Philosophers Views on Abortion Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Philosophers Views on Abortion - Case Study Example However, some people especially those who support abortion have for centuries argued that the life of a mother is superior to that of the unborn; therefore, any life that put the life of the mother at any risk should be eliminated and the mother let to live. Regardless of the counter-argument on abortion, it is not right, at any point in time, to conduct abortion since it constitutes to terminate life; however, under well-argued and justified ground it may be an option to save the mother's life. Regardless of the position, one may take the arguments on abortion have proven to be extremely defensive and dogmatic. Furthermore, they concentrate on one perspective without looking at the whole issue in line with its psychological, moral, biological, and sociological complexity. Abortion is a difficult issue; however, it can be resolved if both sides of the debate look at the abortion arguments in open minds. Additionally, all the contributors and involved stakeholders must accept to work together towards the same goal without advance prejudice of the issue. Therefore, it is not advantageous if the entire human race to follow demagogic slogans that politically influence thinking on vital issues such as abortion; thus, the human race must all time debate on these vital issues with rational, moral stands. Philosophers Views on Abortion The fundamental problem of abortion is the moral justification of the status of the fetus. The philosophical understanding has three basic positions upon which they advance their arguments including conservative, liberal, and moderate. The liberal position is the contribution of Judith Jarvis Thomson. In her contribution, Judith assumed that conservatives did not influence the ideals of their supporters. Contributing to the issue, Judith argues that the moral status of any fetus is at all times justifiable in varied cases (DeGrazia, Mappes, and Brand-Ballard 482). She created a situation where someone is kidnapped because of preserving t he life of unconscious violinist. Additionally, she argues that the living human beings are linked through sharing the same kidney. Therefore, if there is the detachment between the kidneys of these two lives, before the end of the standard nine months of pregnancy, then the violinist automatically dies. According to Thomson, it is not an obvious obligation for humanity to share the kidney with the unborn (DeGrazia, Mappes, and Brand-Ballard 582). Additionally, she argues that sharing of the kidney creates an analog situation where the fetus uses the mother's body. Therefore, according to Thomson, abortion should be accepted and justified at all costs since the fetus only depends on the mother. She adds that abortion is justified in cases of rape, when a woman’s life is in danger, and when a woman has reasonable precaution to evade pregnancy. This reasoning may be considered patently false and exaggerated. In her argument, Thomson seems to disregard the distinctive character of the case that is the growing fetus. Even in rape cases, the killing of the fetus is not justifiable; thus, it remains morally unacceptable. Nonetheless, rape is also morally condemnable. Relating Rose’s case in the â€Å"A Brain Dead Mother Gives Birth† case study, Thomson will advocate for the death of the fetus in a quite unconvincing circumstance (DeGrazia, Mappes, and Brand-Ballard720). According to Thomson, the fetus is just, but a burden to the mother and in a situation where the mother’s life is at risk, the fetus must just be aborted.

Citizen of the United States Essay Example for Free

Citizen of the United States Essay I would define a citizen as someone, who was born in, or to a certain place, who is guaranteed certain rights in the place that they were born in. Citizenship in the United States means that a person is a legally recognized member of the nation. Each citizen has equal rights under the law. All citizens have certain rights, privileges, and responsibilities. Americans who are not citizens have many of the same rights, privileges, and responsibilities of citizens. However, they do not have such important rights as the right to vote in elections, serve on juries, or hold elected office. Means that a person is recognized as a legal member of the nation  gives each person certain rights and privileges, e.g., the right to vote and to hold public office  means each person has certain responsibilities, e.g., respecting the law, voting, paying taxes, serving on juries  explain that citizens owe allegiance or loyalty to the United States; in turn they receive protection and other services from the government Nothing is more important to America than citizenship; there is more assurance of our future in the individual character of our citizens than in any proposal I, and all the wise advisers I can gather, can ever put into effect in Washington. Warren G. Harding (1920) Rights of individuals. Citizens have rights.  personal rights, e.g., to associate with whomever one pleases, live where one  chooses, practice the religion of ones choice, travel freely and return to the United States, emigrate  political rights, e.g., to vote, speak freely and criticize the government, join organizations that try to influence government policies, join a political party, seek and hold public office  economic rights, e.g., to own property, choose ones work, change employment, join a labor union, establish a business  Citizens not only must be aware of their rights, they must also exercise them responsibly and they must fulfill those responsibilities necessary to a self-governing, free, and just society. No governmental action, no economic doctrine, no economic plan or project can replace that God-imposed responsibility of the individual man and woman to their neighbors. Herbert Hoover (1931) Citizens have rights. personal responsibilities, e.g., taking care of themselves, accepting responsibility for the consequences of their actions, taking advantage of the opportunity to be educated, supporting their families civic responsibilities, e.g., obeying the law, respecting the rights of others, being informed and attentive to the needs of their community, paying attention to how well their elected leaders are doing their jobs, communicating with their representatives in their school, local, state, and national governments, voting, paying taxes, serving on juries, serving in the armed forces

An Analysis of Frosts Tree at my Window Essay -- Tree at my Window E

An Analysis of   Frost's Tree at my Window      Ã‚   "Tree at my Window" was written by Robert Frost, an American poet who was born in 1874 and died in 1963 (DiYanni 624). His poem will be the basis of the discussion of this brief essay. The narrator in this poem appears to be speaking to the "tree at my window"; then, repeating the phrase in reverse order, he calls it the "window tree," as if to emphasize the location and nearness of the tree. Calling the tree a "window tree," might also suggest that this tree is something he sees through, perhaps to some higher truth, to something beyond the mere physical presence of the tree. As night approaches, the "sash" or movable portion of the window is lowered, perhaps to prevent the air, cooled from lack of the sun's warmth, from entering the house (Webster 1026). The narrator continues, "But let there never be curtain drawn / Between you and me." Literally, this statement could imply that he does not want a drape to cover the window betwen them. A sense of foreboding arises if one looks at additional definitions. "Curtain" can refer to death and "drawn" can refer to being brought about by inducement or being allured (Webster 280, 346). The narrator begins the second stanza mentioning a dream that is unclear. He then stops short and continues, seemingly describing the appearance of the tree. Referring to "head lifted out of the ground, / Not all your light tonuges taliking aloud / could be profound." Perhaps the speaker could be describing the vastness of the tree's height and width along with the magnitude of leaves. Comparing tongues to leaves is a possibility because, as the wind rushes through them, it causes a distinct sound. The speaker may even believe that the tre... ...In stanza four, the speaker compares "outer" and "inner" lives. "Tree at my Window" contains descriptions and comparisons that almost bring an image to one's mind. Perhaps I have been able to relate to this poem because I have often looked out of the window at the trees and mountains in the distance and contemplated some dilemma. Perhaps we could all learn from nature not to be so anxious about things that in the long run do not really even matter.       Works Cited Cox, James, M. Robert Frost: A Collection of Critical Essays. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1962. DiYanni, Robert. Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and the Essay. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1994. Thompson, Lawrence. Robert Frost: The Early Years 1874-1915 New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1966. Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary. Massachusetts: G&C Merriam, 1977.

Creating a story Essay

This is a story about William, a seventeen year old son of sir James – once a powerful feudal aristocrat in England. Sir James used to own a large portion of land in the Wales, but times have changed. As money started to be used, sir James lost parts of his land because he could not afford to keep it. On top of that, some of his peasants have left and became mercenaries who were hired by sir James’s neighbor. These days, around year 1200, sir James is still among the few noble English families left, noble but yet not belonging to magnates. It is William that sir James counts on to move up the social ladder. William is not a true son of sir James, the boy was born to sir James’s brother, sir Henry. 10 years ago sir Henry died and his brother, sir James, exercised the right of wardship – he started taking care of William and of those lands that used to belong to his father. William started living with his uncle when he was seven years old. As soon as he moved in to sir James’s castle, William became a student of many studies – he was being prepared for a court life. William is trained to become a good hunter, but also to be able to charm a court lady – he has teachers who teach him to sing songs, tell stories, flirt, dance, he has a special teacher who teaches him the rules of different ceremonies in court, the terminology to use, how to behave, how to dress. All of these activities are taking place in the castle of sir James, which is neither small nor large. A stone castle is surrounded by several wooden homes of sir James’s peasants who are busy with manufacturing of flax, wool, growing of geese and pigs for the inhabitants of the castle. The whole territory is surrounded by a stone wall. William’s day begins early in the morning. A servant brings him a basin with water to wash. When he is ready, William goes on to morning hunting exercise, which takes place until breakfast. At breakfast William usually meets sir James, they discuss William’s morning practice and talk about the upcoming tournament. After that, William has music and dancing lessons followed by yet another practice. During his free hours William either sleeps or goes for a walk into the country where he spends hours dreaming about his romantic love for lady Mary, whom he met at the last tournament. After dinner, William spends hours with his teacher of court manners and another one with whom William reads and writes poems. In other words, William spends his days doing and learning everything that chivalry behavior requires. Once done will all classes, William puts on his armor and goes horse riding into the woods. Supper is usually late in the evening with lots of meat and wine. These days William is busy more than usual with horse-riding and weapon usage practices due to the coming tournament. Being of a noble family William is allowed to participate in knight tournaments where he hopes to attract attention of lovely lady Mary, on whose patronage is also counting sir James. Lady Mary is a heiress of a wealthy magnate and her hand would provide William and sir James a higher status and allow them to enter a narrow circle of English aristocracy. The previous tournament was a good one for William – he conquered his opponent winning his horse and armor, and on the other hand, at the banquet following the tournament, he was able to speak with lady Mary and got an impression that he has actually charmed her and now she is favoring him. Patronage of lady Mary, who’s father is not only very wealthy but also in a good relationship with the monarch himself, would definitely secure William a place among nobility. The only person who disapproves of William’s lifestyle is his step-father – a priest in the local church, father John. Father John finds that William’s attraction to lady Mary and court life in general diverts him away from God. However, William is convinced that his chivalry lifestyle is the highest expression of worldly conduct, and is the best path to choose if one has already made a choice in favor of secular and spiritual life path. Thus, William spends his life in accordance with the requirements of his time when feudal aristocracy was in the past giving a place to nobility class which claimed to have a special, highest social ranking and privileges given to them by their right of birth.

Financial Crisis: Beyond the 1929-2008 comparison Essay

There has been major economic and financial crisis that have afflicted the world economy since 1929. It all started with â€Å"a great depression† in 1929 that lasted for about 10 years and then some of the other major crisis followed it, the next one being the oil crisis in 1973 then the Latin American debt crisis in 1980’s, in 1990’s the collapse of the Japanese asset price bubble and then in 1997 the Asian financial crisis and then in 2007 United states’ subprime mortgage crisis leading to a Global financial Crisis (Wikipedia: 1973 Oil Crisis, 2010). But there has been certain strategy of the corporate sector that distinguishes the crisis and its impact whenever it took place, as during the times of crisis the steps taken by the people who are economically and financially linked either directly or indirectly becomes very important due to the criticality of the situation and a particular step could make or break for the companies and economy as a whole. Getting over to the 1929 â€Å"The Great depression† that is considered to be a ravaging stock market crash in the history of United States of America that initially occurred because of the over-optimism of economists who believed that the stock prices are invulnerably high which they actually were in early 1920’s but soon those believes and certain predictions proved to be wrong when the stock market collapsed badly in October 1929 and remained broken-down for the next decade (Wikipedia: Wall Street Crash of 1929, 2010). People who borrowed money to buy the number of stocks relying on to the predictions of the economists were helpless with the situation, some people sold in a loss rite away but some kept it with them in a desire to make them even but had to wait for it for most of their life. The economy of U. S fell to its all time low in 1933 with industrial output being only 65% of the previous level. It not only affected U. S but all the countries worldwide as with some examples being Germany, Australia and Canada where the unemployment rates reached nearly 30% (Xinhua News Agency, 2009). The depression that began in United States but quickly transformed into a worldwide slump because of the underlying weaknesses and imbalances within the U. S economy that was previously vague by the Booming economy psychology and the blues of 1920s. The depression unveiled those weaknesses as it did the capabilities if the nation’s political and financial institutions to cope with the massive downward economic cycle that was set in 1930. As it was a depression never sighted by the countries, government took a very little or no action in times of economic downturn and relied heavily on an automatic market forces (Demand and Supply) to accomplish the economic correction. But those forces were unsuccessful in getting the desired recovery during the initial stages of the Great Depression and this badly hit discovery gradually inspired some of the fundamental changes in U. S economic structure and soon government came up with interfering in the form of taxations, public relations, industrial ordinance, insurance, welfare services and certain spending from them confirmed economic stability in the industries with free Market economies. The second biggest recession came in 1973, when Arab countries imposed embargo on the exports of oil and petroleum in retaliation to the U. S decision to re-supply the Israeli military. As Arab countries announced during the Yom Kippur war, the countries that supported Israelis in the conflict. Hence, the long lasting capabilities of embargo related to massive oil prices, disrupted oil supply and recession and with persistent increase in the need for crude oil and petroleum for the industries lead U. S and other European countries made it tough for the industrial sector there to grow and not only that Arab Oil suppliers got united with others to boost up the prices of Oil and crisis further exacerbated that limited the price of an old oil with that allowing newly extracted oil being sold at a higher price, resulting in a secession of an old oil from the market, creating artificial shortage. As with this the 1973 oil inducted the worst ever economic crisis since World War II in key Industrial states, resulting in a deadline of more than 14 per cent industrial output in the U. S and more than 20 per cent in Japan. As a striking inflation was experienced during that period and this massive increase in prices were to be blamed for being suppressive of economic activity. The infected countries responded with a variety of new and probably taking a permanent initiative to contain further dependency. As the oil price stunned the economy by further leading to a stock market crash in 1973-1974. The impact followed several years of steep income declines after the recent failure of pulling off the major Western oil companies. The third real crisis situation occurred that was in 1980’s that were the Latin American Debt crisis. It all started when the Latin American countries started borrowing huge sums of foreign cash to develop the domestic industries during 1960’s. The Latin American region that includes people speaking Roman languages and specifically Spanish, Portuguese and French termed as Latin (Romance languages). The foreign debts for the Latin Americans exceeded USD 300 billion (Xinhua News Agency, 2009) in the early 1980s. In 1982 Mexico revealed it incapability of repaying the debts that triggered a world Shaking debt crisis. Mexicans requested a 90 day rollover of the payments of the principal in order to restructure the financial packages. Unfortunately that problem aroused all other Latin American countries and some other debtor countries in all parts of the world. The Mexican impact was far reaching as it created an atmosphere that caused to issue dreadful forecasts by the people that were thankfully never realized. Most of the observers believe that the petrodollar recycling during 1970s gave birth to this debt crisis. As during that period the oil prices grew dramatically. Commercial banks were as well eager of making profitable loans to the governments and state-owned entities in developing countries, using dollars that were flown from the Middle Eastern countries and because of that the Latin America also got keen of borrowing the relatively cheap money from the banks (Ruggiero, 1999). During the crisis, GDP per capita of Latin American countries dropped by 10 percent (Xinhua News Agency, 2009). The adjustable interest rates interest loans sky rocketed in the early 1980s when the United States attempted to minimize inflation by enforcing rigorous monetary policies where, at the same time, it also increased its military spending. The administration of Reagan during that time in U. S did all this while shortening their Income tax rates. The raw material prices fell drastically around the Globe, which resulted poor countries with lesser money even to re pay their debts. Brazil and Mexico for example closely defaulted on their loans, and according to an International Law, there was no other option for these poor countries but to declare bankruptcy. Though commercial banks in that situation came to the rescue and prevented its defaults. Although many developing countries were left in huge debts and as a result they could no longer get loans. With no real way out, these nations have always relied heavily on the World Bank and/or International Monetary Fund (Ruggiero, 1999). The next real collapse of the Japanese Asset Price bubble was an economic bubble in Japan that took place from late 1980’s to early 1990s when the Japanese real estate and stock prices experienced a ruinous crash in 1990 after years of Inflation. During that time Japan suffered inveterate deflation and economic recession due to its asset devaluation and in the middle of 1990’s the country’s economy entered into a phase where there was a Zero growth (Xinhua News Agency, 2009). Since late 1980s the Japan’s experience shows the emergence and bursting of the bubble that played an important role in economic fluctuations throughout that period. The experience that was observed to have given the indication of a close relations in both financial and macroeconomic instability to large fluctuations in assets prices and raising the question of what has to be an appropriate way of treating asset prices in macroeconomic policy making. It has to be noted that Japan’s experience is the enthusiasm of market participants and together with inconsistent projection of fundamentals that contributed to a large degree to maintaining temporarily high asset prices during that time. Such enthusiasm is often quoted Euphoria that is being excessively optimistic but un-getable expectations for the long term economic performance being lasted for many years before dissipating. The escalated bullish expectations clearly observed in an increased equity yield during the period from the late 1980’s to the early 1990s. As the growth rate of nominal GDP was computed from the equity yield spread in 1990 as high as 8 per cent with the standard assumption that was based on the discount factor. Although the view of low inflation at the time, it was unlikely that the potential growth rate of nominal GDP was close to 8 per cent. Hence that would be more natural to infer the high level of the yield spread in 1990 reflecting the intensification of optimistic expectations, which were not sustainable in the Long run (Shiratsuka, 2005). In the late 1990’s that is in 1997 the Asian financial crisis emerged against the backdrop of U. S dollar appreciation where the exports of many Asian countries whose currencies were nailed down to the dollar and became less competitive. In July, a widespread devaluation of Asian currencies followed Thailand’s decision to float their currency â€Å"Baht†, hence, marking the outbreak of the Asian financial crisis. Indonesia on the other hand with Thailand as well as South Korea was most affected by the crisis. Indonesia’s GDP shrank with a massive 83. 4 per cent followed by Thailand and South Korea’s 40. 4 per cent and 34. 2 per cent respectively the time of crisis (Xinhua News Agency, 2009). The scope and the severity of the collapse were so massive that the outside intervention became somewhat mandatory as considered by many as a new kind of colonialism needed urgently. Since the countries that were sighting a huge downfall were not only the richest in their region but in the world since hundreds of billions of dollars were at stake and any response to the crisis had to be cooperative and international, in the desired case it was International Monetary Fund (IMF). They created rescue packages i. e. the series of bailouts for the most affected economies enabling those affected to avoid defaults that tied the packages to reforms that were intended to make the restored Asian currency with banking and financial systems. In some of the affected countries, restrictions on foreign ownership were greatly reduced and there were sufficient government controls set up to supervise all financial activities and ones they were to be independent and of private interest and the insolvent institutions had to be closed down in order to avoid insolvency affecting other institutions. The financial systems had to become more transparent to provide the kind of reliable financial information used in the West to make sound financial decisions. Somehow the strategy of IMF was opposed and came under great criticism because as countries fell into crisis, many local businesses and governments had taken out loans in terms of U. S dollars that made the currency much more expensive as compared to the local currencies which formed their income actually found unable to pay back to their creditors (Wikipedia: 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, 2010). IN 2007 the U. S subprime mortgage crises lead to another monumental crisis situation that has hurt globally and has forced many businesses to shut down. The crisis broke out in the summer of 2007 in the U. S and its root being mortgages that were made to the borrowers with less ability to repay the loans. The largely invested in products related to subprime mortgages and the tightening of credits around the world. It all started with the bankruptcy of one of the top banks in the world â€Å"Lehman Brothers† and Merrill Lynch’s buyouts in 2008 that caused a major slow down in the global economic growth with contraction in global trade and an astonishing rise in the level of unemployed workforce. Deep recession that emerged in Japan and some other countries that were on the verge of improving their economy somehow got dented with the current crisis (Xinhua News Agency, 2009). The crisis that is named â€Å"the Great Recession† that resulted in the collapse of large financial institutions plus the bailouts of banks by national governments and penultimate downturns in stock markets around the world. The housing market in many countries also suffered, resulting in numerous dispossessions, foreclosures and prolonged vacancies as being considered the worst ever crisis situation since the Great depression in 1930s. It massively contributed to the failure of key businesses, declines in consumer wealth that is estimated to be in the trillions of U. S dollars with substantial financial commitments incurred by the governments, and a significant decline in the economic activities. The market based and regulatory solutions have been implemented or are under consideration, while significant risks remain for the world economy over the periods from 2008. The collapse of in the housing bubble that peaked in U. S in 2006, affected the securities tied to real estate pricing to plumb thereafter, damaging financial institutions in all around the world. The bank insolvencies declined credit availability and damaged investor’s confidence and gradually had its impact on the stock markets, where securities suffered huge losses during late 2008. Critics argued though that credit rating agencies and investors were not successful in pricing the risks involved with mortgage related financial products, and that governments did not adjust their regulatory practices to address the 21st Century financial markets. Governments and central banks had responded with unprecedented fiscal stimulus, monetary policy expansion and institutional bailouts (Wikipedia: Financial Crisis of 2007-2010, 2010). The Crisis throughout the Great depression in 1929 to the Great recession in 2008 are focused as have occurred due to different reasons but end of the day had the same impact and that was denting the global markets. But the strategies throughout the crisis had varied by the policy makers, sometimes it has been successful but sometimes as the recession that stands currently prior to the year 2008 in still active and measures are being taken to overcome the problem. Many companies in between had come up with the strategy of mergers and acquisitions in order to save themselves from bankruptcy and over the years it has become successful for some but has also been unsuccessful. It is somehow noticed that the Mergers and Acquisitions have had the bitter part. The history clearly tells that mergers are not ALWAYS successful for the firms. It takes a great deal of experience and courage to settle with the other firm and handle matters on a larger scale but as it is said the risks are sooner or later paid with dividends. The failures of Dunlop and Pirelli Merger that initiated in 1970, the British –Europe conglomeration went sour as the Pirelli sank into the red. Difficulties in European tire operations in France, West Germany and Ireland as well as Britain were somehow balanced for some time by Profits from Africa, Asia, North America and Australia. The two companies merged because of an intense competition in the tire market and an increased demand for the Japan and North American tires made it challenging for the European markets to grow and the only solution was to increase the financial resources and gain recognition through it hence that resulted in a merger of these two firms. But the troubled economic trends of the 70s played a lead role in the failure of the alliance between Pirelli and Dunlop, progressively deteriorating the relationship between top management of the two groups and their mutual confidence and the deeper elements that led to the Union dissolution was an attempt to combine the groups characterized by significant differences in their models of Corporate Governance, as Pirelli was a family business, while Dunlop was a Public company. Pirelli, as well as many other Italian groups, was controlled by means of a pyramidal structure, cross-holdings of shares and agreement between shareholders, a delicate balance which could be compromised by little changes in the share capital distribution or in its total amount. A delicate balance to preserve which Italian top management refused to implement deeper changes in the Union structure that, in the difficult 70s, might have led the group to achieve better performances. In this regard we can find some similarities between the Union history and a subsequent unfortunate international merger attempt: the one between Fiat and Ford in 1985. Notwithstanding the potential synergies of the joint-venture between the two automotive producers this project failed because the two head offices were incapable of achieving an agreement on the crucial issue of â€Å"corporate control†. The IMF and World Banks on the other hand have been actively participating but the crisis as the history shows, in most of the situations are so massive that their efforts are ruined as well. Bibliography Ruggiero, Gregory. (1999). Latin American Debt Crisis: What Where It’s Causes And Is It Over? Available: http://www. angelfire. com/nj/GregoryRuggiero/latinamericancrisis. html. Last accessed 01 May 2010. Shiratsuka, Shigenori. (2005). The asset price bubble in Japan in the 1980s: lessons for financial and macroeconomic stability. Available: http://www. bis. org/publ/bppdf/bispap21e. pdf. Last accessed 01 May 2010. Wikipedia. (2010). Wall Street Crash of 1929. Available: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Wall_Street_Crash_of_1929. Last accessed 01 May 2010. Wikipedia. (2010). 1973 Oil Crisis. Available: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/1973_oil_crisis. Last accessed 01 May 2010. Wikipedia. (2010). 1997 Asian Financial Crisis. Available: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/1997_Asian_Financial_Crisis. Last accessed 01 May 2010. Wikipedia. (2010). Financial Crisis of 2007-2010. Available: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Financial_crisis_of_2007%E2%80%932010. Last accessed 01 May 2010. Wright, William M. (n. d. ). The Great Depression that Changed Economic Theory. Available: http://windowtowallstreet. com/1929marketcrash. aspx. Last accessed 01 May 2010. Xinhua News Agency. (2009). Backgrounder: Major economic, financial crises since 1929. Available: http://news. xinhuanet. com/english/2009-03/31/content_11107060. htm. Last accessed 01 May 2010.

Agustin Essays - Free Essays, Term Papers, Research Papers

Agustin Essays - Free Essays, Term Papers, Research Papers Agustin Indholdsfortegnelse Augustin 1 Frihed VS. determinisme..3 Friheds begrebet 4 Augustins gudsbegreb..5 Augustins frihedsbegreb 7 Augustins opfattelse af den frie vilje 8 Konklusion...9 Litteraturliste 10 Augustin Aurelius Augustinus (354-430) fdtes i det nordlige Afrika, nrmere betegnet i Thageste i Numidien. (Det nuvrende Algeriet.) Augustin blev fdt i en yderst omskiftelig historisk periode. Kristendommen var opstet f rhundreder tidligere. Den 'gamle verden var truet af oplsning, hvilket medfrte usikkerhed og uroligheder i samfundene. Man mtte finde nye holdepunkter og dette frte til evige stride mellem den antikke verden og den nye kristendom. Den kristne tro bredte sig fra st mod vest omkring Middelhavet, og hermed bredte ikke bare den kristne tro sig, men ogs den kristne enhedskultur. Den sammenblanding af den antikke filosofi og den kristne tro der opstr ved mdet herimellem bliver afgrende for Augustins liv, tanker og senere forfatterskab. Augustin fdtes af en kristen moder og en hedensk fader. En mindrebemidlet familie, der trods trange kr, formede at give Augustin den bedst mulige uddannelse i det davrende Afrika. Augustin studerede hovedsageligt grammatik, retorik og desuden den klassiske litteratur, bl.a. Vergil og Cicero. Han bliver senere selv lrer i retorik i Karthago, og i en alder af ca. 30 r, og efter at vre flyttet til det nuvrende Italien, fr han samme beskftigelse i Milano, nu dog som professor. Som den kulturelle verden der var i heftig forandring, ligeledes var Augustins flelsesliv. Med en kristen opdragelse, og i et land hvor kristendommen frst i 391 e.Kr. bliver statsreligion, m en ung mand med filosofisk interesse have gjort sig mange bekymringer ang. menneskers stilling i verden. Han ngtede trods sin opdragelse at blive dbt, da han fandt Biblen irrationel. Det var bl.a. svrt at indse at det onde var til en verden skabt af en algod gud. Et problem som Augustin senere i sine filosofisk/teologiske vrker beskftiger sig intenst med. I sin sgen efter sandheden bliver Augustin i en rrkke tilhnger af manikismen. (efter perseren Mani, ca. 216-276) (Horn 1995: 120) En dualistisk lre om bl.a. det gode og det onde som to grundprincipper i tilvrelsen, hvilket umiddelbart bedre kunne forklare det ondes tilstedevrelse. Som det gode og det onde, er ligeledes menneskets sjl to-delt. Den bestr af en kropssjl og en Legemessjl. Bde hvad angr det gode det onde, og hvad angr de to sjle bestr der en konstant kamp mellem de to modstninger. Kropssjlen som symboliserer det onde, skal ved den rette asketiske livsfrelse overvindes af legemessjlen.(Horn 1995: 122) Det er her vigtigt at bemrke at verden som helhed eller tilvrelsen generelt er i det ondes magt. Det er alts menneskets opgave at vende sig imod lyset og det gode, for at forsge at kmpe sig over i den anden lejr. Der kan her drages en rkke paralleller til Augustins senere foretrukne filosofiske teori, nemlig platonismen og nyplatonismensom den var fremlagt af Plotin (204-270) . Dette agter jeg dog frst at gre efter at hovedlinierne for disse teorier ligeledes er blevet trukket op. Her skal der blot til sidst, i denne meget korte skitsering af manikismen, nvnes en af grundene til at Augustin forlader denne lre og senere bliver en skarp kritiker heraf. Iflge lren om modstningernes stridigheder er det alts muligt for mennesket at vende sig mod det gode. Hvis dette ikke gres, eller hvis det onde ikke besejrers, er mennesket ndvendigvis styret af det onde. Dette betyder at man vil udfre slette handlinger, da man intet andet kan, og hermed kan det enkelte menneske ikke stilles til ansvar for sine handlinger. (Haystrup 1989: 260) Et menneske styret af det onde kan vel nppe forventes at leve et dydigt liv ? At mennesket ikke engang skulle kunne handle frit, dvs. have en fri vilje (problemerne angende begrebet handlefrihed og frihedsbegrebet generelt diskuteres senere i opgaven) synes ikke at have tilfredsstillende for Augustin. I sin videre sgen og i tiden omkring professoratet i Milano mder Augustin biskop Ambrosius, der bevirker at han igen vender tilbage til Biblens sandheder. Han begynder ligeledes at lse Platons skrifter, dog som de var fremlagt af Plotin, dvs. en blanding af Platon og en rkke mystiske aspekter. Biblens endelige gennembrud sker hos Augustin en dag med et mirakel. Augustin hrer en barnestemme der opfordrer ham til at lse sin Bibel. Hermed bnes vejen for hans kristne liv. Et kristent liv og

Aspirin essays

Aspirin essays Analgesics are compounds used to reduce pain, antipyretics are compounds used to reduce fever. One popular drug that does both is aspirin. Salicylic acid is reacted with acetic anhydride with the use of heat and sulfuric acid, which acts as a catalyst, to produce acetylsalicylic acid or commonly known as aspirin. This process is known as esterification. In the experiment, 2.0293 g of salicylic acid is used to react with 4.00 ml of acetic anhydride to produce 0.3565 g of acetylsalicylic acid giving rise to a 13.45 % yield. Salicylic acid is a simple aromatic carboxylic acid that became a key component of medical treatment throughout history, dating back to the Greeks (400 BC) and their use of willow tree bark. It was found in 1827 that the active agent in willow bark is an aromatic compound called salicin, which could be converted by reaction with water into salicyl alcohol and then oxidized to give salicylic acid. Felix Hoffman, working for Friedrich Baeyer and Company in 1883, acetylated salicylic acid and reduced the irritating side effects of salicylic acid in the mucous membrane of the stomach and made one of history's most popular drugs commonly referred to as aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid). Aspirin proved to be more effective in relieving pain and inflammation of rheumatoid arthritis. In a search for even more effective and less irritating analgesics and anti-inflammatory drugs, the Boots Pure Drug Company in England discovered ibuprofen. Soon thereafter, Syntex Corporation in US developed naproxen and Rhne-Poulenc in France developed ketoprofen. In the 1960s, it was discovered that aspirin acts as by inhibiting cyclooxygenase (COX), a key enzyme in the conversion of arachidonic acid to prostaglandins. The acetyl group of aspirin is transferrable to enzymes such as prostaglandin synthase. Acetylation of prostaglandin synthase inhibits its cyclooxygenase acti ...