Aesthetics - the issue of the possible existence Essay Example for Free

Aesthetics the issue of the possible existence Essay Burke follows in the empirical tradition of Locke. He believes that all human knowledge comes out of impressions or sense experiences. We then take these simple bits of knowledge and combine them to form more intricate ideas. Our imagination is limited to use of the knowledge we extract from our impressions and are, therefore, incapable of creating anything completely new. He says that our imagination either portrays pleasing images again in the order we experienced them or reorders and combines these images of our experiences. Burke offers that humans receive pleasure from resemblances. Accurate imitations stimulate our minds. Burkes goal and main concern is the issue of the possible existence of a standard or logic of taste. Burke is searching for certain principles that affect our imaginations in such a common and certain way that they could be a basis for the means of reasoning satisfactorily about them1. Burke states that these principles do exist. He says that even though it seems as though there is such a variety of taste, there is a standard that lies beneath the superficial range of differences. All humans perceive external objects in the same way. We become familiar with these external items by way of our natural powers: the senses, imagination and judgment. The most natural understandings that we receive are quite standard, what appears light to one is light to any other and what is sweet to one is again sweet to another. Burke shows that humans have a common agreement on these issues of preference by giving examples of expressions taken from taste experiences such as A sour temper, bitter expressions sweet disposition, a sweet person1. Burke realizes that there are many people who act in ways that would seem contradictory to these assertions, such as the preference of the taste of tobacco over that of sugar. These divergences from the natural pleasures and pains are a result of custom. They do not uphold the argument for diversity of taste, but rather call for a differentiation between Natural and Acquired taste. A man grows to prefer the taste of tobacco to that of sugar by conditioning his palate from habit. It is a synthetic preference, however, and the man still understands that tobacco is not sweet and sugar is sweet. Also if a man finds sugar to be sour we do not say that his taste is different, instead we say that his taste is not functioning correctly. Burke writes that when talking about acquired taste one must consider the surrounding factors such as the specific habits and prejudices of a particular person. These customs and intolerances do not oppose the agreement of mankind, but rather mask it. This conformity among humanity does not exist only in terms of the palate; it is quite the same in matters of sight. Light is more agreeable than darkness and summer and its conditions are more pleasant than winter and its conditions. Burke states that no man truly, naturally believes a goose to be more beautiful than a swan. To Burke sight is less subject to custom than the palate, however, change is applied. This applied change brings him to his next point about the palate. He says that these changes in palate, which make unpleasant flavors more pleasurable, are a result of frequent use combined with an agreeable effect. This affects humans in the way of substances such as opium, tobacco, alcohol, tea, and coffee. Burke writes There is in all men a sufficient remembrance of the original natural causes of pleasure, to enable them to bring all things offered to their senses to that standard and to regulate their feelings and opinions by it 1. Natural pleasures are still preferred to unaccustomed substances that induce agreeable effects. Someone who has grown to prefer opium to sugar would still prefer the taste of sugar to a drug that they do not have a habit with. There is a standard of pleasure of the senses in all humans. Burke explains imagination as our greatest source of pleasure and of pain. Since imagination is based on the senses then it too must have universal agreement among all men. The mind is much more disposed to picking up on resemblances than to finding differences in what we observe. Our imaginations are incapable of creating anything absolutely new so we must expand our stock through experience, and in resemblances we are able to find new images. We unite and accumulate and move forward with our feelings with likenesses rather then difference which cannot be placed.

Argumentative Paper: Legalizing Euthanasia -- Assisted Suicide

Most people do not like to talk or even think about death; much less the topic of ending one’s own life. However, for some, death is a desired alternative to living in agony. Euthanasia has been a topic of debate since antiquity, and both sides stand firm on their beliefs. The right to choose death is illegal in most countries. I believe in people’s freedom to do what they please with their own bodies. The basic right of liberty is what America was founded on. Euthanasia should be a legal option. It’s important to start by understanding the different types of euthanasia. Allowing someone to die is, â€Å"Forgoing or withdrawing medical treatment that offers no hope of benefit to the total well-being of the patient, or that imposes burdens disproportionate to the potential benefits, allows the patient to die† (Manning 2). Traditionally called passive euthanasia, allowing someone to die was redefined by and is acceptable in the Catholic Church. Active euthanasia, also known as physician-assisted suicide, is when someone other than the patient ends the life of the patient upon explicit request. I view active and passive euthanasia to be one in the same with one very real difference; allowing someone to die delays the inevitable and the patient is left to twist and turn for awhile longer. Peter Chesterfield comments, â€Å"A terminally ill, mentally competent patient like me should not be forced to suffer. This is as morally unacceptable as murder† (qtd. In Friedman 8). On the other hand, â€Å"The phrase ‘mercy killing’ refers to someone’s taking a direct action to terminate a patient’s life without the patient’s permission† (Thiroux and Krasemann 184). Mercy killing is the form of euthanasia that must be properly monitored and consist... ...ties Toward Physician- Assisted Death: An Exploratory Assessment of the Vulnerability Argument,† Journal of Disability Policy Studies, vol. 16, no. 1, Summer 2005. Print. Manning M.D., Michael. Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide: Killing or Caring? Mahwah: Paulist Press, 1998. Print. Nordqvist, Christian. "What Is Euthanasia." Medical News Today. MediLexicon International, 26 Sept. 2014. Web. 05 May 2015. . Sharma, Shweta. "Euthanasia: Debate Rekindled on Right to Die for the Terminally Ill." Health and Wellness Resource Center. Mel, 3 Aug. 2014. Web. 05 May 2015. Snyder, Carrie L. Euthanasia: Opposing Viewpoints. Farmington Hills: Bonnie Szumski, 2006. Print. Thiroux, Jacques P. and Kevin W. Krasseman. Ethics: Theory and Practice. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2012. Print.

My Favourite Actress

My favourite actress is Julia Roberts. She is one of the Hollywood's brightest star. She is a very successful actress who has starred in many films, such as â€Å"Pretty woman† and â€Å"The running bride† with Richard Gere. Julia is tall with a perfect figure. She is in her early thirties. Her lips is full and face is tauned. She has got long red curly hair, beautiful blue eyes and rather small nose. She likes wearing formally evening dressed in which she look fantastic. Julia Roberts is a complicated person whose character has many sides. She has very PODOBNA PRACA 75% My favourite sport outgoing personality. She likes to be in the public eye, giving interviews a jurnalists and allows photographers to take photos which are shown in magazines. She likes going to Hollywood parties and dancing in free times. Julia is a sociable person and loves meeting others people. Travelling is what she likes most. She loves fast cars, however she was afraid flying by plane. She travels all over the world and experiences a new adventures. Futhermore, she is very active in work and self-confident. She got Oscar for starred in film â€Å"Pretty woman†. She is also a sensitive person. For example, she helps small ill children. She transnits much money for charity. She is a person who is on diet and keep fit. She never eats fattening food, because she wants to have a good figure. On the other hand, she tends to be a bit explosiv, she often gets nervous without any reason. She is decisive as well. She usually reads a book when finds a private moment. All in all, Julia Roberts is a great actress who J like watching in films. Films, in which she appears are always interesting. J hope to see a new films with her in this time.

Octavio Paz, Mexican Poet, and Nobel Prize Winner

Octavio Paz was a Mexican poet and writer considered to be one of Latin Americas most important literary figures of the 20th century. He was known for his mastery of a wide range of writing styles, including a prolific collection of poetry and non-fiction works, and for his contributions to the cultural history of Latin America. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1990. Fast Facts: Octavio Paz Full Name: Octavio Paz LozanoKnown For:  Prolific Mexican poet, writer, and diplomatBorn:  March 31, 1914 in Mexico CityParents:  Octavio Paz Solà ³rzano, Josefina LozanoDied:  April 18, 1998 in Mexico CityEducation:  National Autonomous University of MexicoSelected Works: Sun Stone, Configurations, Eagle or Sun?,  A Draft of Shadows and Other Poems,  The Collected Poems 1957-1987, A Tale of Two Gardens: Poems from India 1952-1995, The Labyrinth of SolitudeAwards and Honors: Nobel Prize for Literature, 1990; Cervantes Prize (Spain), 1981; Neustadt International Prize for Literature, 1982Spouses:  Elena Garro (m. 1937-1959), Marie-Josà © Tramini (m. 1965 until his death)Children: HelenaFamous Quote: â€Å"Solitude is the profoundest fact of the human condition. Man is the only being who knows he is alone.†Ã‚   Early Life Octavio Paz was born in Mexico City to a prominent family in 1914. His father, Octavio Paz Solà ³rzano, was a lawyer and journalist who also served as legal counsel to Emiliano Zapata, taking part in Zapatas agrarian uprising in 1911. His childhood was spent in the nearby village of Mixoac, where he was raised by his mother, Josefina Lozano, and his paternal grandfather, who had been a writer and intellectual and owned an impressive personal library. After Zapatas assassination in 1919, the family was forced to flee Mexico and live for a time in Los Angeles. The family eventually returned to the Mexican capital, but had lost all their wealth during the Mexican Revolution. Early Works and Political Ideology Paz published his first book of poetry, Luna Silvestre (Wild Moon) in 1933 at the age of 19. He was attending law school at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and found himself drawn to leftist politics. He decided to send some of his work to the famed Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, who praised Paz and encouraged him to attend a congress of anti-fascist writers in Spain in 1937. Spain was in the midst of a brutal Civil War (1936-1939), which would lead to four decades of dictatorship by Francisco Franco. Paz, like many other international volunteers, decided to join the Republicans fighting against the fascist-leaning Nationalists. Upon his return to Mexico in 1938, he advocated for the republican cause and founded an important journal, Taller, which published emerging poets and writers. In 1943, he was awarded a prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship to study American modernist poetry, and spent time in Berkeley, California, and other American cities. Mexican poet Octavio Paz, Visiting Lecturer at Cornell University, with students.   Al Fenn / Getty Images His time abroad led to him being offered a post as Mexico’s cultural attachà © to France in 1946, where he met major figures like Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus. For the next two decades he served as a Mexican diplomat in Switzerland, Japan, and India. Throughout this period, he continued to write, publishing dozens of works of poetry and prose. In 1968, he resigned his post as a statement of protest against the Mexican governments suppression of student demonstrations during the Olympics. Notwithstanding his leftist views and unlike some of his contemporaries, like Gabriel Garcà ­a Mà ¡rquez, Paz did not support either the socialist Castro regime in Cuba or the Nicaraguan Sandinistas. Even more significantly, he didnt support the Zapatista uprising in 1994. A Poetry Foundation article quotes Paz as stating, Revolution begins as a promise... is squandered in violent agitation, and freezes into bloody dictatorships that are the negation of the fiery impulse that brought it into being. In all revolutionary movements, the sacred time of myth is transformed inexorably into the profane time of history. Pazs Prolific and Diverse Literary Works Paz was incredibly prolific, publishing dozens of works in various styles. Many of Pazs books of poems have been translated into English. They include  Sun Stone (1963), Configurations  (1971),  Eagle or Sun?  (1976),  A Draft of Shadows and Other Poems  (1979), and The Collected Poems 1957-1987  (1987). He also published a number of essay and non-fiction collections. In 1950, Paz published the original, Spanish-language version of The Labyrinth of Solitude, a reflection on the cultural hybridity of Mexicans as mixed-race ancestors of native Indians and Spanish colonizers. It established Paz as a major literary figure and it became a critical text for students of Latin American history. Ilan Stavans writes about Pazs perspective: He saw little point in a one-sided portrayal of Spaniards and other transatlantic newcomers as abusers. After all, their impact on native culture was ubiquitous, undeniable, and indelible. He did not settle for the easy liberal polarity oppressor/oppressed but attempted to understand the side effects of the historical encounter between the Old World and the New. Another aspect of Pazs work often recognized was his tendency to maintain elements of prose—most commonly philosophical thought—in his poetry, and poetic elements in his prose. The Monkey Grammarian (1981) demonstrates the ways Paz integrated elements of poetry with non-fiction writing. Similarly, his 1982 book on Sor Juana Inà ©s de la Cruz, a 17th-century nun writing poetry in New Spain (colonial-era Mexico), was a cultural history as much as it was a biography. Pazs writing was also greatly influenced by his work as a diplomat. For example, living in India as the Mexican ambassador between 1962 and 1968 introduced him to eastern spirituality, which made its way into his writing. The 1997 anthology A Tale of Two Gardens: Poems from India, 1952-1995 includes poems in ancient Sanskrit, and Paz was praised by critics for his thorough understanding of Indian culture. He also met his second wife, French artist Marie-Josà © Tramini, in India. In 2002, Figures and Figurations, a collaborative book that features her artwork and Pazs poems, was published. 11th October 1990: After winning a Nobel Prize for literature, Mexican poet and critic Octavio Paz, seated in an armchair holding papers, laughs while his wife Marie-Jose stands behind him in a suite of the Drake Hotel, New York City.   Fred R. Conrad / Getty Images The Nobel Prize In October 1990, Paz received news that he had won the Nobel Prize for Literature, becoming the first Mexican to do so. Apparently, he had been in the running for several years before this as a finalist. The following year, he published an important literary criticism book called The Other Voice: Essays on Modern Poetry (1991),  where he analyzed contemporary poetry and critiqued postmodernism and consumerism. Legacy Paz’s death in 1998 was announced by then Mexican president Ernesto Zedillo, who stated, â€Å"This is an irreplaceable loss for contemporary thought and culture—not just for Latin America but for the entire world.† He was also honored with a memorial service at the Metropolitan Museum in New York City. Paz left his large literary archive to his widow, Marie-Josà ©. When she died in 2018, the Mexican minister of culture declared Pazs work a national artistic monument in order to guarantee that his archive would remain in Mexico. Sources Octavio Paz. Poetry Foundation. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/octavio-paz, accessed 4 September 2019.MacAdam, Alfred. Octavio Paz, The Art of Poetry No. 42. The Paris Review, 1991. https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/2192/octavio-paz-the-art-of-poetry-no-42-octavio-paz, accessed 4 September 2019.Stavans, Ilan. Octavio Paz: A Meditation. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press, 2001.