I would like to present the 20th Century Genius Award to Dr. Maya Angelou. She is a remarkable Renaissance woman who is hailed as one of the great voices of contemporary literature. As a poet‚ educator‚ historian‚ best-selling author‚ actress‚ playwright‚ civil-rights activist‚ producer and director‚ she continues to travel the world‚ spreading her legendary wisdom. Within the rhythm of her poetry and elegance of her prose lies Angelou’s unique power to help readers of every orientation span the
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The Television series show Star Trek: The Next Generation’s episode “Ship in a Bottle” has several connections to Descartes Meditations. For instance‚ in Meditations 1‚ Descartes talks about the evil genius argument which ultimately is referring to having reason to doubt the totality of what your senses tell you as well as the mathematical knowledge that it seems you have (At 22). In the “Ship in the Bottle” episode‚ James Moriarty‚ also known as Sherlock Holmes arch enemy‚ was a hologram character
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Descartes wrote Meditation One with the intention of questioning and challenging the beliefs he holds‚ especially of there being a supreme God‚ in order for these beliefs to become stronger. The first meditation starts with him recalling the false opinions he had in the past. He seeks to doubt and reevaluate these things‚ and he also wants to directly attack the foundations that held up his beliefs. He then continues by talking about the senses which may sometimes be deceptive. There are still things
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Descartes‚ sometimes called the founder of modern philosophy‚ attempts to use the method‚ set forth by Galileo‚ to lay the foundation for Philosophy. “He also looked to defeat skepticism on its own ground” (Kemerling). His cogito argument is significant because it is the foundation for his philosophical thinking and the first solid truth after emptying the basket of apples. His evil demon and dreaming doubt arguments are part of his method of doubt and his reasoning for starting philosophical reasoning
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Rene Descartes and God’s Existence Rene Descartes was a French philosopher‚ mathematician and a scientist in the seventeenth century. As a man of science‚ Descartes wanted to make discoveries in science as factual as mathematics. With Descartes’s faith‚ he did not eliminate God from philosophy. Descartes‚ “The Father of Modern Philosophy”‚ was a Catholic who wrote the Meditations on First Philosophy. “The Meditations is characterized by Descartes’s use of methodic doubt‚ a systematic procedure
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One of the most salient and oft-mentioned arguments that arise concerning Hamlet is whether he can be considered truly mad‚ or simply genius. Did these situations- the ghost’s arrival‚ The Murder of Gonzago‚ and Polonius’s murder in any way change his course? While it is true that all humans have the potential for deeds with magnitudes of great good and evil‚ was he already bloodthirsty‚ did he become bloodthirsty‚ or was his brutality simply awoken from its slumber? While some may argue that Hamlet
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the Body”‚ Descartes tasked himself with using philosophical reasoning in determining truths of the universe and of his own being. Motivated to justify that which he has held to be true‚ and to use those truths to find answers for questions that he poses both of the truths themselves and of his own existence‚ Descartes became suspicious of even the most basic elements of himself. Therefore‚ he needed to explore one innate form that he could be absolutely sure of: his own mind. Descartes closes the
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Problem of Evil What is Evil? Natural Evil Natural Evil is all the causes of suffering and includes all evil caused by natural means – not by human doing. This could include natural disasters‚ droughts‚ disease‚ or even being killed by an animal. In all these there is no human perpetrator to blame for the “infliction” of evil. Natural is the broad term covering all these things. Natural Evil stands in contrast to moral evil. Moral Evil Moral evil is the broad term covering all evil where there
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taught in the Holy Scriptures‚ and‚ on the other hand‚ that we must believe the Holy Scriptures because they come from God “(Descartes 1). He then doubts himself if god does really exist. Through examining his thoughts‚ he ends up believing that the idea of God exists because of his innate idea of God which has to be God who “is the cause of this idea”(Descartes 25). Descartes then explains more in depth saying‚ “I have no choice but to conclude that the mere fact of my existing is and of there being
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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. The first doubt that Descartes highlights is that of
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