Philosophical Argument Essay Example for Free

Philosophical Argument Essay â€Å"Something must first be said briefly about the moral subjectivism inherent in this analysis. Based on the above, it follows that some things could be immoral for some people and moral (or amoral) for others, since people vary in their values. For example, some people may possess a fundamental value for all animal life of any kind, which would entail not eating meat, not allowing suicide, nor even allowing the removal of life support for a brain-dead patient. But this value system would only exist for them, not for others. However, my analysis does not entail moral relativism in the usual sense, since it is also possible (and I believe it is the case) that some fundamental values are shared by all people, or very nearly all people (I allow some rare exceptions for the sociopath, who is generally regarded as having a mind alien to the vast majority of humankind, devoid of all ordinary moral sentiment). (Carrier)†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The above argument contains two premises: 1) Some people value all forms of life; and 2) All people share some fundamental values. The conclusion is that: Morality is relative. The quoted passage is an example of argument because it expresses a claim which is being supported by the given premises. It can be said that morality is relative because people have different perspective about the value of life – (that while others do not admit any sort of action that would not promote life as morally permissible, others welcome the fact that every person has a right to make a decision about how he would like to treat his life or whatsoever). â€Å"From a point of view outside of this affair, the killing of a neurologically inactive fetus is no greater a harm than the killing of a mouse, and in fact decidedly lessa mouse is neurologically active, and though it lacks a complex cerebral cortex, it has a brain of suitable complexity to perceive pain (and I would argue that the mouse deserves some moral consideration, though less than humans). A fetus cannot perceive pain (and perception is not quite the same thing as sensation: sensation can exist without a brain, but perception cannot). The neural structures necessary to register and record sensations of pain transmitted by the appropriate nerves either do not exist or are not functioning before the fifth month of gestation. A fetus can no more feel pain than a surgical patient under general anasthesia, or a paraplegic whose lower-body nerves continue reacting to stimuli, but cease sending signals to the brain. And we have already established that a fetus does not contain an individual human personality of any kind, any more than a brain-dead adult does. With no perception of pain, and no loss of an individual personality, the act of abortion causes no immediate harm. (Carrier†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The second passage is another example of an argument. It has three premises; 1) Fetus is neurologically inactive; 2) Fetus does not feel pain; 3) Fetus does not possess individual personality. The conclusion suggests that: Abortion causes no harm. Obviously, the established premises attempt to prove the conclusion. Since fetus cannot react to any form of stimuli as how a surgical patient or even a mouse does, hence the act of abortion does not inflict harm to the fetus. Work Cited Carrier, Richard C. Abortion is not Immoral and Should not be Illegal . 30 November 2005.  Ã‚   Internet Infidels. 31 February 2008  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/debates/secularist/abortion/carrier1.html.

Humans are Responsible for Global Warming Essay -- environment, global

This essay offers a defense to the position that humans are responsible for global warming. What is Carbon Dioxide? Before attempting to answer any questions based on observations about carbon dioxide, taking a moment to identify the carbon dioxide helps to ensure a clear understanding of the element. According to Princeton University (n.d.), â€Å"carbon dioxide, carbon dioxide, is a heavy odorless colorless gas formed during respiration and by the decomposition of organic substances†. This naturally occurring element is exists in the Earth’s atmosphere where it circulates between water, plants, soil and animals. Current Carbon Dioxide Levels Knowledge of carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere helps scientists understand how the gas affects Earth, its atmosphere and any potential global warming. Carbon dioxide levels, measured in parts per million (ppm), defines a unit of measure â€Å"as a measure of small levels of pollutants in air, water, body fluids, etc. Parts per million is the mass ratio between the pollutant component and the solution† (TET, n.d.). Rising every year since 1958, the current atmospheric carbon dioxide level is 396.81 ppm according to co2now.org (2014). Scientists believe that they only have a short amount of time to get this and other greenhouse gases under control before the planet crosses the point of no return. With a level of 396.81 ppm of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, one may wonder if this level is the highest level the Earth has seen in the last 450,000 years. According to the graph found at Planet Seed’s website (2014), this is the highest levels of carbon dioxide level recorded in that time. In fact, the graph clearly shows a spike in carbon dioxide levels in the last portion of the g... ...3). Overview of greenhouse gases. Retrieved from http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/gases/co2.html Hilderman, R. (2011). Fossil fuel and atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide. Retrieved from http://www.motherearthnews.com/nature-and-environment/fossil-fuel-and-atmospheric-levels-of-carbon-dioxide.aspx Marshall, C. (2013). Small-scale U.S. lab experiment removes CO2 from atmosphere at relatively low cost. http://www.eenews.net/stories/1059981902 Planet Seed. (2014). Global climate change and energy CO2 and temperature change. Retrieved from http://www.planetseed.com/relatedarticle/co2-and-temperature-change Princeton University. (n.d.). WordNet search - 3.1. Retrieved from http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=co2 The Engineering Toolbox (TET). (n.d.). PPM - parts per million. Retrieved from http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/ppm-d_1039.html

“A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” by John Donne Essay

Throughout the years, humans have rewritten what true love means. The contemporary meaning of true love is the feeling of lightheartedness that one experiences when around another human. True love in Shakespeare and Donne’s time period, was a deep spiritual and emotional connection towards two humans. The connection never fades and grows stronger with separation. Many people believe that one can fall in and out of love; however, many poets wrote about a love that will never disappear. The love that they depicted regarded the truest of all loves. As beauty and time fades, true love will remain forever strong. William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116 is an extremely well-known poem for its description of true love. The love that the persona describes does not admit impediments and is unchanging and perfect. According to him, love acts like a guiding star for lost ships, not shaken in storms. Love will guide two people throughout their lives and will not fall apart in the stormy times. Shakespeare is completely certain that what he describes is true love to the point where he says that if his statements can be proved false, then he should have never written a single word and that no man has ever been in love. The ideal, romantic love outlasts even death and admits no flaw. Throughout the three quatrains, Shakespeare breaks down love into the simplest forms; in quatrain one, he states that love is not changeable; in  quatrain two, love is a like a fixed mark that guides ships throughout storms; and in the third quatrain, he says that love is not Time’s fool, stating that he is certai n that what he describes is true love. â€Å"It proposes a love which exists in an unchanging present, impervious to time’s millioned accidents† (Hammond 211). The start of the sonnet provides a definition of a love, which eventually excludes all action, identity, and knowledge (211). Shakespeare’s beginning lines of this sonnet are reminiscent of marriage vows that a couple repeats to one another during the service (212). â€Å"Alteration and remover are primarily words to describe infidelity† (213). The Day of Judgment is the only time in which love may cease to exist (Vendler 490). The young man, by mentioning these impediments, has announced  the strengthening of his own attachment to the listener, reinforcing the marriage of true minds. One must wonder how a marriage can last if it is not made of true love. Perhaps the persona realizes that God requires that each partner love the other, through sickness and health, forsaking others until death do each part. Those requirements can only be held onto in a marriage of true love. In another verse, titled A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning by John Donne, a second persona describes how true love acts and is evident in daily life. Many historians believe that Donne wrote the poem for his wife, Anne Donne, before his departure in 1611, for France. The valediction is the guise in which the speaker attempts to persuade his lover to remain assured of his love while he is gone (Cavanaugh para. 2). He tries to define and rejoice in a love that transcends the physical realm, proving that their love can survive the separation (Bennett 178). The  separation of the lovers is like the separation that is caused by death. The physical bond that he shares with his wife will dissolve quietly like the soul of dying man (Bennett 179). Donne expresses his need for no tears and crying, believing that they should not reveal their sacred love. He asserts that if they would display their affections of their grief, their love would be defiled and would be no better than that love of ordinary people (182). â€Å"When disturbances happen between their love, if he leaves, it will be like the far-off trembling in the heavens and will be innocent and have no major bearing on their relationship† (Bennett 181). The love Donne describes is one that transcends the physical nature of relationships. Ordinary lovers are caught up in the physical presence of the other person; however the perfect love he enjoys does not need the presence of the physical body to survive (183). As speaker and his partner are connected at the soul, they will never be separated, even though their physical bodies might be. In the sixth stanza, Donne describes his love as pure and precious as gold. Their love can be stretched and expanded without damage, just as pure gold is malleable (185). Donne’s most famous comparison occurs in the seventh  stanza, where he compares his love to â€Å"stiff twin compasses.† Joan Bennett describes the compass as the following: The twin compasses are described as two only in the sense that there are two legs joined permanently at the top. One leg, â€Å"the fixed foot† is planted firmly in the center. The other â€Å"travels†, describing a perfect circle, returning to its point of origin. The â€Å"fixed foot† of the center foot â€Å"leans and harkens† after the other that â€Å"far doth roam†. The speaker explains that the center foot, the person who stays at home, makes sure the absent lover comes back to for a complete circle because of its firmness (para. 18). With the circle having no beginning or end, Donne describes what a perfect love is. No man has detailed love in such an unique way that grips at the hearts and souls of the readers. One only hopes to find the love that Donne has expressed. Throughout the two poems, love is shown to be much more than a physical attraction between two people. The attraction between two people can create lust, but a deep connection between two people creates a love in its truest of forms. True love could be likened to a pole to hold on to when a moment in time becomes too difficult. The steadfastness and stability of love are shown vividly throughout these two poems. The male speakers try to prove that love can exist in many forms, yet the one that will last forever is a â€Å"mind connection† that forever binds two people to one another. â€Å"A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning† shows how a love can survive by not being continually physical with one another. In the same way, Shakespeare’s Sonnet  116 describes the love between two people as more of a spiritual connection. Both speakers prove that love does not try to change the other person and will accept him as he is. Whether or not the authors were describing love in their lives, their two poems have made humans seek a deeper love with one another. Human nature begs for a connection that cannot be expressed in words. Love transcends time and space. The two poets described true love in almost the same way. The only difference was the direction that each took. Shakespeare compared true love mainly spiritually while Donne was  more metaphysical. Each person has different ideas regarding the qualities in love,  though most are described here in the poems. The connection described in the two poems is evident in marriages that last. Those couples that later spend over fifty blissful years together are those that married for a deep feeling of fulfillment than that of a physical need that was met. True love has become misunderstood in the past years. Shakespeare and Donne realized what it took to make a relationship work and what true love really is. True love stands the test of time and never changes. True love is what it was two hundred thousand years ago and will continue to be in years to come. Love is what makes humans live and co-exist. While Time changes people, love does not change. As an ever-fixed mark, love is always waiting for one to grab hold of and stand with in times of need. The two poems encapsulate what couples repeat in their marriage vows; love is here and will always be near by, and that one another should stand by their partner just as their love will always remain true. Works Cited Vendler, Helen. â€Å"Sonnet 116†. The Art of Shakespeare’s Sonnets. London, England: The Belknap Press, 1998. Hammond, Gerald. The Reader and Shakespeare’s Young Man Sonnets. Totowa, New Jersey: Barnes and Noble Books, 1981. Cavanaugh, Cynthia A. â€Å"The Circle of Souls in John Donne’s A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning†. 18 Nov. 2002. . Bennett, Joan. â€Å"The Love Poetry of John Donne.† John Donne’s Poetry: Authoritative Texts Criticism. Ed. Arthur L. Clements. New York: New York: W.W Norton & Company, 1992. 178-194.

How Should Bullying Be Stopped, And What Laws Are There...

How to Stop Bullying Bethany Holeman Political Science Core: Mandatory Writing Assignment Section 142.010 Stephen F. Austin State University Department of Government Fall 2014 Abstract How should bullying be stopped, and what laws are there against bullying? What is the impact of bullying? Bullying has been around for centuries. There are states with anti-bullying laws, but most do not implement the laws correctly. This major issue needs to be taken more seriously, and handled in the correct ways. Texas has a number of laws, or codes, to attend to the pandemic of bullying. There are many steps to take to insure the decline of bullying rates. Bullying has a negative impact on the lives of the victims. Introduction Feuds among individuals have been around forever. However, the term bully has been in existence since 1693. The term bully means â€Å"to affect by means of force or coercion† (Background on Bullying n.d.). Out of all the countries, the United States has the worst problem because bullying is legal in most states. Bullying was not viewed as a major issue until the early 1970’s. Although some states have anti-bullying laws, most do not address the major issues regarding the problem or any solutions as to how to stop bullying. â€Å"One in four students are bullied every month† (Background on Bullying n.d.), therefore forcing schools to have anti-bullying policies to make the students and parents feel safer overall. There are numerous differentShow MoreRelatedBullying Is The Main Reason People Bully Essay1377 Words   |  6 PagesBullying is one of the worst things you can go through. It is where someone who is insecure, jealous, or going through some thing or whatever is happening and call people names or hit them or just be rude and cruel to them because they think it’s funny but it’s not. 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