Søren Kierkegaard Essay Example for Free

Sà ¸ren Kierkegaard Essay The term existentialism has been applied to the human subject in all aspects of the individual. Through the ideas of existentialism, philosophers have looked at the existence of the human being. An existential attitude of the world is one of confusion and belief in a meaningless world. The beliefs of existentialism came about as a complete change from the beliefs of periods like the Romantic period. This philosophical view of life came about in the 19th century. These ideas could better be explained by incidents like WWII, and how if there was a god, he would not have let such destruction happen. This view on life led to the pondering on weather or not our lives had any meaning or order to them or if they were completely random and out of our control. This time brought about many different existentialist philosophers, all having very different opinions and views of the world and its meaning. (Crowell, Steven) Soren Kierkegaard was known as the â€Å"father of existentialism† with his new views of life beginning in the 19th century. The basis and the beginning of most of Kierkegaard’s work came from his views on the Danish Church. He is popularly known for his term the â€Å"leap of faith†. He referred to this term both in a person’s belief in God and in love. This is because as he would say neither of these are things we can prove or know for sure, but only something we have to have faith in, something that can be doubted. Kierkegaard also found an importance on self-introspection and the individuals’ subjective relation to a certain subject. (McDonald, William) For example, groups who believe the same basic think all look at it with there own relativity. Most of Kierkegaard’s beliefs and philosophies have to do with moral and religious issues. These issues are the basis for a new way of thinking and looking at life that would later become known as existentialism. Another early philosopher in the 19th century with many existential elements in his thinking was Friedrich Nietzsche. Nietzsche had views that were existential, yet they differed very much from that of Kierkegaard. He questioned Christianity and many other religions that tried to give people morality in there life. (Wicks, Robert ) Nietzsche also had ideas on the value of life and the purpose of life that formed from his belief on morality and God. Most of his ideas did not become very popular and well known until after his lifetime. A decade after WWII many of his philosophical works were revived after much translation. Nietzsche views of morality were Homeric and he saw morality more as wealth, strength, health, and power and not things like charity and pity. The statement that â€Å"God is dead† is something that was used by Nietzsche in his writing. Like much philosophy, some interpretation is done in understanding what it is they mean. Some saw Nietzsche as an atheist as he thought God no longer existed. This belief leads to a feeling that nothing matters in our life and leads to a loss on any perspective on any thing. These views on life from Nietzsche may have led to his symptoms of insanity in 1879. (Wicks, Robert) Jean-Paul Sartre is one of the most well known existentialists of the 20th century. He was a novelist, philosopher, and existentialist. Sartre became interested with the ideas of philosophy early on in his life. (Flynn, Thomas) After being involved with WWII there is a shift in his views on things and he spent most of his life thinking about his existentialist ideas about free will and communism. Sartre spent much time with the idea of consciousness and the idea that reflective consciousness or the idea of self-knowledge is something that always fails. He also said how man tries to make sense of the world it lives in is its only way of proving its own existence. (Flynn, Thomas) Sartre also gives a completely new spin on the idea of free will. The idea that if there were a creator that there would be a plan for it. However, because of this free will people believe in there must be no such creator that has a plan for us. Through this, we can see that atheism was fundamental to the style of Sartre’s existentialism beliefs. Throughout history, there have been many different beliefs on the world, life, politics, and religion. In most cases there is no real say that one is better than another when it comes down to strictly opinionated views. In the case of existentialism it can be seen just through the three philosophers; Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, and Sartre we can see how one philosophical idea can be approached and looked at in so many different ways. The ideas and theories that make up both philosophy and religion are so diverse and will vary between each individual person. There is no wrong answer in the work of these philosophers, or that of any other philosophers, all make valid points and allow future generations to see there work and make them think. Every human is entitled to there own belief about the purpose of life and there existential views are only important to them. It is our beliefs on life that portray how we go about living our lives and what we live for. Wok Cited Crowell, Steven. Existentialsim. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2004. 11 Mar 2009 . Existentialism. Wikipedia. Wikipedia Foundation Inc.. 11 Mar 2009 . Flynn, Thomas. Jean-Paul Sartre. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2004. 11 Mar 2009 . McDonald, William. Soren Kierkegaard . Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 1996. 11 Mar 2009 . Wicks, Robert. Friedrich Nietzsche. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 1997. 11 Mar 2009 .

Innocent Children, Violent Gangs Essay -- Exploratory Essays Research

Innocent Children, Violent Gangs      Ã‚   18, 059 violent felonies, 690 deaths, and 13,000 hard-core killers. What is the horrible cause of these striking statistics? Gangs. Gangs are a problem in nearly every state and 83 percent of the largest cities in the United States. The problem of gangs and their negative impact on the communities they exist in continues to grow and nothing seems to be able to stop this powerful growth. Gangs not only exist in just inner cities anymore, but in towns and suburban communities as well. Gangs are affecting more and more children everyday, and this problem needs to be stopped.    No one knows exactly how many children and youth nationwide are gang members or join a gang in an average day, but the numbers are astonishing and increasing. What is it about gangs that is so appealing to children? Gangs offer identity which a child may not have felt he or she had before. Gangs also offer belonging, protection, money, sex, and status. The majority of the children who become involved in such groups as gangs usually don't have a sense family or belonging to anyone, are lonely, and are looking for friends. Some may think that gangs are actually a good thing in that they offer so many positive things to a child's life. That is where some go wrong, and make the biggest mistake of their lives.    Gangs are responsible for ten to twenty percent of the criminal activity in the United States, which estimates to an approximate thirty to sixty billion dollars of taxpayers' money a year. Gangs are often associated with the use of drugs, including heroine and marijuana. Gangs also are connected to the illegal use of many weapons and as a result, many bloody murders. So, it is... ...f Violence: A Study of Violence on the Street, Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, Vol. 30 NO. 1, February 1993, pg 88-112. Kotlowitz, Alex, There Are No Children Here, Anchor Books Doubleday, 1991. Krivo, Peterson, Disadvantaged Neighborhoods and Urban Crime, Social Forces, Vol. 75 No. 2 December 1996, pg. 619-645. Lo, Chun-Nui, A Social Model of Gang Related Violence, Free Inquiry In Creative Sociology, Vol 19 no. 1, May 1991, pg. 36-43. Sambar, Chuck. http://www.sambar.com/sambar/chuck/aregangs.htm Omega Boys Club. http://www.street-soldiers.org/omega/omega1.html Alanzo, Felipe and Zavala, Eric. http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/%7Edliss/student_projects/final_project/felipe2/index.htm http://home.navisoft.com/requiredreading/Page6.html Cantrell, Mary Lynn. http://www.bluemarble.net/%7Enes/hot/htopicgang.html   

From the Perspective of the Priest Child Abuser Essay

The article â€Å"A Priest Child Abuser Speaks† from the book Slayer of the Soul was contributed by a priest who wishes to remain anonymous. He is a self-confessed child abuser during his priesthood, and by writing this, he wishes to share his experiences and his gradual climb back into society. He also believes that writing this article would provide a lesson for both the victimizers and their victims, and hopes that the victimizers would avoid committing such hideous wrongs towards their victims. In the article, the priest shares his journey of self-realization as he slowly vaporized the demon that was poisoning his soul and coercing him to do such crimes against children. The priest recalls that he was convicted for abusing children — sexually, psychologically, and emotionally — in the 1980s, and sentenced to 14 months in a minimum security facility. He believes that he was lucky, knowing that a similar child-abusing priest was sentenced for 20 years of hard labor. The priest mentions that life was tough for him both inside and outside of prison. He felt that a lot of people resented him for what he did to children, and believed that what happened was just a lie, no matter how true it was. Some officers, notably a lieutenant who hated him, bullied and toyed with him. Other prisoners were disgusted at his presence, refused to befriend him, or intimidated him often. For his size, he thought that he would not stand a chance, and he saw that avoiding conflict was the best solution. However, not all of these people resented him or was afraid of him. He recalls making some friends while in prison, ranging from guards to cell mates. They supported him and were sympathetic of him, especially at the time when the lieutenant’s abusive nature went a bit overboard. While in prison, he fought for the system to give him therapy for the â€Å"sickness† he believes that he was carrying. He won that appeal, and the court sent him to therapy twice a week. The Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous (SLAA) provided the opportunity for him to realize the root from which this sickness stemmed. While trying to heal himself, he also experienced rejection from close friends and acquaintances. Life was certainly difficult for him who was branded as a â€Å"child abuser,† which is why he wanted to reform himself in order to reenter society. During his SLAA therapies, he recalled his childhood which was filled with fear, anxiety, misfortune, and harassment. It was at that time when he idolized his parish scoutmaster and weirdly fell in love with him, prompting him into having a sexual relationship with him. It was a very traumatic experience that he knew he had to pull out from. He deducted that this might be the root of his â€Å"sickness† all along, as it was reinforced by an authority figure that it was â€Å"okay† to do it. He was also searching for a father figure, since his real father abandoned him and his family, and his mother declared him as the head of the household. When he entered the parish, he wished to help the children who had no father figure and had an emotionally miserable life. Things boiled over, and pretty soon, he was sexually involved with these young boys. One boy told his parents, and this made him realize his mistake. He mustered the strength to tell their parents that they need immediate therapy, but was arrested in the process when one therapist told the police about him. When he finally got out of prison, he wanted to mend the ties with his family and clear things up with them. However, they failed to â€Å"hear him out,† which was the reason that drove him into an unstable state in the first place. He confronted his scoutmaster and felt betrayed by his insights on the issue involving child abuse, telling him that it was wrong while he was regretting the fact that he believed in his scoutmaster. The damage has been done to him, and he believes that he needs to accept the consequences of his actions and just move on. He mentions that it left a black hole in his life, upon which he was initially placing things to fill that void. However, he realized that it was not the right course of action as he was building his life around that hole, completely avoiding it. Thus, he wished to enter the ministry again in order to help others that are trapped in the same dark cell in which he broke out from, although not completely. The priest mentions that gradually, he was able to recover his life and reform himself into the person that everyone knew before the incident. He was also able to reenter society as himself once again. Hence, he wishes to share his experiences to the world through this article in order to let people know that victims could become victimizers themselves one day, if they are not treated immediately. References A priest child abuser speaks. (1990). In S. J. Rossetti (Ed. ), Slayer of the Soul: Child Abuse and the Catholic Church (pp. 99-111). Mystic, CT: Twenty-Third Publications.

Definition and Examples of Semantic Narrowing

Semantic narrowing is a type of semantic change  by which the meaning  of a word becomes less general or inclusive than its earlier meaning. Also known as specialization  or restriction. The opposite process is called broadening or semantic generalization. Such specialization is slow and need not be complete, notes linguist Tom McArthur. For example, the word fowl is now usually restricted to the farmyard hen, but it retains its old meaning of bird in expressions like the fowls of the air and wild fowl (Oxford Companion to the English Language, 1992). Examples and Observations Narrowing of meaning . . . happens when a word with a general meaning is by degrees applied to something much more specific. The word litter, for example, meant originally (before 1300) a bed, then gradually narrowed down to bedding, then to animals on a bedding of straw, and finally to things scattered about, odds and ends. . . . Other examples of specialization are deer, which originally had the general meaning animal, girl, which meant originally a young person, and meat, whose original meaning was food.(Sol Steinmetz, Semantic Antics: How and Why Words Change Meanings. Random House, 2008)Hound and IndigenousWe say that narrowing takes place when a word comes to refer to only part of the original meaning. The history of the word hound in English neatly illustrates this process. The word was originally pronounced hund in English, and it was the generic word for any kind of dog at all. This original meaning is retained, for example, in German, where the word Hund simply means dog. O ver the centuries, however, the meaning of hund in English has become restricted to just those dogs used to chase game in the hunt, such as beagles. . . .Words may come to be associated with particular contexts, which is another type of narrowing. One example of this is the word indigenous, which when applied to people means especially the inhabitants of a country which has been colonized, not original inhabitants more generally.(Terry Crowley and Claire Bowern, An Introduction to Historical Linguistics, 4th ed. Oxford University Press, 2010)Meat and ArtIn Old English, mete referred to food in general (a sense which is retained in sweetmeat); today, it refers to only one kind of food (meat). Art originally had some very general meanings, mostly connected to skill; today, it refers just to certain kinds of skill, chiefly in relation to aesthetic skill - the arts.(David Crystal, How Language Works. Overlook, 2006)StarveModern English starve means to die of hunger (or often to be extre mely hungry; and dialectally, to be very cold), while its Old English ancestor steorfan meant more generally to die.​(April M. S. McMahon, Understanding Language Change. Cambridge University Press, 1994)Sand[M]any Old English words acquired narrower, more specific meanings in ME as a direct result of loans from other languages. . . . OE sand had meant either sand or shore. When Low German shore was borrowed to refer to the land itself along a body of water, sand narrowed to mean only the granular particles of disintegrated rock that covered this land.(C.M. Millward and Mary Hayes, A Biography of the English Language, 3rd ed. Wadsworth, 2012)Wife, Vulgar, and NaughtyThe Old English version of the word wife  could be used to refer to any woman but has narrowed in its application nowadays to only married women. A different kind of narrowing  can lead to a negative meaning  [pejoration] for some words, such as vulgar (which used to mean simply ordinary) and naughty (which u sed to mean having nothing).None of these changes happened overnight. They were gradual and probably difficult to discern while they were in progress.(George Yule, The Study of Language, 4th ed. Cambridge University Press, 2010)Accident and FowlAccident means an unintended injurious or disastrous event. Its original meaning was just any event, especially one that was unforeseen. . . . Fowl in Old English referred to any bird. Subsequently, the meaning of this word was narrowed to a bird raised for food, or a wild bird hunted for sport.​(Francis Katamba, English Words: Structure, History, Usage. Routledge, 2004)