The Importance of the Modern Era of Political Philosophy Essay Example for Free

The Importance of the Modern Era of Political Philosophy Essay The Modern Era of political philosophy is best characterized as a revolt against the traditional constraints of the time. Machiavelli believed that politics should be separate and distinct from ethics, morality, and religion. Protestant reformers such as Luther and Calvin went head to head with the Catholic Church, paving the way for religious individualism and incorporating various political revisions. Hobbes called for a major overhaul in England concerning not only political and religious issues, but social and economic ones as well. As modern philosophers began to voice their opinions, Central, Southern, and Western Europe began to change drasticallychanges that would affect the direction of Western political thought forever. Niccolo Machiavelli, born in Florence, Italy in 1469, was the first political philosopher to recognize the importance and potential of the nation-state, an idea he shared with the world. This idea was shared primarily through Machiavellis most notable works: The Prince and Discourses on the First Ten Books of Titus Livius. The Prince was dedicated to the new Medici (the ruling family in Florence at the time) ruler, Lorenzo; some modern interpreters have viewed the work primarily as a plea for forgiveness, as Machiavelli wanted his civil service job back after being suspected of treason. As indicated in his two major works, Machiavelli had two distinct goals: the desire to return to active government service and the promotion of stability and freedom from foreign control, secular or religious, for all of Italy. Martin Luthers (1483-1546) discrepancies with the Catholic Church began early in his career when he attacked the sale of indulgences and also came to the conclusion that human nature is wretched and sinful. He also criticized the popes absolutism and the church hierarchy. When Luther finally poured his heart out onto paper in 1517, the result was his Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences, otherwise known as the Ninety-five Theses, which he promptly nailed to the church door in his hometown of Wittenberg, Germany. Three years later Luther wrote an essay  entitled An Appeal to the Ruling Class. Each of these works as well as Luthers other writings made three main allegations against the church. These allegations were known as the Three Walls. The first wall he attacks is the fact that secular power has no control over the pope. The second wall deals with the idea that the church is more than just the pope; it encompasses everyone who is a member of the faith. This particular wall disputed the idea of papal infallibility as well as the pope as the sole authority of the church. The third wall Luther confronts concerns the claim that only the pope can summon a council to resolve or address church issues, such as questions of doctrine. Later that same year, the pope excommunicated Luther from the Catholic Church, but not before Luthers words had a significant impact on the Catholic Church. These events cause Christians to reexamine the relationship between church and state-authority through the eyes of the individual, as well as defining limits on both church and state power. John Calvin, born in 1509, founded one of the first sects of Protestantism that developed after Luthers revamp of the Catholic Church. Calvin shared the belief that human deeds cannot ensure salvation and that government serves as a punishment and remedy for human sin. In his book Institutes of the Christian Religion, Calvin distinguishes two types of government: the spiritual, by which the conscience is formed to piety and the service of God; and the political, by which a man is instructed in the duties of humanity and civility. Almost overnight, the Protestant Reformation brought the monolithic foundation of medieval Christianity down, leaving behind several new concepts in political thought. During the first half of the 17th century, English philosopher Thomas Hobbes found conflict on numerous fronts concerning English society. The first issue was concerning religious freedom, pitting King Charles I and his Anglican Church against a number of independent Protestant sects. Hobbes and his Protestant followers claimed that the Anglican Church was too close in organization and liturgy to the Catholic Church. They also rejected the claim of Charles I to rule by divine right. The second issue was political in nature, concerning the fact that England did not have a written  constitution (and still do not today), thereby allowing for Parliamentary error and inconsistancies. The third issue that Hobbes was concerned with was the fact that social and economic issues were becoming interrelated due to a growing middle class who demanded more political representation in Parliament. During Hobbess lifetime, the world experienced a scientific revolution due to important discoveries. The spirit of forward progress influenced Hobbess understanding of politics as well. Hobbes treated his issues like scientific theory, always concerned with precise definitions and correct terminology. On what basis could the practice of government be conducted once society was no longer a community? asks the central philosophical question concerning Hobbess political philosophies. Hobbes reinforces the basis for politics of the Modern Era by uniting absolutism and consent, taking his cues from the scientific revolution of the era. Hobbess most important philosophical work, Leviathan, discusses human nature from the standpoint of the individual, thus defining the foundation for Hobbess political universe. Obviously, Hobbess political focus is on the individual; however, some critics argue whether Hobbess philosophies were intended as a scientific blueprint for a fit government as Hobbes saw it, or if his philosophies merely succeeded in raising questions about the balance between individual liberty and social order. Of all the versatile philosophers associated with the Modern Era of political philosophy, only Niccolo Machiavelli can be described as the personification of the transformation from the medieval to the modern era. Machiavellis aggregate view of politics focuses on the individual. In contradiction to the values of ancient and medieval political philosophers, Machiavelli establishes a separation between personal morality and necessary political practice. The Florentine also supports the idea of a republican state, thus allowing the greatest degree of liberty. He created a new science of politics with a more down-to-earth and practical set of principles. Machiavellis recognition of the importance and potential of the nation-state not only set him apart from his predecessors, but also ushered in a new era of political thought, paving the way toward the unfolding  Western political tradition. The importance of the Modern Era of political philosophy is plainly evident in todays society. A large part of the Constitution of the United States is based on the liberal philosophies of the Modern Era. The idea of separation of church and state is most prolific during this era, and it remains today one of the fundamental principles of liberty upon which the governments of the United States and numerous other nation-states in the West are based. Also, the focus of individual liberty is very apparent in many of the political discourses of the Modern philosophers. Had the philosophers of the Modern Era not battled the widespread corruption apparent in the Catholic Church and the ruling classes across Europe, who is to say that the Western political tradition would have unfolded at all?

Greeks and romans Essay -- essays research papers

Three ancient civilizations contributed most to Western society. These ancient cultures were the Romans, Greeks, and Judeo-Christians. Although all three had a major impact on our life today in areas such Philosophy, Art, Architecture, Education, Military, Family Life, Government, and many more, it is evident that the Roman civilization has impacted Western Society beyond the other two. But to come to this conclusion you must first look at all aspects of life of all three cultures.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Judeo-Christians were highly religious people. In fact, almost all of their contributions to today are moral principals or religious. Although Jews lived in Judea, which was a Roman province since 6 AD, the Jews continued to be monotheistic. The Romans respected this, however, and did not make them worship the Roman Gods. Around 1 AD, a boy names Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem. After about thirty years Jesus began to preach about the Jewish God. People called Jesus the â€Å"Messiah† and the â€Å"King of the Jews† Roman leaders were worried that he would cause a revolt against the Romans. Jesus was considered an enemy. He was tried before Pontius Pilate and was crucified. After Jesus died on a cross, he was resurrected and remained on earth for forty more days to preach. After those forty days, Jesus was ascended into Heaven. The resurrection of Jesus became a main aspect of Christianity. For hundreds of years the Christian religion was put down and not excepted, but during Emperor Constantine’s reign Christianity became widely excepted because the Constantine was given a message from the Christian God.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Many morals and values of the Christians have been passed down and still are followed today. God gave the Ten commandments to Moses for all people to follow. In these ten, three are laws in today’s society: You shall not kill, You shall not steal, and also you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. It is illegal to kill and steal. Also, lying in a court of law is perjury.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Christianity is the most common religion in western society. Although there are many different denominations of Christians today, including Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Assembly of God, Lutheran, Methodist and many more, they all are based on the fact that Jesus died for their sins and they are forgiven. &n... ...rom its tradition of law. Many Romans were farmers. Therefore, they had to understand the laws of nature. As soldiers, they had to create laws to regulate the power of some men over others. Religion also stressed laws and obedience to authority. When Rome became a city, they created civic gods. These gods were spirits believed to be in the homes of Romans. All the gods possessed the power to help man only if he served them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  More than any other ancient power, Rome was a qualified empire of many peoples and cultures. Roman law respected the differences among people. The idea of Roman life, excited many other cultures. This showed that Roman society was so smart that they were confident and arrogant it would spread throughout the world.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The history of the Roman Empire influenced Western civilization in many ways. Roman law became the basis of the legal codes of most European areas. Rome preserved Greek culture, the foundation of Western learning and even Christianity. All of these were spread to other lands. The world should be very fortunate of the Roman Empire. It has exploited so many great things throughout its dynasty.

Fast Food in School Cafeterias Essay

Buckley, Cara. â€Å"A Proposal to Separate Fast Food and Schools.† New York Times [New York] 20 04 2009, n. pag. Web 26 April. 2012. . The author explores research done that suggests that the closer a fast food restaurant is to a school, the higher is the obesity rate of the children there. Eric N. Gioia is a city councilman from Queens and he wants to ban any fast food restaurants from opening within a tenth of a mile from any schools. According to the report â€Å"The Effect of Fast Food Restaurants on Obesity† done by researchers from The University of California, Berkeley, and Columbia, when fast food restaurants open a quarter mile or more away from schools there is no change in the obesity rate, but when they are open within a tenth of a mile from schools obesity rates rise. The study also found that the daily caloric intake could increase 30 to 100 calories a day depending on the proximity of fast food chains to schools. The study even showed that pregnant women are more likely to gain a lot of weight of they live within a mile of fast food chains. This article from the New York Times explores the side of a ban on fast food restaurants near schools. Buckley did an in depth analysis on the ban of fast food near schools and what the effects of having fast food chains near schools has on the children. She used many reliable sources to support her research. The only problem that I see with this article is that it does not explore the other side of the argument enough. Overall I gained a lot of useful information from this article, and learned a lot of useful facts. Harris, Karen. â€Å"Fast Food in California’s High Schools: Popular, Profitable, Contributing to Teen Obesity?.† California Center for Health Improvement . n. page. Web. 26 April. 2012. This article talks about fast food in California High Schools and the reasons they are sold more than the healthy options. There are many schools that sell taco bell in school. The student’s say that these food options taste better. Also, the schools sell them ‘A la Carte’ so they can profit and use the money for school activities and such. This article also discusses how the school environment can take away from anything that parents try to teach their kids about healthy eating. Many school districts allow private corporations to advertise in their schools, promoting eating unhealthy food. This article gave me a good idea of what fast food actually in schools is like. It is obvious that kids are going to go for the more unhealthy option of the foods they have to choose from, because it tastes better, they can get it faster, and it is usually cheaper. This article was a good source of information but it even says in the beginning that the source of their data is a little bit unreliable because it is just the schools mailing in their information about what food they serve and not all schools reported their information. Over all this is a good source for basic information about fast food in schools, but not all of the data is reliable. Do fast-food chains cluster around schools? MSN.com. 26 April 2012 This article addresses the problem of having fast food restaurants located near schools, and says that the corporations do this strategically. This makes it very hard to eat healthy for kids when they are being tempted with cheap, quick food. This article says that nearly 80 percent of Chicago schools studied had at least one fast food restaurant within a half mile. It also discusses how when a child eats fast food they consume more calories fat and sugars than they would eat fruits and vegetables. Burger King wouldn’t answer any questions about the placement of their stores, and McDonalds denies that schools have anything to do with where they place their stores. This article is a lot like the first one that I read, but had more research into the amount of fast food restaurants in proximity to schools. I like  that they did the research in a city like Chicago, and it says that these findings are similar in other cities across the nation. This article could help me in my research because it shows that it is proven that fast food chains cluster around schools. Eisler, Peter, Blake Morrison, and Anthony DeBarros. â€Å"Fast-food standards for meat top those for school lunches .† USA Today. 9 12 2009: n. page. Web. 3 May. 2012. . In this article, the authors explore the fact that the meat we eat at schools does not go through the same standards that the meat served at fast food restaurants. The government is supplying schools with millions of pounds of beef and chicken that aren’t good enough for many fast food chains to serve. The authors say that the standards that Jack in the Box uses for its food is ten times more stringent than what the USDA sets for the meat served in schools. When it comes to chicken, schools are being supplied with thousands of tons of meat from old chickens that fast food restaurants don’t use. The standards are not the same, and that is very alarming. I really like this article because it is different from the other ones that I have read. It shows the downfalls of cafeteria food, instead of the bad things about fast food. It really opened my eyes that we never really know where our food comes from, and sometimes even when we think we are eating healthy we are consuming old, gross meat. This is extremely useful to my research because it shows the downfalls of the USDA and proves that school foods are not always better than fast food. Denver, Kusa. â€Å"‘Pink slime’ eliminated from fast food, but not school lunches .† USA Today. 09 03 2012: n. page. Web. 3 May. 2012. . This article talks about Pink Slime and how it is still being served in schools, but fast food restaurants have decided not to use that meat anymore. The U.S. Department of Agriculture told an online newspaper that it is buying 7 million more pounds of the Pink Slime to serve in school lunches across the country. But at the same time the USDA says that, â€Å"All USDA  ground beef purchases for the National School Lunch Program must meet the highest standards for food safety.† This slime is made of cow intestines and other by-products that we really don’t want to eat. This meat is more prone to E. Coli and salmonella. I definitely think this article is useful to me because it is yet another example of the food we are being served in schools. It is not held to the same standards that fast food chains hold their food to. I think the research used reliable sourced such as the USDA and the U.S. department of agriculture. Childhood obesity and obesity in general are some of the biggest problems facing the United States. We as a country are trying to educate everyone on how to eat properly and live a healthy life. We blame fast food chains for the obesity in our country, when in reality they are not the main problem. It is a culture change that is hard to wrap our heads around, and one that people don’t know how to deal with. The economy is bad, therefore we go for the cheaper food, and fast food chains are everywhere, and convenient. The food in schools should be held to a much higher standard than it is, and advertisers are targeting kids in schools and tempting them to eat unhealthy foods. There are many problems between schools and fast food. The proximity of a school to fast food restaurants has shown to have an impact on the weight of the children in the surrounding schools. This makes perfect sense to me because it makes it more convenient. Burger Kings always have signs about deals on burgers or fries. They are directly advertising to the young kids in those surrounding schools. The advertisers know that kids are tight on cash, and want to get their food quick. Some researchers say that there is no correlation between obesity and having fast food restaurants near schools, but I think there definitely is. If there is no McDonald’s right across the street from a school, those kids won’t have a choice of eating it and might make a better choice. I know that people should have the will power to say no and try and eat something healthier, but I believe that the government should be doing something to try and make it easier for Americans to live a healthy, after all shouldn’t the health of  their country be important to them? I think that laws should be passed against having fast food chains within a certain distance of schools, because that is just escalating the problem of obesity in America. Another link to schools and obesity is the advertising and availability of fast food in a school cafeteria. It is hard for a 12 year old to choose grilled chicken and broccoli over a cheeseburger when given a choice. Ads that show happy kids eating McDonalds are directly targeted at young kids, showing them that they will be happy if they eat fast food. Childhood obesity is on the rise and advertising in schools is a huge reason. It is ridiculous that schools allow this and even that the government doesn’t prevent it. Kids are victims in this situation because they have no say about what kinds of advertisements they are exposed to. You would think that the adults in this country would see this problem and try to fix it, but instead we just serve McDonald’s and Taco bell in the cafeteria instead of having delicious healthy options. It is so counter productive to teach kids about the food pyramid and tell them to be active and eat their fruits and veggies and then offer t hem fries and a hot dog. That is not fair, its almost like we are setting the children up for failure and obesity, exactly what we say we are trying to prevent. The most shocking thing that I found throughout my research was the lack of quality in the meat that is being served in school cafeterias. According to a few of the articles that I read fast food chains would not serve the quality of meat that the government is giving to schools. The USDA is supposed to be protecting us as consumers when in reality they are giving schools beef with pink slime and old chicken meat that fast food chains wouldn’t even serve. The meat that our children are eating is more likely to have E. Coli or salmonella. All the blame is being put on fast food chains for the unhealthy country we are becoming when in reality many school lunches are just as bad or worse for us than fast food. With all of this being said, fast food is having a huge impact on modern day schooling and our society in general. Schools are changing because now we have to make it part of the curriculum to teach children about healthy  eating and living, when in previous time periods that was the parent’s job. It has now become the school’s job because even the generation of parent’s isn’t living a healthy life. This can take away from teaching more important things to the curriculum such as math science and reading. Also, the schools can now be blamed for the rise in obesity because they are not always serving healthy foods, and they are allowing fast food chains into their cafeterias.

The Holocaust was the genocide and the cause of death for...

The Holocaust was the genocide and the cause of death for about 6 million Jews during World War II. The Holocaust affected many, including Gypsies, homosexuals, mentally and physically disabled, and anyone who did not fit the description of Hitler’s â€Å"master race†. Hitler was an anti-Semitist who believed in a superior race and killed many Jewish people by putting them in concentration camps. Adolf Hitler was born in Austria on April 20, 1889 to Alois Hitler and Klara Polzl. He was the 4th out of 6 children. As a child he often fought with his father, who did not approve of his interest in Fine Art. His father wanted to enter him in the Habsburg Civil Service. When his father died, his mother let him drop out of school and he moved to†¦show more content†¦For him, that was blonde haired, blue eyed and tall. He wanted to get rid of anybody that did not fit his criteria. He believed that they would rule the world for a thousand years. â€Å"The Aryan race is tall, long legged, slim. The race is narrow-faced, with a narrow forehead, a narrow high-built nose and a lower jaw and prominent chin, the skin is a rosy bright and the blood shines through †¦. The hair is smooth, straight or wavy-possibly curly in childhood. The colour is blond.†- ‘The Nazi Race’, 1929. The Hitler Youth was founded in 1926. It was for children ages 10-18. They were taught to hate Jews and to avoid any contact with them. The goal of girls in the Hitler Youth was to prepare women for motherhood and teach them how to raise children. They had to be able to run 60 meters in 14 seconds, throw a ball 12 meters, complete a 2 hour march, swim 100 meters and know how to make a bed. The goal for boys in the Hitler Youth was to prepare them for military service. Some activities included marching, bayonet drill, grenade throwing, trench digging, map reading, gas defense, use of dugouts, how to get under barbed wire and pistol shooting. They were taught to kill without remorse. 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