View from the bridge Essay Example for Free

View from the bridge Essay Convention of a western gun fight related relates to the idea of Brooklyn being the Wild West. In the 1950 cowboy films were very popular. They all had certain common redeem into it which Miller uses to portray his confrontation. In a cowboy film you will have one gun fighter coming down the main street. in the play Marco appears outside, walking down the door from a distance point, Then you will have one gun fighter refusing to leave the town Eddie says where? Where am I going? , one gun fighter adjusting his belt Eddie hosting his pants ,the arriving of a gun fighter asking for a challenge. . Marco is calling as he nears the door shouting Eddie Carbone and the other fighter issuing a counter challenge Eddie as though flinging his challenge. Eddie shouts out his name three times to show he is not ashamed of his name because the whole play is about reputation and people wanting there names to be respected. In the counter challenge an actor would show Eddies aggression by swaggering his body as he walks up to Marco, his voice would be sounding aggressive to show anger and clench his arms as he punches the air. Millers also has a western convention of a crowd of no lookers standing on the side walks watching the fight. Miller has realised that people enjoy watching a fight, but are not willing to try to stop it. Eddies public address on stage is a dramatic pause because it is full of rhetorical questions which nobody can answer back. He wants the crowd to answer yes but the audience and Marco know that its false. He does this to make the crowd on stage his side. This is very dramatic because Eddie uses strong accusations on Marco how ungrateful he has been and also refers to the story of the Good Samaritan in the bible to make his accusation stronger. During all this Marco is impassive which makes him menacing and this would frustrate Eddie. Moreover the silent Marco is waiting like a silent gunfighter waiting for his opponent to make the first move. Miller brings in the western cowboy style by making Marco and Eddie spread there arms just like two cowboys with there gun hovering over there own gun butts in a western film. This fight between Marco and Eddie is very brutal because they are both trying to use there physical power against each other. Eddie pulls out a knife out to finish the fight off like in a street fight because he knows Marco is stronger. Immediately Marco strikes him and shouts animaaaaal and later he says it again to show that Eddie does not reason. Miller has the fight so brute to show that men dont reason when they are controlled by passion and it raises the question whether this is the way men behave. Miller want to make it clear that what ever the characters on stage might think this is not an honourable ting to do. Eddie is being forced to stab him self is symbiotic of his own self destruction in a tragedy. The hero has to realise what he should have done before actually dieing. When Eddie says My B he realises it is Beatrice he loves. When the tragic hero dies, the audience feel sympathy because he would have avoided the whole thing at the beginning. At the moment of Eddies death a dramatic tableau is created when Eddie dies in Beatrices arms as she covers Eddie in her body. At the end of the play the crowd on stage turn to the audience and the lights are turned down leaving Beatrice and Eddie in a glow while behind in dull prayers of the people and the keening of for women continue. The audience see a man who is dead with his wife and her women keening in the background in dull prayers. The idea of dull prayers is Eddie didnt die as a hero instead he dies as a waste. All this puts the audience in the right frame of mind to listen to the epilogue. The epilogue, a traditional feature of a tragedy, delivers the moral to remind the audience. For example in Romeo and Juliet the princes message was what hatred would bring to families and in Macbeth, Malcolm says that a good king brigs peace and harmony. In view from the bridge the epilogue is that men who are pure in following there code of honour but the code of honour itself was perverse because it doesnt allow those who follow it to settle for half. However another persons tragedy is entertaining if it doesnt evolve you or if the same thing doesnt happen to you. Miller finishes with an ellipsis followed by the word alarm. He wants to alarm the audience what would happen if they allowed passion to control them. Millers point towards the play is to remind people what would happen if countries started behaving like people. There will be massive amounts of lives lost, for example the USA fighting with Iraq. However what happens if a country decides to take the law into there own hands and not settle for half? Â   Simon Gesage Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Arthur Miller section.

Starbucks and Types of Ownerships Essay Example for Free

Starbucks and Types of Ownerships Essay Most companies have different types of ownerships; from being a sole proprietor to having a partnership. Starbucks has a legal entity, distinct from any individual persons, with the power to own property and conduct business, also known as a Corporation. From becoming a Corporation, Starbucks has setbacks, but they also have benefits. Starbucks plays a big role in the growth of the United States and many other countries. The transportation options were made possible by railways, commercial airplanes, and mass-produced cars and trucks. They had the ability to pull money by selling shares of stock to outside investors; for example, when they licensed themselves out to Target or Barns and Noble. However, investors can easily and quickly convert their stock into cash by selling it on the open market. Having an ownership like a Corporation can also make your corporate stocks look like an attractive investment, which can increase the number of people and institutions willing to buy or invest their time? Corporations can use shares of their own stock to acquire other companies or find willing buyers for a corporate stock. Starbucks being a corporation has unlimited liability, but the various shareholders who own the corporation face limited liabilities? For example, as much as they put in or invest into that specific company, is as much as they potentially have of losing. Alex Whitt, an Assistant Manager at a Starbucks located in Manteca said, â€Å"I enjoy the fact that the company I work for is a Corporation because no matter what store I choose to work at or get transferred to, won’t have a transition I’d really need to get used to. Meaning, because Starbucks is a Corporation, each individual store is ran the same in some way shape or form; from creating the same experience for each customer to knowing how to make each drink the same because each Starbucks carries the same type of products to produce the same taste in ever cup. It’s always a question that comes up. What was the company like when it first started? Well, a lot can be learned about finding out the history of your favorite store. For Starbucks, 3 men got together for the love of coffee and opened up the first Starbucks store in 1971. English teacher Jerry Baldwin, history teacher Zev Siegel, and writer Gordon Bowker opened the store† (The McGraw-Hill Companies) â€Å"in the touristy Pikes Place Market in Seattle† (The McGraw-Hill Companies). They all were interested in fine coffee and exotic tea, which was what Starbucks established for. They came up with the Starbucks name â€Å"in honor of Starbuck, the coffee-loving first mate in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick† (The McGraw-Hill Companies). Including that it gave off a romantic feel of the store’s name as well. The logo, which is a two-tailed mermaid with the store’s name circling it, was designed by an artist friend. Starbucks was inspired by Alfred Peet who opened a small store known as Peet’s Coffee and Tea. In the 1980s, Siegel got burnout and eventually left the company to pursue other interests. Baldwin took over day-by-day management for the company and was acting chief executive officer. And Bowker stayed involved with the company but was more involved with his advertising and design firm. In 1982, â€Å"Howard Schultz took on his new responsibilities at Starbucks† (The McGraw-Hill Companies). Prior to this, there were many meetings and interviews within a year with Baldwin and Bowker before they finally made a decision. The stone continued to grow and got ideas from pretty much anywhere which has led up to the Starbucks that we know today. Entrepreneurship the spirit of innovation, the initiative, and the willingness to take the risk involved in creating and operating a business. Courtland L. Bovee, 2011)This is exactly what Howard Schultz had in mind; he once said â€Å"I believe life is a series of near misses. A lot of what we ascribe to luck is not luck at all. It’s seizing the day and accepting responsibility for your future. It’s seeing what other people don’t and pursuing that vision. † (Ogden)His vision of creating a coffee house where people not only have a cup of coffee, a place where people interact a third home away from home as the own Schultz puts it. Imagination, passion, a clear vision are some of Schultz ingredients for success. From a poor boy living on the poorest neighborhoods in New York to the owner of a multibillion company Schultz trained for success. (Ogden)He used the same principles as to when he was an athlete he never gave up instead he tackled the situation with an attitude of endurance and stayed focused to overcome any situation. Schultz had a vision of creating an Italian Cafe experience here in the United States. His vision led him to launch his own Italian cafe. This was the beginning of something big. He built a brand, by focusing on the total experience of the Starbucks customer. Schultz has made people his priority; by meeting employee’s expectations in return he has built a loyal more dedicated workforce, resulting in higher levels of customer service. â€Å"Our mission statement about treating people with respect and dignity is not just words but a creed we live by every day,† says Schultz (Ogden) Another key element to his success was his ability of recognizing his strengths and weaknesses. He knew he wasn’t going to do it all by himself instead he recruit others that share the same vision and values and that brought different strengths to the mix. Till this day is something he fosters and attributes to his success. Without these key elements Starbucks would not be the company that it is now. His entrepreneurial vision and innovative thinking has placed him among the top business entrepreneurs. ?

Music Analysis Of Bluegrass Music Essay

Music Analysis Of Bluegrass Music Essay Bluegrass is a word which came into being after its adoption by musicians and radio disc-jockeys in the early 1950s. Denoting a form of American country or hillbilly music yet, distinguishing it from other types of similar genres, which were popular throughout the Kentucky and greater Appalachia even before the turn of the century. Due to the demographics of the settlers in the region, bluegrass is a music built on strong southern traditions and was originally played primarily by the white working class. Although it is still somewhat debated, it is generally accepted that Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys played the first of what we now call bluegrass music in 1945. (International Bluegrass Music Association, 2001) The banjo came to the fore as it had not done previously accompanied by multiple vocal parts and a now familiar line-up of bass; mandolin; fiddle and guitar. The argument against, rebukes not the talent of Bill Monroe or his style, but the pre-inception of a less formali sed bluegrass genre. No matter which side of the debate one falls on, Monroe is accredited with the commercialisation and formalisation of the characteristics which differentiates the music from other strains of so-called hillbilly music such as country-western, rockabilly, and other forms of western-swing. (Smith, 1965) Both the immigration of the Scotch-Irish settlers during the latter part of the nineteenth century and subsequent emigration of the second and third generations from the region play distinct roles in the social and economic background of the music itself. Celtic fiddling styles played in the home and songs of heritage were commonplace. Monroe fondly recalls his mother walking through the house singing, and playing the fiddle as she prepared the dinner. His uncle, who he first witnessed at the age of about six years old playing this style of fiddle on the front porch at his family home captured the young Monroes imagination. He got the wonderful Scotch-Irish sound out of it, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦..and if wed have supper of a night, wed sit around the fireplace and hed play the fiddle. Most musicians of the time allude to fathers, grandfathers, and uncles who fiddled and mothers who played the organ, it seems everyone sang. Mechanically reproduced music and radio was therefore a luxury not many of these impoverished farmers at the time possessed, and although by the early 1900s, some rural settlers may have had experienced the radio, it was not as pervasive as it was to later become. It is for this reason we can refer to these strains as a form of vernacular music. (Rosenberg, 2005) During the late 1930s however, these types of technologies had come to the fore allowing greater access to music and film. The film industry in particular had made singing cowboys a popular trend and this was being reflected in the rise of western swing outfits such as Bob Wills and Bill Boyd. Other influences began to seep into the old time style, as country music began to move closer to the popular music of the era rather than the folk music of its distinct roots. (Rosenberg, 2005) George D. (Judge) Hay, a former news reporter, turned disc jockey with a popular Saturday night show titled The Grand Ole Opry, was adamant within his circle to keep these influences at bay and began to promote his radio show as authentic-hill country music. Urging his musicians to stay true to their roots and keep it close to the ground,(Rosenberg, 2005) he fought for years keeping drums off the Opry stage and very much discouraged the attempts to introduce electric style instruments, instead insisting on the musicians authenticity. It was subsequently the first country music styled show to gain a reputation on a national scale. His hatred of the word hillbilly and refusal to use it on his show gained him a respect from one Bill Monroe who tried out for the show in 1938. Cleo Davis who accompanied Monroe at the audition recalls; Bill and I did à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. a duet yodel, fast as white lightening. [And were told] à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦if you ever leave the Opry, itll be because youve fired yourself(Rosenberg, 2005) Two of the immediate differences Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys brought to the Opry, and anything that had gone before were the sheer speed that they performed their songs and the key they performed in. Even slow or medium paced favourites were faster than usual, highlighting the skill that was required to maintain the instrumental dexterity and vocal accuracy if these up-tempo performances were to retain their precision. Along with a speed heretofore unnatural, was the use of unconventional keys. Monroe is accredited with saying; We was the first outfit to ever play in B-flat or B-natural and E. Before that it was all C, D, and G. Fiddle men had a fit. (Rosenberg, 2005) Accompanying these alterations was a slightly unusual musical practice whereby all instruments were tuned a half-step above standard pitch. This elongation and tightening of the strings served a multipurpose, gaining both in volume and achieving a brighter tone which subsequently served to suit the vocals better than it had previously. (Rosenberg, 2005) These musical alterations coincided with arguably the most significant social, political, and cultural movement of the entire century, the Second World War. During this period many economic sectors, including the music and recording industries, were in a state of decline. But despite this lull of music sales, the sale of hillbilly records grew exponentially. (Rosenberg, 1967) The major reasons for this were, a population shift, incorporating a migration of southern workers to northern cities, and a mass growth in the popularity of the genre within the armed forces, where many were exposed to these strains for the first time. Military service resulted in long standing members having to leave their post for the war effort. This resulted in an array of performers playing different roles for the following war years. Retaining his slot on the Grand Ole Opry, and gaining his own tent show, Monroe continued to perform with a roulette wheel of differing musicians, yet still managed to contin uously be the most sought-after performer on the circuit. It is about this time that the real elements of bluegrass started to form with the addition of extra musical elements, and it was at this stage Robert Russell (later to be renamed Chubby Wise) joined the fray. A co-composer of Orange Blossom Special a song which Monroe and his boys had covered on many an occasion had heard of Howdy Forresters depart, leaving the band without a fiddle player. Having approached Monroe backstage he joined the Opry tour. Although the musician roulette continued for a time with instruments such as the jug, accordion and harmonica making appearances, the seeds that would comprise the latter sound were beginning sprout. (Rosenberg, 2005) In 1945, debatably the most influential member was auditioned for the line-up. A young banjo player named Earl Scruggs made an impact with a song titled Dear Old Dixie, showcasing his ability to do things you could hardly believe, with Monroe reportedly saying hire him, get him whatever it costs(Rosenberg, 2005). For the first time the band had a banjo player who was not a comedian, but instead had the ability to play solos on songs where all previous players could not. Lester Flatt, a mandolinist and tenor singer was also taken aboard at this time, returning to his guitar and singing lead vocals to accommodate the Blue Grass Boys. Much of the music was actually too fast for Flatt to keep rhythm on the guitar, but he remedied this by using a guitar run at the end of phrases. The run began as an F# on the lower sixth string and ended with an open G. Runs of this type were common in previous country guitar styles, but became so synonymous with Flatt and bluegrass music that it is still referred to as the Lester Flatt G-run.(Malone and McCulloh, 1975) Both were extremely popular with fans, with Scruggs solos demanding encores from the boy from North Carolina who makes the banjo talk (Malone and McCulloh, 1975) Scruggs used a three finger picking style adapted from other north Carolina banjo players such as Wade Mainers two-finger style. His solos on the Opry from 1945-48 resulted in almost instantaneous star status as a country music instrumentalist. Monroes Blue Grass Boys now consisted of a mandolin; played by Monroe himself, a guitar; a banjo; a fiddle and a bass, a construct that is now the presently accepted make-up of the traditional bluegrass band. The sound they produced together had evolved substantially from the days Bill and his brother Charles Monroe entertained locally in Kentucky, and yet, with the early guidance of Judge Hay in Bills career, managed to keep true to the roots of the music. Scruggs and Flatt left the Blue Grass boys line-up late in 1948, due to the strain of being on the road. They still played together however forming the Foggy Mountain Boys. While in this line-up they decided to include the resophonic guitar, (or Dobro) in their band and as a result it is often included in some bluegrass bands today.(International Bluegrass Music Association, 2003) By this time there were other groups mimicking the style set by their outfit, most notably The Stanley Brothers. Monroe had replaced Scruggs with a play er similar to Scruggs own banjo style, and after setting the precedent it became the norm to describe a good banjo player as playing just like Earl Scruggs. (Malone and McCulloh, 1975) Robert Cantwell describes the relative speed in which bluegrass music permeated the psyche as he recalls an appearance from the Eller Brothers in 1980. They began with an old song entitled On and On, but could not remember where it had originated or who had written the piece. It was the work of one Bill Monroe and had apparently been inducted, along with those songs brought across the Atlantic, into the realms of tradition at the tender age of twenty-seven. A tradition according to Cantwell, that was violently foreshortened by radio (2003) The durability of bluegrass has proven this apparent presumption correct however, as the genre grows not only in the Americas but internationally, owing much of its success to the adaptability of the music through other genres, and the capacity to reach wider audiences through the growing medium of technology. The 1960s saw the birth of a new concept, the bluegrass festival. As bands seemed to be competing for the same audience, it was more product ive for all parties involved to put them on the same bill, appearing at festivals around America. These festivals are now internationally common with attendances growing annually. (International Bluegrass Music Association, 2003) Monroes most famous contribution Blue Moon of Kentucky has transcended multiple genres and been re-recorded by artists such as Patsy Kline, Elvis Presley, Rory Gallagher, Johnny Cash, Ray Charles and Paul McCartney among others. Scruggs and Flatt as mentioned continued recording, and wrote songs that appeared on the soundtracks of the cult movie Bonnie and Clyde and the Beverly Hillbillies television show. Bluegrass was once again shot to the forefront of consciousness when Eric Weissberg traded banjo phrases with Steve Mandels guitar in the film Deliverance, and audiences were once again reintroduced to bluegrass as the soundtrack for one of the Coen brothers cinematic ventures O Brother, Where art Thou? went triple platinum. (International Bluegrass Music Association, 2003) Bluegrass is still providing additives, foundations and inspiration in artists today, as Bà ©la Fleck (possibly the most recognisable banjo player worldwide presently), describes his most powerful memory on first hearing the music during an interview for the popular American network PBS: My most powerful memory was hearing Earl Scruggsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.as a five or six year old. That sound just blew me away, shook my head up. (PBS, 2001) Fleck has attained international fame for his ingenuity with his own band the Flecktones and for his fusion of a fast paced picking style with the jazz and blues undertones of the Dave Matthews Band, an outfit he makes regular appearances with. Once again keeping bluegrass firmly in the minds of the masses. The three audio files chosen represent three differing aspects of the bluegrass genre; The original bluegrass sound, the rise of the genres popularity through the prismatic scope of media, and its gradual evolution as these strains enevitably are influenced by other facors. The first, played by Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass boys is a recording from 1946 entitled Rocky Top. It showcases the finger-picking style of banjo thoroughly referenced throughout this essay, while emphasising the vocal layers and dexterity by using choral harmonics. The lyrics themselves reference Rocky Top Tennessee a domesticated hometown scence which much of the country bluegrass music was concerned with, the norm generally being a migration or a return to homelands. The second track was chosen for a number of purposes. Sang by Alison Krauss an extreemely successful country/bluegrass singer with accompaniment by Union Station, it is entitled Man of Constant Sorrow originally performed by the Soggy Bottomed Boys. My reasoning for choosing Krauss version is simple, she transcends genres. Recently dueting with Robert Plant the famed Led Zeppelin front man, she epitomises the durability and versatility bluegrass has sustained in revealing itself to new audiences. It is also featured prominently in the Coen Brothers classic film O, Brother where Art Thou?, reinforcing the previous point and illustrating the gains achieved through differing aspects of the media. The final track is from the aforementioned Bela Fleck, performing with the self explanotory New Grass Revival. The song itself called Steam Powered Aeroplane conveys a movement away from a homeland setting and can be constrewed as having migratory conontations, but more immediately, there is a movement towards the new. Containing the same basic principles, Scruggs-style picking and Flatts G-runs are evident. Vocals are also sung in different parts giving a layered effect, yet held secondary to the lead banjo and a commanding base line seems to keep the overwhelming speed in check. But there is a distinct modern feel as the instuments are very slightly amplified. In more recent years Fleck establishes the Flecktones and keeping this style joins a group containing a drumguitar infusing African beats with blues licks. (See The Flecktones: Next)

The Yellow Wallpaper -- Literary Analysis, Gilman

Charlotte Perkins Gilman 1892 gothic and horror short story â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† traces the mental decline of a woman while undergoing a â€Å"rest cure†. This captivating story illustrates the stifling plight of the protagonist in a patriarchal society. Her husband, John, a physician, has taken the narrator, a new mother, to a rented country home for the summer in order for her to recover from postpartum psychosis. He isolates her in an upstairs nursery, a room with barred windows, a nailed down bed, and odious yellow wallpaper, and forbids her to write, in accordance with the philosophy of the â€Å"rest cure†. Although the constraints placed on the protagonist proved to be repressive, it leads her to an intriguingly dangerous obsession with â€Å"the yellow wallpaper† that causes her to triumph over societal oppression and constraints within her marriage, giving her a heroic identity. The writer conveys all this through her ingenious usage of th e image of â€Å"the yellow wallpaper†, which functions as a part of the setting, an object correlation to the narrator’s physical and mental repression, and lastly as a symbol of her life. According to one critic â€Å"The subjection of women originated in prehistoric times when the males first monopolized all social activity and women were confined to motherhood and domestic duties† (Degler 178). During the nineteenth century these societal traditions were still imposed on women. Quawas confirms this statement when she states â€Å"In the nineteenth century, women, as agent of moral influence, [are] expected to maintain the domestic sphere as a cheerful, pure haven for their husbands to return to [home] each evening† (A New Woman’s Journey into Insanity). Because of these expectancies the protagonist is a power... ...lpaper† Gilman clearly illustrates by the use of symbols, imagery, characters to display how women were treated in a patriarchal society. The writer appears to have semi-melancholic mood throughout the story. Gilman clearly shows how the stifling plight of the narrator who was kept in isolation becomes defiant and gains a deeper understanding of her life and role in society. The woman in the wallpaper does not only represent the narrator’s own divided self but all women who are overly restrained and bound by a society that deem these women incapable of self-actualization. As a result of her preoccupation with the â€Å"the yellow wallpaper† she descends into madness, which ultimately enabled her to triumph over marital and societal constraints. Therefore the writer demonstrates that in order to gain liberty one suffers immensely before change is accomplished.

You Should Volunteer to Tutor Essay example -- Argumentative Essay

The need for tutors is overwhelming. Tutors help fill the gap between the teachers and the students. With so many students in each classroom, the teacher can't give each student the one-on-one attention that some students need. This is where tutors come in to play. Tutors have been a key instrument ineducation since as far back as the 1500's (Gordon 9). Tutoring is almost as old as educating children. Tutoring younger students is also still going strong in the twentieth century. Today it is more~important than ever due to the increase in students and low budgets that some schools have. As stated by Edward E. Gordon in his book, Centuries of Tutoring" Schoolinghas dominated the twentieth century, but tutoring still holds an important role. Peertutors, after-school remedial programs, home-bound instruction and the 'home-schooling movement' are tutoring's modern expression"(329). We are fortunate enough to have many different tutoring programs at my school. The school has Peer tutoring , peer mentoring and peer helpers within their educational system, just to name a few. One of the writers, Stephanie, was involved in all three of these tutoring programsfor three years while attending High School. Stephanie found it very rewarding to be able to help these students and found it rewarding to help the community. "I felt like I had made a difference," said Stephanie, "and that is a wonderful feeling". Not only do the tutees get rewarded with better grades, the tutors also get many rewards for tutoring. "Studies document that people who participate in them (voluntary associations)generally report greater satisfaction and personal happiness, longer life, greater self esteem, more political effectiveness; and a greater sense of community (... ...udents. They need it and deserve it. Works Cited Booge, Stephanie. Personal Interview. 12 Feb. 1997. Brinkerkoff, Lynn K. White. Sociology . St. Paul: West, 1985. Carter, Gloria Dapper. School Volunteers:What They Do And How They Do It . New York: Citation,1970. Coe, Rick. Personal Interview. 15 Jan. 1997. Gartner, Mary Kohler, Frank Riessman. Children Teach Children . New York: Harper & Row,1971. Gordon, Edward E. Centuries of Tutoring . Lanham. UP. 1990. Lloyd, Dorothy. An Evaluation of a Cross-Age Tutoring Project For At Risk High School American Indian Students . Diss. Bemidji State University. Bemidji. 1991. Rosenthal, Nadine. Teach Someone To Read. Belmont. David S. Lake. 1987. Whelen, Dianne. Personal Interview. 5 Feb. 1997. ---"Youth Service: Minnesota's System Works, So Keep It. " Editoral. Star Tribune. 15 April 1995. IOA.

The Originality of Levinas: Pre-Originally Categorizing the Ego :: Philosophy Essays

The Originality of Levinas: Pre-Originally Categorizing the Ego ABSTRACT: Levinas depicts a pluralism of subjectivity older than consciousness and self-consciousness. He repudiates Heidegger's notion of solitude in order to explore the implications of the Husserlian pure I outside the subject. A hidden Good constitutes the Other in the self: a diremption not at the expense of the unity of the self. Levinas stands with Nietzsche on the side of life which requires and is capable of no justification whatsoever. But for Levinas the totality is ruptured by the thought that there is a unity of self undiminished by its immemorial responsibility for the Other, a unity of self beyond totality. This self containing the Other is the transcendence of the Ego otherwise immanent in Husserl's pure intentionality. Just here Levinas' thought is most perfectly distinguished from Sartre's notion of the transcendence of the Ego as complete exclusion from the immanence of intentionality. The pure I is otherwise than the Hegelian absolute Elastizità ¤t: incarnate and inspirited, the "self tight in its own skin." The transubstantiation of Ego to Other has not yet occurred to thought in Levinas, but what does occur here is the altersubstantiation of the I. The Other in the Same is an alteration of essence. It is precisely through thinking the contraction of [the modern] essence [of consciousness] that Levinas thinks otherwise than being, beyond essence, thinks "a thought profounder and 'older' than the cogito." Humanity signifies a "new image" of the Infinite in the preoriginary freedom by which the Self shows the Other mercy. The curve on the hither side of consciousness is 'a concave without a convex': the cuspidal infinity of interiority turned absolutely inside outside the other within: an interiority without walls, infinitely exposed. Then straight is the highway between the cusps of this absolutely inverted consciousness — better than consciousness — transcending the original curvature of consciousness and self-consciousness. This one-way straightaway is the immemorial contact of self and other. It is the absolute proximity which is the approach, without return, from the self to the other . This is the approach — without method — before any notion of reciprocity and reflective or pre-reflective consciousness. This love or non-indifference prior to all conscious differentiation, this possibility of being for-one-another is the responsibility of the self to do for the Other. The indispensability of the flesh to this turning of the self to the Other signifies the excellence whereby the human transcends the angelic.

All of our Choices are Predetermined Essay

The Universe appears to be governed entirely by laws, studies of physics seem to show that atoms follow an extremely predictable pattern of cause and effect. This presents a difficult problem for philosophy; if all physical matter is governed by the laws of cause and effect, and we ourselves are comprised of physical matter, how could it be so that any choices we make could be seen to be free? The suggestion that our choices are set out by cause and effect is known as Determinism. Philosophers such as Ted Honderich have argued for determinism and for the consequences that it cancels out free will. It seems insensible to argue that we are not in the least bit determined, and almost all people know from personal experience that people act in a relatively stable and predictable way. For example, if I were to ask my father if he wanted tea or coffee, I would know that he would want coffee based on his love of coffee, and hatred for tea. This preference could not be argued in any way to be a choice made by him, we do not choose what we like, but simply do. Whether our preferences are based on nature or nurture is an ongoing debate, but regardless of the final conclusion, as long as our opinions are based on either of the two options, we would be seen to be determined. Nature is not in our control, neither on the other hand, is nurture. If our personalities are based on environmental or genetic factors and nothing else then our actions are surely determined. This position is extremely convincing and was famously used by Clarence Darrow to prevent two murderers from receiving the death penalty, he argued that they where a product of their upbringing and as such could not be held morally responsible for their actions. This meant, while they could be jailed to prevent threat to society, they could not be punished with the death penalty. The viewpoint of Determinism, while convincing, is by no means universally accepted. The argument seems to go against our intuitions that we are free -although it is notable at this point that our intuitions themselves are philosophically worthless, we cannot argue for an element of truth on the grounds that we feel it is true- and is seemingly incompatible with the view of a God who punishes and rewards his creations with heaven and hell. If our actions are predetermined, then it seems that punishment in hell would be arbitrary. God would simply be creating people in a flawed way, and then punishing them for his poor skills of creation. Needless to say, this viewpoint is not accepted by many Christians and so there have been many arguments for a lack of determinism in philosophy. The belief of Libertarianism, is that we are completely free; in the words of Jean-Paul Sartre â€Å"I am not free not to be free†. Though Sartre’s beliefs on free will were more assertions than arguments of proofs, he summarises the Libertarian view point perfectly. All our actions are completely freely chosen, our only confinement is that we cannot be confined. Libertarianism has the difficult task of explaining how it is possible to defend non-determined choices in an environment where all things seem to be determined by cause and effect. As already stated, if our personality is held to be nothing but a result of nature of nurture, then determinism must be accepted as a matter of logical consistency. From this, many Libertarians would stipulate the existence of a â€Å"super-natural† element to our personality. For example, if one were to believe in a soul, then it is possible to argue the physical laws of cause and effect have no bearing on our actions. This does seem to contradict fairly obvious observable evidence. Psychology has frequently found causes for human behaviour, and it is difficult to explain the consistency and successes of this particular scientific discipline if we do not accept that our choices are determined in some way. One of the more successful attempts of Libertarianism to discredit Determinism is the pointing to laws of physics that do not seem to obey causality. Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle shows distinct examples of elements of nature acting randomly, and not due to cause and effect. There are two main criticisms that can be made of this argument; One, that this principle only functions on an minute level, while actual objects such as people still obey determined laws of physics (although science has proven the principle can be amplified to affect people), and; Two, that even where actions random, there would still not be free will, while we would not live in a predetermined environment, we would still live in a (randomly) determined environment. If one was to roll a dice in order to decide the actions a prisoner should take, they would not be considered free by any means. The fundamental flaw of Libertarianism, is that when we examine how it would work, it seems to collapse. As all choices are made according to our personality, a serial killer, is only so because he has a serial killer’s personality. This statement would suggest determinism and could only be argued against in two ways: Firstly, we could state that the serial killer has no personality, this however, seems nearly impossible to uphold. Without personality, we would have no preferences and without preferences we could not make any choice at all. Asking someone who has no preference of good over evil, or pleasure over pain, to make a moral decision would be rather like asking someone whether they prefer white to white. Without personality, we would not be able to make any choice at all, as no options would appeal to us over others. It could be argued, that decisions can still be made according to rationalism, but as rationalism and logic are consistent discipline this would make our actions even more predictable and un-chosen than determinism suggests. So this argument cannot be used to defend Libertarianism. Secondly, we could suggest that the Serial-Killer was in some way in control of his personality. That he chose his preference of evil over good. This again fails. As we have already stated, choices cannot be made without personality, so to choose a personality we would require a personality for us to choose, this initial personality would determine the personality we chose. We could attempt to argue that this initial personality was chosen, but very soon we would have to give way to infinite regression. With this in mind, Libertarianism and the suggestion that our choices are anything but pre-determined or random, is not only completely incompatible with the current model of physics and psychology, but more importantly is incompatible with choice itself (as choice requires preference, preference designates personality which in turn suggests determinism). Libertarianism is a self defeating system in that it requires an absence of will to prove free will, which would be rendered useless without will. There is also a logical argument against Libertarianism. J.J.C Smart points out that there are two possible states of things, i.e. determinism or indeterminism. Either determinism is true, or indeterminism is true, these exhaust all possible philosophical options. Determinism would prevent a Libertarian view as our choices are predetermined, indeterminism would seem to prevent Libertarian view also, as our choices are random and thus not controlled or free. From this argument, we can see that a Libertarian argument for free will is impossible. It seems undeniable therefore, that all our choices are pre-determined -or in the least part random, whether our choices are in fact pre-determined or random is largely down to physicists to discover, currently it seems to be that we are in fact pre-determined, but this cannot be assured without knowledge of all physics. Even if our choices are not predetermined, what they are not -as has been argued in the course of this essay- is freely chosen, at least according to the viewpoint of free will presented by libertarianism. But what would the effects of this be? Hard determinism would argue that we cannot claim to possess free will in a deterministic environment. The problem with this position seems to be that we have defined free will incorrectly. The view of free-will as indifference, has in the course of this essay been demonstrated as problematic, and if we adopt this view of free-will then hard determinism would seem an agreeable viewpoint, the problem is, that this seems an utterly meaningless way of discussing free will. Free will does not appear to refer to the ability of will to change itself, when we refer to a free lion, we do not mean it is free to change to a tiger or a bird, we simply mean it is free to act according to its nature. It would therefore seem to be more useful to discuss free will in the sense of â€Å"a will being able to act itself out†, we are free if we could have chosen otherwise HAD our will been different. This Compatibilist approach adopted by David Hume seems to allow us to discuss free will in a meaningful way, within what seems to be a predetermined environment.