Only a belief in embodied existence after death is philosophically justifiable. Discuss Essay

1- Christian belief in resurrection- outline Jesus’ resurrection after death- Link to hicks idea of the replica. 3- The only meaningful way to talk about survival after death is to say that souls can be reunited- Peter Geach 5- Characteristics and memories can be changed and falsified- Bernard William Descartes said ‘ My essence consists solely in the fact that I am a thinking thing’. This, if true, implies that our consciousness is separate from our bodies and so we must be able to exist without said bodies. This of course would then falsify the statement as disembodied life after death would be possible. Indeed, there are many who dispute this argument and one who would agree with the given statement is Bernard William who claims that characteristics and memories can be falsified. He would argue that because our memories can be lost and altered with certain drugs, accidents and illnesses such as Alzheimer’s; the main part of what makes us- us is the link between our minds and our physical form (our bodies). It would then follow that the only plausible after-death-existence would be embodied. It is the first point made by Descartes and many others which this essay will lean towards as it will be argued that disembodied existence is as philosophically plausible, if not more so than embodied. Many would claim that Christianity can be used to argue both sides of this issue. An example of where it may be used to support embodied life after death is in the resurrection stories. In Thessalonians 4, we find a much talked about quote among philosophers; ‘..Since we believe that Jesus died and rose again..through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died.’ This verse gives us a clear idea that the early Christians believed in full, embodied resurrection. Although it is unclear as to whether or not some would have also agreed with a disembodied afterlife before judgment day and resurrection, many devout Christians only accept the embodied resurrection at the end of days. The verse tells us that at first Jesus’ followers didn’t recognise him, as he had changed somehow but the main message is of fully embodied resurrection. However, due to the complexity of the bible, it is difficult to completely understand whether or not there is a state between death and resurrection and many may feel the argument is far from philosophically justifiable. There has of course also been a long tradition of belief in disembodied afterlife. The Greek philosophy Plato believed we have separate souls which leave our bodies at death in order to join another. In the Phaedo, he recorded a response from Socrates to a question put forward by Crito; ‘In what fashion are we to bury you?’ Plato’s answer clearly shows his belief in the afterlife. It is important to understand that Plato believed in the soul because he believed innate knowledge must just be memories from previous existences. Furthermore, Plato was part of the chain of thought that says that everything has an opposite but they are always in a cycle, hot becomes cold for cold to then become hot and living things die just for new life to emerge. Believing in the cycle of opposites makes it clear why Plato would have believed in some kind of disembodied soul. Returning to the question put to Plato mentioned at the start of this argument, we see his response makes his belief in the afterlife clear. ‘He imagines that I am the dead body he will see in a little while†¦ but†¦ when I drink the poison I shall no longer remain with you, but shall go off and depart for some happy state of the blessed†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ On the other hand, however, The philosopher; Peter Geach was a strong believer that any talk of life after death where the soul and body are separate is totally meaningless. Geach described the idea of a separate soul and body as a ‘savage superstition’ and he believed that the genius of Plato and Descartes had given the superstition an undeservedly long lease of life. Geach, along with many other modern philosophers argue that the idea of a separate body and soul has come from misunderstanding of scriptural language. In his book, ‘What do we think with’, Geach wrote ‘thinking is a vital activity of a man, not any part of him, material or immaterial.’ This shows quite clearly Geach believed that a human is a single entity which needs to think, rather than a body and a separate mind which just happens to have consciousness. Geach believed that the only reasonable theory of the soul was the Aristotelian idea that the soul is the form of a living body. Many would say that Geach’s argument is fairly week as there is little evidence to back it up and he seems to be ‘piggy-backing’ off other philosophers, namely; Aristotle. Reincarnation, or rebirth (afterlife in a physical form),are a key feature at the heart of Hindu beliefs. Hinduism teaches that every person has an essential ‘self’ known as an atman. They believe the Atman to be eternal and something which seeks to be united with God. Hindu’s believe that God manifests himself in the atman if each individual, and through a number of births, deaths and rebirths, the person comes to understand a relationship of the atman with God. Once this realisation of unity is reached, the atman no longer needs to continue in the cycle and so is released (moksha). For the Hindu, physical bodies are nothing more than a container for the atman, the atman which holds the persons nature. This means that after going round the cycle a few times, the atman (or soul) is released from the container and moves on to disembodied life after death. Hinduism is the oldest spiritual tradition in the world and there is evidence that it flourished long before recorded history in India which means that the idea of a separate body and soul could have been the original belief. Descartes is one of the most famous philosophers and dualists and his belief on life after death was that what makes us, us is our ability to think; our consciousness. His conceivability argument leads us to wonder whether or not we need our bodies at all. The argument was laid out with 3 steps, it begins with the premise that a thinking thing can imagine existing without a body. The argument goes onto say that anything which can be conceived is possible and from this that if X can exist without Y then X and Y aren’t identical. The result of the argument is that a thinking thing is not identical with its body and so, they must be separate. Descartes most famous quote to sum his arguments up is that ‘I think, therefore, I am’ For Descartes, being able to think about not having a body, but not being able to conceive of not thinking at all means our minds must be separate from our bodies and therefore, if we are to believe in an afterlife then there is no logical reason why our minds would die with our bodies. Many believe this Is a fantastic argument for disembodied life after death as it gets the opposition thinking about not thinking and so leaves them at a blank. I feel that the strongest argument covered in this essay is that put forward at the start and the end. For many, the fact that we cannot think of our minds not existing is a far stronger argument than that of say, Peter Geach as looking back over past scriptures is just like copying off of someone in a test who has made their answers up, we would just be looking at something which may or may not be true. While I was slightly swayed by the first argument in favour of the given statement, due to its use of past events and a tradition of belief, however in then end, I have maintained my view that it is just as philosophically feasible to think of a disembodied life after death then an embodied one., possibly more so.

Leadership Styles Case Study Essay

1. What type of leadership is practiced at NCF, transactional or transformational? How do you know? The type of leadership that is practiced at NCF is transactional. Their values are honesty and honoring of commitments and reciprocity. The director stresses to all the employees that dual relationships are a conflict of interest prohibited by the organization. Employees motivated by safety, security, and belonging and this is motivated by the leader rewarding the staff by having an employee lounge built so the employees don’t have to eat off campus. Problem solving is found in the leader, the director encourages staff to report any non- sanctioned interaction between social workers and clients. This can be grounds for employee termination. Distribution of power â€Å"Power-over† the director uses rewards conceived and legitimate bases, by using the lounge as a â€Å"power over† reward. The influence is a unidirectional this memo is from director to employees. 2. What type of leadership is practiced at SSS, transactional or transformational? How do you know? The type of leadership that is practiced at SSS is transformational. The director uses power with rather than power over. He does not use rewards conceived or legitimate bases instead he uses expert, referent and inspirational bases. This is a multidimensional influence because the director simply asks his staff and employees for their participation and input in overcoming this obstacle. Their values are liberty, justice, equality, peace, and humanitarianism because the director, staff, and employees have a goal in common, they are depending on each other, their prosperity will rise and fall together, and they share the results of overcoming this obstacle together. 3. Which style of leadership would you recommend for a human service organization? Explain your answer. The style of leadership I would recommend for human service organizations is transformational. This type of leadership involves the organization as a whole. Everyone in the organization works together in order to achieve the common goals and all share the achievement. In my opinion it is best to include the employees in running the organization. By doing this it will not only make them feel a part of the organization it will also make the hard work worth more to them. It makes the employees feel better about the work place if they feel that their opinions count.

The Millennial Generation and Brandi Carlile Essay

The Millennial Generation and Brandi Carlile - Essay Example This for sure will have positive effects on how families interact and communicate and how young people relate to school and learning. Considered to be the most diverse generation in history and born to the most diverse parents as well. Coates further notes that Generation Y combines the can-do attitude of Veterans, and the teamwork ethic of Boomers. For this group, the preferred learning environment combines teamwork and technology. In a classroom with lots of Gen Y's, give everyone a task. When a few have completed it, encourage them to walk around the room and help others. They're used to working this way in school. Presently, according to newspolitics.net, the Millennial Generation is larger than Baby Boomers, but how much bigger depends on where you put their beginning and ending birthdates which currently has no census. The report also stressed that like Boomers-the Millennial Generation will affect the country in various ways. ... Sophia Yan-author of understanding Generation Y stated that Members of Generation Y are characterized as being more racially and culturally tolerant than past generations. Gay rights and non-traditional gender roles have also become more widely accepted. Generation Y is ground-breaking in the sense that its members have come of age in a both a politically and socially tumultuous period with constant bombardment from various media outlets. As the first generation to have easy access to the Internet, ways of thinking have changed rapidly. As Generation Y goes to college and penetrates the work force, the landscape of America may change even more dramatically. Generation Y has been growing up in an increasingly diverse and multicultural society where barriers of race tend to be disappearing. According to the 2002 U.S. Bureau of the Census, 37.6 % of Generation Y, they are non-White (Strauss, 2004). Because of their diversity, The Millennial Generation is more accustomed to a wide range of global and cultural viewpoints, and their acceptance and tolerance is reflected in all areas of their lives, public as well as private. Characteristics of Generation Y The Millennial Generation has a specific set of characteristics (positive and negative) and personality traits that defines individuals of that era. 1. They have a closer relationship with parents and develop pure bond of admiration for their parents (33% names one or both parents as their hero, rather than a pop culture celebrity). 2. The small sphere of influence has contributed to the creation of a generation that is, in general, more polite and considerate than their predecessors. They are less likely to call adults by their first names, but rather use the more formal Mr. or Mrs. 3. Programmed and team

COINS CASH MACHINE Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

COINS CASH MACHINE - Coursework Example Porter?s five forces will be applied with regards to the viability of the proposed development. Introduction A cash machine is an electronic dispositive from which individuals with a banking card can deposit and withdraw paper money. A digital coin is a form of electronic payment)qfinance). A coin cash machine contains a housing which has an opening by which cash coins or a magnetic card may be input in order to conduct a transaction (Google Patents, 2011). The contemporary coins cash machine was invented by Yoshihgiro Watanabe. The US patent number is US4733765. The original issue date for this patent is 1972. The initial assignee is Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba. The present United States of America categorization of this patent is 194-206; 209-534; 221/12; 235-379; 273/3.01; 271/3.12; 271/160; 453/3; 902/11; 902/12; D20/4. The international categorization of the US patent for the contemporary cash management dispositive is G07F704 B07C502. The US patent which was originally invented by Yoshihiro watanabe was modified to US patent number US4023011. The initial assignee of the modified patent is Tokyo Shibaura Electric Co. Ltd. This patent is titled automatic bank note depositing machine. The US patent on the cash management dispositive which was US4023011 was modified to US patent number US4372478 on February 8th , 1983 to a fare recuperation system and the systems contained. The initial assignee of the revised patent is General Railway Signal Company. The original invention by Yoshihiro Watanabe was issued to POM, Inc. on Novemeber 14, 1989. This refernce is titled park card system for electronic parking meter. The second relevant reference is titled Parameter control system for electronic parking meter, patent number US4967895 (Google Patents 2011). The most relevant reference to the original invention by Yoshihiro watanabe was issued on April 9th , 1991. The relevant US patent was issued to Nippon Conlux co. Ltd. as a dispositive for validating and collecting p aper money and coins. The next relevant US patent was issued to Nippon Conlux co Ltd. on March 3rd, 1992. The designation of this dispositive is a device for choosing and dispensing paper currency with a magnetic card. The next relevant patent which was referenced to the original invention by Yoshihiro Watanabe was issued to Hitachi, Ltd. On February 16th, 1993, the disposive which was refernced to the original invention by Yoshihiro Watanabe is designated patent number US5186334. This disposive is designated as a bank note management system of a continuous type. The next relevant reference to the original invention by Yoshihiro Watanabe was issued to Coinstar, Inc. on September 1, 1998. The US patent number issued is US5799767. This device is designated as a maintenance dispositive and a system for a coin currency enumerator and a voucher administrator system (Google Patents 2011). The next relevant reference to the original invention by Yoshihiro Watanabe was issued on April 27th , 1999 to Capital Security Systems, Inc. This disposive is designated as an automated document cashing method. The US patent number is US5897625. The next relevant refernce was issued on November 16th, 1999 to Capital Security Systems, Inc. This dispositive was designated as an automated banking system for making change on a card or user account. The US patent number which was designated is US5987439. The next relevant reference number to the original patent number US4733765 which was invented by Yoshihiro Wata

INFORMATIVE REPORT ASSIGNMENT Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

INFORMATIVE REPORT - Assignment Example From the surveys administered to the customers, the weaknesses in services include cleanliness, where customers said that the on-site centers were not clean. The food served at the on-site centers was often poor, and the services offered by the service attendants were not up to standard. The limitation of the study was that the managers did not offer any explanation into why the services delivered were not up to standard, although they reported plans of holding a staff meeting to look into the issue. From the reports, there is also the need to inquire into other problem areas, through a meeting with the employees, to review performance areas. After realizing the complaints from the company’s customers, my office carried out a survey study to gather facts on the areas of inefficiencies and poor service. Towards realizing this, surveys reached 450 customers from the different movie production company operation centers. The survey saw an 89% return rate, thereby offering a representative picture of the issue. From the information collected, the problem areas identified covered cleanliness, the food supplied, and the services offered to the clients. In the area of cleanliness, 96% of the customers gave feedback that the on-site food service centers were not administered in a clean manner. The complaint areas include that silverware were commonly found with crusted food, food debris had dried on the tables, and the floors had litter. Also, it was reported that glasses had dirt spots, and that the customer service personnel often wore dirty aprons. Other concern areas under cleanliness were that service personnel did not wear plastic gloves, and that flies were buzzing around the service counter – which showed that the area was generally dirty. In the area of food supply, 85% of the customers offered the information that the quality of the food supplied was in many cases poor. Complaints include that fried

Problem Set Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 3

Problem Set - Essay Example As a result, those suffering from various genetic and chronic illnesses that they cannot control, no longer have to get involved in high risk pools that are expensive and ineffective. An individual with this cover will never have to entirely forego the health cover and services that are so much needed. It is because of this reason that experts explain that not all pre-existing conditions are serious such as is the case with cancer, diabetes or kidney complications. They also believe that the purchase of this cover will help patients obtain medical services in less expensive ways hence a stress-reduced medical process. Moreover, they will be assured of the services whenever they require them. 2. The pluralist approach to policy making differs from the policy analysis approach of class and elites in the sense that the former does not contain any stratification as is the case in the latter approach. Therefore, politics play a major part in the policy process where the mass and the under structure government are coerced into policy making. Unlike in elite and class approaches, which are based on disparities pluralist approach is conducted by members with common interests hence the beneficial use of politics. b). With this, attempts can be made to apply it in the address of national debt and deficit by bringing about equitable distribution of wealth. Due to the lack of coercion on the government, tax systems will be used to promote equality. The government will no longer be influenced by the elites in the society. These efforts will also include the reduction in budget spending by the congress. It is because the pressure upon them to maintain their programs, resources and positions will be reduced. Since it is the groups that influence the political systems, they can manage to transform the spending programs into firmly established and entitled programs. Members of the representatives can additionally prevent the influence of elite groups towards the

Gender Roles Set in Stone Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Gender Roles Set in Stone - Essay Example They glorified their nudities not only as a mode of stratification but also as a type of life. Woman of Willendorf is a perfect representation of a woman in the early societies. Just as with any other sculpture at the time, the woman is nude. In her nudity, her fertility features are conspicuous. Such features as her large breasts, developed hips and a large pelvic girdle are visible. Such features portray the vital role the women played in the society. Women embodied reproduction in the society. Her fertility features show this thereby presenting her as an established woman of the time. The sculptor emphasized her fertility and child bearing features owing to the childbearing role that women played. A perfect woman was fertile thus had children. Additionally, the sculpture lacks a definite face. The wears a unique headgear hat covers both her head and parts of her face thus concealing her face. Other primary feature of the sculpture was its lack of legs. The statue does not stand on its own. The lack of legs coupled with the concealed face is two primary features included in the sculpture deliberately in an attempt to portray gender roles. Women relied on their husbands and the rest of the society by extrapolation. As such, they relied on their male counterparts who provided and protected the families. The concealed face has a spiritual connotation. Women in the prehistoric society upheld stringent religious values, which they believed, played significant roles in enhancing their fertility and childbearing role. Additionally, concealing the face of the woman shows the society’s interest in her face among other externalities (Adovasio, Jake and Olga 112). Statue of a kouros on the other hand presents the position and roles of the youth in the society. The youthful nude male stands majestically in perfect symmetry. This portrays the features of the youth in the prehistoric society as captured by