Existentialism and the Meaning of Life Essay Example for Free

Existentialism and the Meaning of Life Essay This paper will discuss the existentialist position and how different societal factors contribute to the creation of different meaning in a person’s life. It will study how value systems are formed and will borrow heavily from Jean Paul Sarte’s concept of â€Å"existence precedes essence.† It is important to note that the author will present the arguments and correlate it with the two films that were used in writing this paper. First, I will explain the meaning of life and how it is created. Next, there will be a brief discussion on how state apparatuses like religion and the government keeps aims to keep the meaning of people’s lives in certain restrictive areas. Then I will outline the different arguments of existentialist philosophers particularly that of Sarte and Albert Camus. â€Å"Man is nothing else but what he makes of himself† (Miller Jensen, 2006). People are all born out of the wonders of biological functions but as people leave the protective womb of their mothers, they will be exposed to different stimulants in the environments. And this will prompt them to learn things different from how other people learn it. Therefore, a man is a sponge who absorbs information in very unique ways. And the things that were absorbed create a man who has an equally unique reason for the meaning of his existence. The very question of life is what paved the way for the existential branch of philosophical studies. It is by way of nature that beings search for the meaning of life. But humans as we are, there will be different interpretations of the meaning of life. Each person is blessed with the unique ability to identify different reasons for his existence. And there are also different perspectives used to uncover the meaning of life. Thus, for this paper we will use Jean Paul Sarte’s theory of â€Å"essence precedes existence†. Backgrounder The ultimate goal in finding the meaning of one’s life is to â€Å"make a rational sense out of life† (Stewart Blocker, 1987). Self actualization is one of the things specified in the hierarchy of needs. And in order to know the personality of one’s self, it is fundamental to make sense of life in itself. Unlike the perspective of the absurdists—people who focus on the â€Å"meaninglessness of life and the vacuity of human existence† (Stewart Blocker, 1987)—existentialists seek meaning in the rather meaningless world in order to affirm the significance of their existence.

The Collapse of the Egyptian Regime Essay -- Politics, Hosni Mubarak,

Three months ago, no one in the world could have expected the collapse of the Egyptian regime as a result of a popular revolution. The Egyptians revolted against the iron-fisted hand of the Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak, over three main authorities in Egypt, which are the legislative authority, the executive authority, and the judicial authority. Revolutionaries also called for overthrow the Egyptian regime in order to achieve all their aspirations for a better life in Egypt, and this appeared clearly from their daily chant for eighteen continuous days, which was â€Å"the people want to bring down the regime.† They realized most of their aims through overthrowing Hosni Mubarak the last Egyptian Pharaoh, and agreed on the transferring of power from Hosni Mubarak to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to take control of the nation in a short transition period. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces exerted all their efforts in order to meet the key demands of the revo lutionaries through suspension the constitution, and decided to form a committee to amend changes to some constitutional articles so as to use them in issuing a constitutional declaration. After the committee had finished the amendment of the constitutional articles, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces asked citizens to participate in the referendum and not to boycott this process. In fact, most Egyptians, who have the right to vote, agreed on participating in the referendum, although they didn’t decide whether to vote â€Å"yes† or â€Å"no†; accordingly, they drew the world’s attention due to their gigantic contribution in the referendum because they turned out on Saturday, March 19th, to vote on the amendment to nine constitutional articles. The scene was incredible ... ...h many citizens may have other reasons which drove them to participate, I think that there were four main catalysts, which were the main driving forces behind this massive turnout of Egyptians to vote in the referendum. In fact, voters participated in the referendum because of their conviction with the fairness of the referendum, their feeling free to vote, and their participation due to the influence of many groups, which pushed them to look for stability and safety. In my humble opinion, all Egyptians must thank the martyrs for all they have sacrificed in order to see this day. I think that we should be proud of ourselves, and we must recognize changes, which we made in the world that motivated Austrian President Heinz Fischer to say: â€Å"The people of Egypt are the greatest people of earth; and they should deserve a Nobel Prize for Peace† quoted in (Shehab, 2011).

Remember by Christina Rossetti Essay

Choose the two poems that you have most enjoyed in our study of nineteenth century love poetry. Explain how these poems depict love and why you have chosen them. Draw comparisons with at least three further poems from the same collection Remember by Christina Rossetti: I chose ‘Remember’ because of the depth of the feeling of the sonnet. ‘Remember’ is a sonnet by ‘Christina Rossetti’. A sonnet has a typical regular rhyming scheme. This type of sonnet includes fourteen lines. It was written in the Romantic era, the poet talks to her lover and informs him to remember her when she dies by happiness rather than grief and sorrow. It is largely autobiographical, as she wrote it when she was in her death bed. She also tells him that he will be lonely when she leaves him. The poem ‘Remember’ and ‘A woman to her lover’ both refer back to the Victorian/Romantic era. The opening two lines of Rossetti’s sonnet â€Å"Remember† introduce the idea of separation. ‘Remember’ starts with a repetition of the main idea that echoes the title name ‘Remember’. The poet refers metaphorically to death in the phrase ‘Gone away’ and ‘Gone far away’ in lines 1 and 2. The phrase ‘Gone away’ is a repetition of the idea of parting between the couple, when the poet decides to leave her husband and be ‘Gone away’. In the next line which states the effective phrase ‘Gone far away’, it refers to death, separation and lack of communication between the couple. As readers we realize that ‘Silent land’ is a description of the place that Rossetti is going to. ‘Silent’ in this sentence means that there is neither happiness nor sadness. It is similar to ‘A Woman to Her Lover’ by ‘Christina Walsh’, which talks about a woman talking to her lover about equality and how he should treat her, for her to be his devoted lover. In line 26 in ‘A woman to her lover’, there is an extended metaphor ‘Laugh with joy’, it suggests harmony and balance between the couple, when her lover treats her with respect. Physical nearness is used in the third line using phrase ‘When you can no more hold me by the hand’; ‘by the hand’ is used to reflect this. Physical nearness is also referred to in her warning ‘You can no more’ where the consequences to that would be her departure to the ‘Silent land’. The poet uses personal pronoun ‘Me’ to hint to us that the man is the leader in this relationship. The word ‘Nor’ in the phrase ‘Nor I half turn to go yet turning stay’ reflects uncertainty of the time of death ever-present reality; it also verifies to the husband that the poet will leave him forever and never come back. The personal pronoun word ‘You’ in the phrase ‘You tell me of our future that you planned’, proves to us that there is great dependence on the man as the decision maker in this relationship, because he told her of their future. The reference to his ability to tell the future adds more emphasis to his superiority in this relationship. The fact that there is a long-term relationship between the couple is conveyed by ‘Our future’. The latter is a clear indication of the long standing relationship the couple enjoyed which lead the poet to refer to ‘Our future’ more so than ‘My future’. There is a shift in focus in this sentence from the poet talking about herself to informing her lover what to do. This is successfully deployed as a result of the change in personal pronouns from ‘Me’ to ‘You’. It is also evident in ‘A woman to her lover’, where there is an effective use of pronouns nearing the end of the poem. In line 8 the poet confers a sense of hopelessness and that time is running out by informing her husband that ‘It will be late to council then or pray’. The poet is notifying her husband that he will appreciate her presence when she is gone and as a result he will turn to God. ‘Pray’ is a break in the rhyming pattern, it provides a change in focus from selfish to selfless; it is indicated by the choice of personal pronouns as mentioned earlier. At the beginning of the next sentence the poet begins to state commands concerning her husband by the word ‘Yet’, which hints that the tone of the poet will change. The poet reflects on her wishes using the conditional sentence ‘Yet if’. In the same sentence there is a rapid change in tone from ‘You must remember me’ which was used in the second quatrain to ‘you should forget me’, this now proves that the she is selfless and does not want her husband to grieve over her for a long time, and wants him to move with his life. She goes on to say that it is better not to remember her if he is going to be sad every time he thinks about her. The effective sentence ‘Do not grieve’ is a command and ‘Pray’ provides evidence that her lover is a religious person. The two powerful words in the sestet ‘Darkness’ and ‘Corruption’ express the horror of physical death at the time. The word ‘Vestige’ means left over. The poet confers her conclusion that he should forget about her and smile rather than remember her and be sad. First Love by John Clare: I chose ‘First Love’ because it is similar to modern time ideas, although it was written in the 80’s. ‘First Love’ is a poem by ‘John Clare’, it talks about a young man who was the son of a farmer and grew up in a rural area. It mainly shows us how his break up in an early relationship with a young woman called ‘Mary Joyce’ caused him to be deeply affected and he never got over it. The poem has a regular rhyming pattern and an ababcdcd rhyme scheme in all 3 stanzas with equal lengths of stanzas. This reflects his regular pattern of life which is a predictable routine. In other words this means that he will be in a state of shock if something unexpected happens. In the first line of the first stanza it says, â€Å"I ne’er was struck before that hour†, this line informs us that the poet is physically and mentally in shock. In the second line it says, ‘With love so sudden and so sweet’, this line tells us that the poet fell in love so suddenly using the word ‘Sudden’. This line uses alliteration in the phrase ‘Love so sudden’ which again emphasizes how sudden and quick love struck him. Using a metaphor the poet refers to what is on the farm by the phrase ‘Bloomed like a sweet flower’. This is imagery from nature which is a typical characteristic of the Romantic era is also evident in ‘When we two parted’ in line 9 and 10 where metaphorically the dew represents his native feelings. This is also similar to a phrase in the poem ‘When we two parted’ by Lord Byron, which talks about how Lord Byron looks back in time with regret at a broken relationship with a woman whom Byron admired when he was a schoolboy. It is similar in ‘When we two parted’ in line nine and ten where imagery from nature is used in ‘The dew of the morning’ and ‘Sunk chill on my brow’. The poet’s heart was taken away as soon as he saw Mary-Joyce (the girl he broke up with). The poet’s lack of sophistication and naivety is revealed using repetition in the phrase ‘My face turned pale as deadly pale’, deadly pale here means that his face’s color and expression was as if he was dead. This Phrase is a sign that he is taking this relationship very seriously. A brilliantly placed rhetorical question ‘What could I ail’ has definitely reflected his bewilderment, as well as it echoes the title. In simple terms he is asking himself ‘what is wrong with me’. Preservation of old ways is present in the poem using the phrase ‘My life and all seemed to turn to clay’, using this phrase we identify the period of time that the poem was written. This means that everything in his life has changed. The poet described how he experienced issues when he saw the beautiful girl and how ‘Blood rushed to my face’. This description also hints that he had health issues, as there are types of diseases that might cause this type of unusual rush. The use of simile is present when Clare is describing his excitement of watching the girl, using the imagery from nature ‘The trees and bushes round the place seemed midnight at noonday’. The use of imagery from nature is also present in the poem ‘Villegiature’ by ‘Edith Nesbit’ which was written by Edith Nesbit in the late 19th century. The actual word villegiature means holiday or retreat in French. ‘Villegiature’ is a short poem which is about a woman who is being haunted by her former lover. Imagery from nature in ‘Villegiature’ is mentioned in the 8th line ‘Through the blossom climbed and kissed me’. The poet mentioned this description to frame her dream man, as well as it refers to the Romantic era. The word ‘Seemed’ is a sign that he is unsure of what is currently happening to him The third stanza opens with a rhetorical question asking if ‘Flowers’ are ‘winter’s choice’ emphasizing the fact that the relationship does not grow. We become conscious that the relationship doesn’t develop by the apparent reality that flowers don’t grow in winter. The ‘flowers’ contrast the chill of winter with warmth of summer and also inform us that he is falling in love for the first time. The next line also uses a rhetorical question, but rather to question if ‘love’s bed’ is ‘always snow?’ and wonder how it could be so cold. The first two lines show us that metaphorically speaking he sees himself as ‘Flowers’, whereas his love is ‘Snow’. This is The poet is wondering about how could his voice be silent, and it is proven using the oxymoron when the poet asks himself whether the girl could hear his ‘Silent voice’. The poet describes his voice as silent to describe how he was deeply affected by the break up. The phrase ‘Love’s appeal to know’ depicts love as an obsession and selfishness. The word ‘Sweet’ is repeated three times throughout the poem, in the fourth line before the end he uses alliteration with the word sweet to describe deeply ‘So sweet a face’. As readers this makes us believe that he is now obsessed with her and can never get over it. In his attempt to reflect personification of his obsession he uses the phrase ‘My heart has left’, as if his heart can leave its place. There is also a shift intense from past to present in the last two lines where he first says in the past ‘My heart has left’ and then ‘And can return no more’, this informs us about the final condition that he is left with. Finally to end the poem the poet states the word ‘can’ in the phrase ‘And can return no more’ to hint to us that his heart has taken its own choice and decided not to go back for her.

Essay Life Destroying Liquid Alcohol - 1318 Words

Section One: What I Know Alcohol: drinkable poison; so simple yet so lethal, one of the only legal substances that could potentially ruin someone’s life. â€Å"In the United States, about 18 million people have an alcohol use disorder, classified as either alcohol dependence—perhaps better known as alcoholism—or alcohol abuse† (â€Å"Alcohol Use Disorders†). This drug can have toxic effects on the mind and body, both of which I have seen firsthand. My dad was one of the 18 million people affected by this disease. It took him 20 years of drinking a bottle a day, going through horrible withdrawals, breaking bones, having seizures, getting kicked out of the house, getting a divorce and going to jail multiple times for him to finally get a reality†¦show more content†¦The first thing I thought of when I asked myself the question â€Å"why is alcohol addictive?† is the initial effects. Someone drinking for the first few times will come o ut of their shell, be more adventurous, talk to new people and do new exciting things, but eventually the joy of it wears off. When my dad was drunk, he was not having fun, he was miserable and yelling then passed out and woke up hung-over and didn’t remember anything from the night before. Surprisingly though, he did the same exact thing the next day and all the days after that. Section Two: The Search I began my research on the University of California San Francisco website; I know they have a top-notch medical program, since my brother volunteers there, so I thought it would be a good place to find some medically-backed research. I searched â€Å"alcohol addictive† in the search bar and came across an interesting article discussing a study on alcohol and its addictive effects on the brain, which I thought would add a nice scientific dimension to my essay. After that great start, I had also thought about the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and headed to their website. After maneuvering my way around for a while, I found another interesting article talking about how one can go from having control over a behavior to doing it compulsively and why. I then thought aboutShow MoreRelatedLouis Pasteur And Its Effects On Humans1032 Words   |  5 PagesLouis Pasteur made very important contributions to science. He figured out that microorganism scaled microbes made alcohol and milk go sour. Before his discovery, there was no way to stop beverages from going bad. Drinking spoiled drinks can have very negative effects on humans. Louis created a process that destroys the microbes inside of liquids. To do this, you must heat up a liquid to a high temperature for a short amount of time. He named this revolutionary process pasteurization. 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