Dante, Plato, Aristotle Essay Example for Free

Dante, Plato, Aristotle Essay The assignment is poetry v. philosophy. Plato speaks of a quarrel b/t poetry and philosophy. He dismisses the arts while Aristotle defends them. DO we see traces of this quarrel in later traditions? If so, where? And how is it played out there? For this essay, in addition to Plato and Aristotle, focus on Dantes Inferno. (Please look to see if my thesis is clear and strong, my evidence is all relevant, and whether this whole essay persuades you) Throughout his life, Plato strongly believed that the arts and philosophy directly opposed each other. On the other hand, Aristotle defended poetry as an aid to philosophy. Dante, a philosophical poet, successfully synthesizes Plato and Aristotles views in the Divine Comedy of the Inferno without compromising either school of thought. He acknowledges the fact that while the arts have its uses within the material world and philosophy its uses in the spiritual, both need the other to be complete. Both Plato and Aristotle agree that poetry brings about great emotion which has a lasting impact on the individual and society. However, they disagree on poetrys emotional effects. In Meno, Plato believes it results in harm while Aristotle argues that it leads to improvement in Poetics. Upon closer inspection, we see that Dantes Inferno contains a philosophical significance underlying its poetic style. Poetry and philosophy work towards the same end, but in different ways. There is no doubt that poetry is an imitation. What Aristotle and Plato dispute over is the source of that imitation. Plato strongly states that the arts are mimetic, twice removed from the truth. They are an imitation of the ideal entities in the realm of the forms, in which all things are perfect. For instance, tragedy presents multiple possibilities and situations rather than a single essence. In Meno, Platos Socrates discusses the difference between doxa and episteme. Poets, politicians and priests utilize doxa, a type of knowledge that is not mediated through any intellectual reasoning. This further demonstrates the composition of the material realm. Right opinion, or doxa, flees from the mind just as the materialistic body quickly perishes. Socrates says opinion is not worth much until it is fastened with reasoning of cause and effect (Plato 65). He is alluding to episteme, true knowledge that remains in the brain. This is accomplished through intellectual inquiry in the ideal realm. Throughout the dialogue, Menon insults Socrates by saying he looks like a stingray, alluding to a type of numbing-drug. However, Menon proves to have false knowledge as Socrates shows how anamnesis occurs via the Socratic Method. Only when he experiences aporia, the state of confusion and realization of ones ignorance, can he reach true knowledge. The reference to the drug, pharmakon, symbolizes how Menon became numb to the false, material world in order to transition to the divine realm where all things originate. While Plato asserts that imitation comes from the true essence of things, Aristotle believes it has its roots in human action. In Poetics, he examines how humans have an instinct for imitation, harmony and rhythm. We often learn our earliest lessons from mimesis. Aristotle asserts that the only way to reach the ideal is through action. He views it as a horizontal developmental rather than a vertical one, as Plato did. By the process of energia, we move from potential to actuality. This is also analogous to the concept of the material to the ideal. We come out of the cave and into the sun through our own activities. As the arts best represent action, tragedy contains knowledge because it presents psychological possibilities and universal truths about ourselves. Each possible reality may be the ideal essence. Tragedy, after all, is an imitation of action and of life, not men. The stage externalizes whats within our souls. The actors play out the meaning of life which the audience can safely inspect without endangering themselves. This perspective is extremely human-centric compared to Platos divine ideal. For instance, tragedy contains plot that is action-centric and based on the structure of incidents. Unlike a story, a plots events can be resequenced in any fashion. This is like an experiment in which the stage is our lab. A plot can furthermore be split in two ways: complex or simple. A complex plot contains peripeteia and anagnorisis. The latter, similar to Platos Meno, shows the progression from ignorance to knowledge. Yet the characters on stage, even after making decisions, are still susceptible to Fortunes will. Thus peripeteia occurs, alluding to God and the divine realm we ultimately reach with the aid of anagnorisis. There are some things people cant control. However, what we do imitate and control are our actions within the material world. For Aristotle, action was the most significant aim to focus on. In Dantes Inferno, the poet Virgil guides Dante into Hell. Poetry begins to act as a gentler remedy compared to philosophy. It is more relatable to the human mind and physical world. Through catharsis, Dante must eliminate all emotional tumult to become enlightened. This process of catharsis is similar to the movement from the material to spiritual realm. Paradiso, the highest realm, is where true intellect exists and where we become one with God. In the second canto, Dante demonstrates the wickedness of emotions and the materialistic realm when Virgil tells him: Your soul has been assailed by cowardice, which often weighs so heavily on a man- distracting him from honorable trails- as phantoms frighten beasts when shadows fall. (lines 45-48) This is an extremely Platonian perspective. Partially right, Plato believed that tragedy produced cowardly leaders as it appealed to passion rather than logic and reason. Through Virgil, Dante demonstrates how the arts, especially poetry, are effective in cleansing the soul of emotion by experiencing or contemplating it. Much like the Socratic Method in Meno, Dante must become numb to false knowledge via catharsis and begin with a clean slate. He accomplishes this by observing the damned in the inferno. When he passes through aporia, only then will he become enlightened and obtain truth. The shadows are a reference to Augustines visio corporals, the cave of pure materiality, in which false knowledge resides. Dante says in canto one that man must come out of the shadowed forest (line 2) where he is so full of sleep (line 11). All this is accomplished through human action, represented through tragedy and poetry. Furthermore, Virgil symbolizes the coming emergence of Christian Rome through Dante. He has already taken Aeneas to the Underworld, setting up the entire story. Parallel to this, poetry lays the necessary foundation for the coming age of philosophy. Dante uses typology of the inferno to paradiso. Like the Hebrew Bible, the inferno remains incomplete and foreshadows whats to come. The New Testament completes the text, in the same way philosophy does to poetry. Each is interdependent on the other. In the Inferno, Dante fails to read the inscription to the Gateway to Hell, demonstrating how the archaic style of backgrounding no longer resounds in the new age of foregrounding. This method brings to light how the mind reads and interprets with reason. Because the material realm is incomplete, Dante cannot move to this abstract, spiritual meaning without first going through the forest. In the third canto, Virgil describes to Dante how those in hell have lost the good of the intellect (line 18). The mind can never be fulfilled as it is a pure sensory experience. This is proven when Virgil is only able to guide Dante so far. He cannot take Dante beyond the material realm because he is not a Christian. He represents the arts, the non-metaphysical. A higher entity, Beatrice, will lead him to paradiso. Virgil declares in canto one: If you would then ascend as high as these / a soul more worthy than I am will guide you (lines 121-122). Likewise, we can think of poetry, represented by Virgil, as a disguise to philosophy, the eventual remedy of Beatrice. While philosophy speaks of a thing itself, poetry uses metaphors as a transition to reach a philosophical conclusion. It is a vehicle for truth in its own peculiar way, addressing our minds through imagination, sensibility and feelings. Dante can synthesize Plato and Aristotles views because they are working toward one common goal: the divine, the cave of pure intellect. The mechanisms of philosophy are simply a more sophisticated turn on poetry. Traces of Plato are still seen in Dante, especially when he states in the fifth canto: Those who undergo this torment are damned because they sinned subjecting reason to the rule of lust (lines 37-39). However, in tragedy, what seems irrational and absurd to the audience becomes permeated with reason as it speaks the universal truth about ourselves. The arts show there is something beyond human thought and action as the audience learn how we cannot control everything. There is something beyond this human, materialistic world that we cannot begin to understand. This is God, which is exactly what philosophy aims at. It speaks the truth, not only of human action, but of the existence of the ultimate good. In this way, poetry consists of rational thought and intellect. Virgil tells Dante in canto eight: Forget your fear, no one can hinder our passage; One so great has granted it (lines 104-105). We are turning inward to our souls to reach the divine. This also speaks of Gods infinite and unexplainable power. God makes the impossible possible. Dante had to go down into the deepest level of hell to see the divine. This irony demonstrates catabasis and anagogy, the one single movement towards God. Furthermore, Cassius and Brutus foreshadow Judas betrayal. These three make up the material inversion of the Holy Trinity. We are able to see God in Lucifer. This demonstrates the typology from the inferno to paradiso as well as the process of recollection in Platos Meno and Aristotles Poetics. Just as Dante had to move through death to experience life, the reader must pass through poetry to obtain philosophy. All thinking about God involves moving from the material to the realm of the forms. The divine uses metaphors, our language, to help us understand. We are able to indirectly talk to God through poetry as He determines our fate. It was his will to send Dante into Hell. Like poetrys catharsis and philosophys pharmakon, Dante engages his mind as he journeys through the inferno. By looking and contemplating the suffering of the damned, he becomes reconciled to aspects of his life which would otherwise be nonsensical. Both the poet and philosopher seek the existence of God and of the metaphysical. Although Dante recognizes that the arts have limited utility, he realizes how poetry helps lay the foundation for philosophy through the Aristotelian and Platonian method. It has a cognitive function by helping to better appreciate and complete philosophy. As Venantius Fortunatus wrote in his hymn Vexilla Regis, by death did life procure. Likewise, by poetry did philosophy come about.

My Philosophy of Education :: Teaching Teachers Educational Essays

My Philosophy of Education I always get asked why I am a chemistry major if I have no intention of working in industry. My sarcastic verbal answer is that I must not like having free time, or getting credit for four hour-long labs. The real reason is because I have a passion for education, especially in the sciences. Children are our future and as such need to be educated. I believe one of the key reasons why the United States is the great nation that it is today is because of the educational opportunities that we offer the masses. This way, we have a larger pool for our leaders of tomorrow to be pulled from. It is our job as teachers to educate these masses and even if they don’t become the leaders of tomorrow, they are going to fulfill important roles in society. We owe the American Dream to the younger generations; they deserve not only the opportunities that we had, but even more opportunities. I would like to see every child pursue the path of success and tap into their unlimited potential. While this is a wonderful dream, it is not realistic. Due to many factors such as, but most certainly not limited to learning disabilities, substance abuse, violence, incurable diseases, inadequate family involvement, not all students will come close to their actual potential. Above and beyond giving children an education in our field, we are to help them overcome these problems and to succeed in life. By giving a child an education, we are giving them a future. There are many ways in which we can overcome many of these problems. Learning disabilities are becoming less of a disadvantage these days due to in and out of class support and diverse teaching methods. By catering to multiple intelligences and helping students find their niches in school, we are helping them stay away from drugs and violence by giving an alternate venue to express themselves. Students are us ually better off if they have a family that is actively involved and supportive of their education. As educators we must plan programs for those students who are deficient in this area, we must also be supportive and supply the students with a conducive environment for education.

Macy’s Store Essay

1. Macy’s and other department stores are faced with imminent problems where sales are declining each year. Due to high competition and many substitutions in the market, company must always analyze, investigate, and plan for decision making. Creating situational analysis is a great way to analyze both the internal and external environments in order to understand the company’s capabilities, business environment, and customers. In Macy’s case, some of the external factors are competition and economy. Since competitors such as discount stores and specialty stores are attracting many customers, Macy’s need to find a solution to differentiate themselves from others to deliver value. Some of the examples can be lowering prices to meet customer expectations, expand market by using online- shopping, or take a survey to gather which brands or items customers want in Macy’s department store. Economy is another crucial factor store has to consider. When the economy is healthy, stores tend to worry less, but when the economy is in recession, customers will spend less and find a cheaper substitute items to purchase. Although Macy’s positioned themselves as upper middle class, company can increase sales by also providing less expensive brands for customers to choose from. As for internal factors, training employees, contract with excellent suppliers, and positive recognized brand will strengthen Macy’s. For example, experienced management can teach and lead employees to perform day-to-day operations and to be professional in what they do. Brand awareness is also an important factor since customer’s judge product and service by its brand image. 2. To this date, Macy’s is struggling to find a sustainable competitive advantage in the retail industry. Clothing store such as ZARA and H&M have a definite advantage since they attract customers by displaying latest fashionable clothing with affordable price and Macy’s on the other hand, have not yet able to deliver right messages to buyers. Moreover, Macy’s consolidation and efforts to become national-wide brand are not unique because most major retailers in the states are now national brands. However, Macy’s strategy of positioning themselves as â€Å"mid-level† can become a unique competitive advantage in the future because people would believe its merchandise is neither cheap nor expensive. This way people won’t judge Macy’s as a â€Å"cheap store† but store which carries affordable items. Nevertheless, Macy’s still face a serious threat since fashion clothing retailers such as H&M and Urban outfitters are targeting teenagers with very low prices. One way to improve competitive advantage may be quality. Customers know H&M is a cheap, fashionable store and they also know clothing will wear out if washed couple times. By focusing on quality, people may recognize paying extra money to purchase Macy’s merchandise is saving money in long- term. 3. Overall, Macy’s consolidation and repositioning strategy have many advantages since the company converted 15 department stores to Macy’s brand; Remodelling stores promote a pleasant shopping experience to customers, displaying fashionable clothing to attract trend-followers, and developing private brands to increase profits. As mentioned above, the first strength to this change is the decision to consolidate. By using the same brand name, this will reduce advertising costs, customers will easily recognize the brand, and since all stores carry same products they may have bargaining power over suppliers. Next advantage is locations. Since Macy’s now have approximately 810 stores in 50 states, customers can visit any Macy’s stores without inconvenience. Moreover, because all stores carry same products, services, and designs, buyers can visit any stores to buy what they need. Last strength is Macy’s focus on affordable fashion. People nowadays value fashion so much that they simply won’t purchase clothing that is boring and bland. By recognizing these factors, Macy’s are working with top designers to attract and show buyers their brand is fashionable and also affordable. Despite of these advantages, Macy’s also have weakness to worry about. Customers are complaining that the price of merchandise increased and they would shop elsewhere. Macy’s would reduce these complaints by offering coupons or to perform customer relationship program to recognise those who are loyal to the store and give special incentives or discounts. 4. æ ­ ¤Ã§â€ ¨Ã¦Ë† ·Ã¥  Ã¥ · ²Ã¨ ¢ «Ã¦ ³ ¨Ã¥â€ Å',è ¯ ·Ã¥  ¦Ã¦  ¢Ã¤ ¸â‚¬Ã¤ ¸ ªDepartment stores are faced with serious threat since industry is declining and competitions are growing rapidly. But Macy’s have found a bold strategy to compete in a tough market. Macy’s has a good chance of succeeding in 5 years since the store recognizes the trend and strives to meet customer’s needs. In order to extremely successful in the future however, Macy’s need to closely monitor competitors such as Nordstrom, ZARA, and H&M to gather competitor intelligence and to react to fast changing market. Brand awareness is also a crucial factor for success. Brand loyal customers tend to be less price sensitive because they have a strong belief that it is worth paying more money. If Macy’s can build brand royal customers, they would reduce advertising costs, and have positive brand image. Lastly, pricing its merchandise will be a key point for success in 5 years bec ause price is what makes customers to make a purchase or to find a substitute.

Quotes From John Steinbecks Of Mice and Men

Of Mice and Men is a novel by John Steinbeck. This tragedy was first published in 1937. The story is told from the third-person omniscient point-of-view. Of Mice and Men follows the misadventures of Lennie and George, two ranch hands in California. Here are a few quotes from Of Mice and Men. Quotes A few miles south of Soledad, the Salinas River drops in close to the hillside bank and runs deep and green. The water is warm too, for it has slipped twinkling over the yellow sands in the sunlight before reaching the narrow pool.- John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men, Ch. 1Evening of a hot day started the little wind to moving among the leaves. The shade climbed up the hills toward the top. On the sand banks, the rabbits sat as quietly as little gray, sculptured stones.- John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men, Ch. 1Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They dont belong no place... With us it aint like that. We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us. We dont have to sit in no bar room blowin in our jack jus because we got no place else to go. If them other guys gets in jail they can rot for all anybody gives a damn. But not us.- (George) John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men, Ch. 1Whatever we aint got, thats what you want. God amighty, if I was alone I could live so easy. I could go get a job an work, an no trouble. No mess at all, and when the end of the month come I could take my fifty bucks and go into town and get whatever I want.- (George) John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men, Ch. 1