Christian conceptions Essay Example for Free

Christian conceptions Essay Baldassare Castiglione’s work â€Å"The Courtier† has similar conceptions of grace and love when compared to with Christian conceptions. Baldassare Castiliogne characterizes the courtiers of Urbino as omini per virtu singulari (IV, 2, 446: men singular in worth[286]), emphasizing their grace and virtue they were able to exhibit throughout the entire passage. This also reflects the ways they were able to entice the imagination of the readers and make their (readers) minds more creative. Castiglione writes about the Urbino court and its inhabitants as a kind of ideal place where grace and virtue was heavily practiced. Most of the courtiers and ladies in the court possess only minor character flaws and petty foibles. In his writing, he idealizes them as civilized and perfectly restrained individuals who are devoid of serious personal vices and defects. In a sense, Castiglione wants to present them as ideal types, as the onorati esempi di virtu (IV, 2, 448: honored models of worthiness[287]) as can be read from his prologues where moral fortitude, scholarship and genuine love should emulate and be exuded by the readers even after reading the entire piece. The following excerpt from â€Å"The Courtier† shows that Lord Guidobaldo has lived an exemplary life worth of emulation by the other inhabitants. â€Å"When lord Guidobaldo di Montefeltro, duke of Urbino, passed from this life, I together with several other knights who had served him remained in the service of duke Francesco Maria della Rovere, heir and successor to Guidobaldos state; and as in my mind there remained fresh the odor of duke Guidos virtues and the satisfaction which I in those years had felt from the loving company of such excellent persons, as then frequented the court of Urbino†. (Letter, 1, 67-8) Castigliones goal in his work was to set his statements of praise for Urbino and its inhabitants in general and conventional terms. He did not cite the military exploits or civic triumphs of a character he praises, instead, he celebrates all of them for their virtu, (virtue) their ingegno, (ingenuity) their ottime qualit (high dignity). Instead, Castiliogne characterizes these exploits as a collective victory for the person he is giving life to. This also gives life to the colorful sceneries and animations to the story as this draws the attention of the readers. Castiliogne pursues the elevation of Urbinos image to an exemplary moral excellence and its value for posterity. In his first two prologues, Castiglione highlights the superiority of Urbinos inhabitants. In the prologue to Book III, Castiglione states that if Urbinos pastimes convince him of its excellence, he should be able to imagine easily how much greater the courtiers virtuous actions were (III, 1, 336). In the last prologue, Castiglione praises the courtiers directly as omini per virtu singulari (IV, 2, 446: men singular in worth[286]). He viewed the court as a paragon of moral exempla (IV, 2, 448: chiari ed onorati esempi di virtu). The court is presented as an ethical model not only to other existing courts at that time but also to the succeeding generations to come. Moreover, Castiglione confesses in the third prologue that he wrote his text carefully to faria vivere negli animi dei posteri (III, 1, 336: make it live in the mind of posterity[202]). Finally, as his culture upholds classical antiquity, he projects that the young and upcoming generation will envy his time because of the exemplary Urbino court. (III, 1, 336: forse per lavvenire non manchera chi per questo ancor porti invidia al secol nostro). Similarly, the virtues of grace and love which are present in Castiliogne’s work are also present in Christian morals and manners. Christian morals are a function of moral discernment and moral reasoning. For instance, James Gustafson stated that moral discernment refer to basic dispositions that are shaped in part by the faith and trust Christians have as they offer themselves up to God. Moreover, James Gustafson stated that the concept of moral discernment was related to moral reasoning. Gustafson explained that moral reasoning pertains to a character, or personal moral ability, which covers dispositions, traits, and actions of the moral agent. (Selnick, 1992). Castiliogne stated that the courtier is expected to serve and increase in favour with her Lady. He should instruct her in virtue and refrain from vice and dishonesty. He should speak truth all the time. This concern is evident in Christian morals and manners. According to Harring, the moral and religious value of our acts attains the peak level only when the fundamental option results in the conquest one’s energies and vision such that one’s motives and decisions come from the depth in which the Spirit moulds and guides. (Harring, 1978). Castiliogne exhorts the courtiers to be kind to their subordinates, to avoid flattery, to be wise in the relations with other states and to have good manners in speech and language. Moreover, the courtier must have â€Å"good utterance† and â€Å"sweet language† to the other personalities in the court and avoid offending other people. This exhortation finds a strong support in Christianity’s theological and ethical attention which has shifted away from the relations with the divine towards human relations to interpersonal human relations. (Post, 1990). This shift resulted in the sharp distinction between public activity and private relations. First, it highlighted the fact that the selfs relation with God does not necessarily impact on one’s neighbor. Second, it states that the divine intentions may not relate directly to an individual’s human flourishing. This re-evaluation of one’s faith highlights the moral dimensions of Christianity and renders faith as an essential and crucial aspect of living well. (Weaver, 2002) The old men then attack the change in customs in Urbino court which they perceive as reflective of moral decay. In response to this, Castiliogne countered that he is a judge who can state that there is no age, past or present that is either totally good or totally evil. Then in this excerpt, Castiliogne argued that it is the old men who have changed their behavior and not the courts. These old men lament their loss of youth, power, and vitality. This situation leads to nostalgia which distorts the truth about both past and present. This excerpt is as follows: ne dei passati piaceri riserva (lanimo) altro che una tenace memoria e la imagine di quel caro tempo della tenera eta, nella quale quando ci ritrovamo, ci pare che sempre il cielo e la terra ed ogni cosa faccia festa e rida intorno agli occhi nostri, e nel pensiero come in un delizioso e vago giardino fiorisca la dolce primavera dallegrezza. (The Courtier II, 1, 188) . . . and [the mind] retains of past pleasures merely a lingering memory and the image of that precious time of tender youth in which (while we are enjoying it), wherever we look, heaven and earth and everything appear merry and smiling, and the sweet springtime of happiness seems to flower in our thoughts as in a delightful and lovely garden. (The Courtier II, 1, 188) Similarly, Christian morality has shown interest in one’s personal ethical development. The flourishing of the self encompassing virtue ethics and spirituality reveals a post modern reassessment of the classical concepts and tools for reflecting on the selfs good. (Naussbam, 1994). Baldassare Castiliogne characterizes the courtiers of Urbino as omini per virtu singulari (IV, 2, 446: men singular in worth[286]), emphasizing their grace and virtue. Similarly, Christian morals and manners show the importance of all the human virtues required of the courtiers during the time of the Urbino court. The courtiers’ excellent speech, manners and deportment to their equals and subordinates exhibit a vivid example of their faith and their excellent human manners. Alongside the traditions and practices that the courtiers’ have shown, the author have clearly emphasized on the human manners that there should be equality among all others and in order to achieve a specific and unified goal, there should be subordination so that in the long run, there will be authority to be followed and rules are set on such manners. Works Cited: Castiglione, Baldassare. The Book of the Courtier. New york: Scribners Son, 1901. 7-439. James M. Gustafson, Moral Discernment in the Christian Life, in Gene H. Outka and Paul Ramsey, Norm and Context in Christian Ethics. New York: Charles Scribners Sons, 1968, p. 31. Haring, Bernard. Free and Faithful in Christ. New York: Seabury Press: A Crossroads Book, 1978, p. 85. Kolsky, Stephen D. Old Men in a New World: Morello da Ortona in the Cortegiano. Italica 75 (1998): 336-448. Long, Edward Leroy. A Survey of Recent Christian Ethics. New York: Oxford University Press, 1982. Martha Nussbaum. The Therapy of Desire: Theory and Practice in Hellenistic Ethics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1994. Post, Stephen. A Theory of Agape: On the Meaning of Christian Love. Lewisburg, PA: Bucknell University Press, 1990. Selnick, Philip. The Moral Commonwealth: Social Theory and the Promise of Community. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1992, p. 361. Weaver, Darlene. Self Love and Christian Ethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Webhorn, Wayne. Courtly Performances Masking and Festivity in Castigliones Book in the Courtier. University of Texas at Austin, 1978.

Geographic Distribution of Natural Resources for Energy Production Essa

Energy Distribution It is commonly known that natural resources are not distributed evenly around the world. As a result, energy is not distributed evenly around the world. In the present climate of the global economy, the distribution of energy presents conflicts between growing industry and already established industry. As a result, countries such as China, which are beginning to consume more resources, are turning to former methods of polluting natural resources such as coal because the resources they used to use are not as widely available. This is also taking place in other parts of the world. As the resources of crude oil deplete, oil companies are turning to new fuels such as ethanol without considering the side effects, similar to the way that China is blindly turning to coal without considering the pollution that is the result of coal. As a result of the rapid development and the sudden need for more energy in China, the production of energy in China is also different from that of the United States. Since China is a developing country, it has more of a chance to shift to alternate power sources more easily than the United States could; however, China needs rapid energy, and so it turned to coal rather than resources such as solar power or wind power. China is essentially at the stage that the United States was during the Industrial Revolution, whereas the United States has moved on to cleaner sources of energy such as petrol and oil. Another advantage that the United States has over developing nations is the use of alternate methods of power such as Nuclear Power Plants. Developing nations such as China do not have as easy an access to nuclear power due to the uncertainty as to the communist nature of the cou... ...op=793c8805q2fjrfq2fjgdloq5eddcmjmeeq22jeq3bjmbjq2aycfq5eyzcq2adyznjzoq2azjmbcq51q5eq2fq2ayfq7bsc0n>. â€Å"Coal power in China†. Wikipedia. 28 July 2008 . "Nuclear power in France." Wikipedia. 28 July 2008 . "Buying a Car: Gas vs. Diesel." Gas Vs. Diesel. 28 July 2008 . Pimentel. "Ethanol Fuel from Corn Faulted as ‘Unsustainable Subsidized Food Burning’." Ethanol. 28 July 2008 . Wallace, Ed. "Ethanol: A Tragedy in 3 Acts." Business Week. 28 July 2008 . Cohen, Matthew. "The Problem With Ethanol." Tampa Bay Online. 29 July 2008 .

Catcher in the Rye Song Project

â€Å"Under the Bridge† – Red Hot Chili Peppers Analysis In this song, the lead singer, Anthony Kiedis, is describing how after a drug addiction he moved to a different city to start a new life. This relates to Holden in Catcher in the Rye because after he was kicked out of school he had a hard decision to make. He either could go to his home before his parents knew about the expulsion, or he could run away to New York. Anthony and Holden both choose to go to the city. Also in the song and the book, the singer and Holden turn to drugs as a way to help their lives. Obviously that is the wrong choice, but anyways Holden, although underage, drinks as a means of an anti-depressant. â€Å"†¦The more depressed I got, and I decided, while I was walking and all, to stop off and have a drink somewhere† (90). This quote shows just one of a couple instances where Holden wants to drink because he is depressed or lonely. Anthony Kiedis, just like Holden, turned to hard drugs because he felt lonely from his family and friends. â€Å"Shake Me Down† – Cage the Elephant Analysis This song is about how the lead singer, Matt Shultz, dealt with the death of his last family member. He talks about how people usually grief and turn to drugs to help deal with someone’s loss. The line â€Å"I’ll keep my eyes fixed on the sun† shows how Matt is being optimistic and trying to make his life better from the death. In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden’s brother Allie dies and Holden has a bold reaction to his death. â€Å"I was only thirteen, and they were going to have me psychoanalyzed and all, because I broke all the windows in the garage† (38-39). Although Holden has a completely different reaction to a family member’s death, this song relates to Holden because it shows the different ways that people deal with a person’s death. Use Somebody† – King’s of Leon Analysis Throughout this song, the writer describes a person that is trying to find somebody to accompany him that has similar personalities. Holden Caulfield throughout the book goes around meeting new people but most of the time he is depressed and lonely. Holden relates to the song’s character because they both need someone in their lives to fix their problems. â€Å"The first thing I did when I got off at Penn Station, I went into this phone booth. I wanted to give somebody a buzz†¦but when I got inside, I couldn’t think of anybody o call† (59). This quote shows how Holden wanted to talk to someone, but anybody he thought of he found a reason not to call him or her. In the song, the singer repeats the same phrase â€Å"You know I could use somebody† to emphasize the need of a friend. Holden is the same in this case, being he needs someone to help him break his negative attributes. â€Å"Express Yourself† – NWA Analysis The main theme in â€Å"Express Yourself† by N. W. A. is to practice what you preach. An important trait to Holden is genuineness and not being a phony, which is why this song relates to him. Many of their other songs such as and â€Å"Straight Outta Compton† and â€Å"F*** Tha Police† were banned from the radio even though they did contain a lot of the truth about their lives and some of the corruption and brutality they faced in their lives. Meanwhile, other artists produced phony music and imitated others. Being â€Å"straight-up† and truthful is something Holden values a lot. â€Å"Or they kill where the hip-hop starts/Forget about the ghetto, and rap for the pop charts. † This line from the song talks about sell-out rappers who make music just for the money and fame. These kinds of people are phonies. Another quote from the song is, â€Å"It's crazy to see people be/what society wants them to be, but not me. † The meaning of this is that other people around him change to make others happy and to fit in, but he won’t. Holden is just like this. His brother D. B. â€Å"sold-out† by moving to Hollywood and being a screenwriter. Holden doesn’t want to follow the same path. â€Å"Basket Case† – Green Day Analysis Green Day’s singer Billie Joe Armstrong wrote this song while he was in a wretched state of emotional distress. Instead of facing his problems, he would resort to drugs and complaining. This song fits in perfectly with how Holden is handling his problems. After being kicked out of a private school in which his mother paid for, he delays telling her until he can get his emotions under control. He goes to New York City and tries to get drunk to relieve his stress, as Billie Joe Armstrong did with drugs. â€Å"Am I just paranoid? Or I'm just stoned. † This song also talks about the constant paranoia he faces. Holden also has to deal with being paranoid as he is clearly insecure. It is rare that the reader will find Holden describing somebody positively. He is constantly making shallow judgments about the people he encounters. He says, â€Å"I’m not kidding, some of these very stupid girls can really knock you out on the dance floor. † Before even having a conversation with her, he already comes to the conclusion that she is a stupid girl. This proves his insecurity because he is seeing his imperfections through others and criticizing them for it. â€Å"Unwell† – Matchbox Twenty Analysis This song was written from the point of view of a depressed person, rather than a crazy person. I feel that Holden would fall into the category of a depressed person rather than a crazy person. He states several times that he really is just lonely. He says,  Ã¢â‚¬Å"What I really feel like, though, was committing suicide. I  felt like jumping out the window. †Ã‚  This may contribute to his depression. This type of depression that he has doesn’t stop him from doing what he wants; it just places an ongoing negative mindset, always judging people. He says, â€Å"The worst part was, the jerk had one of those very phony, Ivy League voices, one of those very tired, snobby voices. He sounded just like a girl. He didn’t hesitate to horn in on my date, the bastard. † This shows his rashness towards people he doesn’t really know. He is just immediately generalizing the people around him. â€Å"Seventy Times 7† – Brand New Analysis This song relates to Holden’s interpretation to a lot of the people he sees. He views everyone like the writer of this song does: as shallow, ignorant and mentally weak. The writer says, â€Å"So, is that what you call a getaway? Tell me what you got away with. Cause I've seen more spine in jellyfish. I've seen more guts in eleven-year-old kids. † He’s exposing the subtle weaknesses of man, much like Holden does in his thoughts. These lyrics are the kind of assumptions that Holden would make about people before even talking to them. This song also fits the way Holden lives his life, â€Å"Back in school they never taught us what we needed to know, like how to deal with despair, or someone breaking your heart. † These are some of Holden’s biggest problems. His failure in his previous relationships will heavily contribute to his ongoing disparity. Dear Holden Caulfield, Over the years I have known you, I have noticed that your personality has changed for the worse. You have gone from a fantastic brother who I loved hanging out with to a lousy, lonely, and depressed person who I feel separated from. I don’t even know who the hell you are anymore! You’ve become a damn childish brat even though you are what now 16 years old? One of the things I hate the most is you think that everything is crap. Movies, people, and everything! It is all crap! You always accuse people of being phony. What exactly is a phony? Have you ever thought of yourself being a phony? Everything you say is a contradiction. In reality, the people you call phony are just average, friendly people. Using your definition of a phony, your own brother would be a phony because he writes stuff for movies. I almost forgot about your social problems. Now, I can’t really ridicule you for this, but you are a lonely person. You don’t have any friends and make people soak in your own sorrows. We need to get someone for you that fix that problem; I’m not worrying about that now though. Your always depressed too damnit. And that makes everyone around you depressed as well. You always have to ruin everybody’s good time. Everything would be going well then all of a sudden you come along and screw up everything. I have decided to get a little creative with the situation. I made you a CD and sent it to you up in Pency Prep. It is a compilation of songs that describe you as a person. It is filled with songs that describe how you coped with your brother’s death, loneliness, and other qualities you have. The first song I have for you is â€Å"Basket Case† by Green Day. This song describes how someone didn’t face their problems and forgot about them. You do the same exact thing. Instead of facing your parents when you get kicked out of Pency, you run away to the city and put away the issue. This song is related to the next song in a way, which is â€Å"Under the Bridge† by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. This song describes the singer turning to drugs to fix his problems, just like you turn to alcohol as an anti-depressant. The singer also shows how he ran off to Los Angeles, just like how you ran off to New York, to â€Å"fix† his problems. Another song I picked for you was â€Å"Unwell† by Matchbox Twenty. The singer in this song tells the listeners he is not crazy but instead just epressed. I felt like that related to you because people may think you have some anger management issues or something, but you’re just extremely depressed and lonely. I also thought that â€Å"Express Yourself† by NWA was an appropriate song for you. This song talks about being true to yourself, and makes fun of people who are fake or phony. Do I ha ve to explain this one? You think everything is phony, I mean seriously, this song is probably your favorite song ever. This next song, â€Å"Shake Me Down† by Cage the Elephant, shows how people deal with someone’s death. During the song the singer talks about people who can’t get over the death, just like you and your mother. You even broke all the windows in the garage because of your anger over your brother’s death! I mean damn, that is a way you could react I guess. Another song I put on the CD was â€Å"Use Somebody† by Kings of Leon. The singer in this song shows the need of a friend in people’s life. You definitely could use a friend. Maybe they can help get rid of your depression and loneliness. The next song I put on there was â€Å"Seventy Times 7† by Brand New. The singer relates to you because both of you have the same outlook on people. that they are ignorant, mentally weak, and phony. This song, â€Å"What’s My Age Again† by Blink-182 is the perfect example of you. The song is about a person that acts nothing like his real age. You act like an immature child even though you are 16. The title even describes you. You say people think you are older than you actually are because of your height, but you are only 16! Another song I put on was â€Å"Prayer of the Refugee† by Rise Against. This song describes a refugee that says he is independent and doesn’t want help but yet people try to help him.

The Rise Of Zionism And Arab Nationalism - 1407 Words

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Furthermore, as Zionism progressed, Arabs Nationalists were threatened by the ideo logy and the vast Jewish immigration to Palestine. In the Arab point of view, Zionism emerged as a European movement, which appeared to be another attempt by Western imperialism to subordinate Muslims to Europeans. Although Arab Nationalism and Zionism were similar in nature, these two identities were destined to clash primarily due to their irreconcilable nationalistic aspirations and cultural characteristics. The birth of Zionism began in Eastern Europe; the Zionist movement became known as a nationalisticShow MoreRelatedBuber And Arendt Approaches To Zionism1360 Words   |  6 Pageswill be compared Buber and Arendt’s approaches to Zionism. Although they both have the same humanist perspective on Zionism, their approaches in their discussion of Zionism is exceedingly different. 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