Throughout Meditation One in The Meditation of the First Philosophy, Descartes reflects on a number of falsehoods he has believed throughout his life. He does this to create a system in order to clarify whether they are true or false, so that he can build a basic structure from which future knowledge can be based. This approach is called Method of Doubt. Doubt is defined as a feeling of uncertainty. Descartes opens Mediation One by stating that if he wants to establish information that is firm and lasting in the sciences, he would have to begin from the earliest foundations from which his current knowledge has been built upon. He establishes that the task includes breaking down the components that make up his general knowledge.…
In the poem, “A Summer’s Evening Meditation”, Anna Barbuald uses rich imagery to depict a unique journey across the universe through the use of contemplation, the desire to know and questions that sparks the speaker’s curiosity. The desire that we as humans have to know is the aspect of what this poem highlights. Barbuald allows the speaker to contemplate through the creation of God to find that inner peace and strengthen her relationship with the divine. The speaker first contemplates, then asks questions and later on she wants to know new knowledge to surpass the old knowledge she already knows.…
A text is essentially a product of its context, as its prevailing values are inherently derived by the author from society. However, the emergence of post-modern theories allows for audience interpretation, thus it must be recognised that meaning in texts can be shaped and reshaped. Significantly, this may occur as connections between texts are explored. These notions are reflected in the compostion of Edson’s W;t and Donne’s poetry as their relationship is established through intertextual references, corresponding values and ideas and the use of language features. Edson particularly portrays key values surrounding the notions of the importance of loved based relationships, and death and resurrection: central themes of Donne’s Holy Sonnets and Divine Poems. The purpose of these authors distinctly correlate as each has attempted to provide fresh insight into the human condition by challenging prevalent ideals. Thus, Edson incorporates Donne’s work to illuminate both explicit and implicit themes, creating an undeniable condition.…
Among Descartes’ many notable arguments, in the Sixth Meditation he makes a case for the real distinction between mind and body. This idea that mind and body are distinct was not common during Descartes’ time and conflicted directly with the popularly accepted scholastic view of the human being as a hylomorphic substance. The argument of the Sixth Meditation draws on much of Descartes’ own work concerning substance, attributes and distinction. In this paper, I will argue that he arrives at the conclusion that mind and body are in fact distinct by a categorical syllogism, focusing primarily on defending the minor premise that mind and body can be conceived as separate.…
You Just Don’t Understand Women and Men in Conversation by Deborah Tannen is basically an explanation on how women and men converse. Tannens main goal is to give advice to the different genders in order for them to avoid as much conflict as possible. Tannen’s main ideas are to explain how differently women and men react to each other’s way of being. It’s like they’re in their own little world while living in the same big world. Men tend to try to dominate situations and tend to always want to be at the top. Women do not tend to want to get into conflict but tend to show understanding. These big differences bring them into conflict. A Tannen explains, “What he wanted conflicted with what she wanted”. (40) Women and men are constantly clashing in opinions.…
In contrast, In Meditation 17, Donne does not imply that death is feared by some, or that it is thought to have monumental power. He comments more on the effect it has on humanity. He compares life to a book, comparing each person to a chapter in this great book of life. Again, he regards death not as the end of life, but a beginning of a new one. He parallels it to the translation of each chapter to a different language, the language of the afterlife, with each chapter awaiting the inevitable translation. And since death is just a translation, wisdom can, and must be gained from it. Donne regards death not as a loss to the person afflicted by it, but as a…
1. In the opening paragraphs, White's attitude was of reminasance and awe. The nostalgia of his memory shared with us not once but twice. His urge to revisit the lake was strengthened with the readers urge to read just a bit more detail. White claws us into the memory with him, like we were there as a story teller, telling ourselves about what was happening, what it smelled and felt like. His attitude was of a warm "jollity" that invited us to join.…
The Meditator is alone, no trees, no people, no oceans, no mountains, no earth, no moon; just him and his isolation. In “Meditation Three”, Descartes goes much deeper than just his famous philosophical ideal — if “one can think one can be”(Descartes 19). He goes on to explain how there must be a God. He states that if there was not a God, people would have created themselves. If this were to be true, everyone would create themselves as perfect people. Descartes believes that there must be a God. God created humans and other humans and other objects to allow humans to think. This human ability to think allows them to exist. If nothing else were to exist and the Meditator was alone in the universe then he could not think and without thought,…
An individual’s sense of connectedness is conditional upon one’s acceptance of others and by others.…
In Meditation one, Descartes initially writes about a blanket of ignorance that he feels he’s been trapped under for his entire life up until this point. He says “I had accepted, even from my youth, many false opinions for true.” With this statement, Descartes decides to do a spring cleaning of sorts of all his beliefs that he has reason to doubt. He makes a point to mention though, that not all of his beliefs are false or able to be refuted.…
In the "Mediations of First Philosophy" Descartes tries to prove the existence of God in the third meditation. He does this by coming up with several premises that eventually add up to a solid argument. First, I will explain why Descartes ask the question, does god exist? And why does Descartes think he needs such and argument at this point in the text. Secondly, I will explain, in detail, the arguments that Descartes makes and how he comes to the conclusion that God does exist. Next, I will debate some of Descartes premises that make his argument an unsound one, including circular reasoning. Finally, I will see if his unsound argument has diminished and undermined his principal goals and the incorrigible foundation of knowledge.…
One of the most popular metaphors Donne uses is "No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were any mans death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee." Here Donne is trying to say that one person cannot stand-alone. Human beings need each other for survival and support. Donne then starts to talk about the death bell. He says whenever the bell tolls it is tolling for more than the one person who has died but it also is tolling for those who have been left behind to grieve over the death.…
In the second meditation Descartes discusses analyzing a fresh piece of wax examining its physical attributes “... it still tastes of honey and has the scent of the flowers from which the honey was gathered; its colour, shape and size are plain to see; it is hard, cold and can be handled easily…” (Descartes). He then imagine it placed within a fire noticing all its physical attributes change the wax loses its fragrance, colour, and shape; it now has become soft, warm and cannot be easily handled. However, Descartes is still able to identify it as wax. Even though his sight would perceive the wax as a completely different substance if it completely liquified it could be mistaken for some type of oil or even water. The assumption would remain…
Individuals and society are usually linked together when considering most things in life. C. Wright Mills writes that "the first fruit of this imagination is the idea that the individual can understand his own experience and gauge his own fate only be locating himself within his period, that he can know his own chances in life only by becoming aware of those of all individuals in his circumstances" (p. 45). By this, Mills is saying that in order for individuals to fully understand their lives and to be able to answer the questions they may have about their own lives they must first be able to experience and understand the lives of other individuals that make up the society in which they live.…
Prufrock is in-love with a woman or being in-love about his experiences in life. In the first stanza, “Let us go then, you and I, When the evening is spread out against the sky”, Prufrock, wants us to believe that he is with a woman but the third line, Prufrock he talks someone that is sick. In addition, the stanza that I like is in line 26 - 29, “There will be time, there will be time…” this is the time for Prufrock to think and start meeting new people or new woman. He works hard for himself and but he doesn’t have family to leave all his things…