The Uncertainty of Truth The Importance of Fake and Fact - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 5 Words: 1537 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2019/04/01 Category Society Essay Level High school Tags: Truth Essay Did you like this example? What is truth? The age old question that many have been asking over and over again, from the time of Aristotle, to today with Cornel West. For some, truth is found in religion. To others, truth is found in self. Some spend their lifetimes seeking genuine truth. Others do not give it a second thought. In Tim O’Brien’s, The Things They Carried, the truth is explored through a series of personal encounters, with fabrication and fact tightly intertwined. For O’Brien, truth has the traits of being experiential, perceptive, and contradictory. Personally in my own life, I find the topic of truth to be one that is extremely interesting. The truth subjective, but has the ability to hold a tremendous amount of weight. For many, it holds everything. Yet, one fact of truth can shake the entire entity of what one person can hold to be their one and only truth. Relating back to my example of religion, there are millions who base their whole life on the fact that they believe it all to be their own truth. But if one thing could break it, then in turn, their whole life is broken. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The Uncertainty of Truth: The Importance of Fake and Fact" essay for you Create order The Things They Carried is a novel about a group of solders fighting in the Vietnam war and their experiences throughout it. I chose to write about this short story collection, wrote about Tim O’Brien because it is one of my favorite books, and when I was assigned to read it in high school, the heaviness of truth presented in the book flew over my head. Re-reading the novel and writing my final paper on this was a good choice. Also, my grandfatther fought in the Vietnam War, and although it is a work of fiction, I was able to relate it to him, and understand further about where he truly came from. By focusing on the truth, the novel reveals the importance of experience through telling stories. At first glance, the concepts of truth and storytelling may seem to be opposing, but that is not the case. Storytelling makes it possible for a listener to feel genuine compassion and empathy, making another person’s experience seem like his own. The feelings and emotions of a character become personal for the reader. O’Brien explains† the difference between â€Å"happening-truth† and â€Å"story-truth† (171). He explains that while happening-truth is situationally accurate, story-truth allows the reader to experience the same feelings which he had felt. He gives an example when he describes what he saw on the battle field: His jaw was in his throat, his upper lip and teeth were gone, his one eye was shut, his other eye was a star-shaped hole, his eyebrows were thin and arched like a womans, his nose was undamaged, there was a slight tear at the lobe of one ear, his clean black hair was swept upward into a cowlick at the rear of the skull, his forehead was lightly freckled, his fingernails were clean, the skin at his left cheek was peeled back in three ragged strips, his right cheek was smooth and hairless, there was a butterfly on his chin, his neck was open to the spinal cord and the trail, a slim, dead, almost dainty young man. (124) Despite the graphic and specific description of the â€Å"dainty young man†, O’Brien later admits that he had never actually witnessed this scene. Still, although he might not have actually seen the individual faces of bodies lying in a field, by describing a â€Å"star-shaped† gouge in the dead soldier’s eye, he is able to incite the same feeling of terror that he had truly felt during his time in Vietnam, making the story-truth emotionally true as well. He paints an eerily realistic picture that allows the reader to believe the story is true in order to bring his story to life, enhancing the emotive experience. Therefore, despite understanding the fictional basis of O’Brien’s stories, people will continue reading The Things They Carried as if were is autobiographical, simply because of the overwhelming power behind story-truth. In this way, stories can possess a mystic power over the human mind. A good narrative can transport readers from where they are to a far-away land, a different time, or even an alternate reality. For example, â€Å"The Allegory of the Cave†, the philosopher Aristotle challenges his fellow thinker, Glaucon, to question what is true. He asks Glaucon to imagine a situation in which people are chained and forced to believe their entire realities consist of shadows dancing on a cave wall, cast from a fire and puppets behind them; the captives’ â€Å"happening-reality†. He then asks what would happen if a captive should dare to stray from the familiar images cast upon the wall; â€Å"And if he is compelled to look straight at the fire, will he not have pain in his eyes which will make him turn away and take refuge in the shadows which he can see?† (Plato). Aristotle implies that even when given a glimpse of reality, an individual will still return to what is co mfortable. This is also true for many who read The Things They Carried. Although O’Brien consistently reminds us that this novel is a work of fiction, we still retreat to the ease of believing that his story is truth. The power behind experience is revealed through both narratives. Like the captives chained within the cave walls who still choose to believe the images on the wall despite seeing the reality of fire, readers remain bound to believing O’Brien’s story-truth because the feelings he incites is not easily shaken. To them, their experience stands to be the truest. The slipperiness of truth is also revealed through perception. After the death of Ted Lavender, Lieutenant Cross is found curled deep within a foxhole he had dug while struggling to fight back tears. His troop listens on as he weeps throughout the night. When they see him, they see a boy who is hurting, a leader who cares so deeply for his men that he can hardly carry the heavy burden of loss. And while there is truth to the men’s perception of the situation, this is not the entirety of it. â€Å"In part, he was grieving for Ted Lavender, but mostly it was for Martha, and for himself, because she belonged to another world†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (16). Unrequited love. She would never love him the way he loved her. Cross is certainly mourning, but that sorrow is not reserved for Lavender as the others had thought. Truth to Kiowa and Bowker was that Cross had lost a soldier. Truth to Cross was that he had lost his love back home. Truth in perception can also be seen beyond the scope of The Things They Carried. In October of 1967, tensions grew high throughout the nation as news was released of the usage of chemical warfare by American troops. There was a clear division in where people stood; either for or against the Vietnam War. On that day in October of ’67, students of the University of Wisconsin began boycotting the use of napalm. Shortly after the protests began, the Madison police arrived at the scene. In the matter of moments, the boycotts broke out into riots, as police forcefully pushed students out of the commerce building. Clouds of tear gas and screams of horror filled the air. The terrified students watched as an inescapable wave of batons, helmets, and uniforms quickly approached them. Administrators, professors, and peers watched as bleeding protestors stumbled out of the crowd, collapsing to the floor in agony (Two). Even in this situation, perception is the key to truth. To the students, the war was senseless. To many others, it was necessary. To the protestors, the police were brutal beasts of destruction. To the authorities, they were keepers of peace. Perception deeply affected the scope of how each party viewed the situation and was the deciding factor on what actions should be taken. Because truth is so heavily influenced by perception and experience, truth is also contradictory. In many instances, there are multiple truths to one experience. Despite the pain that childbirth brings, it also bears the miracle of life. In death there is loss, but also relief from the hurt of this world. O’Brien leaves another perfect example; â€Å"The truths are contradictory. It can be argued, for instance, that war is grotesque. But in truth war is also beauty. For all its horror, you can’t help but gape at the awful majesty of combat† (77). In this, O’Brien explains the conflicting angles of a single instance. Through the destruction of war there still stands a sense of beauty. Both statements stand true, but it is also a matter of who’s scope you view it through. â€Å"War is nasty; war is fun. War is thrilling; war is drudgery. War makes you a man; war makes you dead† (76). According to O’Brien, the truth is messy. Truth is fabrication and concrete simultaneously. Truth is personal and yet still universal. Truth is ubiquitous. Truth is important. Truth is not easily defined. Through the muddiness of it all, one thing is for sure; the truth is certainly uncertain.

The Painted Bird The Monster that Lives in Us All Essay

Jerzy Kosinski reveals the barbaric acts of civilians in times of war, showing how war changes our sheer humanity. Passed from village to village, he tells the tale of a small gypsy boy wandering without parents during World War II. The horrific tales of the people who took him in, paint a cruel picture of civilization. Was Jerzy Kosinski take on humanity realistic or erroneous? In the first couple weeks of World War II, a six-year-old boy from Eastern Europe was sent to a distant village by his parents. The foster mom that was found for him, died two months after his arrival. He was forced to move from house to house in the villages to survive. No one wanted to take him in because he looked like a gypsy. A man, passing through, was†¦show more content†¦While Olga tended to a fishermen, angry villagers threw him into the river. The boy was carried downstream to another village. Using survival skills Olga had taught him, the boy made his way through the wilderness, trying to seek shelter and find food. He was thrust into the millers home, who never had a name. The miller ignored him, going about his work. As did his wife. They hired a plowboy who apparently had been flirting with his wife. His wife, a pushover, was beat often over the alleged affair. One night, when the miller got drunk, invited the plowboy to dinner. The plowboy stared a little too long at his wife, and after a heated fight, the miller dug the plowboys eyes out with a spoon. The boy watched all of this, thinking it was all a dream. After cleaning up the mess, he went to bed and decided to leave the next morning. I wondered whether the loss of ones sight would deprive a person also of the memory of everything that he had seen before. If so, the man would no longer be able to see even in his dreams. If not, if only the eyeless could still see through their memory, it would not be too bad. The world seemed to be pretty much the same everywhere, and even though people differed from one another, just as animals and trees did, one should know fairly well what they looked like after seeing them for years. I had lived only seven years, but I remembered a lot of things. When I closed my eyes, many details came back still more vividly. WhoShow MoreRelatedThe Egyptian Mummy Mask895 Words   |  4 Pagescertain piece of magnificent art is extremely detailed with intricate designs covering it all around. The Museum of Fine Arts makes it easy to pay attention to, because of its detail and how the mask is displayed. The Mummy Mask has it’s own small alter with a spot light shining down on it creating dramatic shadows in a very dim room. The decorations include inlaid glass eyes, a gold leaf and is hand-painted and gilded glass. This mask is not paper machà © like the masks that were made in this era;Read MoreAdvancements for Women throughout History1125 Words   |  4 Pa gesfrom it. 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Happiness in The Beatitudes and the Nicomachean Ethics - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 6 Words: 1778 Downloads: 2 Date added: 2019/05/07 Category Society Essay Level High school Tags: Happiness Essay Did you like this example? The Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount and the Nicomachean Ethics both depict happiness. Happiness is the mental or emotional state of well-being and contentment. These works explain how to attain happiness. Aristotles view of happiness is comparable with happiness describe in the Bible because both versions are depicted as something that can be worked for. However, they are different because the Beatitudes provide a version of happiness that is open for everyone to experience. The Sermon on the Mount is a collection of Jesus teachings at the mountain top, recorded in the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament, in Chapters 5-7. Jesus discusses various topics to teach the people how to live pleasing to Him, free from hypocrisy, full of love and grace, and abundant in wisdom and discernment. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Happiness in The Beatitudes and the Nicomachean Ethics" essay for you Create order In this sermon, Jesus declares the beatitudes before the people. Matthew then tells the people of Jesus parable of the salt and light. The meaning of the parable is Christians we are called to be an example and have an impact on the world. Jesus informs the people, He has come to fulfill the law, and they must follow the commandments. Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good works (Matthew 5:16). The people were also taught to not be angry, because that is similar to killing, it is a negative emotion that can result in regrettable actions. He also encourages them to not commit adultery or look at another human being with lust. Furthermore, divorce is adultery and anyone who marries a divorced person commits adultery. He declares false oaths, retaliation and swearing by earth or heaven as sin. The last topic discussed in Matthew chapter 5 was love of enemies. Jesus wants His people to love one another whether they consider the person good or bad and wh ether or not they have a good relationship. These topics help to achieve happiness by giving guidelines to follow. Obedience to these rules will create a stronger relationship with God, and He in turn will pour out his reward of eternal life in Heaven. According to Jesus happiness comes from a relationship with him and obtaining His reward. In Matthew, Chapter 6 Jesus begins by discussing almsgiving. Almsgiving is doing something without looking for the recognition or praise from it. Next He teaches them that they ought to pray with sincerity and not with the goal of being seen. Jesus teaches them the prayer called The Lords Prayer. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; and do not subject us to the final test, but deliver us from the evil one. (Matthew 6:9-13) This prayer helps build relation with Christ, to ultimately enter into Heaven. After the prayer Jesus teaches about fasting. Christians should in terms of appearance not neglect themselves, so it appears to others they have fasted but instead have it be that only the Father knows they are fasting. Jesus also lets the people know they should not be invested in materialism but rather wait to receive treasures from above. Jesus also taught the people they should look upon things that are good to keep their soul holy. Furthermore, Christians should have a dependence on God and serve him only not the pleasures of this world according to Christ. In Chapter 6, Jesus expounds on principles that join Christians into communion with Him, which ultimately is true happiness. In Matthew Chapter 7, Jesus tells the people at the mountaintop that they need to stop judging others because as they judge one another God will judge them. Also, He inspired them to give what is holy unto the Lord, because he will answer all of their prayers and requests. Jesus give the golden rule: Do to others whatever you would have them do to you (Matthew 7:12). In other words, Christians must treat others the way they want to be treated and follow the path that leads to God. Jesus warns the people of false prophets and ends the sermon on the mount by telling the people what a true disciple looks like. Jesus does not want the people to listen to false prophets because they will misguide them on how to achieve true happiness. False prophets put the focus on themselves rather than pleasing God and creating a relationship with Him. As stated previously, in the sermon on the mount, Jesus tells the people the Beatitudes. The Beatitudes present virtues that lead to a reward of Heaven, provide a way of life that brings salvation, and bring peace in the midst of trials and tribulations on this earth. The beatitudes go against the general behaviors and thinking of humans, so when completed Jesus offers the reward of eternal life in Heaven. The beatitudes are: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God. Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:3-10) The beatitudes call Those who completely rely and trust on God, will go to heaven. Comfort will be brought to those who mourn. The meek will receive spiritual blessings from God. Those who seek God will be filled by Him. People who act with mercy with receive mercy. Christians who are blameless will see God. Those who create peace God will call them his children. Those who are judged for following God will enter into heaven. Each beatitude beings with blessed which is a term meaning happy. Jesus is telling the people happy is anyone who follows the beatitudes. This happiness comes from God He created Christians to find total and complete joy within Him and following His will. Happiness comes from giving their lives over to Christ where he removes all emptiness, brokenness, and sins. Christians live a holy life by focusing on His will, which gives them the ability to love God completely and love their neighbor as God loves them. We get happiness through the reward of heaven. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven (Matthew 5:12). In class we also read Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle. Aristotles goal of the book was to determine how best to achieve (eudamonia) happiness. All human activities aim at some end that we consider good with most activities being a means to a higher end. The highest human good, then, is that activity that is an end in itself. That good being happiness we aim at for its own sake, not because happiness helps us realize some other end. Living out the virtues gives us happiness. Virtue is a frame of mind rather than a task. Someone who is virtuous behaves correctly naturally and finds enjoyment in it. Aristotle discusses the various moral virtues and their corresponding vices. Courage is confidence in the face of fear. Liberality and magnificence consist of giving away varying amounts of money in appropriate and tasteful ways. Temperance includes not giving in too easily to the pleasures of physical sensation. Patience is the appropriate response to anger. Justice incudes distribution of wealth or honors among a group of people being given according to merit and exchanges between two or more people aiming at balance and equality. Human nature avoids treating oneself unjustly and suffering injustice willingly. Prudence is the intellectual virtue that helps us reason properly about ethical matters. Incontinence is a peculiar form of badness. Unlike vice, incontinence does not involve willing bad behavior. Rather, it consists of knowing what is good but lacking the self-control to do good. Incontinence is not as bad as vice, since it is partially involuntary. Aristotle then explains different forms of friendships. The three kinds of friendship are: friendship based on utility, friendship based on pleasure, and friendship based on goodness of character. The first two kinds of friendship are based on superficial qualities, so these friendships are not generally long lasting. Friendship based on goodness of character is the best kind of friendship, because these friends love one another for who they are and not for what they stand to gain from one another. Friendship generally exists between equals, though there are cases, like the father-son relationship, which rely on unequal exchanges. Ideally, our feelings for our friends should reflect our feelings for ourselves. Self-love is more important than friendship, since only people who treat themselves with appropriate care and respect can achieve proper virtue and happiness. Though a happy person is theoretically self-sufficient, friendship is an important and essential aspect of the good life. Pleasure accompanies and perfects our activities. A good person will feel pleasure in doing good things. The highest good of all is rational contemplation. A life that consists exclusively of contemplation is obviously impossible, but we should aim to approximate this ideal as closely as possible. The practical sciences, then, help us find the right path toward this highest good and help us deal with the practical matters of everyday life that inevitably occupy a great deal of our time and attention. Aristotle ends the Nicomachean Ethics discussing how to obtain eudaimonia. Eudaimonia is specifically an objective sense of conten tment. Through eudaimonia Aristotle realizes the best life for human beings is one grounded in rational activity. Aristotles view on happiness and the beatitudes depiction is comparable. In both we see a happiness built from following a certain set of rules. Jesus wants Christians to follow the beatitudes to receive happiness from Him, Aristotle believes happiness comes from practicing the virtues. Also, the happiness is self-dependent it is not automatically given but must be worked for. The Aristotle pointed out that genuine happiness is complete and sufficient unto itself. However, Aristotle does not believe happiness was possible for everyone. Jesus came to save us so that everyone could receive happiness. Jesus happiness is accessible for everyone while Aristotles natural happiness is the result of emotional stability brought about by the virtues. Conclusion It also throws light on various aspects of their lives, including the issues of anger, fasting, forgiveness, divorce, faith, prayer, justice, care for the needy, handling the religious law, lust, judging other people, and salvation, and mercy.

Free Public Health Care Or A Single Payer System - 827 Words

Free public health care or a single payer system as it’s referred to, is a health care system in which the state/government pays for any and all health care costs for its citizens. However in the south pacific region this system is becoming increasingly unsustainable, citizens are now being required to meet the full or partial costs of their treatment. This new system is referred to as the user pays system where the government is not responsible for meeting the costs of its citizen’s healthcare. This new system has been met with both positive and negative reactions. It is the responsibility of the government to provide free health care to all its citizens who benefit in a social and economical way. However a lot of people have taken to abusing these benefits in the very same sectors. This essay will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of free public health care. There are many advantages of free public health care, most of it benefits in an economical way. Firstly, it is affordable by all. By having free public health care it can be said that health care would be readily available for people of all walks of life, regardless of their social or economic positions it will be offered to anyone. Since free health care uses single payer system, any and all health care costs for treatments or medical visits would be taken care of by a single entity (usually this is done by the government) citizens would not have to worry about getting treatments done which would have beenShow MoreRelatedThe Single Payer Reimbursement System1608 Words   |  7 PagesWhat is a Single Payer Reimbursement System? Single payer reimbursement is a health care financing system that â€Å"includes both the collection of money for health care and reimbursement of providers for health care costs.† In such a system, the government or a quasi public agency is the entity that bears full responsibility of collecting funds and reimbursing appropriate parties, but the provision of care remains in private hands. Through taxpayer funds, the government collects money from individualsRead MoreHealth Care Systems Of Canada908 Words   |  4 Pages Health Care Systems Health care in the United States has been an ongoing dispute and a major concern to all involved from the provider to the consumer. There have been other countries who have a demonstrated success in providing better health care practices at an economical cost for providers and consumers. Currently the United States spends more per person on health care comparatively speaking to other countries. Perhaps taking a looking at what has worked for other counties and their currentRead MoreHealthcare in America1458 Words   |  6 PagesComposition: Writing and Research Colorado Technical University December 24, 2012 Improving the access and affordability of health insurance coverage for all Americans should be a primary concern for those who help create the laws of the land. At this date, there are roughly 44 million Americans without any type of healthcare coverage. Another 38 million people have inadequate health insurance (PBS, 2012). What this all means is that the people who need it the most are putting off seeing a doctor untilRead MoreHealth Care Research Paper1146 Words   |  5 PagesThe health care system in the United States needs to be more reliable and easily accessible to those that need it. Increased coverage, affordable care for those with life-long disabilities and illness, and protections for those with pre-existing conditions is especially important. 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Should Sociology Be Scientific Free Essays

In sociology there are two main contrasting views to how the subject of sociology should be approached and studied, as a science or not. In this essay I will be explaining the arguments of each side of the discussion fully, and aim to show the positive and negative points of either approach to studying sociology. The first argument I will analyse is Positivism. We will write a custom essay sample on Should Sociology Be Scientific? or any similar topic only for you Order Now Positivists support the view that sociology should be studied as a science, arguing that society and the activities of the individuals in society as a whole hold main similarities and attributes to the physical or natural world. Positivists believe that social factors are largely involved in determining human behaviour, an example being that positivists think that people wish to seek partners in order to allow them to marry and produce children, letting them fulfil societies expectations of them. Positivists use scientific methodology, which means that their procedures resemble methods of collecting data that are usually seen in practice in natural sciences. Examples of some of these methods are questionnaires, structured interviews or statistics. Using scientific procedures in the Positivists view means that more accurate results will be collected, they hold the view that it is possible to see society in an objective way. An example of this is Durkheim, who believed the social facts of society could be considered in the same way as objects and events of the natural world. He thought that social facts did not only consist of things that could be observed objectively or in a direct manner, but also belief systems which exist in the consciousness of individuals. To look at these belief systems in a scientific manner Durkheim thought that they couldn’t be changed at will, but were controlled by society making them available to scientific approaches. Correlation is another part of scientific methodology, where by looking at different social facts correlations are found between them, where there is evidence of a relationship between two or more different factors. Durkheim found that in his study of suicide there was a relationship between suicide and religions, (e. g. Protestantism and a high suicide rate). After correlations are found between social facts the researcher may believe that one social fact causes another to make a hypothesis, such as crime causes a person to become working class, or being working class causes a person to commit crime. One problem with this part of the positivist scientific methodology is that some correlations found by researchers may just be by chance or indirect. This can happen where two social facts are found together but in actual fact don’t have any direct connections to each other. It can happen that a third social fact has a relationship with both the other social facts, which can cause them to be linked. An example of this is gender being the cause of both level of criminality and location in the class hierarchy, which illustrates that class and crime aren’t actually linked, but are both related to gender. In positivists research they also believe that if findings are verified and found in many different contexts such as in different societies around the world and during different time periods the research can be see as being a law of human behaviour, which is the main aim of the positivist perspective. This is where a statement is found to be true in all circumstances, a comparison being scientific laws such as gravity being established, positivists hold the view that these laws can be found in human behaviour. Durkheim thought he had found a law of human behaviour when his research into suicide had the conclusion that suicide rates always increased when in society there was a drastic change in the economy. Using scientific methodology such as questionnaires does have the positive of being reliable, as the data could be collected repeatedly and it is likely to achieve the same conclusions over and over again, but also has the weakness that people can lie and be biased in the questionnaires towards themselves. Another problem is that questionnaires restrict the answers of the individual being asked the questions, which also can happen in structured interviews where the individual cant put across what they want to say because of the structured questions and style of the interview. Also questionnaires and scientific methodology doesn’t take into account the individual differences that could be involved in the issue that is being researched. An example of this is suicide. Research into the matter of suicide has been criticised when it has been done using scientific matters as Douglas made the criticism of Durkheim’s research that not all suicides can be treated as the same type of act as they could have different or contrasting meanings behind them, e. g. lderly Eskimo’s will kill themselves for the sake of their society, where as a someone in a western society may kill themselves because they are depressed. Also, in Durkheim’s research into suicide, J. D Douglas criticized him saying that the statistics used weren’t valid, as the decision to if the sudden death was a suicide is made by the coroner, who in turn is influenced by the family and friends of the victim. This creates the possibility of there being systematic bias in the decision, having the consequence of not very reliable statistics to base his conclusions on. Another weakness of scientific methodology is it can result in generalisations in the conclusions, where the researcher will split the data collected into different categories, as Durkheim carried out in his study into suicide, which can be too reductionist, missing out important factors in the issue being researched such as the background of the suicides etc. Another method used in sociological research is observation, which positivists believe that the social world can be objectively observed and classified. Observation is not only used by positivists, but is also used by many anti-positivist sociologists who have observed situations in connection with subjects like education and suicide, where Atkinson observed the processes involved in the decisions made by coroners in the coroners courts. One problem with using observation is that it is restrictive in the type of situations it can be used in, such as in the study of the subject of politics, sociologists are prohibited from observing the British Cabinet. Also because the results are based on how the situation was observed through the researcher, it is possible for there to be interference from the researcher in the data collected. Another group that support the idea of sociology being a science is realists, who see much of sociology being scientific. An example of this is the realist’s sociologist Keat, who saw Marxist sociology as scientific as the models developed by Marx was evaluating processes and institutions in society based on empirical data. Realists suggest that both natural and sociological sciences have the same aim in the research carried out which is to develop theories and create perspectives to explain the world based on collected evidence. Auguste Comte was a founder of sociology, and through founding the subject attempted to show it as a science using a scientific manner in his research, studying social phenomena. He talked about discovering the laws social phenomena being the main aim behind the subject of sociology, and scientific methods being the best way of accomplishing this. He also thought that society as a whole was greater than the individuals within it, which in other words meant that society was more complex than the number of people in it, that it involved many other variables. One procedure that Comte supported was the HD procedure, which was where you started with a theory, created a hypothesis based on that theory, slected a research method that could be verified and analysise the data collected through this method to see if the hypothesis was correct. One problem with this procedure is that although it does have reliable data that is collected, and a straight forward procedure involved, a negative aspect of creating a hypothesis to work with before carrying out the research is that it brings in the possibility that the researcher will pick a research method which will be biased to the hypothesis by be the method most likely to prove it. An example of where this happened was the research into aids attempting to prove it as a ‘gay plague’. Another example of a positivist theory was made by Karl Popper, who created the theory of falsification. Popper believed that the best way to see if a theory or conclusion was true was to let it stand the test of time. In this he meant that the longer a theory was supported and unreputed by other sociologists, the more true it was. Popper was critical towards Marx, saying that he was unscientific because he didn’t use empirical data and that Marx’s theory couldn’t be proved wrong or right as Marx left his theory open to when the revolution would actually happen, meaning that if a revolution didn’t happen in that time period, Marx would still be able to argue that it was going to happen ‘some day in the future’. The other side of the argument of should sociology be scientific is held by anti positivists, such as Max Weber. Weber claims that to come to true conclusions the motives of a situation or a persons actions must first be understood. An example of this is if a person is fishing, are they doing it because its their hobby, or maybe because they are hungry. One process supported by Weber was verstehen, which is where the sociologist imagines himself or herself as the person or in the position of the person whose being studied. Weber thought that the motives behind an action are just as important as the actions themselves for coming to the truth behind a subject. There third perspective involved in the debate is Post Modernism, which believe in the grand narrative, or that there is no such thing as just having one dominant theory. Post Modernists believe the best results and theories are academic pick and mix’s, where conclusions are drawn from many different perspectives and theories to get an all round finding that includes all the different points of view involved. Post Modernists also think that there is no such thing as one objective truth, and that no one method or way of looking at sociology can arrive at true conclusions as in reality, society is always changing as is the norms and values within society. One post modernist who believes that there is no one technique that can find the truth (a belief held by epistemology) is Lyotard, who sees all epistemology as being based on more the researchers opinions instead of being based on objective knowledge. This is known as being a metanarrative. How to cite Should Sociology Be Scientific?, Papers

Frederic Chopin free essay sample

If you think youve heard good piano music, youve heard nothing until you a listen to Frederic Chopin. Chopins skillful technique, creative imagination, and variety of styles will keep you listening for hours. The feeling he puts into his music will have you hopping one minute, and meditating the next. Piano music isnt the only thing he excelled in. He also wrote music for symphonies to accompany the piano. These concertos are very powerful and brilliant and will show you what a composer Chopin was. So many different Chopin music albums and collections exist that I really cant tell you what you should start with, but one that seems to be popular in many music stores is called Chopins Waltzes. This album is comprised of 24 beautifully-composed, short waltzes that Chopin wrote. I recommend this because the pieces are easy to listen to and are not full of complex chords that may boggle the brain. We will write a custom essay sample on Frederic Chopin or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Also, the simple melodies will catch on quickly and you will find yourself humming along with the music. So, go and get yourself a Chopin CD. I guarantee you will see his incredible talent and learn to appreciate and enjoy his remarkable music