Friday, September 6, 2019
Monotony in Elisaââ¬â¢s life Essay Example for Free
Monotony in Elisaââ¬â¢s life Essay Many people in our modern society lead monotonous lives; in other words they follow a routine and have little or no excitement in their lives. Sometimes we fool ourselves by believing that a monotonous life is happy life, but it does not work the same way for every person. Leading a monotonous life can be very harmful to oneââ¬â¢s well being and those around us. In the short story ââ¬Å"The Chrysanthemumsâ⬠by John Steinbeck we see a person who finds herself in this situation, following a daily routine without much change in it. When a person realizes that they have been living a boring life they start to feel dissatisfied with what they have accomplished, act on impulse and even resort to different activities in an attempt to escape from reality. It often happens that people neglect themselves and do not do anything to satisfy their inner desires which later turn into regret. Regret is the effect that comes from not doing that which you want to do, not realizing your dreams or even from making the wrong decision. If a person strictly follows a routine it happens that they refuse to relax or have fun because it can affect their work or lives. These people are followed by a feeling of unaccomplishment which can lead to sorrow and sadness. The problem is that you start repeating this cycle that does not really benefit your health, it may benefit others and improve your work or studies but you always have to take into consideration your well being. Regret is a very powerful emotion and can carry on for years if a person is not careful it can gravely affect their state of mind and create many complexes. In ââ¬Å"The Chrysanthemumsâ⬠the character of Elisa is a perfect example of someone who leads a monotonous life. Elisa is tired of her life because she feels tired of the same issues every day, caring for her garden being a wife and even dealing with an awkward husband. Elisa regrets not living a more exciting life. In the story, the traveling handyman when talking with Elisa asks her for some chrysanthemums seeds and a very interesting conversation comes up. Elisa tries to explain to him how to care for the chrysanthemums by explaining the feeling of how you do it, but they interpret the explanation as something sexual. Elisa gets aroused by the conversation and tries to touch the manââ¬â¢s leg in the heat, but resists herself in the end. This leaves me to think that maybe she feels unsatisfied in her marriage, she desires something, regrets not having this exciting life. By using the same example we can also relate the situation to how living in this monotony can make a person act on impulse. To act on impulse is to give in to your deepest desires, to follow your urges; it is the drive for what we do. This impulsive behavior surfaces from the situation, since Elisa cannot hold her desire she breaks down and almost does something she might have regretted later on. Jane Atkinson states, When a man youve never met before suddenly gives you flowers dont be alarmed hes only acting on Impulse (Atkinson). What Iââ¬â¢m trying to say is that acting on impulse is like taking a risk. What we have in the quote is basically that, the man is probably nervous and thinking that the woman will not accept them or feel harassed, but he takes a risk, acts on impulse, without completely thinking about the consequences of his actions. Many people live an entire life by acting on impulse without thinking about the consequences, but it is a fact that sometimes you could end up with a very complicated situation. Sometimes acting on impulse is not bad, but you cannot go over the top, there needs to be a balance between the two. Elisa, for a single moment, acted according to what her body wanted, but at the last moment realized that what she was going to do might have caused big problems later on. Basically acting on impulse is not exactly a bad thing, but in Elisaââ¬â¢s case, where the impulses come out of regret, it is a very severe problem. If you act on impulse you will not just cause harm to yourself, but to those around you too. The human being when cornered in a situation tends to look for an easy way to get out of this situation; this is the meaning of escaping from reality. The easy way out may be an efficient one, but in the long run may end up being the worst since it is the most dangerous for your health. Elisaââ¬â¢s monotonous live creates the perfect situation to make a person desire to escape. To escape from reality one uses an activity or an object which aids the person to create a more comfortable scenario. Many people use drugs to escape from reality, alcohol is one of the most common since it makes you see everything in a different way. Elisa is already mentally affected due to her dull, monotonous life and to make it worst the traveling handyman reminds her that her life will probably be the same until her death. By analyzing Elisaââ¬â¢s behavior from the story we can infer that she has been using the chrysanthemums garden as a way to bury in all her feelings and hide all her sadness, but nearing the end of the story when Elisa and her husband are on their way to the restaurant she asks if they could buy some wine, her second attempt to escape from reality. Elisa wants to use alcohol to escape from the sadness she was feeling; we can also assume that from this point on Elisa might develop a drinking problem due to the constant use of alcohol to alleviate the sadness. Escaping from reality might ease the pain inside oneââ¬â¢s heart, but it cannot resolve any problems. Also there is also the fact that Elisa is living in a rather sexist society. Ott, Jim states, ââ¬Å"Its the enigmatic tale of a woman named Elisa who loves her husband, but is fenced in by geography and circumstances in a mans worldâ⬠. In the quote we basically have a summary of the story, but we mainly focus in the part where it says ââ¬Å"in a manââ¬â¢s worldâ⬠meaning that Elisa is being seen as weak and defenseless and treated as inferior. If a person constantly escapes from reality and never confronts his problems they will just make things worst since the problems will pile up and become even more complicated. In the end it just goes back to the same saying that everything in excess can be deadly. Leading a monotonous life can be harmful to a personââ¬â¢s well being. Monotony makes people feel dissatisfied, makes them act illogically and can even throw them into a deep depression. But there are also people who believe that it does not cause harm and that it can even be good for your health. Leading a monotonous life does not physically injure anyone and as long as a person does not take it to extreme measures then it does not cause any harm. There is also the fact that nobody has died because of monotony and it is not even a disease. However there are many factors that can make this seemingly normal way of life a deadly one. Even if it is not a disease it acts like one by obstructing your way of thinking, affect your judgment and more. It is true that as long as you do not do anything extreme then it will not cause much harm, but the problem is that not everyone understands this, most people just take it to the extreme or just do not do anything at all. Of course monotony cannot kill a person, but it can drive one into suicide easily since there are many people with weak minds and hearts who get overtaken by the feeling and do rash things without taking everything into account. In other words although monotony is not a deadly disease it can be harmful because it works it affects the weakest part of the body which is the mind. To live on a routine may sound like a completely normal and healthy activity, but, like everything, if you surpass a certain limit it can have the exact opposite meaning and effects on a personââ¬â¢s life. Once you put the facts in monotony can cause great harm like in Elisaââ¬â¢s case, but it can have the exact opposite effect too. Gregory J. Palmerino states, ââ¬Å"In the end, both husband and wife bear responsibility and suffer for their seemingly childless and sexless marriage; the punishment, however, appears to be meted out unfairlyâ⬠(Palmerino). This one quote basically sums up everything I want say about the story. Elisa and her husband are only making their problems worst and have many regrets and secrets or rather untold opinions of one another that are yet to be said aloud. The only real problem in all of this is the fact that their punishment really is being meted out unfairly since Elisa is getting the short end of the stick because she is being oppressed by her status as a woman and because of the fact that even though she is extremely unhappy she cannot do anything about it. The thing about Elisaââ¬â¢s lifestyle is that one thing leads to another, since she is living a monotonous life she regrets not doing many things and thus tends to act on impulse to try and accomplish these unfulfilled desires and lastly since she cannot fulfill these desires she resorts to the use of other objects to ease the pain in her heart. The saddest part of everything that is happening to Elisa is that she herself is making things worse for her and her husband. Works Cited Atkinson, Jane. Policeman just cant Help Acting on Impulse. News of the World: 53. May 23 2010. ProQuest Central. Web. 19 Oct. 2012 . Ott, Jim. This Valley Life: Livermore to Read and Celebrate Steinbeck. Oakland TribuneJan 07 2010. ProQuest Central. Web. 19 Oct. 2012 . Palmerino, Gregory J. Steinbecks THE CHRYSANTHEMUMS. The Explicator 62.3 (2004): 164-7. ProQuest Central. Web. 19 Oct. 2012.
Thursday, September 5, 2019
Social psychological principles of prejudice and attitudes
Social psychological principles of prejudice and attitudes Many people believe prejudice and discrimination mean the same thing .In fact there is a very important difference between them. Prejudice is an attitude, whereas discrimination refers to the behaviour or action. If someone dislikes a given minority, but does not allow this dislike to effect their behaviour then the person shows prejudice but not discrimination. According to Baron and Byrne (1991) prejudice is an attitude towards the member of some group based solely on their membership in that group. In contrast discrimination involves negative action directed at the member of the group. Allport (1954) argued that there are five different stages of discrimination. Anti-location: Verbal attacks are directed against some other group. Avoidance: the other group is systematically avoided. Discrimination: the other group is deliberately treated less well than other groups in term of civil rights. Physical attack: Membership of the other group are attacked and their property is destroyed. Extermination: there are deliberate attempts to kill all members of the other group. The word prejudice can be broken down in to pre (meaning before) and judice (meaning judgement). Therefore to be prejudice towards an individual or group shows a pre-judge of that individual or group. There are three elements to prejudice. Cognitive element: This involves the beliefs held about the group. These beliefs will be in the form of stereotyping, common but over simple views of what particular groups of people are like. The affective element: This involves the feelings experienced in response to the group. If we are prejudiced against a group we may experience anger, fear, hate or disgust when we encounter a member of that group. The behavioural element: This consists of our actions toward the object of our prejudice. Behaving differently towards people based on their membership of a group is called discrimination. Our actions against members of a group against which we hold a prejudice can rang from avoidance and verbal criticism to mass extermination. Psychological approach to explain prejudice falls in to two broad areas. Social approach centres on the social factors that contribute to prejudice in general. Whereas individual differences approaches centres on what factors make some people more prone to prejudice. Tajel and Turner (1979) proposed the social identity theory. This theory is one of a group of theoryà ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã¢â ¢s that share the assumption that prejudice can be explained by our tendency to identify ourselves as part of a group and to classify other people as either within or outside that group. Tajfel and Turner carried out a number of laboratory experiment called the minimal group Tajfel (1970) carried out an experiment to look at intergroup discrimination. To test his theory sixty four schoolboys aged between 14 and 15 year old were selected. The participants were initially informed that the experiment was research investigating vision. The boys were shown clusters of dots on a screen and asked to estimate the number of dots on the picture. The participants were then divided in to two groups group A and group B. Group A was classified as boys that had underestimated the amount of dots and group B was those boys who had overestimated the amount of dots. The boys were then given a number of tasks in which they would allocate points to each other. Each boy did not know who they were allocating points to but they did know which group the boy belonged to three conditions were used as part of this experiment condition one the choice was between two boys from group A the second condition was two boys from group B and the last condition used one boy from each group. What Tajfel identified as part of this research was that the boys overwhelmingly chose to allocate points to the boys who had been indentified as in the same group as themselves. Despite the fact that there was no direct competition between the two groups the participants consistently displayed favouritism towards the boys from the same group. Ellis and Fox (2001) also carried out research in to prejudice and discrimination looking effect of self-identification sexual orientation on helping behaviour. This research involves 235 British men and women were telephone at home. The caller explained that they had dialled the wrong number and that they had no more change to make a further call and asked if the participant would relay a message to the callerà ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã¢â ¢s partner. In the experimental condition the callers partner was identified as the same sex as the caller, and in the controlled condition they were identified as the opposite sex. The finding shoed that overall both gay man and lesbians were less likely to receive help than heterosexuals. Women were also more to receive help than men. The final conclusion to the research showed that people were less likely to offer help to a gay men who found themselves in difficulty. This showed prejudice and discrimination towards gay men. When discussing prejudice or discrimination, stereotyping also needs to be examined Stewart et al. (1979) described stereotyping as a process not only used to simplify environmental and social stimuli, but one that also aids the construction of meaning to those stimuli based on attribution expectations. Whereas Taguirs (1969) defined stereotyping as the tendency to place a person in a category according to some easily and quickly identifiable characteristic such as age, sex, ethic membership, nationality or occupation, and then to attribute to them qualities believed to be typical of a member of that category. Stereotypes seem to provide a simple and economical; way of perceiving the world. In the late 1800s male Chinese immigrants were brought to the U.S. to work on the railroads and as agricultural labours on the West Coast many specialized in laundry services. Some came willingly others were basically kidnapped and brought forcibly. After the transcontinental railroad was completed and it occurred to white Americans that the Chinese workers were still around and might compete with them for jobs, a wave of anti-Chinese sentiment swept the U.S. Chinese men were stereotyped as degenerate heroin addicts whose presence encouraged prostitution, gambling, and other immoral activities. Since most Chinese immigrants were brought here specifically as workers, the vast majority were male few at that time were able to bring their wives. A number of cities on the West Coast experienced riots in which whites attacked Asians and destroyed Chinese sections of town. The Seattle riot resulted in practically the entire Chinese population being rounded up and forcibly sent to San Franci sco. Similar situations in other towns encouraged Chinese workers scattered throughout the West to relocate, leading to the growth of Chinatowns in a few larger cities on the West Coast. Ac cording to Buchanan (2007) many researchers have argued that prejudice is part of human nature and that the only by confronting our authentic nature can we gain real insight into the forces that drive group conflict and learn how we might better manage and defuse such urges. Probable the first formal proposal of a set of social psychological principles for reducing prejudice was from Allportà ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã¢â ¢s (1954) Contact hypothesis. Prejudice may be reduced by equal status contact between majority and the minority groups in the pursuit of common goals. When people are segregated they are more likely to experience autistic hostility, that is ignorance of other which in turn results in a failure to understand the reason for their actions Lack of contact means there is no reality testing against which to checking our own interpretation of others behaviour, and in turn can enforce negative stereotyping.
Wednesday, September 4, 2019
Stereotypes in the American Media Essay -- Media Stereotypes Stereotyp
Stereotypes in the American Media Propaganda is an effective device that is used to influence and manipulate human behavior by appealing to emotions. When propaganda is combined with stereotypes, it usually produces negative results. A simplified view of a group of people, spread by mass communication can cause people to be more narrow-minded and can alter their perspective. Living in the Information Age, people are exposed to a constant stream of ideas and images. These ideas can reflect the views of those with a hidden agenda. They can also produce a generality about something that people are not familiar with, therefore readily accept the stereotype. There are many examples of propaganda from recent times that include stereotypes that assist in getting the message across. From political ideology to advertising, some uses of stereotypes in propaganda are successful in influencing the masses, while others are more transparent and less effective. Sweeping generalizations of people of Middle-Eastern descent are prevalent the American media, especially films, which can easily influence how an audience regards people of this origin. Most action films promote American patriotism, but at the same time, make an enemy of Non-American people. In the past 10 years, people from Arab speaking countries have been portrayed as terrorists in American films. This typecasting generates a view of this ethnicity that is associated with terrorist activity. In the article ââ¬Å"Arabs in Hollywood: An Undeserved Imageâ⬠that author, Scott J. Simon, discusses action films that portray Arabs as the enemy. ââ¬Å"While the plot of True Lies seems to be no different than any other action movie involving spies and smugglers, the characterization of the Arab g... ...ALD, Michael. [2003]. Dixie Chicks axed by Clear Channel. Online at: , consulted on April 1st, 2004. FRANCL, Luke. [2004]. Back to Vermont: New Club for Growth Ad in Iowa. Online at: , consulted on April 1st, 2004. CHAVANU, Bakari. [1999]. Seventeen, Self-Image, And Stereotypes. Online at: , consulted on April 1st, 2004. MEDINA, Sam. [2003]. Female Stereotypes in Advertising. Online at: , consulted on April 1st, 2004. GRAHAM, Judith. [2001]. Five Ways to Save on Essential Cosmetics. Online at: , consulted on April 1st, 2004.
Tuesday, September 3, 2019
Pride And Prejudice :: essays research papers
Prejudice The first sentence of the novel, Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austin, foreshadows the end of the book. She writes, "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a good wife". At first, readers would understand this in one way. However, in the second half of the novel it takes on a whole new meaning. At first this sentence takes on an ironic meaning, because it is commonly understood that it is the woman who is in pursuit of a wealthy gentleman (and not the man pursuing the woman as stated). Austin also seems to prove this understanding of the quotation in the first half of the novel in her use of Mr. Collins and Charlotte Lucas. In the novel, Mr. Collins has established himself by working for Lady Catherine de Bourgh, an extremely wealthy woman. Also, once Mr. Bennet dies, Mr. Collins is due to inherit his entire estate. Therefore, a man who is supported by that amount of money would seem to be quite a catch, to someone with less money. However, after listening to him talk, it is quickly revealed that he is utterly ignorant. On the other hand, Charlotte is his complete opposite. Charlotte is an extremely sensible and intelligent girl, but she has little money. Although Mr. Collins could obviously never satisfy Charlotte as a husband, Charllote agrees to marry him for his money. Hence the original understanding of the quotation at the start of the novel seems to be justified. Mr. Darcy also seems to follow this quotation. He believes that woman would marry him for his wealth and status no matter what. Therefore, when he falls in love with Elizabeth he does not treat her with the preferential treatment with which one would normally treat his beloved. Instead he treated her with the same condescending and proud manner as he would any other person. Afterall, all good wives are in want of a wealthy man. Darcy soon changes his philosophy (and hence one must understand the quotation d ifferently) after Elizabeth refuses his proposal. This incident proves that a woman does not necessarily need to find a rich man to marry. Afterall, this is now the second time that Elizabeth has rejected the proposal of a man with more wealth than she. It is clear that Darcy changes his whole philosophy on the subject after this rejection.
Monday, September 2, 2019
Anne Bradstreets Poem Essay -- Dear Loving Husband Anne Bradstreet E
Anne Bradstreet's Poem "To my Dear and Loving Husband" Anne Bradstreet?s poem, ?To my Dear and Loving Husband? presents a beautiful love theme. "Of ever two were one, then surely we" (1). This quotation is important because Bradstreet is pointing out that she does not feel as though she is one individual person. And one of the first questions that come to my mind is if Bradstreet was trying to make a point for all wives to be that way or she felt insecure about her own self. The poem itself portrays a loving wife, but the fact is she sounds like she is afraid to be alone, that her husband is the one who makes her complete, in another words, it makes her be a full person. Ã Ã Ã Ã Ã Also we see the great value she has for the love of her husband by the way she describes it as meaning more to her than all the gold in the world and how her own love for her husband is a love that she cannot stop, because her love is "such that rivers cannot quench" (7). Ã Ã Ã Ã Ã The first part in this poem, "If ever two were one" (1) sets us with expectations to continue with the reading. These words show that Bradstreet and her husband were really in love, that this love could unite two persons and make them one. Bradstreet and her husband think, act, and feel much like they are part of each other. The tone of this poem tells us that she is a very religious, because she speaks of praying and the heavens. We get the impression that she is a very dedicated person, to her family and to God. She...
Sunday, September 1, 2019
Is ââ¬ËOf Mice and Menââ¬â¢ Pessimistic? Essay
The two main themes of ââ¬ËOf mice and Menââ¬â¢ are loneliness and prejudice. These two elements create a depressive and pessimistic background. You can feel the pessimism all through the book, but some parts have different levels of pessimism. John Steinbeck chose the title from a poem called ââ¬ËTo a Mouseââ¬â¢ and written by Robbie Burns, from which the book is clearly inspired: ââ¬Å"But Mousie, thou are no thy-lane, In proving foresight may be vain: The best laid schemes oââ¬â¢ Mice anââ¬â¢ Men, Gang aft agley, Anââ¬â¢ leaââ¬â¢e us nought but grief anââ¬â¢ pain, For promisââ¬â¢d joy!â⬠The last two verses refer to the dream and how it doesnââ¬â¢t succeed. The dream is destroyed by loneliness, which in this case, is represented by Curlyââ¬â¢s wife. When Lennie kills her everything is over; Lennie knows this, but he is too slow to realise itââ¬â¢s true. In this verse Robbie Burns tries to tell us that men are as weak as mice, and that often our plans donââ¬â¢t succeed and we only get the opposite. Curlyââ¬â¢s wife is one of the most important characters in the book because she represents both loneliness and prejudice; and is also a victim of both. She is prejudged for being a woman and is not even given a name; this is how John Steinbeck shows the prejudice in the book. ââ¬Å"If I catch any one man, and heââ¬â¢s alone, I get along fine with him. But just let two of the guys get together anââ¬â¢ you wonââ¬â¢t talk. Jusââ¬â¢ nothing but mad. Youââ¬â¢re all scared of each otherâ⬠, in this quotation you can see how she and all the workers in the ranch feel; they are all lonely but theyââ¬â¢re all too scared of being prejudged for talking to Curlyââ¬â¢s wife. She is married, even if Curly doesnââ¬â¢t love her; but he is very possessive, and cnat stand that she flirts with the workers in the ranch. ââ¬Å"Got no teeth, heââ¬â¢s all stiff with rheumatism. He ainââ¬â¢t no good to you, Candy. Anââ¬â¢ he ainââ¬â¢t no good to himself. Whyââ¬â¢nââ¬â¢t you shoot him, Candy?â⬠Candyââ¬â¢s dog is his only friend, this shows all the loneliness in the ranch. Candy is left to no other option than to shoot the dog, his only companion, and this will lead him to complete loneliness. This is an obvious metaphor to whatââ¬â¢s going to happen to Lennie, which is no good for George or any one else. Another small metaphor, which gives a clue to whatââ¬â¢s going to happen to Lennie, is that the same gun is used to kill the dog and Lennie. When George and Lennie are in the bunkhouse, Lennie plays a solitaire. This is a metaphor to Georgeââ¬â¢s loneliness. He has Lennie but he knows heââ¬â¢s not capable of doing difficult tasks, and in some way Lennie is to George no more than a pet dog; this fact ââ¬Ëhighlightsââ¬â¢ Georgeââ¬â¢s situation: loneliness. When George kills Lennie, slim is the only one that realizes it was him, and knew it was going to happen: ââ¬Å"Never you mind. A guy got to sometimesâ⬠. Lennie has sometimes in the book got a dead mouse or animal in his pocket; he loves them, and never intends to kill them, but he does. This reflects whatââ¬â¢s going to happen to the dream, Lennie loves it, but unconsciously, he destroys it. Optimism takes a good part in the book; Lennieââ¬â¢s relationship with George is optimistic because Lennie is always thinking in the future and in the dream. Candy too is optimistic about the dream, but knows itââ¬â¢s all over when Lennie kills Curlyââ¬â¢s wife. George is the cleverest from the three and knows from the beginning that the dream is never going to happen, and that itââ¬â¢s impossible. Lennie keeps going on about the dream and so George finally with optimism and for a short period of time, thinks its possible but it all comes to an end when Lennie accidentally kills Culysââ¬â¢s wife. This is a book with a pessimistic atmosphere, and itââ¬â¢s set in a bad time for the world. John Steinbeck had the same life as a worker like George and had similar experiences. Lennieââ¬â¢s relationship with Gorge in the beginning is very optimistic, but in the end it all changes and their lives turn into a ââ¬Ëblind alleyââ¬â¢. In conclusion, this book is pessimistic, and itââ¬â¢s a masterpiece of modern literature.
Natural Law does not provide an adequate basis for morality Essay
In this essay, the arguments made will help to consider whether or not if Natural Law does provide an adequate basis for morality or not. The arguments will look into Aquinas theory and if his beliefs provide a sense of morality for all humans. Natural Law is a moral theory which maintains that law should be based on morality and ethics. Natural Law holds that the law is based on whatââ¬â¢s correct. Natural Law is discovered by humans through the use of reason and choosing between good and evil. It finds power in discovering certain universal standards in morality and ethics. The strengths that are found in Natural Law are the strengths of an absolutist deontological view of morality. It allows people to follow common rules so they can then structure communities. Natural Law provides justification and support for certain core ideas which are popular in modern times, for example human rights and equality. Natural Law provides a clear moral basis for Christians to follow, example would be, the primary precepts to ââ¬Ëdefend lifeââ¬â¢ which provides a moral rule to help people to understand that all life is sacred and we should defend all life. We are also able to us our reason in order to distinguish between what is right and what is wrong, it allows us to use our reason to fulfil our purpose as humans. A key argument that would be made is that not all people share the same life purposes; everyone wants to get something different out of life, fulfilling their own life purposes. Not all people ââ¬Å"find love in the same way; some find love and purpose in life through the expression of their sexualityâ⬠(Robert Bowie). Aquinas did not consider that every human thinks and feels differently, to make his theory relatable to all humans. Human beings have their own minds; the whole person should be the decision maker and follow what makes them happy. Homosexual men and women argue the fact that they are not recognized as normal human beings. Aquinas believed that their actions should not be seen as normal human action but as unnatural because to him, they cannot lead normal lives like straight men and women simple because they cannot reproduce and that Aquinas believed that ââ¬Å"as a human being must preserve the species every discharge of semen should be associated with life generationâ⬠(Robert Bowie). But it is not vital for ever discharge of semen should be producing a new life to maintain human life. Aquinas doesnââ¬â¢t consider how are functions effect are emotions, how they link to our emotions and thoughts. Natural Law has been argued to whether or not there is a common natural law that is apparent and self- evident, and also whether or not it can be right for each human and if every day life can be deduced from the fundamental laws e. g. primary precepts. Kai Neilson went against Aquinas theory, Neilson argued Aquinas beliefs in a basis human nature which is presented to all different cultures. Sciences view of an essential human nature is that it does not exist and that itââ¬â¢s not what makes a man a man. Human nature is seen as a vague cultural concept, is has never been scientifically proven so we cannot be sure if it actually does exist. ââ¬ËThe challenge is that an essential human nature isnââ¬â¢t as obviously self-evident as Aquinas claimsââ¬â¢ (Robert Bowie). In some ways, some forms of Natural Law could perhaps exist just not in the way Aquinas indented. He believed to use the genitals for other reason presides reproducing, was immoral. The human body and emotions works in different ways and it is not necessary that semen has to produce a new life every time. Aquinas believes that sex before marriage is wrong, and that in order for a couple to have sex they must have the intensions of spending the rest of their lives together. For a coupleââ¬â¢s relationship to grow strong or maintain strong, by creating a sexual relationship, the coupleââ¬â¢s relationship may benefit from this action. ââ¬Å"Sexual activity isnââ¬â¢t only found in the genitaliaââ¬â¢sââ¬â¢ (Robert Bowie). In todayââ¬â¢s society the human physique is seen as one psycho-physical whole, it is no longer seen as the fragment requirements of parts which Aquinas had believed. Aquinas how a couple may need a sexual relationship for their feelings to mature. Times have changed since Aquinasââ¬â¢s theory, people within a relationship no longer wait until their married some even have children out of wedlock but are in stable relationship even if itââ¬â¢s with another person who is not their childââ¬â¢s parent. Homosexual relationships are no longer thrown upon and homosexual couples can now get married in church in front of God. Aquinas theory does no longer fit into todayââ¬â¢s society simple because the new generations have grown up being taught differently. The programs that are now shown on TV for children and teens to watch have sent out a messages showing sense such as ââ¬â¢16 and pregnantââ¬â¢ that go against Aquinas beliefs. Aquinas Natural Moral Law is a Christian ethic but Jesus confronted legalistic morality in the New Testament. Natural moral law is similar to Pharisaic law and some debate that Jesus went against this approach. Some Christians have demanded that morality should be based on the individual rather than the types of acts that have been committed. Writer, Kevin T Kelly, pointed out two types of Christian morality, one ââ¬Ëthat is centred on actsââ¬â¢ and then another which is ââ¬Ëcentred on the dignity of the human personââ¬â¢ (Robert Bowie), separating the person from the act. Although natural law has its down sides there are some arguments that provide a basis for morality. Natural moral law provides a set of rules which people do follow to fulfil a moral life. The strengths that natural moral law provides are the strengths of an absolutist deontological view of morality; the rules that apply bring a structure to communities. Some religious believers use Natural law as a comfort blanket; it could be seen as something to rely on to help guide them to a moral way of life, Natural moral law gives a reason to be moral, ââ¬Å"It gives guidance on day to day questionsâ⬠(Robert Bowie). Natural law, although guides people in the way they live, is not a set of rules but a form of living a chose on how to achieve a personââ¬â¢s purpose and happiness. It provides us humans with a complete system of moral living. Natural moral law supports certain ideas in modern times for example human rights and equality. Humans are capable of discerning the difference between good and evil because they have a conscience. There are many manifestations of the good that we can pursue. Some, like procreation, are common to other nimals, and others, like the pursuit of truth, are inclinations peculiar to the capacities of human beings. Some contemporary Catholic theologians, like John Wijngaards, dispute the Magisteriumââ¬â¢s interpretation of Natural Law as applied to specific points of sexual ethics, such as in the areas of contraceptives and homosexual unions. Natural moral goes against taking of a humanââ¬â¢s life, ââ¬Å"thou shall not killâ⬠(Jesus) natural law follows this, the 5 primary precepts state that you should perverse all life, since life is a gift and all humans should find happiness and morality within their lifespan. Although Natural law does provide a framework for humans to be guided it also forgets to include the other types of cultures. Natural law was made for Christians which means that the rules and morals have been made to fit only Christian teachings, so itââ¬â¢s not suitable for all humans to follow and if not all human beings can follow it, then not all humans are gaining a basis for morality. Aquinas theory is seen as being out of date, with the new generation growing up in a world where sex before marriage doesnââ¬â¢t apply, his belief that no semen should be wasted and that it is unmoral to use the genitals for other reason besides reproducing is no longer seen as wrong but in some cases seen as sharing love between partners also homosexuality is no longer seen as a sin in some societies.
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