We Must Demand the Moral and Ethical Application of Technology :: Argumentative Persuasive Argument Essays

We Must Demand the Moral and Ethical Application of Technology Since the beginning of human history, earth has appeared as a nutshell that encloses many secrets. These secrets have hindered man from accomplishing his dream of mastering the world. However, as need is known to be the mother of invention, man has started to be critical about every phenomenon that takes place. Accordingly, learning has been regarded as an important tool for the improvement of humanity. Throughout the years, education has given birth to a huge database of scientific principles. Technology is known to be the application of scientific principles to the problems of everyday life. Technology is the ability of no other species but humans. Moreover, technological activity has been a measure of civilization. One cannot imagine a society without technology, as it will hardly be advanced or long-lived. Technology in itself is morally and ethically neutral. However, it is a double-edged weapon. The twentieth century has witnessed an extreme upheaval in the negative usage of te chnology. Therefore, many voices have been raised asking for a moral technology that respects human rights and ethical codes. It is very important to discuss this issue together with the role of various institutions that trigger the widespread of this idea for the benefit of humanity and for a better future on earth. Aristotle has outlined that man, when perfected, is the best of animals, but, when separated from law and justice, he is the worst of all. Technology has been used primarily for the welfare of humanity. Through technological advancements, many secrets of the universe have been revealed contributing to the overall man civilization. No one can deny that good and evil are as old as the existence of man on earth. However, one can trace that as man reaches more and more progress, he looses more and more of his good instinctive human nature. This interesting but depressing relation poses many questions concerning the effect of technology on our lives. Sadly, we have witnessed many examples that show us that many immoral actions and unethical practices have been a sign of the last decades. It is crucial to define some terminologies that add a lot to our understanding of our life in general such as human rights, ethics, and morality.   These important concepts will help us to see technolog y in a wider vision rather than the narrow one that most people perceive.

Recognition and Reversal: Othello Essay

Aristotle classifies both recognitions and reversals as the greatest point of tragedy in a play or story. Recognitions and reversals are consistently used to develop character, advance the plot, and get a reaction of pity and fear from the audience. Recognition is the act of realization or knowledge or feeling that someone or something present has been encountered before. Reversals are a major change in attitude or principle or point of view. For the main character or hero/protagonist to realize everything that has happened throughout, reversals are used by the writer or writers. Recognition is a device which helps readers to realize a reversal. Other ways in which recognitions and reversals can be used is when the audience or reader has pity for the hero. Pity is a result of a combination of reversal and recognition. Another way recognition and reversal can be used is when the reader or audience reacts to fear, a product of reversal and recognition formed into a shocking ending to a plot. The greatest point of tragedy, as Aristotle calls it, happens when not only shock, but reversal, recognition, and pain are presented around the center of the play or story in an unexpected instant to the audience or reader at the end of a play or story. In â€Å"Othello† by William Shakespeare, examples of recognition and reversal can be seen throughout the play as the hero/protagonist Othello, goes through a life changing experience in which he realizes things through a somewhat shaded lens. In the play, as we near the end, the proceedings change and finally Othello is able to see that he has made a mistake. In a perfect world, it would not be too late to change what the aftermath will be. But, in Othello’s case, the recognition in this dramatic play happens way too late for Othello to correct the situation. â€Å"Othello† truly offer readers evident examples of recognition and reversal. Reversal is most evident in the final Act in Scene II where Othello kills Desdemona. Before the murder, Othello’s love for Desdemona is portrayed in Act II, Scene I when Desdemona arrives in Cyprus, â€Å"It gives me wonder great as my content / To see you here before me. O my soul’s joy,†¦As hell’s from heaven! If it were now to die, ‘Twere now to be most happy, †¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Kennedy and Gioia, II. I. 176-177, 182-183). However, as the play moves further along, Iago starts to manipulate the mind of Othello and Othello’s trust in Desdemona starts to diminish. At the start of Act V, Scene I, Othello places a great deal of trust in Iago – â€Å"O brave Iago, honest and just, Thou hast such noble sense† (Kennedy and Gioia, V. I. 32-33). But in Act V, Scene II, the truth about Iago is revealed to Othello by Cassio and Emilia. Othello’s trust in Desdemona is shown throughout the play until his trust starts to wither as Iago twists his mind, â€Å"Yet she must die, else she’ll betray more men . / Put out the light†¦If I quench thee, thou flaming minister, / I can again thy former light restore,†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Kennedy and Gioia, V. II. 6-9). The greatest recognition in Othello occurs in Act V, Scene II, lines 87-91. Othello kills Desdemona. Then Cassio and Emilia appear and reveal Iago’s evil plot and Desdemona’s innocence. Othello then realizes that he was wrong and that his trusted friend Iago has played him for a fool. Once Othello speaks of the handkerchief he gave to Desdemona as a symbol of their love, Emilia knows that Iago is the person who set up Desdemona and Othello is not the one to blame. Emilia keeps repeating the words, â€Å"My husband?† (Kennedy and Gioia, V. II. 145, 152, 156) as she makes an incomprehensibly swift journey from knowing absolutely that Iago, her dear husband, is honest and totally trustworthy, to realizing that in fact he was the quintessential villain. The most distressing recognition comes near the end of the play, when Emilia, Desdemona’s friend and ally, realizes that her beloved husband Iago is the cause of all the misery and misfortune that is killing th em all. Furthermore, she realizes that she has played an unintentional part in the tragedy by following Iago’s request to steal Desdemona’s handkerchief. It has all been a plot by Iago to destroy Othello, and this is finally revealed to everyone, including Emilia (Kennedy and Gioia, V. II. 179-182, 187-189). To see Emilia come to full awareness is to see first the emotional breakdown caused by this revelation, and then to see it begin to build, as she shows heartbreak, guilt, awareness of betrayal, and recognition of supreme cruelty on the part of someone she has trusted with her life. She finally speaks  with the words, â€Å"Villainy, villainy, villainy!† (Kennedy and Gioia, V. II. 197), knowing she has to persuade everyone of Desdemona’s innocence. Recognition again occurs in Act V Scene II when Emilia hears Othello mention the handkerchief, after he has killed Desdemona: â€Å"With that recognizance and pledge of love / Which I first gave her. I saw it in his hand; / It was a handkerchief, an antique token / My father gave my mother† (Kennedy and Gioia, V. II. 221-224). At the same time, the attending visitors and soldiers, who have been called into action by Emilia’s cries in Act V, Scene II, are also realizing the truth of these terrible events. The reversal occurs as Emilia discloses that it was she who stole Desdemona’s handkerchief, â€Å"She give it Cassio? No, alas, I found it, / And I did give’t my husband† (Kennedy and Gioia, V. II 236-237). Immediately Othello knows that Iago has deceived him, and the recognition occurs as he says, â€Å"Are there no stones in Heaven / But what serves for the thunder? Precious villain!† (Kennedy and Gioia, V. II. 242-243). Emilia cannot contain herself until she has made Othello realize fully that his murder of Desdemona was based on lies told by Iago, who stands with her, threatening her life as she shouts the truth in Act V, Scene II. Her final words come after Iago stabs her for speaking. So, a triple realization happened all at once: Emilia’s living her own devastating heartbreak; she announced the truth for Othello; Othello immediately goes through an explosive episode once the truth is revealed, and then finally sees what deadly mistakes he has made. At the end of the final Act and Scene, after Iago had been exposed by Emilia, Othello feels remorseful about the murder of his wife, â€Å"O cursed, cursed slave! / Whip me, ye devils, / From the possession of this heavenly sight! / Blow me about in winds! Roast me in sulfur! / Wash me in steep-down gulfs of liquid fire! O†¦Dead, Desdemona!† (Kennedy and Gioia, V. II. 285-290). Othello then commits suicide because of the guilt he felt, the plays final reversal. As readers, we are distant from the situation and might think that we would understand what was really happening and alter our actions right away. Unluckily, in the case of Othello, the recognition happens way too late for him to change the sequence of events. Othello does not consider anyone but himself at the point near the end of the play. He does not contemplate to challenge Desdemona, as Iago fills his mind with false truths. Othello does  not question Cassio to find out if the accusations Iago is filling his mind with hold any truth. Othello takes to mind whatever Iago tells him, and does not try to find out if what Iago is saying is actually true. These actions are somewhat out of character for Othello. Usually he is calm and collected. He is a commanding general, which demonstrates that he knows how to direct and read people and how to think things through. Overall, Othello simply makes the error of taking the false truths of what Iago says, rather than investigating it. Ot hello’s deep affection and love for Desdemona make it that much easier for Iago to play with his mind. After killing Desdemona, Othello’s world falls apart in front of him because it is then that Othello realizes the outcome with his recognition of the fact that he was wrong to take the life of the one he so deeply loved based on a false truth. Othello’s world spins around him quicker than he can imagine, before it comes to an end. He has slain the woman he loved most in the world. The man he believed was his best friend twisted his mind and deceived him. All of this is more than he can bear. So, Othello gives one final speech in which he asks the men to remember him as he truly was. Othello requests them not to â€Å"lay it on thick† what a good man he was, nor to defame his character. Othello wanted them to think of him as a man who loved too much, however irrational it might have been. Many exceptional examples of reversal and recognition are shown throughout Othello. Constant use of recognitions and reversals to develop character, advance the plot, and get a reaction of pity and fear from the audience are clearly evident in Othello. Perhaps if Othello would have taken a minute to think about the long term outcome of his actions, he might have seen that there was more than one option of action available to him. However, if Othello had chosen another option, there would have been no recognitions, no reversals, and in turn no drama in the play. Works Cited: Aristotle. GradeSaver. 1999-2011. 11 11 2011. Dictionary.com. 2011. 07 11 2011 . Dictionary.com. 2011. 07 11 2011 . Kennedy, X.J. and Dana Gioia. Literature: an Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. New York: Pearson Longman, 2010.

Comparison the characters Oedipus & Odysseus Essay

The major focus of this tragedy is on the character of the hero, Oedipus. He is a person of great importance; in fact, the security and health of the community depend upon him. And he has to meet an urgent crisis, something which threatens the continuing existence of the city. And because he is very conscious of his own qualities, he takes upon himself that responsibility. Oedipus, above everything else at first, is a person who acts decisively and who is celebrated for so doing. In that sense, Oedipus is like Odysseus, who is also famous for his ability to act and react in an emergency. What is most important about them, however, emerges not from their initial decisions to act but rather from what happens as the conflict they are caught in gets more complicated. Oedipus has a heroic confidence in his own abilities, and he has good reason for such confidence, both from his sense of past achievements and from the very high regard everyone has of these achievements. As his situation gets more complicated and things do not work out as he has imagined they might, unlike Odysseus, he does not adapt, change, or learn. He becomes more and more determined to see the problem through on his own terms; he becomes increasingly inflexible. Having accepted the responsibility for saving Thebes, he will on his own see the matter through, without compromise, without lies, without subterfuge. Oedipus demands from life that it answers to him, to his vision of what it must be. Throughout the play he is seeking to impose his will upon events. People around him are always urging caution, prudence, even an abandonment of his quest, but to act on such advice would be for Oedipus a denial of what he is. And, as he repeatedly states, he would rather suffer anything than compromise his sense of who he is and how he must conduct himself. Odysseus is quite distinct. He sees everything and is always prepared to recognize that he has been wrong. He can adapt; that is one of the most attractive things about the story. The reader may know the outcome, what holds him is the expectation of some new revelation about Odysseus’ bag of tricks. What will he do next to get out of this jam? What is he doing to triumph over the suitors? Because he is such an infinitely protean  character, the reader knows he is going to discover something new about Odysseus in every episode. The reader’s sense of Oedipus is very different. He is not going to be any different, he is going to persevere in being exactly what he has been. So there is a terrible fascination with seeing the events unfold, in seeing Oedipus himself become the major motivating force in his own destruction. The force of the play comes from the connection between Oedipus’s sufferings and his own actions, that is, from the awareness of how he himself is bringing upon his own head the dreadful outcome. Oedipus is doomed, mainly because he is the sort of person he is. Someone else, someone with a very different character, would not have suffered Oedipus’s life.

What is the main purpose of prison

What is the main purpose of prison BY assists What is the main purpose of prisons? Although the human society is marching on all the time, a variety of crimes such as cheat, steal and even more serious kidnapping, rape and murder keep happening around us unavoidably. In order to maintain the stability of our countries and punish those people who commit crimes, prisons appear. That is the simplest reason for prison establishing, and in this article I will analyze the purpose of prisons deeply.Generally speaking, despite the punishment action, known as retribution, the purpose of prisons can be divided into another 3 categories. Firstly, incapacitation, it can be expressed as isolating the criminals and depriving their freedom by locking them in a secure place. Secondly, for people who intend to commit crime but have not broken the laws, prisons are deterrence to some extent. In another word, prisons act as a warning in people's mind to prevent future crimes.Finally, rehabilitation mea ns that the prisons have the responsibility to develop prisoners' abilities and integrate them into society after releasing. Those activities may include but not limited in launching educational courses, teaching Job skills, informing current news s well as providing psychotherapy by professional staffs. However, after explaining the functions of prisons thoroughly, there comes a new problem for us, what should be the main purpose of prisons – rehabilitation (positive side) or punishment/societal protection (negative side)?In my opinion, it depends on the crime behavior and the intent behind the crime. If it is not a serious crime such as driving after drinking a bottle of beer, then absolutely yes, this person should be forgiven. And in this case, rehabilitation is the main purpose of prison to get him off of the wrong behavior. But then, if someone commit violate criminals such as murder or rape, the purpose of prison will change to the negative side and most of ordinary pe ople will agree with locking him and punishing him with no hesitation.In this case, it is not necessary to give him another opportunity and the prison's duty is only isolating the prisoner and taking away all the luxury things so that rehabilitation is not that important. In addition, if someone commits crime due to addition and has psychological problems, then rehabilitation should be put as priority, because punishment is useless for reforming addicts.

The redistribution of wealth in US Military Spending Research Paper

The redistribution of wealth in US Military Spending - Research Paper Example In addition to investing in sectors such as education, health, food etc, the government also spends a fortune on funding military services, which are highly important because the overall safety of the country and its citizens rests within the hands of the military personnel. However, the present scenario puts forth a dilemma to the US government, that is, whether to decrease military spending and undertake consecutive risks involved or increase military spending and contribute further to the decline of the economy as well as the deteriorating standard of living of its citizens. Since sectors such as education and health are more productive in promoting personal development among citizens, thus in turn boosting the economy and resulting in further development of the country through lesser inequality in wealth distribution, it becomes clear that the US government should cut back its military spending and invest the wealth of the country in these productive sectors. It is a fact that th e military of any nation is responsible for protecting the citizens as well as the country from both internal and external threats. Thus, it is acknowledged that the country deploys a large number of personnel for military requirements in terms of air force, navy force as well as ground force. Moreover, in the same context, the government of the country makes huge investments in order to support various military operations, provide exceptional training to the troops, fund different endeavours that come under its programs etc. However, despite the fact that it is an absolute necessity to provide for the country’s security and the citizen’s safety, there is indeed a thing such as overspending for military, especially in the case of developed countries like the United States. Contrary to the government’s view of still supporting military expenditure in the present milieu, the American citizens have expressed in a recent nationwide survey conducted by the ‘Cen ter for Public Integrity’ that in order for the country to revive from the current deficit, the government needs to â€Å"cut the defense budget deeply† (Smith, 2012, p. 1). It is due to conspicuous wastage of the nation’s wealth through military, that the government is unable to fully contribute towards economic growth, as well as fulfil the very purpose for which it was established- safeguarding the interests of the citizens and ensuring the welfare of human beings. Furthermore, if the government funded more money for sectors dealing with aspects like education, healthcare, employment, food etc, the country could actually make a difference in its wealth distribution and gradually bridge the gap between the rich and poor sections of society. Thus, it becomes clear that the American government should focus on productive sectors rather than military and simultaneously it should decrease its military expenditure in order to redistribute wealth in the US in a more ideal way. The primary responsibility of the government should be to provide the citizens of the country with basic amenities such as food and shelter. However, the US government is intent on according the highest priority to military warfare as was revealed by its expenditure of â€Å"$737 billion on military defense†

The Correctional System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Correctional System - Essay Example So the problem of the overcrowding should be corrected at an early date. One of the best solutions to reduce the overcrowding in the correctional system is to give age limit to the offenders to have their punishment called "Aging out of crime". This age limit should be restricted to sixty (Territo, Halsted, & Bromley, 2004). The most imperative advantage of "Aging out of crime" is to save money in the expenditure of maintenance of the aged offenders in the correctional system. This overcrowding in the prison gives nothing beneficial to the system, as they are not able to do any constructive work, which are being done by prisoners. But their maintenance has to bear by the system up to their final ride. This saved money may efficiently be used by the system in nabbing another culprits who are active in doing various offences including the drug trafficking and human trafficking. Due to the overcrowding in the system a lot of offenders are released on the spot by taking bribe by the comp etent authority.

Philosophy of leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Philosophy of leadership - Essay Example Leadership emanates from situations, person’s learning and knowledge, beliefs, passion and pragmatism. In the organizational context, although leaders are formed by virtue of their role and position, leadership capacity in other people cannot be ignored. This again becomes the role of the formal leader to identify leadership and nurture it for the organization’s benefit. Leadership is also situational, in the sense, leaders emerge based on situation. Identification of this quality requires high connectedness with people in order to know them well in terms of skills, attitude, behavior, talent and qualities. For example, a silent person may be very good at specific skills and can help other members of the team to develop these skills that can benefit the team as well as the organization. For this, most importantly, the leader must possess humility. Humility refers to adoption of an un-assuming nature with respect to assessing individuals or situations. Believing that individuals and situations are a product of historical moments helps in obtaining a better understanding of the current historical moment. This specifically is important for leaders to take on an unbiased approach to deal with situations and people. Arnett (1999) identifies this openness as humility, with the perspective of gaining knowledge, and not merely with the associated people and/or situations. Arnett and Arnesen (1999) define routine cynicism as the non-thoughtful attitude of people demonstrated through mistrust, non confidence, despair, suspicion, judgment, manipulation of thoughts and words meant to achieve either selfish motives, superiority, individual goals, wealth and power, or even mislead the other party. Leaders have to believe that people are their strengths who can accomplish anything. For this the leader needs to be connected with his people, and should be at individual as well