Existentialism is Humanism Essay Example for Free

Existentialism is Humanism Essay The assumption by Sartre that existence precedes essence takes back the traditional thinking of philosophers about essence and existence. In general they thought that essence precedes existence in certain ways. Sartre posits that they are right to some extent. When he observes that â€Å"Existence precedes essence† he does not mean that this is always the case, but rather that sometimes it is so. This can be explained using his example in the essay about the â€Å"paper knife†. In this case of the paper knife, Sartre argues that essence precedes existence, â€Å"that is to say the sum of the procedures and the qualities which made its production and its definition possible – precedes its existence† (Sartre 1946). Essence is the expression created when something is given a definition. Essence sets the limits of an object and provides the basic properties of a thing; that is what it has or what it doesn’t have in order to serve its purpose of existence. In this case, essence precedes existence in the logic that before a designer manufactured the knife there was some plan for it that existed in his or her mind. This plan is the essence (Sartre 1943). Therefore when Sartre says that essence precedes existence in this case he is simply recognizing the fact that the knife was premeditated first and later on it was produced. This means the plan to produce the knife was there first and later it was produced following that plan. From this example it is easy to track down the general principle that Sartre is trying to bring out. First for all manufactured objects or articles, essence precedes existence. Since God lives and as he is thought to be the creator of the whole world then it follows that the whole world and everything in it can be assumed to be an artifact. God was the master planner and He created everything according to His plan. God, when He creates man he uses the same procedure just as the manufacture of the paper knife since when he creates he knows what he is creating. The idea of God was suppressed in the 18th century but the idea of essence preceding existence was universally accepted in the philosophies of Diderot, Voltaire and Kant. Sartre observes that â€Å"In Kant, this universality goes so far that the wild man of the woods, man in the state of nature and the bourgeois are all contained in the same definition and have the same fundamental qualities. Here again, the essence of man precedes that historic existence which we confront in experience† (Sartre 1946). From this analysis we get to the next step. If God lives this means essence comes first for everything that is in world. There is a traditional explanation of this divine plan generally referred to as Providence in theological circles. It refers to the plan that God worked in advance before he created the universe and humanity. But this plan is not just for the whole because He has also premeditated all the details since he is an all knowing God. This means we do not have the human nature in general to set boundaries on what we can do or what we cannot do. In addition there is also a divine plan for individuals. For example Socrates has his own essence that confines him within the universal plan of human nature (Zunjic 2010). Being an atheist, Sartre observes that if God does not exists then there is one being whose existence comes before its essence and that is man or human reality as Heidegger puts it. When he says existence precedes essence Sartre provide the meaning by saying that â€Å" this means that man first exists, he encounters himself, goes into the world and later on discovers or defines himself. When the man is not definable as the existentialist sees him it is because to start with, man is nothing† (Sartre 1946). Man will not be anything until some times later and then he will be what he makes himself to be at the end. In other words man is responsible for his actions if existence preceded essence. â€Å"Therefore existentialism puts place every responsibility for his existence on his shoulders. This means man is not only responsible for himself but also for all men† (Sartre 1946). Sartre observation that people must create themselves and give themselves meaning meant that people have to protect themselves instead of calling on God to intervene on their behalf. He saw people as the ones responsible for their politics and individual lives. He refused the notion that the devil was responsible for individual acts or the explanation that one was following God. He also did no accept the excuse of being only human or unloved by ones parents. It was not an excuse to follow the crowd for Sartre. He believed that people create their own moral values through the choices that they make in life. The people are the ones responsible for drawing their plans as to what they will or will not do (Sartre 1943). The philosophers of the traditional forms of humanism thought they could keep this idea of a kind of prior nature without having God in mind. They had in mind an atheist view of nature as well as the notion of an ordered universe where things happened in a predetermined and ordered manner. According to Sartre they were all wrong. This is because if essence precedes existence in general, that is ,if the laws that sets the limits of what things are and what they are able to have been established and determined before the things came into existence, then where would they exist? (Zunjic 2010). These philosophers have connected the concept of existence and essence in such a manner that existence signifies the instantiation of essence. If essence describes what a thing is and existence â€Å"that it is† then it follows that what is reasonable about any particular object and what can be thought about it will fit in its essence. It’s from this kind of thinking that traditional philosophy drew its description for ones way of life. To them having essence meant that people could be placed within the universe that provided the ability for the human development. But Descartes disagreed with this type of thinking preferring a radical first person reflection of his own version of existence the â€Å"I am†. Nevertheless he later on modified the old model by incorporating his existence as that of a substance determined by an essential property â€Å"thinking†. Thus the idea of reality according to Sartre is similar to that of Descartes’, â€Å"I am, I exists, therefore I am; I am because I think, why do I think? I don’t want to think any more; I am because I think that I don’t want to be. † (Existentialism Is Humanism. 2010). In summary when Sartre says that existence precede essence he means that man first exists, he encounters himself, goes into the world and later on discovers or defines himself. When the man is not definable as the existentialist sees him it is because to start with, man is nothing. He will not be anything until some times later and then he will be what he makes himself to be at the end. Traditional views give priority to essence and high values for its features whereas Sartre gives priority to existence with its positive reevaluation of its contingency and temporality. With this reversed view Sartre believed we can give full tribute to man and his self creative capabilities. References Existentialism Is Humanism. (2010). In Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved May 17, 2010, from Encyclopedia Britannica Online: http://www. britannica. com/EBchecked/topic/198165/Existentialism-Is-a-Humanism Sartre J. P. (1946), The Humanism of Existentialism. London: World Publishing Company Sartre (1943) Being and Nothingness. London: World Publishing Company Zunjic Bob (2010). The Humanism of Existentialism. Retrieved May 17, 201017th, ,from http://www. uri. edu/personal/szunjic/philos/human. htm

Managers, Programming, Web Source and Technology :: essays research papers

Why should managers become better acquainted with programming issues, web source and technology? Abstract Summary Now more than ever, the marketplace has created a strong connection between information technology and managers due to the markets in depth involvement with technology. This is the reason why there’s been a recent requirement for managers to have somewhat of understanding of information technology, basic programming knowledge, and familiarity with source codes. The abstract clearly explicates how due to alterations in the dynamic market, it is essential for a multi talented manager to deal with updates and modifications. In return, they increment their skills and add programming and web technology to their skills. Programming argument The overall concept of this argument is that programming skills will eventually improve project management team analysis’s and enhance the management decision-making which results in better management. According to statistics, approximately one out of five people in the U.S. population have to deal with programming issues and program writing. In the long run, everyone will eventually need to learn some type of programming regardless the field their affiliated with. Programming Simplicity and Programming and language problems This Section explains how the basis of programming hasn’t really changed for nearly fifty years; perhaps a few words here and there have been changed, but in essence programming has been kept pretty simple. For example, a program is a set of instructions telling the computer what to do. Programming consists of three foundations, Sequence, decision-making, and repetition. These steps are known as the control flow. A waterfall can be used as an example to have a better understanding of what programming really is. A waterfall that starts at the top and flows directly to the bottom is the sequential control flow, where there is only one path. If the water reaches a point where it will change its direction, this point is referred to as decision. When the flow returns to the top, Software engineering Focuses on how an overabundance in programming resulted in web chaos and anarchy. This eventually led to software engineering paradigms. This was in essence a software crisis. Y2k Compliance Managers who had insufficient knowledge of programming and other technological aspects had caused a drawback in the authority of managers. Not only did programmers instruct managers on what to do, but programmers with no managerial training were running the show. WEB CHAOS, SPAM, SPIM SPIT Refocuses on how you can regulate and prevent web disasters from occurring.

Consider Laertes’s contribution to the theme of revenge Essay

Of the various parallels between Hamlet and Laertes is one of the most telling. From the beginning of the play we see the two in comparable situations, each young men of the court, each seeking university, each spied on by Polonius, each (it would appear) loving Ophelia, in different ways. Therefore, when Laertes finds himself in Hamlet’s position of having a father murdered, the audience watches with interest to see how he will react, and how this will compare with Hamlet’s behaviour in the same situation. In fact, although Hamlet points out that: ‘by the image of my cause I can see The portraiture of his’ Laertes reaction to murder of his father is very different from hamlet’s, and indeed he is everything which Hamlet rebukes himself for failing to b. He forms the very epitome of a traditional avenger, and almost everything he does forms a contrast with what Hamlet does not do. Immediately as he returns to the court ‘in a riotous head’, having recruited ‘a rabble’, to aid him in his revenge. Thus we see that he finds both opportunity and means to destroy his father’s supposed murderer as soon as he possibly can. It is sometimes argued that Hamlet has little opportunity, doing the first two acts of the play, at least, to confront Claudius and exact his revenge. However, it is clear that – particularly since he is ‘loved by the distracted multitude’ – Hamlet might have actively created such an opportunity for himself, just as Laertes does. Furthermore Laertes is determined that he will ‘dare damnation’ in order to revenge his father. This is very important when soliloquy beginning, ‘To be or not to be’, in which he confesses that ‘the dread of something after death’ is, in part, what makes him ‘lose the name of action’, for again we see hamlet’s attitude to his task differs radically from that of a traditional avenger. This is also apparent when Laertes says that he would ‘cut (Hamlet’s) throat I’ th’ church ! ‘, since we are immediately reminded that Hamlet refused to kill Claudius, when given the perfect opportunity, because he was in prayer. Hamlet’s refusal to kill Claudius at this time (because his prayers make him ‘fit and seasoned’ to go to heaven – which is hardly a fitting revenge for a man who has sent his brother to be judged with ‘his crimes broad blown’) may – if we decide that they are more than just another rationalization (an entirely debatable point in itself) – prove that Hamlet reflects more carefully than Laertes on the business of revenge and that he is more caught up in the need for a perfect and fitting revenge. Nevertheless Laertes’ clear opinion that ‘Revenge should have no bounds’, and his immediate and unhesitating action, in comparison with Hamlet’s continual prevarication, persuade us that he is the more effective avenger. Laertes falls into the same category as Fortinbras, who with his ‘unimproved mettle hot and full’ seeks revenge on Denmark for winning and taking control of what had been his father’s lands, and Pyrrhus, who brutally kills an old and defenceless man in the name of revenge. All these characters’ unhesitating and decisive action, and what seems to be their lack of fear at the consequences, throw Hamlet’s indecisiveness very much into relief, for whilst he can only ‘unpack (his) heart with words’, they can ‘sweep†¦ to revenge’ as he longs to. However, it is Claudius, not Laertes, who actually states that ‘Revenge should have no bounds’, which is not only ironic, since it is Hamlet’s hesitation alone which has saved him so far, but – I feel – also has sinister undertones, since one would hardly have put such words into the mouth of the clearest villain of the play without implying that this sentiment is also, somehow, villainous. Of course, as Claudius is here manipulating Laertes’ strong desire for revenge, it would be unwise to attach too much importance to this point, but it is nevertheless interesting to examine our attitude to Laertes’ attitude towards revenge as opposed to Hamlet’s. After all, the impetuous approach of the former allows him to believe: ; The people muddied, Thick and unwholesome in their thoughts and whispers. ‘ Thus he promptly accuses the wrong man (Claudius, rather than Hamlet) of killing his father. Compare this with Hamlet – well aware that all is not necessarily what it seems in Denmark – who creates an elaborate plan to ‘catch the conscience of the king’ before he proceeds. It might also appear to the audience that Laertes’ defiance of damnation is more to do with a lack of reflection on ‘the undiscovered country’ than courage in facing it. After all, as hamlet points out: ‘the native hue of resolution Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought’ Laertes is all ‘resolution’, untroubled by the words and thoughts, which impede hamlet’s action. (We never see Laertes in soliloquy, of course, because he is morally certain of what he must do, and does not explore the subject further. ) However, we possibly feel some sympathy with the view that: ‘blest are those Whose blood and judgement are so well co meddled That they are not a pipe for Fortune’s finger. ‘ Ironically, these words, spoken by Hamlet in praise of Horatio, actually describe the former in some respects, and particularly when we see him in comparison with Laertes. After all, whilst his endless reflection might appear to serve, at times, only to exacerbate and rationalize his delay, at least he can only rarely be accused of being rash. Laertes believes that, ‘That drop of blood that’s calm proclaims me bastard. ‘ However, this rage, this refusal to reason calmly and to reflect on what has happened, allows the slippery Claudius to manipulate Laertes for his own ends, leading to the treachery which destroys Claudius and Laertes themselves, and Gertrude, as well Hamlet. Ultimately, there is a certain nobility t be found in the exchange of forgiveness between hamlet and Laertes (the final link the latter’s assurance that: ‘Mine and my father’s death come not upon thee, Nor thine on me! ‘ Which is greater than Laertes’ revengeful triumph over Hamlet. This is not to say that Shakespeare’s presentation of Laertes serves entirely as an indictment of the process of revenge. Both hamlet and Laertes speak of the ‘honour’ of revenge, and finally does kill Claudius, that he is ‘justly served. ‘ However, I can feel that considering Laertes’ contribution to the theme of revenge is only useful when seen alongside hamlet’s reaction to the same theme, and perhaps this portrayal of a traditional avenger who is only useful when seen alongside hamlet’s reaction to the same theme, and perhaps this portrayal of a traditional avenger who is rash, manipulative and finally self-destructive, allows us to see hamlet in a more favourable light when he is unable to assume the same role as traditional avenger.

Edward Burtynsky Canadian Photographer Free Essay Example, 1500 words

Manufactured Landscape is one of the renowned documentaries that are largely based on the works of Edward Burtynsky such as the landscape images of factories, mines, dams recycling fields, and industrial debris. These images are often presented in a manner that depicts them as beautiful and highlights both the aesthetics and ethics involved without necessarily addressing such issues. The documentary particularly captures scenes obtained from Burtynsky's tours across China while focusing on the countries massive industrial development. Some of the common sites include the famous Three Gorges Dam, the Shanghai urban development projects among other industrial landscape features. China is one of the countries that have recently experienced enormous social economic transformations due to industrial development. Consequently, the imagery effectively explored the delicate link between nature and contemporary industrial development. The film was eventually nominated as the best documentary during the 2008 film independent awards. Edward Burtynsky s primary interest was to highlight some of the ways through which humanity has impacted on nature and landscape. This particularly explains why he concentrated on documenting the industrial effects on nature for nearly 20 years. We will write a custom essay sample on Edward Burtynsky: Canadian Photographer or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/page In this regard, the theme of terra-transformation is effectively highlighted using various visual correlations of farming, waterways, and landscape.