Socrates: The Greek Philosopher :: essays research papers

The life of the Greek philosopher Socrates (469-399 BC) marks such a critical point in Western thought that standard histories divide Greek philosophy into pre-Socratic and post-Socratic periods. Socrates left no writings of his own, and his work has inspired almost as many different interpretations as there have been interpreters. He remains one of the most important and one of the most enigmatic figures in Western philosophy. As a young man Socrates became fascinated with the new scientific ideas that Anaxagoras and the latter's associate Archelaus had introduced to Athens. He seems for a time to have been the leader of an Athenian research circle--which would explain why the first appearance of Socrates in literature is as a villainous, atheistic scientist in The Clouds of Aristophanes. Young Socrates also knew the Sophists and listened to their debates and ceremonial orations. Socrates and the Sophists Neither science nor Sophistry, however, could answer a new philosophic questio n that struck him. The earlier Greek thinkers had been concerned almost wholly with physics and cosmology until the Sophists suggested that what should be done instead was to teach young men skills to satisfy their natural self-interest. Instead, Socrates wondered: "What is a 'self'?" Although "Know Thyself!" was one of three sayings carved on the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, the directive proved difficult to carry out. The so-called scientific views of the time, particularly that of atomism, defined the self as a physical organ that responded to environmental pressure. Socrates felt, however, that the Sophists, for all their talk of self-interest, had little curiosity about the status of a self; they assumed that it was merely an isolated center constantly greedy for more pleasure, prestige, and power. The Sophists further thought that the values that people advocated were all conventional, varying from one culture to another, and that no one would ever act again st his or her own interest, regardless of how many people talked as though they would. This complex of ideas offered little to explain human nature and excellence. Socrates' Later Life and Thought Socrates, setting about his search for the self, was convinced of the importance of his quest. Until educators and teachers knew what human excellence was, he thought, they were engaging in false pretenses by claiming that they knew how to improve students or societies. Socrates believed that objective patterns, or "forms," exist that define human excellence, that these are neither culturally relative nor subjective, and that philosophic inquiry could discover them.

Jewellery Design Essay

The topic of this paper introduces jewellery design and development in Asia, and the problem which will be solved in this report is â€Å"why and how has Asian jewellery has changed over time and what has influenced its development?† Jewellery design is a relatively new industry although it derives from ancient activities such as goldsmith. Nowadays, jewellery design has been developed into a modern art that utilizes numerous skills. In this paper, Asian jewellery design will be researched and analyzed due to its unique style and different material chosen that attracts people all over the world. Specifically, the evolution of Asian jewellery design will be mentioned with a brief introduction of some jewellery in different period of time, while several design principles will be illustrated. In addition, the impact of the evolution and the reason why the evolution happens will also be discussed in the report. Moreover, some relevant content, such as famous designers and famous wearers, will be included, as well as the modern market trends. The research of the topic question will be conducted first by using library research, including analysis of historical records and documents. After gathering all data and information relevant to the topic, an analysis of the change and development of Asian jewellery design will be conducted in order to identify the evolution process and the impact of the Asian jewelry design. This paper itself has been divided into sections for ease of reading and explanation of the importance of cross-media promotion. In section 2, the research question will be completely introduced, and the literature review will be included in section 3. After that, the research method will be discussed in section 4, and an analysis and synthesis will be shown in section 5 and 6. In section 7 and 8, there will be research results and conclusion. Research Question This research paper was developed as part of CQUniversity’s Master of Creative Enterprise’s Arts Administration Research course requirements. The topic of Asian Jewellery is of particular personal interest to the researcher. This paper considers why and how has Asian jewellery has changed over time and what has influenced its development? It will also consider why people like or dislike certain styles of jewellery and the people and companies which design the jewellery. This paper also considers how jewellery has become an essential fashion accessory for the contemporary person. How it complements clothing and a person’s overall look. A comparison of styles and influences will also be undertaken. Different styles are also considered and as part of this topic, cultural influences (countries) and their effect on designs and style of every-day jewellery. Literature Review Generally speaking, jewelry may have several meanings, including status symbol, accessories, meaningful symbols, etc. People living in top class of a society normally wear many different expensive jewelries types every day, which can be considered as a status symbol showing other people how rich they are. In addition, normal people wear jewelries mainly as accessories in order to make them look prettier. Moreover, some religion will let their believers wear jewelries to show their faithfulness and to make them believe that they are totally blessed and prevented from any harmful things. In this case, jewelries can be also taken as a symbol of group membership. In Asia, specifically, there is thousands of years’ history of jewelry manufacture with several different uses among various cultures, especially in India and China. In ancient Asian cultures, jewelry was normally worn by women in order to show their status, beauty and wealth. It is recorded that the history of jewelry making can be traced back to over 5,000 years ago, which has been regarded as the longest continuous legacy in the area of jewelry. Jewelry making started in the Indus Valley Civilization which is located in the position of Pakistan at present. (REF) In China, jewelry making started around 5,000 years ago, the same period as India. However, it did not become popular until the spread of Buddhism 2,000 years ago. In China Material Speaking of material, in ancient China, silver was used more frequently than gold. In early Chinese jewelry, blue kingfisher feathers were introduced and were tied onto jewelry as a kind of decoration. Later, in jewelry design, blue gems and glass showed up, and they were added into jewelry. However, in terms of stone, jade was the undoubtedly most popular material. An ancient Chinese says like that: â€Å"gold is estimable, but jade is priceless.† The reason people favored jade is its quality, including hardness, durability, smooth, beauty, etc. The design of the first jade jewelry in ancient China was quite simple. However, the design evolved drastically as time goes on. Even, it is evident that compound milling machines were involved in the jade jewelry produced between the 4th and 7th centuries BC. Types There were numerous different types of jewelry in China. Surprisingly, very few earrings were found by modern archaeologists. The most common jewelry is amulets that normally cut with some traditional Chinese symbols or Buddhism symbols in order to keep the wearer safe. In addition, there are also differences between men’s jewelry and women’s jewelry. For instance, women’s head decoration is very detailed and complex, mainly made by gold and silver and other items such as jade, while men’s only decorative jewelry is the hat button, made by silver or gold that showed the man’s rank. Symbolize Moreover, in terms of the symbols cut on the jewelry, there were some common traditions in ancient China. For instance, the long (dragon) and Fenghuang (phoenix) were the symbol of power and the long (dragon) mean was the power of nature and universe, wisdom and longevity. Fenghuang (phoenix) was the King of Birds, that is a legendary bird, and it is meaning five virtues of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and sincerity. In Chinese history, normal people could not use the dragon symbols on their jewelry because the famous five clawed long (dragon) was the unique symbol representing the Chinese emperor. Also, the symbol of Fenghuang (phoenix), which is phoenix, was another royal symbol, representing the empress. Citizens were not allowed to use such symbols, or they would be sentenced to death.

Biological Nature Vs. Nurture - 871 Words

Pulling from the biological perspective, genetics is the study of heredity. Through these means, this paper explores the role that biological factors play in sex differences in mental health. In order to understand the effects of genes on an individual, the mediated effects of the environment are also taken into consideration. A major argument in the field of genetics is the nature vs. nurture debate regarding the role of genes and the environment that constitute the fate of an individual. Some research has found support for sex differences in depression accounted by differences in inheritance of depression, a benefit from twin studies (Rice, Harold, Thapar, 2002). If depression runs in the biological family, then the chances of developing depression are much higher in that individual, regardless of sex. Some studies have considered how the gene for a specific serotonin transporter can play a role in susceptibility to depression. Serotonin is a chemical important in balancing moods, and so it is believed that a deficiency in serotonin may be a cause for depression (McIntosh, 2015). The predictive role of serotonin in depression is exemplified by the monoamine hypothesis that biologically depression is due to lower levels of serotonin (Eley et al., 2010; McIntosh, 2015). For this reason, researchers have studied the effects that a serotonin gene transporter can have on depression Early childhood experiences of maltreatment have been found to be strongly predictive of theShow MoreRelatedNature Vs Nurture : The Biological Approach962 Words   |  4 Pages Nature vs Nurture is something that has been researched for many years especially when it comes to finding the reason for someone committing a crime. When talking about nature, I am talking about how you are born. The genes that you are born with that make you who you are. When referring to nurture I am talking about how someone is raised. 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