Essays on Souls

Thesis: With the help of vivid characters, unexpected plot, and stylistic devices the stories “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell and “The Child by Tiger” by Tomas Wolfe raise the question of a twofold nature of every human who lives balancing between being a victim and a predator.

Introduction

The main ideas of “The Most Dangerous Game” and “The Child by Tiger”. The theme of human cruelty and ambiguity of human soul described in two stories. The basic conflicts of the stories and the moral questions they raise. The main differences in the message conveyed by the authors. The ...

Most of the poem is a speaker's account of a woman who is undressing. The speaker calls and entices the mistress to come into bed. Further, the speaker believes that he will only be in content if he engages in coitus with the mistress. The next lines describe the act of gradually undressing the woman piece by piece. He compares her pieces of attire to different things such as her girdle, which he compares to elements in the heavens. He tells of the woman's beauty and compares his exploration of the woman's body as that of the exploration of ...

Krishna played a key role in the lives of warriors in that he made certain decisions that could not be altered. When Arjuna questions about his instructions to slay the enemy, Krishna tells him not to worry about using their arrows to kill the mere body since it did not matter. According to him, only the eternal Atman mattered. Additionally, if one was slain in his life of duty, then that was okay since he died performing what he was supposed to. Krishna acts of justifying killings were not at all justifiable. In saying that it was good for ...

The positive aspects of Booker T. Washington’s position on the assimilation of blacks into the free communities of the United States revolve around his recognition of the rigid color line that existed at the time. Even with a Civil War tarnishing the nation’s history, traditions remained unchanged and white supremacy was the epitome of American cultural norms. To that end, Washington’s argument that persons of African descent ought to “cast down [their] bucket where [they were]” is perhaps the best advice anybody could have given the ex-slaves (1895, par.4). After all, the abolition of slavery not ...

Leon Kass in his essay “Ageless Bodies, Happy Souls: Biotechnology and the Pursuit of Perfection” (2003) tells the reader about some advances in the modern biotechnology and their possible impact on the society. He states that humanity is near the beginning of the golden age of the branch of science. He seems to be appreciating the benefits biotechnology gives to the whole humankind such as prolongation of life, cures for diseases and so forth. In fact, however, he expresses his concerns about the non-therapeutic use of the achievements of contemporary science. These concerns are linked to the nature of ...

Virgil perceives an entrance to the underworld as a cave by the shores of Italy consisting of a lake and wood close to the mouth, with a lake inside the cave (Torjussen 73). One can only get through by offering a golden tree branch to the Cocytus ferryman (Solmsen 13). According to the philosopher, there are different kinds of souls in the water that humbly requests assistance in their crossover to the boat. According to Virgil, the only access to the ship is by having the body buried with the alternative being swimming in the smelly waters (Bremmer 185). ...

In 1516 Thomas More published Utopia which described a perfect society situated on an unknown island. This book has become an embodiment of the perfect society from these times to the present. This book was not only a beginning of a new age in evaluating a prototype of the society, but also a new stage in literature. This book is still the most provocative and has a lot of opponents. As a proving example, The Guardian (‘Utopias, past and present: why Thomas More remains astonishingly radical’, 2015) reveals that this book is not a favorite one in Buckingham Palace. ...

It goes without saying that religion is a very debatable issue. Therefore, every person is the society has an own opinion and worldview about this issue. There lots of reasons why people are afraid of God and religion in general. Some of them have never thought about it in a thorough way, the others have been too shy and have been scared even of a reaction of their friends or family, in case they have a different opinion about it. Share Jesus without Fear is a little book but full of understandable and wise words. This book helps to ...

Many people have questioned the existence of multiple consciousness. In his book, The Souls of Black Folk: Essays and Sketches, W.E.B. Du Bois writes about the “double consciousness” of African Americans. In his views, the double consciousness of African American can be seen through their racial identity as well as the identity of what remains of slavery into which all African Americans are born. President Obama is an exampleof someone who had experienced a multiple consciousness. In many ways, one can say that African Americans live a multiple consciousness existences and in his book, Du Bois attempts to lift ...

Dante’s Inferno is a play that has a carefully worked out structure that gives the impression that there is specific punishment for particular crimes depending on the severity of the latter. From the outset, it is important to note that the vision of hell that the play illustrates causes the audience to perceive the trip to hell as a horrifying experience, especially when Dante creates the impression that every person has to undergo punishment because everyone is a sinner, one way or another. The structure that the play creates has nine circles with each with each representing different ...

All for Love

No matter what century and place in the world we are living in, there will always exist some eternal topics that are close to each human being. One of such topics is definitely love. This feeling, indeed, is a very especial and meaningful word to every person. Thanks to its power, people are not just blind creatures in the kingdom of darkness who are looking for the light. Love is that magical feeling capable of healing any heart and directing all lost souls to the right life road, in spite of all the obstacles in front of them. It ...

The Divine Comedy is a Medieval Poem that represents a journey of hell, heaven, and paradise. Dante’s journey explores the specifications that he and other people may acquire when determining their outcome of heaven or hell. His words express the sinfulness that occurs on earth and the reflection it has as punishment. The souls’ punishment of Hell reflects the disadvantage of traveling to Heaven. In Inferno, the sinners symbolize the hatefulness that occurs and the price that their souls pay in Hell. “He talks about the wrath of God and the souls coming together from every country”. . Dante ...

BODY AND SOUL RELATIONSHIP FROM GREAT THINKERS

Body and Soul relationship The relationship between body and soul has been the main concern for many thinkers since the beginning of the history of philosophy. In this paper, we will be exploring this relationship from the perspective of three great thinkers: Plato, Aristotle, and Saint Agustin. They were all interested in this relationship, and as they do have common views, they also differ in many areas. The main concern that these three thinkers have is that the humans are made of both body and soul. They can see and touch the body, but they cannot touch the soul. ...

Act V, Scene III

“The lights burn blue. It is now dead midnight.

Cold and fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh.

What do I fear? myself? there's none else by: Richard loves Richard; that is, I am I. Is there a murderer here? No. Yes, I am: Then fly. What, from myself? Great reason why: Lest I revenge. What, myself upon myself? Alack. I love myself. Wherefore? for any good

That I myself have done unto myself?

O, no! alas, I rather hate myself For hateful deeds committed by myself! I am a villain: yet I lie. I am not”.

“Methought the souls of all who I had murdered

All came to my tent, and every one did threat This scene appears as the only time that ...

In The Souls of Black Folk, W.E.B. Du Bois writes about a multiple consciousness he called double consciousness that is experienced by African Americans. Du Bois uses the term “double consciousness” to describe the hardship African Americans go through with their African and American identities. Today, African Americans find it difficult to fit into American society due to discrimination and racism. African Americans experience double consciousness today that helps them to understand life from the white American point of view as well as from the African American point of view. They have this ability due to remnants of their ...

_____________ University Many people question the existence of multiple consciousness. In his book, The Souls of Black Folk: Essays and Sketches, W.E.B. Du Bois writes about the “double consciousness” of African Americans. In his views, the double consciousness of African American can be seen through their racial identity as well as the identity of what remains of slavery into which all African Americans are born. President Obama had experienced a multiple consciousness during his term as President of the United States. In many ways, one can say that African Americans live a multiple consciousness existences and in his book, ...

Viktor E. Frankl “Man’s Search for Meaning.” Psychological Effects of Camp Life Viktor E. Frankl was a well-known author –psychiatrist of a very difficult destiny. He experienced several years as a prisoner in a concentration camp of Auschwitz and wrote a very impressive autobiographical book “Man’s Search for Meaning” that concerns many aspects of a human being perception of reality in difficult and nearly impossible conditions of living.

There were some ways for prisoners how to survive. The first one was to become a Capo, a kind of a helper for SS men. In order to be ...

For someone who has not been tempted to leave the civilized world for life in the wild, it is extremely difficult to understand why someone would prefer living all-alone in a dangerous and secluded space, even for a short period of time. However, the stories of those who did choose to experience life in the middle of nature can provide important clues in this respect. While nobody will ever be able to understand completely what happens into the minds and souls of those who leave their families and friends behind and venture into the unknown with the sole purpose ...

The issue of prolonged life has been debated for centuries. In fact, Ponce de Leon spent his life’s work looking for the Fountain of Youth all over the globe. The century long limit of human life has essentially created the fantasy of those who wanted to live longer. This curiosity of these individuals has led to the fantasy of seeing history when it transpired rather than reading it in a book. For this reason, many television shows and books have explored the possibility of a human living beyond their one-hundred-year timeframe. For example, vampires, warlocks, and the like ...

The viewing of Young – Pyŏn Yŏngju “Nanjun Moksori - Murmuring” (1995) documentary film made me wonder how many other women, from South Korea or any other part of the world, have been sexually exploited in wars without any formal accounting of such events. From the estimated number of 100.000 former South Korean sexual slaves, several of them gathered their forces in a public manifestation, asking for apologies and indemnifications from the Japanese government. These requests keep the women alive and fighting, as the sexual slavery experience left them troubled, frustrated, ashamed and hopeless, dreaming of the life ...

There are different periods in the history of countries that play more or less significance roles. No doubt that First and Second World Wars immensely influenced the life and political situations almost in every country. These were the most disastrous event and their aftermaths were often disastrous too. In spite of these tremendous periods in the world’s history there were no less and maybe, according to some views, more important period in the history of America in the twentieth century. The period of the 60s is treated now as the time of innovations in culture, science, music and ...

The films that will be examined in this paper have much in common though, at the same time they consist of different aspects in their plots and picture different characters (Hayward 67). The main issue that unites all these films is the theme of obsession. The meaning of this word in films is the same, but considering each character, it may have slightly different understanding. Each character has different aims and values and they act according to them (Parkinson 109). Nevertheless, there is one common and the most important characteristic feature in their behavior. It influences their lives and ...

W.E.B Dubois Leader in Education Analysis W.E.B Dubois Leader in Education Analysis

A scholar, activist, novelist, leader, author, editor and a public speaker, William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was one of the most significant African-American during the period of early 20th century. He was born on February 23rd, 1868 to a poor family in Massachusetts. When he grew up, Du Bois’s teachers nurtured him as a bright student and upon graduating in 1884, was insisted by his school principal to pursue a college degree. He then enrolled in Harvard as a junior in and around fall of 1888 ...

In the given paper, two movies, “To Die For” and “Drop Dead Gorgeous”, will be considered in terms of evil and daemonic sides of the souls of the protagonists. The factors that moved the girls and urged them to commit violent acts will be determined as well. In the author’s opinion, evil and daemonic side exists in the soul of every person, but someone has limits, while others make evil and daemonic side prevail all the other qualities and traits. In the selected films, the latter type of people is represented by the female protagonists whose evil side ...

It is believed by many scholars like Ellen Moers, who wrote Female Gothic: The Monster’s Mother that when Mary Wollstonecraft Shelly wrote Frankenstein, she wrote the story as a reflection of her own fears and issues with parenting. I also think that Shelley may have felt that her offspring were somehow against the laws of nature and that this is why most of them died at birth or in early infancy. Where Victor only had created life from the confines of death, she herself brought death from what should have been life. This of course was no fault ...

Du Bois introduces three concepts that portray the prototypical Black experiences in the United States. These are illustrated through the Veil and double consciousness. Double consciousness and color line are concepts that were explored by Du Bois in 1903 (Bruce Jr. pp.299). His concept is slightly different from Thomas’ Paine and recurs throughout the article. His concept on double consciousness refers to living with double identities. One is the Negro identity together with all its troubles and second is the American identity compelled on the Negro after settling in the United States. It is color line that divides the ...

Abstract

The book "Mystics, Maverick and Merrymakers" talks about the Jews religion. The author gives a glimpse of the inner worlds and daily lives of the Hasidic girls. There are many characters mentioned in the book that have different characteristics. Some are portrayed as weak while others are seen as strong. A character is strong based on his or her degree of self-knowledge, ability to take responsibility for his action, ability to cope with difficulties and awareness of an event (Saddock and Virginia 49). These individuals grow and acquire new ideas from the challenges that face them. A weak character, ...

The notion of “soul” is referred to an immortal and even eternal part of a living object. There are a lot of definitions of the soul based on different religious beliefs, philosophic preferences and scientific approaches. The only thing that all the views have in common is that human beings possess souls. It distinguishes them from one another. Thomas Aquinas believed that all the living organisms have soul. Jainists also recognize the soul in all the life forms. Some Buddhists believe that even non-biological objects have a soul inside. The most surprising thing about this entry is that there ...

According to Turing, thinking is a function of man’s soul and only human beings have souls. According to Turing, only God has the ability to confer a soul to whoever He deems fit. God has the power to do some things. Thus, He may decide to confer a soul to an elephant coupled with a brain that is appropriately improved so as to enable it to minister to the needs of its soul. By doing this He exercises His power in conjunction with a mutation which enables the elephant to have an improved brain (Turing 435). These souls ...

Childhood is a tumultuous time that is full of contradictions. It can be both wonderful and traumatic. There is happiness and grief. Everything is new. The prospect of growing up and becoming an adult generally does not come to mind. In childhood everything is in the here and now. The future is a fantasy. And when we grow up, we often miss those good times. We look back, wistful, and what was and what we never can get back. Within Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro captures this abstraction towards childhood. While Kazuo Ishiguro Never Let Me Go is ...

This paper considers the shared ideas among Homer, Dante Alighieri, Virgil, and the anonymous writer of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The idea of paradise and hell, right, and wrong, retribution, and reward are evident in the texts with some of them bearing a close resemblance to each other. For the conclusion, there will be an analysis of how the authors’ perceptions echo in present-day societies. Perhaps the most common theme availed in all the reading is pride. In the texts, pride dominates the actions of the heroes and even propels some to act irrationally for the sake ...

George Herbert (1593-1633) adopted the Metaphysical style of poetry from Donne but in a simpler manner. His famous poem “Death” is an example of the poetry that uses rhetorical forms of writing like a paradox, hyperbole, and conceits. The poem constitutes two parts that have a contradicting view of death. The First part presents death as a fearsome being through the use of hideous expressions and imagery. The second part presents death as a friend and a passage to a better life. The last three stanzas give hope to Christians through the works of Jesus Christ. Through Christ’s ...

In the pursuit to explaining the creations, mankind has developed theories and beliefs to feed the curious minds. Transcendence is an important concept at understanding the theories and beliefs. For Christian theology creation is found in the Bible specifically in the Genesis. Transcendence in the Bible is the existence of a supreme being who has created all the living and non-living things from nothingness. The Creator is the lord of everything under the sun.

Transcendence in the Bible

In the Christian Bible, transcendence means that God is the most powerful who is above all the creations. God created all the creatures including a ...

Kurt Vonnegut Jr. in his novel “Slaughterhouse-Five” talks about several themes in relation to war. He uses meta-fiction and writing about writing as a major style in which to relay his message. The memories of the war keep getting off his mind. He wants to write the story but in other times he feels that it is not necessary. Vonnegut applies meta-fiction in his writing in order to bring the various effects of war: psychological and physical. Through the use of various characters in his work, Vonnegut is able to depict clearly the situation during the war. It is ...

Introduction

The novel ‘The Book Thief’, by Markus Zusak is an exceptional work of fiction that has a very specific historical context. The novel is based on the experience of a nine years old girl, Liesel, who lives in Germany during the span of World War II. The most brilliant aspect of the novel is that the entire plot of the novel is narrated by death, which uses the life and experiences of Liesel to explain the atrocities and vagaries inflicted upon the people during the war. In terms of the characters in the novel, Liesel is definitely the protagonist ...

Place: Dipylon Cemetery. Athens, Greece. The ancient Greeks used clay pots as vessels for storage of basic commodities such as grain, water, and food. The iconography depicted on the vessel’s surface illustrates the funeral rituals of the ancient Greek, especially the center part of the vessel; the image of the dead person is shown on top of the table while sacrificial animals were placed at the bottom. Meanwhile, chariots with soldiers riding on top of it are preparing for the funeral procession accompanied by legions of infantry soldiers. Artist: The Altamura Painter Date: Circa 460 B.C. In this ...

Religion is an integral component of human history at different stages of its development. The Muslim Reformation fundamentally different from the Catholic Reformation. “As religious regimes both, Catholicism and Islam, preceded and are likely to outlast the modern world system of nation-states” (Casanova 2). The difference lies in fact that these processes occur at different times and in various specific historical conditions. The Muslim Reformation expressed primarily in the revision (or attempt to revise) religious motivations of the various aspects of social life and only marginally affected the proper theological questions. In Islam church and clergy similar to a ...

History

Civil Right Act The fight for black civil rights is one that has been long and perilous, fought using different approaches by various activists. This paper seeks to look into the various approaches taken by different civil rights activists and how these approaches lead to the changes witnessed in history as well as today’s world. The first activist, Booker T Washington believed that African Americans should exploit what they had at hand thus the Phrase “casting down the buckets where they were” and this would help them find what they were searching for which was political, social and ...

Introduction

In his writing of Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle discusses the issue of pleasure and pain. Scholars have not come into agreement the reason why Aristotle used the word Nicomachean Ethics; however, most of them believe that Aristotle’s son and his father were both called Nicomachean. Aristotle’s son must have edited the book after the death of his father hence renaming the book to show that this was his edition. According to Aristotle, happiness is the greatest good, and it is the only reason why we undertake various activities. For example, when a person decides to go for grocery ...

PHILOSOPHY OF HUMAN NATURE

Summa theological is a theological summary that seeks to explain the relationship between God and man. The theological text explains how the reconciliation of the divine and man is made possible through Christ. The book by Aquinas cites proof for existence of the Almighty creator of the universe and outlines the activities that make the nature of the Almighty God. Then the next part, almost one half of the theological summary looks at the nature and existence purpose of the humankind. St. Aquinas writes as a philosopher who is intellectually interested in the truth. The saint writes as a ...

The posit that the human person is nothing but a body and that all its components and experiences can be explained regarding the body, without acknowledging the existence of a rational soul, forms the basis of the materialist theory (Cohen 2). The notion of materialism opposes the hylomorphic account of spirit as a reality different from matter a philosophical theory developed by Aristotle. According to Aristotle, living things are compounds of matter and form. He argues that a living thing soul (form) is what causes the existence of the body (matter) defines a soul as that which makes a ...

The plight of the black started just before slavery. With the slave trade, the black Americans were exposed torture, oppressions and all kinds of dehumanising things. After the end of slavery, there were hopes that the status of the African Americans will improve and their plights will reduce. However, the plight of the African Americans is getting even worse than ever. The racial discrimination and segregation have become worse than it initially was (Berg 19). Various figures have come upon to fight for the rights of the African Americans but all have ended up failing or being assassinated. The ...

Christians believe Jesus Christ was both human and God simultaneously. Jesus was conceived by Mary and raised by his earthly father, Joseph, and Mary thus depicts he was human. Through the conception by Mary, it shows that he was human after all. Moreover, Jesus was tempted in the wilderness for forty days and nights by Satan just like any other mortal being. Humanity is associated with temptations and sinning. However, for believers to have faith in him as the Messiah, he resurrected from the death. After Jesus had been crucified at the Calvary, He was buried whereby he arose ...

The law of the contrapasso in Dante’s Inferno is one of the laws of nature with an application to hell. It denotes that for individuals crimes committed by every sinner there must exist an equal punishment, The punishment according to the law of the contrapasso is neither simple nor obvious. It is a punishment that is related to the crime on a metaphoric rather than literal basis on sin. The law of the contrapasso can also be defined as divine retribution. This paper seeks to examine and analyze the law of the contrapasso as it relates to complex ...

The paper focuses on the hypothetical scenario where I get to be God. In that scenario, I have the ability to recreate all of the universe’s existence in my way. In formulating this new reality, I will use creation philosophy principles and my creative philosophical improvised ideas. As the Supreme Being, God, I would ensure there is a balance of nature and all life. There would be freewill for the humans to provide minimum interference with the human’s intelligence. Cause and effect would also be applied to ensure natural feedback for all actions. By using cause and ...

Booker T. Washington and W.E.B du Bois

Introduction

Booker T. Washington and W.E.B Du Bois are two great leaders of the African-American during the late 19th and early 20th century. While both came into prominence in almost the same time frame, and had wanted economic and social progress for the black Americans, Washington and Du Bois differ in their opinion and strategies about achieving such cause. As a son of a slave mother, Washington knew of the difficulties faced by the blacks. He worked his way in uplifting himself by self education and took the opportunity afforded by the Emancipation ...

How does reading influence our personality and how can it be changed by reading electronic books? These issues are crucial in Sven Birkerts’ book “The Gutenberg Elegies: the Fate of Reading in an Electronic Age”. Through a series of biographical and anecdotal essays the author shares with us his nostalgia for normal books written on paper and opposes normal reading to technologies which prevent people from self-development and self-making. Birkerts holds that only books written on paper may give us a unique opportunity to pause, re-read, memorize and think of what we have just read while digital words destroy ...

The most appealing approach to the nature of the mind with regards to my perception is dualism because dualism encompasses the existence of both physical and mental realm in the attempt to explain the relationship between the body and the mind. Dualism normally connotes that state of two segments. With respect to the philosophy of mind, the idea of dualism in brought out such that in a given domain, there must be two essential categories of principles or things. The body and the mind in some sense are perceived to be profoundly different kinds of things. Dualism takes the ...

Various authors attempt to discuss issues that affect the race, religion, culture, politics and other elements experienced in the survival of human beings. ‘The Souls of Black Folk’ by W. E. B Du Bois talks about the burden and prejudice that the people from the Black community experience. The book focuses on the celebrations and reflection of the Black experience in just fourteen essays. Du Bois considers the political, religious, racial, economic, and cultural implications in the Black society. The Black community has continuously faced racial discrimination issues for a very long time. Du Bois expresses the tribulation the ...

There have been dozens of amazing and fascinating cultures that have existed throughout history, many still exist today, while others fell or faded in the past. Cultures all across the globe introduce people to unique and diverse traditions, social norms, laws and belief systems. Religion has always played a huge role within cultures. Some are more familiar than others. The Ancient Greeks are remarked for their art, architecture and philosophy, but their Gods have, also, been adopted into the modern paradigm. The Greek pantheon of Gods has been popularized in literature, television and film. However, there are other pantheons ...

While the principle of utilitarianism is based on a rather simple concept; promoting happiness instead of promoting suffering, it remains a radical idea (Rachels and Stuart 99). There is a difference between the stuff that is good and those actions that are right. According to utilitarianism, for an action to be considered as right it must be good. That is, the action must be done for the greater good. It must have the ability to bring happiness to a greater number than it brings suffering to (Rachels and Stuart 111). Morality according to the utilitarianism is majorly defined by ...