Thursday, January 30, 2020

Trial By the Mirror Essay Example for Free

Trial By the Mirror Essay â€Å"Underneath the shadows of the other side of time If there is a hell then there must be a behind† -Insane Clown Posse, â€Å"Echo Side†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   She is led into the room by two strong men, plump and middle age. The dark blonde hair quivers as she sobs. Her legs tremble and give way, and her eyes, fallen in deeply an a face that was formerly round, are pleading. She is flopped down onto the chair designated for those condemned to the Highest Measure, and looks at us, holding clenched hands to her mouth.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   We – Nikolas and I – look at her indifferently.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"Marjorie Penant. Nickolas states.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   She nods numbly.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"You have killed† He starts repeating her sentence to her. We are required to do it. Psychological torture it may be, but its part of the common procedure now. Something required before we finish our job. It is difficult otherwise, to   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"I have killed no one!† Her voice rings out suddenly, kicking my train of thought off track. Damn condemned!   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Yet this just may have been worth interrupting my musings for a moment. Most condemned lose all sense of will before the Highest Measure. She stands now, shaking not with fear, but with rage. Nikolas nods slightly, his perpetual boredom somewhat alleviated. Interesting – and it would seem its my turn to speak.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"Really?† Only one word. I know my voice is darkly musical. This is my gift, my power, so to speak.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The word echoes almost visibly through her body, making her consider and reconsider, invoking into her things that she might not want to remember, as forceful as the call of hunger after many days of starvation. She covers her ears, and stands erect for a couple of seconds, only to fall to the floor with a shriek. â€Å"N-no!!!†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   My lips curl into a smirk. As expected. Ninety-nine percent of humans cant stand my voice sBut whats this?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"I Killed Nobody† She grunts through clenched teeth. â€Å"Ive Killed NOBODY!†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I cast a glance at Nikolas, who calmly continues reading her sentence. â€Å"You have killed three children, by exposing them to Matters of the Soul early.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   She raises a tear-stained face, and her voice is strangely clear, as she pronounces: â€Å"I. Killed. Not. One. Of. Them.† She sits up with obvious difficulty. â€Å"Your system did.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"You went against it. And took them with you.† Nikolas says calmly.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"Because its nonsense!† She says sharply.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I raise an eyebrow calmly. Looks like I was mistaken in my first impression. She is not the simpleton she initially looked to be. I had even wondered why she earned her measure. I no longer wonder.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"Really?† You are despicable – this is what my voice says this time. You decided their fates, and their deaths are only your fault. You should cry with relief that we are a humane society and merely killed them – not did what we are going to do to you. Be self-contemptuous, be afraid, be dead – my voice commands it all.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"Nonsense!† She gasps stubbornly. â€Å"Th The soul Isnt something to be taken away by the likes of you!!†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"Pedagogue.† Nikolas says calmly. â€Å"Parts of the soul are shown as a human being gets older. Gradually. It does no harm this way.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"And destroys our humanity!† She says proudly.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   So typical of the old-style humanists. Nikolas looks to me. â€Å"Laas?†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"You destroy it yourself.† I add calmly. â€Å"Was it not you who cried for your life a minute ago?†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"I cried for the lives of my children.† She replies dryly. â€Å"Not for my own. It is in no danger.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"You have been condemned to meeting yourself.† Nikolas finishes the sentence. And then adds; â€Å"You are wrong when you think your life is in no danger. You have been through meeting with parts of your soul.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"And they have taught me much.† She raises her chin proudly.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"The shadows do not teach.† I frown. â€Å"They take away.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   She looks upon me with an expression I have not seen since my initiation. It is pity. â€Å"Then you were unable to cope with their lessons. As the fourth child was unable to cope with mine. And it will kill you. As it killed them.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"And you.† I reply.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"No.† She says simply. â€Å"Go on. I want no other last words.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I and Nikolas silently lead her to the silver arch. She is left under it, as we walk to the sides of it. We press our palms to the sides pf the arch, and darkness begins playing between it, almost touching it. The feeling of stepping through the arch is like skydiving, I know. Without a parachute.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   She throws her hands up. â€Å"Nothing is true! Everything is permitted!† And jumps through the arch. The darkness swallows her, and wavers, as the machine starts working   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Nikolas turns to me. â€Å"I think we will have a new one among us.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I scrutinize the arch. The gate to the Other Side was reserved for those who did not deserve the Death Penalty. Especially those who committed the ultimate crime against humanity – destroyed the integrity of society by teaching younglings about souls before they were fully grown. This was the standard tactic of terrorists these days. Most return from the arch dead, a cruel death. It contains a realm of endless madness, among which, somewhere, is your own self, inflicting the insanity.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I know all about it. After all, I had once stood before the same gate myself.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The darkness wavers once more, as it spits out the woman who was Marjorie. Her eyes are dead now that she knows what she has been teaching her children. Sanity is limitation, after all.   Those who break limitations too early, die to the world. Who survive death, learn to control limits.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Nikolas extends his hand to her. â€Å"Come.† He says soothingly. â€Å"You have much to learn.†

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Poetry, History, and Dialectic :: Philosophy Argumentative Argument Papers

Poetry, History, and Dialectic Twice in the Poetics, Aristotle contrasts poetry with history. Whatever its didactic value, the contrast has not seemed to readers of special philosophical interest. The aim of this paper is to show that this contrast is philosophically significant not just for our understanding of tragedy but also for the light it sheds on Aristotle’s overall methodology. I shall show how he uses the method sketched in the Topics to define tragedy and explain why the same method will not define history. In particular, tragedy admits of definition because its parts constitute a unity, and much of the Poetics aims to show how, despite being defined through six distinct parts, tragedy can be one. In contrast, history, though a proper preliminary to poetics and concerned also with human action, does not admit of scientific treatment because it contains no essential unities. Aristotle’s understanding of ‘science’ is used here to explain why any attempt to create a scientific hi story would turn history into poetry. I Aristotle claims that the art of dialectic sketched in the Topics contributes to philosophical knowledge because it can be used to find indemonstrable first principles from common opinions: "for, being capable of examining, dialectic has a path to the principles of all disciplines" (à µB ¤  £Ã…“Å ¸Ãƒ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃƒ  Ã‚ ¤) (I.2.101b3-4). Scientific knowledge of a subject consists of grasping its principles and demonstrating its essential attributes from them. How does one come to know the first principles? Obviously, they cannot be demonstrated from prior principles; they are first principles. As such, they are somehow determined by dialectic. Thus, dialectic transforms what we can call, for lack of a better term, a "subject matter" into a science. What is the state of this subject matter before dialectic discovers its principles? It is clear from our Topics text that this examination will look for common opinions, and it is well recognized that Aristotle's actual inquiries often begin from common opinions.(1) So the pre-scientific subject matter must contain common opinions about its facts. Aristotle has a name for such a setting out of facts: in the Prior Analytics, he speaks of deriving the principles of each field from experience and he refers to the account of the phenomena of a field as a "history" (Èà ³Ãƒ µÃ‚ ¦Ãƒ ²Ãƒ ¥Ã‹Å") (46a17-27). Evidently, "history" precedes "science," and transition is effected by dialectic. Aristotle has much to say about how knowledge is derived from sensation and experience, but he never explains how (or whether!) his many remarks fit together into a single process.

Monday, January 13, 2020

Organic Food vs. Non-Organic Essay

Unfortunately, most organic food is disappearing, because people are not taking the time to buy it. People are buying non-organic because the food is cheaper, easier to find, and full of nutrition. But why is organic food disappearing when it has more nutrition, better tasting, and ecosystem diversity. What are people really doing? People now at days choose to buy non-organic food because it’s cheaper, easier to find, and full of nutrition. When coming in to a store the first thing you can see is the low prizing of the products. This is one reason people choose to buy non-organic products. When going into the organic section of foods and seeing that is twice the prize as non-organic people automatically chooses non-organic food. Milk certified as hormone and antibiotic-free costs 6 dollars per gallon, while grocery milk only costs 3. 50 per gallon. When coming into a super market most of the things that you see are non-organic products. This is another reason why people choose non-organic products, because it is easier to find. People now at days are really busy and doesn’t have many time to be shopping, and makes non-organic products easy to find and less time wasters. People chooses to buy non-organic products because they are easy to find, but they don’t know that it could only take two minutes looking for organic products. People chooses to buy non-organic products because they are full of nutrition. This is another reason why people chooses to buy non-organic products. Non-organic products have been industrialized and enhanced with vitamins, which many of organic products are missing. Organic products are naturally grown and are healthy to the body. Because non-organic products have been industrialized the quality of the soil is secondary, while the soil of organic products is pure. This is why food that has been grown organically tastes better than industrialized products. People chooses non-organic products because it grows faster and easier. By growing organic food it allows the environment a wider range of insects, plants, and organisms to coexist. People chooses to buy non-organic products because they won’t have to be worrying about getting a worm in their apple. Non-organic products are insect free, this is another reason people chooses non-organic products. What are they really doing? Organic fruit and vegetables are contaminated with as much as 40% more antioxidants, which scientists believe can lower the risk of getting cancer and heart disease. The levels of antioxidants in milk from organic crops are up to 90% higher than in non-organic milk. Non-Organic is most likely to be contaminated with left overs that sometimes occurs in dangerous combinations of chemicals added to organic products. They contain more water than organic products, which makes the organic products dry, and sometimes rough. Banning the use of artificial food additives like hydrogenated fats, phosphoric acid, aspartame and monosodium glutamate, which have been scientifically to health problems like heart disease, osteoporosis, migraines and hyperactivity. Non-Organic, the negative effects of pesticides in health includes neurotoxicity, disruption of the endocrine system, carcinogenicity and immune system suppression.

Sunday, January 5, 2020

The National Collegiate Athletic Association - 2154 Words

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) revenue for the 2011-12 season was $871.6 million, most of which came from games and media agreements (NCAA n.p.). However, the student-athletes who actually put on these games are not paid a single dime. These athletes put their blood, sweat, and tears into their game and aren’t legally paid for something that creates such a huge revenue for the school as well as the NCAA. College sports are apart of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), a non-profit organization whose purpose is to protect students and promote equitable sportsmanship both in the gym and in the classroom. The NCAA’s statement that intercollegiate sports is that, â€Å"maintaining amateurism is crucial to†¦show more content†¦Not to mention these students personal rights are being exploited by NCAA. To compensate for all of these mistreatments, all collegiate-athletes should be allowed to be paid for their athletic performance in college sports regardless of NCAA’s amateurity policy. Amateurism is one of the key points critics of athletes being paid turn to attack. NCAA president Mark Emmert believes that students should be students and that their athletic scholarship should be the only compensation they are paid (Ornstein n.p.). The NCAA does not allow players to receive payment or any other compensation for their work since college sports are â€Å"not a source of personal financial remuneration† as it states in its amateurity policy (â€Å"Paying† n.p.). In order for college sports to remain in the amateur league, they must remain without pay since the line between amateurism and professionalism is so fine. But in actuality, is college sports really that much different than the professional league? In both the amatuer or college league and the professionals, there are financial advisors who create agreements outside of the NCAA to allow the athlete to gain money. However, in the case of college athletics this transaction is illegal. Current lineb acker of the Omaha Nighthawks Steve Octavien attended the University of Nebraska on an athletic scholarship. Since his scholarship didn’t cover all of his living expenses, he was in