Lindsey Speights Dr. Obradovic World Literature ii 29 September 2015 Philosophy of Pangloss vs. Martin What readers should take from Voltaire’s work is to refrain from determining whether Pangloss is right or not. Whether good or bad triumphs, it doesn't do any good to constantly ponder over the matter. “Man was placed in the garden to work, not to be idle.” I believe that Candide no longer would argue, he just realized the purport less futility of doing it and that true ecstasy will be by living life without cerebrating. Pangloss was a philosopher who additionally transpired to be Candide’s mentor. He was the man responsible for a majority of quotes that made this text popular.
Sometimes they focused so much on right and wrong that they lost sight of what God wants them to do. This is what caused the Puritans to criticize the Enlightenment thinkers. During the Enlightenment, men were encouraged to everything to widen their knowledge. They focused on writing and sciences and just broadening their knowledge for their own benefit. The Puritans thought that you should be well educated to be ready to defend God’s Word at any time and in any area.
Inherent in this purpose is a key to Mach’s view of power. Because it was written for the use of one man to dominate over and control his kingdom/state, it was obviously not meant for lesser mortals. It in itself is a tool of power which could be used for only the good of the prince who uses it. Whether or not the people are empowered does not matter, it is irrelevant. It only matters that the prince uses it to maintain his own power.
He lets us acknowledge that the only priorities of a prince are war, the foundations and the discipline. In his writings, he describes how it’s more important for a prince to be realistic than reasonable; he states, "in order to maintain the state he is often obliged to act against his promise, against charity, against humanity, and against religion" (Jacobus 231). The leader should be strong and feared to have more control over their people. This idea of fear God, my belief, is similarly to idea of fear the leader, as no one is to ever think to question God because he is feared. He understands that a leader should be greatly feared, but not hated nor loved.
Art was a crucial aspect of expressing Renaissance ideas. Italian sculptors, painters, and architects in particular did a fantastic job of communicating Renaissance concepts in their artwork. Three of the most central humanistic beliefs during this period of time were the appreciation of the individual, the emphasis on the real rather than the abstract, and the imitation of past civilizations. The sculpture “David”, by Italian artist Michelangelo, is an excellent example of the humanistic emphasis on appreciating the individual and dignifying the human kind. Michelangelo depicts David as a strong, godlike figure, emphasizing the size of his hands and feet.
However, the prisoner in Plato’s story after gaining this new knowledge let others in bondage know of his new found knowledge but felt that the first truth was easier to except. On the other hand Neo in The Matrix decided he wanted to learn what the real truth was. Both characters were interested in find out the truth but they accepted the truth differently. Plato thought it was necessary for the chained man in the Allegory of the Cave needed to escape from the cave to seek the truth. However, Descartes, in Meditations I raises the question how could he know with certainty that the world he lived in wasn’t an illusion forced upon him by a demon.
In fact, he would tell about how they should be realistic and understand human nature. Therefore, people would find him evil for saying such statements. Although, what could have affected Machiavelli to write such a controversial book? For this we have to look back in his life learning that he worked in politics for a long time, which affected him but how? Thus, we can bring the following question: How did Machiavelli’s political career influence the views he expresses in his book The Prince?
The Renaissance writers dealt with human characteristics and behaviour. The medieval Catholic culture was gradually replaced by humanism, and the move away from God with the emphasis on individualism and concentration on worldly things (Spurr, 1997: 82). The two main influences on Renaissance drama were Medieval drama, and Greek and Roman drama. The main characteristics of the Renaissance were: new intellectual discoveries; the scholar’s associated themselves with classical values, as articulated in the recently rediscovered classics of
How does Robert Louis Stevenson explore duality in human nature in Jekyll and Hyde? This essay is to explain how Robert Louis Stevenson explores the duality of human nature through the use of characters of interest other than Jekyll and Hyde, the structure of the book and Stevenson’s lasting moral message of Good vs. Evil. Other characters of interest in the book include Mr Utterson, whose rationality and values blind him from seeing the answer, even when he hears Hyde’s voice in the place of Jekyll. There is also Dr Lanyon, who is seen to be completely opposed to the science of Jekyll but loses his Victorian values to his curiosity when Jekyll reveals his secret.
Humanism during the Renaissance (1400-1600 CE) can be defined as the scholarly linguistic and literary movement which promoted and revered the newly reintroduced wealth of classical Roman and Greek literature, language, culture, philosophy and knowledge. This vast intellectual treasure came back to the west, first by exposure to the Islamic invasions through Sicily and Spain, then with Crusaders returning from the Islamic orient, and finally from the foundering Byzantine Roman Empire. The universities of the Italian city-states embraced and disseminated this “new” knowledge widely to the thirsty minds of the day, and in doing so begat the resulting cultural-intellectual revolution. As a renaissance humanist intellectual, Machiavelli was unique in that while he appears to have known Latin, and been extremely well versed in the philosophy, history, and literary works of classic Greco-Roman authors like Cicero; he himself did not write in Latin but primarily in Italian, in the common vernacular of the people. He disdained and satirized the pomposity and hubris of the esoteric university humanists, and instead wrote brilliantly revolutionary practical intellectual works such as “the Prince.” Machiavelli’s genius was in his ability to logically apply the lessons of the great minds of Greek and Roman antiquity combined with the practical political, military, and sociological insights of late 15th century chaotic Medici Florence, crafted into an ultimate leader’s guide to become the next Julius Caesar, Pericles, or Caesar Borgia.