plato :: essays research papers

Plato's Symposium provides us with many different views and theories about love. This drunken discussion of Eros presents ideas which have not lost their relevance in the millennia since. Many things have changed and there have been a lot of different views on almost every subject known to man, but the thoughts voiced in the Symposium still hold truth today. However being what it was, and that is many different peoples thoughts on the subjectof Eros, there is a wide variety of theories to choose from. Which of these speculations strikes a chord of truth in one's soul? Diotima speaks through Socrates (who is speaking through Plato) when she gives her version of where love came from. She says that Love is the child of Resource and Poverty, conceived on the day that Aphrodite was born. Poverty had come to the feast to beg and found Resource drunk and passed out. Poverty saw an opportunity to gain more resources, so she slept with him and became pregnant with Love. Love is a follower of Aphrodite because He was conceived at the party following her birth, and because "He is naturally a lover of beauty and Aphrodite is beautiful"(Gill, 203c) Because of who His mother is Love is always poor and homeless. He is quite tough from sleeping on the ground or in doorways and from wearing no shoes. Because of who His mother is, He is always in need, but because of who His father is He is constantly scheming to get good and beautiful things. He's clever, and skilled in hunting, magic and acquiring knowledge. Neither immortal nor mortal, Love can spring to life in a day and then die before that day is over. He can come back to life again like his father Resource, but cannot hold onto the resources he has. Being between mortality and immortality, Diotima calls Love "a great spirit"(Gill,202e). These great spirits are sort of go-betweens for the Gods and Humanity. They convey prayers and sacrifices from us to the Gods, and commands and gifts from the Gods to us. Because of them the universe is all interconnected and whole. The Gods never communicate directly to Humans, but always use these spirits to convey their commands. These are what priests, prophets and oracles speak to. Love is also between wisdom and ignorance, since neither the gods nor the ignorant love wisdom. The Gods already have it so the do not desire it, therefore love has no part in it. The ignorant don't love wisdom or want it, because they are satisfied with themselves. Since they do not think they need wisdom, they do not desire or love it. plato :: essays research papers Plato's Symposium provides us with many different views and theories about love. This drunken discussion of Eros presents ideas which have not lost their relevance in the millennia since. Many things have changed and there have been a lot of different views on almost every subject known to man, but the thoughts voiced in the Symposium still hold truth today. However being what it was, and that is many different peoples thoughts on the subjectof Eros, there is a wide variety of theories to choose from. Which of these speculations strikes a chord of truth in one's soul? Diotima speaks through Socrates (who is speaking through Plato) when she gives her version of where love came from. She says that Love is the child of Resource and Poverty, conceived on the day that Aphrodite was born. Poverty had come to the feast to beg and found Resource drunk and passed out. Poverty saw an opportunity to gain more resources, so she slept with him and became pregnant with Love. Love is a follower of Aphrodite because He was conceived at the party following her birth, and because "He is naturally a lover of beauty and Aphrodite is beautiful"(Gill, 203c) Because of who His mother is Love is always poor and homeless. He is quite tough from sleeping on the ground or in doorways and from wearing no shoes. Because of who His mother is, He is always in need, but because of who His father is He is constantly scheming to get good and beautiful things. He's clever, and skilled in hunting, magic and acquiring knowledge. Neither immortal nor mortal, Love can spring to life in a day and then die before that day is over. He can come back to life again like his father Resource, but cannot hold onto the resources he has. Being between mortality and immortality, Diotima calls Love "a great spirit"(Gill,202e). These great spirits are sort of go-betweens for the Gods and Humanity. They convey prayers and sacrifices from us to the Gods, and commands and gifts from the Gods to us. Because of them the universe is all interconnected and whole. The Gods never communicate directly to Humans, but always use these spirits to convey their commands. These are what priests, prophets and oracles speak to. Love is also between wisdom and ignorance, since neither the gods nor the ignorant love wisdom. The Gods already have it so the do not desire it, therefore love has no part in it. The ignorant don't love wisdom or want it, because they are satisfied with themselves. Since they do not think they need wisdom, they do not desire or love it.

Discussing Hiroshima

Hiroshima by John Hersey provides the reader with a front row seat to the devastation that atomic power can cause. This book tells the story of the bombing of Hiroshima, Japan on that fateful day in August, 1945, through the eyes of various survivors. Through the eyes of those survivors, we are able to see a glimpse of the horror that occurred on August 6th, 1945. We are able to see how devastating atomic power can be, not only structurally and physically, but also the long term repercussions as well. The force of the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6th, 1945 was absolutely devastating. The pressure from the explosion â€Å"varied from 5. 3 to 8. 0 tons per square yard†, and â€Å"had more power than 20,000 tons of TNT. † The bombs blast was forceful enough to move gravestones, knock over railroad cars, and move concrete bridges. The heat of the bomb at its center â€Å"must have been 6,000i Celsius. † The bomb caused concrete to become discolored to a â€Å"light, reddish tint, had scaled off the surface of granite. . . and left prints of the shadows left by its light. † Over 2,500 yards away from the center, a shadow was found that had been â€Å"projected by the handle of a gas pump. There were also a few â€Å"vague human silhouettes† found near the center. Over 62,000 buildings were destroyed, and nearly 6,000 were devastated beyond repair. â€Å"In the heart of the city. . . only five modern buildings. . . could be used again without major repairs. † Houses had been knocked down, whole city blocks had collapsed, fire engulfed everything, and â€Å"gas storage tanks went up in a tremendous burst of flames. † There was â€Å"four square miles of a reddish-brown scar† where everything burned down. On the roadways there were â€Å"hundreds of crumpled bicycles, shells of streetcars and automobiles, all halted in mid-motion. Of the 245, 000 people that lived in Hiroshima when the bomb dropped, 100,000 died and another 100,000 were injured. This number was much greater than the original estimate that â€Å"78,150 people had died, 13,983 were missing, and 37,425 had been injured. † As more and more corpses were recovered from the wreckage, the death toll raised to over 100,000. It is calculated that â€Å"about 25 per cent had died of direct burns from the bomb, about 50 per cent from other injuries, and about 20 per cent as a result of radiation effects. Of those that died, there were hundreds of school girls who had been enlisted to clear fire lanes, 65 out of 150 doctors, 1,654 out of 1,780 nurses died (or were to injured to work), and at the Red Cross Hospital there were only 6 doctors and 10 nurses able to work. The injuries sustained from the bombing were primarily burns, but also injuries from falling debris. Some burns had formed patterns onto persons skin as â€Å"white [clothing] repelled the heat of the bomb and dark clothes absorbed it and conducted it to the skin. Burns caused directly by the bomb i tself caused a persons skin to slip off in â€Å"huge glove like pieces. † The burns were â€Å"first yellow, then red and swollen, with the skin sloughed off, and finally. . . suppurated and smelly. † Upon coming across 20 soldiers, it was stated that their â€Å"faces were wholly burned, their eye sockets were hollow and the fluid from their melted eyes had run down their cheeks. Their mouths were mere swollen, pus covered wounds. . . † Nausea and vomiting were profound, caused by the â€Å"odor of ionization. . . given off by the bomb's fission. Many more drowned in the river while trying to escape the raging fires. Once in the river, the found themselves to weak or injured to badly to cross and drowned when the tide came in. Many people were told that â€Å"there is no hope for the heavily wounded. They will die. We can't bother with them. † Help was primarily given to the lightly wounded as it took less time, and therefore, more lives could be saved. For the most part, only saline and iodine were used to treat injuries, as there was a severe shortage of medical supplies. There were thousands of injured persons that had no one to help them. Although people were dying by the hundreds, there was nobody to carry away the corpses. The scene of hospitals was that of the living laying among the dead, and in their state of shock it was difficult to tell them apart. Doctors were overwhelmed with the â€Å"thousands of patients sprawled out among [the] corpses. † Although there were many that were â€Å"gruesomely wounded†, there were also many that died while having no apparent injuries. The remains of the deceased were eventually cremated, the placed in envelopes with their name upon it. Time was taken to do this because â€Å"disposal of the dead, by decent cremation and enshrinement, is a greater moral responsibility to the Japanese than adequate care of the living. † The few who were not seriously injured felt a sense of guilt for their lack of injuries. Many people only helped their own family, unable to â€Å"comprehend or tolerate a wider circle of misery. † Hysteria and shock began to set in, many became numb to their surroundings. They were â€Å"so emotionally worn out that nothing could surprise them. † To many ‘the bombing almost seemed a natural disaster. . . as the terrible aftermath and human suffering â€Å"reached so far beyond human understanding. † Many of the survivors suddenly felt sick about one month after the bomb was dropped. They came down with the â€Å"strange, capricious disease which came later to be known as radiation sickness. † This unprecedented disease had 3 stages. The first stage was a direct reaction to the bomb going off. These were the many â€Å"apparently uninjured people who died so mysteriously in the first few hours or days. † This is what â€Å"killed 95 per cent of the people within a half mile of the center [of where the bomb was dropped], and many thousands who were farther away. Although they may have had burns, these people died from the radiation, not the burns. The radiation caused their â€Å"nuclei to degenerate†, basically, every cell in their body broke down. The second stage of radiation sickness began 10-15 days after the bombing. Signs exhibited included hair loss, diarrhea, and fever. Then 25-30 days after the bombing, new symptoms began to develop. These symptoms included blood disorders, a drastic drop in white blood cell count (WBC), a rise in i nfections due to the drop of WBC, hemorrhages, slow healing of simple wounds, and anemia. The third stage followed after, and lasted anywhere from one week to several months or longer. The primary symptom was the fluctuation in the white blood cell count. After the WBC had stabilized, wounds would finally begin to heal. As the burns healed, keloid scars formed. Keloid scars were â€Å"hideously ugly, thick, itchy, rubbery, copper-red crablike growths. † There was, at that time, no reliable literature on treatment for these scars. Doctors found that if they removed the keloids, the often returned. Yet, if left untreated, the keloids would sometimes become infected and affect the surrounding muscles. The survivors also had a higher incidence of leukemia- 10 to 50 times higher than the norm. Other types of cancer were also higher among the survivors. Many survivors developed â€Å"A-bomb cataracts†, children's growth was stunted, as well as various long term heath problems like â€Å"anemia, liver dysfunction, sexual problems, endocrine disorders, and accelerated aging. † â€Å"The Japanese tended to shy away from the term ‘survivors'. . .. † and instead referred to them as â€Å"hibakusha†, or â€Å"explosion affected persons. † The hibakusha's â€Å"lived in an economic limbo† as the Japanese government didn't want to acknowledge them. By not acknowledging them, the government didn't have to accept â€Å"moral responsibility for the heinous acts of the victorious United States. † At this point, â€Å"the anger of many hibakusha. . . modulated towards their own government. † There were no special provisions provided for the hibakusha until 1957. In 1957, the A-Bomb Victims Medical Care Law was established. This provided support, free medical treatment, and eventually monthly allowances for the hibakusha's. However, many hibakusha's initially rejected it as they had â€Å"a suspicion of ulterior motives. † Employers developed a prejudice against the hibakusha due to their â€Å"A-Bomb sickness; a nagging weakness and weariness, dizziness now and then, digestive troubles, all aggravated by a feeling of oppression, a sense of doom. . . † Surprisingly, there was a divided opinion about the use of the bomb on Hiroshima. Father Siemes stated that, â€Å"Some of us consider the bomb in the same category as poison gas and were against its use on a civilian population. Others were in the opinion that in total war. . . there was no difference between civilians and soldiers. . . † Hiroshima was engulfed by devastation from the instant the atomic bomb went off, and for many years to follow. Over 100,000 lost their lives, and the survivors, or hibakusha, lost the lives they once knew. As we move forward with new technology, we must look to the ahead to see the future outcomes new technologies could hold. Hopefully, as we look to the future, we remember that atomic power can be devastating. It is amazing that something so small could nearly level an entire city, cost thousands their lives, and still has reverberating effects long after the dust has settled.

A Hysteria In Salem Village - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 4 Words: 1336 Downloads: 2 Date added: 2019/05/23 Category History Essay Level High school Tags: Salem Witch Trials Essay Did you like this example? One of the most controversial, infamous, historical events to occur on American soil was the Salem Witch Trials that lasted from 1692-1693. Taking place in a Puritan settlement, also known as Salem Village, Massachusetts, the spark of the Trials ignited in January, 1692 and the hysteria of witches did not conclude until May, 1693. Through the course of the Trials, over two hundred people were accused of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials. However, of those two hundred, between one hundred forty and one hundred fifty people were arrested during the witch hunt. Alongside, twenty four people had died: nineteen were hanged, one was pressed to death, and four died of other causes while in prison. Due to the aftermaths the Salem Witch Trials have caused, there has been controversy on whether these trials were either valid or inexcusable. In the defense of Puritans, who were presumably religious, went by the word of God. They did not believe in the separation of church and state. Despite the Puritans strict religious beliefs, The Salem Witch Trials were unjustifiable due to lack of government regulation, negligible evidence to prosecute one of being a witch, and the bias of societyrs sexist view on women. The Salem Witch Trials were unjust due to lack of government regulation. In that time period, there was no established Government able to properly run the Salem Witch Trials. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "A Hysteria In Salem Village" essay for you Create order At the beginning of the Salem witch craze, the Massachusetts colony was without a charter, a governor, or a legally recognized government. If these heinous executions were to happen today, America would go into chaos; however, America today has a proper Government, that prevents such actions to pursue. The lack of a legitimate government and the suspension of courts until the arrival of a new governor meant that the witch scare could not immediately be resolved. This allowed a period of time whereby there was a negotiation of folklore and theological beliefs within the public sphere. The Puritans took advantage of not being governed by permitting their religious beliefs to be their tool in resolving the witch craze, which ironically made it worse due to costing several innocent lives. In this environment of political instability, the accusations and arrests of witches took place in a vacuum lacking a legal framework. Without the guidance and justification of law, the magistrates foun d the necessary validation for their actions in the word of God. The Puritans found that if there is no law permitted, it was appropriate by all means to cause a quarrel among the village. The law did not then use the principle of innocent until proven guilty if you made it to trial, the law presumed guilt. If the colony imprisoned you, you had to pay for your stay. The Trials were prosecuted poorly and were disorganized due to improper jurisdiction, and lack thereof regulation. The trials were lazily processed, giving the defendant a slim chance of being proven not guilty. Due to inconclusive evidence and poor reasoning, the Trials lead to heinous deaths of several innocent lives. In the Courts of which the Salem Witch Trials were held The Court of Oyer and the Court of Terminer, the three main types of evidence used against the defendant were: confession, the testimony of two eyewitnesses of the acts performed in witchcraft, and spectral evidence. How confessions worked in the Courts was that one had to testify and confess that they were a witch involved in witchcraft and even named other witches. Although confessing to something that seemed awfully illicit, those who confessed were pardoned by the courts, on the condition towards the Puritans belief that them and the other witches they named were to obtain punishment from God. Spectral evidence involves claims by the victims that they had seen and been attacked (pinched, bitten, contorted) by spectres of the accused, whose forms Satan allegedly had assumed to work his evil. Claims and accusations were thrown everywhere, and based on the fear of witches, many were assumed to be true. It was believed that they employed demons to accomplish magical deeds, that they changed from human to animal form or from one human form to another, that animals acted as their familiar spirits, and that they rode through the air at night to secret meetings and orgies. These fallacies leave many in worry, disgust, and in determination to banish all witches. The hunts were efforts to identify witches rather than pursuits of individuals who were already thought to be witches. A person could easily label one as a witch and put that person in danger or in a wrongful place, which is not ethical if the person is innocent. Mrs. Howe, one of many of the accused, was taken into custody in May, 1692. She was charged with sundry acts of witchcraft upon the bodies of Mary Walcott and Abigail Williams, and others of Salem Village. She was examined the next Wednesday at the house of Nathaniel Ingersoll of that place. She pleaded not guilty, denied all knowledge of the matter and testified that she had never heard of the girls, Mary and Abigail, till their names were read in the warrant. But in court they fell down, they cried out, they were pinched and pricked, and they accused Mrs. Howe. She was remanded to prison to await the action of the Jury of Inquest. She remained powerless in the Courts, regardless of examination. The dramatic cries of others were enough to send her to prison. The Salem Witch Trials divided the community. Neighbor testified against neighbor. Children against parents. Husband against wife. Children died in prisons. Families were destroyed. Churches removed from their congregations some of the persons accused of witchcraft. The irony of the Salem Witch Trials was that it was put in place to eliminate evil stemmed from witchcraft only to result in disaster and problematic family drama. Luckily, spectral evidence was removed from the Courts in solution of the destruction of Salem, and a new Court was put into place. The Court of Judicature put a halt on the witch craze and took over the court cases. From then on out, most cases were unable to be proven guilty with plausible reason. Spectral evidence is what spiraled the Salem Witch Trials to be much more than it needed to be. Because of the inferiority of women, the Salem Witch Trials were filled with bias with the reasoning of women being vulnerable towards the Devil. During this time period, women werent necessarily viewed as equals to men. It was young womens discontent with their work, with their economic circumstances, and with their marriage prospects, the writings show, that led the Devil and his witches to think that they in particular could be tempted with wealth, material possessions, husbands, and relief from daily chores. Women were believed to be easily seduced by the Devil because of their supposedly vulnerable character. The Antichrist, although despised and feared by the Puritans, was capable of power. Not only did Puritans fear the Antichrist, but also women in power. Driven by fear, women were accused of being witches in result of performing male tasks. The majority of the accused and executed were women. In the time the Salem Witch Trials took place, the results of it may have been perceived as justifiable at first. However, the Trials were quickly revoked from the hysteria it caused amongst Salem Village. The Salem Witch Trials could have taken a different turn in history if Government and Jurisdiction were regulated by law rather than religion. Families, instead, turned their backs on one another, accusation after accusation, striving themselves away from the true meaning of Puritanism. From the deaths of innocent lives to the wrongful imprisonment of witches, The Salem Witch Trials has gone down to being one of the most infamous events in history, and labeled and unjustifiable due to little to no legitimate government, ludicrous sounding evidence to prove one guilty of being a witch, and societal bias on the accused women.