Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift - Essay Example Arguments are presented to raise awareness about a trivial matter in a light-hearted manner and this is where the piece becomes important for its humorous worth. Such arguments do not lack force but refuse to impose views on others and this is what Suzanne Britt’s essay is all about. In a Modest Proposal, Jonathan Swift highlights the subject of poverty in Ireland in very harsh and satirical manner. It is important to understand that there is a very clear line dividing humor and satire and Swift’s work is not humorous in any way. His language is abrasive and there is little use of compassion. Even if logic is applied, it is twisted around which makes it appear like reversed logic. There is nothing mild about his essay and while his main purpose was to draw attention to the extremes of poverty in Ireland and the growing population problem, his solution might appear to be an attack against the government instead of a concern for societal good. Such themes were usually Swift’s favorites as Fox tells us, â€Å"Recurrent famine, widespread poverty and misery amongst the native peasantry, the failure to create a more self-reliant economy, and the landlords moral complacency are the principal targets of Swift's anger.† There is too much politics in the essay, which is one reason the essay cannot be truly enjoyed. No serious facts or statistics have been used and thus the essay lacks objectivity. With the kind of harshness he employed, statistics were definitely needed to support his case. In the contrast, we can use the example of Suzanne Britt’s essay, Neat people vs. Sloppy people. This essay has made good refreshing use of humor. The author has tried to attract attention to the differences between the attitude of neat and sloppy people and has employed humor with such ease and precision that every person would love this piece.

The Magna Carta Essay Example for Free

The Magna Carta Essay The Magna Carta is widely viewed as one if the most important documents in the history of democracy. The Magna Carta was written by a group of people in 13th century England to protect their rights and property against their oppressive king. The document provides specific laws and rules to keep the king from having too much power over the country; this very key document also inspired the American constitution and Bill of Rights. In the stories from the unit A Royal Mess it is easily identifiable why the people of England wanted a document to protect their freedoms and rights. In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, the character Macbeth is an honorable man who becomes a bloodthirsty, power hungry king; he kills for pleasure and without reason. This would be a big reason for the Magna Carta since in the document in article 29 states that â€Å"No freeman shall be taken, imprisoned, disseised, outlawed, banished, or in any way destroyed, nor will we proceed against or prosecute him, except by the lawful judgment of his peers and by the law of the land.† This principle would have eliminated the actions of Macbeth because he as king would not have been able to kill any people without just cause or without a trial for their actions. In the play Macbeth, the thane of Cawdor was killed in battle and King Duncan took his land to give to Macbeth. This would be unjust according to the Magna Carta. The solution to the problem is stated in article 2 where it states that â€Å"If any of our earls or barons, or anyone else holding from us in chief by military service should die, and should his heir be of full age and owe relief, the heir is to have his inheritance for the ancient relief, namely the heir or hairs of an earl for a whole county 100, the heir or heirs of a baron for a whole barony 100 marks, the heir or heirs of a knight for a whole knights fee 100 shillings at most, and he who owes less will give less, according to the ancient custom of (knights’) fees.† This article is basically saying that if a royal owner of land dies the land cannot be taken from his family it must be passed down to his children or given to his wife. In Beowulf, Wiglaf banishes the geats who refuses to help Beowulf fight the dragon. Those geats would have been protected by article 29 of the Magna Carta which says that no man can be exiled from the land without a trial of his actions by judgment of his peers. The Magna Carta is relevant to our culture in the fact that it was the model for the American Constitution. This was the mold for the document that guides our free country still today. We do not need a new Magna Carta because The American Constitution and Bill of Rights are our modern day Magna Carta. Those documents protect our rights as citizens and control our government to keep our president from having to much power. Without the Magna Carta we may have never gotten our American documenst to protect us, the people who live here.

The First Millenium Essay Example for Free

The First Millenium Essay The Year 1000 was once considered a year of apocalyptic proportions as biblical beliefs associated it with 1000 years after the Christ’s death. Historians in the 19th century had once imagined the terror during the climax of 1000 years. Without any serious argument, the notion was introduced despite many who chose to ignore the issue. Current views have however delineated eschatological sentiments of terror that once aroused religious transformations in the 11th century. Many historians have now effectively banished the thought which referenced a wrongful data without providing the solidified basis for such documentation. Lacey and Danzinger has however retrieved from England’s possession visible foundations of history through an old book written in black oak ink â€Å"sometime around the year 1020 probably by a cleric working in the manuscript studio of the Canterbury Cathedral† (p. 5). This book was later regarded as the Julius Work Calendar which provided basis for both authors of the discovery on what life was like a millennium after Christ’s death. The book actually focuses on the everyday lives of the Anglo-Saxons timed at the end of the first millennium. It strived to reconstruct the realities in a monthly tour throughout the period. The ordinary appearance of an English individual was then portrayed as â€Å"tall and people In Victorian England could not match our health or physique† (p.9). Yet â€Å"life was simple- as people wore sack-like tunics in colors that were less muddy† (p.10). No fashionable clothes were worn as people looked extremely uniform as a way of ease for the daily toils. In effect, life expectancy was also short â€Å"where a boy of 12 was old enough to swear an oath of allegiance to the king –while girls married easily in their teens† (p.10). When most adults die at an early age, people who lived well into midlife are considered respectable. At that time, England was able to sustain a â€Å"population of at least a million souls† where people were often grouped together as hunter-gatherers who lived in small groups and villages (p. 11). The simplicity was so pivotal in such that â€Å"cow dung, horse manure, sheep droppings and chicken shit† perforated the air (p.119). Men were also morally driven to religion as excitement is drawn upon a discussion and general arguments over the â€Å"observance of the Christian year† (p.12), â€Å"the lives of spirits and saints who lived their lives for the sake of Jesus’ teachings† (p. 17). England was in fact â€Å"a network of magical sites containing physical relics of at least 1 saint† (p. 19). Faith was in the main core of the simple society as peoples lives were entwined in the lives of saints. The â€Å"believer could even point to the bible which contained no less than 35 miracles in which Jesus defeated illness through the power of faith† (p. 122). Faith was therefore considered of highest consequence as people of the middle ages placed higher degrees of trust and faith. Every believer was highly aware that â€Å"sins were keeping the miraculous tradition alive† (p.122) and reliance to faith is highly a virtue. Faith in medicine was akin to belief in God. Persons during the period have an inkling of disease and illness. Folk remedy might have been applied with a hefty amount of religious conviction and care. Cures for maladies also involved â€Å"binding the stalk of herb crossword to the head with a red bandana while chilblains were to be treated with a mixture of ems, wine and fennel root† (126). Virility was also considered an important health matter that required â€Å"ministrations in the groin area with yellow lowered herb agrimony† (p. 126). Cleanliness was unheard of and people do not bathe as often as we do now. Nudity was even accepted in exchange for food and grain. During the time of the middle ages, the government existed under the rules of the king and his minions. Many may have not seen the king as â€Å"personal portraits did not exist† (p.17) and people were more familiar with the representatives of the church than with political persons. The lord of the land as the king’s minion was also considered the â€Å"loaf giver† (p.46-47) who would pay the Viking invaders at least â€Å"2000 pounds in gold and silver upon which payment invaders departed† (p. 14). In effect, people were highly dependent upon the immediate rulers of lands or village leaders for their safety. Slavery was consistent with the feudal system introduced by Viking invaders with Dublin operating the largest market. Typically everyone was in bondage where men expressed a â€Å"token of their fresh start or servitude† as opposed to prison or difficult times during famine (p. 45). Book Review Lacey, Robert and Danny Danzinger. The Year 1000: What Life Was Like at the Turn of the First Millenium: An Englishman’s World, 1st ed. Boston: Little Brown, 1999. The book Lacey and Danzinger wrote is considered a refreshing answer to the present day worries on the changes which a new millennium can bring. The simple fact that even social scientist were led to believe on the apocalyptic interpretations proved how social changed brought out the emergence of this belief based on the cultural perceptions of the Middles Ages. The daily dangers of life during the period were centered on possible famines which don’t actually happen very often†¦and if it did, for shorter periods. While the book provides a realistic knowledge of the middle ages negating a continued myth on eschatological findings, it still attempts to reap benefits for the common millennium beliefs. However historians alike will welcome the accomplishments that strive to understand medieval lives into a larger global context. While we get insights on the activities of a calendar year, the daily lives of peasants and aristocracies are also exposed. Practicality was the usual behavior of people in an agricultural society. After defining the social dynamics of the period based on the Jules Calendar, I can definitely support that any romantic visions of the Middle Ages should be discounted in favor of the truth based on research and finding both authors made supported by ample evidence of truth. Religion has overemphasized wrong notions that are inherited into our modern era in an unbalanced mysticism. Through Lacey and Danzinger, the powerful heresies of the first decades which looked into the image of the monks provided basis for a historical research to ensue with proper documentation of facts. Hope being the key for existence that promised to inspire even the practical pragmatic individuals was definitely believed in. The only points which the authors failed to consider are the discussion on the recorded events of the period as written by other authors based on the annals of Saint Armand, discussing a power shattering quake that anticipated a catastrophic event for the next millennium. While Lacey and Danzinger provided views disuniting the eschatological findings, they were not able to inundate any countermeasure against the popular voices of the apocalyptic myth or doomsday beliefs. They have the ample chance to disregard the works of the destructive prodigies whose perspectives dwelled on creating a negativist confirmation of religious chaos. Lacey and Danzinger can therefore do well to disorganize this idea in full and weaken any widespread beliefs on the â€Å"end of days†. While having the capacity to exorcised doomsday believers, Lacey and Danzinger left this out for readers to discover in a pragmatic way. Altogether however, I sing praises for this book that glorified human life in the Middle Ages. Both authors have gone a long way in explaining what life was about under moral religious theologies with their documentary evidence as proof. Through their conjectural terrain, I have accepted the confidence of history in a linear time of peasant and aristocratic existence in the middle Ages.

The Debate on Euthanasia: Utilitarianism

The Debate on Euthanasia: Utilitarianism Cory Thomas Is it appropriate to end the life of a person in a critical condition who is experiencing extreme torment and enduring? This paper is going to look at how the ethical theory of utilitarianism applies to the controversial issue of euthanasia. Distinctive moral positions and contentions are held for various types of euthanasia. Therefore in this paper, I will discuss active and passive euthanasia from a utilitarians perspective. In addition, the utilitarian views of voluntary and non-voluntary euthanasia will be explored. Euthanasia, also called helped suicide, is the act of discharging a person from a hopeless malady or unbearable enduring. There are two principle types of euthanasia. Aside from the fact that life is taken from these patients, the process differs between active and passive forms. In both, life is taken from the patient who is suffering from a hopeless malady. However, active euthanasia is a demonstration of executing the individual by deadly infusion to bring about quick and effortless passing. In contrast to this, passive euthanasia is when you kill that person by taking away something significant they needed to live. This can be in the form of terminating ones life support or withdrawing from medical care immediately. The second types of willful extermination are voluntary and non-voluntary. Voluntary willful extermination is the point in which the individual, who is at deaths door offers, agree to seek euthanasia. Non-voluntary is when the terminally ill is not able to give consent so they give the approval through another person. This all being said and for the purpose of this paper, I will be focusing on active-voluntary euthanasia from the utilitarian point of view.ÂÂ   Euthanasia is a social problem because most people dont agree that individuals, especially terminally ill patients in excruciating pain, should be able to end their lives.ÂÂ   This is also extremely controversial if this patient cannot give consent for themselves. There is a great deal of debate encompassing euthanasia, which revolves around whether it ought to be lawful. The debate encompassing euthanasia includes numerous religious, therapeutic and sociologic perspectives. Jeremy Bentham, a philosopher from London, created the principles of moral philosophy called utilitarianism. Utilitarianism is the creed which accepts as the foundation of morals, Utility, or the Greatest Happiness Principle, holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness(Mill Pg. 4). This means that through a utilitarianism perspective, a deed or task must be done in terms of the greater good. Whats more, the best joy rule expresses that an ethical activity is one that expands the aggregate utility on the planet. As it were, if an activity is moral, it raises the measure of satisfaction on the planet. This permits activities to be positioned by profound quality. In the event that an activity fulfills one individual, it is ethically right. In spite of the fact that if another activity would make more than one individual cheerful, that activity is all the more ethically right. Utilitarianism expresse s that something is good or great when it delivers the best measure of useful for the best number of individuals. Its a hypothesis of standardizing morals that asks whether a particular activity is great or awful, moral or unethical. The main principle of Benthams theory is the Principle of utility. By utility is meant the property of something whereby it tends to produce benefit, advantage, pleasure, good, or happiness (all equivalent in the present case) or (this being the same thing) to prevent the happening of mischief, pain, evil, or unhappiness to the party whose interest is considered (Bentham Pg.7). Utility measures the happiness or unhappiness that results from a particular action. When applying or taking this from the perspective of an ill patient, the controversy comes from whether or not this patient should be granted peace from suffering, for their own happiness, or suffer longer for the happiness of their loved ones. Mill portrays the distinction of delights as quality in joys, or what makes one joy more profitable than another. While examining delights, simply as a joy and thats it, it ought to be in more prominent sum and create the most great. Process separates amongst higher and lower-quality joys. On the off chance that a delight were of higher quality, then more individuals would pick it over an alternate joy. As indicated by Mill, this is valid, regardless of the possibility that this joy is joined by uneasiness and that same individual would not exchange it for a more noteworthy measure of the other joy. With all this being said about utilitarianism, and now applying utilitarianism to euthanasia, there are different moral positions for different forms of euthanasia. For purposes of this paper and arguments sake, Im going to discuss active voluntary euthanasia. Mills Greatest Happiness Principle states that, actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness (Mill Pg. 4). Mill would agree with active voluntary euthanasia because it leads to the greatest happiness of the patient and the family. Therefore from the utilitarian point of view they would agree with active voluntary euthanasia. One objection to utilitarianism is individual rights. People will argue that just because something makes someone happy, it does not make the action right. Think of it from a moral perspective, as this can be applied to various parts of life. Take for example theft. Is it wrong to steal millions of dollars in medicine to heal your sick spouse because you are too poor to afford paying for it? Furthermore, it isnt right to hurt certain people with a specific end goal to fulfill other individuals? Another protest would be that individuals trust that utilitarianism is excessively requesting. Utilitarianism infers that we ought to dependably act keeping in mind the end goal. Individuals that protest say this is excessively strict of a necessity. It is soliciting excessively from individuals to be constantly spurred to advance the general satisfaction. What happens when the general bliss has been accomplished? There are going to be individuals who are unsatisfied and the circle will procee d. One study to this is to understand the definitive results of your actions. The thing about utilitarianism is that it is a type of consequentialism, meaning an action is judged by it consequence. Regardless of whether an activity is ethically right or wrong depends completely on its results. Consequentialists will state that activities are correct when they expand for more noteworthy benefit. With the objection of utilitarianism being too demanding, Mill states, no system of ethics requires that the sole motive of all we do shall be a feeling of duty; on the contrary, ninety-nine hundredths of all our actions are done from other motives, and rightly sothe motive has nothing to do with the morality of the actionthe great majority of good actions are intended not for the benefit of the world, but for that of individuals, of which the good of the world is made up (Mill Pg. 13). Work Cited Jeremy Bentham, An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation John Stuart Mill, Utilitarianism

Ecological Self :: essays research papers

Diversity is a whirlwind of color through a society. There are no two people in the world that are exactly alike. Individuality distinguishes one person or thing from others (Landau, 364 Ed). A person’s environment as a whole: an interaction with others, experiences, and time, makes a collage of traits that distinguishes someone as an individual. David Sibley’s theory of the â€Å"Ecological Self† or Identity is bound by his determents of social, cultural, and spatial context. Sibley believes that class, race, gender, and nation shapes our identity, it is a single concept that is molded by our experiences from the world. I do not agree with this claim because people are individuals, not a development of their surroundings. Identity is not a single concept, there are many factors that shape it, environment cannot just effect identity. Sibley is a British sociologist that has dedicated his life to the studies behind the â€Å"Ecological Self.† Sibley claims that the â€Å"Ecological Self† is not internal, it cannot be separated from the physical. â€Å"The social positioning of the self means that the boundary between self and other is formed through a series of cultural representations of people and things which frequently elide so that the non-human world also provides a context for selfhood (Sibley, 250).† The â€Å"other,† that is being spoken of, is also known as the â€Å"Generalized Other.† This is when we cannot separate from the physical and consider it to be the norm.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  How do I know who I am? Where do I fit in? Internal and external forces mold our sense of self. Heredity and personal moral are examples of internal forces. Children are often most effected by this. â€Å"The forces of physical inheritance takes place mainly in childhood, though even as adults we have the possibility of dealing in our personal development (Grunewald, 2).† Environment also plays an important role in the formation of self-identity. The surroundings, which can include people, places, and experiences, mold an individual into whom they become. The past shapes our identities, and builds from our experiences. â€Å"It is our memories which help us make the connections, gives us the insights, and provides us with the sense of continuity, which is so important for our personal identity (http://ozcountry.com/life/tip5.html).† â€Å"When we go through times of crisis, massive changes, serious illness, deep conflicts or stress, our sense of sel f can be seriously challenged, particularly if we have not faced such experiences before. Ecological Self :: essays research papers Diversity is a whirlwind of color through a society. There are no two people in the world that are exactly alike. Individuality distinguishes one person or thing from others (Landau, 364 Ed). A person’s environment as a whole: an interaction with others, experiences, and time, makes a collage of traits that distinguishes someone as an individual. David Sibley’s theory of the â€Å"Ecological Self† or Identity is bound by his determents of social, cultural, and spatial context. Sibley believes that class, race, gender, and nation shapes our identity, it is a single concept that is molded by our experiences from the world. I do not agree with this claim because people are individuals, not a development of their surroundings. Identity is not a single concept, there are many factors that shape it, environment cannot just effect identity. Sibley is a British sociologist that has dedicated his life to the studies behind the â€Å"Ecological Self.† Sibley claims that the â€Å"Ecological Self† is not internal, it cannot be separated from the physical. â€Å"The social positioning of the self means that the boundary between self and other is formed through a series of cultural representations of people and things which frequently elide so that the non-human world also provides a context for selfhood (Sibley, 250).† The â€Å"other,† that is being spoken of, is also known as the â€Å"Generalized Other.† This is when we cannot separate from the physical and consider it to be the norm.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  How do I know who I am? Where do I fit in? Internal and external forces mold our sense of self. Heredity and personal moral are examples of internal forces. Children are often most effected by this. â€Å"The forces of physical inheritance takes place mainly in childhood, though even as adults we have the possibility of dealing in our personal development (Grunewald, 2).† Environment also plays an important role in the formation of self-identity. The surroundings, which can include people, places, and experiences, mold an individual into whom they become. The past shapes our identities, and builds from our experiences. â€Å"It is our memories which help us make the connections, gives us the insights, and provides us with the sense of continuity, which is so important for our personal identity (http://ozcountry.com/life/tip5.html).† â€Å"When we go through times of crisis, massive changes, serious illness, deep conflicts or stress, our sense of sel f can be seriously challenged, particularly if we have not faced such experiences before.

Hamlet - Claudius Vs. Lady Macbeth Essay -- essays research papers

Claudius vs. Lady Macbeth King Claudius of Hamlet and Lady Macbeth of Macbeth exhibit three similar qualities, dishonesty, evilness, and deceitfulness throughout the play; although sometimes they demonstrate these qualities in different ways, these qualities greatly affect the other characters in the plays . King Claudius and Lady Macbeth are similar in that they both let their crave of power and desire for the crown drive them to deceitfulness, corruption, and even murder, to obtain it. King Claudius and Lady Macbeth are so greedy for wealth and power that they will let nothing get in their way, even if it means deceiving the ones they love. King Claudius was in love with his brother ¹s wife and desired his position as king. In order to obtain these things he went behind Gertrude, his lover ¹s, back and murdered her husband. Shortly after, he married her and took the crown. Not only was this extremely deceitful to Gertrude, but it hurt Hamlet, his nephew, extremely. Lady Macbeth was indeed as power hungry as Claudius, and she too plotted a murder in order for her husband to obtain the crown. In doing this she was extremely deceitful of her lover also. She employed many conniving tricks in order to convince Macbeth to kill King Duncan, such as in scene in Act I, scene seven when she says,  ³From this time such I account thy love. ² Here she is basically saying that Macbeth may prove his undying love for her by killing the king, thus causing him to feel that he is obligated to murder King Duncan. King Claudius and Lady Macbeth are also very good at disguising their deceit. In Hamlet, only Hamlet himself is aware of the true nature of Claudius. All others, including his Wife and subjects, think he is a wonderful and innocent King. Lady Macbeth is the same in that she puts up a wonderful facade for both the public and her husband. Although she is planning a murder Lady Macbeth manages to still act as a smiling, gracious hostess. Lady Macbeth's house guests and King Duncan, whom she intends to kill, even refer to her as their  ³honour ¹d hostess, ² in Act I, scene six. Her husband is also fooled by her charade and is unable to see her evil intent as she cons him into killing the king. Lady Macbeth keeps this facade until the end of the play when her t rapped feelings finally drive her mad. Another thing these two characters have in common is that... ...f his encroaching madness, and partly as a ploy to throw off Claudius and his spies. Ophelia was so shocked and confused over Hamlet ¹s complete betrayal that she could hardly go on living, and in the end she became so overwhelmed that she committed suicide. Lady Macbeth also affected many characters with her deceitfulness. The character most greatly affected was her husband, Macbeth. Until he was convinced by his wife, Macbeth had decided that he was going to stay loyal to the King, and put all notions of murder out of his head. In Act I, scene seven Macbeth declares,  ³We will proceed no further in this business, ² meaning he has decided to end all thoughts of murdering the king. Lady Macbeth will not give up though, and instead begins to try to further lure Macbeth into participating in her corrupt plans. Eventually she is successful in doing this, and Macbeth murders Duncan. Lady Macbeth lit a spark of evil in Macbeth that turned into his destruction. Macbeth became pow er hungry and murdered many others in order to have it. Lady Macbeth turned her loyal, honorable husband into a corrupt fool. In the end it all lead to the total destruction of a once well respected, virtuous hero.

Stem Cell Research - Embryonic Stem Cells are Human Essay -- Argumenta

Embryonic Stem Cells are Human      Ã‚  Ã‚   Some parties in the human-embryo stem-cell research (ESCR) debate are oblivious to one basic fact: Embryonic Stem Cells Are Human - which is the focus of this essay. ESCR involves post-conception research, regardless of how well the proponents try to disguise the fact.    It's either a life or it's not a life, and it's not much of an argument to say the embryo is going to die anyway. What kind of principle is that? Prisoners on death row are going to die anyway, the homeless are going to die anyway, prisoners in Nazi death camps were going to die anyway. Why not start disemboweling prisoners for these elusive "cures"?    Meanwhile, every Republican with a doddering, 90-year-old parent seems to be enthusiastically supportive on experimenting on human embryos, or "blastocysts," as they are affectionately known to the "scientific community." This generation is so appalled at the idea of having to take care of mom and dad, now they're lashing out at embryos.    Admittedly, the real problem is with the creation of test-tube...