Taoism and Confucianism Research Paper Example

Taoism and Confucianism Paper The Chinese spiritual experience is a synthesis of Taoism and Confucianism. I feel it is their shared quest that humans move away from being individuals to become a part of a greater whole, whether it is Confucius society or Lao Tzus nature. However, just as they have their similarities they, like all the other religions, have their differences, theirs being the way to becoming a part of the greater whole. In their different and similar aspirations, like the Yin and the Yang, Taoism and Confucianism is a combination which balances the Chinese character. I believe the Chinese spiritual experience is when humans strive by being or doing to become a part of the greater whole. Both Taoism and Confucianism urge humankind to shed their individuality for this goal. They both contend that individualism holds the individual back as well as fragments the essence of the greater whole. When more people become a part of it, the greater whole will become stronger. As Lao Tzu asks, What happens when 10,000 people go back into the woods? I think he might have answered the woods, nature, becomes that much greater by being able to guide life in its own way. We will write a custom essay sample on Taoism and Confucianism specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Taoism and Confucianism specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Taoism and Confucianism specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Just as Taoism and Confucianism maintain a similar direction, they differ in other aspects. One difference they come across is what the greater whole is whether it be the Taoists nature or the Confucianists society. Another opposition they have is what process one takes in becoming a part of the greater whole. Where Taoism says the way to do is to be, Confucianism disagrees saying the way to be is to do. The two religions also differ as to what actually makes the other great. Whereas Taoism says the Tao (the way) makes people great, Confucianism teaches that people make the Tao great. I believe the most significant variance between Taoism and Confucianism is what is the greater whole. Taoists believe the greater whole to be nature. However, Confucianists feel it is society. They are both correct if we looked at the hierarchy of the Chinese experience that is self, society, nature, cosmos, and the great beyond (infinity). The difference comes in how far they travel to find the greater whole. The Confucianists stop at society because they see it as synthesis of effort put forth by every human being to make life better. Taoists look to nature because they see it as our creator and being our creator we should realize our potential to become apart of it once again. How a person becomes a part of society or nature is also a point the two religions split ways. In Taoism, the way to do is to be or simply the way to be will guide us to unity with nature. Confucianism disagrees noting the way to be is to do or plainly the way to do will make us a part of society. Taoism is the guidance of the way. The way can be defined in three manners. Taoism is the way of the ultimate reality. It is where everything originated yet we can only experience. There are no words or pictures to describe it, and all we can know is it is within us, it is outside us, it is everywhere and nowhere. Taoism is the way of the universe. It is the driving power in everything which exists. It is natures orderer. It puts everything in its place without any spark of prejudice. Taoism is the way of human life. It is humans emulating water. It is humans doing by not doing. It is humans allowing nature to guide them. Confucianism follows the way of doing. Its model figure is the Chun Tzu who in our society could be likened to a moral leader. Humans strive to become the Chun Tzu (Superior Man) because they must serve others. To become a Chun Tzu, one must first follow the way of Jen by respecting themselves and maintaining a sensitivity towards all humanity. One must strive to be just to others and to be understanding of others emotions. One must also follow the Silver Rule of not doing those things they would not have others do to them. Another division between the two religions is their contrasting beliefs as to what force makes the other great. Taoists believe it is the way or the Tao that makes humans great. This is because it is the Tao by which humans are able to rejoin with nature. By rejoining nature, we are able to regain power in allowing nature to do things or things to do themselves. However, Confucianists believe it is humans that make the Tao great. This is because only through the efforts of humans can society become great. Humans make the Tao great by choosing to follow it, giving power to its force. There are opposite forces in all corners of life. There is no day without night and no good without evil. Like the Yin and the Yang, these opposing forces are halves of a greater whole. Just as these forces merge to create a vivid existence so too does Taoism and Confucianism combine to create a brilliance in the Chinese Character. Without one the other would be greatly flawed, but their joined beliefs and practices make the one as well as the infinite greater. It is not hard to see that our western society could learn a lesson from the teachings of Lao Tzu and Confucius. Nature which we have coldly ravaged and our own streets would be safer. Politicians would actually work for the society instead of the powerful few. Even art would be supported for its value in bringing people together. However, we could never hope to attain the dedication both require because of our deeply rooted individualistic attitudes. If we followed the practices of Confucianism and we believed that serving others is great honor, then our western world would be a safer one. There would be no illegal drug use or sells for we would know this is harmful to those we live to serve. There would be no crime for we would live by sharing all that we have with others eliminating the main cause of crime, the desire to have what we do not have. Life as we know it would be transformed into a peaceful world where we care for others regardless of who they are. If politics were conducted based on Confucianism, the government would be a vessel for society. Politicians would not be indentured to private causes driven by personal gain because they would believe that their purpose is to serve society. They would be the rightful protectors of all they govern. They would also uphold the principles of Li for they would understand that they have been given a chance to make society greater and to maintain its greatness. If we followed Taoism or Confucianism, we would fully support the arts of our days. We would provide the means for artist to flourish and places to share their works. There would be no art critics for the purpose of art is to bring society together. Critics are deconstructionists and they would be a hindrance in the natural expression of art. It is in the naturalism of art that the two religions find its power of unity. Run by the Chinese religions, our society would appreciate art not because peoples analysis finds it excellent but because art is a grounds of bringing people together. We look to the stars in search of our future when we only need look at ourselves to find it. Before we can reach the stars we must be one entity. I believe this is the overall lesson of the Chinese religions that to be great we must be unified. Imagine what we could become and where we could go if we have our opposite forces working together. Once this were to happen, nothing could ever work against us.

Free Essays on Colt .45 Automatic Pistol

The Colt .45 Automatic Pistol The Colt .45 automatic pistol was designed to comply with the requirements of the U. S. Army, who had discovered that its .38 revolver was incapable of stopping attackers in the campaign in the Philippines. (Caradimas) John Moses Browning, an employee for Colt Manufacturing, redesigned the .38 revolver to accommodate a .45 diameter cartridge of his own design. The development of the .45 automatic pistol took about 5 years to perfect. The design requirements for the pistol specified a gun that could be serviced in the field with a minimum number of tools and completely disassembled using only its own parts. The result was a pistol that was selected as the official sidearm of the United States Armed Forces. The story of the Colt .45 automatic pistol includes a brief history of John Moses Browning and how the pistol operates and has changed over the years. John Moses Browning is considered the most famous and most competent gun maker the world has ever known. (Caradimas) Gun making ran in the family of John Moses Browning. He grew up in his father’s gunsmithing shop and knew the name of every gun part before he could even read. He produced his first gun from scrap iron at the age of 13. It was here that he learned much more than just the art and science of gunsmithing. John was more interested in designing and building new, innovative firearms than repairing broken ones. He received his first patent at the age of 23. After his father died in 1879, John Moses and his brothers expanded the business into a small gun making workshop that employed several people. They first began producing rifles. When a representative of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company saw the quality of one of John’s guns in 1883, he bought it and sent it to the company headquarters. The managing director of Winchester immediately went to visit the Browning brothers and bought the rights to produce the guns, leaving Joh... Free Essays on Colt .45 Automatic Pistol Free Essays on Colt .45 Automatic Pistol The Colt .45 Automatic Pistol The Colt .45 automatic pistol was designed to comply with the requirements of the U. S. Army, who had discovered that its .38 revolver was incapable of stopping attackers in the campaign in the Philippines. (Caradimas) John Moses Browning, an employee for Colt Manufacturing, redesigned the .38 revolver to accommodate a .45 diameter cartridge of his own design. The development of the .45 automatic pistol took about 5 years to perfect. The design requirements for the pistol specified a gun that could be serviced in the field with a minimum number of tools and completely disassembled using only its own parts. The result was a pistol that was selected as the official sidearm of the United States Armed Forces. The story of the Colt .45 automatic pistol includes a brief history of John Moses Browning and how the pistol operates and has changed over the years. John Moses Browning is considered the most famous and most competent gun maker the world has ever known. (Caradimas) Gun making ran in the family of John Moses Browning. He grew up in his father’s gunsmithing shop and knew the name of every gun part before he could even read. He produced his first gun from scrap iron at the age of 13. It was here that he learned much more than just the art and science of gunsmithing. John was more interested in designing and building new, innovative firearms than repairing broken ones. He received his first patent at the age of 23. After his father died in 1879, John Moses and his brothers expanded the business into a small gun making workshop that employed several people. They first began producing rifles. When a representative of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company saw the quality of one of John’s guns in 1883, he bought it and sent it to the company headquarters. The managing director of Winchester immediately went to visit the Browning brothers and bought the rights to produce the guns, leaving Joh...

EXPLAIN WHAT ADRIENNE RICH MEANS BY A POLITICS OF LOCATION IN STORY Essay

EXPLAIN WHAT ADRIENNE RICH MEANS BY A POLITICS OF LOCATION IN STORY NOTES TOWARD A POLITICS OF LOCATION EXPLAIN IF AGREE OR DISAGREE - Essay Example She describes that the form of her body (white and female) has helped to shape how she interacted with the world while growing up, and how the world interacted with her as a white female person. She goes on to say that while she can be identified as certain things by looking at the form of her body, it does not define who she has become as a person. Rich describes the politics of Marxism and Leftist feminism as being cut off from the reality of actual women moving through the world. Because feminism at this point in time had become without identity (â€Å"faceless, raceless, classless†) she feels that the theories that feminism was based upon could no longer be used to justify feminism. Once again, she thinks, the small minority are defining the majority without really understanding the people they are defining. I think she means this to be a parallel to white patriarchal culture, except that now it was white feminism limiting the understanding of women. By using her own body as a base for location, and turning away from the politics that formed feminist thinking up to 1985, Rich gives me the feeling that she would approve of feminism in 2009. Today we try to accept each individual as he or she happens to be and ignore a lot of stereotyping. We are not perfect, and still have not found a complete answer to the question â€Å"Who is we?† but we are still

Civil and Criminal law aspects Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Civil and Criminal law aspects - Essay Example Taylor. The accident happened under her supervision and this raises serious issues. The duty of care arises from the teacher-pupil relationship. Being a teacher, Mrs. Taylor had to comply with the School Teachers’ Pay and Condition Document. This Act, among other matters, charges teachers with a duty of care versus pupils, which extends to â€Å"maintaining good order and discipline and safeguarding their pupils’ health and safety, both when they are on school premises and engaged in authorized school activities elsewhere.†1 This means that when at school or in any other place engaged in a school activity, the teachers owe a duty of care to their pupils, just as Mrs. Taylor owed Chloe a duty of care. However, whether Mrs. Chloe, as an individual teacher, may be found guilty of negligence depends on whether Chloe’s accident may have been reasonably foreseen. Although the concept of medical malpractice has been widely used over the past years, the English Co urts prefer to apply it mostly to cases involving children with certain disabilities. That is why the concept of negligence is more appropriate in this case. Steele J. (2007, p.110) states that â€Å"In order to succeed in a claim in negligence, the claimant must show that the following criteria are met: 1. The defendant owes the claimant a duty of care†2 The existence of a duty of care owed by Mrs. Taylor to Chloe has already been justified above. Moreover, according to Kelly, E.B. (1998, page 32), â€Å"School teachers and administrators have a duty to provide a safe environment and to protect students from unreasonable risk of harm.†3 Although a teacher’s duty of care is not directly stipulated by law, its existence has been upheld in the English courts as a duty which derives from common use laws and case law. 2. â€Å"The duty has been breached†4 Mrs. Taylor breached her duty of care by allowing Chloe, a very young 10-year-old girl to try to perform the difficult exercise. Moreover, in spite of her allowing it, she did not supervise Chloe attentively enough to prevent her from injuring herself, although Mrs. Taylor was standing close to her. 3. â€Å"The defendant’s breach of duty has caused the claimant to suffer loss or damage of a relevant sort†5 If Mrs. Chloe had acted with proper care , Chloe would not have been injured as a result of the unfortunate accident, because it would have not happened at all. 4. â€Å"That damage is caused in law by the defendant’s negligence/is not too remote/is within the scope of his duty.†6 Taking care of the pupils under her supervision is one of the most important duties of a teacher, including Mrs. Taylor. We should also draw attention to the neighbour principal, stated by Lord Atkin in Donoghue v Stevenson (1932): â€Å"The rule that you are to love your neighbour becomes in law, you must not injure your neighbour; and the lawyer’s question ‘Who i s my neighbour?’ receives a restricted reply. You must take reasonable care to avoid acts or omissions which you can reasonably foresee would be likely to injure your neighbour. Who, then, in law is my neighbour? The answer seems to be – persons who are so closely and directly affected by my act that I ought reasonably to have them in contemplation as being so affected when I am directing my mind to the acts or omissions which are called in question.†7 I would also apply the statement made by Lord Rodger in the case of Home

John Winthrops City Upon a Hill Essay Example for Free

John Winthrops City Upon a Hill Essay Q. What did John Winthrop mean by a city upon a hill? A. When John Winthrop states that â€Å"wee must Consider that wee shall be as a Citty upon a Hill† he indicates that the settlers who are to settle in the New World must hold their business and social and religious activities to a level above reproach, because they will be a test case to a world waiting for their settlement to fail. With â€Å"the eies of all people are uppon us†, the settlers must provide a shining example for others to follow behind. The Puritans believed that the conditions they were living in England had become extremely corrupted and so they left for the New World so that they could find ways to purify themselves and become better Christians. Because the corruption in England could not be fought from within England itself, it would have to be fought by beginning a new and model colony that could be looked upon as a representation of the way a truly Christian society should function in a manner that gives glory to God. Q. What does the author’s writing style tell you about the Puritans who settled in Boston? A. John Winthrop’s style of writing reveals several interesting facts about the Puritans who settled in Boston. First, God and Christian principles are mentioned in nearly ever sentence of this writing. The Puritans believed that their belief in God was the most important aspect of their lives, and so they incorporated that belief into every part of their daily lives. Next, the style of writing represents a simplistic form of expression, using all everyday terms and no obscure language. The Puritans were known to be very plain-spoken individuals. This is not to say, however, that they were uneducated, as this body of work shows clarity of thought as well as a well-constructed call to action to become a city upon a hill. Finally, John Winthrop’s style of writing indicates both a phonetic way of spelling as well as a formality in speech itself. Almost a form of middle English instead of modern-day English, the spellings of various words are much more flowery than the essay itself.

The Battle of Stalingrad and the Battle of Normandy Essay -- essays re

The Battle of Stalingrad and the Battle of Normandy were two vital battles in World War II. Stalingrad was the site of a critical WWII Soviet victory that terminated Germany’s advance to the east. Peaceful Normandy took it’s place in history as the starting point in the triumphant march across Europe. Both these intense events were extremely significant in the outcome of the second world war. After the Germans failed to win the war totally in 1941, they decided to start a fresh effort, and hoped that this would lead to victory. This effort eventually led to the city of Stalingrad in 1942. Different from the the three pronged attack of the previous year, this one had two attack directions. One from Kharkov to Stalingrad, the other from the Crimea to Caucasus. Though, this push was still very large. It included 78 Axis divisions, almost two million men. It's main purpose was to cut Stalin's supply along the Don and Volga rivers. Therefore, cutting him off from oil in the Caucausus' and "Lend-Lease" aid from the west. This battle would last for more than a year, and could be considered one of the most important battles of the war, mainly because of two large, powerful armies meeting each other head on. Originally, Stalingrad hadn't really been an objective. It became one however after Hitler grew to have a personal obsession with it. It being named after Stalin himself, his enemy, made it a conquest he had to take on. The loss at Stalingrad could be partially blamed on Hitler himself. He withdrew into a shell during this period, concentrating on nothing more than the city. In the meantime, allowing for things to crumble around him. Fortunately for Hitler, an equally obsessive leader faced him. Stalin had a similar obsession with Moscow, and it's defense. Though it isn't debatable whether or not Moscow was an important city to be in possession of, Stalin refused to believe where the German attack would be. Even after viewing a captured copy of this plan. So, the attack began and it went on without a problem. Only in July, 1942, did this good luck begin to diminish. They were few and far between at first, but gradually built up unease at German Headquarters. There were debates as to attacks on Vorozneh, or whether a move towards the oil fields was in order. By August, Hitler decided to move ... ...tion which created, in a sense, a military base for the Allied forces managed to bring a total of 1 million troops by the date of July 1. And thus the final drive to liberate Europe was under way. The thoughts of what would of happened if Operation Overlord didn’t occur were almost to dark and fearful to bear think of. The armies of darkness have marched through Europe fearing nothing lying ahead of them and leaving nothing lying behind them. The date of June 6, 1944 will always be remembered as the beginning of the end for the Third Reich. The once peaceful beaches of France were turned into a heroic and glory filled day for the Allied troops. And though many troops died, they also will always remembered as one of the courageous and proud who brought the destruction to the most powerful and evil forces ever to exist on this great earth. The Battle of Stalingrad and the Battle of Normandy were key factors in the outcome of WWII. Both battle with it’s own significant elements. Without the victory of these battles who knows what course history would have taken.

Encephalitis Lethargica Compared to the Movie Awakenings

Encephalitis lethargica is a rare disease which is an atypical form of encephalitis that can cause symptoms that range from headaches to coma like states. Other potential symptoms include things such as double vision, high fevers, lethargy, and delayed physical and mental reactions. The treatment of the illness was the main focus of the movie awakenings and the book it was based upon. The cause of the illness even today still remains much of a mystery with successful treatment also following suit, thankfully however since a large outbreak of the illness in the late 1960’s there have been very rare reported cases of the disease since.When the movie Awakenings begins we find one of the main characters, Leonard Lowe, as a child. In the movie the viewer sees young Leonard begin to suffer from early symptoms of encephalitis lethargica, he quickly becomes unable to keep up in school and is taken out so he can be watched and also presumably to prevent the disease from potentially spr eading. The movie then jumps to 1969 where the viewer is Dr. Sayer apply for a job in Bronx, his experience up to that point had been all research but the hospital being underemployed hires him anyways.Dr. Sayer soon becomes determined to improve the quality of life for his patients and begins to look for a way to alleviate there illness, despite the skepticism of his peers. After investigating into several of his catatonic patients he finds out that many of them had suffered from encephalitis lethargica at one point or another in their past. Soon after discovering this Dr. Sayer proceeds to learn more about them by consulting a doctor who had treated many patients with the disease.He learns that many patients who survived the outbreak would seem to have periods where they would appear to recover from the illness for a time but after an amount of time would fall back into a state of catatonia. Shortly after learning this probably due to the simple fact that the catatonic behavior of his patients was similar to that of Parkinson's patients, he chooses to pursue the latest advances in Parkinson's treatments.He then attends a conference on Parkinson's treatments, there Dr. Sayer first learns about Levodopa (also known as L Dopa) Sayer proposes that L Dopa should be tested as a treatment for one of his catatonic patients, his superiors express doubts that he will be successful but in the end agrees to let him proceed to try it on one patient. He selects Leonard Lowe to be treated with L Dopa. After some period of time Leonard awakens, after this success Dr.Sayer then tries to lobby the patrons of the hospital for more funding to expand this treatment to other patients and after donations from staff members and after showing Leonard to the hospitals investors he gets the required funding and puts the rest of the patients on L Dopa. They, like Leonard, soon awaken after treatment and appear to all make a full recovery from their catatonic states.It’s not long before Leonard begins to suffer side effects from L Dopa, he experiences convulsions, paranoia, and psychotic behavior which are all real symptoms of L Dopa treatment; Leonard also begins to build a tolerance to the drug and he soon has his symptoms of his illness slowly return. The rest of the patients ultimately experience the same course of events and eventually all return to a state of catatonia. The movie ends with Dr. Sayer giving a speech about what he learned from his patients.The symptoms experienced by the patients and the side effects shown in the movie from L Dopa are extremely accurate with those experienced in real life, such as Leonard extreme emotional state and However the research Dr. Sayer, whose real name was Dr. Oliver Sacks, was similar but wasn’t exactly what occurred during the summer of 1969. Rather than starting the L Dopa treatment with just one patient and then expanding the treatment to the rest of the patients as was depicted in the film, Oliver Sacks actually began his study as a double blind procedure with a placebo group and with a treatment group.He also originally intended to only let the study last for 90 days however once he saw that fifty percent of his patients were showing improvement, Sacks went ahead and began giving the rest of the patients L Dopa and dropped his 90 day window for the study. Within the film Dr. Sayer is depicted going from one patient to his whole group of patients, apart from this the movie appears to be completely in line with the events of real life. Works Cited Micromedex, Drug Information Provided By:. â€Å"Levodopa (Oral Route). †Ã‚  Mayo Clinic.Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 01 Nov. 2011. Web. 14 Feb. 2013. â€Å"Awakenings. †Ã‚  Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 14 Feb. 2013. Web. 14 Feb. 2013. â€Å"Side Effects of Carbidopa-Levodopa. †Ã‚  Side Effects of Carbidopa-Levodopa. N. p. , n. d. Web. 14 Feb. 2013. â€Å"NINDS Encephalitis Lethargica Information Page. †Ã‚  Encephalitis Lethargica Information Page: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). N. p. , n. d. Web. 14 Feb. 2013. â€Å"Awakenings. †Ã‚  Oliver Sacks MD RSS. N. p. , n. d. Web. 14 Feb. 2013.