How does Augustine define love?
Augustine states continuously that he was not yet in love, but was in love with love. This statement doesn’t make sense to me. I don’t believe that someone can be in love with something, if he or she doesn’t understand what love is. “I was not yet in love, but I was in love with love, and from the very depth of my need hated myself for not more keenly feeling the need.” (pg. 35) How can Augustine hate himself if he doesn’t know what loves feel like? I think a lot of Augustine’s statements about love are interesting. Augustine has some very good points about love, but he contradicts himself also. Is Augustine saying he wasn’t in love or he doesn’t understand love? Both of these statements make me wonder how can he be in love with love, if he isn’t in love.
After stating this, Augustine continues to support his statement by talking about friendship. Is the friendship Augustine mentions lustful or sincerely about love? “Thus I polluted the stream of friendship with the filth of unclean desire and sullied its limpidity with the hell of lust.” (pg. 35) Obviously Augustine is letting the idea of love turn straight to lust. He talks about unclean desires, but he says he wants to be clean and courtly. Maybe Augustine has the wrong idea about love. Love is when you care deeply about someone and will do anything for them. Thinking about sexual desires and physical attractions are defining...
...fer temporal goods (such as our body, health, beauty and so on) over goods of the will (such as knowledge and virtue)—inordinate desire’. The way we undergo these acts is by our own free will. Because we do not allow our minds to control the irrational parts of our souls and to perceive the eternal truths/ form/ being/ God, we sin; we allow our minds to be enslaved to inordinate desire. In other words, Augustine argues that we often turn away from the eternal truths, or the ethical truths, towards non-being which is evil because of temporal things. He says that evil lies in one’s intention, and not in their actions because one does evil as a result of their love for temporal goods; we misidentify the goods of the will (virtues) with temporal goods (wealth, honors, pleasures, physical pleasures and everything that a person cannot acquire of have simply by willing).
Anne’s diary began on her thirteenth birthday. She had a normal life for a girl of her age, and valued the same things as any girl; she loved being with her friends, enjoyed school and already had established a passion for writing which she expressed through her diary. She first wrote “I hope I will be able to confide everything to you, as I have never been able to confide in anyone, and I hope you will be a great source of comfort and support,” it is established that Anne, although a very social young girl, felt that she could not confide in her friends. The tone with which she wrote and the trivial matters that she wrote about exemplify her young age and lack of maturity. She wrote for the sake of writing, and wrote about the happenings in her life. When the first signs of anti-Semitism started to show, signs of worry showed through her writing, but she never wrote too deeply about it.
Three weeks before they were found Anne wrote in her diary: “Day and night during every waking hour, I do nothing but ask myself have you given him enough chance to be alone? Have you been spending too much time upstairs? Do you talk about serious subjects he’s not yet ready to talk about...?” (Frank 212) They were discovered after two years of hiding and were deported to concentration camps. Her father is the only one of the eight people to survive in the concentration camps. She is an inspiration to many people around the world to have gone through all that at such a young age. Through everything she went through she had kept a diary. Anne Frank had a crazy, but scary childhood, but a good family by her side every step of the way, she died at a young age, and kept a diary which was published into a book.
Desperately, people turn to use some words loosely. Take note when you are talking with people and you hear them using reminiscent words such as smart, pretty, beautiful, intelligent, or love in sentences. For the purpose of this paper, I will focus on the word Love due to the fact that love turns to apply in all the other words that people use loosely. There are numerous definitions of the word love, but I will pick one from Dictionary.com that states: A feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend. It’s obvious that a large majority of people are content when they hear the phrase “I Love You”. On the other hand, when a person says I love you, it can be misinterpreted effortlessly. One question I
The Holocaust was a time of sadness for many people. However, one story that took place during the Holocaust was truly inspiring and impacted the lives of many people around the world. This was the story of Anne Frank and her family. Anne Frank was one of over one million Jews who died in the Holocaust (Anne Frank 1). In September 1939, when World War II began, more than one and a half million Jews lived in countries occupied, or soon to be occupied by Hitler (Lee 1). Because of this many families were forced into concentration camps due to Hitler during this time. However, Anne’s family decided to try and avoid the brutal camps by going into hiding in the secret annex. Anne Frank and her family are famously known for Anne’s diary that was found by Miep Gies in the secret annex (Anne Frank 1). Not long after the diary was found, Anne’s story was known all around the world. Anne Frank impacted the lives of many by showing people an insight of what life was really like for Jews under Hitler’s control and being someone who people can look up to. Therefore, Anne Frank impacted the lives of many people around the world and has become a “famous symbol for the lost promise of the children who died in the Holocaust” (Anne Frank 1).
Augustine states continuously that he was not yet in love, but was in love with love. This statement doesn't make sense to me. I don't believe that someone can be in love with something, if he or she doesn't understand what love is. "I was not yet in love, but I was in love with love, and from the very depth of my need hated myself for not more keenly feeling the need." (pg. 35) How can Augustine hate himself if he doesn't know what loves feel like? I think a lot of Augustine's statements about love are interesting. Augustine has some very good points about love, but he contradicts himself also. Is Augustine saying he wasn't in love or he doesn't understand love? Both of these statements make me wonder how can he be in love with love, if he isn't in love.
On Anne’s thirteenth birthday she received various presents, but the present that she cherished the most was her diary that she named “Kitty”. The Diary of Anne Frank, captures Anne’s feelings, emotions, thoughts, and events that surrounded her. On May 10, 1940 the German Army invaded the Netherlands, where Anne and her family lived. The invasion caused them to go into secret hiding, because of fear of their life. This was the first measure in the campaign of persecution against the Jews of the Netherlands. A short phrase captures Anne’s emotions about this situation; “Anti-Jewish decrees followed each other in quick succession. Jews must wear yellow star, Jews must hand in their bicycles, Jew are banned from trams and are forbidden to drive. Jews must be indoor by eight o’clock and cannot even sit in their own gardens after hour. Jews may not take part in any public sports. Jews may not visit Christians. Our freedom was strictly limited. Yet things were bearable.” Even though things were tough, Anne always tried to look for the good things in situations and make the best of them.
In his Confessions, Augustine relates that, in his school years, he was required to read Virgil’s Aeneid. The ill-fated romance of Aeneas and Dido produced such an emotional effect on him. Augustine says that Virgil’s epic caused him to forget his own “wanderings” (Augustine 1116). He wept over Dido’s death, but remained “dry-eyed to [his] own pitiful state” (Augustine 1116 – 7). Augustine later rejects literature and theater because he believes that they distract the soul from God. Nonetheless, Augustine shares many of the same experience as the characters in the Aeneid. Augustine discovers that love can be destructive, just as it was for Dido. Both Aeneas and Augustine of them give up love for the sake of duty. Aeneas leaves Dido to fulfill his calling given by the gods. Augustine ends his lustful affairs in order that he may devote himself to his God.
Born on June 12, 1929, Anne Frank was a German-Jewish teenager who was forced to go into hiding during the Holocaust. She and her family, along with four others, spent 25 months during World War II in an annex of rooms above her father's office in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. During the two years in hiding which Anne refers to as "a time when the ideals are being shattered and destroyed, when the worst side of human nature predominates, when every one has come to doubt truth, justice and God (pg.327)." Anne kept a diary that was given to her by her father, Otto Frank, on her birthday. Between June 1942 and August 1944, from Anne's thirteenth birthday until shortly after her fifteenth birthday, Anne recorded her feelings, her emotions, and her thoughts, as well as the events that happened to her. "…[I]deas, dreams, and cherished hopes rise within us only to meet the horrible truth and be shattered…yet in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart (pg. 327)."
It is estimated that around the world, 80% of people use herbal medicines as a primary health care through the World Health Organization("Herbal Medicine: MedlinePlus.").This makes sense, since some of the most populated places on earth are China and India which are third world nations that cannot afford and have not been modernized completely still sticking to ancient practice that are reliably for them.Even though the United States is a first world nation,Americans have a lower life expectancy and worse health care than all the other first world nations(Bland, DR. Jeffrey S). This fact is incredibly starling for the reason that the US has some most advanced treatments in the world.The problem is that contagious illness will not kill, but the chronic ones like heart disease and diabetes will kills society.“ Yet that is exactly the same medicine today as society face a tsunami of chronic disease that will cost on global economy 47 trillion dollars over the next 20 years and kill twice as many people around the world as infectious diseases(Bland, DR. Jeffrey S).”The truth is that treating the chronic disorders is not cheaper and is not realistic.The health care is like anything less it should be focused on preparing the problems the same as a someone would change the oil in their car so that it does not blow up the engine and the machining have to replace the whole thing.This is like what people are doing today, but unlike a car person cannot replace the engine when it is destroyed .Think about the numbers the facts is that if doctors were proving diseased that people could treat more people that more serious disease fully.Researcher could spend more time understanding the mind more and less threatening destroyed that still legitimately affects
The second circle of hell, a realm for those who fell victim of their carnal desires, is another level at which to place Augustine’s soul for he was consumed by lust in his pre-conversion days. He was encouraged by his family to learn the art of persuasion and making of fine speech when he was only sixteen. He used these skills, which he developed very well, along with his good looks to seduce as many women as possible. It was “in that sixteenth year of my life in this world, when the madness of lust. . . took complete control of me, and I surrendered to it” (Confessions, 987). He was in love with being in love. Yet, he was unable to discern between love and lust.
When thinking about statistics on child abuse, it’s very helpful to know that the idea of “child abuse” is very controversial. Recently, in particular homes and cultures, child abuse has come to be seen as a major social problem and a main cause of many people’s suffering and personal problems. Some believe that we are beginning to face the true prevalence and significance of child abuse. There is more to child abuse than just the physical scars; children are affected socially, mentally, and emotionally. According to the American National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse, in 1997, neglect represented 54% of confirmed cases of child abuse, physical abuse 22%, sexual abuse 8%, emotional maltreatment 4%, and other forms of maltreatment 12%.
..., the closer he was really moving toward God. He began to realize that God is all good, so nothing he creates will be of evil. “God does not create evil but it is of the world” (Augustine 230-31). Once he took responsibility for his personal life and spiritual walk, Augustine began to uncover the truths to his life. He reveals one must take responsibility for their actions and confess to develop a stronger connection with God. He then comprehends; God allows bad things to happen in your life to show you that you need him. Evil is not a lesser good, but it is a reflection of ones moral well-being. In order for one’s well being to be saved one must confess their sins to Christ.
Some people believe that there is no such thing as “true love” they believe that love is nothing but an illusion designed by social expectations. These people believe that love ultimately turns into pain and despair. This idea in some ways is true. Love is not eternal it will come to an end one way or another, but the aspect that separates true love from illusion, is the way love ends. “True Love” is much too powerful to be destroyed by Human imperfection; it may only be destroyed by a force equal to the power of love. Diotima believed that “Love is wanting to posses the good forever” In other words love is the desire to be immortal and the only way that we are able to obtain immortality is through reproduction, and since the act of reproduction is a form of sexual love, then sexual love is in fact a vital part of “True love”. Sexual love is not eternal. This lust for pleasure will soon fade, but the part of love that is immortal, is a plutonic love. You can relate this theory to the birth of love that Diotima talks about. She says that love was born by a mortal mother and immortal father. The mother represents the sexual love, the lust for pleasure. The father represents the plutonic love that is immortal. Plutonic love is defined as a true friendship, the purest of all relationships. A true plutonic love will never die; it transcends time, space, and even death.
Have you ever experienced child abuse before? Think about the children who have been abused. They cannot protect themselves from it. Most of them are so small they don’t know what’s going on. Child Abuse has been around for many and many years, but nobody knows a way to stop it. Child Abuse is not only a bad problem, but it’s a problem that has to be stopped.