The conscience is the voice of reason Essay Example for Free

The conscience is the voice of reason Essay Critically assess the claim that conscience is the voice of reason. [35] The origin of the conscience is much debated by both secular and religious beliefs. One may insist that the conscience is the voice of reason and this can be supported by Aquinas’ belief in the recta ratio. One may however discuss that the conscience is the voice of God, supported b y the Butler and Newman, or is influenced mainly by society, parents or authority figures, usually supported by secular views. This essay will critically asses these claims. Aquinas believed that the conscience is the right reason (recta ration) and this reason is central to moral life to aid the conscience in choosing right from wrong. If man can use reason correctly, in line with the conscience, then it can help us to understand what it is God sees as good. We must use reason to what is good as some may perform bad actions due to faulty reasoning and thus commit sins; for example this is seen in the event of the man who slept with another man’s wife believing that is was his own wife and thus did not believe he was committing a sin. As this is faulty reasoning, the conscientia helps to distinguish between right and wrong. Along with the Synderesis rate it is vital for making moral decisions. Aquinas states that the conscience is the voice of reason as it enables man to fully assess good actions before taking them. Others if religious belief may argue that the conscience is the voice of God rather than the voice of reason. Both Newman and Butler argue that the conscience is the actual voice of God and thus makes us different from animals. As the conscience is seen as God-given, it is understandable for one to also believe that it must be his voice, and that by following our conscience we are effectively following divine law. Believing this, Newman went on to say that man must also use reason to enable man to decide what God’s voice guides man towards. For Newman, God’s voice gives moral direction and for us to recognise the goodness of the Pope’s teachings, we must recognise this if from both his understanding of Biblical teachings and his understanding of the voice of God: ‘I toast the Pope, but I toast the conscience first’. Newman’s reasoning to believe that the conscience is the voice of God outweighs the belief that it is purely the voice of reason and consequently disagrees with the beginning statement. To reason and rationalise makes man different from animals and thus one may argue that the conscience is the voice of this reason, however Butler believes that it is the voice of God which man must then apply reason to. As the ultimate authority in moral judgements, one may argue that it must be given that it must be given by the ultimate authority in the universe: God. It is ‘our natural guide, the guide assigned to us by the author of our nature’ that author is God and his voice will guide man to make the right decisions. For instance as man is motivated by both self-love and benevolence, as a benevolent God He will guide man away from selfish love and towards a benevolent society that will ultimately focus on happiness. As God’s purpose for man is to reach eudemonia it is understandable why Butler and Newman may believe that it is God’s voice that guides us towards this through the conscience. A secular approach may deny Aquinas’ belief that the conscience is the voice of reason (given by God) and Newman/Butler’s belief that it is the voice of God. For thinkers like Fromm, Freud and Piaget the conscience is instilled by society, authority figures and parents. Fromm believed that the society and authority around us from a young age, influences man to believe that if society accepts/denies something then this is likely to be right/wrong; this is the authoritarian conscience. Like Piaget, Fromm believed that this influence of beliefs and morals will be internalised over time. Piaget and Kohlberg believed that it is the authority figures in our life, most specifically our parents, which will influence the morals of our conscience. Between the ages of 5 and 10 our conscience is still immature and under the influence of our parents, to shows us the punishments for rules being broken; Heteronomous. From the age of 10 we gain Autonomous morality, as this initial teaching of morals and influence of the conscience is replaced with the child developing their own understanding of morals. It is clear that the ‘voice of reason’ in the conscience is in fact the voice of authority figures in society, and the voice of our parents prescribing their beliefs onto their children, therefore Fromm, Piaget ad Kohlberg disagree with the statement. Rather than parents and authority figures dictating the morals of man, under Piaget and Fromm, Freud argues that the conscience is the product of the mind that will be influenced by the values of the society they live in. Man’s personality is made from the Super-ego, ego and the id; the super-ego specifically sets moral codes that are given by outside influences. This understanding of the conscience rejects the idea that the conscience is the voice of reason but rather the implementation of a variety of outside secular influences, ranging from parents and teachers to society as a whole. If societies hold different morals, then the use of reasoning (given by God) cannot be implemented universally as this is proven to be insufficient. Though all of mankind possess reason it is the influences of outside agencies that allows man to use the ‘conscience’ in line with what they have been taught as right and wrong; therefore it cannot be the voice of reason. By discussing Aquinas’ support for claiming that the conscience is the voice of reason and analysing it with the concept of the conscience being the voice of God, viewed by Newman and Butler, and the concept that it is instilled by society, viewed mainly by those of secular beliefs. From this one may finally come to the conclusion that the conscience is not the voice of reason. Although it is still much debated, it is clear through history that society and authority figures play a major role in deciding what is morally right or wrong. In addition to Fromm’s authoritarian conscience there is the negative authoritarian conscience that misleads groups of people into doing sinful things; for example the Rwanda genocide in 1994. If all mankind posses reason how can one truly believe that the killing of innocents is the best thing for society.

Herman Melville: The Great American Writer :: Biography Biographies Essays

Herman Melville: The Great American Writer Everyone has heard of the novel Moby Dick at some point in their educational career, yet few know much about the life of its author. Herman Melville , the author of Moby Dick had an interesting life. Throughout his life he had many ups and downs. He was born on August 1, 1819 to a wealthy family that owned their own export business. This privileged life was short lived when Allen Melville, Herman's father, died in 1832. This was two years after the family business had gone under. Through this early example of a high and low in Melville's life you can see that his roller coaster like life was just beginning. In his writing you can see the three different stages that he had in his life. There are three stages to Herman Melville's life they are adventuresome young writer, mildly popular author, and finally a depressed old man who changed his entire style of writing. (Columbia 1, Padilla 1-2) Melville's first novels come from his imagination and were inspired by trips that he took across the sea as a young man.Melville had a stint on a boat headed to Liverpool from New York in 1839, yet only spent one summer on it because he had to come home and help his family out with their monetary situation.Finally in 1841, Melville found his way back to adventure and sailing.He headed out to the South Seas on the Acushnet.On this voyage it is said that Melville and one of his shipmates abandoned ship and were held by a group of cannibals in the French Polynesia.This experience led him to write his first novel that was not published until 1846, Typee.It was named after the Typee people who Melville had supposedly lived with for four months; however, ship records show that he was on another ship only a month after he had supposedly been with the Typee.Melville's next trip that inspired his second novel was on the Lucy Ann, a ship that was sailing to Tahiti.The novel Tahiti and Omoo, wr itten in 1846, 1847 respectively, are about Tahitian jails and revolts against the ship owners in Tahiti.These things never actually happened to Melville although his readers thought that they did.Melville was one of those authors who believed that bending the truth to make a great story was well worth it and his creative right.

No god but God

Reza Aslan’s book, ‘No god But God’, is a comprehensive telling of the story and the history of one of the major religions in the world today. Going through the 352 pages of the book, even a person who had no knowledge of Arabia’s pre-Islamic history, no familiarity with Islamic rise, and no previous comprehension of the various teachings and philosophical factors, is a great experience of exploration in the world of Islam and the Muslim way of thought. What makes this book unique is that it connects many of what is going on in the Islamic world with the latest events concerning terrorism and militant Islamic groups in different places of the world. Knowing that Aslan is a Muslim who earned different degrees in Religions and Arts in the United States gives us an idea about the amount of information that each reader can obtain. Throughout the book, the reader is being guided by an insider who is knowledgeable in what concerns all the related elements. And, from the other side, this can be another component in highlighting the fact that the book is written in a way that is easy to understand and that is completely comprehendible. CONTENTS AND THOUGHTS The author of the book begins by explaining the reasons that led him to write the book and to create such a volume about Islam. He explains that the main reason is not to go through the history and present conflicts within the religion, but to attempt to foresee its future and how it will evolve. â€Å"This book is not just a critical reexamination of the origins and evolution of Islam, nor is it merely an account of the current struggle among Muslims to define the future of this magnificent yet misunderstood faith. This book is, above all else, an argument for reform†Ã‚  Ã‚   (Prologue). The book is divided into ten distinct sections; each one goes through a certain stage of the birth and development of the religion. And in many of these chapters, many direct references and explanations are made concerning events that we see today and their origin and impact on the Muslim world of today in relation to a variety of subjects. The first section of the book ‘The clash of monotheisms’, is an introductory part in which the author states the reasons that led him to writing the book. He states that Islam is not, as some claim, a violent religion that cannot co-exist with modern values of democracy and human rights. â€Å"A few well-respected academics carried this argument further by suggesting that the failure of democracy to emerge in the Muslim world was due in large part to Muslim culture, which they claimed was intrinsically incompatible with Enlightenment values such as liberalism, pluralism, individualism, and human rights. It was therefore simply a matter of time before these two great civilizations, which have such conflicting ideologies, clashed with each other in some catastrophic way. And what better example do we need of this inevitability than September 11?† (Prologue). He claims, instead, that certain circumstances were the reason why the Muslim world is so much behind in these fields. In the first chapter of the book, ‘The sanctuary in the desert: pre-Islamic Arabia’, the reader can virtually live through the conditions and events that were taking place in Arabia before the emergence of the religion. Here we find many indications to the fact that, contrary to the reality of today, the Arabian Peninsula was populated by the followers of many religions: Jews, Christians, and others. â€Å"It is here, inside the cramped interior of the sanctuary, that the gods of pre-Islamic Arabia reside: Hubal, the Syrian god of the moon; al-Uzza, the powerful goddess the Egyptians knew as Isis and the Greeks called Aphrodite; al-Kutba, the Nabataean god of writing and divination; Jesus, the incarnate god of the Christians, and his holy mother, Mary† (Aslan 3). And in reference to the Jewish community the author states: â€Å"The Jewish presence in the Arabian Peninsula can, in theory, be traced to the Babylonian Exile a thousand years earlier, though subsequent migrations may have taken place in 70 C.E., after Rome's sacking of the Temple in Jerusalem, and again in 132 C.E., after the messianic uprising of Simon Bar Kochba. For the most part, the Jews were a thriving and highly influential diaspora whose culture and traditions had been thoroughly integrated into the social and religious milieu of pre-Islamic Arabia† (9). The following three chapters, ‘The keeper of the keys: Muhammad in Mecca’, ‘The city of the prophet: the first Muslims’, and ‘Fight in the way of God: the meaning of Jihad’, give the reader an in-depth clarification about how Islam came to life, from the beginning of the story of the prophet of Islam, Muhammad, his life before recognizing the mission that he was set to accomplish and the various events that shaped the era of the beginning of the new religion and how the Muslim believers, including the prophet himself, were treated by the people of their tribe and all the conditions that led the Islamic state to be established in Medina instead of Mecca, the original city of the prophet. What is interesting in this book is that it makes, during the telling of the story, references to many things that we see today in the Muslim world. One of the examples of this is the reference made to the story of the Hijab or the Islamic clothes and head cover of Muslim women, which has became an identifying characteristic of Muslim women today. It is surprising to find out that the whole idea is not even brought by the Quran or the original Islamic teachings: â€Å"Although long seen as the most distinctive emblem of Islam, the veil is, surprisingly, not enjoined upon Muslim women anywhere in the Quran. The tradition of veiling and seclusion (known together as hijab) was introduced into Arabia long before Muhammad, primarily through Arab contacts with Syria and Iran, where the hijab was a sign of social status. After all, only a woman who need not work in the fields could afford to remain secluded and veiled†¦ the veil was neither compulsory, nor for that matter, widely adopted until generations after Muhammad’s death, when a large body of male scriptural and legal scholars began using their religious and political authority to regain the dominance they had lost in society as a result of the Prophet’s egalitarian reforms† (65-66). The next chapter, ‘The rightly guided ones: the successors to Muhammad’, goes through the events that took place after the death of the prophet, and how conflicts appeared on the succession in what concerns the position of Islamic leader of Caliph, or successor. The sixth chapter, ‘This religion is a science: the development of Islamic theology and law’, is the one that contains most of the information about the teachings, the myths, the different philosophical views, and the various rituals that make up the religion. Here, the reader will have an idea about the different schools of thought. The following chapter, ‘In the footsteps of martyrs: from Shi’ism to Khomeinism’, presents the story of how the Shi’ite Muslim sect appeared as a result of the killing of Ali, the fourth Caliph after Muhammad and the political and religious consequences of this appearance that we can see in our world today. It relates the new factors of faith that were introduced into Islam by the Shi’ite sect and how those factors were always being used according to desires and wishes of the leaders, such as Kommeini in what concerns modern Iran. Next, the chapter ‘Stain your prayer rug with wine: the Sufi way’ is a description of another sect of Islam, which is Sufism. It goes through many of the different concepts that Sufis use and believe in which are completely different than those of mainstream Islam and Shi’ite Islam. The ninth chapter, ‘An awakening in the east: the response to colonialism’, talks about the effects of European colonialism on Muslim countries and the way that it was faced: â€Å"the nationalists sought to battle European colonialism through a secular countermovement that would replace the Salafiyyah's aspiration of religious unity with the more pragmatic goal of racial unity: in other words, Pan-Arabism† (Aslan 233) The final chapter, ‘Slouching toward Medina: the Islamic reformation’, discusses the establishment of the Muslim states after the end of colonialism. An interesting idea that the author presents in this chapter is the comparison between the reforms that took place within the Christian history which led Christian societies to move towards democracy, human rights, and pluralism and the conditions that are being shaped today within Islamic societies. And he states that Islamic societies may need to go through violent and extremely shaky conditions before reaching the final desired destination that others in the Western world reached. According to the author, there is an ongoing struggle taking place in the Muslim world between the forces of traditional religious beliefs and those that want to move their societies into the modern foundations of democracy and human right. He states that â€Å"in the developing capitals of the Muslim world – Tehran, Cairo, Damascus, and Jakarta – and in the cosmopolitan capitals of Europe and the United States – New York, London, Paris, and Berlin – where that message is being redefined by scores of first and second generation Muslim immigrants. By merging the Islamic values of their ancestors with the democratic ideals of their new homes, these Muslims have formed†¦ a ‘mobilizing force’ for a Muslim reformation that, after centuries of stony sleep, has finally awoken and is now slouching toward Medina to be born† (Aslan 254). In many parts of the book, there is a mentioning of terrorism and the reasons that led to its creation. Ben Laden is mentioned several times, even though the concepts that the author wants to express are not presented in the level that a reader expects. Aslan states that Ben Laden’s concept of Islam is wrong and that it is not the conception of the majority of Muslims: â€Å"Muslims may share bin Laden's grievances against the Western powers, [but] they do not share his interpretation of Jihad† (87). CONCLUSION The book is a rich source of information about the history of Islam and the about the Muslim societies of today. It gives the reader a full, even though not detailed, description of everything that led the reality of those societies into what is being seen today. The writer tried to show the true face of Islam and to explain to everyone that what extremists stand for today is something that has nothing to do with religion, and that they have their own version and interpretation of the Quran. The author, to a certain extent, succeeded in clearing many points about the religion and to underline the idea that Islam is originally a peaceful religion. The book was certainly worth writing and publishing especially in this time when everyone should know more about the other in order to avoid and prevent further confrontation. Works Cited Aslan, Reza. No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam. New York: Random   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   House, 2005.   

Should College Athletes Be Paid - 1537 Words

In America sports wherever there is people, there will also be sports. Sports have played a major role in American history. To some people sports is all they have. It is just the way that things are. The issue in sports now is that the NCAA exploit the sports world and the very backbone of the corporation is the poorest. It is an issue that has been around for quite some time now. The issue is that the sports world face is the fact that college athletes are not paid, although they perform in a multibillion dollar industry. The NCAA basically has a monopoly on college athletics, and generate about one billion dollars a year. College sports are extremely demanding both in and out of season, and these athletes put their future on the line. The NCAA should be legally obligated to compensate athletes, based solely on the fact that the money made, is from their performance. The National College Athletic Association, better known as the NCAA has been involved in constant turmoil for quite some time now. In the college sports world, there are two variant sides by which neither can come to a final decision. Those side are for and against paying college athletes for participation. While some agree that â€Å"coaches are paid too much for players to be struggling to buy food† (Connolly), some actually seem to disagree. Agree or disagree, the athletes deserve a resolution because the longer the issue, the longer the struggle. The two side fail to realize that their arguments and discord doesShow MoreRelatedShould College Athletes Be Paid?1578 Words   |  7 PagesAshay Mehta Nou Per 8 Should College Athletes Be Paid? One of the hottest debates in the sports industry is if college athletes should be paid. If you want to pay these athletes, how would the college determine the dollar amount that should be paid? Should the basketball team make more than the football team? Should the the soccer team be paid as well? Cheerleading? Chess team? Should everyone on the team get a salary? What if your college is good at football and your basketball team is awfulRead MoreShould College Athletes Be Paid?1398 Words   |  6 Pagesbelieve that college athletes at the highest performing schools are better treated than others. Although they do not get paid, they do receive some benefits for being athletes that other students would not get. One advantage for playing a sport is access to scholarships that some schools reserve for their athletes. Depending on the school and the athlete’s performance, money towards tuition is often given. Only some schools are willing to grant â€Å"full-ride† scholar ships for certain athletes. AccordingRead MoreShould College Athletes Be Paid?1289 Words   |  6 PagesThroughout the years college sports have been about the love of the game, filled with adrenaline moments. However, the following question still remains: Should college athletes get paid to play sports in college? Seemingly, this debate has been endless, yet the questions have gone unanswered. The National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) plays a vital role in this debate. The NCAA is a billion dollar industry, but yet sees that the athlete should get paid for their hard work and dedicationRead MoreShould College Athletes Be Paid?1334 Words   |  6 Pagesrising to the surface is â€Å"Should college athletes be paid?†. This has become a burning question. The NCAA is a multibillion-dollar industry, that makes millions, if not billions, in revenue. Yet it’s still maintains the non-profit status meaning that the industry is not set on making a profit and none of the revenue that is made is distributed to its members, managers, or officers. While most players who play in college sports are under a scholarship, that pays for the college tuition, books, and housingRead MoreShould College Athletes Be Paid?1364 Words   |  6 PagesHave you paid attention to all of the news that has been surfacing about collegiate sports lately? It is a big topic now days in the world of sports on weather college athletes should be getting paid to play sports. College athletics have gained great popularity of the past few decades, and have brought schools lots of revenue. A lot of college athletes think they should be getting paid for their services they do for their school. College sports like basketball and football generate over six billionRead MoreShould College Athletes Be Paid?1130 Words   |  5 PagesWhat college athlete would not want to be paid to play the sport that he or she loves? The real question is, though, should college athletes be paid fo r their roles in a college’s athletics? They are many points to each side of this recent controversial topic, which is why this has been made into such a hot debate in the past couple of years. As of right now, these athletes are not getting paid, but many of them truly believe that they should. Others believe that they already are being paid throughRead MoreShould College Athletes Be Paid?986 Words   |  4 PagesPaying the College Athlete The college athlete has steadily grown in popularity in the United States over the span of the past decades. Monetarily speaking, this increased publicity has been extremely beneficial for National Athletic Association (NCAA) and all the colleges involved in athletics which has sparked the dispute of whether or not the athlete should be paid for their hard work and dedication on the field and to their school or if the athletic scholarship is more than enough. College athletesRead MoreShould College Athletes Be Paid?1239 Words   |  5 PagesLindsey Simmerman Speech 102 T/Th 1:00-2:15 October 25, 2016 Should college athletes be paid to play? Specific Purpose: To persuade the class to agree with my stance on paying college athletes to play sports Thesis: College football is the hours players spend practicing and performing, the number of injuries the players face, and the persona these athletes must portray every day all the while watching their schools, coaches, and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) get all the compensationRead MoreCollege Athletes Should Be Paid1254 Words   |  6 PagesSome college athletic departments are as wealthy as professional sports teams. The NCAA has an average annual revenue of $10.6 billion dollars. College athletes should be paid because of the amount of revenue that they bring to their college. Each individual college should pay its athletes based on how much revenue they bring to the college in which they attend. The colleges that win their Division title, their Conference title, or the National championship, give bonuses to the Head coach of thatRead MoreCollege Athletes Should Not Be Paid1558 Words   |  7 Pagesstudent-athletes participate in a variety of different s ports, and currently they do not receive paychecks for their performances. College athletics have attained an extensive popularity increase among Americans over the past few decades. This has resulted into increased revenues for the National Collegiate Athletic Association [NCAA] and the participating colleges, which has fuelled the debate of whether or not college athletes should collect an income. College athletes should not be paid to play