh century caused the empire to participate in a series of civil wars affected its sources and manpower, according the Charanis. Other serious factors that caused the decline were the weakening of the central administration, the failure to enforce measures of protection for the soldiery-peasantry, and the grants of privileges made to the aristocracy. It has been said that another reason for their decline was the strict controls they placed on commerce and industry, but Charanis disagrees and says it is extremely doubtful that this was their weakness. He backs up this argument by saying that when those controls were most strictly enforced, was when their empire was at its greatest. He goes on to say that the period of the greatest decline is marked by the breakdown of these controls. Tenth century Byzantine emperor Romanus Lecapenus wrote in one of his novels that the extension of power to the strong and the depression of power to the many would â€Å"bring about the irreparable loss of the public good. † Charanis agrees with him saying that â€Å"His prediction had come true. The disappearance of the free peasantry, the increase in the wealth, privileges, and power of the aristocracy, and the consequent depression of the agrarian population constitute, I think, some of the principal factors in the decline of the Byzantine Empire. † Charanis’ evidence is clearly all there and cited, but it is somewhat difficult to understand his references. They’re numbered at the bottom and his numbers are meant to further explain certain points throughout the article. Another problem I have with his evidence is that they are mostly books written by foreign authors, and I can’t read the titles. I believe that Charanis has clearly proven his point and thoroughly discussed his thesis; however, his argument was not extremely bold, because he is arguing one historian’s theory (Edward Gibbon), and agreeing with every other historian who believes the Byzantine Empire was great. His argument was more fact-based, and proven through certain points of notoriety throughout the existence of the empire, and his presentation of these points seemed unorganized. In fact I found the organization of this article to be somewhat confusing. He seemed to jump around from century to century and fact to fact. I believe it would have been much more efficiently written if he had discussed the certain centuries of the empire in chronological order. This also would have more effectively shown the factors that led up to the decline of the Byzantine Empire. Instead he jumped around discussing things that related to the factors, but not thoroughly discussing what order the things happened and why one led to the next. Charanis did not raise new questions in his argument. He simply argued Gibbon’s theory, and used other historians to back his argument up. In fact, most of the historians that Charanis used as references were quite old, for example, Fridtjof Nansen, a Norwegian author from 1928. No recent authors or suggestions were raised from Charanis’ article. I think that overall this article offered some very thorough and credible information about the decline of the Byzantine Empire, but since his original argument was that Gibbon was wrong, he should have used more examples of historians that supported Gibbons theory and argued their points as well. Though he had many historians to back up his argument, his thesis mentioned Gibbon. He definitely proved his point and listed many factors that caused the decline of the Byzantine Empire, but I would have liked to see less confusing organization and newer information that supported his argument. How to cite Economic Factors in the Decline of the Byzantine Empire, Papers

Technology Effects free essay sample

â€Å"The fact is we didn’t get along well until photography came into its own. Then motion pictures in the early twentieth century. Radio. Television. Things began to have a mass. † This statement that Captain Beatty made while having a conversation with Guy Montag, was stating how the society had changed once the technology grew. Fahrenheit 451 is mainly about the effects of technology and its effects on humanity. It is also involves the topic, censorship, but that did not have much effect on the society as technology did. In fact it was because of the misusage of technology, censorship was even being focused on. In this society houses have parlour walls and in Montag’s house three of the parlour walls are covered with’ wall screens’ or large TV that covers the entire wall. Montag’s wife, Mildred, hardly ever stops watching them. Mildred’s favorite programs are the shows that involved scripts- she was given a script so that she could ‘become’ a part of the shows from her own living room. We will write a custom essay sample on Technology Effects or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page People in this society even called the actors on these programs their ‘family’. One day Montag was sick and he couldn’t handle the noise of the parlour, so he asked his wife to turn it off. Even in a situation like that she had rejected his request and replied, â€Å"That’s my family. † The TV separates one from the rest of the world. It even replaces the meaning of what family actually is. The society does not realize how this useless machine is hypnotizing people in dangerous way. Still there is a censorship that states owning and reading books are illegal. That does not even effect one- fourth of the society, because no one has time for it anyway. The majority of the society is too busy keeping up with all their TV programs. That is what is really affecting the people. In Fahrenheit 451, TV is not the only technology product that isolates someone from everyone else. Seashell Radios do it also. A seashell radio is a ear device that produces calm ocean sounds throughout the entire day. A person carried away with the relaxation of this cannot think about anything. And because they can’t hear other sounds , they don’t want to socialize with others. It allows them to be in their own world. With a device like the seashell radio, it is not reasonable to have a censorship idea that the people don’t have time to think. It is not that they actually don’t have time to think instead, they are simply not making time. If the seashell radio was not invented they more likely would have been able to think more.