Socratic Method Essay Example for Free

Socratic Method Essay Since the formulation of the Socratic Method, it has been made reasonably clear that the quest for knowledge is based on firstly knowing that one does not know everything and secondly that the only way to know more about anything is to ask more questions. This does not imply of course that one simply propound any knowledgeable person with a barrage of question. This simply suggests that perhaps not accepting everything at face value without any verification as to its truth or validity is simply not the way to learn. From the earliest years, the questions, what, who, how, when, where and the all time favorite, why, have been uttered at least a dozen times by any single person. While these are not the keys to critical thinking, they do form an important foundation of critical thinking and that is that it challenges the current knowledge and pushes people to find out more about things and not simple be content with what is present. Herein lays the first benefit of critical thinking. It challenges the mind to ask more questions and remains at the very center of the quest for knowledge. Without critical thinking, everything in itself would become the rule and nothing would ever be the exception. A falling apple would be a different rule in itself and not connected to a flying bird when in it is in fact clear that through the exercise of critical thinking gravity and all the other forces are at work on these two objects. Secondly, critical thinking pushes at boundaries. To simply say that a truth is truth in itself is naive. Critical thinking plays an important role in all of this because it does not alter the truth but simply brings more of it into light. It reveals and enlightens and only constricts those who are too bound and caught up in the piece of truth that they have come to know. Critical thinking provides other clear benefits but none as important as its role in uncovering the complete truth and driving the quest for knowledge for the benefit of all mankind. After all, critical thinking in itself would never even be the subject of this discussion if it never existed.

Organ Donation :: essays papers

Organ Donation In March of 1999, I was given a gift from a person I never knew; a person I’ll never get to know. This gift cost the person who gave it to me, no money, but it was the most valuable gift I’ll ever receive. The gift was a piece of life from another person. At the age of twenty-four, I broke my hip. After three unsuccessful surgical attempts to heal it, my doctors performed a total hip replacement. The top four inches of my femur were sawed off, and the inside of my bone was hollowed out. A steel rod, nine inches long, was â€Å"pressed fit† into my bone. I was on crutches for over a year, but I really believed I would be able to walk on my own again. Less than one year after the surgery, I was back on crutches and in terrible pain. I had developed stress fractures in several places along my femur. For nearly one year I walked only when it was necessary and ate painkillers as though they were candy. Finally, my doctors decided to try something new. On March 9, 1999, my doctors took a rib bone, donated from a cadaver, split it in half, and wired it around my broken femur. Less than two months later, I was off crutches and walking normally for the first time in almost five years. I could actually enjoy life. I was lucky. I wasn’t going to die if I had no donor, donated bone is easier to acquire that a heart, lung or kidney. Other people are not as lucky. Patients waiting for one of those life-sustaining organs must rely on the generosity of others, and the misfortune of that generous person. Someone must die, in order for that person to live. No one likes to talk about death, but let’s face it, we all die. Dying is a part of life. Many people don’t talk about organ donation because it involves talking about death. But, what if, from our death, we could give another person a chance to live, or merely improve the quality of his or her life? As of September 1999, over 65,000 people wait, with their name on a list, for a life saving organ. Only a fraction of those will live long enough to receive that organ.

Food and the Endless Waltz Essay

Akira Kurosawa’s seminal work Seven Samurai is a stirring and heart-rending commentary on 16th century Japan. The movie focuses on the rigid caste system of Japan where warriors fight while peasants farm to support them. The film’s artistic value makes it worthy of being called a Kurosawa masterpiece. However, it is in the lesson the film seeks to impart that is perhaps where the true genius of Kurosawa is seen. Set in the Sengoku Jidai, the century of war, the haughty warrior class are locked in an endless waltz of bloodshed while the food producing peasant, the true heart of Japan, are ignored though they always win in the end. For pure production value alone Seven Samurai was a masterpiece. Kurosawa introduced a number of filming techniques that would soon be mainstream fare for action films the world over. One example is the use of slow motion filming to emphasize the death of a main character. It was also the most expensive Japanese film of its time and is possibly the most successful Japanese film period. The premise of the film is as common as rice in Sengoku Jidai Japan. A group of bandits, either masterless samurai called Ronin or desperate peasants driven to banditry by the loss of their farms to the constant warfare, are terrorizing a village. Peasants lacking the skills and weapons to fight back they seek help from the Gentleman Warrior class known as Samurai. After much hardship they find Seven Samurai, well six considering that Kikuchiyo was just a pretender, who after much blood shed succeed in fending of the bandit. Ironically, instead of a victory parade or laurels they are ostracized by the people they just bled for. The main theme is the separation between the Warrior class and the peasants. The peasants humbly admit that they are incapable of fighting and are forced to go to the city and recruit Samurai who are willing to fight for mere three meals a day since that is all they can afford to pay. The haughty Samurai reject this offer since, as member of the gentleman warrior class they deserve better than three peasant meals a day as wages for their services. With the help of a grizzled veteran Samurai named Kanbei they managed to recruit Six Samurai plus a straggler named Kikuchiyo. They receive a cold welcome from the other villagers who fear them as much as they feared the bandits. This theme continues to be played out during the movie. In the past wounded, fleeing Samurai were killed and robbed by the villagers when the Samurai sought refuge there. The Seven Samurai are enraged at this brutality and nearly turn on their employers. The farmers are worried that the Samurai would take their young women and in fact one of the Samurai does carry on an affair with a village daughter. All this is the result of the age old tradition that only certain worthy individuals could become Samurai warriors. The rest of the rural folk are consigned to becoming peasants. The Samurai choose to break this tradition by training the local peasants to help them defend the village, albeit with limited success. The end of the movie displays the most poignant scene in the whole film. Four of the Samurai are slain but the village is sucessfully defended. Instead of showing gratitude, the villagers ignore the surviving Samurai and busy themselves with planting next year’s crop. Kanbei lament that â€Å"He has never won a battle† is given new meaning. Doubtless, the three surviving Samurai will move on to another of the endless battles of the era known as â€Å"The century of war† leaving the villagers in peace. Victory belongs not to the slain bandits nor the ostracized surviving Samurai but to the common peasants. They won because their life can now go back to normal to planting the life giving rice that sustains Japan to this day. True, they are maltreated by their lords, helplessly slaughtered in the battles, and at times forcibly conscripted as they were in the film. But the peasant’s life will continue, planting rice, water and tend the crop, then harvest just as he had for centuries, just as he will continue to do.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Another theme is the superiority of modern technology over the old. Many subplots in the movie are about disabling the firearms of the bandits. There are fourty bandits and only seven Samurai but the Samurai are better skilled only the firearms give the bandits the upper hand. In fact all four of the Samurai killed died due to gunfire and not in honorable single combat.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Finally there is the wisdom of Kikuchiyo. He was a phony Samurai lacking the high-birth of a proper member of the warrior class. Yet with the exception of Kanbei perhaps he had the most significant role in the movie. He is the one who sucessfully breaks the ice and convinces the Villagers to flee from their hiding places and meet the other Samurai. He was also the one who pointed out that the reason the fleeing Samurai are maltreated by the villagers is because they too absorbed cruel treatment from the warrior class. It was mainly through his wisdom and understanding, he is not actually a Samurai but a farmer’s son, that the Samurai and the villagers are able to work together in harmony. Truly, despite his unworthy roots and oafish behavior he is probably the most ‘Samurai’ of the seven. He dies a noble and worthy death avenging a fallen comrade and slaying the leader of the bandits.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As stated earlier, Seven Samurai is a testimony to the skill of Akira Kurosawa in both writing and directing. The films shows the suffering of the peasants during the Sengoku Jidai. The Samurai win victories only to waltz on to another of the endless battles perhaps to win or perhaps to die. But after the warrirors leave the food producing peasant will stay in his field and contiue planting his life giving crop. Sources Kurosawa, Akira â€Å"Seven Samurai† (26 April 1954)   

Sociology - the Blind Side Essay - 919 Words

The Blind Side In the context of this extraordinary real life story a boy, depending on which society you come from he came from â€Å"The other side of the tracks† or â€Å"The wrong side of the tracks†. The story is about a young black kid who is shuffled between the welfare system, Foster homes that he runs away from and the mother (a drug addict) that has let him down. Big Tony takes him along I think as leverage to get his own son in to a Catholic school because they can both play sports. The coach seems more interested in â€Å"Big Mike† more because of his size and agility. The teachers are very concerned about the lack of education he has had, but they pull together to bring his grades up. The Tuohy family is well off and†¦show more content†¦Birth alone does not Determine his entire life. Social Stratification works here in that as a trait of society is not simply a reflection of Individual differences, privileged position, children born into wealthy families are more likely to enjoy better health, do well in school and have a successful career and also live along life. With Michael and his circumstances and the welcoming of him in the family this enhanced his chances for his entire life, also the social mobility was his change within the social hierarchy. Others in this story are more critical than the school, peers, teachers, coaches and some of Leigh Anne Tuohy’s friends. The racial card rears its ugly head at a football game where racial Slurs are yelled out like â€Å"Fat ass boy† â€Å"Kickin that blue gums ass†, â€Å"Boy†, â€Å"Big black bear† and by her friends he is ranked from their social standards as â€Å"A large black boy† and for his size he will â€Å"eat them out of business† ( They own like a million Taco Bells, according to S.J). Michael is just an even tempered 17 year old that just wants a family and an identity as an individual. We are a â€Å"melting pot† of differences that should work together to create a better future for us all not just for the privileged. The N.A.A.C.P. was a shocking moment they tried pulling the racial Card because of his color and size saying the family had done this to better benefit them as well as the College theyShow MoreRelatedA Sociological Analysis Of The Blind Side1517 Words   |  7 Pages Hayden Allis July 30, 2017 Sociology 101-L66 A Sociological Analysis of The Blind Side The Blind Side is a true story about a boy named Michael Oher who grew up in a very bad neighbor hood that was taken away from his mother at a young age. He was brought to a private school by his friend’s parents. The Tuohy family saw him walking in a storm found out he does not have a place to stay, so they took him in, fed him, then gave him a few new clothes. 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During his secondary education, Weber studied languages, history, economics and philosophy, but he is considered to be one of the founder fathers of modern Sociology. After studying many of the world’s political and social issues, Weber desired to explore the origin of the modern West and how it would develop for years to come. (Kalberg, S. (2011) Weber’s theory of a value neutrality was directed toward sociologistRead MoreEssay on Marriage in Romeo and Juliet1448 Words   |  6 Pagesmight become acceptable in the future. In the play, Shakespeare uses a lot of illuminating quotations from the play, illustrating a range of themes such as light and dark, sun/moons/stars and sociology. He uses stars to emphasize the fact they were star crossed lovers. Sociology is the main theme throughout, showing that in those days it really was important, I think he also wanted to prove it was a big flaw to their society. This needed to be changed. Illuminating imagesRead MoreNegative Effects of Obedience Exposed in Milgram Experiment vs â€Å"The Lottery†1052 Words   |  4 Pages‘Seventy-seventh time.’†(Jackson), the lottery has been going on for at least eight decades if not more. Further indications includes the black box, â€Å"The black box grew shabbier each year: by now it was no longer completely black but splintered badly along one side to show the original wood color, and in some places faded or stained.† (Jackson). Estimating from these two quotes, the lottery could have started back in the ancient days where people at the time were far more superstitious and made this ritual as