Who am I The realization of ones self Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Who am I The realization of ones self - Essay Example Descartes Rene was a French philosopher who lived between 1595 and 1650. He was among the initial modern time philosophers to put in serious effort in ending numerous doubts on the negative ideas raised against knowledge. Alongside his interests in ancient mathematics, Descartes had interests in body and mind interrelations. Over the years, his ideas on the interrelation between body and mind have been of great significance to philosophy. Initially, his journals were in French but scholars later used them and made translations for easy understanding for the current generation. The meditation concepts that he came up with were the starting point for modern day philosophy. In addition, he tore down the notion that knowledge drew attribution from mental senses but instead focused on logic and credibility. In so doing, he developed the justification as to why things existed through his six meditation concepts. The objective of this paper shall be to outline the second meditation and draw relevant meaning to Descartes definition of ‘I’ and ‘self’. Secondly, it will dwell on other definitions of the two nouns then also bring out my definition of the same to illustrate whether other things actually do exist. Lastly, it will explore the implications of my definition towards the existence of others and carefully examine Socrates view on my perception. According to the second meditation of Descartes, the first step towards understanding ‘I’ and ‘self’ is through realization of the existence of an object or a being. Therefore, he starts by analyzing the two nouns that bring out his meaning. He gives the first as Cognoscere, which is a French word that means getting to know or discovering, or coming to a realization (Rene’ 9). The second word that he gives as part of the definition process is Cognitio that he refers to as the act of knowing because of the realization of the existence aspect. According to the second meditation of Descartes, the first step towards understanding ‘I’ and ‘self’ is through realization of the existence of an object or a being. Therefore, he starts by analyzing the two nouns that bring out his meaning. He gives the first as Cognoscere, which is a French word that means getting to know or discovering, or coming to a realization. The second word that he gives as part of the definition process is Cognitio that he refers to as the act of knowing because of the realization of the existence aspect. In essence, everything else exists beyond reasonable doubt mainly because he also exists at that particular time. Other thinkers, scholars, and publishers refer to ‘I’ as the individual aspect of a writer or a speaker when claiming ownership or existence. In other words, it is the active state of an individual in the present form. The complexity has seen diverse understanding and critics from scholars. It is different to ‘me’ in the sense that the latter is a result of mingling with others to internalize the ‘self’ aspect. ‘I’ shows reference to ones ego while ‘self’ is the claim to ownership to something. Self can also be the distinctive features that one has over all others. For instance, it is the process of identifying with the traits of oneself. However, my own understanding of ‘I’ would be that it is my own identity in terms of object possession. There are many other forms of identity, which includes personal names of an individual, but for me this word can also show reference to self. Predominantly, the ‘I’ factor is a symbol of individuality in that when I say, â€Å"I am alive† it means that for a fact I have acknowledged the fact of my existence. It is also a reference to self as people can only refer to an individual as ‘you’ and not ‘I’. More so, it is an introductory word used when one is trying to illustrate their names. In an example, a sentence starts with ‘I am’ then ‘so and so’. Therefore, the usage of any other word would be wrong in giving this description,

Final Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Final Paper - Essay Example As society processes the information regarding the event, the victims are framed by the news media and public officials. The reaction to the event creates another class of victims as the public is penalized through loss of freedoms and privacy. Innocent people are viewed with suspicion and an unrealistic assessment of the risk places a heavy toll on a stressed society. While terrorism has existed for millennia, recent uses of the criminal act and escalated methods have increased the level of societys awareness of the victims of terrorism. There is a Chinese saying that says, "Kill one [to] frighten ten thousand" (as cited in Ewald, 2006, p.4). Where in centuries past the concept of terrorism was to instill fear, modern terrorism seeks to murder on a massive scale. It is the ability of the terrorists to murder thousands of people in a single event that evokes such fear and dread. Exploring a few of the most significant terrorist acts committed against Americans can help to understand the ways that the victims are viewed and why they become victims. They are generally victims of opportunity and symbolism. Direct victims can be viewed through the positivist lens, while the indirect victims are more aptly analyzed through the anti-positivist viewpoint. The direct victims are real and concrete, while the indirect victims are constructed through societies own labels and judgments. Killing one can indeed frighten ten thousand, and killing 3 thousand can frighten 3 million. Americans have lived with various forms of terrorism since the countrys beginning, but only recently has it been viewed as a complex social issue. Table 1 is a partial list of the most noteworthy terrorist acts in modern history. The 1993 truck bomb at the World Trade Center was the first terrorist event that took place on US soil that attracted large scale public attention. Though there had been a number of airplane hijackings throughout the previous