The Powers Of Rational Being Freedom Of The Will

The laws of nature as well as past and present states of the world motivate our actions, whether or not we are able to recognize the complex causes for the decisions we make. Every choice is the result of factors outside of our control. â€Å"Free will† can only exist if a person truly has the choice between multiple possible options; however, as hard determinists claim, every choice is fixed to only one possible outcome based on any number of existing outside factors. While libertarians believe in the concept of free will and choices based entirely on personal deliberation, compatibilists assert that the state of the world does potentially offer multiple outcomes, and so free will is possible alongside determinism. Peter van Inwagen, in his article, â€Å"The Powers of Rational Being: Freedom of the Will† states that the belief in free will is necessary for survival to avoid chronic indecisiveness, although he confuses the absence of free will for the absence of action , and simply makes an unconvincing case for duping oneself into believing in free will. While believing in the concept of free will necessarily ignores the influence of unchanging outside motivators, hard determinism provides a logical position on how certain results come to be without contradicting our ability to choose. The theory of causal determinism explains the way in which the laws of nature and the state of the world govern our decisions. There can be only one fixed outcome for every scenario, because man â€Å"isShow MoreRelated Freedom and Reason In Kant Essay1560 Words   |  7 PagesFreedom and Reason in Kant Morality, Kant says, cannot be regarded as a set of rules which prescribe the means necessary to the achievement of a given end; its rules must be obeyed without consideration of the consequences that will follow from doing so or not. A principle that presupposes a desired object as the determinant of the will cannot give rise to a moral law; that is, the morality of an act of will cannot be determined by the matter or content of the will for when the will is Read MoreThe Rational Way Of Life843 Words   |  4 PagesThe Rational Way of Life Epictetus’ Stoic Recommendation of Freedom Freedom is an arbitrary concept that has been and will always be limited. The notion of freedom is possible among equals, however, equality itself is universally different. 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As an attempt to the limitation of the existing studies, thisRead MorePower, Authority And Power And The Views Of The State1388 Words   |  6 Pagesauthority and power and the views of JS Mill and Plato, giving their thoughts, ideas and styles. The researcher will also apply these definitions of authority and democracy to both Mill’s and Plato’s theories of the state. Heywood tells us that authority is, in the broadest sense of the word, a form of power which can be thought of as ‘legitimate power’. He goes on to say how power, â€Å"is the ability to influence others† (Heywood, 2000). It is important to remember that authority and power are differentRead MoreHappiness Is An Activity Of The Soul1449 Words   |  6 Pagesand the rational. The irrational part consists of the vegetative part that is in charge of nutrition and growth, and the appetitive aspect that dominates our impulses. The vegetative part has a very small link to virtue, while the appetitive part â€Å"shares in it, in so far as it listens to and obeys it, this is the sense in which we speak of â€Å"taking account’ of one’s father or ones friends.† The rational part of the soul is in control of the impulses more; meaning one who is truly rational can betterRead MoreTilich, Marx and Feuerbach637 Words   |  3 Pagesof having a â€Å"wil l to believe.† This argument derives from Tillich’s belief that faith is the state of being ultimately concerned. Faith requires both rational and non-rational elements. Although faith is ecstatic, there must be a certain amount of awareness. The individual must be aware that there needs to be truth and ethical value associated to their belief. Indeed, man is the only living being that â€Å"has spiritual concerns- cognitive, aesthetic, social, and political.† (1) Therefore, faith is anRead More Communism vs. Hegelism 1679 Words   |  7 Pageswas in the process of being overthrown; there was political and civil unrest throughout Europe. In the midst of all this turmoil Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel emerged, presenting an analysis of history that would echo through the future, an understanding of the human condition, and an estimate of the end of said history and what would bring it about. This end of history would be brought about by the State, for the State’s sole purpose was to bring positive change and freedom to the individual. LessRead MoreJohn Locke And Modern Capitalism1204 Words   |  5 PagesJohn Locke was a philosopher that didn’t think human thought was based on pure egoistic behavior . Locke believed people were partially altruistic, believing that people respected the rights of others by rational thought capabilities. There is speculation about how John Locke would view the modern idea of American Capitalism and how it would complement or conflict his idea of the social contract. I will argue that John Locke would be against this interpretation of modern capitalism. There are differentRead MoreThe Political And Moral Thought Of Rousseau And Kant1571 Words   |  7 PagesConceptions of Freedom in the Political and Moral Thought of Rousseau and Kant In the Age of Enlightenment, both Rousseau and Kant discuss the idea of freedom concerning a man’s will. In spite of their shared conception of freedom as self-legislative autonomy, they differ markedly in terms of what freedom really means. The substantive differences between their accounts of freedom illustrate the two philosophers’ different perceptions about the norms of a civil state, which I suggest, are both flawedRead MoreEssay about Isaiah Berlin’s Two Concepts of Liberty790 Words   |  4 Pagesidentifies and contrasts the two components of freedom: negative and positive liberty. While the author’s voice is often confused amidst the frequent references to other political philosophies from Platonic to Millian theories, Berlin successfully argues that both of these notions can be misconstrued to the point where liberty itself is sacrificed. Although reasonable, Berlin’s assessment of the two concepts seems artificial and effortlessly simpl e, as if freedom could be defined according to a rubric;

The Battle Of Ia Drang Nco Academy - 1463 Words

Title of the Document Goes Here SFC Byron Allred, SFC Niup, SFC Paige, SFC Terrance Retch SLC #13D 001-16 Fort Sill NCO Academy The Battle of Ia Drang was the first major battle between regulars of the United States Army and regulars of the People s Army of Vietnam of North Vietnam during the Vietnam Conflict. The two-part battle took place between November 14 and November 18, 1965, at two landing zones West of Plei Me in the Central Highlands of South Vietnam, precisely at the footstep of Chu Pong massif, 25 kilometers west of Plei Me as part of the U.S. airmobile offensive codenamed Operation Silver Bayonet I (November 9–18, 1965). The battle derives its name from the Drang River which runs through the valley west of Plei Me, where the engagement took place (Ia means river in the local Montagnard language). Representing the American forces were elements of the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division: the 1/7 AC Battalion, 2/7 AC Battalion and the 2/5 AC Battalion of the 2nd Air Cavalry Brigade of the United States Army, facing elements of the B3 Front of the PAVN (including the 304th Division) and Viet C ong). The battle involved close air support by U.S. Army helicopter gunships and U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy tactical jet aircraft, and a bombing attack by USAF B-52s. The initial North Vietnamese assault against the landing 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry at LZ X-Ray was repulsed after two days and nights of heavy fighting on November 14–16, with the

Human Stem Cells

Question: Describe the background and basic of human stem cells. Answer: Stem cells are the pluripotent cells that are present in all the living organisms. These cells have the capacity to differentiate in to any kinds of cells like the blood cells, nerve cells, cardiac muscles and pancreatic islet cells. The main use of human stem cells is to treat catastrophic diseases like the Alzheimers, Parkinsons, birth defects, spinal cord issues, stroke, cancer, Type I diabetes, and the damaged organ. Stem cells are obtained basically from three main sites. First is from the embryonic cell that arises from a 3 to 5 day old blastocyst. These require in-vitro fertilization. Second is from the umbilical cord which can be frozen and used later. The third is from the induced pluripotent stem cells. Adult bone marrow can be artificially induced and back programmed to stem cells (Chan et al., 2009). Human stem cell cultivation and origin is addressed to many ethical issues. The first issue is in the source and the process of producing stem cells as they come from embryo. Some belief a human life that is embryo is to be sacrificed for producing a stem cell line (Hansen, 2012). The people who believe life starts after conception oppose the use of blastocyst and aborted fetus in researches. The other controversy is the use of stem cell to create siblings who serve as donors. Umbilical cord preservation and bone marrow implantation is subject to ethical issue. People believe it is irreligious to create embryos and then discard them so as to help the ill sibling. The strengths of Human stem cell is that it has immense medical benefits. The chronic illness can be cured by therapeutic cloning. The sufferers of the chronic illness would be able to live a healthy life. The second point it will cure the diseases that have not yet happened. It would treat the birth defects and improve the quality and survival of new born. The third is it will reverse the aging process the organs may undergo re-generative process and will work perfectly like the new ones. Thus, helping people to live healthy life (Hough et al., 2009). The fourth is it will give a advanced knowledge of human growth. It will help medical science to cure de-generative diseases by getting a better incite of body growth. The weaknesses are that it has high risk and uncertainties (Levens DeCherney, 2008). Nobody knows that after implantation is there 100% chance the sufferer will lead a healthy life. The second disadvantage is playing with god and nature is highly unethical. Human clonin g is a way of going against God as God has only the power to give birth to a new life. All this can have negative effects on the society. It may harm the society and would completely take up the belief of people relating to culture and religion. Religion is the thing that keeps a group of people together. In case, the bond between people is broken than the world will become a selfish place and which will surely harm the present as well as the future generations. The view that stem cell line will cure the medical illness is very effective and efficient in todays era. I am strongly in favor of the development of human stem cell line as today so many people suffer from chronic illness like Cancer, Alzheimers, and Parkinsons helping these people to get a better and healthy life is no way less than doing good deeds. God also advice mankind to do good deeds so saving the life of so many sufferers would surely make God happy. Stem cell line research if carried out in a proper and ethical way would not harm any religion or culture. Umbilical cord is just a thing that has to be thrown after delivery but if it can cure the lives of the family members than why to threw it. It can be easily preserved and help to cure people; and in no way it would be unethical (Streiffer, 2008). The other creating a blastocyst by in-vitro fertilization is fine if it is saving another alive kids life. Blastocyst is just a cell not a human or a baby, life starts after the baby comes in to the world. Thus, creating a cell by in-vitro fertilization wont harm even the mother or father or the sibling instead it would help the grown up sibling to live a happy and healthy life in future. So, it can be seen human stem cell is an effective and efficient technology that would improve the life condition of so many people who suffer from chronic illness and thus is a boon to the society. References Chan, E.M. et al., 2009. Live cell imaging distinguishes bona fide human iPS cells from partially reprogrammed cells. Nat. Biotechnol. 27, 10331037 Hansen, J.E. (2012) Embryonic stem cell production through therapeutic cloning has fewer ethical problems than stem cell harvest from surplus IVF embryos.J. Med. Ethics,28,8688. Hough, S.R., Laslett, A.L., Grimmond, S.B., Kolle, G., Pera, M.F., 2009. A continuum of cell states spans pluripotency and lineage commitment in human embryonic stem cells. PLoS One 4, e7708 Levens, E.D. DeCherney, A.H.(2008). Human oocyte research: the ethics of donation and donor protection. JAMA 300:21742176 Streiffer, R. (2008). Informed consent and federal funding for stem cell research. Hastings Cent Rep 38:4047

Narcolepsy Essays - Sleep Disorders, Narcolepsy, Orexin, Cataplexy

Narcolepsy Narcolepsy is a disease that has been on the receiving end of many jokes in our society. Yet it is a serious and life altering disease that is no laughing matter to the 1,000 in every 2,000 people in the U.S. that have it. I was drawn to this article because a former supervisor that I worked with had this disease. She was prescribed the drug Ritalin. It always impressed me that she could confront an angry client or give a speech without succumbing to the symptoms of her disease. She revealed that her case of narcolepsy wasn't that bad, but without the Ritalin she would just fall asleep anywhere. "The overall incident of narcolepsy is about 10 times that of Lou Gehrig's disease, half that of multiple sclerosis, five times that of cystic fibrosis, and about one quarter that of Parkinson's disease." Narcolepsy is a chronic disease, but not a progressive one. It is a puzzling neurological disorder that causes cataplexy, the loss of skeletal muscle tone without loss of consciousness, and persistent daytime sleepiness. Cataplectic attacks of narcolepsy can be triggered by exceedingly strong emotions such as laughter, embarrassment, anger, and athletic or sexual exertion. In tests on narcoleptic dogs, Emmanuel Mignot of Stanford and his co-workers identified a gene responsible for narcolepsy in dogs. "His research group determined that the dogs carry a mutation in the receptor for a neurotransmitter called hypocretin or orexin." These receptors are missing a critical part, so they can't respond normally to messages they receive. This is a recessive trait in the canines. However, they state that it is unlikely that most human narcoleptics have these mutated genes. Most narcoleptics have no narcoleptic relatives, and the disease does not occur until the second or third decade of life. Also, they have concluded that in 75 percent of the cases in which narcolepsy occurs in an identical twin, the other twin is unaffected. This, they say, indicates that environmental conditions are important in human narcolepsy. What environmental conditions are they? Damage to the hypocretin/orexin system due to environmental factors may mimic the symptoms caused by mutations. They feel that narcolepsy may be an auto-immune disease, in that the body turns against one of its own tissues are cell types. "The next step will be to determine whether the immune systems of narcoleptics are mistakenly targeting the hypocretin/orexin receptors in their own brains as foreign." according to Jerome Siegel. There are no concrete answers at the present time. Just hypotheses. Right now the only thing that science has to offer a narcoleptic is drugs to control their symptoms. For which I am sure that the sufferers of this disease are very grateful. We never seem to care about a disease until it strikes us or a loved one or friend. I'm thankful we have scientists out there who are working on answers to the causes and cures of various diseases, that hopefully, we may never have occasion to know about.