Questions on the dialogue of Socrates and Laches
Assignment 3 Plato on Tradition and Belief ________________ Read the passage slowly and carefully, then in no more than 600 words, answer the questions below. . Towards the beginning of this passage, Socrates gets Laches to agree to a new definition of courage. What is it? Socrates and Laches discussion over the definition of courage at this point has led Socrates to get Laches to agree that courage can be defined as “Wise Endurance”. . What conclusion does Socrates and Laches reach at the end of the passage? Why might Laches be surprised by this conclusion? The conclusion Socrates and Laches reach at the end of this passage is that courage is foolish endurance. This may have surprised Laches because they have just agreed that foolish endurance cannot be courage as it isn’t admirable. Socrates speaks of a war man who is outnumbered and out classed would be foolish to go into battle, but surely running away would show cowardice. This also goes against Laches first offering of courage in reading 1.2 being that of a military man who does not retreat. . How does Socrates argue for this conclusion? As previously mentioned Socrates uses a basic argument for this conclusion by referring to two types of war man. The war man who has the superior knowledge, the better classed fighters who are prepared to support him and the war man who doesn’t have these. Socrates
From the available sources, what can we say about the roles and status of Aboriginal women in eighteenth and early nineteenth century indigenous society
Hilary King HST 210 42092671 ASSIGNMENT COVER SHEET (for Open Universities Australia students) Centre for Open Education MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY NSW 2109 AUSTRALIA Office Use Only ** Unit Code HST 210 COE USE ONLY Date Received Unit Name Currency Lasses and Chesty Bonds Assignment No. Essay 1 Assignment Title From the available sources, what can we say about the roles and status of Aboriginal women in eighteenth and early nineteenth century indigenous society? Due Date 1.1.13 Name Family Name King Other Name(s) Hilary Student No. Macquarie ID 42092671 OUA ID 72607 Contact Telephone No. 0355786203 (Home) 03 55518225 (work) Postal Address (Block Letters) PO Box Branxholme, Vic 3302 MARKER’S COMMENTS ________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ Indigenous women had a strong and critical role in indigenous society before European contact. After contact, their role changed and then progressively diminished through the rest of the nineteenth century. Voice and perspective are critical in analysing and understanding how history is told and valued. Generally, historical information detailing the roles and status of Indigenous women in
A summary of the themes covered in St. Xaviers letter to the Society of Jesus at Rome about his mission in India.
Ridhima Saxena FSLE 3 (60918) Course: Images of India ________________ Response Note on St. Xavier’s letter ________________ A summary of the themes covered in St. Xavier’s letter to the Society of Jesus at Rome. This letter begins with a description of St. Xavier informing the authorities that it had already been three years of him and Francis Mancias at Comorin in India. They had been sent by the missionaries in Rome to restore Christianity in the Portugal colonies in India and during the course of three years, St. Xavier had already done a great job converting Hindus to Christianity. He informs them about his experience in India and in this essay I would summarize his letter according to the different themes he covers in it. a) Population: St. Xavier mentions that just at Comorin the population is large and it keeps increasing rapidly. They speak the local languages and are dark in color. The first job that St. Xavier did after coming to India was to interact with the most intelligent of the men at the coast who were well versed in the Malabar as well as Castilian. St. Xavier did not understand Malabar much but he picked up a little bit of it from the locals. With the help of these diligent men, he translated the Catechism into the local language and then began assembling men, women, and children in the villages to teach them the doctrines in the Bible. He
What is the strongest objection to utilitarianism? How persuasive is this objection?
200687205 PHIL1002 Introduction to Ethics November 2012 What is the strongest objection to utilitarianism as a theory of moral rightness and wrongness? How persuasive is this objection? The strongest objection to Utilitarianism is that it ignores the rights of the individual. When making moral decisions, the majority’s happiness often deprives individuals of their rights. I believe this objection is persuasive because it is difficult to contemplate a life where individuals only act in order to create “the greatest happiness for the greatest number.” (Mill, 2002) Utilitarianism states that when making a moral decision, you must assess the value of consequences in terms of overall pleasure over pain. This is presented by the Principle of Utility, where “acts are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to promote the reverse of happiness.” (Mill, 2002) As happiness is portrayed as the only intrinsically morally valuable thing, we should only act to produce the greatest available net happiness. (Dr Pekka Vayrynen 2012) The main philosopher who this objection was influenced by was John Rawls. In his book, “A Theory of Justice”, Rawls argues for “the separateness of persons.” (Rawls, 2005: 23-24) He argues that people are individuals with their own desires and needs, and that “the violation of the liberty of a few might
Abortion Ethics
Alfred Chami English 203-14 9/3/2014 Essay 1 Draft Abortion Ethics Every year, fifty million abortions take place worldwide. Abortion, the methodical closure of a human pregnancy, remains a highly debatable issue in modern society. This controversy is philosophically based on the origins of two ends, pro-life, and pro-choice. Support for abortion comes from pro-choice perspectives, claiming that all women deserve free rights, whereas opposition comes from pro-life viewpoints, declaring that one has no right to deprive a fetus from its future of value. The future of value approach justifies the wrongness of killing by claiming that aborting a fetus deprives it from the future goods it may have experienced had it not been killed. Abortion in this perspective is seen to be as a misfortune since the fetus will not experience the good things life has to offer in the coming future. Some arguments state that the wrongness in the killing is based in the fact that a human is being executed. However, “being human is merely a biological characteristic”(Marquis, 422). Being human, by itself, does not justify the wrong in the
I will argue the empathic access theory by presenting the shortcomings of other psychological continuity theories of personal identity, and showing how empathic access can overcome these.
Topic 4: Empathic Access Introduction In this paper I will discuss a certain view of personal identity: empathic access. In particular, I will introduce empathic access and describe its nature and criteria. I will then consider the view in detail, examining the strongest arguments for, the strongest objections to and the responses to these objections. I will end by summarising the defence for empathic access this paper has crafted. View The empathic access theory is the view that in order to preserve an identity, one must have empathic access to the states of their former self. Empathic access refers to a compassionate connection to the past, one that is not just memories, but that holds a fundamental sympathy for the remembered states. Accordingly, it is more than just recollection, but essentially requires one’s former psychological make-up to be used for future decisions (Schechtman, 2001, p. 102). Considering people experience change in their values, and characteristics over time, it is necessary for psychological identity defining theories to measure the extent to which change is identity destroying. The empathic access theory is not a theory designed to solely define personal identity, but rather an attempt to strengthen the psychological continuity theory by clarifying identity-preserving and identity-destroying change. Essentially the empathic access theory
What would you consider the most decisive or influential forces to bring down apartheid in South Africa?
What would you consider the most decisive or influential forces to bring down apartheid in South Africa? The dark days of Apartheid finally came to an end in 1990 when the “Father” of South Africa, Nelson Mandela was released from prison. In many ways it can be argued that the abolishment of apartheid is attributed to Mandela and in part this is true. However, the factors which led to the downfall of the repressive Apartheid regime are not as simple as assigning it to one sole determinant, but a combination and culmination of varying factors. The main influential forces herein discussed can be classed into 3 categories. Firstly, internal pressure from the black protest and its political parties; secondly, the international isolation which enforced economic sanctions and sporting boycotts; and finally, the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union as the cold war relaxed (US Department of State, 2001). As such this essay will briefly outline these main influences which brought down Apartheid and assess which played the most profound part in its demise. The oppressive actions of the government inflicted on the black community were well known before the 1960’s. However, the most prolific years in the anti-apartheid movements occurred after this time in the form of internal resistance from small and isolated groups (Louw, 2004). These groups were unable to join forces due
Can Franco be described as a truly fascist dictator?
Can Franco be described as a truly fascist dictator? General Francisco Franco served as head of state of Spain from victory in the Spanish Civil in 1939 until his death in 1975. Since Franco's death there has been much debate as to whether the Generalissimo’s dictatorship can be described as a truly fascist regime. The crux of this debate hinges on each individual historian's definition of a fascist dictator. Therefore first of all it is important to define what makes a truly fascist dictator. To do this it is essential to bear in mind the definitions of other historians. Firstly as Payne states a fascist dictator must adhere to the concept of 'anti isms', this means a fascist's inherent ideology is antiliberalism, anticommunism and antidemocratic.[1] Secondly Paxton says a fascist dictator 'pursues with redemptive violence and without ethical or legal restraint goals of internal cleansing and external expansion' which means a fascist dictator uses tactics of terror and violence and holds expansionist foreign policy aims.[2] Thirdly as Passmore states all aspects of a fascist dictator's policies are suffused with ultranationalism.[3] Fourthly as Griffin states a fascist dictator must implement an authoritarian and totalitarian form of government.[4] These are the four key components of what makes a truly fascist dictator. It is clear that Franco shared some of these key
How far can the problems facing the colony of Virginia from 1607 to 1624 be explained by the quality of the settlers?
How far can the problems facing the colony of Virginia from 1607 to 1624 be explained by the quality of the settlers In 1606 King James I granted a Royal Charter to the Virginia Company of London to establish an English settlement in the Chesapeake Bay region of North America. Thus in 1607 the Virginia Company of London established the Jamestown settlement on the banks of the James River in the Colony of Virginia. William Kelso has described Jamestown as the place where the British Empire began and the first proper colony of the British Empire.[1] Prior attempts by the English to colonise North America had ended in disaster the most significant example being the lost Colony of Roanoke. Between 1607 and 1624 the Jamestown colony suffered what Kenneth Andrews describes as a “sickly birth”.[2] This is due to the various problems the colonists endured such as disease, famine and conflict with the Powhatans. By far the biggest problem suffered by the settlers was high mortality rates; at least six thousand people settled in Virginia between 1607 and 1624, but by 1625 only one thousand two hundred settlers had survived.[3] There has been much debate over the causes of the problems endured at the Virginia Colony. Traditionalist historians such as Edmund Morgan put forward the view that the poor quality of the settlers was the main reason for the problems suffered at Virginia.
Banning public executions was hailed by the Daily Telegraph as an end to 'a fragment of medieval barbarism,' was this a reasonable assessment?
Banning public executions was hailed by the Daily Telegraph as an end to 'a fragment of medieval barbarism,' was this a reasonable assessment? In May 1868 Parliament passed the Capital Punishment Amendment Act which abolished the practice of public executions in the United Kingdom. Instead the Capital Punishment Amendment Act required that all prisoners sentenced to death shall now be executed within prison walls and their bodies should also be buried within the grounds of the prison.[1] The fenian Michael Barrett who was convicted for his involvement in the Clerkenwell prison bombing in 1867 was the last prisoner to be publically executed in Britain in May 1868. Two days later the new capital punishment bill was passed and the so called 'Spectacle of the Scaffold' was over. The Daily Telegraph described the banning of public executions as an end to 'a fragment of medieval barbarism'. There was much debate in the nineteenth century and there is still debate in recent times between historians such as V. A. C. Gatrell, David Cooper and Randall McGowan over the decision by Parliament to abolish public executions in 1868. To an extent it is reasonable to describe the abolishment of public executions as an end to 'a fragment of medieval barbarism' as to execute prisoners in a brutal way such as hanging in front of the general public is barbaric, uncivilised and backward.
