50 SHOTS INTO 50 COPS

It’s disaster as a future wife’s heart breaks
It’s not an abortion of justice just justice getting raped
Reality is Sean Bell was shot fifty times
Why can’t they serve time, sometimes I lose my mind
Blinded and tied good by evil, blame Adam and Eve
By any means, get even, with a mean thief
In the eve of his last night no justice or peace
Sadness tied with madness fills the bloody streets
Killed for nothing he didn’t have a gun
A good son gone but a revolution will come
Step one is to shoot until it stops
Shots fired fifty times into fifty cops
Let cop bodies drop, no exceptions kill the cop race
No respect filled with disgrace off an easy case based on race
But what comes around goes around, bloodhound
Let off a round cops have kids that become bullet bound
Never safe and sound, all they got was maternity leave
Feminist cops got to bleed so I heave
But first stop to grieve, confront the mother and wife of the seed

CREATIVE NON-FICTION

Creative nonfiction is a new style of writing which utilizes literary elements and poetic concepts to create an interesting story about an event, setting, or individual. This type of writing style is meant to show rather than tell. Creative Nonfiction is a combination of nonfiction fundamentals and literary fundamentals. It can we be presented in different traditions of writing. Even though the genre of creative nonfiction can be left to personal opinion it can include memoirs, journalism, criticism, documentaries, historical articles, and drama. It relies on literary realism through researched documents and captivated coverage. The language it is written in differs from other types of writing because it is more personal and informal. According to the father of creative nonfiction, Lee Gutkind, creative nonfiction’s poetic narrative techniques combine to make actual objects interesting to write about. Creative nonfiction can be defined as the use of literary elements when describing actual facts or events. It presents details that help the reader understand the main point and the facts come alive through literary elements. To me creative nonfiction is using personal experience and outside knowledge and incorporating it into pieces of writing that would otherwise be considered dry nonfiction. Creative nonfiction is an intriguing way of presenting gathered information or ideas to the reader. Writers have the opportunity to incorporate personal experiences with literary techniques to the produce an interesting and enjoyable literary piece. While creative nonfiction incorporates multiple characteristics of literature and non-fiction, there are many other several characteristics that describe creative nonfiction. It is a mixture of primary and secondary sources such as books, magazines, and newspapers use a creative nonfiction approach. For example, it is written with attention to literary style and technique in its presentation of accurate facts.
“All Around the Town” by Herbert Asbury and “The Curve of Binding Energy” by John McPhee are two examples of creative non- fiction. Creative nonfiction is depicted in these two works as the authors incorporate facts with creativity to make the story interesting. It allowed the writers to take factual events and place their personal creativity on the telling of the factual events. In “All Around the Town” Ashbury discusses the scandals, murders, and riots through creative literary means. In “The Curve of Binding Energy”, McPhee discusses the importance of safeguarding of nuclear materials through the characterization of Theodore Taylor’s life. McPhee’s research and McPhee’s experience with Taylor were combined in a literary way to present the threat of security to the information of nuclear materials. Both creative writers vividly describe nonfictional events in order for the reader to comprehend the material. This allows the reader to enjoy a horrendous read because of its creative tactics through the use of literary techniques. The authors enjoy taking factual events and exercising their creativity and opinions.
Both literary works include journalism and creative writing elements when composed. Creative writing allows the writer to include any information and exaggerate factual details where as journalism is based on stating factual research without the use of literary techniques. In both creative nonfiction works the authors present the lackluster factual events as pleasurable well written material. Currently the writing style and genre of today’s new writers is shifting towards creative nonfiction because it allows for freedom of ideas and unique individual style to develop. This is what makes creative nonfiction unique and isolates it from other forms of writing because it is not limited to a single structured from.

GIULIANI

With authoritative leadership and respect Mayor Rudolph Giuliani accomplished the most for New York. Giuliani has faced many challenges during his time but his hard work ethic allowed Giuliani to take action against these challenges. Giuliani started making changes from the beginning to the end of his mayoral campaign. He had increasingly raised employment, prevented crime, improved the economy, and made New York the safest city. During his eight years in office he accomplished the most for New York and led New York to a prosperous time.
When Giuliani began his time in office, he initiated a workfare program that enabled people that were on welfare to be self-sufficient and to work. The workfare was established because Giuliani as well as New York had more than a million New Yorkers on welfare. This program helped boost the economy and loosen the deficit the government faced. This first challenge was the first of many faced by Giuliani. Another challenge he faced was the significant crime problem. Giuliani adopted a crime prevention program, where he reduced murder and crime by half. He suppressed every form of disorder form graffiti to violence. He changed the mentality of New York by enabling the New York Police Department to use computer mapping he was able to find the exact locations with the highest violent crime rate. During his time in office the crime rate fell by fifty percent. Giuliani successfully was able to have a drop in the crime rate because he was able to change the New York economy. Income and land value rose throughout the city. Neighborhoods were made safe and better living conditions were restored. While Giuliani improved New York’s crime, employment, and crime he also improved the city’s budget. He was able to cut taxes to change the billion dollar budget deficit into a multi-billion dollar surplus. He is single-handily responsible for turning every challenge into a positive benefit.
Giuliani improved New York’s crime, employment, crime, improved the city’s budget. However, I believe Giuliani’s approach on crime even though it was a great tactic if he would have diminished the use of guns even if you have a gun license in New York. Also I believe he could have raised employment if he had built a new structure, tunnel, bridge, and/or road but other than those options Giuliani was the best mayor and had superb plans in making his mark and impacting the culture of New York. He will go down as the best mayor of New York.

GO DISCOVER NEW YORK!

Analytical Question: Analyze the social, political, and economic impact(s) of the Irish Immigration on New York.

Over the course of history, New York was known as the second home of many immigrants. Many immigrants come to New York to escape tyranny, hunger, disease, and oppression. For many New York was a place to begin a new life, it was a place of many different cultures and different religious beliefs. The Irish was one group of immigrants that have impacted New York’s history. They were one of the most significant groups that helped establish the culture of New York. The potato crop was the basis of agricultural and economic growth of the Irish. When the potato crop was struck by a disease (blight), so was the Irish nation. The infamous Irish potato famine wiped out more than two million Irish people. Scores of Irish people had traveled across the Atlantic Ocean in order to escape the pain and suffering the potato famine caused. As the Irish immigrants approached the shores of New York, they had faced many hardships, poverty, oppression, hatred, and abandonment of their beliefs. The Irish were strongly discriminated against because they were catholic and New York was dominantly a Protestant state. For many years they were just above free blacks on the social ladder. The Irish had worked laborious jobs that consisted of long hard hours and low pay. With the low pay that the Irish were receiving they had spent much of it to send for family or relatives to come. This was known as chain migration. During the civil war, a vast amount of Irish immigrants became involved in New York’s infamous Draft Riots. From their arrival in New York the Irish had competed with freed slaves for jobs and cheapest housing. After years of frustration and bottled-up emotions, the Irish finally erupted on the streets. Federal troops from Gettysburg had to be called in to stop the violence. The Irish immigrants harmed everyone and anything that wads in their way regardless if it was a black man or a rich man. Slowly throughout history the Irish began to make their way up the social ladder. After the Civil War, Irish immigrants provided the backbreaking work needed for the enormous expansion of rapidly industrializing America. Job opportunities were plenty during the building of the Erie Canal. Irish immigrants built new streets, sewerage, lighting, and transit systems, and residential, commercial, and public structures. However, wages were low, working conditions often dangerous, and work days long. Several Irish people began to establish themselves in politics and involved themselves in real estate. It was in the late 19th century, the Irish began to make their mark on New York. They soon became involved with Tammany Hall swaying the political votes and eventually became the model for every immigrant coming to New York.
The first large wave of immigrants came in the mid 19th century causing a huge revolutionary impact on New York’s political, social, and economic culture. As the numerous amounts of Irish began to arrive in the New York shores, they were quickly put at the bottom of society. However, many Irish people had come across fellow countrymen that guaranteed incoming Irish immigrants a place to live and security in return when it was time to vote the immigrants had to vote as they were told. In New York’s history there was one political machine that stood out and it was known as Tammany Hall. The infamous Tammany Hall helped the Irish rise to power. It was a powerful and corrupt organization that had traded jobs and favors for money and votes. As massive amounts of Irish immigrants unloaded onto the shores of New York competition grew for homes and jobs. This stimulated the creation of gangs in New York. Those that had struggled financially had eventually turned to crime with their own fellow countrymen. The Irish immigrants that turned to crime had formed the most dangerous gang of New York. Much of the Irish immigrants had lived in the slums of New York such as the five points. The five points was located in the lower part of New York that had connected five streets to form the most notorious gang violence. The five points area has produced a key members that was Irish such as Paul Kelly. Many of the immigrants that were packed into these tenements had died of violence, disease, hunger, and other insufficient living conditions. The five points was an area filled with sex, violence, crime, and garbage. Even though, the Irish immigrants took up many difficult and unskilled jobs that were available. While the women worked as cooks or maids to the prosperous families. Other women found an alternative way of earning money as they turned to prostitution. There was an intense rivalry that had taken place between the Irish and free blacks. The Irish were willing to do anything to maintain a job. They had worked long hours for very low pay. However, many were still without a job and this led to violent behavior to occur on the streets mainly in the “Five Points” area. Due to high rates of unemployment, a higher rate of alcohol was being consumed and crimes had increased because those that didn’t work had stayed outside all day and caused mischief. The Irish immigrants have found the easy way out and that way was through Tammany Hall. As large amounts of immigrants were now able to vote, they began to get very heavily involved in politics. Tammany Hall provided these immigrants with various opportunities. Tammany Hall did many things for the Irish immigrants. Tammany not only provided food, money, and a job but also a social benefit. It enabled all Irish immigrants a place of friendship for those that were unfamiliar with New York. Tammany Hall has helped the Irish rise to power. In the mid 1800’s, the incoming Irish immigrants had used violence to control the New York voting polls. In exchange for their vote they were given food and money to take care of themselves and their families. Tammany Hall had an Irish boss that played a significant in New York’s political and economical functioning. Boss William Tweed used the support and leverage of the Irish immigration to control business, government, and law enforcement. The Irish joined the Democratic Party that was Tammany Hall, established themselves into police precincts, city council, and eventually becoming political machines. They maintained long-time job security and stable paying job positions. Soon the government, police, and fire department were filled with Irish immigrants. Tammany had played in intricate role in the Democratic election of Al Smith. Out of Tammany Hall was a “grandson” of Irish immigrants who rose from the filthy tenements of the Lower East Side. Al Smith first emerged on to the scene as the governor of New York. Smith had lost the presidency election to Hoover but his hard work and determination led the way for many Irish immigrants in New York.
The impacts of the Irish immigrants are tremendous. They had made significant contributions to New York. They had established the identity of New York for years to come. The Irish began to make their mark on New York. They soon became involved with Tammany Hall swaying the political votes and eventually became the model for every immigrant coming to New York. As large amounts of immigrants were now able to vote, they began to get very heavily involved in politics. Tammany Hall provided these immigrants with various opportunities. The Irish set the precedent for many immigrants that came later on to follow.

Wikipedia Entry

After analyzing many aspects of the Wikipedia entry I have realized that the overall quality and usefulness of the entry was overall very helpful to my research project. The evidence provided in my entry is a timeline of the leaders and many pictures. It does include very scholarly sources in the bibliography and scholarly sources are also used in the citations. Most of the sources provided are reliable most are not scholarly and the information does differ from source to source. The entry does include detailed factual information and is supported by many citations. The entry does appear neutral but in one section of my entry the neutrality does seem to be disputed. The statement in the entry is not based on fact but rather opinion. The entry seems to very much compare with the materials read in class but not very much with my topic because the information presented seems to answer the factual questions but doesn’t provide much information to answer the analytical questions. Overall the entry is simplistic, it does appear logical, well-supported but not much of the topic was covered as a whole unit it was very wide-spread and not very narrowed in on one specific area.

Bibliography

· Glazier, Michael, ed. The Encyclopedia of the Irish in America (1999).

· Kenny, Kevin. The American Irish: A History (2000). New York: Longman.

· George W. Potter. (1960). To the Golden Door: The Story of the Irish in Ireland and America. New York: Greenwood Press.

· Anbinder, Tyler. Five Points: The Nineteenth-Century New York City Neighborhood (2001).

· Greeley, Andrew M. The Irish Americans: The Rise to Money and Power. (1993).

· Campbell Gibson, "The Contribution of Immigration to the Growth and Ethnic Diversity of the American Population", in: Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 136 (1992).

· Roger Daniels, Coming to America: A History of Immigration and Ethnicity in American Life, New York 1991

GROUNDWORK OF THE METAPHYSICS OF MORALS

In Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, Kant is instituting the supreme principles of morality. The groundwork for the metaphysics of morals is the foundation in which Kant attempts to prove such principles that morality exists. Morality is a principle that pertains to the behavior of rational beings. Kant believes this principle is knowledge of pure judgments about morality for which all ethics exist. The judgments about morality cannot be based on experience but instead they should be free of the realistic state. Our actions are derived from other universal principles.
Section 1 is entitled the Transition from the ordinary rational knowledge of Morality to the Philosophical. Kant intends to “proceed analytically from ordinary knowledge to a determination of the supreme principle.” When rationalizing the knowledge of morality we must analyze the subject in its original form but be also analyze the unseen principals to determine the supreme principle. Kant starts his argument that the only thing that qualifies as absolute moral virtue is “good will.” It is absolutely free in every aspect because no one knows what its effects are or accomplishments and we cannot reduce from its value. To Kant “good will” is discovering the principle of the virtuous person. To do this one must concentrate on the virtuous person’s actions. Kant knows there must be a type of motivation for the virtuous person to perform “good will” actions.
Kant identifies three types of motivation for the actions. The first of the motivations is duty; the action performed should be done only because it is morally right. Secondly, there is an immediate inclination because there is an enjoyment from performing the certain action. The last of the three types of motivation is the instrumental inclination, and this action is performed because there is some ultimate independent end. Ultimately, Kant determines the person who performs a “good will” action in respect to the moral law will have a unique moral worth.

In section two of Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Moral, Kant presents his theory of practical reasoning. He highlights part of the principles of practical reason are moral laws, “present the practical faculty of reason from its universal rules of determination to the point where the concept of duty springs from it.” Kant distinguishes the laws of practical reason as two separate imperatives. The hypothetical imperative demands performance of an action for an ultimate end. However, the categorical imperative unconditionally demands performance of an action for itself. There is a significant difference between the two types of imperatives. Hypothetical imperatives require following the laws of another for an ultimate end and categorical imperatives are independent of ultimate end.
Kant provides several different formulations in which the categorical imperative can be expressed. There are three important formulations: Formula of Humanity, Formula of the Kingdom of Ends, and the Formula of the Universal Law. The Formula of the Universal Law is the most important of the three formulations. It can be used to create a “contradiction test” for all possible maxims of actions. Kant states “Act only on that maxim through which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.” If a maxim does not pass the test then we are obligated to not act on this maxim. However if the maxim does pass the test then we are allowed to act on this maxim. In order to identify which actions are morally allowed Kant proposes a categorical imperative experiment. First the maxim of action should be formulated. The maxim is a combination of an action and a purpose for which that action is performed. Then a corresponding formula is formulated, the “law of nature” is used to simplify the individual maxim. Finally, after imagining a world in which this “law” will be insinuated, one must determine if one could will the action in this state.
Kant theorizes a contradiction of his formula would proceed. As a result of this contradiction, Kant demonstrates a false promise is morally impermissible but if the maxim does pass the categorical test then the action is morally permissible. He mentions two aspects of a contradiction: a contradiction in conception and a contradiction in the will. The maxims that cause the contradiction in conception demonstrate that we have perfect duties to ourselves and others. While those maxims that cause the contradiction in the will demonstrate we have imperfect duties to ourselves and others.
In section III of Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals Kant transitions from the Metaphysics of Morals to critiquing practical reason. Section III differs from sections I and II because Kant begins to show how moral law is applied to our everyday lives. Kant classifies freedom and necessity. According to Kant freedom of will and necessity are both used when performing an action based on practical reason “…freedom would be the property of this causality that makes it effective independent of any determination of alien causes...” He initiates his arguments as such there are two types of freedoms present, the negative freedom and positive freedom. The positive freedom is an uncaused cause whereas the negative freedom is believed to be by an alien cause. In order to be positively free the will must be governed by moral laws so for Kant “a free will and a will subject to moral laws are one and the same.” There is a rational correlation between freedom and morality. Kant states if we are rational human beings then we are compelled to act under the idea of freedom. Our actions are free and are not compelled by outside idea “…every rational being who has a will also the idea of freedom, under which only such a being can act…” When performing an act we must be negatively free because the negatively free will must lead to the positively free will, it sets up the premises for the act. If we are rational then we must have a will. Kant concludes that a rational will and a categorical imperative will are equivalent.So to help the common person differentiate between the two he develops two worlds. There is the rational world and the empirical world. The empirical world is the world of appearances where we follow the laws of nature for the outcome of our actions. The world of “as is” we view ourselves as subject to the laws which are based only on reason and are independent of nature.

UTILITARIANISM

In 1863, John Stuart Mill presented Utilitarianism, a sixty four page essay in which he argues utilitarianism as the solution to end the crisis moral thinking poses. He contends utilitarianism is unconditionally utilized when setting the moral standard on what are right and/or wrong. In his general remarks he establishes the framework for his arguments. Mill defines morality to be essential; morality can only be justified right or wrong based on the moral nature of the action. In his essay Mill aims to identify why people have not been able to come to a consensus in regards to the essential principle of morality. He begins to express the importance of the morality as a utilitarian concept. In chapter two Mill puts a label on utilitarianism. He presents utility as the existence of pleasure and the absence of pain which is significant because this foundation of morality is what every individual needs. I think he comments on philosophical theories proposed before his time as Mill mentions achieving happiness would not be moral by his standards. To a certain extent, morality is influenced by the individual’s idea of the greatest happiness. Mill continues to argue that utility is a foundational measurement therefore all actions should be justified according to a variety of the subject at hand.

In chapter three of Mill’s Utilitarianism we come across his ultimate line of reasoning. If society was to educate individuals to incorporate utilitarianism into their lives then the individuals and equally society would encourage social utility as a morally good sentiment. Similar to happiness, individuals must encourage natural utilitarian sentiments because it is important to developing a better human nature. Mill continues to mention one should be motivated in concurrence with the principle of utility. Individuals have a motive for their actions aside from the external and internal sanctions there is a “natural basis of sentiment for utilitarian morality." After reading chapter three I think I understand the point he is attempting to make but I struggle to understand the psychological basis Mill tries to make for living a utilitarian lifestyle.
Mill begins chapter four by arguing the basic motivation for every act formulates itself through one’s need to fulfill a desire. He uses the desire for happiness as an example because this desirable objective has an ultimate end. In order to proof utilitarianism he begins from the roots which stem from Aristotle. He associates virtuous acts with pleasure because if we are performing virtuous actions it will bring one pleasure. Mill distinguishes virtue as a contingent act separate of the concern for happiness and it should be desired as virtue itself and not virtue towards happiness.
However in chapter five, Mill addresses the opposing problems of utilitarianism. In his attempts to validate rights and justice he points out the requirements for justice are in evident indifference to happiness. Justice is independent of utility and is therefore is equally debated as the theory of utility. Justice is of the highest importance because it is the ultimate end for rules and laws. Any attempt to discard these rules and laws is harmful to a balanced state. Every person who wants happiness for society and himself is displaying the basic principles of utilitarianism. The individuals and equally society would encourage social utility as a morally good sentiment. Similar to happiness, individuals must encourage natural utilitarian sentiments because it is important to developing a better human nature. Therefore the duties one in society must be perfect duties for their sentiments and contributions to society are in favor of utilitarianism.

HUMAN LOVE

All appetitive acts toward the good originate with love. As the root of all appetitive acts love is the reason why things move at all. Every human being naturally loves itself. Let us first note that love tends toward an object for two reasons. One reason was for money and/or health. The second reason is the person loved is appreciated on account of his own intrinsic value. The intention of the lover is to posses the other for the sake of the lover himself. Lox and sex can be found in the same individual. Sexual activity may well be a culmination of human affection. While genuine love therefore altruistic, sexual attraction is egotistical, self-centered: the other is sought as a means to the pleasure of the subject. Love is not progressive but generous it is a giving not a receiving act. Love is impossible without respect for the other. It is a unique person who is loved and for his own intrinsic goodness without regard for anything else. Human love is specifically spiritual. Love implies an interaction of persons.
In the context of sex, the highest type of satisfaction ensues when the partners are truly in love with one another as persons. Sex is an expression of love. The lover genuinely cares for the beloved. There will be very little meaningful sex without love, and this is because love is the cause of those prerequisites for sex. Sex and love are harmonized as acts of a unified personality. Sexuality is not primarily genital: it involves warmth and tenderness. The intimacy is so interlocking that the beloved is truly “another self.” The human potential of sex actualized, it is the love that makes sex human. Love is interpersonal relationships constitute the essence of friendship. Friendship rather includes a reciprocal love. Friends will love one another: It is the nature of friendship not to be hidden. In erotic love the object is desired for the sake of the lover in a kind of self-centered way. With friendship the other is loved for himself.
In conclusion, love of oneself enables a subject to extend his love to others. True love of another supposes a love of oneself: the good which is valued within is found in another. The more you love the more you give. Love is a free giving of oneself that is the greatest gift anyone can give. Love seeks no recompense. Love then can exist only if it seeks no reward but once it exists it is rewarded. Love takes where knowledge leaves off. In love then some sort of union is required between lover and beloved. Love which is freely given must not only be accepted but also reciprocated. In the ecstasy of the love, the lover loses himself in his beloved only to find himself in that other, for a friend indeed is another self. Love is a binding force by which another is joined to me and cherished as myself.

THE NATURE OF THE INTELLECT

Humans possess intellectual knowledge and it is manifest that they have minds. However, it is not denied that man has a mind but the nature of the mind has been disputed. Consciousness and thoughts are products of the human brain the brain itself being a “product of nature.” Man possesses an immortal or spiritual power of cognition known as the intellect. All living beings are characterized by an intrinsic unity.
The intellect knows nothing, it is the man who knows, just as it is the man who walks and talks. This great capacity to utilize the symbolic power of words and images is the difference between man and animals. Since the human intellect is transcending the conditions of matter, communicates in a suprasentient way, it must itself be a spiritual power.
The human intellect is a spiritual power of cognition. The intellect is superior to the senses because symbolic language necessitates the suprasentient element of intelligibility. The intellect can know universally unlike the senses which report only individuals. The intellect can also know suprasensible realities: it can know something about god, the angels, and the soul. It can grasp such suprasensible notions as justice, honesty, truth, and the essence of things. The intellect can also know itself. Intellect is a spiritual power because thought is abstract, reflective, and can be universal. The intellect is a sense power. Ultimately, the relationship of the brain to the mind is to be considered that thinking itself is supramaterial. There is a twofold nature of man, his lower and his higher, his creatureliness and his god-likeness.

THE FUNCTION OF GROWTH

The total life span of human growth and development comes from conception through old age. In a woman the greatest amount of growth occurs during the first several weeks of pregnancy. This period is known as embryogenesis. After two weeks the embryo is elongated. At the top is what will become the head and at the bottom is a tail that will nourish it. At four weeks the embryo has arm buds and is distinctly curved, it also has the beginning of eyes. At five weeks the nose takes shape and at six weeks the leg buds are apparent. At seven weeks the embryo has clearly defined hands and can move them. At week eight the organs begin to be visible and the eye lenses are formed. At ten weeks the embryo is considered a fetus and still has a tail. At thirteen weeks it develops an umbilical cord and is three inches long. By fourteen weeks it can bring its hands together. The umbilical cord is the source of nutrient and air supply.
Reproduction is the driving force of growth. Growth aims at extending the organism. The cells increase through cell division. Growth is a self-perfective immanent act. There is no limit on how big an object can grow. Human growth is related to sex, as a person grows so does the sex. The sex develops through puberty. Usually through the forties the increase in weight stops. As for height the human stops growing between the ages of eighteen and thirty. Growth is an imminent act which perfects the organism.

THE NUTRITIVE FUNCTION

Nutritive function is a self-perfective immanent act. Although all human bodies are subject to destruction, animal’s bodies can preserve itself through the use of nutrition. As the cells breakdown the food it supplies energy for the body, beating of the heart, and breathing. Nutrition is the organism’s method for preserving integrity. Nutrition not only furnishes an organism with energy needed to sustain it in its incessant vital processes but it also supplies an organism with the basic materials which cells need for their own repair: cells are built out of food. Furthermore, nutrition implies the elimination of waste materials. If the cell wants to remain alive it has to constantly repair itself. Nutrition is the preservation of the organism as a vital act, therefore, nutrition is a self-perfective immanent act.

NATURE OF LIFE

For anything that moves is alive and anything that does not move is lifeless. Living beings perform such acts as nutrition and growth. These are the fundamental activities of metabolism, growth, irritability, reproduction, heredity are found in the simplest unicellular organism to the more complex organisms. These activities are called vital acts. Vital acts proceed from the nature of an organic being. The philosopher seeks the causes or principles of vital acts. They are to find the essence of life and to reach the definition of life. Essences are not empirical; we must first find what a thing is by observing what a thing does. An organism is alive by its activities: yet an organism is not alive because it performs vital acts. However it only performs vital acts because it is alive. Vital functions are natural, it follows that vital acts begin and end within the human. The vital activity is also the immanent activity. An immanent act is different from a transient act. A transient act is one that begins in the agent and ends in the patient. However some acts which begin and end in the same being but are not immanent acts. A vital act is not just immanent: it is an act which is properly essentially but a vital act is one which by its very nature must begin and end in the same agent.
Vital acts perfect the organism. It is the completion of a being according to the capacity of its nature. Life is somehow manifested to us through motion through immanent activity which characterizes life. Such acts as nutrition, growth, reproduction pertain to the organism. Its life is due to its substantial form and this form is defined by Aristotle is its first act or soul. The soul is an intrinsic or constitutive principle of a living being is that which renders a living being essentially superior to nonliving ones. People differ from one another in a many ways. For example interests, abilities, motivations, personality, education, skills, and hobbies. There are many vital acts which a person is not always performing. Any normal person when not performing those acts still retains the powers to perform them. In fact, a person still retains his capacity even though he never actuates it. Men are capable of executing the nutritive function. A man performs only those acts which he has the power to perform. One substance can perform many acts simply because it has diverse powers to perform these acts. However although all powers are rooted in the soul as their subject no power can act without the body. The importance of attributing all vital activities to the psychosomatic composite thereby preserving its intrinsic unity. A living being performs distinct types of activity. It is endowed with powers distinct from its substance.
Even though all material objects are different they are all seen through only one power of sight. Material objects are formal objects that serve as the criteria for distinguishing powers. Knowledge of nutrition, growth, and reproduction will be applicable to the those organisms which perform these acts for all living things have to a greater or lesser extent. The properties of specific size, shape, metabolism, movement, irritability, growth, reproduction, and adaption. This approach moreover will be in keeping with our methodology of proceeding from the more universal to the less universal and vegetative functions are more universal than acts of intellect and will. In the sense that more things perform vegetative than distinctively human acts.

PHILOSOPHICAL ANTHROPOLOGY

Aristotle had maintained that it was the office of the wise man to possess a universal science of all being. Alfred North Whitehead also agrees observed that philosophy should rather study the totality. In this endeavor, we must investigate man as we find him in his concrete, existential world, not in an abstract one devoid of human significance. Philosophical anthropology is the attempt that seeks to unify the several investigations and explorations of humans in an effort to understand human behavior as both creatures of their environment and creators of their own values. Aristotle is known for his highly developed philosophical anthropology which defines the human being not so much as a "rational animal" but essentially as a loving being.
Philosophical anthropology is the study of human nature conducted by the methods of philosophy. It is concerned with questions such as the status of human beings in the universe, the purpose or meaning of human life, and whether humanity can be made an object of systematic study. For the world of nature is richer than any scientific doctrine reveals; and what it omits may be more important than what it encompasses. Sophocles had written that “Miracles in the world are many; there is no greater miracle than man.”
The overall agreement by all types of philosophers is the “riddle of life”. Not everybody will understand the same thing. We all however, desire to know how life originates and what death is, since our ethics must be influenced to a large extent through the answer to this question.” No one can deny the fact that man is a creature that goes for entertaining ethical beliefs, is one of the most important characteristics. For vitalism, by insisting on a spiritual principal of human life, enables the psychologist to see the relationship of man to the author of all life. On the other hand, a different and nonvitalistic interpretation of human nature is offered by mechanists.
The interpretation is they insist that there is no essential difference between man and the rest of nature. Existentialism is a philosophical movement which claims that individual human beings create the meanings of their own lives. The movement had its origins in the 19th century thought of Kierkegaard, Nietzsche and Sartre. A central proposition of existentialism is a human being's existence proceeds and is more fundamental than any meaning which may be ascribed to human life: humans define their own reality. The central project of philosophy was to answer the question "What is a human being?" and to derive from that answer one's conclusions about how human beings should behave. "If man, as the existentialist conceives him, is indefinable, it is because at first he is nothing. Only afterward will he be something, and he himself will have made what he will be". Sartre opposed those whose evolutionary theories which endeavor to explain the higher (man) through the lower (brute animals). He believed it was because if this was to be true it is unable to offer any explanation of rational behavior, so he rejected it.
Some existentialists, conceive the fundamental existentialist question as man's relationship to God; some accept Nietzsche's proclamation that "God is dead;" they do not believe that God exists. He professed that man in the nineteenth century is the future of man. Dostoievski, a Russian biologist stated that “If god didn’t exist, everything would be possible.” Belief in God is a personal choice made on the basis of a passion, of faith, an observation, or experience. Beliefs could be explained as arising in an attempt to deal with experienced frustrations by denying them in thought. Beliefs would be a insecure method of coping with the limited range of our perception, a method by which our imperfect brains cope with the world. This is the very starting point of existentialism. One fact that Nietzsche and Sartre embraced is that values without god are impossible. It is the spiritual aspect of human nature that we must manage not to discover, but also to preserve.
Finding a way to counter this nothingness, by embracing existence, is the fundamental theme of existentialism, and the root of the philosophy's name. Someone who believes in reality might be called a "realist," and someone who believes in a deity could identify as a "theist." Someone who believes fundamentally only in existence, and seeks to find meaning in his or her life solely by embracing existence, is an existentialist. This is one of the important philosophical ideas mentioned in the chapter.
That is, they argue against definitions of human beings as primarily rational. Rather, existentialists look at where people find meaning. Existentialism asserts that people actually make decisions based on what has meaning to them rather than what is rational.
Philosophical anthropology claims to study the human mind as a derivative phenomenon, to study it from a God-like perspective. The philosophical anthropology thus consists of beliefs which are subject to the same objections as any other beliefs. The views one holds on the nature of man directly or indirectly affect one’s political, social, religious, economic, and educational views. Thus, we see the diverse interpretations of the meaning of man.

Man: Computer, Ape, or Angel? (1-3)

Philosophy is a study that has no obvious answers to the questions posed, since there are no obvious or clear answers to the questions then the questions are naturally undisputed and true. Philosophy is rather the study of the questions themselves. Things that are clear and obvious are not questions that have to be philosophical dissected they are self-evident. Philosophy clearly shows that there have been numerous and diverse interpretations of philosophical issues, it would nevertheless appear that all philosophies of man, however are at war with one another, are philosophies.
Chapter one simply is an introduction to the character of philosophy. For instance, Azar breaks down philosophy as the love of wisdom. Wisdom here becomes knowledge of things through their highest causes. Philosophy here becomes a type of wonder or superior curiosity whereby we seek to penetrate to the very roots of things: and hence a philosopher, or a lover of wisdom, is one who seeks the highest or most ultimate causes of things. Mystery is all about us, the inconceivable permeates us, and it is closer than breathing and nearer than hands and feet. Mysticism is any science that scientists do not understand. The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common. However much of what we may understand is certain aspects of the world, the fact of existence as we know it in our experience is essentially a mystery. There is a mystery that arises from the attempt to face up to reality of our very existence as conscious beings. It is not mysterious that the human zygote, working in the dark and without experience, is unable to produce 206 bones and 639 muscles, or that the human body’s thirty trillion cells are intended to perform approximately 10,000 chemical functions.
Philosophy is the knowledge of things through their ultimate principles or causes, insofar as this is stainable through our natural powers. By maintaining that philosophy is a search for ultimates, means that the object of philosophy is irreducible. An ultimate explanation is consequently basic or primary: it presupposes no other explanation, whereas other explanations presuppose it. The difference between a proximate and an ultimate explanation is exemplified in the tale about an Indian who, when asked, “What holds up the earth?” answered, “A huge elephant.” Asked what holds up the elephant, he replied, “A tremendous turtle.” And to the query “What supports the turtle?” came the response. “Something; I know not what.” A philosopher, then, is not one who cultivates his mind in such a way as to look for ultimates, and not to be content with such a mentality as characterizes the Indian in the foregoing illustration. The preceding citations indicate one further difference between science and philosophy, whereas each science cuts off a portion of reality and ignores the remainder. Philosophy reverses the direction and seeks the total picture, a worldview. Scientific knowledge is abstract, for to abstract is to consider one aspect of a thing while ignoring its other aspects. Proximate sciences cannot exist without abstraction although abstraction is necessary it may incline a scientist to confuse his abstraction with complete reality. The preceding exposition should at least indicate the important relationship between philosophy and the other sciences. The view Azar is proposing is this, which whereas the natural or physical sciences are restricted to this area of the proximate, philosophy is a search for ultimates. This distinction between philosophy and the natural sciences should not incline us to infer that philosophy is antiscientific or even unscientific. Philosophy is considered a science, to know why a true statement is true is to know it could not be otherwise for this reason, scientific knowledge is said to be characterized by necessity. In asserting that science is the knowledge of the reasoned fact, we are stating that the scientists start with the knowledge of something and proceeds there from to its causal explanation. The mind is proceeding from knowledge to science, not from ignorance to knowledge or from what is better known to what is lesser known.
So far we have learned the nature of philosophy; we have already seen that biology is distinguished from philosophy as the proximate is differentiated from the ultimate. In Azar’s chapter two, Lines of Demarcation, there are distinct lines that separate the types of psychologies and the difference between a psychologist and a philosopher. Psychologists have also been philosophers: inasmuch as psychology means the study or science of the soul, then it follows that anyone studying the soul would be a psychologist, and since the soul is an ultimate notion, it should properly be studied by the philosopher, however, a philosopher claims to be investigating the soul. Living beings are investigated in what is called experimental psychology. The fact that it is impossible for us to comprehend the cognitive and affective experiences unless we know what love or pain is from our own experiences. Again if a human has not known from their own experience what fear or pleasure means, they could never recognize these in a cat. It is through human beings own subjective experiences, then, that they come to know the feeling of emotion. Humans as well as psychologists cannot discuss psychological behavior without subjective experience. This is how psychology differs from most sciences. This subjective method whereby the fundamentals of human life are obtained is called introspection. Humans are certain that they have a life-giving principle so it is therefore internal experience which affords us with the certitude that a soul exists and from the primary experience of ourselves as alive, we attribute life to other things that act as some how as we do. Many psychologists maintained that the only proper method for the psychologist was the experimental method.
Behavior can be described and explained without making reference to mental events or to internal psychological processes. The sources of behavior are external (in the environment), not internal (in the mind). Behaviorism is a doctrine, or a set of doctrines, about human and nonhuman animal behavior. An important component of many psychological theories in the late nineteenth century were introspection, the study of the mind by analysis of one's own thought processes. It was in reaction to this trend that behaviorism arose, claiming that the causes of behavior need not be sought in the depths of the mind but could be observed in the immediate environment, in stimuli that elicited, reinforced, and punished certain responses. The explanation, in other words, lay in learning, the process whereby behavior changes in response to the environment. It wasn’t until the twentieth century that the scientist began to uncover the actual mechanism of learning, thereby laying the theoretical foundation for behaviorism. The contributions of four particular scientists are Ivan Pavlov, John Watson, and B.F. Skinner.
Azar’s chapter three sets the building blocks on which all psychology is based upon by introducing significant contributors such as Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Adler and Sagan. Plato was one of whose fundamental problems centered about the nature of the soul. The soul is an intermediary between the worlds of matter and forms: it pre-existed, was produced by god and is immortal. For Plato moreover, the soul is the principle of life; it is a principle where everything is alive. The body which is moved from without is soulless: but that which is moved from within has a soul, for such is the nature of the soul. Aristotle believed that to fully be a man, one must try to be like the gods, or immortalize them. This will free one from the restrictions of mortal thought. Descartes realized that he could, in fact, doubt absolutely everything, save one indubitable truth: I think, therefore I am. The self that doubts its own existence must exist to be able to doubt, moreover, a self that doubts must not only exist, but must exist rationally. Descartes, armed with his clear and distinct test discovers that he has certain knowledge that God exists. The idea of God must come from a reality that is at least as perfect as the idea. I exist as a thing that has an idea of God. Everything that exists has a cause that brought it into existence and that sustains it in existence. The only thing adequate to cause and sustain me, a thing that has an idea of God, is God. Therefore God exists A thing needs a cause to be sustained God is invoked by Descartes as the cause of him. My conception of God is the conception of a being that posses all perfections. If God is supreme good, he/she is incapable of deceit. If God is incapable of deceit, the reality of the world can be accepted because God would not have us perceive a world that did not, in fact, exist.
To conclude the issue is not weather or not to have a philosophy of psychology, but weather to have one that is conscious or unconscious. Psychology is, by its nature, forever dependent on philosophy: it is indeed a science dealing with the facts, but it is on the other the other hand so close to metaphysics that without clear ideas on the problems of philosophical anthropology it becomes the victim of the worst confusion and gets lost in the most amazing errors.

IMMIGRATION VS. THE ERIE CANAL

In the 1800’s, the Erie Canal had defined the identity of New York. As a consultant for a debating team, I will state the topic of debate and it follows as such, “Which was more important in defining New York’s identity by 1850 – Irish and German immigration, or the Erie Canal?” Now I will take the time to present both sides of the topics. One side of the argumentation for debate purposes is side A, during this prosperous time period immigrants from diverse backgrounds, the Irish and German immigrants, came in waves to escape the struggles of in their lives. The waves of immigrants hit the shores of New York, where most immigrants had wanted to build a new way of life to obtain religious freedom, equality, and liberty and so as a result established the identity of New York. Side B presents a different outlook to define New York’s identity by 1850. Side B believes the identity of this stretch is the Erie Canal. In the 1800’s, the Erie Canal was built for easy access to other waterways and it was a vital element in New York’s economic growth and development.
Side A, states the importance in defining New York’s identity by 1850’s is the large amounts of immigrants that came into America. The growth and incoming of immigrants established an identity that helped shape America into its present society. Throughout the mid-nineteen century, unskilled Irish and German immigrants came to America in search of opportunity and a new life. It was the immigrant way of life and ideas that shaped the Identity of New York. For Example, as taxes got higher and social, political, and economic conditions got worse, Irish and German immigrants came to New York to change those ways and wanted never to repeat these situations. So in response immigrants took the jobs where the work was intense and the wages were poor. Immigrants are hard working, law abiding, and the fuel of New York’s economically society. The Irish and German immigrants played a major role in the building of the Erie Canal. Irish and German merchants, farmers, and tradesmen began to grow and they had established new roads, waterways, and canals. Immigrants contributed greatly to changes to transportation and industry. For had it not been for the immigrants working for cheap labor, the most wealthy attributes to New York’s history, the Erie Canal would not have been built. It was the immigrants that had worked hard to establish a rich wealthy life it was the drive of having to gain political freedom, employment, religious freedom, housing, new farmland, and genocide escapement. Immigration is the backbone of New York’s growth and a key component in the building of the Erie Canal. Immigrants had a tremendous influence in New York’s devolvement as they came in millions to benefit themselves as well as New York. Immigrants have built the longest canal in time for the least amount of money, and to the greatest public benefit. It was on the backs of the immigrants that the identity of New York was defined to be a state of immigrants in comparison to a “melting pot”. Irish and German immigrants led to the development of New York’s identity. The economic value of the canal is immeasurable, but one must not forget the hard working immigrants that came to the nation extending beyond its significance to New York.
On the other hand, Side B, argues the most important in defining New York’s identity by 1850 was the Erie Canal. The Erie Canal had a huge impact on the everyday life and the identity of New York. It served as a precedent upon which all other building was modeled after. The Erie Canal helped speed up the production and transportation of goods. The development of the identity of New York that exists today is because of the construction of the Erie Canal. The Erie Canal has not only economically influenced the identity of New York but as well as socially. The Erie Canal upheld nationalism and acknowledged its value to New York. The Erie Canal emerged into bringing business production, increasing trade, and raising agriculture. The Erie Canal helped New York develop indentify itself as a dominant commercial center. The canal brought products faster and provided fertile land market for its produce. The Erie Canal allowed for an opportunity to make more money. The use of the canal allowed shipping costs to be decreased. For example, from Albany were now ten dollars a ton as opposed to before the canal it was one hundred dollars a ton. The canal increased land value, allowed for building of towns, rich agriculture, and faster transportation of products. The canal also played a major role in establishing New York as the main port of economic prosperity. The canal exported natural resources and imported manufactured products up to seventy-five percent higher and allowed for an economic explosion. The canal not only accommodated the process of products and goods exported/imported but also allowed for more job opportunities by the Irish and German immigrants. It attracted workers, businessmen, and farmers. The New York’s population and New York’s economic status had quadrupled during the 1850’s.
Overall, to answer the topic question “Which was more important in defining New York’s identity by 1850 – Irish and German immigration, or the Erie Canal?” the only difference between the identity of the Irish and German immigrants and the Erie Canal is the canal’s economic and social impact in understanding the identity of New York by 1850 would be realized immediately while the identity of New York under the Irish and German immigrants the effect is quite time efficient and not so immediate. Although, as a consultant for a debate team, both the Irish and German immigrants and the Erie Canal had each in his own way played vital roles in identifying the identity of New York in 1850.

MIRACLE OF LIFE

The miracle of life is a process of human reproduction. Four and half billion years ago the young plant earth was a mass of cosmic dust and particles. It was almost completely engulfed by the shallow primordial seas. Powerful winds gathered random molecules form the atmosphere. Some were deposited in the seas, tides and currents swept the molecules together, and somewhere in this ancient ocean the miracle of life began. The first organism of primitive life was the protozoa. Millions of protozoa populated the ancient seas. These early organisms were completely self-sufficient. They moved about their aquatic environment feeding on bacteria and other organisms. They are covered with a hundred little hairs called cilia. From these one cell organism evolved all life on earth and the foundation of life, the cell. The cell has endured unchanged since the first time the organisms swam in the cradle of life, the sea. Every living being is made up of cells, the basic units of life on earth. All cells reproduce themselves by dividing themselves into two identical cells. There now becomes two cells exactly like the parent. In the cell’s nucleus is a strong substance known as DNA. The DNA is contained in forty-six chromosomes in every cell of the human body. Each chromosome is in turn made up of thousands of genes, discrete segments of DNA which lie along the chromosome. Penetrating even deeper into the structure of the chromosome there are DNA molecules themselves. The DNA contains all the genetic information of the cell. DNA is the only living substance capable of reproducing itself exactly. Without DNA duplication and therefore life itself is not possible. All DNA and all living organisms are chemically identically but its arrangement in genes and chromosomes determine what the cell will become. For example tiny primitive organism, the protozoa to the massive complex mammal like the elephant, a palm tree swaying in the breeze, or even a human being. The actual conception and growth of a new human being is a wondrous and complex process. Each beginning lies deep inside the mother’s body called the ovaries. Each ovary contains a quarter of a million egg cells which reach full development even before the woman herself was born. The eggs each contain twenty-three chromosomes, the mother’s genetic contribution to her future offspring. During each menstrual cycle, the ovaries produce hormones which stimulate the growth of a single one of the eggs. At the midpoint of her cycle, the follicle which encloses the egg in its protective layers ruptures. This is ovulation, the egg travels through the fallopian tube which connects the ovary and the uterus or womb. In the tube the egg waits for sperm form the father to fertilize it. The fertilized egg now with genetic material from both the parents’ moves through the tube where it attaches itself to the nutrient rich lining. Here the ovary itself becomes mature and it becomes surrounded by its nutritive layers. When it is fully developed the follicle which encloses the egg will swell with liquid fluid. Inside the follicle the egg and its nutritive layers floats in the water of life which has the same salt content as the sea. The swollen follicle is then gently brushed by the swaying outer most fridges of the fallopian tube. These fringes are activated by the hormones just before ovulation. They sweep over the seas of the ovary looking for the newly released egg. As ovulation nears the fringes become filled with blood. The follicle bursts and the liquid fluid pours out of the follicle concealed somewhere within it is the egg. The fringes search for the newly released egg and it lies surrounded by a cloud of its own nutritive cells. It is only the size of a grain of sand. The egg is drawn into the fallopian tube; deep inside the egg is the nucleus of new life itself. The mouth of the fallopian tube and its imperceptible muscle contractions move the egg along towards the uterus. The egg then reaches the interior of the tube itself, these many fold of tissue are lined with tiny cilia which maintain a constant gentle motion that draws the egg along its length. The inside of the tube is actually only the thickness of a human hair. It takes the eggs three to four days just to travel five inches. The translucent egg lies deep in the muscle fold in the fallopian tube. The cilia lines the tube gently moving the egg along they are exactly just like cilia of the primitive protozoa. The egg and the sperm must join together within twenty-four hours of leaving the ovary for conception to take place. If no sperm are present the egg disintegrates and the same cycle continues the following month and the same cycle will continue throughout the woman’s child bearing years. This remarkable cycle is made possible by complex molecules; the sex hormones. Hormones control a women’s entire reproductive cycle. Hormones control a men’s reproductive ability as well. Only seven weeks after conception the fetal system is permanently synthesized to the male or female by the sex hormones. One fetus will develop ovaries and its brain will be programmed to release hormones in cycles, it is female. Another fetus will develop testicles and its brain will programmed to release constant levels of sex hormones. Seventy-seven million human beings have lived on this planet and every year one hundred and twenty-eight million are born. After having talked about the females reproductive and genetic contributions I will now talk about the man’s reproductive and genetic contribution. During a man’s life time the testicles produce billions of sperm. The prostate gland releases an alkaline fluid to protect the sperm. During ejaculation the sperm goes through a tube in the body cavity and as they approach the vesicles the prostate gland releases the fluid in combination with the sperm. The blended semen then continues out of the man’s body through the urethra in the penis. During sexual arousal the valve in the bladder stops urine form entering the urethra. Near the bladder the urethra passes through the prostate gland. The walls of the prostate squeeze out prostate fluid when sperm passes through the urethra, it is about a size of a gulf ball but acts as a sponge. Inside it is filled with a small cavity that produces the fluid. Unlike the ovaries in the female counterpart the testicles lie outside of the body cavity. The testicles are made up of tightly coiled tubules which have a total length of seven hundred feet. In the tubules, sperm is produced at an extraordinary rate of one million every twenty four hours. In the tissue between the tubules, the sex hormone testosterone is produced. The testicles are the essential male organs of reproduction. They function well only under very specific conditions. One of these specific conditions is temperature. Sperm is produced below normal body temperature. The scrotum keeps the testicles away from the body’s heat. At the center of the tubule lies the transport canal which carries mature sperm away for storage. Smaller compartments produce many new immature sperm every thirty-six hours. When they become more mature they move closer to the center of the canal. The average man produces over four hundred billion sperm in his life time. They are tightly packed within the tubule. Their hands and tails intertwine. Inside the developing sperm heads the normal body cells forty-sixty chromosomes have been reduced to twenty-three chromosomes but this reduction of chromosomes is so essential to the future of reproduction of species puts the sperm in more danger. The sperm are defended by the nurse cell. They form special protective barriers around the mature sperm cells. Each nurse cell cares for many sperm cells at a time. The nurse cells are connected to one hundred and fifty cells through the tendrils. The tendrils enable the nurse cells to feed and protect the maturing sperm cell and to move them closer to the transport canal. During its development it lays in passivity and protected by the nurse cell. When mature it is transported by the nurse cell to the transport canal. Millions of sperm are densely packed in these tubules which if stretched out are fifteen to twenty feet long. The mature sperm will pass out of the man’s body through ejaculation or they will eventually die and will be reabsorbed. These sperm carry the man’s genetic material and are fully mature but not yet they are not yet able to fertilize a woman’s egg. They do not attain that ability until they are up inside the woman’s body. The sperm during this time they develop the ability to swim. A sperm propels itself through means of a tail known as the flagella which lashes vigorously from side to side. This single activity has only one purpose and that is to deliver the genetic material from the sperms head quickly and preciously to the woman’s egg. On the tip of the sperm’s head are layers of enzymes, and enzyme inhibitors. The enzyme inhibitors will be saved for later as they are about to penetrate the woman’s egg. The propulsion of the sperm is actually made up of tiny thin strands of filaments. About twenty percent of the man’s sperm is deformed or imperfect. One reason man produces so many sperm is because so many things can go wrong with the sperm. Some have two or three tails, some are attacked by bacteria, and some have tails that are detached from the head. Most of the deformities can occur from a slight change in temperature of the testicles. Overcrowding, stress, smoking, chemical population of air and water, occupational hazards, radiation, and poor nutrition are all part of modern life. Even modern clothing may affect sperm production, for example, tight blue jeans may hold the testicles up closer to the body which can raise the temperature those few critical degrees which can affect sperm.
Despite these obstacles human beings have been successfully reproducing for many millions of years. Since the first organisms swam in the sea, the cycle of life has been continuous fueled by the need and the drive to reproduce. Among human beings that drive is intimately linked with attraction and desire. Affection and romantic love may initiate the dance of courtship which may lead to conception. Sexuality, affection, and tenderness are all the complex rituals of mating but desire and physical love posses a silent language on their own that signal partners’ readiness to each other. The eyes are part of that silent language; visual impressions stimulate and excite special nerve cells in the sexual areas throughout the body. The skin is also part of that silent language it is extremely sensitive and responsive to the touch. It contains millions of sensory receptors which when stimulated direct messages of sexual arousal to the brain. Many of these are concentrated in the bodies most responsive zones known as the erogenous areas. The man’s penis is densely packed with sensory receptors. They relay messages of sexual stimulation to the brain which triggers the sequence of complex events leading up to ejaculation. The length of the penis is made up of many small cavities known as erectile tissue. When a man is sexual aroused the signals from the brain cause these erectile tissues to be gorged with blood. The sudden flow of blood in the penis raises its temperature. The man’s blood pressure, heart beat, and respiration increase and the blood causes the man’s penis to be erect and fully elongated so sperm can be easily delivered to the woman’s egg. As sexual arousal reaches its peak the entire male system must function properly for ejaculation to take place. As semen enters the woman’s body it immediately slows down. The environment in the vagina is extremely acidic it protects the woman from bacteria and infections but it is extremely inhospitable. Nearly one quarter of the sperm will die immediately. The surviving sperm become extremely active and begin to rapidly swim upwards towards the downward current. The sperm’s activity has one goal and that is to find and fertilize the egg. The sperm release their digestive enzymes to be able to reach the egg but in the end only one will be able to fertilize the egg. As soon as one sperm fertilizes the egg, the egg then becomes impermeable and rejects all other sperm. The genetic material of the mother’s egg and the father’s sperm combine. When cell division is in the form of mitosis it is usually associated with cell growth, nourishment, and reproduction. The process of human reproduction involves the duplication of the DNA and the splitting of the nucleus. Mitosis is a type of cell division that produces two genetically identical cells from a single cell. Mitosis is basically a process that a cell goes through to form two new nuclei, with each nuclei containing the same number of chromosomes. Mitosis is used by many unicellular eukaryotic organisms for reproduction. Multicellular organisms use mitosis for growth, nourishment, and reproduction. It is when two cells have joined to form a new cell and within twenty-four hours the cell begins to divide. Once the cell begins to divide it is known as a zygote. As the zygote divides it moves towards the uterus. Within ten days of fertilization the zygote firmly implants itself in the lining of the uterus. The coming of the two parent cells give rise to a unicellular zygote, through cellular division and cell growth, this process is completed to perfection every time with every rarely a mistake or imperfection. Although embryonic development takes approximately nine months, the greatest amount of cellular growth takes place during the first several weeks of pregnancy. This period is known as embryogenesis. After two weeks the embryo is elongated. At the top is what will become the head and at the bottom is a tail that will nourish it. At four weeks the embryo has arm buds and is distinctly curved, it also has the beginning of eyes. At five weeks the nose takes shape and at six weeks the leg buds are apparent. At seven weeks the embryo has clearly defined hands and can move them. At week eight the organs begin to be visible and the eye lenses are formed. At ten weeks the embryo is considered a fetus and still has a tail. At thirteen weeks it develops an umbilical cord and is three inches long. By fourteen weeks it can bring its hands together. The umbilical cord is the source of nutrient and air supply. They always say the greatest miracle in life is life itself and this holds true as reproduction is the driving force of growth so it is after nine months a beautiful child is born and this is the miracle of life.
In conclusion, the cell has endured unchanged since the first time the organisms swam in the cradle of life, the sea. Every living being is made up of cells, the basic units of life on earth. All cells reproduce themselves by dividing themselves into two identical cells. There now becomes two cells exactly like the parent. In the cell’s nucleus is a strong substance known as DNA. The DNA is contained in forty-six chromosomes in every cell of the human body. Each chromosome is in turn made up of thousands of genes, discrete segments of DNA which lie along the chromosome. Penetrating even deeper into the structure of the chromosome there are DNA molecules themselves. The DNA contains all the genetic information of the cell. DNA is the only living substance capable of reproducing itself exactly. Without DNA duplication and therefore life itself is not possible. All DNA and all living organisms are chemically identically but its arrangement in genes and chromosomes determine what the cell will become and this is the miracle of life.

PROPOSAL

My proposal is too find an alternate method to produce electricity. The alternate method will allow for electricity to be cost efficient and environmentally safe. In modern day society, electricity is generated when water is heated turned to steam and directed to turbines. The fuel that is used in today’s society is the radioactive element uranium-235. When it absorbs an extra neutron it splits into fissure and releases energy. When this process is repeated it then continuously produces steam. Unfortunately this fuel is a toxic material that is also the basis of nuclear weaponry.
The use of nuclear power leads to nuclear power and the construction of nuclear weapons has been widespread across the world. It has become very expensive for the government’s needed high safety standards. My alternate method to produce electricity is to use the remaining uranium materials instead of burning fossil fuels as the government does today. It then becomes cheaper because they are using used uranium materials to produce the same amount of electricity. The government views the electricity produced from nuclear energy cheaper but when one includes research, plant construction, and safety standards it becomes an expensive energy source. The use of nuclear energy to produce electricity is not only expensive but also dangerous due to the radioactive waste produced by the nuclear plants. There is no answer by the government in regards to the radioactive waste. It wouldn’t be a good idea to build more nuclear power plants instead it would be better if the government used renewable uranium materials and increased energy efficiency.
By using this alternate method to produce electricity it will no longer be necessary to use nuclear fusion for power. Using renewable uranium materials and increased energy efficiency is the answer to a safer, clean, and cheaper energy production. It won’t produce radioactive waste and won’t have problems for a long period of time. Unlike today’s government which must be maintained for a long period of time to produce electricity and still has negative effects like harmful radioactive wastes and nuclear safety concerns.

Bibliography
Raymond, David (April 7, 2006). Nuclear Binding Energies. New Mexico Tech. Retrieved on 2007-01-03.
http://www.lbl.gov/abc/wallchart/chapters/14/1.html
www.climatetechnology.gov/library/2003/tech-options/tech-options-2-2-1.pdf

PUBLIC SPEAKING

Public Speaking is a required course designed to introduce students to the basic elements of public speaking, both in terms of intellectual theory and practical experience, but for me that was not the case. Quite often I loathed the idea of public speaking. I would get knots in my stomach and would wonder what everyone was thinking about as I would give a speech. However, after taking the public speaking course I have become much more confident and fully aware of the tactics that can enable me to be a better public speaker. I figured out the reason for my problem was I didn’t understand the public speaking system and I was too worried about the audiences’ opinion. As the course progressed, so did my confidence level. I was much more comfortable and very well adapted to my audience and class requirements.
I am now a more confident, positive, and relaxed when it comes to public speaking. I learned ways that can help make my speech more interesting. I developed great skills that make audiences pay better attention to me. My first speech was the informative speech; I was to inform my audience about the history, types, and behaviors of gangs so gang violence can be overcome. I was very nervous because it was my first time delivering a speech in front of an audience and I didn’t want to mess up my opportunity. As I moved through the speech I realized that using body language can help me overcome my nervousness and deliver a good speech. I also began to see that body language makes for an interesting speech. Eye-contact also played a large role in my presentation. The audience paid better attention to me if I looked at them while I spoke. I often used hand gestures I would move my hands sometimes, but not always to cause natural speaking. Using body language can help you overcome your nervousness and deliver a better speech.
My second speech was the persuasive speech; I wanted to persuade my audience that educational reform is needed. I decided to be very energetic and relate my speech towards personal experiences. I opened my speech with a dramatic beginning and ended with a strong impression on the audience. I told my audience “that we need less schools and better teachers” and the audience loved it and even found it funny. After my first speech I wasn’t nervous or scared to go up to the podium and speak but I was very nervous when I was required to give a ceremonious speech. It was a hard topic because not only did I have to give information but also be somewhat persuasive. It was also hard because I did a tribute speech to Gandhi it was well done and masterfully presented but it was hard for me to make the audience feel my way and understand why I respect Gandhi.
In conclusion, when I look back at my overall public speaking experience at first I hated the class but that was because I didn’t understand and feared public speaking. However, I came a long way because I realized what helped me most to give a better speech was a good outline. I understood the structure of my speech. In my outline I wrote the introduction, body, and conclusion; I was clear on what I had to mention first and lastly. I still have a little problem because when I talk I tend to use my hands but I am working on it and that is definitely an area of improvement. Making an outline, using appropriate body language and eye contact, creating a dramatic opening and ending with a memorable closing statement not only made my speeches stand out but also made me a better speaker.

THE CURVE OF BINDING ENERGY

“The Curve of Binding Energy” is the idea of developing nuclear weapons. Theodore B. Taylor the most brilliant nuclear engineer becomes troubled with the idea of constructing a nuclear weapon that is capable of mass destruction. John McPhee applies the series of interviews with Theodore Taylor to construct “The Curve of Binding Energy”. In the book McPhee provides the reader with analytical insights into the life of Taylor and the creation of the atomic bomb. As McPhee follows Taylor in their exploration of various nuclear facilities in the early 1970’s they realize the magnitude of harm the weapon is able to exude if the information is improperly protected.
McPhee begins “The Curve of Binding Energy” by introducing vital aspects of Taylor’s early childhood that have molded and motivated his advanced nuclear developments. McPhee implements Taylor’s childhood stories to depict Taylor’s qualities and character. Taylor was born in Mexico City in 1925 and grew up during the dropping of nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He notices the bombing were extremely destructive that he decided to perfect the bomb and build an even more powerful bomb that would only be used for security purposes to end wars. The grandson of missionaries had entered the navy in 1946 after gaining his bachelors degree at California Institute of Technology in 1945. After returning from the navy inspired and motivated Taylor decided to purse a PhD in physics at the University of California he failed to graduate but was offered a job to work on plutonium bombs in Los Alamos. He became enthralled with nuclear developments and decided to take massive nuclear weapons and make them minute without forgoing the explosive nuclear power. Every bomb Taylor created were pure fission bombs which were advanced at that time. He developed the smallest fission bombs such as the scorpion and the Davy Crockett which weighed less and similarly destructive. Taylor also played a role in the Orion Project, a childhood dream to build a spaceship to go to Mars. The spaceship was as powerful as thousands of nuclear bombs combined. The space ship they planned to design was as big as a sixteen story building. However, the Limited Nuclear Ban act of 1963 put an end to the project, and it never was able to go to into space. . Taylor hated the thought of destruction and the death of thousands of innocent people due to a nuclear bomb. McPhee constantly demonstrates Taylor’s concern for the availability of nuclear materials. In the book he is very careful in his explanation of the construction of the nuclear bomb with McPhee. Taylor became increasingly concerned that these destructive nuclear bombs could be easily built by anyone. He assumes with the right materials anyone is capable of developing the nuclear bomb. He is careful to only use the information available to the public in order to preserve its secrecy. Taylor mentions Uranium-235 and plutonium-239 can easily be accessed and used to construct a nuclear bomb. With the lack of protection of these isotopes anyone can construct numerous amounts of nuclear weapons.
Ultimately, McPhee does a notable job concluding the novel. He states it is impractical to prevent all future nuclear bomb being built it is bound to occur and cause problems. Conclusively, Taylor’s life is known for the creation of powerful nuclear weapons and his unsuccessful attempts to safeguard the nuclear materials. McPhee’s book allows the reader to be conscious of the effects the atomic bomb has on civilizations with the effortless accessibility of nuclear substances. By providing the reader with analytical insights into the life of Taylor and the creation of the atomic bomb, McPhee allows one to realize “The Curve of Binding Energy” symbolizes the curve of binding energy from Taylor’s initial motivation to ending the series of violence the creation of a powerful nuclear bomb provided to understanding nuclear bombing must occur in every civilization and his attempts to warn every civilization.

THE BET

“The Bet”, by Aton Chekhov is a short story that has an ironic twist on the value of human life. Presented with two intertwined characters, the banker and the lawyer, display two different halves of the “bet”. The banker and the lawyer wager a bet that is constructed on life imprisonment and the death penalty. The “bet” displays the morality of the two men. The lawyer endures confinement for fifteen years but comes into contact with his morality because although he has gained so much knowledge he is incoherent to the world. The banker rejects his own morality as he places two million dollars for the confinement of the lawyer. Chekhov demonstrates certain stages of confinement the lawyer experiences and one can only wonder why Chekhov ends the short story in an ironic way.
For the next fifteen years the lawyer was confined to the banker’s backyard. He was restricted from the outside world and if the lawyer attempts an escape then he will automatically lose the “bet”. Fifteen years later, Chekhov paints an interesting scenario; the banker is close to bankruptcy and cannot pay the lawyer if he happens to win the “bet”. Ironically, a few hours before the lawyer wins the “bet”, he leaves a letter for the banker stating he plans to lose the “bet”. In the letter, the lawyer stats: “I despise wisdom and the blessings of this world. It is all worthless, fleeting, illusory, and deceptive, like a mirage.” During his confinement, the lawyer progresses from stages of loneliness, depression, and isolation. He comes across many works of literature that become his window to life. He has been able to connect to life through poetry, philosophical, theological, and historical books. All his books have changed his perceptions, improved his knowledge, and develop himself as a person. The lawyer runs away and terminates his chance to win the “bet”.
The “bet” posed a constant clash between life confinement and death. As the lawyer admitted, due to his fifteen years of suffering he loathed everything in life. Ultimately, the lawyer had lost the “bet” because of his violation of the rules. However, indirectly he had won the “bet” because he gained more knowledge during his confinement. The lawyer states he would have much rather died than to slowly suffer during fifteen years of his confined life.

DoZ BLooGgiNGG aFFeCt stuDentz!?

The impact of technology is affecting students writing skills, the text messaging (“LOL”) and informal expressions of emotions (“:)”) has gradually affected students formal writing. The use of blogging for class purposes is personal helping me become a prolific writer. Most bloggers write outside of school for personal reasons like me which in return blogging becomes essential in my development as a writer. Before I the practice of blogging I would text message and communicate through the use of computers and cell phones and would spend more time writing to my friends then writing for school. I think the blogging in many ways cultivate a style of writing that combines informal and formal.
The writing students post on their blogs is actually better then their school writing. I think the blog writing is a better test of a student’s writing capabilities and intellectual comprehension. When a student writes for their own blog students are motivated to write because they enjoy writing for an audience through topics that are relevant to their interests. It gives them the same artistic creative freedom that writing to their friends gives them. Blogging is the use of an informal writing in a formal setting. Without blogging students tend to use informal and improper punctuation, grammar, and capitalization in their formal assignments. The blogging is a writing class free to the students. When posting a blog most students understand their writing is going to be read by a wide audience instead of a teacher and revise and edit any mistakes or certain pieces of their material. The students that maintain a blog improve the quality of their writing because they are constantly writing. The blog unnoticeably by the student does have a great impact on their writing.
Blogging blends the personal and the public, for example the blogger is the primary audience and the blogging the blogger does is for a public audience. The blogger is able to reflect his reasons, ideas, experiences, arguments, and collaborations to a public audience rather then having a personal journal. For some, the blogging is a continuation of their personal journals that make help to personally grow and develop as a writer. At the beginning of the class we were asked to maintain a blog by posting two blogs a week. At first I haven’t had the slightest idea as to why we need to maintain a blog. Towards the end of the class I have noticed that through blogging I have developed my writing. I actually enjoyed am writing regularly and constantly improving my writing and critical thinking skills.

ARISTOTLE

Happiness according to Webster’s dictionary “an agreeable feeling or condition of the soul arising from good fortune or propitious happening of any kind; the possession of those circumstances or that state of being which is attended enjoyment; the state of being happy; contentment; joyful satisfaction; felicity; blessedness.” Aristotle felt happiness is an important element in achieving the good life and happiness is the ultimate end for humanity. My paper will answer at hand is happiness the ultimate end? Through Aristotle’s philosophical argumentation of happiness I will demonstrate by leading a completely virtuous life the ultimate end is happiness. To Aristotle happiness is not a state rather it is an activity of the soul in accordance with virtue. Furthermore an individual must continuously perform virtuous acts and develop a virtuous character in order to achieve complete happiness. In my paper I will attempt to explain Aristotle’s theory of happiness and over the course of my paper I will answer the topic at hand.
To understand my thesis one must first understand Aristotle’s guidelines for attaining the ultimate end, happiness. Having been regarded one of the greatest philosopher in history Aristotle begins his book, Nicomachean Ethics to say in order to understand happiness one must first understand the nature. Similarly like an archer aims at his target before launching his arrow. Happiness is an absolute and ultimate end. Aristotle held that the ultimate goal is for an individual to be happy; they must live a good and virtuous life. All of our actions are based on achieving happiness. In book I, chapter XIII of Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle states “happiness is a certain activity of the soul in accord with complete virtue.” Happiness is a human good for it cannot be achieved by animals because they are incapable of rational and logical thought, (Book X, chapter VIII) “…none of the other animals possess happiness, because they are entirely incapable of contemplation.” By providing good actions the individual comes closer to the ultimate end. The practice of good virtues equates to happiness. It is the virtues that led to happiness. The action cannot be virtuous if it is not an actual good. For Aristotle true happiness can only be achieved in a perfectly virtuous person. Every good action attests to a happy and virtuous life. Even though happiness is the main goal of everyone it can symbolize various things to various people. Individuals become virtuous by performing good actions. An individual will try to achieve happiness and a virtuous life by developing a good virtue of character. According to Aristotle in book I, chapter VII “virtue is its own reward” through the development of virtues can true happiness be attained to complete the human life. Happiness is an ultimate, independent, and complete good. Happiness is desired for itself only and it satisfies all desires, wishes, and needs due to this happiness is the ultimate end.
The virtuous person can only achieve happiness through moral and intellectual elements. Good virtues are good habits of the soul. The virtue of the character is developed through good habituation. By abiding to these good habits and laws we perfect our self-control and become more disciplined. Good habits are reinforced through the good actions that we provide. By acting virtuous the person becomes virtuous and will take pleasure in being virtuous. Aristotle views that certain goods are necessary for happiness. Virtue is divided into two sorts (Book I, chapter 13): there are virtues of mind and intellect and then the ethical virtues of character. The virtues of mind and intellect pertain to the reasoning and logical thought of the soul. The ethical virtues of character are concerned with the part of the soul that is incapable of reasoning and logical thought of the soul. Everyone can achieve a virtuous life, through the development of their reasoning and logical thinking. Aristotle believes it is during childhood that the child must develop good habits and as they get older they will attain wisdom. Aristotle assumes the types of people that constantly do evil and bad in life are less rational but to prevent this destructive behavior it is important to have good habits. Aristotle knows happiness is achieved for those that reflect on life intelligently and rationally. Aristotle theorizes that virtue is obtaining happiness through the means of a particular purpose. Every mean has an ultimate end objective which through good habits and actions of the soul, the individual can achieve the ultimate end objective. It is the human soul that is able to rationalize and reason, this is what separates us from animals and makes us human. Through good habit an individual’s moral virtue will develop. Virtues are means of happiness. Every human possess a pursuit of pleasure which propels us in achieving our purpose. A balance of two vices each excessive and deficient in their means of good is learned through good habits. When one has achieved happiness, he is able to flourish towards human superiority. They are capable of gaining virtue through logic and rational thought. They are humans that change and lead people towards achieving happiness.
Ultimately, Aristotle formulates that happiness and virtue are unbreakable. Virtue is reliant upon happiness in order to flourish. To Aristotle happiness is the result of leading a virtuous life. The good life is absolute happiness and not provisional because it is a state in which an individual demonstrates complete virtue. Aristotle views the good life is societal. The perfect society will distribute virtuous people. It is a state of excellence therefore each individual must be equally virtuous so no individual has to do something in account for someone else. Aristotle holds a great value for friendship. The need for friendships parallels the need for justice therefore friendships are necessary. Good people are considered good friends. Good friends want what is good for themselves and good for others. Virtuous and good people will build loyal friendships with other virtuous and good people. Birds of the same feather stick together, so those that are good people will stay with other good people but those that are bad people will stay with other bad people. Most times friends of different class systems become friends for certain benefits and advantages. In politics, men form political friendships and groups for their own advantages. The friendship formed depends on the political system that surrounds them. Citizens form brotherly friendships and they have shared virtues and equalities. These friendships compliment each other because both parties contribute to the wellbeing of the community. These people of good virtue are connected through mutual respect and virtue. To Aristotle friendship was to love rather than to be loved. The key element to leading a good and happy life was the value of friendship. The pursuit of happiness was wanted by everyone. The fundamental to being happy begins when the state of excellence is created through reason, habituation, and nature. Excellence is created when a child is young. The parents must instill good habits and train the child to be virtuous in their reason so they can live a good life. Good virtues are important because it will enable the virtuous one to obtain their pleasures. Happiness can only be achieved by combining good habit and virtuous reasoning. Even though the good life is different for each individual according to one’s virtue, each individual must possess good habits and virtuous reasoning when striving for happiness. For Aristotle, The ultimate end is Happiness because it is the highest of all other goods associated with living a good life. All means of action are aimed towards an ultimate end. Virtue is the state of the individual that makes the individual good and present good actions. Since happiness is the ultimate good then the reasoning and actions of all individuals should be to achieve happiness.
Happiness is an absolute and ultimate end. “Happiness then, is found to be something perfect and self-sufficient, being the end to which our actions are directed” (Nicomachean Ethics, Book I, Chapter VII). Aristotle held that the ultimate goal is for an individual to be happy; they must live a good and virtuous life. All of our actions are based on achieving happiness. Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics provides descriptions of human happiness, nature of a good person, virtues of character, virtues of the intellect, the means and the ends. All people strive for some ultimate end. Aristotle proclaims that the highest end to all other ends is achieving happiness. Happiness comes in accord with virtue. A happy life is maintained through the right virtuous choices we make. Achieving happiness is an effort; it is important to associate with good people and with good people come good pleasures. In order to achieve happiness one must have a complete and virtuous life.
Aristotle distinguishes the difference between a man and a beast is the capability of rational thinking, there having a mind. In Book X of the Nicomachean Ethics Aristotle ultimately believes the highest good, the greatest happiness for man is his mind. For the individual awareness of his mind, “Anybody can enjoy bodily pleasures—a slave no less than the best of men—but nobody attributes a part in happiness to a slave...” (Nicomachean Ethics, Book X, Chapter VI). Since virtue is the part of the soul that controls our actions and behaviors to act virtuously. According to Aristotle the good life comes when the individual has achieved the perfect practice of virtue.
Clearly for Aristotle the life of complete virtue is a good life. The good life is a state in which the individual is completely happy. The perfect state is the leading a virtuous life. However the idea of the good life is different for every individual depending upon the life lead in accord with virtue and each individual possess different virtues. According to Aristotle achieving the perfect state through collective means the good life can be achieved. Furthermore, Aristotle demonstrates how through virtue, happiness can be achieved. Thoroughly I will break down Aristotle’s argument to ultimately proving my thesis. First Aristotle divides the good into three parts, goods of the body, goods of the soul and external goods (Book I, Chapter VI). He continues to mention through virtue one can attain external goods. In order to live the good life the individual must have goods of the body, goods of the soul and external goods. To elaborate happiness is often associated with those who possess wisdom, develop a good character, and have wealth. The life of virtue is an active life of the soul as means to reach an ultimate end, happiness. After much consideration then it can be determined one has all three aspects equally distributed. For example one cannot have more wisdom then goodness. Since the good life is collective then there is no action necessary just living virtuously and having virtuous goals one can ultimately achieves happiness. To achieve the ultimate end Aristotle mentions three things that can lead to happiness. Individuals should retain a good character, good habits, and reason which in return form a virtuous individual. To achieve these three is through good habits during birth and a good education. One must be trained to be virtuous and develop virtuous acts so it is the state’s responsibility for providing a good life for the individual.
Since happiness is a collective societal accomplishment each individual must be equally virtuous this way no individual is then responsible for the other individual not leading a virtuous lifestyle. Aristotle provides the relationship between happiness and virtue in Book I, Chapter VII happiness is the highest good when the activity of the soul is in accord with moral and intellectual virtues. Later on in Book X, Chapter VI, wisdom is used to achieve happiness with justice and moral virtues.