Reality vs. Fantasy Essay Example for Free

Reality vs. Fantasy Essay Rene Descartes, author of Meditation 1, writes how he must erase everything he had ever learned and thought to be true and must begin again from the first foundations (222). One may ask how Descartes came to this conclusion. The answer is that of he realized how many were the false opinions that in [his] youth [he] took to be true, and thus how doubtful were all the things that [he] subsequently built upon these opinions (222). This change was to take place at the perfect time in Descartes life however, he wasted much time waiting for that moment Descartes decided to simply let go of it. He started questioning everything he ever believed in. Descartes raised one specific question: How does one justify being awake from dreaming? He gives an example stating that I am here, clothed in my dressing gown, seated at the fireplace, when in fact I am lying undressed between he blankets! (222). Descartes describes how a dream may feel so real, one might actually think their dream is in fact reality. He goes on further saying plainly that there are no definite signs to distinguish being awake from being asleep that I am quite astonished, and this astonishment almost convinces me that I am sleeping (222). This all lead to Descartes coming up with a theory that perhaps we do not even have these hands, or any such body at all (223). He started questioning the existence of God as well, wondering whether or not he existed or if the heavens and earth were actually there. More questioning followed asking himself how do I know that I am not deceived every time I add two and three or count the sides of a square or perform an even simpler operation? (203). What Descartes became certain of was that an evil genius as clever and deceitful as he is powerful, who had directed his entire effort to misleading me (224) and a conclusion was made that he would regard [himself] as having no hands, no eyes, no flesh, no blood, no senses, but as nevertheless falsely believing that [he] possess[es] all these things (224). Descartes reasoning in my opinion is false for the most part. I would have to agree with him that people should sometimes examine their belief to see whether or not it is accurate. People dream of things that seem very realistic as if it were actually happening however, once they are awake they can distinguish what was reality and what was a dream. Sometimes being fooled by a dream doesnt come to the conclusion that everything around us and everything we believe does not actually exist. However, it is possible to also dream that one woke up in their dreams remembering the dream they were having. The dream may have felt real but in the end they when they were awake the difference between reality and dream could be pointed out. Someone can not be 100 percent sure of something but they can be confident about what they believe is real vs. dream. A person who has a hand is aware of it. All the physical ways to know a hand is there exists. They can see it, feel it, touch it, and use it. The question Descartes raises says that even though we can see a hand how do we know it is truly there and it isnt our imaginations or a dream. Reality is what it is. We know we are not dreaming because of the details we see in reality and the pain we feel. It is also possible to be fooled by a dream sometimes thinking something is actually occurring when it isnt. I know my hand is there because I believe it is and am certain of it unless there is someone who can give evidence proving my belief is false. All rational people would agree with me. There is no sure way of proving that my hand is there because in this world there are many things that cannot be proven even though we know for a fact they exist. There is no sure way to prove if anything exists. There is no proof that we are not controlled by an evil scientist or that our brains our controlled by another making us feel and think things that actually arent there. The only thing a person can rely on is there senses and experiences. They must trust that something is there and it is in fact reality. If one goes on doubting everything and anything around them then they also doubt themselves. If one believes nothing exists they themselves dont exist which is false because they do. If they do not exist then it would not be possible for them to have these thoughts. Overall a hand is a hand. It exists. It is made up of fingers and nerves which we use day after day. If it didnt exist no one would be capable of doing much in their lives without their hands. How would one be able to type, or play the piano, or even write a story? Descartes believed he had no hands, then how were his thoughts and feelings written down if they do not exist? I believe that our hands do exist however, there might be a chance that my hands and other things are controlled by someone else but it is not likely the case. Nothing can be for certain unless there is actual proof and evidence proving whether it is true or not. We must trust our instincts and everything around us to guide us in believing the right and accurate things. Descartes might say in response to my reasoning that I am false and my reasoning is unjust and inaccurate. He would most likely give counterexamples to falsify my reasoning. I would then ask him how he has been able to eat without hands or how a person might drive a car? I would be most anxious to hear what answers he would come up with . Reality is, if no one had hands the world would not exist. Descartes, Rene. Meditation 1. Twenty Questions: An Introduction To Philosophy. Ed. Steve Wainwright. 5th ed. Belmont: Holly J. Allen, 2004. 221-25.

supreme court desicion of hypothetical case :: essays research papers

The appellant, Salim abdul Aziz Rahman, the founder of the group called the Global Islamic Jihad, was convicted under the USA Patriot Act of 2003 for â€Å"furthering the aims of known terrorism organizations by advocating the violence of the United States government that is called for by those organizations.† He was tried and convicted by the Federal District Court, and has challenged the constitutionality of this Act on the grounds that it violates his First Amendment right of Freedom of Speech as protected by the United States Constitution. The United States Patriot Act of 2003 makes it a crime to â€Å"further the aims of known terrorist organizations by advocating the violence against the United States government that is called for by those organizations.† This act was formulated and put into effect after the acts of terrorism in September of 2001.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The record shows that a man identified as the appellant, distributed to the inhabitants of his predominantly Middle-Eastern New York City neighborhood, pamphlets stating â€Å"the American government is controlled by Zionist agents and is using it’s arrogant power to murder believers around the world.† These pamphlets also contained the sentence â€Å"The penalty for murder is death.† These pamphlets were printed and distributed by his organization, Global Islamic Jihad.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  At a rally of his organization in April of 2002, Mr. Rahman burned a flag (though protected by Texas v Johnson, 491 US 397, ‘O’Brien 626’), and presented a speech where he called for â€Å"death to any country that supports Zionist aggression against true believers† as well as cataloging â€Å"American crimes against humanity.† In a speech on the day of his arrest in this same Middle-Eastern neighborhood, the appellant catalogued â€Å"America’s crimes against humanity and the believers,† as well as declaring â€Å"We must not sit by idle. We must stand up with all of our strength with our brothers and sisters who struggle against the Zionists and against those who help them with money and weapons. The treacherous Jews and Crusaders must go down. Jihad knows no boundaries and no limitations on its means.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Through legal FBI wiretaps, it was found that Mr. Rahman was in direct contact with representatives of the Muslim Brotherhood, a political group both in the United States and abroad. Previously an Egyptian terrorist group whom publicly renounced violence, this group now claims to advocate a â€Å"peaceful transition to a worldwide Islamic state.† However, this group often conveys ideas by known terrorist organizations that it calls â€Å"brothers in the great cause.

Lewy Body Dementia

Non-preventable and Non-reversible: Lewy Body Dementia On April 10th 2010, my dad informed me that my grandmother had passed away. She was 90-years-old, and although she may have lived a long life, the last eight or so years of her life were very rough. The official reason she passed away was because of Lewy Body Dementia. This degenerative disease, meaning it is not reversible, is thought to have sprouted from an infection she had in her kidneys in 2002.She lived at home for a while after her kidney disease was found and treated, but was moved to an assisted living center in 2007 because of occasional hallucinations, and family was unable to stay with her at her home. As time progressed, her dementia got worse. She slowly started having hallucinations more frequently, became very forgetful, and eventually was unable to perform any tasks on her own. â€Å"Dementia is a loss of brain function that occurs with certain diseases. It affects memory, thinking, language, judgment, and beha vior,† stated by Google Health. Mayoclinic. om suggests that â€Å"in Lewy body dementia, abnormal round structures — called Lewy bodies — develop in regions of your brain involved in thinking and movement. †Although the specific cause of dementia is unknown, specialists believe that it relates to Alzheimer’s Disease, and Parkinson’s Disease. Evidence of these two diseases has been seen in Lewy Body Dementia (LBD) The cause may not be known, but there are many symptoms that can be easily noticed without difficult tests, such as detailed hallucinations, trembling hands, delusions, sleep difficulties, and more. A clinical diagnosis of LBD can be probable or possible based on different symptom combinations,â€Å" discusses Lbda. org, the Lewy Body Dementia Association website. A probable diagnosis consists of dementia plus two or more core features, or dementia plus a single core feature and one or more suggestive features. A possible diagnosis is dementia plus one core feature, or dementia and one or more suggestive features.Core features are changing cognition with variations of attention or alertness, very detailed hallucinations, and unconsciously having Parkinson’s Disease movements. A suggestive feature includes REM sleep behavior disorder, sensitivity to neuroleptics (a drug used for calming), and low dopamine transporter uptake in the brains basal ganglia, which connects to main parts of the brain like the cerebral cortex and thalamus. LBD cannot be cured, it can only be slowed down. Since there is no cure, doctors can only treat individual symptoms.They use medications for Alzheimer’s Disease to increase the levels of neurotransmitters to help with cognition, Parkinson’s Disease, for muscular issues, but these can increase hallucinations and delusions. Also, doctors may use an antipsychotic medication, which is a neuroleptic, and many LBD patients are severely sensitive to these. Some simple therapy can also be used, such as removing clutter and background noise from the environment, and breaking tasks into simpler steps which will help them focus.Also, how a caregiver responds to a person with LBD is crucial. They should not quiz the person, or question them, they should just validate any concerns, which will usually get rid of the issue at hand for the moment. Lewy Body Dementia is not preventable, but there are certain risks that make it more likely for one to have it when they are older, such as being over 60, being male, and having history of dementia in the family. In conclusion, LBD is an issue that has an effect 15-35% of all dementias, virtualmedicalcentre. com confirms.I have realized that I will probably be diagnosed with this when I am older, because my grandma, and great-grandma on my dads side both had this, and my great-grandma on my moms side is getting the beginning signs of LBD. Because of research, we can understand why certain things happen to us, an d how they happen.Works Cited â€Å"Dementia. † Google Health. Web. 30 Oct. 2010. . Mayo Clinic Staff. â€Å"Lewy Body Dementia – MayoClinic. com. † Mayo Clinic Medical Information and Tools for Healthy Living – MayoClinic. com. 17 Sept. 2010. Web. 30 Oct. 2010. . Welcome to the Lewy Body Dementia Association. Web. 31 Oct. 2010. .

Kant and Descartes Essay

â€Å"Idealism is the assertion there are none but thinking thing beings. All other things, which we believe are perceived in intuitions, are nothing but presentations in the thinking things, to which no object external to them in fact corresponds. Everything we see is just a construction of the mind. † (Prolegomena). Idealism maintains that there are no objects in the world, only minds. According to idealism, the existence of outer objects is uncertain and ambiguous. Idealism is the group of philosophies asserting that actuality is fundamentally mental, or otherwise intangible. Kant holds the belief that objects only exist as perceptions is fundamentally idealist. The argument begins by making the point: our senses never enable us to experience things in themselves, but only know their appearances. This idea depicts space and time as empty forums to determine how things appear. Kant discusses how math consists of synthetic a priori cognitions, or the ability to provide new information that is necessarily true, and its relation to geometry. Kant believes there is some form of pure intuition innate within us. This innate intuition is what allows us to identify different notions without reference to sense experience. In the opinion of Kant, the possibility of mathematics rests upon the possibility of â€Å"synthetic propositions a priori†. (Prolegomena). There is a priori certainty of geometry. A priori knowledge or justification is independent of all experience. A priori judgments are based upon reason alone, independently of all sensory experience, and therefore are applicable with universality. According to Kant, â€Å"Geometry is based upon the pure intuition of space. † (Prolegomena). We cannot have any perceptions of objects if not in space and time. Kant declares, â€Å"it must first exhibit its concepts in intuition, and do so a priori, in an intuition that is not empirical, but pure. † (Prolegomena). Geometry, as the innate intuition of space, derives from the sequential moments of our innate intuition of time. If space were not built into of our innate composition, two things with all of the same properties would be in every way identical. Space and time are not properties of the objects in things themselves, but rather, qualities of our knowledge of the things. Space and time are referred by Kant as the â€Å"modes of representation†, or â€Å"forms of sensibility†, of objects. (Prolegomena). Kant believes inner experience is all that we can be certain of and that the e? ects can only conclude the existence of the external world has on us. If space and time are subjective, then everything in space and time are subjective. If space and time were things in themselves that we could only understand by reference to experience, geometry and math would not have the a priori certainty that makes them reliable. If space and time do not belong to the things themselves, and we cannot know anything in space and time, then we don’t know the things in themselves. As a result of this, Kant says that appearances are â€Å"That is pure space is not at all a quality of things in themselves but a form of our sensuous faculty of representation, and that furthermore all objects in space are mere appearances†. (Prolegomena). This declaration regarding things being tangible reveals Kant’s view of transcendental idealism, faces the issue of things existing at all, directly. Immanuel Kant’s most influential contribution to philosophy is transcendental idealism. Transcendental idealism is fundamentally a doctrine about space and time. The idea is we cannot perceive things in and of themselves directly; what we perceive must first be interpreted by our senses, then by our sensibility and understanding. Though Kant has argued that we cannot perceive things in themselves, but only appearances of things, Kant believes intuition, and the senses control our perception. And anything, which we may perceive, is made up entirely of appearances. Kant argues, subsequently, things themselves in some way cause these appearances. Kant maintains that things in themselves, independent of our perception, exist, and that they are the source of what we do perceive. All other things, which we think are perceived in intuition, being nothing but representations in the thinking beings, to which no object external to them corresponds in fact. Representations of our sensibility can be said to be reflections of our mind. Kant makes this claim stating, â€Å"The understanding intuits nothing but only reflects. † (Prolegomena). This proposes the question regarding idealism, because something cannot be fully understood, does it still exist? Unlike Idealism, which generally manifests skepticism, the existence of things is crucial to Kant’s philosophy. However, Kant insists we cannot know anything about these things purely through their appearance. Kant asserts: â€Å"which is unknown to us but is not therefore less real. † (Prolegomena). Kant is claiming this ideal is contrary to idealism. Descartes decided that he could throw all things into doubt except that he was thinking and doubting. This supports the concept of idealism because it emphasizes the centrality or importance of the mind. Descartes, like Plato and Augustine divided his world into two areas. For Descartes the two areas were the cogito and the Deity. Rationalists, like Descartes, aim to escape the confines of the mind by constructing knowledge of the external world, the self, the soul, God, ethics, and science out of the simplest, indubitable ideas possessed innately by the mind. Descartes argued that knowledge came from the mind, or idealism. It was Descartes’s idealism that would force him to his separation of the mind and body. Descartes believes in the ability to deny the existence of the physical world. Kant’s major disagreement with Descartes would be in postulating an existential reality outside of the mind. An object does not depend on a mind perceiving it for it to exist though the mind does depend on the transcendental categories to perceive of those objects in a meaningful way. â€Å".. Desire this idealism of mine to be called critical. But if it be really an objectionable idealism to convert actual things into mere representations†. (Prolegomena) Kant expresses his impulse to change transcendental idealism to critical idealism at the end of this section.

Youdao - An excellent free online Chinese dictionary

Youdao - An excellent free online Chinese dictionary As a learner of Mandarin Chinese, its sometimes frustrating that there seem to be no good dictionaries around. When compared with other major languages (especially English), dictionaries in Chinese are often very hard to read and often lack information we expect to be there, such as indications of how a word is used and example sentences. One excellent exception: Youdao.com. æÅ"‰é â€œ (Youdao.com) To use this dictionary, go to the main page and click the drop-down menu in the leftmost part of the search field where it says ç ½â€˜Ã© ¡ µ (wÇŽngyà ¨) websites and select è ¯ Ã¥â€¦ ¸ (cà ­diÇŽn) dictionary instead. You can also go directly to the dictionary via dict.youdao.com. Once there, just search for words in English or Chinese. If you input only Pinyin, it will still try to guess the word in Chinese.. Once you have found the word youre looking for, you have three options (tabs) to choose from: ç ½â€˜Ã§ »Å"释ä ¹â€° (wÇŽnglà ¹ shà ¬yà ¬) internet explanation - Here you can choose between many suggested translations and see how they are defined elsewhere on the internet. The explanations are mostly in Chinese, so if you feel that this is too hard, just look for English words.ä ¸â€œÃ¤ ¸Å¡Ã©â€¡Å Ã¤ ¹â€° (zhuÄ nyà ¨ shà ¬yà ¬) professional explanation - This doesnt mean that the definitions are professional, but that they refer to specialized language for a certain area of study or expertise. For instance, you can show answers related to engineering, medicine, psychology, linguistics and so on. Great for translation work!æ ±â€°Ã¨ ¯ ­Ã¨ ¯ Ã¥â€¦ ¸ (hnyÇ” cà ­diÇŽn) Chinese dictionary - Sometimes, English explanations just arent enough and you need to go to a Chinese-Chinese dictionary. As explained earlier, this can be very daunting for students and you might be better of asking someone for help. The fact that this option is here makes the dictionary much more useful for advanced students, though. Below the explanations, you will find definitions of the word, often from 21ä ¸â€"ç º ªÃ¥ ¤ §Ã¨â€¹ ±Ã¦ ±â€°Ã¨ ¯ Ã¥â€¦ ¸ (21shà ¬jà ¬ d yÄ «nghn cà ­diÇŽn) The 21st Century Unabridged English-Chinese Dictionary. There are also translations of phrases in which the keyword appears, another feature that many dictionaries lack. Next, you can either display è ¯ Ã§ »â€žÃ§Å¸ ­Ã¨ ¯ ­ (cà ­zÇ” dunyÇ”) compounds and phrases or Ã¥ Å'è ¿â€˜Ã¤ ¹â€°Ã¨ ¯  (tà ³ngjà ¬nyà ¬cà ­) synonyms and near-synonyms. Bilingual Example Sentences Last but certainly not least, there is a section called Ã¥ Å'è ¯ ­Ã¤ ¾â€¹Ã¥  ¥ (shuÄ ngyÇ” là ¬jà ¹) bilingual example sentences. As the name implies, you can find numerous sentences in both Chinese and English, which is by far the best way to quickly figure out how a word is used in Chinese (going on basic definitions often wont work). Note that it only displays the first three sentences by default, click æ› ´Ã¥ ¤Å¡Ã¥ Å'è ¯ ­Ã¤ ¾â€¹Ã¥  ¥ (gà ¨ngduÃ…  shuÄ ngyÇ” là ¬jà ¹) more bilingual example sentences to see the rest.

How to Use Quand, Lorsque, Lors de, and Pendant

How to Use Quand, Lorsque, Lors de, and Pendant Time doesnt have to be a point on a clock or any other exact measure. It can be a moment or a duration, simultaneous actions or repeated actions, and every discrete difference in between. Thats what the following analysis of these time-related expressions is all about. Were going to look at  the differences between the conjunctions quand and lorsque, the similar-looking expressions lorsque  (conjunction) and lors de  (a preposition), and the temporal prepositions lors de and pendant. This may sound like a mouthful, but its actually pretty straightforward once you know the story behind these words to see how theyre utilized. Here are explanations and examples to help you use all of these correctly in French sentences. 'Quand' versus'Lorsque' The conjunctions quand and lorsque both mean when. They are interchangeable when they indicate a simple correlation in time, although lorsque is a bit more formal. However, quand and lorsque each have unique, non-interchangeable meanings as well. 'Quand' ('When') 1.  Temporal correlation (interchangeable with lorsque) Je marchais quand tu mas tà ©là ©phonà ©.   I was walking when you called me.Quand je tai vu, javais peur.   When I saw you, I was afraid.Je te verrai demain quand jarriverai.* I will see you tomorrow when I arrive. 2.  Repetition correlation (meaning chaque fois que) Quand il est l, elle ne parle pas.   When(ever) he is there, she doesnt speak.Quand il sera l, elle ne parlera pas.*   When(ever) he is there, she wont speak. 3.  Quand as  interrogative adverb Quand vas-tu arriver?   When are you going to arrive?Je ne sais pas quand il reviendra.   I dont know when he will return. 'Lorsque' ('When') When the action that follows  lorsque  or  quand  has not yet occurred, the subsequent  French verb must be in the  future  tense, whereas in English the present tense is used. 1.  Temporal correlation (interchangeable with quand) Je marchais lorsque tu mas tà ©là ©phonà ©.   I was walking when you called me.Lorsque je tai vu, javais peur.   When I saw you, I was afraid.Je te verrai demain lorsque jarriverai.   I will see you tomorrow when I arrive. 2.  Simultaneous opposition (meaning alors que or tandis que) Jai crià © lorsquil a fallu courir.   I screamed when / whereas I should have run.Je crierai lorsquil faudra courir.   Ill scream, when / whereas I should run. 'Lorsque' versus 'Lors de' ('During,' 'At the Time of') Lorsque and lors de may look similar, but thats all they have in common. Lorsque  is a conjunction. Meanwhile,  lors de is a preposition  used to provide the background for another action; it means at the time of or during. Lors de son anniversaire, elle à ©tait contente.   At the time of her birthday, she was happy.Je suis arrivà © lors du mariage.   I arrived during the wedding. 'Lors de' versus 'Pendant' ('During') Be careful not to confuse the prepositions  lors de and pendant. They can both be translated by during, but lors de refers to a single moment in time, while pendant indicates a duration of time. Il à ©tait content lors de son sà ©jour.   He was happy (at some point) during his stay.Il à ©tait content pendant son sà ©jour.   He was happy during his (entire) stay.Il à ©tait content lors de son anniversaire.   He was happy (for a moment) on his birthday.Il à ©tait content pendant son anniversaire. He was happy during his (entire) birthday.Il a travaillà © lors des trois dernià ¨res annà ©es.   He worked (at some point) during the last three years.Il a travaillà © pendant les trois dernià ¨res annà ©es. He has worked (throughout) the last three years.

Critically discuss the use of covert human information sources within Essay - 1

Critically discuss the use of covert human information sources within an investigation - Essay Example lance† and the technology involves the deployment of cameras by public authorities for detecting and preventing criminal activities in designated areas (Carli, 2008). These cameras are connected to TV monitors where the people manning the surveillance can monitor the activities. Besides, the images can also be â€Å"recorded in a control room† for later viewing (Carli, 2008). Such recordings can also be admitted as evidence in a court of law for the purpose of prosecuting the offenders. The system is also being used by private parties such as organizational entities as well as individuals for monitoring their premises. The use of CCTV enables the authorities as well as private parties to monitor and exercise surveillance on the activities within and around their premises and other sensitive areas that are vulnerable to the threat of attack by criminals. The equipment is easy to operate and is comparatively cost effective. Thus, evidence suggests that the use of CCTV for the purpose of crime detection and prevention has â€Å"greatly increased over the last decade† and estimates show that â€Å"4.2 million† units are currently in use (Woodhouse, 2010). The installation of CCTVs in specific settings can dissuade prospective criminals from committing a crime for fear of detection and prosecution. Thus, it transpires that the use of CCTV not only prevents crime but also is a valuable tool in the prosecution of criminals. The concept of video surveillance came into being with an intention to detect and prevent criminal activities such as â€Å"burglary, assault and car theft† and subsequently its use was extended to monitor antisocial behaviour like â€Å"littering, urinating in public, traffic violations† etc (Isnard, 2001). This system, unlike human resources, has the ability to facilitate break free surveillance at all times and the recordings of such surveillance can become irrefutable evidence in the court of law. Therefore, law enforcement authorities have been