The Philosophy of Simone Weil Essay -- Philosopher Simone Weil Essays

The Philosophy of Simone Weil In the final entry to her London notebooks, Simone Weil writes "Philosophy is exclusively an affair of action and practice. That is why it is so difficult to write about. Difficult in the same way as a treatise on tennis or running, but much more so." (Allen, p. 157) In these next few pages I will try to relay the basic ideas contained in Simone Weil's works. Because of the extensiveness and complexity of her work, I will be using her words exactly, as often as possible. Simone Weil was a trained philosopher and a teacher of philosophy. She was a political theorist and activist, a revolutionary, a laborer in the French fields and factories and toward the end of he life, she was a mystic. She believed in the transcendent powers of God. Much of her writing dealt with the ways in which God touches our lives, and the ways we can "find" or open ourselves to him. In her works, she spent a good deal of time defining and describing terms such as beauty and affliction, and describing solutions to social ills. First and foremost it is important to understand the relationship the Weil had with God. She had many mystical experiences in her life in which she walked and talked with God. One of these experiences in particular is described in volume two of her notebooks in a brief essay called "Come With Me." In this essay she recounts a story in which God comes and visit her. He takes her up to the attic of a church where they live for three days, eating only bread and drinking only water. But she had interesting notions about him and his existence; not notions that would seem consistent with having met with him. She explains that God is "everything that we are not" (Little, p. 57 ). But she goes on to ... ...egin. I suppose this is an issue Gardner faced in the beginning of his search as well; the abyss of the unknown. But it is an area I am interested in, even more so that the other frames we have studied, and I look forward to thinking in these terms as I further my studies in philosophy and spirituality. Works Cited: Allen, Diogenes and Springsted, Eric O. Spirit, Nature and Community. State University of New York Press. Albany, New York. 1994. Indinoplulos, Thomas A. and Knoppzadorsky, Josephine. Mysticism, Nihilism, Feminism. Institute of Social Sciences and Arts. Johnson City, Tennessee. 1984. Little, J.P. Simone Weil. St. Martin's Press. New York, New York. 1988. McFarland, Dorothy Tuck. Simone Weil. Fredrick Unger Publishing Co. New York, New York. 1983. Panichas, George A. (ed.) Simone Weil Reader. Moyer Bell Limited. Mt Kisco, New York.1977.

Barriers in Classrom Communication Essay

1. Listening Barriers * Effective listening is one of the most important factors in classroom communication. Take the time to listen to what the other person is saying. When someone is speaking, you should not be thinking of your next response. Negative emotions may occur when certain words or body language is used. A teacher must also take care to keep emotional reactions to a minimum and focus on what the speaker is saying. Outside noise such as telephones, email or construction noise can sometimes make listening difficult. This outside noise should be minimized in the classroom. Perception Barriers * Perception may be a barrier to effective communication in the classroom. Different people may receive and hear the same message but interpret it differently. Paying attention to detail is also important. Important aspects can be missed by not covering a subject in depth. A teacher should also learn to focus on both positive and negative aspects of a conversation. By having a distorted focus, a teacher may only focus on the negative aspects of a conversation. * Sponsored Links * Communication Define a clear and efficient media strategy with Capgemini Consulting www.capgemini-consulting.com Oral Barriers * Communication barriers in the classroom may exist if oral communication is not clear. Communication only occurs when the listener hears and understands your message in the way you meant for it to be received. Some problems in oral communications include using words with ambiguous meanings. The teacher must make sure the students clearly understand the meanings of words. Another problem in oral communications is using generalizations and stereotypes. Classroom communication should be specific to the topic and without bias. A teacher must also take caution not to make a premature conclusion before she has all the facts about a topic or situation. Finally, a teacher must overcome any lack of self-confidence and deliver the message with assertiveness and clarity. Cultural Barriers * Cultural differences can be a barrier to effective communications in the classroom. It is possible for both a teacher and a student to have predisposed ideas about behavior based on what the other person’s culture is. Messages are often misunderstood if they are delivered in a way that is unfamiliar to the student’s culture. It is important to dispel assumptions or biases based on cultural differences in a classroom . Sponsored Links Read more: Barriers to Effective Communication in the Classroom | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/list_7350208_barriers-effective-communication-classroom.html#ixzz2JLH5z6cY

Theory Of Evolution

I have always believed that it can take one person to get the ball rolling, but it takes a group to make an impact. Therefore, the concept of evolution via natural selection was a group effort. Darwin didn’t work on scientific evolution alone. Within, the seven years Darwin was thinking and analyzing about his theory, others were working on it themselves. Darwin is certainly the father of evolution, but our current understanding of evolution [DNA, natural selection, genetics, etc. ] has evolved through the scientific understanding of others. As with natural evolution, our understanding of hereditary transfer/natural selection has also evolved as well. Theories have been introduced since Darwin that have been proven both true and false [scientific natural selection]. However, would it have been proposed to the world if not for Wallace? No theory can be proven true, unless somebody else takes the report and repeats the research and comes up with same result. Wallace was a deep thinker, as was Darwin, so it’s no shock that they both concluded the same theory of evolution. Although, should Wallace have not assured Darwin of his theory we might have never known of a thing called evolution? Evolution was just the starting point for many new theories soon to be thought of. From evolution there arose natural selection. Together again, Darwin and Wallace created this theory. In order to verify their theory of natural selection, they had to dispute with Lemarck about variation. They both borrowed information from each other to better understand what they were trying to propose. Darwin new that, † variation already existed, however he was unsure where this variation came from† [Park 1998:33]. But by seeing what Lemarck had already concluded Darwin could continue on with his theory with knowledge from another source. In order to be valued, two parties must verify the results. In the process of re-examining a study, new knowledge is gained, theory is formed, and principals evolve. Darwin was the starting point for many new theories, before he passed away. After Darwin was gone, there came Mendall, who showed us the unit of heredity and modern syntheses. Mendall thought of theories far beyond Darwin, but to gain this knowledge he had to start with what Darwin had already concluded. In order to have theories evolve you need more than one mind. Knowledge of genetics and DNA has grown massively over the years, partly in response to technology. Of course, the basis of our knowledge came from Darwin, Wallace, Lemarck, and Mendall, but to capitalize on these theories we use our technology sources today. We are now capable of manipulating genes to possible altar evolution. When Darwin, Wallace, Lemarck, and Mendall were around they didn’t posses the technology we have today. Since, technology we have been able to discover many new theories, as mentioned above. Many people in this world start theories or discoveries, but in order to better understand them or draw a conclusion, you need more input from others. By giving or taking input other than your own you’re able to see other people’s nature of science. Take cars, for instance, the first car did not have a hood, nor could it even go over twenty-five miles per hour. Henry Ford knew he created something that could forever change the world, but it was also just a starting point. Fords basic idea of transportation has been built on for years. Cars these days are completely different. They are finer, more reliable, and they have hoods! However, in order for cars to evolve to the way they are today, we needed input or suggestions from others. Sometimes the best ideas are by those who just sit back and observe. It is like learning how to ride a bike. You can sit and watch someone get up on his or her bike and fall, knowing that if they would have just kept their balance evenly distributed they would have not fallen. So knowing the information, when you get up on your bike you remember to keep your weight balanced, subsequently you do not fall. Scientific discovery is the social process. Had Darwin acted on it alone, our understanding of evolution would be far less. However, our current concept is far more comprehensive, this is entirely due to the contribution of several minds over an extended period of time.

More than a Rose †English Literature Essay

More than a Rose – English Literature Essay Free Online Research Papers More than a Rose English Literature Essay Society has a way of determining what it wants people to be. To an extent certain ethnic or racial groups are told by society that they aren’t to have certain jobs or live certain places. Television and movies hardly ever show black doctors living in Beverly Hills. There are rarely white men who challenge for the heavyweight boxing title, and even fewer women in each of those categories. In the same way, a person’s family might put a mindset into that person just because of what that family is. Some of these alien sources can be changed and some will probably always have a negative influence on people. These factors affect the way a person is perceived and how that person behaves. In William Faulkner’s â€Å"A Rose for Emily†, a town gives its account of one of its oldest citizens. The town expresses a dislike for Miss Emily Grierson when actually all of Emily’s problems come from sources alien to her. The first source of Emily’s problems lies in the town itself. The town causes the beginning of Emily’s problems by granting her the right to not have to pay taxes. The town says that Miss Emily is a burden on them when it says â€Å"Alive, Miss Emily has been a tradition, a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town, dating from that day in 1894 when Colonel Sartoris†¦remits her taxes†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Faulkner 377). If Colonel Sartoris had not given Emily the privilege of not paying her taxes, they would not have the problem of the rest of the town being jealous of that privilege. Emily becomes accustomed to not having to pay taxes, which is a right legally granted to her. When asked if she received a notice to pay her taxes, she replies â€Å"I received a paper, yes. Perhaps he considers himself the sheriff†¦I have no taxes in Jefferson.† (Faulkner 378) Then the Board of Aldermen says â€Å"But there is nothing on the books to show that, you see. We must go by the†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Faulkner 378). It is the town’s own fault for not having proper records of who has to pay taxes and who does not have to pay them. The whole problem of Emily not paying her taxes is put on her by the town and then made worse by the town when they try to change their mind on Emily’s tax status. The next thing that the town does to cause Emily’s problems is to pry into her personal life and try to change it. The town says, â€Å"At last they could pity Miss Emily. Being left alone, and a pauper, she had become humanized.† (Faulkner 379) Her being inhuman is a matter of their thought, not hers. Then they say â€Å"Poor Emily† (Faulkner 380) when she starts being seen with Homer Barron and they think she might marry him. The town should have no reason to pity her, as she seems to be in love with a good man. They don’t like the man because he is a northerner, which is another problem altogether for the town. The town then begins to think it is wrong for Emily to be seen with Homer, as they say â€Å"Then some of the ladies began to say it is a disgrace to the town and a bad example to the young people† (Faulkner 381). So the town forces its will upon their minister who goes to talk with Emily. The town says â€Å"He would never div ulge what happened during that interview, but he refuses to go back again† (Faulkner 381). Once again the town tries to force its ideas upon Emily. The people of the town should just let her live her life the way she sees fit. The other source of Emily’s problems is her family. Her father chases away any men that came to try to court Miss Emily. The town says, â€Å"We remember all the young men her father had driven away†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Faulkner 379). They also say â€Å"The people in our town†¦believe that the Griersons hold themselves a little too high for what they really are† (Faulkner 379). The town forms its opinion of Emily from how it sees her family. Then the town says of her cousins â€Å"We were glad because the two female cousins were even more Grierson than Miss Emily had ever been† (Faulkner 381). The town is once again assuming that Emily is like her family, when they don’t even know her. Had Emily not been born to the Grierson family, she probably would have a much more normal lifestyle. Emily’s problems come from the town and the precedents her family has set. Emily is only acting the way she thinks everyone expects her to act. â€Å"[Faulkner wishes] to force the reader to look behind the words to the hidden, more profound meaning that is nowhere expressly embodied in the writing† writes Claude-Edmonde Magny (144). In society today children of the poor are often seen as growing up to be poor, and therefore many of them do. Treating them in this way only contributes to their demise, just as treating Emily the way the town and her family do contributes to hers. Faulkner is saying in his subtle way that society should open its mind. Faulkner, William. â€Å"A Rose for Emily.† Fictions. Eds. Joseph F. Trimmer and C. Wade Jennings. 3rd ed. Orlando: Harcourt Brace, 1994. Magny, Claude-Edmonde. â€Å"Faulkner, or Theological Inversion†. Contemporary Literary Criticism 18 (1981): 143-145. Research Papers on More than a Rose - English Literature EssayWhere Wild and West Meet19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraNever Been Kicked Out of a Place This NiceThe Effects of Illegal ImmigrationCapital PunishmentTrailblazing by Eric AndersonThe Spring and AutumnHonest Iagos Truth through DeceptionInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesBook Review on The Autobiography of Malcolm X

Moral vs. Ethical

Moral vs. Ethical Moral vs. Ethical Moral vs. Ethical By Maeve Maddox A reader has asked for a discussion of the adjectives moral and ethical: I have been writing professionally for 40 years and I still cannot get these straight. There seems to be more than a casual or preferential distinction. One difference between the adjectives moral and ethical is that moral has been in the language longer. A similarity is that moral is a translation of the ancient Greek word ethikos from which the adjective ethical derives. Both words refer to human character and behavior. Moral entered English in the 14th century from Old French moral: â€Å"pertaining to character or temperament.† It derives from the noun moralis, from the Latin noun mos in its genitive form (moris): â€Å"one’s disposition.† The adjective ethical entered English in the 16th century with the meaning â€Å"pertaining to morality.† Note: The plural of mos gives us the word mores: â€Å"the shared habits, manners, and customs of a community or social group.† Greek philosopher Aristotle used ethikos as the title of a treatise on the branch of knowledge dealing with moral principles. Clearly, the two words, moral and ethical, are closely related in meaning. In the 14th century, moral meant â€Å"morally good, conforming to moral rules.† Moral stories taught moral behavior. Everything Chaucer’s Oxford student said was â€Å"filled with moral virtue.† The first definition of the adjective moral in the OED gives ethical as a synonym: moral (adjective): of or relating to human character or behavior considered as good or bad; of or relating to the distinction between right and wrong, or good and evil, in relation to the actions, desires, or character of responsible human beings; ethical. Both words, moral and ethical, describe human behavior in reference to right and wrong. Modern usage assigns moral to behavior dictated by internal standards and ethical to behavior dictated by external standards. Sometimes the two types of behavior coincide. For example, taking a child away from abusive parents is both moral and ethical. Sending a child back to abusive parents for legal reasons is ethical, but not moral. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Dialogue Dos and Don'tsThe Possessive Apostrophe6 Foreign Expressions You Should Know

Book Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Book Report - Essay Example She is the Director of Family Achievement Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, and a clinical professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. She has twenty years of clinical work experience, working with families and concerned parents (Rimm, 1996). In an era where there exists varying family set-ups, such as families with gay or lesbian parents, single-parent families, step families and traditional two parent families, Dr. Sylivia wrote this book to provide a parenting blueprint, especially to parents who are not in a position to meet her or attend her talks in person. She employs her compassionate, yet no-nonsense style in presenting basic strategies to parents, for guiding children from birth to adulthood (Rimm, 1996). Exceptionally arranged, this book comprises of cornerstone as an alternative of chapters. Questions are grouped per cornerstone, and answers provided at the end. To facilitate skimming, innovative skills are placed in margins, to enable those seeking advice on issues such as bedtime battles, attention deficit disorder and shyness find answers easily(Rimm, 1996). This book covers a wide area of everyday family life. Its covers issues on common annoyances and deeper issues. Sensitive topics which are rarely discussed, such as immigrant’s parents, grand parenting, and marital problems between husband and wife and its’ impacts on children are discussed respectfully. The book considers it necessary for parents to review their difference and avoid quarreling in front of their children because this kind of approach impacts them negatively. Another material covered by this book is selection of appropriate rewards and punishments, aiming at decreasing arguments and power struggles. Dr. Rimm encourages independence of parents without over empowering the children. In her book, Dr. Sylvia provides practical guides to parents on how to form a united front, how they should cooperate with school and the teachersto

The Brain All You AreIs Here Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Brain All You AreIs Here - Essay Example Through the use of fMRI, which is a non-invasive scan as compared to the X-ray, brain tumors are detected. It can also detect brain activities such as blood flow which is helpful recognizing brain activity according to the article. The article also suggests that the prefrontal cortex contains the sense of â€Å"self† in the young child. But as people mature, this â€Å"self† maybe located in different regions of the brain especially when higher order thinking skills are involved. Synapses also play a crucial role in brain development since they are points of contact during the exchanges of neurons firing to one another. These synapses grow or develop inside the brain of a fetus. Long-term memories are believed to be stored in the hippocampus ( part of limbic system) which is not yet fully developed on a child. Likewise, the amygdala can also hold â€Å"highly emotional memories† ( The Mind,p.12). Interestingly a research made by the NIMH in Maryland reveals that is during puberty period that the brain experiences another round of growth. The basic functions as well as sensory processing usually develops first in the extreme back and front portions of the brain. Next to develop in the parietal lobes of the brain are language functions and spatial orientation. This is also the reason why curriculum in the educational system is attuned to the level of development of the brain. Students in lower levels cannot process higher thinking activities unless their brain is developed. Last to develop is the prefrontal cortex where most decision making are processed. This meant weighing alternatives , making short term plans or even checking one’s self on e thical conduct is involved. Indeed, such complex mental functions can only be given to mature individuals. This just attests to the fact that people’s brain gradually develop and mature through adulthood. Aside from experiencing development, certain