Humanism: Dangerous Illusion, Desperate Faith or Duty of Time?
Abstract: In antiquity, the idea of padeia organically joined learning and education. In today's world it remains the essence of culture. However, philosophy is now characterized by a spirit of pragmatism that correlates present-day needs with actual sociocultural trends. Humanism can seem today nothing more than an illusion, an unrealizable utopia. Nevertheless, philosophy in its educative role should shape a attitude to life that is not only deep and universal but humanistic as well.
The present congress, developing the themes of the previous one ("The mankind at the turning-point"), concretizes them, marking a special role of philosophy in "education of humanity". In this aspect reference to the antique "paideia" notion, organically combining education and upbringing, is not casual. The motto of the last philosophical congress in this century grasps the tendencies and needs of culture which begun to show of late. That's what is the prerogative of philosophy as "a permanent watchman, guardian of culture".
He is so historically, socially and culturally determined that humanity greets a turn of centuries, the so much of millennia, jubilating and worrying at the same time. The situation so fraught with possibilities and dangers if not satisfied may lead to crush of the mankind that has proved bankrupt. We have found ourselves in the bifurcation process admitting as well "the end of history" in its most tragic sense.
Philosophy plays the most important part in formation, basing of new values, innoticing emerging trends, choice of arising variants.
Reflexing over culture as a whole philosophy allows to correlate the needs and potenties of the current moment with actual trends. Combining the prognostic and projective functions philosophy forms the sprouts of new world outlooks and conditions of "natural" refusal of obsolete, out of date ones. This role is not conspicuous: philosophical thought must be ready for the fact that penetrates public consciousness neither directly nor immediately, but implicitly, gradually, embracing the most diversified spheres of spiritual activity and only in long time achieving the status of the spiritual objectivized. So much more comprehensive, deep and prolonged its impact is. It has been correctly stated that these were Kant and Hegel who had the most influence over their contemporaries' minds (so few of them actually knew their works, at that). Well-known is Martin Luther King's role in stopping the Vietnam war, changing the whole mentality of the American nation, not so long ago allowing "witchhunt" and racism.
Vico, Giambattista. On Humanistic Education (Six Inaugural Orations. 1699-1707). Trs. Giorgio A. Pinton and Arthur W. Shippee. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1993.
Alice Walker’s short creative nonfiction, Dreads uses imagery to convey her narrative about a hairstyle that was inspired by singer, Bob Marley. Dreads are defined as a “hairstyle in which the hair is washed, but not combed, and twisted while wet into braids or ringlets hanging down on all sides”, according to howtogetdreads.com. Imagery was chosen for this paper by the depth of Walker’s illustration of beauty that natural hair has that might seem to be abonnement or not professional by society standards. This reading sparks interests just by the title a lone. That people have mixed feeling about dreads, some might see it as being spiritual; or as a political statement. However, Walker loves the way her natural hair is supposed to form without
...iends do not care about being educated and aspire to make easy money, Sandy dreams of becoming a teacher and spends his time philosophically questioning what he sees around him(186-188). In the end, when his mother Annjee is almost about to ruin Hager and Tempy’s hope for a bright and intellectual future for Sandy, Aunt Harriet pitches in and promises that she would provide for Sandy’s education so that Aunt Hager’s dreams for him would be realized (217). Therefore, the moral and intellectual effect on the protagonist by the characters Aunt Hager and Aunt Tempy in Not Without Laughter pave the way for Sandy’s adult life as he grows up under their care. Thus reiterating the importance of the effect that our close companions in our life have on how we turn out to be.
In the field of philosophy there can be numerous answers to a general question, depending on a particular philosopher's views on the subject. Often times an answer is left undetermined. In the broad sense of the word and also stated in the dictionary philosophy can be described as the pursuit of human knowledge and human values. There are many different people with many different theories of knowledge. Two of these people, also philosophers, in which this paper will go into depth about are Descartes and Plato. Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy and Plato's The Republic are the topics that are going to be discussed in this paper.
...y thinks, but is greatly influenced by the society’s conflicts and the mindsets of its people. In the case of Plato and Epictetus, the philosophies that they came up with were formed by the loss of faith in the system of government, life as a slave, and personal experiences in exile. These experiences helped these philosophers to create a set of guidelines that got them through their ordeals and live out the rest of their lives. In understanding these works, we are able to understand how historical events and ideas of the time helped to lead history down the path that it did. Following the change in thought and how different philosophies develop in different environments also allows use to gauge how conditions improve or decline over time. Being able to see the patterns in the past may very well help us predict whether life in the future will flourish or decline.
... reflects the accomplishments made in four centuries. While man still does not have absolute free speech, he is not so suppressed that he must hide his feelings by literary means.
Fukuyama discusses the work of past philosophers, particularly Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, to explore the idea of history and its past, present and end. Hegel pinpointed the French Revolution as the start of the liberal and democratic system. He commented on how the triumph of the numerous poor to persuade the rich to give them what they want. When this system began to be realized in the world, Hegel argued that with this ideology major issues that characterized changes in history, such as war, would diminish. To pr...
".... the goal of grooming the hair had morphed from the elaborate and symbolic designs of Africa into an imitation of White styles adapted to Black kinks and curls...
It is one of the first things people see. It can make or break you. “If your hair is relaxed, white people are relaxed. If your hair is nappy, they are not happy.” This was said by one of the people being interviewed in the documentary, and the meaning basically means that relaxed hair equals happiness and un-relaxed hair equals the opposite. Yet, the nature of "relaxing" is not very relaxing. It is a long, tricky and expensive business whose purpose is to get black women's hair to resemble European hair – the idea is to "relax" the white people who come into contact with black women. Furthermore, black hair products are largely controlled and manufactured by white people. Rock shows that black women have made this style their own – it is no cultural cringe to white
At no time was a search for the cure for influenza more frantic than after the devastating effects of the pandemic of 1918. The pandemic killed somewhere between twenty and a hundred million people, making it twenty five times more deadly than the ordinary cough and sneeze flu. The symptoms of this flu were like something straight out of a horror movie: the victim’s facial complexion changed to a dark, brownish purple, the feet turned black, and they began to cough up blood. Eventually, death was caused, literally by drowning, when the victim’s lungs filled with their own blood. The first scientist to claim to solve the enigma of influenza was Dr. Friedrich Johann Pfeiffer. He isolated a bacterium he named Hemophilus influenzae from the respiratory tract of those who had the flu in the pandemic of 1890. He was believed to be correct in his discovery until the pandemic of 1918, when scientists searched the respiratory tracts of influenza victims and only sometimes found his bacterium. Robert E. Shope and his mentor Paul Lewis were the next to attempt to crack the code of influenza. They chose to study the disease in pigs, a controversial choice because many people believed that the swine influenza pigs were contracting was not the same as the human flu. The first experiment they ran was ba...
Philosophy can best be described as an abstract, scholarly discourse. According to the Greek, philosophia refers to ‘love of knowledge’. This is an aspect that has involved a great number of clever minds in the world’s history. They have sought to deal with issues surrounding the character of veracity and significantly exploring the endeavors to respond to these issues. This paper seeks to compare and contrast the philosophy of Aristotle with that of Confucius. This is with a clear concentration on the absolute functions of these philosophies and how they take care of the particular responsibility of a person and the broader society and the resultant effects on societies (Barnes, 1995).
“The common outcry, which is justly made on behalf of human rights - for example, the right to health, to home, to work, to family, to culture - is false and illusory if the right to life, the most basic and fundamental right and the condition of all other personal rights is not defended with maximum determination.” -- Pope John Paul II
According to Merriam Webster dictionary, humanism is defined as “system of values and beliefs that is based on the idea that people are basically good and that problems can be solved using reason instead of religion”. In this essay, I will be discussing what humanism is and the assumption and attitudes that it brings to society, culture, and the universe that prevailed in Western Europe before the Renaissance. Finally, I will discuss how Humanism posed a challenge to the traditional worldview of the Catholic Church.
Early thought processes concerning education laid the groundwork for the modern philosophy of education, including university structures and frameworks. What our ancients have advocated is said to be the cause of every century’s success in continually gaining knowledge. But Plato and Aristotle had very different opinions when it came to the education branch of life.
Western philosophy has three fundamental eras. These are the ancient era, medieval era, and the modern era. The ancient era mostly incorporates the works of Roman and Greek thinkers, some of whom were influenced by mainly by the developments in Mesopotamia and Egypt. During the ancient period, Greek philosophy was dominant and most creative. The Romans also contributed their part, but they were primarily building on what the Greeks had come up with earlier. The Romans did not add any substantial part that could give them the recognition of Greek caliber. Medieval philosophy was heavily reliant on Christianity. It did have el...