The Holocausts Effects On Wiesel Essay Example For Students

The Holocausts Effects On Wiesel Essay The Effects of the HolocaustOn Wiesels FaithIn early 1944 the town of Sighet, Transylvania was overran by the Nazi war regime as it rapidly expanded across Europe and parts of Asia. In this town a young religious man named Elie Wiesel was questioning the intent of the German army and the rumors that were circling about them. Although he had heard that the Germans were planning mass genocide of the Jewish race, the common feeling throughout the town was that Hitler could never exterminate every Jew. Early in Wiesels Night, he recounts his experiences in the Holocaust and he expresses his undying faith and belief that god would never allow Hitlers regime to run its course. When the Nazi army finally reached the town of Signet, the Jews were forced from their homes and relocated into the towns gettos. We will write a custom essay on The Holocausts Effects On Wiesel specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now It was the seventh day of Passover, and according to Wiesel, the race towards death had begun.1 The Jews were slowly removed from the large getto of Sighet and shipped to the smaller, holding getto where they were separated according to sex, age, and physical ability, and prepared for shipment to Auschwitz. The day that Wiesel and his family were to be moved to the smaller getto of Signet, Wiesel demonstrates his faith in God by awaking early to perform his daily prayers. As he prepared to leave his home he said, I looked at our house, where I had spent so many years in my search for God; in fasting in order to hasten the coming of the Messiah; in imagining what my life would be like. Yet I felt little sorrow.2 This passage is symbolic of his first parting with his faith in God. Yet he still believed in God, he was beginning to understand that a God should not let mass extermination happen to his people. While he was sub-consciencly loosing his faith in God, he still felt that there was strength in humanity and that human morals would never allow the burning of Jews. Upon Wiesels arrival at Auschwitz he caught his first glimpse of the crematories he exclaimed to his father, I do not believe that they can burn people in our agehumanity would never tolerate it.3 Yet after his father convinced him of the horrible truth his faith in god could never be restored.Wiesels father, after fully realizing the full horror of the concentration camps, said a small prayer to God, and to this Elie reacted with utter defiance. For the first time, I felt revolt rise up in me. Why should I bless His name? The Eternal, Lord of the Universe, the All-Powerful and Terrible, was silent. What had I to thank Him for?4 Although Wiesel still believed in the presence of God, he felt that in Gods silence he was defying the Jews and their faith in him. How could someone you are so devoted to be absent in your greatest time of need? Wiesel said that he sympathized with Job, and I feel that the similarities between Wiesel and Job are numerous. Both were very religious men who put their faith before all other, and yet both found that their faith brought them nothing but suffering. Both felt that they deserved a more peaceful and humane existence because of their undying devotion, yet both lived in the cruelest situations for some time. Wiesel felt that man was stronger that god because throughout the Holocaust his fellow prisoners continued to praise God and believed that God allowed the Holocaust in order to benefit the Jews in some strange way. Wiesel felt that because of all the torture that the Jews were subjected to their continued praise proved that they were ignorant to the fact that God was not a source of supreme justice. Wiesel continued to despise God for the remainder of the Holocaust, yet from this new independence he found power. .u1d3bc8d8d46dcb75e57caf918cc755f9 , .u1d3bc8d8d46dcb75e57caf918cc755f9 .postImageUrl , .u1d3bc8d8d46dcb75e57caf918cc755f9 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u1d3bc8d8d46dcb75e57caf918cc755f9 , .u1d3bc8d8d46dcb75e57caf918cc755f9:hover , .u1d3bc8d8d46dcb75e57caf918cc755f9:visited , .u1d3bc8d8d46dcb75e57caf918cc755f9:active { border:0!important; } .u1d3bc8d8d46dcb75e57caf918cc755f9 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u1d3bc8d8d46dcb75e57caf918cc755f9 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u1d3bc8d8d46dcb75e57caf918cc755f9:active , .u1d3bc8d8d46dcb75e57caf918cc755f9:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u1d3bc8d8d46dcb75e57caf918cc755f9 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u1d3bc8d8d46dcb75e57caf918cc755f9 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u1d3bc8d8d46dcb75e57caf918cc755f9 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u1d3bc8d8d46dcb75e57caf918cc755f9 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u1d3bc8d8d46dcb75e57caf918cc755f9:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u1d3bc8d8d46dcb75e57caf918cc755f9 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u1d3bc8d8d46dcb75e57caf918cc755f9 .u1d3bc8d8d46dcb75e57caf918cc755f9-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u1d3bc8d8d46dcb75e57caf918cc755f9:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Anne frank Essay I felt very strong. I was the accuser, God the accusedI was terribly alone in a world without god and without man.5Religion Essays

Score Card Essay

Score Card Essay Score Card Essay PERSONAL APPLICATION PORTFOLIO Eyasu Theodros 1. Provide a brief introductory statement highlighting your strength and supporting your application for this overseas assignment First of all I would like to express my gratitude for the consideration. I welcome the opportunity to be considered for the lead recruiting and training consultant role at our newly created office in United Arab Emirates. I have more than 10 years of experience in the recruitment and development of technical talent; Five (5) years of experience have been obtained in my current role. I have had direct responsibility for recruiting technical talent and assessing their need for additional training and certifications. Although I have not travelled internationally for business purpose , I traveled quite a lot to Africa, Asia and Europe. My positions had taken me to many cities throughout the U.S. where I had a chance to work with different kind of people with different social,economical and cultural background. I had a privilege to work with department heads to ensure that appropriate training and certification classes are arranged to meet specified employee and corporate goals. My current job responsibility requires me to overseas our upward mobility and career development programs. Specifically I am responsible to make sure that are clearly defined and communicated to all employees, and regularly evaluated to ensure that they are applicable to company goals as well as to the industry at large. I understand Every international venture it has its own benefits and challenges. Working with people from different backgrounds is not always straightforward It can be the source of the challenge and opportunity. Being lead recruiting and training consultant in the newly created office in United Arab Emirates requires more than professional skills and experience it will require a unique set of personal, cross cultural and intercultural communication skills. I believe that I have the personality and the professional dimensions required to serve successfully as an expatriate in United Arab Emirates. 2. Discuss the likely implications of the key similarities and differences in cultural values and how they will either serve as relative strength for you or as areas upon which you are likely to need support. (Use Hofstede, Project GLOBE, and other research to help with the challenges and ideas for overcoming them). Based on my research on the I have learned the following cultural values : * United Arab Emirates is an Arab country in the Southeast of the Arabian Peninsula on the Persian Gulf. * Islam is the official religion and Arabic is the official language. * UAE oil reserves are ranked as the world’s seventh-largest and is one of the most developed economies in Western Asia. * Many human rights issues for non-citizens exist with companies’ and employers’ non-compliance with labor laws. * The culture mainly revolves around the religion of Islam and traditional Arab and Bedouin culture * Women are not highly regarded in the UAE * Highly disciplined society * Believe in team spirit and support each other It is obvious there is a clear difference in cultural values. The most notable difference in cultural value is women right. In The U.S. women not only expect to be a part of the workforce but they also look forward to serving in leading roles and at very high levels. Islam shaped the overall beliefs and shared value system in United Arab Emirates,as a result of that women do not hold high esteem. Generally speaking the United Arab Emirates society is a musclinely oriented society. Furthermore, a cultural study of United Arab Emirates Hofstede, revealed that the society score very high on power distance, Masculinity, collectivist and uncertainty avoidance categories . Hofstede’s

DQ 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

DQ 2 - Essay Example Just as the Central Florida Police Stress Unit proposes, there should be department-based programs to help effectively alleviate specific job-related stress and to help generally thwart occupational stress in the disciplined forces. It is the responsibility of criminal justice agencies to include criminal justice agency staff members, professional legal counselors and peers of these criminal justice agencies in stress reduction efforts. First, this cannot materialize if criminal justice agencies do not come together as a caucus. Just as the National Institute of Justice observed, to successfully alleviate professional stress, criminal justice agencies must unitarily appoint a dedicated member of staff to: identify with stressed colleagues; solicit the support of, and work together with administrators, staff members, family members and officers’ unions; observe confidentiality; and accord stressed employees, an array of support services (Gino and Cable, 2013). Above all, criminal justice agencies can best abate employee stress by counseling and educating employees on their legal or constitutional duties. Inadequate understanding of legal injunctions opens up doors for legal suits, dismissal of evidence or work acquired outside the confines of the law and ultimately, personnel frustration. This case is being exemplified by New York Police Department officers who are having their evidence acquired through stop and frisk being challenged and declared inadmissible in the court of law, on the account that stop and frisk is

Project management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 10

Project management - Essay Example ves activities and processes that determine quality objectives, policies and responsibilities, which are required to ensure that the project’s goals are, met (Project Management Institute 13). 6. Project Human Resource Management: This aspect of project management primarily involves the organization and management of a project team. A project team includes people with different knowledge, skills and responsibilities. This, therefore, requires strong coordination between these individuals. 7. Project Communications Management: This knowledge area plays a significant role to ensure that members of the project management team are kept on the same page. Adequate communication within a project management team is a necessity that ensures that all processes are implemented as they were predetermined (Project Management Institute 13). 8. Project Risk Management: This component of project management deals with the identification and moderation of risk on a project. Its main objective is to maximize and increase the probability of achieving positive goals. 9. Project Procurement Management: This process is required to process and achieve products and services, or other outcomes that are required out of the project management team. It involves processes such as administering contracts, closing out contracts, and planning and achieving product and services from outside sources (Project Management Institute

Looking at history "from below" Essay

Looking at history "from below" - Essay Example While Europeans may argue that religion was the main objective of their visit for America, it is clear that they exercised oppression and denied the natives of their rights, which can be better described. However, historians have ignored this fact and termed their invasion to America as a mere discovery. From this perspective, it is clear that history has been a subject of bias, influenced by the personal ideas of its authors. Dussell, an Argentine-Mexican liberator philosopher, is among authors who have focused on the subjective nature of history and its implication as far as constructing historical events is concerned. Dussell (126) opens by representing the two sides of the same coin as far as historical opinions are concerned. He argues that history can be analyzed from the top or from below, while considering the position of the writer. Analyzing the analyzing the history of Europeans entry in America from above implies analyzing the opinions presented by the European history. From the perspective of Europeans, their entry into America was either an invention of a country or even its discovery. Invention implies the creation of a country that never existed, while discovery implies the finding of a country that had not been known to exist. On the other hand, approaching history from below, Americans perceive European visitation as uncalled for and the worst form of invasion. From this point of view, h istory suffers subjectivity and the impression that it stands for depends on whether it is analyzed from a â€Å"top† or â€Å"below† approach. Evidently, criticism of history is an issue that has prevailed for many years as scholars identify the voice of the writers within historical recordings. Twain is among author who found fault in historical recordings and expressed the weakness that history has suffered for many years. Twain stated that â€Å"the very ink with which all history is written is merely fluid

Cuban Missile Crisis Essay -- essays research papers fc

During the administration of United States President John F. Kennedy, the Cold War reached its most dangerous state, when the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) came to the brink of nuclear war in what was known as the Cuban Missile Crisis. What was the Cold War? What started the tensions between the United States and the USSR? What actions were taken and how were the problems resolved? All of these questions and more shall be answered in this paper.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Cold War was a struggle between the United States and its allies and the Soviet Union. Although direct military conflict never took place, diplomatic and economic struggles occurred. The Cold War began when Joseph Stalin, leader of the Communist Party, used the Red Army to take control of most of the countries of Eastern Europe. The United States as well as Western European countries were greatly concerned. In response to Stalin’s military movements, President Harry Truman issued the Truman Doctrine in 1947. In his address to Congress, President Truman decided that the United States would aid any country that asked for help in resisting communism. The Truman Doctrine became known as the basis for containment, the policy to keep communism from spreading to other countries. After the Truman Doctrine, George Catlett Marshall, Secretary of State, proposed the Marshall Plan, the European Recovery Program through which the United States provided aid to Wester n Europe after World War II, in June 1947. The Marshall Plan was offered to all European countries, but Stalin would not allow the countries his military was occupying take part. In April 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was formed. The countries involved in this pact were the United States, Britain, France, Canada, Belgium, Denmark, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, and Portugal. The NATO agreement said that â€Å"an armed attack against one or more of its members in Europe and/or America shall be considered an attack against them all.† To ward off aggressors, American forces and nuclear weapons were to be kept in Western Europe. In response to NATO, the Soviet Union formed a similar pact between seven Eastern European countries called the Warsaw Treaty Organization, or Warsaw Pact. The countries involved along with the Soviet Union were Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslov... ... allow them. The inspections weren’t needed, however, as U.S. aerial reconnaissance planes revealed that the missile bases were being dismantled.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Cuban Missile Crisis had ended. Nuclear war had been averted, but the end of the Cuban Missile Crisis didn’t end the Cold War. The Cold War didn’t â€Å"end† until the early nineties, when Mikhail Gorbechev and George Bush stopped the superpower rivalry, at least for the time being. Possibly the most bitter and vicious rivalry in the modern era had spawned conflict after conflict; the Cuban missile crisis was perhaps the worst of these events, almost leading to nuclear disaster. With the brazen and quick thinking of world leaders, this calamity was averted and the earth remains unscathed from the nuclear scourge. Bibliography: Jared Wiener; Bay of Pigs http://members.aol.com/yo1460/byopr/contents.html Anonymous; John F. Kennedy http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/glimpse/presidents/html/jk35.html Brinkley, American History; A Survey; Volume II; Since 1865, USA; McGraw-Hill College; 1999 Dilulio, John J. Jr, Wilson James Q., American government; The Essentials. Boston MA; Houghton Mifflin Company, 1999.

Philosophy †Conscience (90/90) Essay

Discuss critically the view that we should always follow our conscience when making ethical decisions It has traditionally been proposed that the conscience is an established body of authority, essentially justifying the view that it should be ‘followed’. Many notable figures throughout history – Aquinas, Butler, Plato, Freud – have structurally placed it in a potent rà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½le. Whether this is by means of tripartite analogies, hierarchical standing or even religious eminence, the conscience serves a theoretical, and indeed practical, function as the human and societal arbiter. But then, there is also a possible disparity between the states of individual and collective conscience, contributing to the difficulties in determining which conscience is more suited to enacting ‘ethical decisions’. This predicates an interesting dichotomy: the conscience either does not maintain this degree of control or, conversely, the conscience’s increased social standing grants it an even greater level of authority. It can similarly be questioned whet her or not the conscience’s proposed supremacy necessitates an individual’s reliance on it, or even, whether it is needed at all. Ideas in connection with the conscience are far-reaching. The notion of ‘ethical decisions’ being governed by the conscience implies that there is a principal rà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½le the conscience must play in enacting them. But, as addressed above, there are solid questions over its reliability: its seemingly potent position and even its existence. My argument follows an objective line, paying close attention to that factor in which man is of sole importance. The human being is the entity the conscience must work alongside, and vice versa. There is a clear discrepancy between common definitions of ‘consciousness’, in turn emphasising the inconsistency of thought on the matter. The Collins Dictionary, for example, defines ‘consciousness’ as being â€Å"aware of one’s surroundings†1; in contrast with the Concise Oxford Dictionary which classifies it as being â€Å"aware of and responding to one’s surroundings†2. Herein, at the outset, lies an issue. ‘Surroundings’ and conditions are clearly noted by both definitions, yet the human acknowledgement and ‘response’ to them are not so. This irregularity is highly relevant when trying to determine the conscience’s rà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½le in the individual’s ‘decision’-making. The mind’s influence on the individual, the individual’s place in society, and, indeed, individuals themselves, are key to this matter. ***************** â€Å"May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ† 3 Presented above is the Biblical proposition most considered to be supportive of the tripartite theory of the Godhead. Theologically, ‘three’ has been a consistent Biblical presence, â€Å"It should be noted at the outset that the Biblical authors’ use of the number three is abundantly attested†4 – The Holy Trinity, Noah’s three sons and Job’s three daughters being notable cases of this. Accordingly, the human being consists of ‘three’ separate elements; either ‘body’, ‘soul’ and ‘spirit’, as is noted above, or, most applicable to the question of conscience: i) appetites ii) affections, and iii) reason – the latter having familiar associations with the conscience. But where does this come into the idea of ‘following’ one’s conscience? Simply put, it is the idea that the conscience is dominant in its essence; that theologians, philosophers and psychologists throughout times past have placed it above appetites and affections. Noted examples of this are Aquinas’ ‘Hierarchy of Being’, Plato’s ‘Allegory of the Chariot’, Freud’s idea of the id, ego and superego, and others; all leading to one literally presented conclusion – conscience is ‘boss’, and ergo, should be ‘followed’. Thomistic philosophy places the conscience in a divine rank; alongside the Bible, the Church and Mankind as a whole. It is divine and institutional law; guided through human mechanisms by the Synderesis Rule: â€Å"the innate principle in the moral consciousness of every person which directs the agent to good and restrains him from evil†5. This can be seen to relate directly to the idea of a benevolent conscience making ‘ethical decisions’ – ‘good’ being the ultimate goal. Butler takes a similar position – â€Å"man is born to virtue†6 – ‘self love’ and ‘benevolence’ being the individual’s guide. But, one might ask whether the apparent requirement to do ‘good’ is really an objective balance. Can one really make an ‘ethical decision’ without knowing the evil? 7 Aquinas asserted five primary precepts which the conscience formulates in an ‘ethical’ judgement – self preservation and preservation of the innocent, continuation of the species, education of children, living in a society and worshipping God. Despite the need for these to be followed, and, of course, definitive of how we make ‘ethical decisions’, it is the fifth that one finds enticing for this particular study. ‘Worshipping God’, the church – a state of authority – or, indeed, perceived authority, guiding our actions. It conforms to the hierarchy of being (an apt link with the tripartite theory) and is a premise for God’s ‘benign tyranny’. God is the pure form of Reason, and is so at the top of the hierarchy, subordinated by mankind – affections – and animals – pure appetite. By this we can see that this hierarchical method is multi-levelled – the human being comprises these attributes just as a collective hierarchy does. They are simply metaphors for the conscience’s divine authority on a bodily and societal level. This is further supported by Plato’s ‘Allegory of the Chariot’; the charioteer representing Intellect/Reason/Conscience, the white horse signifying the aforementioned morals and affections, and the black horse symbolising appetites. One might be too facetious in making this interpretation but the use of a horse somewhat indicates that human beings are majorly of beastly appetites, other than reason – are we God’s ‘beasts’ as it were? Plato himself judged that: â€Å"man†¦is a tame or civilized animal; nevertheless, he requires proper instruction and a fortunate nature, and then of all animals he becomes the most divine and most civilized; but if he be insufficiently or ill-educated he is the most savage of earthly creatures.†8 Yet, he conversely gives the analogous horse human traits: â€Å"he is a lover of honour and modesty and temperance, and the follower of true glory; he needs no touch of the whip, but is guided by word and admonition only.†9 Even more interesting is Plato’s use of a human being in God’s rà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½le. This gives two ideas; God is either being anthropomorphised (putting him in inferior standing) or, alternatively, human conscience is God-ly10 – maybe God is our conscience. Maybe He is mankind. Newman supports the former idea; â€Å"an echo implies a voice; a voice, a speaker. That speaker I love and revere†11, by the literal hearing of voices. The ‘speaker’ is the indwelling voice – the conscience – and the reverberation of God’s direct message. Here, on the surface, we can clearly see, due to the divine cloud hanging over this matter (‘God is good’), that the conscience should be ‘followed’ when making ‘ethical decisions’. Yet, one might ask the fundamental question of whether the conscience is worthy of its place above appetites and affections. The empiricist, David Hume, makes his opinion on the matter quite clear: â€Å"reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions, and can never pretend to any other office than to serve and obey them†12. He provides a clear argument against ‘always’ ‘following’ our conscience when making ‘ethical decisions’, in favour of our appetites. One might take the view that our primitive nature, without the influence of our conscience and an interventionist (or determinant) society is more equipped to make ‘ethical decisions’. Indeed, the Reformation encouraged the break-away from the Church of Rome and set the individual conscience, not ecclesiastical authority, at the centre of religious life. As will be addressed in further detail later, if our conscience is distorted by society the individual may not be in full control of his own ‘ethical decisions’. One could conversely argue, however, that, as Plato seemingly hinted at above, Hume degrades humanity to the level of animals; that we have no power to reason and therefore cannot achieve ‘God-liness’ or make ‘ethical decisions’ at all. Plato supplemented the ideas purveyed by his ‘Allegory of the Chariot’ through another work The Republic, which, for this essay, provides the basis for examination of the relationship between individual and societal conscience. As with Aquinas, it is a question of hierarchy. The workers – appetite followers – and the soldiers – protectors of the state and morals – are both subservient to the philosopher-kings – the embodiment of reason. Plato’s view was that of an elitist society with the core conscience in charge; â€Å"knowledge is power†13 (â€Å"Conscience is king†14) or, as I might conversely argue, ‘power is knowledge’ (‘King is conscience’). One can draw parallels with Orwell’s dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, which, for me, offers an even more appropriate portrayal of this idea: the lowly ‘proles’ comprising the vast majority of society – governed by appetites – the Outer Party – controlled by state values and propaganda, morals, affections – and the Inner Party and Big Brother, the core of the state; the quintessence of the conscience, â€Å"it is impossible to see reality except by looking through the eyes of the Party†15. These two examples demonstrate the conscience of the individual being mirrored in society. It raises issues as to whether the conscience of the collective should be ‘followed’ when making ‘ethical decisions’ as opposed to that of the limited individual; â€Å"only in the mind of the party, which is collective and immortal†16 – drawing distinctly Marxist parallels, and, perhaps more relevantly, conforming to the Thomistic precept of ‘living in a society’. One can link this to the thoughts of Soloveychik; that â€Å"conscience can’t be someone’s own. Conscience is both personal and universal†17. The pluralism, ‘we’, established in the initial proposition is markedly addressed with these connections to societal conscience. One extremity that may arise from this elitist, authoritarian ideal, however, is the issue of mind-control (â€Å"Big Brother Is Watching You†). A conscientious hierarchical society controlling the psyche of the masses may fulfil the rà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½le of the individual in a more oblique, inflated manner. Appetites, affection and reason being governed by class structure; bringing about a socially solidified conscience. One might apply this to F.H. Bradley’s personification: â€Å"our function [is] as an organ† in a â€Å"social organism†. Thus, if conscience is uniform among individuals, why might ‘ethical decisions’ not be carried out similarly? Baruch Spinoza believed that God’s knowledge is distilled through humanity: â€Å"an idea is adequate and perfect insofar as it represents knowledge of the eternal and infinite essence of God†18. Giving further substance to the idea of an individual’s morals (their ‘ethical’ make-up) being reflected on a collective level. Hume, however, argues against this, â€Å"nothing is more surprising than the easiness with which the many are governed by the few†19, pondering the dominance of a reasoned minority – the collective’s core conscience – in turn eradicating the starting point for this theory. An answer to the issue in the proposition, however, is still not possible at this point. One cannot yet determine whether the conscience should be ‘followed’ when making ‘ethical decisions’ because of the sheer amount of subjectivity over the ethics of elitism. Still, the plausibility of a societal conscience maintaining this degree of authority is questionable. Despite the seemingly loose connections mentioned above, the conscience of the collective is undoubtedly dissimilar to that of the individual. The juxtaposed issues of freedom and conflicting individual mentality are enough in themselves to maintain this viewpoint. Obviously, this makes us question whether making references to literal states of authority is actually worthwhile. The individual has a conscience which both conflicts and complements the state/collective consciousness. Linking to the above issue, are governments/collectives always an objective balance? Seemingly, there are corrupt governments; history has shown there to be corruption in the Church and other elements of society that control the individual’s mindset. Yet it is indubitably the case that the mind (and conscience) is always influenced by the society in which it operates. This presents a mind-blowing paradox. Society is not only determined by a central conscience but the conscience of the individual is conversely determined by society. This might then suggest that whatever the case, the sole function that drives societal conditions, indirectly assumes its authority over the individual. J.B Watson – the ‘Father of Behaviourism’ – proposed: â€Å"give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select† 20 He places himself – a core being with societal influence – in an authoritative position over specified individuals. This can be compared with the Freudian idea that the superego develops throughout childhood by external influences. The human being is born with the id; the basis for appetites, eros (sex) and thanatos (death) drives – these drives could interestingly be seen in a belligerently potent rà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½le, supporting the idea of appetital authority à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ la Hume. Subsequently, the ego develops; the presentable faà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ade that we apply to the world; our affections. Then the superego, our reason and conscience; the irrefutable censor of the human mind. It develops throughout childhood. In tandem with the environmental development, or determinism, mentioned above, â€Å"children are completely egoistic; they feel their needs intensely and strive ruthlessly to satisfy them†21. So by this then, we can see that the tripartite, ‘three’; is a consistent literal basis for the presentation of the conscience. I would, however, question whether this is a valuable method by which to present its authority. There are obvious differences between the theories presented by each of these figures; Freud – socio-psychological; Aquinas – religious; Plato – the soul. These differences mean something. For one, each has specific rà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½les. Some may apply strictly to societal conscience (Plato’s Republic and Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four), others may apply merely to the individual (Freud and Plato’s ‘Allegory of the Chariot’). It is nonetheless interesting that the tripartite is consistent throughout different periods and cultures. Ultimately, it comes to the point where one must consult Freud’s verdict to prove what these give us, â€Å"analogies, it is true, decide nothing, but they can make on e feel more at home†22. How else, then, can the conscience be interpreted authoritatively and conclusive of how we make ‘ethical decisions’? Put simply, the conscience is an alarm: it is disturbing; it forces the individual to put themselves in uncomfortable situations and concurrently feel the effects of these. Although there are religious sides to this, for example, the threat, â€Å"he who acts against his conscience loses his soul†23, the principal factor here is indeed guilt. Of course, guilt is the one thing that the layman will consider alongside the conscience. Conscience is guilt to many. The objective conscience works by putting the individual at a discomfort, Freud believing that guilt is the consequence of not obeying it. Dostoyevsky provides a fine example of this in his notorious work Crime and Punishment, where the protagonist, Rodion Raskolnikov, experiences continual mental anguish following his homicidal actions. The novel gives the idea of mental demons – â€Å"If he has a conscience he will suffer for his mistake. That will be punishment as well as the prison.†24 Rodion’s shame ultimately forces him to confess. He ‘follows’ his guilty conscience to make an ‘ethical decision’. This issue is also given great attention in Shakespeare’s tragedy, Hamlet, in which the king, Claudius, comes to realise, in retrospect, the implications of his fratricide; â€Å"my stronger guilt defeats my strong intent†25. He is, however, prone to continuing his murderous tendencies. Although this is a literary construction, one might suggest that Claudius reverts to his thanatos drive, the superego not taking precedence. Another interpretation is that he adheres to the belief that you â€Å"perform a sin twice and it will cease to be a crime†26, providing a distinctly self-centred stance. Above all, however, this notion of guilt leads us to question whether the conscience’s precedence actually does entail our reliance on it. If the conscience can be seen to be malicious one might assume it is not all good or a worthy mechanism by which to make ‘ethical decisions’. Should we ‘always’ ‘follow’ our conscience if it occasionally encourages us to impart malevolence towards others? Yet, admittedly, I have placed the conscience, somewhat clumsily, in a potent rà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½le by inappropriately treating it as an inanimate transcendent ‘object’. ‘The conscience’ is a misleading phrase – it can not be addressed in literal terms as the above-mentioned figures and I have done so. It is an ambiguous concept; a culmination of ideas, not a figurehead or core being that people must obey. In doing this I have partially neglected the fundamental points initially outlined; those of human response to the conscience, as well as the issue of ‘ethical decisions’. The point is that the human being is its conscience – they work in tandem – yet the individual conscience is contingent on the social conscience and vice versa. It is an eternal cog of human reasoning, working jointly to maintain relations and prevent wrongdoing. There is a deterministic problem associated with this question: if the conscience is a necessary mechanism then seemingly we cannot escape it – ‘always’ following our conscience places it in a more authoritative rà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½le than a judicial one. Aquinas, for one, believed that ‘following’ our conscience is ‘always’ right despite it not necessarily entailing good – is this really the kind of mindset we want when making ‘ethical decisions’? If one is to take Hume’s view of appetital dominance, the human essence being the guidance of our nature, we can, to an extent, countermand this. One might argue that the conscience is just a constraint on our essential urges. A constraint on the collective’s blossoming; Sartre asserting that â€Å"we must act out passion before we can feel it†27. Even today in such a complex, interlaced world there is a question over whether our primitive essence would beget greater happiness. Not at all am I suggesting that humans should revert to being primal, nor that happiness should be the human race’s ultimate goal, but, in terms of making ‘ethical decisions’, must one rely on the conscience? Indeed, there is a danger that reliance on appetites would encourage societal and individual regression. Hence, a viable alternative must be suggested. For me, this comes in the form of Social Darwinism (‘survival of the fittest’); that mankind evolves by means of competition, â€Å"the very essence of instinct is that it’s followed independently of reason†28. Darwin appeared to prioritise appetites; using them as a means for societal progression. One might assert that this ideal comes closest to loosening the fetters of both individual conscience and societal restraint, whilst not jeopardising our future. In answering the question, the various examples presented in this essay – of the conscience being dominant in its essence – suggest to me that in any case the conscience deters our ‘decision’-making. Indeed, if we feel by any means constrained we are unable to make pure, objective ‘ethical decisions’, ergo, we should not be subservient to the conscience when making them. 1 Collins Dictionary & Thesaurus: Two books in one, 2004 2 Concise Oxford Dictionary: Tenth Edition, 1999 3 1 Thessalonians 5:23 4 Richard D. Patterson, The Third Day Motif, The Use Of Three In The Bible 5 The Internet Encyclopaedia of Philosophy 6 Joseph Butler. Class notes. 7 This is addressed further with the issue of guilt later on. 8 Plato, The Republic 9 Plato, Phaedrus 10 This is intended to mean the essence of God, rather than merely ‘god-like’ attributes. 11 Pope’s Letter On Newman 12 David Hume 13 Sir Francis Bacon 14 Joseph Butler 15 Nineteen Eighty-Four, Part 2, Chapter 2 16 Nineteen Eighty-Four, Part 2, Chapter 2 17 Simon Soloveychik, Free Man 18 Spinoza’s Ethics 19 David Hume 20 John B. Watson 21 Sigmund Freud 22 Sigmund Freud 23 Fourth Lateran Council 24 Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment, Chapter 19 25 Hamlet, Act 3 Scene 3, l. 40 26 Jewish commentary 27 Jean-Paul Sartre 28 Charles Darwin