A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man :: Portrait Artist Young Man

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man    The mind wanders, on occasion, through many processions of thought. When at the beginning of this text, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce, I found it difficult to follow young Stephen's meandering thoughts with any semblance of comprehension until I finished reading the novel. I then began to research the novel and Joyce and realized the significance of these seemingly random thoughts. These are the thoughts of a budding artist in infancy.    As Stephen matured, so did his thoughts. His struggle with self is central to understanding the novel. Without any indication of any other person's thoughts, Stephen's thoughts provoke our own to fill in where Joyce left the narrative blank. His struggle with self deals with religion, sin, sexuality, and prudence. Courage may be added to this list, but to a lesser extent. Stephen feels it is sufficient to hide and keep silent more than to stand on a soapbox and say what he thinks to a crowd.    Many of his mannerisms are learned responses from earlier dealings with schoolmates and family. In Chapter 1, line 30, Stephen hides when he is in trouble for something unknown to the reader. He hides his emotions on lines 81 and 82 of chapter 1 when his mother is crying as she leaves him at school. He attempts to hide his shame, on lines 259-265 in the same chapter, at not knowing the correct answer between kissing his mother or not doing so.    These learned responses of defense are somewhat, but not completely ignored when his thoughts begin to mature and he forms his own philosophy of what is beautiful through the study of others (Chapter 5, Lines 1161-1469). He speaks openly, to Lynch at least, about what beauty is and what art is. Later, also in Chapter 5, he speaks openly to Cranly about religion and his lack of belief therein. He believes that Cranly is friend enough not to tell others that Stephen is, what might have been considered, a heretic.

Descartes and Skepticism

Descartes and the problem of skepticism| Question: In Meditation III, Descartes argues that his idea of God could not have come from him, and so God must exist. How does this argument go? | Overview Rene Descartes was a great scientist, mathematician and philosopher. He was known for his extensive work on skepticism, and in particular a piece called â€Å"Meditations on First Philosophy† (written in 1641) which is still widely used by modern philosophers. In this publication, Descartes’ aim was to demonstrate that a persons’ soul is eternal and that God exists. He explains in Meditation One that it is possible to question the existence of all things; in Meditation two he goes on to give details regarding the existence of the mind and the soul. In the Third Meditation he gives arguments of proof of Gods’ existence; and in Meditation Four he explains the difference between truth and error. In the Fifth Meditation Descartes provides further arguments to prove the existence of God and in the Sixth and final meditation he brings it all together as he demonstrates how knowledge of the mind can be guided by God and therefore validates the knowledge we have of physical world. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2010). This essay will explain Descartes argument of the existence of God with specific reference to the Third Meditation discussed in the class handout- ‘Descartes and the problem of Skepticism’. Meditation ?- God’s Existence In the Third Meditation, subtitled â€Å"On God’s existence,† Descartes is certain that he is a â€Å"thinking thing† (pg 142) and sets out to prove God’s Existence. There were two major standpoints noted in his argument, though they were found to be closely linked. Firstly, he tackles the idea that his own existence and thoughts must have come from somewhere or something. He goes on to explain that the thought he has of God is one of an â€Å"eternal, infinite, omniscient, omnipotent, creator of all things† (pg 143). As a result, Descartes argues that the idea of God must therefore be far more complex than his mind alone can perceive- since his idea of God is that of an infinite, perfect being and Descartes himself is a finite being lacking enough formal reality to create such an idea on his own will. Put simply, Descartes believes that the idea of God could not have been created in his own limited mind; and he establishes that God must be the originator of his thoughts and therefore God exists. Secondly, Descartes battles with the idea that his existence must have a cause. He discusses the various possibilities that might have caused his existence including that he might have created himself; he might have always existed; his parents created him; that he was created by something less benevolent and perfect than God; and lastly, that it was God who created him. Descartes takes on an elimination process to figure out which one of these possibilities are likely true. He discusses that he could not have created himself because as he says â€Å"I would have given myself every perfection† (pg 146). Next he dismisses the idea that he always existed simply because as he describes that he is a dependent being that needs to be continually sustained by another. Descartes establishes that the idea of his parents being his creator only reintroduces the same problem regarding their own existence. He then thought of the possibility of a less than perfect God being his creator- but he argues that the idea of perfection that exists in his mind could not have originated from a non-perfect being. With this established, Descartes concludes that there must be a perfect God who is the cause of his existence and his perfect idea of God. In analysis of Descartes position, the observation is made that the basis of his argument is causal reasoning. This is shown when he suggests that there must be a cause of the idea of a perfect God and that this perfect idea must come from God himself. In my own reflection, I thought that living a predominantly Christian society might be the cause of my own idea of God. I have learnt all that I know about God from my parents and by extension the society. It therefore follows, that my parents' idea of God might have come from their parents also, whose idea somewhere along the line came from the church- which is also made up of men who has parents. Descartes argument supports that at the end of this causal chain, there has to be a first cause, which is God. Since there is no direct of evidence proving or disproving the existence of God, the belief in his existence is widely ccepted today, and the search for such a proof would always be a highly debatable and controversial topic. While there is still disagreement over Descartes argument as to whether or not God exists, it is generally agreed that God's existence cannot be proved through the capacity of the mind and therefore we rely on such concepts as skepticism and reasoning to guid e what we choose to believe of God. References * Smith, K. (2010, September 20). Descartes' life and works. Retrieved October 11, 2011from http://plato. stanford. edu/entries/descartes-works * Class Handout- Descartes and The Problem of Skepticism

Differences Between Homosexuality and Homosexual Behavior...

Homosexuality (the tendency to be more sexually attracted to the same sex) is often confused with homosexual behavior (acting on homosexuality by engaging in homosexual acts), but the two are distinctly different. Even though homosexual behavior, especially in more recent years, has become an acceptable standard in our society it is a voluntary act and a sin, but the church has the ongoing responsibility and God-given call to love our neighbors, regardless of their sin because we too are all sinners. In light of this, we as Christian should treat homosexual behavior as we would any other sin by condemning the sin yet loving, nurturing, and keeping accountable the sinner. Within the scope of this argument is also found the nature versus†¦show more content†¦At face value, homosexuality is both a socially unwanted behavior as well as an unhealthy practice (Satinover 50). With negative health and emotional risks paired with a strong negative social stigma, it would only make sense to neglect a homosexual lifestyle if it was a choice. But homosexuality comes from strong homosexual desires (sexual drives for the same sex), which at first seems to favor the nature argument. The other aforementioned arguments for nurture-oriented homosexuality can be used to explain this logical incongruence, however. Thus, when all is said and done in the nature versus nurture argument, I believe that homosexuality results from natural sexual desires and tendencies being distorted in the nurturing process during formative developmental years in an individual’s life. But, I concede to Balswick and Balswick when they write, â€Å"Until that day, when it come s to biological indicators, all talk of specifics is merely guesswork and speculation† (106). There has also been debate about whether or not homosexuality is even a sin. I believe hands down that the behavior is a sin. Having homosexual tendencies (a.k.a. homosexuality) is not a sin (at least as far as the Bible tells us), but acting on such tendencies is spoken about several times in Scripture, sometimes quite directly and clearly, and in both testaments of Scripture. Two such passages in the Old Testament are in Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13, both times making direct reference to homosexualShow MoreRelatedEssay about The Homosexual Brain?1502 Words   |  7 PagesThe Homosexual Brain? In 1992, Vice-President Dan Quayle said that homosexuality is more of a choice than a biological situation...It is a wrong choice. (1). Quayles statement counters the sentiment of many homosexuals that their sexual orientation is neither a lifestyle nor a personal choice, it is innate and unchangeable (2) . Is homosexuality a choice or does sexual preference have a biological basis? 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