Taoism Essay Research Paper Classical Chinese theory free essay sample

Taoism Essay, Research Paper Classical Chinese theory of head is similar to Western common people psychological science in that both mirror their several background position of linguistic communication. They differ in ways that fit those folk theories of linguistic communication. The nucleus Chinese construct is xin ( the heart-mind ) . As the interlingual rendition suggests, Chinese common people psychological science lacked a contrast between cognitive and affectional provinces ( [ representative thoughts, knowledge, ground, beliefs ] versus [ desires, motivations, emotions, feelings ] ) . The xin guides action, but non via beliefs and desires. It takes input from the universe and ushers action in visible radiation of it. Most minds portion those nucleus beliefs. Herbert Fingarette argued that Chinese ( Confucius at least ) had no psychological theory. Along with the absence of belief-desire account of action, they do non offer psychological ( interior mental representation ) accounts of linguistic communication ( intending ) . We find neither the focal point on an interior universe populated with mental objects nor any preoccupation with inquiries of the correspondence of the subjective and nonsubjective universes. We will write a custom essay sample on Taoism Essay Research Paper Classical Chinese theory or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Fingarette explained this as reflecting an grasp of the deep conventional nature of both lingual and moral significance. He saw this reflected in the Confucian focal point on Li ( ritual ) and its accent on sociology and history instead than psychological science. The significance, the really being, of a handshaking depends on a historical convention. It rests on no mental Acts of the Apostless such as earnestness or purpose. The latter may attach to the conventional act and give it a sort of aesthetic grace, but they do non explicate it. Fingarette overstates the point, of class. It may non be psychologistic in its lingual or moral theory, but Confucianism still presupposes a psychological science, albeit non the familiar individualist, mental or cognitive psychological science. Its history of human map in conventional, historical society presupposes some behavioural and dispositional traits. Most Chinese minds so appear to presuppose that worlds are societal, non egocentric or individualistic. The xin co-ordinates our behaviour with others. Thinkers differed in their attitude toward this natural societal module. Some thought we should reform this inclination and seek harder to go egotists, but most approved of the basic goodness of people. Most besides assumed that societal discourse influenced how the heart-mind ushers our cooperation. If discourse plans the heart-mind, it must hold a dispositional capacity to internalise the scheduling. Humans accumulate and transmit conventional dao-s ( steering discourses? ways ) . We teach them to our kids and turn to them to each other. The heart-mind so executes the counsel in any dao it learns when triggered ( e.g. , by the sense organs ) . Again minds differed in their attitude toward this shared mentality. Some idea we should minimise or extinguish the commanding consequence of such conventions on homo behaviour. Others focused on how we should reform the societal discourse that we usage jointly in programming each other? s xin. Typically, minds in the former group had some theory of the innate or hard-wired scheduling of the xin. Some in the latter cantonment had either a clean page or a negative position of the heart-mind? s innate forms of response. For some minds, the sense variety meats delivered a processed input to the heart-mind as a differentiation: salty and sour, Sweet and bitter, ruddy or black or white or green and so forth. Most had thin theories, at best, of how the senses contributed to guidance. While it is alluring to say that they assumed the input was an formless flow of qualia that the heart-mind sorted into classs ( relevant either to its innate or societal scheduling ) . However, given the deficiency of analysis of the content of the centripetal input, we should likely cautiously assume they took the sodium? ve realist position that the senses merely make differentiations in the universe. We can be certainly merely that the xin did trigger reactions to discourse-relevant stimulations. Reflecting the theory of xin, the inexplicit theory of linguistic communication made no differentiation between depicting and ordering. Chinese minds assumed the nucleus map of linguistic communication is steering behavior. Representational characteristics served that normative end. In put to deathing counsel, we have to place relevant things in context. If the discourse describes some behaviour toward one? s senior, one needs a manner right to place the senior and what counts as the prescribed behaviour. Correct action harmonizing to a conventional dao must besides take into history other descriptions of the state of affairs such as? urgent? , ? normal? , etc. These issues lay behind Confucian theories of rectifying names. The psychological theory ( like the lingual ) did non take on a sentential signifier. Classical Chinese linguistic communication had no belief-grammar , i.e. , signifiers such as X believes that P ( where P is a proposition ) . The closest grammatical opposite number focuses on the term, non the sentence and point to the different map of xin. Where Westerners would state He believes ( that ) it is good classical Chinese would either utilize He goods it or He, yi ( with respect to ) it, wei ( deems: respects ) good. Similarly zhi ( to cognize ) takes noun phrases, non sentences, as object. The closest opposite number to propositional cognition would be He knows its being ( deemed as ) good. The xin ushers action in the universe in virtuousness of the classs it assigns to things, but it does non house mental or lingual images of facts. Technically, the attitude was what philosophers a de re attitude. The capable was in the universe non in the head. The context of usage picked out the intended point. The attitude consisted of projecting the mental class or construct on the existent thing. We separate this functional function best by speaking about a temperament instead than a belief. It is a temperament to delegate some world to a class. The needed module of the heart-mind ( or the senses ) is the ability to discriminate or distinguish T from not-T, e.g. , good from bad, human being from stealer. We might, alternately, think of Chinese? belief? and? cognition? as predicate attitudes instead than propositional attitudes. Predicate attitudes are the heart-mind? s map. A basic judgement is, therefore, neither a image nor representation of some metaphysically complex fact. Its kernel is picking out what counts as? Ten? in the state of affairs ( where? X? is a term in the steering discourse ) . The context fixes the object and the heart-mind assigns it to a relevant class. Hence, Chinese common people theory places a ( learned or innate ) ability to do differentiations right in following a dao in the cardinal topographic point Western common people psychological science topographic points thoughts. They implicitly understood rightness as conformance to the social-historical norm. One of the undertakings of some Chinese philosophers was seeking to supply a natural or nonsubjective land of dao. Western thoughts are correspondent to mental pictographs in a linguistic communication of idea. The composite images formed out of these mental images ( beliefs ) were the mental opposite numbers of facts. Truth was correspondence between the image and the fact. Pictures play a function in Chinese common people theory of linguistic communication but non of head. Chinese understood their written characters as holding evolved from pictographs. They had light ground to believe of grammatical strings of characters as images of anything. Chinese common people linguistics recognized that history and community use determined the mention of the characters. They did non appeal to the pictographic quality or any associated mental image persons might hold. Language and conventions are valuable because they store familial counsel. The social-historical tradition, non single psychological science, grounds significance. Some minds became disbelieving of claims about the sages and the stability of their counsel, but they did non abandon the premise that public linguistic communication ushers us. Typically, they either advocated reforming the guiding discourse ( dao ) or returning to natural, pre-linguistic behaviour forms. Language rested neither on knowledge nor private, single subjectiveness. Chinese doctrine of head played chiefly an application ( executing of instructions ) function in Chinese theory of linguistic communication. Chinese theory of linguistic communication centered on opposite numbers of mention or indication. To hold mastered a term was for the xin and senses working together to be able to separate or split worlds right. ? Correctly? was the hang-up because the criterion of rightness was discourse. It threatened a reasoning backward? we need a discourse to steer our practical reading of discourse. Doctrine of head played a function in assorted attempted solutions. Chinese philosophers largely agreed ( except for innatists ) that existent distinguishing would be comparative to past preparation, experience, premises and state of affairs. However, they did non see experience as a mental construct in the authoritative Western sense of the being a subjective or private content. An of import construct in doctrine of head was, hence, de ( virtuosity ) . One authoritative preparation identified de as corporal, interior dao. De though interior, was more a set of temperaments than a mental content. The nexus seemed to be that when we learn a dao? s content, it produces de. Good de comes from successful instruction of a dao. When you follow dao, you need non hold the discourse playing internally. We best position it as the behavioural ability to conform to the intended form of action? the way ( public presentation dao ) . It would be 2nd nature. We may believe of Delawares, consequently, as both learned and natural. We can separate Chinese idea from Indo-European idea, so, non merely in its blending affective and cognitive maps, but besides in its avoiding the nuts and bolts of Western mind-body analysis. Talk of interior and outer did separate the psychological from the societal, but it did non intend inner was mental content. The xin has a physical and temporal location and consists of temperaments to do differentiations in steering action. It is non a set of inherently representational thoughts ( mental pictograms ) . Similarly, we happen no clear opposite number to the Indo-germanic construct of the module of ground. Euclidian method in geometry and the preparation of the syllogism in logic informed this Indo-germanic construct. Absent this setup, Chinese minds characterized the heart-mind as either decently or improperly trained, virtuous, skilled, dependable, etc. Prima facie, nevertheless, these were societal criterions threatened disk shape. The heart-mind required some sort of command of a organic structure of practical cognition. Chinese minds explored norm pragmatism chiefly through an innatist scheme. Innatists sought to visualize the heart-mind? s differentiations as fiting norms or moral forms implicit in the natural stasis or harmoniousness of the universe. Return to Sketch Historical Developments: The Classical Period Confucius indirectly addressed doctrine of head inquiries in his theory of instruction. He shaped the moral argument in a manner that basically influenced the classical construct of xin ( heart-mind ) . Confucius? discourse dao was the classical course of study, including most notably history, poesy and ritual. On one manus, we can believe of these as preparation the xin to proper public presentation. On the other, the inquiry of how to construe the texts into action seemed to necessitate a anterior interpretive capacity of xin. Confucius appealed to a invitingly obscure intuitive ability that he called ren ( humanity ) . A individual with ren can interpret guiding discourse into public presentation right? i.e. , can put to death or follow a dao. Confucius left unfastened whether ren was unconditioned or acquired in survey? though the latter seems more probably to hold been his place. It was, in any instance, the place of China? s foremost philosophical critic, the anti-Confucian Mozi. Again concern with doctrine of head was low-level to Mozi? s normative concerns. He saw moral character as plastic. Natural human Communion ( particularly our inclination to emulate higher-ups ) shaped it. Therefore, we could cultivate useful behavioural inclinations by holding societal theoretical accounts enunciate and act on a useful societal discourse. The influence of societal theoretical accounts would besides find the reading of the discourse. Interpretation takes the signifier of indexical pro and con reactions? shi ( this: right: acquiescence ) and fei ( non this: incorrect: dissent ) . The attitudes when associated with footings pick out the world ( object, action, etc. ) relevant to the discourse counsel. We therefore train the heart-mind to do differentiations that guide its picks and thereby our behaviour? specifically in following a useful symbolic usher. Utilitarian criterions besides should steer practical reading ( executing or public presentation ) of the discourse. At this point in Chinese idea, the heart-mind became the focal point of more systematic speculating? much of it in reaction to Mozi? s issues. The moral issue and the menace of a relativist reasoning backward in the image led to a nativist reaction. On the one manus, minds wanted to conceive of ways to liberate themselves from the implicit societal determinism. On the other, moralists want a more absolute footing for ethical differentiations and actions. Several minds may hold joined a tendency of involvement in cultivating the heart-mind. Mencius? theory is the best known within the moralist tendency. He analyzed the heart-mind as dwelling of four natural moral dispositions. These usually mature merely as seeds grows into workss. Therefore, the ensuing virtuousnesss ( ? benevolence? , ? morality? , ? ritual? , and? knowledge? ) were natural. Mencius therefore avoided holding to handle the ren intuition as a erudite merchandise a societal dao. It is a Delaware that signals a natural dao. This position allowed Mencius to support Confucian rite indirectly against Mozi? s accusal that it relied on an optional and, therefore, mutable tradition. Mencius? scheme, nevertheless, presupposed that a lingual dao could either distort or reenforce the heart-mind # 8217 ; s innate plan. In rule, we do non necessitate to shore up up moral virtuousness educationally. Linguistic defining, other than countering lingual deformation, hence, ran an unneeded hazard. It endangered the natural growing of the moral temperaments. The shi ( this: right: acquiescence ) and fei ( non this: incorrect: dissent ) temperaments necessary for sage-like moral behaviour should develop of course. His theory did non connote that we know moral theory at birth, but that they develop or mature as the physical organic structure does and in response to ordinary moral state of affairss. The heart-mind maps by publishing shi-fei ( this-not this ) directives that are right in the concrete state of affairss in which we find ourselves. It does non necessitate or bring forth ethical theory or conjectural picks. The xin? s intuitions are situational and implicitly harmonious with nature. A well-known advocator with the natural spontaneousness or freedom motive was the Taoist, Laozi. He analyzed the psychological science of socialisation at a different degree. Learning names was developing us to do differentiations and to hold desires of what society considered the appropriate kind. Both the differentiations and the desires were right merely harmonizing to the conventions of the linguistic communication community. Learning linguistic communication non merely meant losing one? s natural spontaneousness, it was and subjecting oneself to command by a social-historical position. We allowed society to command our desires. His celebrated motto, wu-wei, enjoined us to avoid actions motivated by such socialised desires. We achieve that negative by burying socially instilled differentiations? by burying linguistic communication! His inexplicit ideal had some affinities with that of Mencius except that his construct of the natural kingdom of psychological temperaments was well less ambitious in moral footings. Interpreters normally suppose that he assumed there would be a scope of natural desires left even if socialized 1s were subtracted. These would be plenty to prolong little, non-aggressive, agricultural small towns. In them, people would miss the wonder even to see adjacent small towns. This crudeness still requires that there is a natural degree of harmonious urges to action, but non about plenty to prolong Mencius? incorporate moral imperium. The Later MOHISTS became disbelieving of the impersonal position of these allegedly natural heart-mind provinces. They noted that even a stealer may claim that his behaviour was natural. They watered down the conventionality of Mozi by appealing to objectively accessible similarities and differences in nature. Our linguistic communication ought to reflect these bunchs of similarity. They did small epistemology particularly of the senses, but purportedly, like Mozi, would hold appealed to the testimony ordinary people trusting on their eyes and ears. Others ( See ZHUANGZI ) insisted that any evident forms of similarity and difference were ever perspectival and relation to some anterior intent, criterions or value attitude. Linguisticss did form heart-mind attitudes but neither faithfully or accurately carves the universe into its existent parts. The Later Mohists had given a bunch of definitions of zhi ( to cognize ) . One of these seemed near to consciousness? or instead to indicate to the deficiency of any such construct. Zhi was the capacity to cognize. In woolgathering the zhi did non zhi and we took ( something ) as so. They analyzed the cardinal map of the heart-mind as the capacity to know apart lingual purpose. Zhuangzi takes a measure beyond Laozi in his theory of emotions. Zhuangzi discusses the passions and emotions that were natural, pre-social inputs from world. He suggested a matter-of-fact attitude toward them? we can non cognize what purpose they have, but without them, there would be no mention for the I. Without the # 8216 ; I # 8217 ; , there would be neither taking nor objects of pick. Like Hume, he argued that while we have these inputs and experience at that place must be some forming true swayer, we get no input ( qing ) from any such swayer. We merely hold the inputs themselves ( felicity, choler, sorrow, joy, fright ) . We can non suppose that the physical bosom is such a swayer, because it is no more natural than the other variety meats and articulations of the organic structure. Training and history status a bosom? s judgements. Ultimately, even Mencius? shi-fei ( this-not Thursday is ) are input to the xin. Our experience introduces them relative to our place and past premises. They are non nonsubjective or impersonal judgements. XUNZI besides concentrated on issues related to doctrine of head though in the context of moral and lingual issues. He initiated some of import and historically influential developments in the classical theory. His most celebrated ( and textually suspect ) philosophy is human nature is evil. While he clearly wanted to distance himself from Mencius, the motto at best obscures the deep affinity between their several positions of human nature and head. Xunzi seems to hold drawn both from the tradition recommending cultivating heart-mind and from the focussed theory of linguistic communication. This produced a tense intercrossed theory that filled out the original Confucian image on how conventions and linguistic communication plan the heart-mind. Xunzi made the naturalism explicit. Human steering discourse takes topographic point in the context of a three-tier existence? tian ( heaven-nature ) di ( earth-sustenance ) and ren ( the societal kingdom ) . He gave worlds a particular topographic point in the? concatenation of nature, # 8217 ; but non based on ground. Animals shared the capacity for zhi ( cognition ) . What distinguishes worlds is their Lolo ( morality ) which is grounded on the ability to bian ( distinguish ) . Presumably, the latter ability is unique among animate beings with cognition because it is short-hand for the ability to concept and abide by conventions? conventional differentiations or linguistic communication. One of Xunzi? s realistic justifications for Confucian conventional rites is economic. Ritual differentiations guide people? s desires so that society can manage scarceness. Merely those with high position will larn to seek scarce goods. His going from Mencius therefore seems to lie in seeing human morality as more informed or filled-out by historical conventional differentiations. These are the merchandises of contemplation and ruse, non nature. However, in other ways Xunzi seems to inch closer to Mencius. He besides presents ritual as portion of the construction of the universe? implicit in the heaven-earth natural context. One natural line of account is this: while thought creates the correct conventions, nature sets the concrete conditions of scarceness and human traits that determine what conventions will be best for human flourishing. Tax return to Outline Historical Developments: Han Cosmology The oncoming of the philosophical dark age, brought on by Qin Dynasty repression followed by Han dynasty policies resulted in a bureaucratic, obscurant Confucian orthodoxy. The Qin therefore buried the proficient thoughts informing doctrine of head along with the active minds who understood them. The ontology of the eclectic Scholasticism that emerged was basically spiritual and superstitious. It was, nevertheless, overtly materialist ( presuming Qi ( ether, affair ) is material ) . So the inexplicit doctrine of head of the few philosophically inclined minds during the period tended toward a obscure philistinism. The Han further developed the five-element ( five stages ) version of philistinism. They postulated a correlate pentalogy associating virtually every system of categorization that occurred to them. The strategy included the variety meats of the organic structure and the virtuousnesss. Interpretation and analysis of correlate logical thinking is a controversial topic. From here, the mental correlativities look more like a frequence choice from the psychological vocabulary than a merchandise of philosophical contemplation, observation or causal theory. The Yin-yang analysis besides had mental correlatives. Following Xunzi, Orthodox Han Confucians tended to handle Qing ( world: desires ) as yin ( typically negative ) . The yang ( value positive ) opposite number was xing ( human moral nature ) . The most of import development of the period was the outgrowth a via media Confucian position of head? s function in morality. It finally informed and dominated the scholastic Neo-Confucianism of the much later Sung to Qing dynasties. The little book known as the Doctrine of the Mean gave it an influential preparation. It presents the heart-mind as a homeostasis-preserving input end product device. The heart-mind starts in a province of tranquility. The history leaves unfastened whether this is a consequence of ideally structured moral input, declaration of interior struggles, or the absence of ( falsifying ) content. Xunzi? s position of the empty, incorporate and still mind seems the proximate ascendant of the latter facet of the position. The vagueness, handily, makes Mencius? philosophies fit it every bit good. The input is a disturbance from the outer universe. The end product, the heart-mind? s action-guiding response, restores harmoniousness to the universe and the interior province to tranquility. If the inner province prior to the input is non placid, the response will non reconstruct harmoniousness to the existent state of affairs. Han Confucianism filled out this cosmic position of this black-box interaction between heart-mind and universe harmoniousness utilizing qi philistinism. Qi is a instead more a blend of energy and affair than pure affair? interlingual renditions such as life-force conveying out an indispensable connexion with verve. This makes it more appropriate for a cosmology that links the active heart-mind with the changing universe. Qi was the individual constituting component of liquors and shades every bit good. Wang Ch? ung? s disbelieving, reductive application of chi theory focused on shen ( spirit-energy ) . He did non see its effects for heart-mind as peculiarly iconoclastic. It still lacked a impression of consciousness independent of zhi ( know ) . ( Our zhi, he argued, Michigans when we are asleep and so about surely it does when we are dead. ) His statements that nature had no knowing intents illustrated his reductive behaviourism? if it has neither eyes nor ears, so it can non hold zhi ( intents or purposes ) . This statement would barely do sense if he had the familiar Western construct of consciousness. Similarly, he argues that the five virtuousnesss are in the five variety meats so when the variety meats are dead and gone, the virtuousnesss disappear with them. Return to Sketch Historical Developments: Buddhist Philosophy of Mind The following developments are related to the debut of Buddhist mental constructs into China. Most histories recognition a motion dubbed Neo-Taoism with paving the manner for this extremist alteration in doctrine of head. Wangbi? s Neo-Taoist system was explicitly a cosmology more than a theory of head, but readings tend to read it epistemically. Wangbi addressed the metaphysical mystifier of the relation of being and non-being. ( See YOU-WU ) He postulated non-being as the basic substance. Non-being produced being. He dubbed this vague relationship as substance and map. Interpretations about necessarily explain this on the analogy to Kant? s Noumenon and Phenomenon. As celebrated, Wangbi had few epistemic involvements, but the analysis did hold deductions for heart-mind theory. He applied the metaphysical strategy to his Confucian motto? Sage within, king without. The head was empty within while the behaviours were in perfect conformance with the Confucian ritual dao. This tilts the Taoist tradition toward the emptiness reading of the black-box analysis of heart-mind. Wangbi besides placed Li ( rule ) in a more cardinal explanatory place. This paved the manner for its usage in interpreting Buddhism? s sentence or law-like? Dharma? . It played functions in both Buddhist epistemology and theory of head. In thin pre-Han use, Li was nonsubjective inclinations in thing-kinds. ( Intuitionists and naturalists took them to be the valid norm for that sort? species relative spots of dao. ) Wangbi gave it a more essentialist reading in the context of the Book of Changes. He postulated a Li steering the mixtures and transmutations of yin and yang. One should be able to short-circuit the complexness of the system by insulating and understanding its Li. Buddhism introduced radical alterations into Chinese heart-mind conceptual strategy. The original Indo-germanic faith likely originated the familiar Western phenomenalism ( consciousness, experience-based mentalism ) . Indian doctrine came complete with the familiar Western sentential analyses, mental content and cognitive accent ( belief and knowing-that ) . It even mimicked the subject-predicate syllogism and the familiar epistemological and metaphysical subjective-objective dualism. It introduced a semantic ( ageless ) truth predicate into Chinese idea along with a representational position of the map of both head and linguistic communication. Reason/intellect and emotion/desire formed a basic resistance in Buddhist psychological analysis. An interior idea-world analogues ( or replaces ) the ordinary universe of objects. Soul and head are approximately interchangeable and familiar statements for immortality suggest both metaphysical dualism and mental transcendency or high quality over the physical. It conceptually links world ( cognition, ground ) to permanence and appearance ( semblance, experience ) to alteration. A cosmopolitan concatenation of causing was a cardinal explanatory device and a grade of dependance and impermanency. Two cautions are in order, nevertheless. First, although Buddhism introduced a dualist conceptual strategy, many schools ( arguably ) denied the dualism so formulated and rejected any transcendent ? ego? . Second, it is ill-defined how good the doctrine of head was by and large understood and whether much of it really took in China. One of the early and notoriously unsuccessful schools was the Consciousness merely school ( translated as Merely Heart-mind ) which translated the idealism of Yogacara Buddhism. The Yogacara analysis was Hume-like in denying that anything linked the minute minutes of consciousness into a existent ego. Scholars tend to fault its death, nevertheless, as much on its obnoxious moral characteristics ( its alleged Hinayana or elitist failure to warrant cosmopolitan redemption ) as on its conceptual inventions. The most successful schools were those that seemed to shun theory of any sort? like Zen ( Ch? an ) or Pure Land Buddhism? or those that opted for intuitive, mystical simpleness ( Tian T? Army Intelligence and Hua Yen ) . The most of import conceptual bequest of Buddhism, hence, seems to be the changed function and importance of the character Li ( rule ) . In Buddhism it served a broad scope of of import sentential and mental maps. It facilitated the interlingual rendition of? jurisprudence? , ? truth? , and? ground? . Neo-Confucianism would take it over ( with notoriously controversial deductions ) as cardinal construct in its doctrine of head. Return to Outline Historical Developments: Neo-Confucianism Neo-Confucianism is a Western name for a series of schools in which doctrine of head played a cardinal function. Scholars ( slightly polemically ) nowadays these schools as motivated by an anti-foreignism that sought to raise autochthonal classical systems. These had lain dormant for six-hundred uneven old ages when the freshness of Buddhism started to pull the attending of China # 8217 ; s intellectuals. Resurrecting Confucianism required supplying it with an option to Buddhist metaphysics. For this, they drew on ch # 8217 ; one metaphysics, the black-box homeostasis continuing analysis of heart-mind, Wang Pi # 8217 ; s and Buddhism # 8217 ; s Li and Mencius # 8217 ; classical theory of the built-in goodness of heart-mind. The elaboratenesss of Neo-Confucian systems are excessively rich to analyse in item here. The earliest versions focused on the impression of qi linkage between the heart-mind and the universe influenced by our action. They characterized the placid province of the black-box as nothingness. The school of Li criticized that analysis as excessively Zen-like. ( This was a typical and cursing charge to participants in this motion, although a Zen period in one? s development of idea was a common form among Neo-Confucians. ) The fifty-one school insisted that any equal history of heart-mind had to give it an original moral content. It did this by contending an interdependent and inseparable dualism of Li and chi. The Li permeates the bosom and all of world, which is composed of chi. The most alluring ( and common ) amplification uses the Platonic differentiation of signifier and content, but that analysis seesaws on the border of incoherency. The school fell back on dividing the human head from some transcendental or metaphysical Tao-mind. This made it doubtful as a theory of head at all? in the ordinary sense. It basically became a metaphysics in which heart-mind was a cosmic force. One manner of understanding the motive that drove the otherwise enigmatic metaphysical gymnastic exercises links doctrine of head and moralss. Neo-Confucians were seeking for the metaphysical system such that anyone so sing the universe and one # 8217 ; s topographic point in it would faithfully make what was right. The end was holding the metaphysical mentality of the sage. The standard of right and wrong was that the sage # 8217 ; s head would so judge it. If we could retroflex the mentality, we would be sage-like in our attitudes? including both beliefs and motives. The consequence on motive and behaviour was more of import than the theoretical coherency of the system. The complexness of moral pick and human motive required so many disturbances into their history of the proposed system that it became an about boundlessly flexible rationalisation for intuitionism. Mencian optimism about unconditioned heart-mind temperaments proved an uncomfortable bequest. If human nature and the heart-mind are innately and spontaneously moral, it was ill-defined why we require such mental gymnastic exercises to cultivate and condition the temperaments. They portrayed the Li as inherently good in all things, but someway worlds, entirely in all of nature, might neglect to conform to its ain natural norms. The effort to explicate this via the fifty-one chi dualism flounders on the metaphysical rule that the dualism pervades all things. Despite this well known ( and intractable ) Confucian job of immorality, the school once more became the Medieval orthodoxy. Office keeping required being able to parrot the position in considerable item to demo their moral character. The school of Heart-mind was a rebellion against that orthodoxy. We best understand this challenger as a species of normative, nonsubjective idealism. It saw the existent heart-mind as Li and hence inherently good. The xin undertakings that li onto the universe in the act of categorizing and spliting it into types. Therefore our normative, ( phenomenal ) universe is good but that good is a map of the head. Moral classification and action are a coincident and combined responses of the heart-mind to the disturbances or the inharmoniousnesss we encounter. The analysis of head is functional? there is no goodness of the head separate from the goodness of its categorizing and playing. Knowing is moving. The school of heart-mind slightly gingerly accepted the deduction of their Mencian heritage. There is no evil. I say gingerly because whether one should explicate or learn this decision or non is itself a pick that the head must measure for its contextual value. In itself, as it were, the heart-mind is beyond good and evil. Others, hence, criticized school of heart-mind was for its ain Zen-like deductions. Any reasonably cagey pupil could calculate out that whatever he chose to make was right ( c.f. , Zhuangzi? s initial unfavorable judgment # 8217 ; s of Mencian idealism ) . They, in bend, criticized the Buddhist character of their challenger # 8217 ; s premises that some sort of province of head ( enlightenment, realisation ) would as if by magic consequence in sagehood. The moralistic name-calling of this inter-Confucian argument sapped further development of theory of head. That coupled with its irrational optimism in the face of turning consciousness of the exposure and failing of China to defy Western and Nipponese military and political power resulted foremost in mildly more mercenary and useful systems. Eventually intellectuals developed a sweeping involvement in the following Indo-germanic idea invasion, which took the signifier of Marxism. Maoist theory of head was an unstable mixture of Marxist economic and materialist reductionism and traditional Chinese optimism. The right political attitude ( typically that of the portion member ) would give good Communists dramatic moral power and infallible situational intuitions about how to work out societal jobs. Again, the obvious failure in the face of irrational theoretical optimism has produced a general aversion to idealisations. One can think that the following stage, like the Buddhist stage, will be one of adoption and blending. However, the current incredulity about the general lineations of common people psychological science in the West and its basically foreign character likely will maintain Chinese theory of heart-mind distinctively Chinese. Chan, Wing tsit. 1986 Neo-Confucian Footings Explained ( New York: Columbia University Press ) pp. xi-277. Fingarette, Herbert. 1972 Confucius The Secular as Sacred. Graham, Angus. 1964 The Topographic point of Reason in the Chinese Philosophic Tradition, in Raymond Dawson ( ed. ) , The Legacy of China pp. 28-56. Graham, Angus. 1967 The Background of the Mencian Theory of Human Nature, Tsing Hua Journal of Chinese Studies 6/1, 2 pp. 215-274. Graham, Angus. 1989 Disputers of the Tao: Philosophic Argument in Ancient China ( La Salle, IL: Open Court ) . Hansen, Chad. 1991 Should the Ancient Masters Value Reason? , in Henry Rosemont ( ed. ) , Chinese Texts and Philosophical Context: Essaies Dedicated to A. C. Graham ( La Salle, IL: Open Court ) pp. 179-209. Hansen, Chad. 1992 A Daoist Theory of Chinese Thought ( New York: Oxford University Press ) pp. xv-448. Hansen, Chad. 1993 Term Belief in Action, in Lenk et Al ( ed. ) , Epistemic Issues in Chinese Philosophy ( American bison: SUNY Series in Chinese Philosophy and Cu ) pp. 45-68. Hansen, Chad. 12/30/95 Qing ( Emotions ) in Pre-Buddhist Chinese Thought, in Joel Marks and Roger T. Ames ( ed. ) , Emotions in Asian Thought ( State University of New York Press ) pp. 181-211. Munro, Donald J.. 1969 The Concept of Man in Early China ( Stanford: Stanford University Press ) . Munro, Donald J.. 1977 The Concept of Man in Contemporary China ( Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press ) pp. twelve, 248. Munro, Donald J.. 1985 in Donald J. Munro ( ed. ) , Individualism and Holism: Surveies in Confucian and Taoist Values ( Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press ) . Munro, Donald J.. 1988 Images of Human Nature: a Sung Portrait ( Princeton: Princeton University Press ) pp. 322. Schwartz, Benjamin. 1985 The World of Thought in Ancient China ( Cambridge: Harvard University Press ) .

Innate Learned Behaviour Essays

Innate Learned Behaviour Essays Innate Learned Behaviour Paper Innate Learned Behaviour Paper The argument regarding innate and learned behavior is one that will never be settled. The natives believe that some areas of behavior are Innate and argue that we Inherit the qualities that decide what kind of person we will be. They believe that our behavior Is mostly due to genetics. However against this argument emplacements (who believe that aspects of behavior are learnt), argue that a childs development Is more Influenced by the care and attention they receive during their childhood. This Is oscillation. An example Is that a child can be taught not to cry, for Instance during the war, when people who where in hiding could not possibly allow their babies to cry or else they would be found. They may also state that sleep can also be taught I. E. : a baby who is not picked up and cuddled as soon as they start to cry would soon learn to go back to sleep. I feel that many of the reflexes are in born in a baby. I have noticed with my own children, in particular, the moor reflex and the rooting reflex, although the extent of Hess do seem to diminish after a short period and seem to be re-learnt in later life, or maybe they Just hibernate! Young babies seem to have surprising abilities which they could not have learnt. As far as breathing, a baby will breath the fluid inside the womb. Therefore am inclined to call it instinctive, because it seems so automatic. However, I know that babies are usually encouraged to cry right after birth in order to get them to start breathing well. I suspect that since breathing is something we can control pretty well, t is a blend of instinctive and learned behavior. Examples tend to indicate that from birth babies will instinctively suck things that come near their mouth, grab things that touch their palm, and try to stiffen their legs when you hold them as if they were standing. They seem to be Instinctively afraid of falling, and loud noises. They also Instinctively cry when they are uncomfortable. These things do not seem to have to be learned, but are present from birth. Of course, some of these things may have been learned In the womb. For example, a fetus will grab things, suck their thumb, and kick around in the womb. A baby is not a blank slate at birth, it already knows its mothers voice, and has been practicing many behaviors. Ana tensely extend tenet arms IT sat rattle, make eye contact Walt people rater auto 1 week of age, and they do breathe on their own usually even without much stimulation although sometimes they need a bit of a Jolt to initiate the reflex. But the ultimate proof that behavior is partially genetic is this: Would you rather eave your child with a golden retriever or a pit bull? Yes, SOME pit bulls are gentle and loving and SOME golden retrievers are berserk, but these breeds have well- earned reputations for being respectively gentle, loving, and loyal and violent and unpredictable. This is because the behaviors are partially genetic in nature and these dogs were bred for certain behaviors. In conclusion, I feel that some behaviors are innate and are instinctive, but they may also have been learnt to some degree.

Changing the Text Direction in Microsoft Word

Changing the Text Direction in Microsoft Word Changing the Text Direction in Microsoft Word If you regularly use Microsoft Word with a language that reads from right-to-left, you may find that the right-to-left format remains when you try to write in English. This is because the text direction defaults to right-to-left in versions of Microsoft Word sold in some regions. Luckily, if youre using a Windows computer, changing the direction of text is easy via the left-to-right command. Only the most recent versions of Word for Mac support this feature, so if you encounter this problem, the best option is to copy and paste the text into a new document. Customizing the Quick Access Toolbar The first thing you need to do is add the left-to-right command to the Quick Access Toolbar. To do this, click the arrow next to the Redo button and choose More Commands from the dropdown list. Accessing the menus. On the next screen, you have the option to choose commands to add to the toolbar. If you cant see the left-to-right command, chose All Commands from the top menu. All commands. Next, scroll down and choose Left-to-Right Text Direction. The name of the command here may depend on the version of Word youre using. In Word 2010, this command is called Ltr run, while Word 2003 lists it as Ltr para. Left-to-right text direction. Now the button will be displayed on the toolbar (you can use a similar process to add it to the main ribbon if you right click on the ribbon and select Customize the Ribbon). LTR and RTL on the Quick Access Toolbar. Now select the text that is showing right-to-left, click the button, and it should switch to left-to-right. Repeat this last step anywhere in your document, including footnotes and comment boxes, where the text direction displays from right-to-left. Its also worth noting that you can select the Right-to-Left Text Direction command using the same method. This is useful if you need to switch back to the original format at any point. Formatting from Proofed If you would like to get your paper formatted perfectly, send it to the professionals at Proofed!

Art History (world of art) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Art History (world of art) - Essay Example Much of their art includes actual human skulls. It is customary for the Asmat to keep the skulls of their enemies once they have killed them. The Asmat even named their children after enemies which they have killed. The Asmat are also known for using human skulls to rest their heads on at night, instead of pillows. The Asmat do, however, consider wood to be very sacred. The reason for this is that they believe that they actually arose or came from wood. They are known in addition to being cannibals as being magnificent word carvers. Much of their art is derived from wood or carved into wood thus honoring their belief system of the sanctity of wood. One piece in particular known as Korvar, is a wood carving depicting what looks like a small human-like deity with a large head. This could be considered to be a deity of wood or an embodiment of the sacred wood that the Asmat held as sacred. The face of the carving is less human-like than the body. It has almost a bill-like mouth and undefined eyes. Carvings of the Papua Gulf tribes (Kerewa) included agibas (essentially a skull rack). These agibas were used to hang human skulls for display. The skulls were often decorated with shells, seeds and other organic materials. One agibas could be used to hold hundreds of skulls belonging to one clan or tribal segment. Often the agibas would be fashioned into human appearance or a pair of humans. The Kerewa of the Papua Gulf truly embraced cannibalism and â€Å"head hunting† as a way of life. The fact that they had artifacts which were hand carved specifically for the purpose of displaying the skulls of their enemies serves to emphasize this. Among Native North Americans, the belief in spirit guides was not only a sense of spirituality but a way of life. It was believed that spirit guides granted certain individuals â€Å"privileges† that could be carried down through generations. For example,

Could the leaders of Europe have prevented the Holocaust Essay

Could the leaders of Europe have prevented the Holocaust - Essay Example berg Law of 1935, the violent riots against Jewish businesses on ‘Kristallnacht’ in 1938, the confinement of Jews to Ghettoes in 1940, their killing in concentration and labor camps in 1941 and culminated in their whole scale massacre in the extermination camps from 1942. They were transported by railroads and eliminated in gas chambers in Auschwitz, Treblinka, Dachau, Bergen-Belsen, Buchenwald and Maulthausen.1 Approximately six million Jews lost their lives in the Holocaust, which was described by Winston Churchill as â€Å"the greatest and most terrible crime ever committed in the whole history of the world.†2 Hitler’s rabid anti-Semitism was the prime instigator of the Holocaust, but it was also perpetrated by the Western Allies policy of appeasement, which was motivated by self-interest. Anti-Semitism has long been a part of human history and can be considered a cultural phenomenon, prevalent in Europe and America as in the rest of the world. It can be attributed to many factors: jealousy of the economic prosperity of the Jews, resentment of their claims of being the ‘chosen people,’ their vilification as the killers of Christ and 2racism. They have been used as convenient scapegoats for disasters such as The Black Death, subjected to massacres during the Crusades and the Spanish Inquisition and to pogroms in Russia and Poland. Hitler advocated world dominion by the pure Aryan races through the elimination of ‘inferior races,’ such as the Slavs, Gypsies and particularly the Jews. He set about this genocide with military precision, aided by the reluctance of Western Europe and America to take decisive measures to stop this horrendous crime against humanity. Britain and France unabashedly followed a policy of appeasement towards Nazi Germany due to several factors, which were related to their perceived self-interest. World War 1 (1914 – 1918), with its’ 7 million European casualties, had a deep impact on public opinion, particularly in

Are Cell Phones Good for Health Essay Example for Free

Are Cell Phones Good for Health Essay Talking on a cellular phone or living near to a cell site does not cause cancer, according to a report by the Royal Society of Canada. The society looked at GSM networks, mobile phones, cell site antennas and roof top aerials, on behalf of Health Canada. They did, however say that the existing safety limits for maintenance staff working on the cell sites, and should be revised to take into account possible damage to the eyes, due to the unique physiological make up of the eye. Upgrade handsets: If you are using too old handset, upgrade it to some recent handset which has released in last 1-2 years. Recent handsets use low power and take care of reflections to save battery as well as high radiations. Use standard handsets: Some cheap mobiles do not maintain standards. Always use handsets from branded companies. Cheap phones can be harmful to life. Use Bluetooth: Use Bluetooth headset/hands free to talk on phone. Bluetooth operates on low frequency. You can put the phone in back pocket. Use PC software: SMS chatting is most common in youngsters. Most of brands provide PC connectivity software’s; some 3rd party tools are also available. Connect cell phone to PC through Bluetooth, keep mobile at a distance and enjoy SMS. Use Flight Mode: Switching off and on mobile might be tedious when it’s not in use. Use flight mode profile of phone to deactivate radio signals, it will perform same operation as switch off but keeping other functions on. Avoid Mobile Internet: Get a wired internet connection for PC to use at home. Avoid using mobile internet connections (GPRS and 3G based). You will always find a cheaper wired internet option in this competitive market.

Describe an important character and explain why they are important. :: English Literature

Describe an important character and explain why they are important. Lord of the Flies by William Golding - Ralph Describe an important character and explain why they are important. An important character in Lord of the Flies by William Golding is Ralph. Ralph is a strong leader in the book who all the boys respect, and he is the person who first tries to create an order on the island. In some ways Ralph's motivation for being a good, powerful leader is his longing for home. Ralph's relationship with another boy on the island, Jack is very important also. From the beginning of the book Ralph takes charge over his newly acquainted companion Piggy. When he calls the other boys together he takes control over the entire group and his leadership is acknowledged by the majority of the boys voting for him as chief. With his power Ralph makes many important decisions, such as building huts and starting a signal fire which he thinks is most important. This is illustrated when he says "There was a shipà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ you said you'd keep the smoke going". Ralph's leadership is what keeps the order among the boys on the island. Ralph's desire for home is what drives him to lead the group of boys and to keep an orderly society on the island. Creating the signal fire was Ralph's only way to get home and it is clear he knows this when he tells Jack "No fire, no smoke, no rescue." This shows Ralph's passion for their rescue, for his home and for the fire. Ralph's longing for home is important because it is from this that he bases his decisions on and it's his decisions that get the boys home. We all have a craving for love, warmth and home, but it is not until we are without these that it becomes obvious. When Ralph finds a conch shell and uses it to call the boys from all over the island, they come running. The conch is a very powerful tool. When the boys have settled the conch is used to control the boys and to create an order on the island. A rule is set out by Ralph using the conch, "Whoever has the conch has got the right to talk". This shows the conch's power and Ralph's leaderhsip. Again, Ralph's determination for an ordered society is driven by his wanting to go home. Ralph has strong relationships with many of the boys on the island, but his relationship with Jack is most important of all. Ralph's relationship with Jack begins like the others, with friendship and

The Hunters: Phantom Chapter 22

Elena couldn't breathe. She could vaguely feel her mouth opening and closing, but she found she wasn't able to say anything. Her hands and feet had gone numb. Damon gave her an almost shy smile – which was funny, because Damon didn't do shy – and shrugged. â€Å"Wel , princess? You wanted me to be here with you, didn't you?† As if a rubber band holding her back had snapped, Elena leaped out of bed and hurtled into Damon's arms. â€Å"Are you real?† she said, half sobbing. â€Å"Is this real?† She kissed him fiercely, and he met her kiss with equal fervor. He felt real, cool skin and leather, the surprising softness of his lips familiar under hers. â€Å"Here I am,† he murmured into her hair as he pul ed her close to him. â€Å"It's real, I promise you.† Elena stepped back and smacked him hard across the face. Damon glared at her and reached up to rub his cheek. â€Å"Ouch,† he said, and then cracked a narrow, irritating smile. â€Å"I can't say that was completely unexpected – I get slapped by women more often than you'd think possible – but not a nice welcome for the long-lost love, sweetheart.† â€Å"How could you?† Elena said, dry-eyed now and furious. â€Å"How could you, Damon? We've al been mourning you. Stefan's fal ing apart. Bonnie blames herself. I†¦ I†¦ A piece of my heart died. How long have you been watching us? Didn't you care? Was this al some kind of joke to you? Did you laugh when we cried?† Damon winced. â€Å"Darling,† he said. â€Å"My princess. Aren't you glad to see me at al ?† â€Å"Of course I am!† said Elena indignantly. She took a breath and cooled down a little. â€Å"But, Damon, what were you thinking? We al thought you were dead! Permanently dead, not show-up-in-my-bedroom-a-few-days-laterlooking-perfectly-healthy dead! What's going on? Did the Guardians do this? They told me they couldn't when I begged them to, that death is permanent for a vampire once it happens.† Damon graced her with a genuine, laughing smile. â€Å"Wel , you of al people ought to know that death isn't always permanent.† Elena shrugged and wrapped her arms around herself. â€Å"They told me that when I came back, it was different,† she said in a smal voice, her emotions zigzagging al over the place. Because you're in shock, a tiny voice at the back of her head said wisely. â€Å"Mystical stuff, you know. My time wasn't up. Hey!† She poked him with one finger, perking up. â€Å"Are you human now? I was human when I returned.† Damon gave a long, theatrical shudder. â€Å"God forbid. I had enough of that when that meddling kitsune made me a mortal. Thank heaven – or whoever – I don't have to go looking for an obliging vampire princess to turn me back this time.† He grinned slyly at Elena. â€Å"I'm as bloodsucking as ever, darling.† He eyed her neck. â€Å"Speaking of which, I'm rather hungry†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Elena smacked him again, though more gently this time. â€Å"Knock it off, Damon.† â€Å"Can I sit down now?† Damon asked and, when she nodded, settled himself on the foot of her bed and drew her down to sit beside him. Elena looked searchingly into his eyes, then gently traced her hand over his sharp cheekbones, his sculpted mouth, his soft raven hair. â€Å"You were dead, Damon,† she said quietly. â€Å"I know it. I saw you die.† â€Å"Yes,† he said, and sighed. â€Å"I felt myself die. It was horribly painful and it seemed to both go on forever and be over in a few moments.† He shuddered. â€Å"There was a little bit left of me even then though† – Elena nodded – â€Å"and Stefan told me, told him, to fly away. And you held him – held me – and told me to close my eyes. And then that last little bit of me was gone, too, and even the pain was gone. And then†¦ I came back.† Damon's dark eyes were wide with remembered wonder. â€Å"But how?† asked Elena. â€Å"Remember the star bal ?† â€Å"How could I forget? It was the root of al our problems with the kitsune. It was vaporized when I†¦ Oh, Damon, I used my Wings of Destruction on the tree on the Nether World's moon. But they destroyed the kitsune's star bal , too, and I had to go to the Guardians to save Fel ‘s Church. The Wings of Destruction were†¦ like nothing I've ever seen or felt before.† She shivered. â€Å"I've seen what you did to that moon,† Damon said, smiling slightly. â€Å"Would it make you feel better, my lovely angel, if you knew that using your Powers like that and destroying the star bal is what saved me?† â€Å"Don't cal me that,† said Elena, scowling. The Guardians were the closest thing she had ever seen to real angels, and she did not have fond memories of them. â€Å"How did it save you?† â€Å"Do they explain how condensation works in modern schools?† Damon asked with the supercilious expression he always wore when he teasingly criticized her world in comparison to the one he had grown up in. â€Å"Is it al sex education, empathy, and second-rate novels now, or do they stil tel the children a little about science? I know they've dropped Latin and Greek in favor of theater and consciousness-raising.† His voice dripped with contempt. Elena told herself not to rise to his bait. Instead she folded her hands neatly in front of her in her lap. â€Å"I think you may be a few decades out-of-date. But please, O wise one,† she said, â€Å"assume that my education didn't include the connection between condensation and rising from the dead, and enlighten me.† â€Å"Nice.† Damon smirked. â€Å"I like to see a young woman who is respectful of her elders and betters.† Elena cocked an eyebrow at him warningly. â€Å"Anyway,† he continued, â€Å"the liquid in the star bal , the pure magic, didn't vanish. It's not that easy to get rid of real y strong magic. As the atmosphere cooled, the magic turned from vapor back into liquid and fel down on me, with the rain of ash. I was soaking in pure Power for hours, gradual y being reborn.† Elena's mouth dropped open. â€Å"Those sneaks,† she said indignantly. â€Å"The Guardians told me you were gone for good, and they took al the treasures we bribed them with, too.† She thought briefly of the one last treasure she stil had, a water bottle ful of the Water of Eternal Youth, hidden high up on the shelf in her closet, and pushed the thought away. She couldn't even acknowledge that hidden treasure to herself for more than a moment, for fear the Guardians would realize she had it, and she couldn't use it†¦ not yet, maybe not ever. Damon shrugged one shoulder. â€Å"They do cheat, sometimes, I hear. But it's more likely this time that they thought they were tel ing the truth. They don't know everything, even though they like to pretend they do. And kitsune and vampires are both a little outside their area of expertise.† He told her how he had woken, buried deep in ash and mud, clawed his way to the surface, and set off across the desolate moon, not knowing who he was or what had happened to him, and how he had almost died again, and that Sage had saved him. â€Å"And then what?† Elena asked eagerly. â€Å"How did you remember everything? How did you get back to Earth?† â€Å"Wel ,† said Damon, turning a slight, fond smile on her, â€Å"that's a funny story.† He reached into an inner pocket of his leather jacket and pul ed out a neatly folded white linen handkerchief. Elena blinked. It looked like the same handkerchief he had given her in her dream. Damon noticed her expression and smiled more widely, as though he knew where she was recognizing it from. He unfolded it and held it out for Elena's inspection. Cradled inside the handkerchief were two strands of hair. Very familiar hair, Elena realized. She and Bonnie had each cut off a lock of hair and placed them on Damon's body, wanting to leave a part of themselves with him, since they couldn't take his body off the desolate moon with them. Before her now lay a curling red lock and a waving gold one, as bright and shiny as if they had just been cut from freshly washed heads, rather than left on a world with ash fal ing al around. Damon gazed at the locks with an expression made up of tenderness and a little awe. Elena thought that she had never seen such an open, almost hopeful look from him. â€Å"The Power from the star bal saved these, too,† he said. â€Å"First they were burned almost to ash, but then they regenerated. I held them and studied them and cherished them, and you started to come back to me. Sage had given me my name, and it sounded right to me, but I couldn't recal anything else about myself. But as I held these locks of hair, I gradual y remembered who you were, and what we had been through together, and al the things I†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He paused. â€Å"What I knew and felt about you, and then I remembered the little redbird, too, and then everything else came flooding back and I was myself again.† He glanced away and lost the sentimental look, smoothing his face into its usual cool expression, as if embarrassed, then folded the locks of hair back inside the handkerchief and tucked it careful y away into his jacket. â€Å"Wel ,† he said briskly, â€Å"then it was just a matter of having Sage lend me some clothes, fil me in on what I had missed, and give me a lift back to Fel ‘s Church. And now here I am.† â€Å"I bet he was amazed,† said Elena, â€Å"and ecstatic.† The vampire Keeper of the Gates Between Worlds was a dear friend of Damon's, the only friend of Damon's she knew of, other than herself. Damon's acquaintances tended to be enemies or admirers more often than friends. â€Å"He was quite pleased,† Damon admitted. â€Å"So you just now made it back to Earth?† Damon nodded. â€Å"Wel , you've missed a lot here,† Elena said, launching into an explanation of the past few days, starting with Celia's name written in blood and ending on Caleb's hospitalization. â€Å"Wow.† Damon let out a low whistle. â€Å"But I have to assume the problem is more than my little brother acting like a madman with Caleb? Because, you know, that may be simple jealousy. Jealousy has always been Stefan's biggest sin.† He said the last with a smug twist to his lips, and Elena elbowed him gently in the ribs. â€Å"Don't put Stefan down,† she said reprovingly, and smiled to herself. It felt so good to be scolding Damon again. He real y was his own maddening, changeable, wonderful self again. Damon was back. Wait. Oh, no. â€Å"You're in danger, too!† Elena gasped, remembering suddenly that he could stil be taken from her. â€Å"Your name appeared earlier, written in the weeds that were holding Meredith underwater. We didn't know what it could mean, because we thought you were dead. But, since you're alive, it seems you're the next target.† She paused. â€Å"Unless fal ing through the surface of the moon was the attack on you.† â€Å"Don't worry about me, Elena. You are probably right about the attack on the moon being my ‘accident.' But they haven't been very successful attempts, have they?† Damon said thoughtful y. â€Å"Almost as if whatever this is isn't trying very hard to kil us. I have a faint inkling about what might be causing this.† â€Å"You do?† asked Elena. â€Å"Tel me.† Damon shook his head. â€Å"It's just a glimmer right now,† he said. â€Å"Let me get some sort of confirmation.† â€Å"But Damon,† Elena pleaded, â€Å"even a glimmer is much more than the rest of us have been able to come up with. Come with me tomorrow morning and tel everyone about it, and we can al work together.† â€Å"Oh, yes,† said Damon, with a mock shudder. â€Å"You and me and Mutt and the vampire hunter, a cozy group. Plus my pious brother and the little red witch. And the old lady witch and the teacher. No, I'm going to do some more digging on my own. And what's more, Elena,† he said, fixing her with a dark stare, â€Å"you're not to tel anyone that I'm alive. Especial y not Stefan.† â€Å"Damon!† Elena protested. â€Å"You don't know how absolutely devastated Stefan is, thinking you're dead. We have to let him know you're al right.† Damon smiled wryly. â€Å"I think there's probably a part of Stefan that's glad enough to have me out of the picture. He doesn't have any reason to want me here.† Elena shook her head in furious denial, but he went on. â€Å"It's true. But maybe it's time for things to be different between us. To that end, I have to show him that I can change. In any case, I can't investigate this properly if everyone knows I'm around. Keep quiet for now, Elena.† She opened her mouth to object further, but he silenced her with a quick, fierce kiss. When they broke apart, he said, â€Å"Promise me for now, and I'l promise you that as soon as I figure this out, you can announce my resurrection to the world.† Elena nodded doubtful y. â€Å"If that's what you real y want, Damon, and you real y think it's necessary,† she said. â€Å"But I'm not happy about it.† Damon got to his feet and patted her shoulder. â€Å"Things are going to be different now,† he said. He looked down at her, his face serious. â€Å"I'm not the same as I was, Elena.† Elena nodded again, more firmly this time. â€Å"I'l keep your secret, Damon,† she promised. Damon gave her a smal , tight smile, then took three steps toward her open window. In a moment he was gone, and a large black crow flew out into the night.

Civil War Weapons

Lori Robinson HIS 226-IN1 Module 4 Weapons of the Civil War I have to load a weapon? Oh no! Let’s see, first I have to get my cartridge out of the box. I really hate the taste of gunpowder in my mouth when I rip open the cartridge with my teeth. Then I have to pour that powder into the barrel of the gun. What next? Remove the rammer, ram the barrel to set the ammo, and then return the rammer. Then to prime the gun, I have to set my cap, and now I can finally fire a single shot. Am I really expected to remember to do all these steps, for every shot, while at the same time people are shooting at me?What about all the smoke and noise? The noise of the guns and people next to me screaming in pain, or breathing their last breath. It is all so confusing. Is there not any other weapon in can use? The musket I am using now is most likely the Enfield rifle. It is what is called a cap lock rifle. It’s probably the most popular shoulder arm of both armies. The South did have more in the beginning of the war, as they put in a large order from England, and it took a lot of time to produce the second order for the North. There are two types of muskets used during this war.The smoothbore, which is not very accurate, nor does it have a very long range. The rifled-musket is not only more accurate, but because of the rifling, or grooves in the barrel, that cause the ball to spiral, it has a much longer range. Another category of shoulder arms is the carbine. The carbine, used most often by the cavalry, was shorter and lighter in weight than a musket. Carbines are breech-loaded, which means it is loaded between the barrel and the stock. This makes it easier to reload while still on horseback. There are about twenty different types of carbines, and mostly used by Northern troops.Many were actually produced in the North. One exception to this is the Maynard carbine. It is one of the favorites of the Confederate cavalry. Even though it is manufactured in Massachusetts, it continued to be shipped to Confederate States for several months after the war began. People claimed they were using the guns as Southern sportsmen. What if I want a sidearm? (Otherwise known as a pistol. ) There are hundreds of manufacturers and model being used, but there are about 5 or 6 favorites, including the Remington, the Keer, and the Derringer.The Colt was the most commonly used, but the LeMat is one of the most powerful killing models. It is the one carried by Generals J. E. B Stuart and P. T. G. Beauregard. This revolver holds nine rounds plus the capacity of also holding a load of buckshot in a lower barrel. One problem with the LeMat, though is that it doses not hole standard ammunition. Most weapons use either . 44 or . 36 caliber projectiles, while the LeMat fires . 35, . 40, or . 42 caliber ammunition. I wonder what it would be like to be part of an artillery gun crew. It takes five men to load a cannon.Let’s see if I can get all the procedures right. I h ave not gotten to do this yet, but have watched some of my buddies during drills. The first thing they do is to cover the vent hole. Then another man will ream his â€Å"worm† down the barrel to remove anything left for the last shot. Then a third man rams a sponge down the barrel to put out any hot embers. Good thing they do this, as I would not want any of my friends to reload power on top of a fire already in the barrel. Next the powder monkey comes to present the rounds to the loader, who then puts it in the barrel and it is rammed down the barrel again.Now another man sets the primer cord, and after everyone is cleared of the cannon, it is fired. There are two types of artillery cannons being used in this war — field guns and howitzers. The both use anywhere from six to thirty-two pound projectiles for ammunition. Just as with muskets there are smoothbores, rifled barrels and breech-loaded cannons. The rifled barrel cannons were used less often because as the barr els were made of bronze, a softer metal than the iron of the musket, the rifling was often worn smooth with continuous use.The field gun has a longer barrel and is usually fired straight ahead, or maybe a slight 5 degree upward angle. The howitzer has a shorter barrel, used larger ordnance but a small charge. By the way, ordnance is just a military term for cannonball. The field gun had a longer range, but the howitzer was more accurate, with a higher arc. The longer range of the field gun is not even fully used most of the time, as the gunner must be able to see his target in order to adjust his shots. Are these all the weapons used in this war?Or course not! There are the â€Å"edged† weapons. In most cases all edged weapons, are nearly negligible in as far as how many causalities these weapons accounted for. These include sabers, swords, bayonets and military cutlery. Military cutlery is just another fancy term for hand-to-hand weapons, such as the Bowie knife. I heard a f unny story that was passed down from a Georgia boy about another type of edged weapon, the pike. It seems the Georgia governor, Joe Brown, at a time when there was a shortage of firearms, ordered 10,000 pikes.He imagined that he could create effective soldiers to defend themselves on a battlefield with this mid-evil type of weapon that was actually nothing more than a two-foot knife attached to a six-foot pole. The soldiers were trained using these weapons, but I wouldn’t want to go to a gunfight with nothing more than a knife, no matter how long the knife was. In fact, the 34th Georgia regiment was close to mutiny at the thought of going into battle armed with only the pike. Governor Brown wants his men to charge the enemy with â€Å"terrible impetuosity†.He told him men; about the pike â€Å"at least it will never misfire or waste a single charge of powder. † The pikes were only meant as a last-ditch effort to arm the men with whatever could be found until mor e firearms could be furnished. Other weapons like gunships and submarines are being used in the war, but I will save those stories for later. I need to finish this story now so I can get some rest and prepare for battle in the morning. www. civilwarweapons. net

Essay on Final speech of The Great Dictator

Essay on Final speech of The Great Dictator Essay on Final speech of The Great Dictator Essay on Final speech of The Great DictatorThe Final speech of The Great Dictator by Charlie Chaplin is the sample of the inductive reasoning which involves the reference of the narrator to parts to eventually arrive to the complex notion, in case of the Jewish Barber, the final complex notion, which he defines is happiness of people. Distinct feature of inductive reasoning, such as references to the parts, drawn from personal experience and empirical data obtained by the researcher or person conveying the message, as is the case of the Jewish Barber, and eventually all these parts are united in the complex notion or general issue that makes the argument quite strong.The narrator refers to representatives of different racial and ethnic groups, while, blacks, Jews and others. In such a way, the Jewish Barber condemns racism and nationalism which treat people as unequal because of their racial or ethnic origin. He apparently stands for the equality of representatives of all racial and ethnic groups. He also rejects greed and stands for peace. Finally, the Jewish Barber appeals to Hanna, who is probably his last hope and his target audience, while it becomes clear that what he really stands for is the happiness for all people. He uncovers elements of that happiness through appeal to each group of people, which he has appealed during his speech. To put it more precisely, he believes that happiness is achievable in the society free of racism and nationalism. There is no room for poverty and oppression in the happy society. People should live in the just society, where innocent people cannot be sent to prison for nothing. In addition, happiness is possible in the society which stands for peace in the world and prevents wars which serve to interests of the few, while many innocent people die for nothing. Finally, the happiness implies love, as the Jewish Barber apparently loves Hannah, to whom he appeals at the end of his speech. This is why his argument is strong sin ce as he refers to different social groups, he shapes distinct features of happiness and, eventually, he appeals to the person, who is the most significant for him to restate the concept of happiness. The Jewish Barber defines the concept of happiness as the life in the world, where all people are equal, sympathetic, support each other and stand for peace. There is no room for war, greed and other evils which the speaker identifies in the real world which is totally different from his vision of the ideal world.In such a way, the speech of the Jewish Barber is the typical example of the inductive argument as the narrator refers to part to draw the general picture and shape the final message, which he actually wants to convey to the audience. In his speech he relies on his personal experience, expectations and views, which are apparently subjective and do not necessarily mirror the objective reality. The Jewish Barber refers to parts to arrive to his definition of happiness, which inc ludes multiple elements described by him in the course of the speech.

As I Shoped Essay Research Paper Kurt

As I Shoped Essay, Research Paper Kurt Baldwin English 101 As I Shopped With the growl of hungriness in my tummy, I decided to travel to the food market shop to shop for nutrient. I arrived at a busy scene of people seeking urgently to acquire their nutrient, and acquire out every bit shortly as possible. What caught my attending foremost was the acute noise of a small sandy haired boy running out of the shop every bit rapidly as his chubby small legs could take him. Shouting at the top of his lungs, he cried and passed me by. His tired looking female parent was running after him and naming his name, # 8220 ; Tommy, Tommy! # 8221 ; She was hardly maintaining up with him with her weaponries full of food markets. Thinking to myself that this is traveling to be an interesting escapade, I grabbed my cart and started to shop. Choosing first to look for some meat, I headed toward the meatman # 8217 ; s subdivision. Passing by a finely appareled adult male in suit and tie, I noticed he was taking between Velveeta cheese or the Fry # 8217 ; s trade name. With a satisfied expression across his face, he placed the glistening box of Velveeta back on the shelf, and tossed the Fry # 8217 ; s trade name into his cart. He so picked up his gait and walked down the aisle. I continued on to the meat section and found a nice stamp piece of ruddy steak that was instead thin. Looking across the counter, I spied the meatman cutting some porc. His combination of strong weaponries and his crisp knife easy cut through a half foot strip of bloody meat. As the ruddy juices oozed out the sides, I felt nauseating and decided to travel along. As I turned to travel to the bakeshop subdivision to pick out some staff of life when a instead big adult female dressed in a cheap faded bluish frock ran into me. Excusing herself, she rapidly grabbed a peculiarly fatty looking piece of meat and tossed it into her cart. Once in the bakeshop subdivision, I selected a 12 grain loaf of staff of life. The olfactory property of freshly cooked cinnamon buttockss caught my nose, doing me salivate. A portly adult female across from me ravenously looking for a piece of pie dropped a lemon meringue pie on the floor. Ignoring her blooper, she placed the crushed pie under a better looking pie. Looking about and seeing that I noticed her misbehavior, she gave me a guilty expression and turned around with her caput a small lower and left the scene every bit rapidly as possible. I picked up my list of food markets, look intoing them off one by one and decided that I had a good supply of nutrient. I headed toward the cheque out lines and found one that was shorter than the remainder, and stood in it. The gentleman in the aisle next to me caught my attending. He was being smacked across the face by his big, crimson married woman. She raged at him for gazing at a half dressed adult female on the screen of a magazine. The adult male apologized pitiably until her storming fury came to an terminal. Detecting she had made a scene, she went on with lading her food markets on the conveyer belt and proceeded to pay her measure. I did similarly, and pushed my cart toward the issue. I opened my bole and placed my food markets in. Climbing into my auto, I noticed my window had a crinkled bluish piece of paper on it. Tearing it from the window, I read, # 8220 ; Chinese nutrient! Lunch for two merely $ 8.00! # 8221 ; Looking around, I spied a immature adolescent with a dirty, white servers coat on. He placed the faux pass of paper on vehicles with such velocity that you might inquire if that is what he does all twenty-four hours long. I started up my engine, put it in cogwheel, and headed pl ace. about a book called as a shoped, summery

Cardiovascular Disease Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Cardiovascular Disease - Essay Example According to Kantrowitz and Wingert (2006), a few years back, heart diseases were considered to be the concern of men alone, and women, especially those below 50years did not have to worry about cardiovascular diseases. However, recent studies have demonstrated that both men and women, especially women after menopause and men after 55years of age are a greater risk of cardiovascular accidents (Kantrowitz and Wingert, 2006). It is estimated that 50-70 million Americans have cardiovascular problems and according to Noonan (2005), cardiovascular events was responsible for the deaths of 260,000 American men in year 2000 alone. It is therefore regarded as the nation's no 1 killer (Underwood, 2005). Many risk factors are associated with cardiovascular disease; most can be managed, but some cannot. The aging process and hereditary predisposition are risk factors that cannot be altered. Until age 50 men are at greater risk than women of developing heart disease, though once a woman enters menopause, her risk triples (Kannel, 1997). According to the American Heart Association (AHA), increasing age is a major risk of cardiovascular diseases; they report that over 83% of people who die of heart problems are 65 or older. Mae gender and genetic predisposition are two other risk factors that cannot be altered. ... disease includes specific therapy for any underlying causes and may include Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme (ACE) inhibitors (e.g., captopril, enalapril, lisinopril), beta-blockers (e.g., propranolol), blood thinners (e.g., aspirin, warfarin), the combination of hydralazine and isosorbide dinitrate, digitalis, nitroglycerin, and diuretics. Also, surgical procedures such as angioplasty, bypass surgery, valve replacement, pacemaker installation, and heart transplantation, are common treatment options (Gluckman et al, 2004). According to Underwood (2005), Mounting evidences point to the fact that chronic emotional states such as stress, anxiety, hostility, depression or childhood trauma and loneliness play very important roles in the cause of cardiovascular diseases. These factors are appearing to be as potent or even stronger than the conventionally established cardiovascular risks, such as smoking, diabetes etc. It is believed that emotional states affect behavior. For instance, depressed, angry people are less likely to stick with diet and exercise regimens and are more likely to smoke. In one study, the most hostile subjects consumed 600 more daily calories than the least hostile. Also, such negative emotions can have direct effects, too, by provoking the stress response of the classic fight-or-flight mechanism. The body releases stress hormones, such as cortisol and epinephrine (adrenaline). In response, blood pressure and blood-glucose levels increase, while chemical changes in the blood enhance th e clotting reaction to help heal wounds. In the short term, these are survival mechanisms. But over the long haul, chronic high blood pressure and elevated glucose damage blood vessels (Underwood, 2005). High blood cholesterol is also one of the major predisposing factors