Philosophical Worldview Essay

A philosophical worldview is a complex phenomenon influenced by a number of factors including scientific knowledge and philosophical doctrines, religion and everyday experience of a person. Along with the worldview comes a social system, an accompanying ideological structure. In some instances, the person may not be aware of the extent to which she or he is stepping into a new world—or a new way of grasping the world and understanding oneself influenced by new ideas and ideologies. Nevertheless, the subtlety of the process does not diminish its impact, which is to achieve change toward a specific end. The desired goal is the transformation of the adherent into a committed believer, which means becoming a loyal group member or follower in those instances in which a group is attached to a belief system. Science, logic and religion play a crucial role in the philosophical worldview determining the main priorities and concepts accepted or rejected by an individual. It is possible to say that science stipulates the frames through which we perceive the world. Following David Hume: The identity, which we ascribe to the mind of man, is only a fictitious one, and of a like kind with that which we ascribe to vegetables and animal bodies. It cannot, therefore, have a different origin, but must proceed from a like operation of the imagination upon like objects† (Hume, n. d. ). Science helps humanity to understand natural phenomena and biological changes, evolutionary processes and shifts. Descartes explains that: â€Å"Arithmetic, Geometry, and the other sciences of the same class †¦ contain somewhat that is certain and indubitable† (Descartes, 2005). Science influence the worldview representing a particular way of knowledge and perception of the world and human beings based on historical information, hypotheses and experiments. Science is not a self-contained or self-sustaining activity. The most important it is conducted only in a community that has reached a certain level of intellectual development, which involves and implies social organization, culture, art, and religion, as well as philosophy. Religion can be interpreted as a worldview itself determining the main values and concepts which help a person to interpret the world. The person who begins to think about religion may find himself identifying his particular beliefs with the essence of all religion. His own religious beliefs are vivid and vital to him, especially if his religious training has been consistent and regular, and if his religion is emotionally allied with valued experiences at home, at school, and with friends. Again, if his specific beliefs have become connected with satisfying moments of high inspiration and if he has found these beliefs helpful in time of need, his religion will have so permeated the nooks and crannies of his life that any other â€Å"religion† is a relatively dead thing, something foreign and alien, and, indeed, not really religion. There is only one religion for him. As he tries to evaluate his religion, it will be difficult for him to examine his beliefs impartially and to give adequate weight to those factors in the experience of others which have little meaning to him in terms of his own emotional background. For instance, Descartes gives the following example of the role and influence of religion in the worldview: it is true that when I think only of God (when I look upon myself as coming from God, Fr. ), and turn wholly to him, I discover [in myself] no cause of error or falsity† (Descartes, 2005). In this case, the worldview of a person is determined by his religious beliefs and perception of the world influenced by interpretation of God and his authority. Religion helps to develop a perspective toward life which determines ideas, rituals, and emotions. What happens to religious belief depends on innumerable factors in the life-experience of the believer. What the individual calls his religion is interwoven with experiences which are religiously significant for him (Warburton, 2006). Logic exhibits an ideal of knowledge, namely, a one-possibility consistency derived from established premises. This ideal is demonstrated unusually well in the realm of mathematics and geometry where all conclusions are logically bound to accepted definitions or axioms. This pattern of thought is what many people have in mind when they refer to reason or to its conclusion, rational truth. For Descartes, a logical conclusion in this sense would have a must-be-so character; almost-surely-so would have no more validity than to say that two and two â€Å"almost surely† equal five. One can understand why this conception of logical reason (and of truth) has been held up as the ultimate ideal. When a proof is logically valid, there are no other possible conclusions, and our uncertainty vanishes. Logic influenced the worldview helping to explain, select, organize and interpret information combining it into a meaningful and coherent picture of the world. Reality is a function of the interpretation we assign to our own perceptions and logic. Using three frames, logic, science and religion, people interpret the world and events take place around them; logic, science and religion become lenses through which we determine and perceive the world and its processes. Science, religion and logic allows a person to perceive ideas of others and create a unique worldview and understanding of reality. Our worldview is derived from the science base we bring to the system and the development of that base as we operate within the system. In many ways, religion and logic is both the instrument with which we succeed by making sense out of the world and the limitation on our ability to see greater or different issues that might be critical to our interpretation of the world. All of the readings (Descartes, Hume, Sartre) can challenge and expend the philosophical worldview. All of them present a unique interpretation and explanation of events and philosophical concepts which force a reader to rethink and test his worldviews. For instance, Descartes and Hume can help to perceive certain things that other people do not necessarily notice. They are more likely to see particular characteristics as important. Hume explains: â€Å"’Tis evident, that the identity, which we attribute to the human mind, however perfect we may imagine it to be, is not able to run the several different perceptions into one, and make them lose their characters of distinction and difference, which are essential to them† (Hume, n. . ). Thus, no matter how acute our own perceptual abilities might be, the reality we carry with us is essentially less than the actual event. Sartre’s ideas challenge a worldview forcing a reader to rethink his religious beliefs and ideals applying an existentialist point of view. Most of us have the same kind of experience as we try to grasp the scientist’s account of the world. If we are to understand at all, we have to be satisfied with a harder â€Å"thinkable† conception-that is, one which is consistent with the facts. With the help of the microscope and the telescope, the scientist can check much of his mathematics and â€Å"thinking† about the â€Å"population† of the universe, its nature, and its extension in space and time. But ultimately he has the right to ask our intellect to accept his conception of the physical universe, provided no facts are left out, even if that conception outruns imagination. These readings can help to rethink and reinterpret some ideals and beliefs but they cannot change a philosophical view and perception of reality. These readings represent different historical epochs and are influenced by reality and traditions of these periods. In many cases, philosophical doctrines and concepts differ from modern world and construction of modern reality. The further development of a person’s worldview can be drawn from existentialism. Existentialism addresses itself to what are today called the â€Å"existential† problems of man — the meaning of life, of death, of suffering, to name but these. The relationship of human existence to beings which do not enjoy human existence is transcendent in a double-edged manner. On the one hand human existence is thrown down into the world and is attuned to and utterly subject to the beings in it; in this way the world transcends human existence. On the other hand, human existence is really the â€Å"formative† agent of the world; it transcends the world; the domination which it exercises over things in being is so complete that it actually draws them out of their fundamental hiddenness and endows them with being, that is, with meaning and truth. Existentialism is also clearly indebted to life-philosophy and is in certain ways an expansion of the latter especially in its actualism, its analysis of time, and its criticism of rationalism and natural science (Warburton, 2006). The difficulty does not stem from inadequacy in expression or weakness in logical structure, for work always proceeds in very systematic fashion. The difficulty arises rather from the unusual and strange terminology which he has devised in the hope of providing a language for conveying his thoughts. Therefore the analysis of being as human existence is declared to be the starting point of the investigation. It is the peculiar quality of human existence that it is a being which, in being, is interested in this very being. The understanding of being is in itself an element in the being of human existence, and for this reason human existence is said to be â€Å"ontological. To determine the essence of human existence requires much more than a matter-of-fact answer to the question â€Å"What? † For the â€Å"essence† of human existence, is found in its existence, from which alone it can be understood. Following Sartre [man] â€Å"is nothing. Only afterward will he be something, and he himself will have made what he will be. Thus, there is no human nature, since there is no god to conceive it. Not only is man what he conceives himself to be, but he is also what he wills himself to be† (Sartre 2000, p. 36). In contrast other philosophers decide that they must either accept the biblical account of creation or reject altogether the conception of creation by God. They do not realize that two kinds of assertions are involved and that it is at least possible to maintain that God is creator without holding that he created by specific edict in the order suggested. It may be that the acceptance of evolution should modify only the conception of the way in which God creates the world (Warburton, 2006). The main value to study different philosophies is to expand and challenge ones philosophical ideals, comparing and contrasting different perspectives and philosophical notions. It seems to me important that people should be familiar with the work of different branches of philosophy. It is not, necessarily, that some philosophers are more acute or profound than their scholastic predecessors. It is rather that the individual is unlikely really to get to grips with the thought of the classic scholastics unless he has been brought by the study of philosophy to a genuine appreciation of the problems in these fields. Fields of inquiry has to do not with one set of events which occur in the world but with the nature of all events and of the universe as a whole. The second issue involves the question as to whether the actual steps in the development of man were those indicated. Different philosophies help to expend the knowledge and rethink philosophical ideals and truths. Understanding different perspectives is a crucial element of universal understanding because it is impossible to arrive at a position of knowledge from a single perspective. Understanding different perspectives is a good thing because it allows a person to build his own worldview based on contrasting elements and concepts, values and views. It does not mean that a person should accept these perspectives but he should understand the different and value of each of them. The essential structure of understanding secures an existential grasp of the range of the capacity for being, and it is that aspect of human existence in which worldview is its potentiality. To snatch ourselves back again out of the grip of man is to make a choice, to commit ourselves spontaneously to the possibility of being arising from the most intimate self. The worldview is determined by science and religion and the discoveries of the philosophers made during a particular period of time. Accepting these restraints, the person secures to himself the protection given by the community of others who accept the same canons of philosophy, religion logic and scientific knowledge.

The Complete 2018 AP Exam Calendar

If you’re like many high school students, with the second semester now underway your thoughts may be turning to the end of the year. Specifically, you might be starting to think about AP exams, and you’re right to do so. Whether you’re enrolled in AP classes or planning to self study for AP exams , now is a great time to turn your eye towards the AP calendar. Each year, AP exams are administered over a two week period in May. In 2018, the tests will begin on May 7 and, with the exception of specially administered late exams, they will wrap up on May 18. Because different tests are administered on different dates and at different times, you’ll need to plan well in advance to accommodate the tests you want to take. In this post, we’ll present the complete 2018 AP Exam Calendar along with our favorite advice for AP exam prep. With the holidays behind us and the new year underway, ’tis the season to think about spring testing. Are you ready? *This data is taken from the CollegeBoard AP Calendar Also keep in mind that if you are an AP Studio Art student, your portfolio is due online by Friday, May 11. Your teachers or coordinators must upload your digital portfolio by 8 PM EDT and hold the portfolio assembly for 2-D Design and Drawing by this date. Also keep in mind that AP Seminar End-of-Course Exams are available only to students enrolled in the AP Capstone Program. You may not self- study for this test. For more information about the AP Capstone Program, see our post An Introduction to the AP Capstone Diploma . Finally, if you identify a scheduling conflict in your exam schedule, talk to a teacher or counsellor as soon as possible. The College Board will coordinate late testing dates if your situation necessitates one, but you will need to apply to do so. You can find more information about late testing on the Late Testing Dates page . Our Early Advising Program helps students in 9th and 10th grade discover their passions and build strong academic and extracurricular profiles to succeed in high school. If just looking at the test schedule makes you dizzy, don’t worry. AP exams are intimidating to many students at first. Luckily, if you approach each exam individually and use our time-proven study guides and test strategies, you’ll be ready on AP exam day.

How you worked as a team member Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

How you worked as a team member - Essay Example However, we were all united by one task: to complete the requirements of this module. Due to that that, we had to meet all the task objectives and work extremely hard to adjust and get things to run and attain the results we needed. Armstrongs view that teams are formed for the attainment of specific results (2011) was really applicable and significant here. We had a common goal of using the team as an end to meeting all course requirements. Due to this, the team was a convenient system for cooperation, problem solving, decision making, interpersonal relationships, diagnosis and debating (Armstrong, 2008). In relating our experience in the team and its distinctions from individuality and groups, I think that the team was a convenient platform for the attainment of the results that were specified in the course. In this context, the group involves all the students taking this Masters Degree program. We all have individual goals and are not united by specific goals. However, the formation of the team gave us a specific obligation and responsibilities on how to carry them out. This is what separated us from working as individuals who only study to pass individual assignments and also the wider group which was a loose connection of students. From my experiences with the team, I will define a team in my on words as a collection of people for the attainment of a specific end within a specified period of time. A team is more definite than a group. And the common objective and common goal, makes a team different from a group. And the synergistic results from the team makes it different from individual efforts. Once the team was formed, we were just a group of individuals who sought to get things done and get out of this institution. However, the fact that we needed to work together meant that there were some important elements that needed to work

Civil War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Civil War - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that the American civil war, generally known as â€Å"The Civil war†, was fought in the period of 1861-1865. The Civil war burst out between the American state (the United States of America) and Southern slave states (‘Confederates’), which declared secession and rebelled against America; one of many triggering causes for that was slavery and poor lifestyle. The war centered in the areas of Mississippi and the Appalachian Mountains. President Lincoln had to face many challenges and embarrassments in the Western theatre of the civil war. The primary disaster for the United States’ federal army came when Lincoln planned to launch a campaign to get Mississippi as it was of primary and paramount strategic importance.   Lincoln thought that Vicksburg, Mississippi, would be a key to success if the American army managed to get through mountains. He ordered General Grant to move with around 32,000 men in the parallel of Mississippi river where other 40,000 men would meet him to start a joint offensive. But supply line of Grant was cut and the mission was foiled. This is considered as one of the major setbacks in the western theatre of war.   Another major military embarrassment was the Battle of Shiloh when Confederate forces  attacked the federal army on April 6. There were casualties of around 13,000 shot down dead out of 63,000 soldiers who took part in the battle, and the main reason behind this was that the exhausted federal army troops did not retreat in time.... In the spring of 1863, Abraham Lincoln ordered another attack to gain Mississippi. This campaign was going to be the turning point of war as the confederate forces had foiled a great attempt from the state army to get the mountain of Mississippi which was regarded as a place of great military and strategic significance in the western theatre of war. This time the state army did not risk themselves by routing a supply line from the northwest of Mississippi rather they used the dirt roads from the western sides which were drying after the rains. With the help of US navy boats and some massive supply routes, they were able to get the mountain of Mississippi. This campaign is regarded as a great success for the American army. On 10 April 1865, General Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House, of the confederate army surrendered to the State army. This surrender is regarded as the key turning point in the civil war as it magnified the social division inside the con federate states and the morale went down which started the psychological defeat process of the confederate army in the region2. Question 3 Accompanying the highest number of casualties, the civil war came with many blood bathed war theatres and battles were very less decisive with self-depicted results of these battles. Some of the examples from the war history are given below which show that the primary intentions of many battles were not achieved; rather foiled at the end. After a great rest at Tullahoma, General Rosecrans planned to flush out General Bragg of the confederate army out of Chattanooga, a great strategic place having the high mountain areas which can be

WHAT IS WESTERN CIVILIZATION Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

WHAT IS WESTERN CIVILIZATION - Essay Example The development of societies therefore is major component that emphasizes the changes and corroborates with the wider imperatives associated with Western civilization. The emergence of Western civilization is often linked to Greece and Roman civilization of Europe where resurgence of art and culture and increased trade activities became the fundamental of advancing society. The consolidation of political power through trade and commerce was the highlight of the era that witnessed dramatic changes in political, social and cultural environment of Europe. The changes were mainly due to advancing knowledge in the area of science and technology and greater awareness of art and culture. Major discoveries and invention in the area of science and technology can be contributed to this period. Great artists and scholars like Michelangelo, Leonard da Vinci, Copernicus, Galileo, Botticeli etc were few of the prominent artists and scholars who had made significant impact on world and are still acknowledged for their work. Western civilization is also referred to European countries and the new world which owed its origin to the European colonization. The New World or the contemporary America is intrinsic part of Western civilization. The tremendous advancement of American society in all areas vis-Ã  -vis socio-cultural and political environment has been vital element that has contributed to its rapid growth into Western civilization. Indeed, the judicious use of knowledge and its development into most powerful democratic state of the world has been recognized by everyone. The science and technology was used for social advancement with envious competencies and socio-cultural and political tenets were interpreted through accrued knowledge rather than through religious guidelines. These were key components of emerging new models of Western civilization. Western civilization is integral to the advancing knowledge that is exploited for socio-economic and political

War War I Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

War War I - Essay Example World War I enhanced democracy through some of the programs and ideas introduced by Wilson. In 1918 he gave a statement that America was fighting for freedom of the seas, open diplomacy, change in colonization and giving the colonized people freedom among other aims. Through the war, America was granted a possibility of changing the American society in line with scientific lines, bringing in national unity and self-sacrifice, and expanding social justice. During the war there was an improvement in the working conditions and an increase in wages. This fostered democracy because it encouraged freedom and justice as people would air their views concerning working hours and other job related issues. World War I undermined democracy in America in various ways. The war was viewed as a crime against the people of America. It caused millions of deaths, many of the victims being the military which was sent to battlefields. Through these numerous deaths, the nations were split and peace was torn apart. The war also introduced various oppressing rules that worked against democracy. Some rules did not allow people to travel freely especially through the seas. The war oppressed the rights of the workers, because their taxes were increased unreasonably, to finance the war. This material provides a lot of information on various matters regarding the World War I and democracy in America. I have learnt that democracy is very important to the society and can be affected greatly by wars. This material shows that it is important and possible to achieve peace without

Understanding and overcoming Database Design conflicts Research Paper

Understanding and overcoming Database Design conflicts - Research Paper Example Understanding and overcoming Database Design conflicts People think database design is a simple topic, but in actual fact it is a very complicated subject. In view of the fact that a correctly planned database arrangement is a design of a company, or a number of "things" in the actual world. Thus, similar to their physical model equivalents, data models facilitate them to obtain responses concerning the information that structure the objects being formed. In addition, queries that require answers decide that which details require being stored competently in the data model. In a relational database data is stored in different tables in place of placing all data in one large table. Moreover, in the relational model, data is typically arranged in tables that encompass the attributes that each record has the similar number of information; each field holds the similar type of particulars in every record; there is simply single entry for every fact; two records cannot hold the similar data; the sequence of the records as well as fields is not significant. In fulfilling database design objectives we can face a lot of conflicts and issues. The basic aim of this paper is to assess these conflicts and issues and afterward suggest several mitigation policies for such issues. This research will mainly analyze three types of goals which can be conflicting to one another and impossible for all companies to solve all three. Database Design Background An accurately designed database offers the users means of access to the latest, correct data and information. For the reason that an accurate design is necessary in attaining an organization’s objectives in functioning with a database, spending the time necessary to proficiently discover the standards of high-quality design seems sensible. Finally, we are a great deal more promising to finish up with a database that convenes our requirements as well as is able to simply hold changes or modifications in data. Moreover, in database design process, system developers judge a lot of issues all t hrough the design stage, for instance, how to produce an user-friendly interface, how to effectively normalize the data, and various other issues. However, without an uncertainty, one of the database developer's most significant objectives is to assure the correctness of the data (Microsoft Corporation., 2011), (Cgarvey, 2003) and (Hoffer, Prescott, & McFadden, 2007). Technical Description Need of Accuracy for Database Design Correct design is vital to the functions of a dependable and well-organized information structure of a business. At the present the technology of microcomputer is so sophisticated that the influence of a meager design can not humiliate as early as in the past; though, while the issues come into view they could be rather harsh. The blueprint of a database has to perform by means of the technique data is stored as well as how that data is connected. In addition, the design procedure is carried out besides user decides precisely what information should be stored a s well as how it should be taken back. Moreover, the more cautiously we design, the improved the physical database convenes users' requirements.