The Catholic Faith With Contrasting Facts on Islam Religion Essay

The Catholic Faith With Contrasting Facts on Islam Religion - Essay Example With the death of Christ, the apostle Peter was designated as the first Pope, or temporal head of the Catholic Church. Since then, the mission of this faith is to spread the faith across the world. According to Pope Benedict XVI, the mission of the Catholic Church can be summarized â€Å"as a threefold responsibility to proclaim the word of God, celebrate the sacraments, and exercise the ministry of charity† (Benedict XVI 2005). Known to be one of the oldest institutions in the world, the Catholic Church is rich with traditions and beliefs seen through the eyes of devotees. This essay provides the opportunity for a Catholic devotee to be interviewed. In the process, one would appreciate the insights, beliefs, underlying teachings of the Catholic Church as seen from of an ordinary woman. The interview was conducted in the Infant of Prague Catholic Church at Jacksonville, North Carolina. The person being interviewed is Christina Cordero, a Roman Catholic by virtue of her birth and baptism. She was raised in another country, the Philippines, which is a predominantly Catholic country. The Infant of Prague Catholic Church is medium built. It has three balconies, vaulted ceilings, a separate room for families with small children who might act up during service, an elaborate altar flanked by praying candles, and beautiful stained glass windows with depictions of St. Michael, St. Peter and others saints. Apart from the solemn faà §ade, there is just one thing that needs some maintenance and repairs – the pews.

Whether Tilly is a proverbial Don Quixote, misconstruing the benign as Essay

Whether Tilly is a proverbial Don Quixote, misconstruing the benign as threatening. Is there any reason not to dismiss him - Essay Example In this respect, Tilly advocates for realism as opposed to determinism in a social science context. Mill also learns of the approach of Tilly in the study of social science. People must consider the premise that an individual must justify actions with the reality of actions. This is an assumption held by Tilly with regard to normative theory of social science. However, Mill is convinced that Tilly’s opposition to the aspect of determinism is justified (Franklin, 2007). Mill also anticipated Tilly’s social science criticisms because he also believes in the normative approach. An individual ought to base his decisions on self-conscience whereby a person influences the environment instinctively. Mill also believed that a humanistic approach in social science is justifiable and it formed the basis of Tilly’s critique for the determinism approach by in social science. The only exception when the normative approach is not followed is during a break in the pattern of a social life. Tilly also argues that the world is a rational environment as opposed to a social environment. This social philosopher upholds the fact that all actions are justified by reason in accordance to Descartes’s philosophical concept. Tilly is critical of the social scientist’s argument that reason-giving is just eventful rather than normality in life. According to Giddens (2008), the reasons given for any undertaking, must be of the right kind and must be applied to the right people in order to foster order in society. The speed of justifying actions by reason should also be high in order to have a logical flow of events. Tilly’s position on class politics contributed to his critique of the other socialist’s argument on normative socialism. In his critique, Tilly sought to abandon the structuralism theory of social science. Additionally, Tilly distanced himself for the reductionist theory. This paved way for

Applied Criminal Justice Ethics Essay Example for Free

Applied Criminal Justice Ethics Essay My interviewee was Commander Hamry, of the Milton police department in Washington. When interviewing Commander Hamry, I found the following to be his impressions of the police force in general: Why are ethics and character so important in the field of law enforcement? Because we represent everything we believe in, not only in local and state law, but the Constitution of the United States. We are part law enforcement, lawyer, priest, counselor, mother/father figure etcat any given moment. We have a nano-second to decide whether or not to shoot whereas everyone else has months/years to decide if that action was proper or not. Due to an elevated level of training and discipline, we are held to a higher standard. This includes: morals, ethics, actions/decisions which the public has entrusted its care to us which go back to the issues when the tea was first thrown into the harbor. Do the interviewees feel that police are more ethical today, or were they more ethical ten years ago? Due to immediate access of public information and technology, the magnification of the microscope has been increased. However, that is something that evolves with public perception, the legal system, etc where something that was common place and ethical 100 years ago would not be considered today. People are basically good and the basic Judeo/Christian principle upon which our system is founded has remained, for the most part, unchanged. Why do police officers become involved in misconduct? To over simplify the answer, because they are human. They make mistakes like anyone else or experience temptations in which they cannot or choose not to handle. No different than the clerk who pockets a dollar when no one is looking. Do the interviewees feel that there is enough training offered in ethics at the police academy level? If not, why is that? Ethics are like character building and/or common sense. It evolves with experience and upbringing. How would you teach common sense or character? However, a strong emphasis IS placed on ethics in the law enforcement academies, but the basic concept and belief in such values has to be present to start with. Those that dont develop the concept strong enough should be weeded out during the background phase of the hiring process. People can change and develop a stronger sense of ethics (I believe) as to the examples set by those they are influenced by or choose to be influenced by. Should ethics training be offered as an ongoing process for law enforcement officers? Yes, and I believe it will remain an integral part of the basic academy program. Do the interviewees feel that education and/or training in ethics would reduce incidents of police corruption? Yes and No. The elevated awareness may make them think about it more. But it is also a lifestyle and belief in the basic system that we work within. This is no different than being asked to go out and enforce laws that we do not either believe in, or question. We dont make the laws, we merely enforce those that the people have asked to be on the books and thus should act the same. Being within law enforcement is like living in a fish bowl. You are always under the scrutiny of the public perception on and off duty. You are judged by how your kids act in school, to how you look or what you do when you go to town.

Relationship Between Music and Architecture

Relationship Between Music and Architecture CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Research Overview There have been some efforts that were made by a number of researcher vis-ÃÆ'  -vis looking at the parallels of architecture and music in terms of rhythm, harmony and the inherent ability to provoke emotional responses of each discipline; however, those researches have not covered all genres of music. One of the types of music that have not attracted a lot of architectural critics, cabaret music, has captured my interest. Given the limited research in the area, this study intends to achieve a better understanding of the relationship between cabaret music and architecture. Statement of the problem Towards the end of the 19th century, Romanticism reached its limits of expression. Consequently, diverse and experimental music forms began to emerge, which broke away from the mainstream of Romanticism. These included the impressionism of Debussy and Ravel, and the surrealism of Erik Satie. The emphasis on irregular rhythms within Stravinskis The Riot of Spring caused its first audience to riot in 1913. These followed the experimentation in scales and rhythms of BartÃÆ' ³k. In the performing arts, cabaret songs were intentionally naturalistic in language, theme while certain of its devices, such as the shadow play, were both decadent and symbolist in their use of light, colour and evocative suggestion. Simultaneously, in this period, architects like Frank Lloyd Wright and Le Corbusier experimented with new approaches in composing architecture. Purpose and importance of the research This study is valuable in that it might contribute and add to the existing body of knowledge that has drawn out the parallels between architecture and music. Structure of the report The remaining of the report is organised into four chapters that will start from the known intersections between music and architecture to more specifically, the parallels between cabaret music and architecture. The report will then move to discuss the relationship between architecture and other related music disciplines like dance and Non-western musical. CHAPTER 2: INTERSECTIONS OF MUSIC AND ARCHITECTURE The Chapter focuses on analysing selected architectural work that has used music as design inspirations as a way of introducing the topic. Alberti, Palladio and the application of music in architectural design Historically music was thought of as a mathematical science. The idea of harmonies sprung from the process of division. A string that produced a certain tone could be divided along exact proportions to create a note that would resonate in harmony with the first note, creating an overlapping of tones that could be considered beautiful both aesthetically and mathematically. These ideas were developed by the ancient Greeks, but brought into importance during the Renaissance. It was during this time that architecture was thought of as an art that needed a mathematical and therefore scientific basis to be considered objectively. Palladio often looked to musical proportions as a means to achieve ideal proportions in his designs. Basic harmonies such as octaves and fifths were applied to room sizing in all three dimensions, and were also often overlooked to as ornamental guides. The Palladian practice of applying basic harmonic ideas to basic room proportions is a starting point with what can be achieved by translating tonal ideas into the practice of architecture. Renaissance thinkers placed importance on the translation of audible proportions to the visual arts partly because they viewed musical composition as a mathematical science whereas architecture was thought of as a liberal art. In an attempt to give architecture a system of design method, it had to be referenced to a mathematical framework. Leonardo Da Vinci once said that music and painting are sisters, and both are used to convey harmonies. According to him, music achieved this through the use of chords and painting through the use of proportions. Palladio noted within his illustration ideal proportions for room dimensions and other architectural devices. The numbers within the ratios are carefully chosen and are the result of his attempt to fulfill Vitruvian principles. The principle in question has to do with achieving an ideal design. The artists of the Renaissance believed that it was possible to obtain an absolute beauty by following the proportional principles found in nature. In the practice of architecture, this was achieved by allowing specific geometries to define certain forms. These forms then would act as modules that would define and govern the development of the entire structure. Palladio even stated that it was possible to achieve a harmonic building through the use of proportional principles and that it would be possible to explain and evaluate the success of the building using the terms of musical theory. Leone Battista Alberti had taken the music scale and noted that musical theory is important to the practice of architecture because the numbers that are responsible for pleasing harmonies also evoke delight from mans eyes and mind. Palladio took this idea and used this harmonic scale as a proportioning system in his buildings. He focused on the relationship found between four strings with lengths in a ratio of 6:8:9:12. When these strings were placed under equal amounts of tension and then vibrated they produced wavelengths of consonant tones, most importantly an octave, fourth and fifth. These proportions are noted in his plans published in the Quattro Libri. Le Corbusier and the Phillipss Pavilion The growth of subjective judgment slowly did away with the Renaissance search for an absolute beauty, but this did not stop the intersection of musical and architectural ideas. It did change them, leading to new investigations and ideas. Of particular importance is the work of Le Corbusier on the Phillipss Pavilion. He investigated both the translation of musical proportions to built form, but also the use of acoustics and sound to generate and convey a sense of space. In 1958, Phillips Company, a producer of electronic speakers, hired Le Corbusier to design and build a pavilion for the Brussels World Fair. The Phillips Companys goal was to show off the capabilities of their latest speakers and filled the pavilion with three hundreds of them. Le Corbusier proposed to give the Phillips Company an electronic poem with which to showcase their work. He worked with a team of Phillips engineers and two modern composers: Iannis Xenakis and Edgard Varase. Xenakiss role in the Phillips Pavilion was focused on the exterior shell of the building. His task focused on translating the sketches and abstract ideas of Le Corbusier (mainly dealing with geometry and proportions) into a buildable, architectural form. The end result, a curved, hyperbolic not only fulfills the mathematical ideals of Le Corbusier, but also evokes the glissandi of Xenakiss 1953-1954 composition Metastasis. Steven Holl and the Stretto House Steven Holl took the investigation of a more complex musical idea that of stretto, as a departure point for a house built in Texas. This project focused on using both the compositional and experiential qualities of a particular piece of music as a means to solve the architectural problems presented by the site and the client. The Stretto House, a project by Steven Holl located in Dallas, Texas exemplifies a modern approach to marrying the ideas of architecture and music. While there is more to the project than just this aspect the ideas of music played an important part in the development and implementation of the design. The name of the house comes from the musical term stretto. Stretto is most commonly used in the fugue and in this context it refers to the theme of the piece being repeated and overlapped by different voices. The decision to explore this musical idea as a mode of design occurs during the initial sketching phase. This phase explored some of the vernacular materials of Texan architecture, specifically metal roofs and concrete blocks. This combined with the need to create shade and producing this via overlapping led to the exploration of the overlapping that occurs in stretto. Holl narrowed the study of stretto to one particular piece of music, Bela Bartoks Music for strings, percussions and Celeste. The feature of this work is the distinct separation between heavy and light by carefully dividing the percussion and string sections. Holl literally took the basic composition of the music and composed his building in the same way. Bartoks work is divided into four movements and its most compelling feature is the aforementioned division of instruments into two models. Holl designed his structure to have four distinct spatial sections and focused the work on two distinct elements: masonry, which mimicked the heavy role of the percussion and curved metal, which played the light nature of the spring section. The result is an overlapping and intersection of several elements. The curved metal roofs overlap with the heavy masonry structure, referred to as spatial dams. The different planes of the building, roof, floor and wall, pull space from each other to continue the overlapping effect. The materials of the building follow suit, as do the actual design drawings. The orthogonal plan of the main house drawing stands in contrast to the curvilinear section while the drawings of the guest house reverse this pattern, mimicking the inversion found in Bartoks composition. This project was designed around a cohesive idea that can organize and guide the experiential qualities of the space. Holl notes that the concept that drives a design like the Stretto House disappears completely in the phenomena of the physical reality and yet intuitively the abundance of the idea may be felt. By combining the ideas of music and architecture Holl was able to create an analogue between the two practices. By treating music as something that has a materiality, one gained from its instrumentation, he was able to synthesize it with architecture through his use of light and space. The equation that Holl himself writes to explain this is material multiplied by sound and divided by time equals material multiplied by light and divided by space. The key to success of this lies in the distinction that both architecture and music have a material aspect, and this common factor allows parallels to be drawn. To summarize, the practice of architecture and the practice of music have intersected and impacted each other in a variety of ways throughout their histories. These instances can be divided into two distinct categories. The first category involves architecture taking proportional and compositional principles directly from musical theory. Palladios villas ?t into this category as many of the proportions that guided the design were taken from their eras understanding of music and the nature of sound. The second category involves architecture learning from the experiential qualities of music and trying to replicate them in built form. CHAPTER 3: LITERATURE REVIEW Writer Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe is famous for describing architecture as frozen music in the 19th century. Music and architecture also share similar experiential aspirations. Architectural historian Sir John Summerson notes in his essay The vision of J.M.Gandy that architecture is an art that is constantly attempting to realize in solid, stable form those effects which music is able to conjure up in an instant. He goes on to point out that music and architecture even use a similar vocabulary, specifically the use of mass, rhythm, texture and outline to achieve similar effects such as the colossal. It was Pythagoras who discovered that a vibrating string, stopped at its centre, produced the octave; at two thirds of its length the fifth, and at three quarters, the fourth. From this he developed the series of ratios that result in the twelve tone scale used in western music today. The ratio between the full length of the string and the length stopped, or the ratios between the lengths making different notes have their direct equivalents in the ratios between the sides of the rectangles that have made up much of western architecture in the intervening centuries. Numerous aspects of this relationship between the underlying ratios of music and architecture have been developed and discussed and in this chapter we shall consider the aspects of rhythm, improvisation and emotional response in the light of some of these discussions, and the architecture of Palladio, Le Corbusier, Schindler and Holl. Rhythm Many architects have developed theories of proportion with which to govern and explain their work. These have generated in their turn a significant body of critical analysis and comment. Palladio, like Alberti a century earlier, expounded theories which took up and developed those first proposed by Vitruvius in the 7th Century BC. These were particularly attractive to the spirit of the Renaissance. To the minds of the men of the Renaissance musical consonances were the audible tests of a universal harmony which had a binding force for all the arts. In the 1930s R M Schindler, developed the ideas of module used by Frank Lloyd Wright in his Usonian houses. Here not only the architectural plans, but also the concrete floor slabs were inscribed with grids derived from the sizes of the materials to be used. Schindler took this pragmatic idea and incorporated it into a system of proportion which he described as Reference Frames in Space. The appreciation of this relationship between the mathematics of the ratios and proportions that underlie both music and architecture is of course a purely intellectual exercise. The analogy with music simply amounts to the transference of an established convention in one art to the purposes of another It does not help explain or evaluate the emotional responses that these media can evoke, which is a factor of how the underlying principles are used and manipulated to create the final work. Stretto, the musical term for the overlapping of subjects, and the only strict rule in the formation of fugues, provided Steven Holl with the basis to explore the relationship beyond this intellectual analogy in his Stretto House. The house is directly inspired by Music for Percussion, Strings and Celesta by BÃÆ' ©la BartÃÆ' ³k, in which stretto is used extensively. It is a choice which is particularly apposite as the chief feature of his [BartÃÆ' ³ks] chromatic technique is obedience to the Golden Section in every element. Improvisation In music improvisation is the impromptu or in the moment creation and performance of music as well as spontaneous response to other musicians. It is distinct from untutored or casual composition, in that it requires discipline and a rigorous understanding of the forms and rules in order to be sufficiently coherent to evoke an emotional response. improvisation is a performative (sic) act and depends on instrumental technique, improvisation is a skill. Because the creation of a work of architecture requires rigorous planning and control of all its elements, improvisation is not usually associated with it. The usual view is that architecture cannot be impromptu, it must be planned, detailed and explained thoroughly if all those involved in its production are to collaborate effectively. In his BBC Proms lecture in 2002 Daniel Libeskind confirmed that it is difficult to have improvisation in architecture â€Å" to have rotating players, to have players interpret. He suggested, however, that if the spatiality and materiality is open, then the public can form its own operation on the building. This being, perhaps, the closest that architecture can come to improvisation. Certainly the villas of Palladio, with the proportions of their components controlled by a strict series of ratios, and their spaces assembled according to harmonic sequences, must be considered as careful exercises in composition rather than improvisations. Le Corbusiers villas too are compositions which follow a set of rules governing their proportions; Le Modulor. Within these cool, intellectual compositions, however, there are elements which are freer in form and which play off against, and highlight, the orthogonal correctness of the remainder. Coming finally to Schindler, Sarnitz observes that as his work evolved the great importance attached to proportion in his early work gradually receded; he never repeats the complexity of the Lovell Beach House. This move away from strict adherence to the system of proportion that he himself developed, to more lyrical or spiritual values, is directly analogous to that of a musician who has learnt the disciplines of his instrument and the rules of music to the highest level but feels able to express himself more fully and coherently through improvisation. Schindler, having developed and established his competence in his early work, chose to follow this route after recognising the limitations that a purely intellectual approach can bring to a potentially lyrical art. Most of the buildings which Corbusier and his followers offer us as machines to live in are crude contraptions to serve a purpose. Mere instruments of production can never serve as a frame for life. Emotional response The emotional impact of both music and architecture is generated not by the intellectual understanding and appreciation of the ratios and proportions that govern the relationships of their parts and overall composition. It is a response produced by the composer or architect or improviser by manipulating the material multiplied by sound divided by time and the material multiplied by light and divided by space which Holl proposes as the equivalent formulae for the creation of music and architecture respectively. The power of the piece to move the listener or viewer is in direct ratio to the skill of the creator. Both music and architecture are immediate rather than mediate forms of communication. That is they do not require the intermediation of language. They affect the listener and viewer respectively, of all backgrounds and languages, directly with no need for translation or interpretation. They also both have a physical element to their means of communication. Music can recall the serenity and grandeur of a seascape; so also, says Viollet, [le Duc] can architecture when it has occasion to give us long, unbroken, horizontal lines. Then he compares the emotional effect of a low broad crypt with that of a soaring knave; he notes the physical reactions of a man in these two settings, And both directly affect the emotions and understanding. The very same numbers that cause sounds to have that concinnitas [a certain harmony] pleasing to the ears, can also fill the eyes and mind with wondrous delight. The cool but powerful emotional response generated by the composed serenity and authority of Palladios villas is not simply the result of the principles of proportion that govern the elements of the elevations, but also the extension of these principles to the way that the spaces and volumes are arranged. the systematic linking of one room to the other by harmonic proportions was the fundamental novelty of Palladios architecture, At the other end of the architectural scale, Holls fugue in the Stretto House generates a similar response in the viewer to that, which stretto in music evokes in the listener, namely excitement, acceleration, fuller realization, a certain indescribable ecstasy with the sensation of heightened simultaneity. Another aspect of emotional impact, which may be more mundane but is nevertheless worthy of consideration, is the cumulative effect of the music and architecture that surrounds us as distinct from the impact of a particular work. Emily Thompson posits the importance that advances in sound engineering made to the aural perception of life in the early years of the century, giving rise to the phenomenon that is sometimes referred to as the soundtrack of our life. The idea of a parallel stage set of our lives has been hinted at by author Will Self, if Brutalism is heavy metal, then what was Modernism, Schoenbergs dodecaphony? Clearly the Little Englander Palladian nostalgia of the Prince of Wales, the Quinlan Terry partnership, and even Barratt Homes, is of a piece with light classical music: Viennese waltzes, frozen in red brick, Chapter 4: Improvisation after the Renaissance and after Modernism In the earlier chapter I have established that improvisation in architecture can be considered as the departure of a skilled practitioner from the rules he has mastered in order to express himself more fully or to give coherent expression to new or developing ideas. Albertis De Re Aedificatoria (written about 1450) may be seen as the theoretical foundation for the re-establishment of classical order and proportion in the Renaissance. A century or so later Palladios Quattro Libri (published in 1570), re stated these classical rules, and his buildings followed them strictly. At the same time, however, other architects were interpreting these established rules with varying degrees of freedom. In his two villas on the Capitoline Hill in Rome Michaelangelo took the conventional Corinthian order, enlarged it and ran it through two stories; something that the Romans had never done. Vignola, in his Castello Farnese at Caprarola, designed an entablature that, [I]s a departure from the strict grammar of the antique â€Å" a departure in the direction of inventive modelling, of designing a faÃÆ' §ade as a pattern in light and shade, a pattern through which runs a play of meaning rather than any precise series of statements. Giulio Romano was even freer in his interpretation of the rules of antiquity. His Palazzo del Te, with its affected dilapidation and dropped stones in the entablature and his Cortile della Cavallerizza with its extravagant rustication and twisted Doric finds its equivalent in the developing mannerism of the music of the time. In the late 16th century, as the Renaissance era closes, an extremely manneristic style develops. In secular music, especially in the madrigal, there was a trend towards complexity and even extreme chromaticism (as exemplified in madrigals of Luzzaschi, Marenzio, and Gesualdo). Chromaticism in particular is an essential characteristic of the mannerist style at this time. It demonstrates a departure from the rules regulating the fundamental ratios underlying musical theory which is directly equivalent to that executed by Romano upon the rules of classical architecture as restated by Alberti and Palladio. The Pythagorean tone, with a ratio of 9:8, consists of a minor and a major semi-tone; But only the minor semitone can be used in actual music. For this reason, progressions between Bb â€Å" B natural or F â€Å" F#, or any other equivalent intervals, are forbidden. When the chromatic madrigal begins to abound in such progressions, it raises a flurry of controversy. The relationship between mannerism in architecture and in music may be illustrated by comparing the use of chromaticism by Guesaldo with Romanos use of rustication in the Palazzo del TÃÆ' ¨. On the one hand, Guesaldos madrigals are, full of unresolved dissonances, illogical modulations, and chromatic progressions. These are used to powerful effect to create, disruptive and restless changes of mood, so that the end result is rather like eavesdropping on some unresolvable, private agony. On the other, Romanos use of rustication gives the impression that, Everything is a bit uneasy, a bit wrong. It also [R]ecalls ruins [and] ancient buildings left half-finished. But it has great power and this is very largely because of the dramatic use of rustication. Just as Schindler developed a more improvisational style in his later works as he became disillusioned or cynical about the ethos of the Machine Age,[38] so Le Corbusier may also be considered to have undergone a major shift following the Second World War. This is exemplified by the chapel at Ronchamp, the monastery at La Tourette and the Courts of Justice at Chandigarh, all of which may be considered to be improvisational, with regard to the strict principles of Le Modulor. Charles Jencks observes that this perceived change in direction was seen to condone a new turn for modern architecture. He lists a range of diverse range of architectural movements that drew inspiration from Le Corbusiers later works. CHAPTER 5: CABARET MUSIC and MODERNIST ARCHITECTURE Architecture and cabaret music are closely affiliated, not least because both focus on creating unique atmospheres for a variety of purposes. During the early to mid twentieth century American architecture and cabaret were born out of and represented similar cultural concerns. This chapter considers some of the ways in which architecture and cabaret interact and how cabaret uses principles of architecture, such as the utilisation of space, the division of stage space, the distinction between public and private space, and the use of synthesis in design. Examples of Modern architectural designs, including those of Frank Lloyd Wright and Le Corbusier, built during the thirties and forties will be considered with the aim of identifying shared cultural affiliation between cabaret music and architecture during the mid twentieth century. Cabaret â€Å" the trend of combining music, dance, comedy, and theatre in a public place â€Å" was first established in France in 1881. Throughout both world wars and the Great Depression in America, Cabaret afforded a means of relaxation and the opportunity to celebrate, through shared performance, a variety of cultures, talents and tastes. Monmartre, in France, is recognised as the place where buildings were first constructed specifically for cabaret performance. The Moulin Rouge was built in Pigalle in 1889. At the time, the traditional Monmartre windmills were being pulled down at an alarming rate, which accounts for the construction of the large red windmill on the roof of the Moulin Rouge. The turn-of-the-century interior of Moulin rouge expresses the late Victorian Romantic sensibility, just before the introduction of the Modernist Art Nouveau movement. Elegantly and richly decorated, the cabaret setting was described in 1952 as possessing an atmosphere of tawdry luxury [. .] much like that of a bordello. At the time this would have befitted the styles of music which it was built to stage. Artists such as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec recorded in paint various scenes from this early era of cabaret, such as music-hall singers, women dancers, and women preparing themselves to take to the stage. The flamboyance of early cabaret and the suggestiveness of dances, such as the can-can, paved the way for a relationship between the architectural setting and the music. In the late Victorian era, when more sensual forms of entertainment tended only to be considered as an underground activity, cabaret legitimised more diverse forms of theatre, music and dance, allowing men and women to mingle freely in a public space specifically designed for that purpose. At the time of the popularisation of Cabaret, the pursuit of pleasure had become a popular activity. During the twentieth century new dance halls were erected throughout Europe and in America in order to accommodate the rising popularity of the sociable and edgy form of cabaret entertainment. Cabaret music traditionally involves singing and orchestra, and American cabaret stars included artists such as Eartha Kitt, Nina Simone, and Bette Midler. However, as an art form cabaret declined in popularity during the sixties due to the rising popularity of alternative forms of music, such as rock. Due to the glamour of its beginnings the architectural setting of cabaret traditionally retained elements of luxury, wealth, and flamboyance. On the relationship between Romanticism â€Å" which the late-Victorian introduction of cabaret was celebrating â€Å" and the poetic sensibility, Geoffrey Scott observes that Romanticism may be said to consist in a high development of poetic sensibility t owards the remote, in that it idealises the distant, both of time and place and identifies beauty with strangeness. The elaborate dÃÆ' ©cor of cabaret stages, often including plush red or plum coloured velvet, idealise the sensual and were designed to encourage maximum comfort, pleasure and enjoyment of the entertainment. The designs of traditional cabaret stages were such that the audience area was only minimally lit, with the main focus being on the stage. In Modernist architecture there is suggestion that the culture of cabaret at least crossed over into and was in part incorporated into design. With the introduction of jazz and Broadway style music, cabaret became recognised as being seedier than during the years of its Victorian beginnings. We can explore the parallels between the responses of the two arts to the exigencies of the time by looking at three of the distinguishing qualities of cabaret music and architecture. The popular appeal of cabaret Cabaret deals with emotional or sentimental themes that easily evoke strong responses, rather than intellectual concepts that require esoteric knowledge to be fully appreciated. Frank Lloyd Wrights Usonian homes, built during the 1930s and 1940s, embody the cultural concerns and ideals of the Modern era, and reflect the complexities associated with the Great Depression of the thirties. During this time, many American families looked to cabaret and its music as the solution, albeit temporary, to the stresses of the quotidian drudge associated with the same economic, social and political forces. Usonian houses were intended to deal with the day to day living requirements of the average American family. A large living room for family life, with a big fireplace in It, a triplicate bathroom with sections for the man, the wife and the children and enough space for dressing rooms, closets and perhaps a couch in each, and airy bedrooms, all with easy access to a garden. A significant aspect of popular appeal is the recognition afforded to the performer; the phenomenon of stars. In this regard Wright, at this time, was actively marketing himself as the possessor of a unique, truly American architectural vision, and promoting his reputation as one of the great architects of the century. Variations in cabaret Cabaret offers variety. The subjects of its songs and dances range from tragedy to comedy and its forms from ballad to blues to jazz. It was popular for certain shows to be given to a select audience â€Å" part of the growing consumer culture in which greater emphasis was to be placed on the needs of the patron. In a similar way that cabaret performances were customised, Wright designed buildings with specific elements for patrons. Scholars have already drawn parallels between the designs of Lloyd Wright and music. For example, as expressed by Brooks Pfeiffer and Nordland, Wrights unit system was as an intrinsic part of the organic process of design and construction: just as the warp is discipline for a woven textile, and as the scale and notes are disciplines for the composer of music, so Wright used the unit system as a discipline for design. The modular unit system, based on rectangular and square units, unified and simplified the construction process, and involved the repetition of components such as doors and windows, with an emphasis on geometric pattern and symmetry. Wrights designs were remarkable for their unification of different component parts and ideas, whi

Bacon Roger :: Essays Papers

Bacon Roger Roger Bacon was an English Scholastic philosopher, scientist and one of the most influential teachers of the 13th century. He was born in Ilchester, Somersetshire in 1214. Roger Bacon was educated at the universities of Oxford and Paris. He remained in Paris after completing his studies and taught for a while at the University of Paris. When he returned to England in about 1251, he entered the religious order of the Franciscans and lived at Oxford. He carried on active studies and did experimental research in alchemy, optics, and astronomy. Bacon was critical of the methods of learning of the times, and in the late 1260s, at the request of Pope Clement IV, he wrote his Opus Majus (Major Work). In this work he represented the necessity of a reformation in the sciences through different methods of studying languages and nature. The Opus Majus was an encyclopedia of all science, embracing grammar and logic, mathematics, physics, experimental research, and moral philosophy. The response of the pope to Bacon's masterpiece is not known, but the work could not in any circumstances have had much effect in Bacon's time, because it reached Clement during the period of his fatal illness. Bacon's revolutionary ideas about the study of science caused his condemnation by the Franciscans for his heretical views. In 1278 the general of the Franciscan order, Girolamo Masci, later Pope Nicholas IV, forbade the reading of Bacon's books and had Bacon arrested. After ten years in prison, Bacon returned to Oxford. He wrote Compendium Studii Theologiae (A Compendium of the Study of Theology, 1292) shortly before his death. Despite his advanced knowledge, Bacon accepted some of the popular but later disproved beliefs of his time, such as the existence of a philosopher's stone and the efficacy of astrology. Although many inventions have been credited to him, some of them undoubtedly were derived from the study of Arab scientists. His writings brought new and ingenious views on optics, particularly on refraction; on the apparent magnitude of objects; and on the apparent increase in the size of the sun and moon at the horizon. He found that with sulfur, saltpeter, and charcoal, a substance (now known as gunpowder) could be produced that would imitate lightning and cause explosions.

The Passive Voice Essays -- Research Paper Language Papers

The Passive Voice The English language has two voices--the active and the passive. The active voice and the passive voice differ in that a passive verb phrase has an additional auxiliary BE followed by an EN participle. In a sense, the English passive is "inflexible" when compared to the passive formation of other languages. For example, some languages use word order, verb inflections, and impersonal constructions to form the passive voice. In their book, The Grammar Book: ESL/EFL Teacher's Course, Celce-Murcia and Larson-Freeman demonstrate how the Bantu passive voice differs from the English passive voice. "Kingarwanda, a Bantu language, can make even a locative phrase the subject of the passive as in On the bus was eaten a sandwich by John, which would not be acceptable in English" (221). Furthermore, topicalization is another "grammar issue" which differs from language to language. In the Kingarwanda sentence, On the bus was eaten a sandwich by John, the center of attention or the topic of the sen tence is the phrase On the bus. Since languages have different rules which govern topicalization, several languages may not accept On the bus as the topic of a sentence. In the book, Clear and Coherent Prose, William Vande Kopple discusses topicalization in the English language. Kopple states that the English language uses topicalizers to "fulfill special functions in essays" (41). Several of these functions are: focusing the reader's attention on a specific part of a sentence, expressing given or "old" information at the beginning of a sentence, marking changes in topics, and lastly, setting contrasts between one topic and another (41). Since there are differences in topicalization and the formation of the passive voice, no... ...I must make my students aware of these differences. Moreover, I want my student to understand both the active and the passive voice and be able to choose which voice to use in their writing. Works Cited Aghbar, Ali. The New York Times Editorial Corpus. Alexander, L. G. Longman of English. New York: Longman Inc., 1988. Besnier, N., and Edward Finegan. Language: Its Structure and Use. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1989. Celce-Murcia, M., and Diana Larson-Freeman. The Grammar Book: An ESL/EFL Teacher's Course. Massachusetts: Newbury House Publishers Inc., 1983. Kaplan, J. P. English Grammar: Principles and Facts. New York: Prentice-Hall, 1989. Kopple, William Vande. Clear and Coherent Prose: A Functional Approach. Boston: Scott, Foresman and Company, 1989. Lyles, B. A Basic Grammar of Modern English. New York: Prentice-Hall, 1989.

Exploring the essence of self in the western context Essay

Statement of authorship I certify that this literature review is my own work and contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any degree or diploma in any institute, college or university. Moreover, to the best of my knowledge and belief, it contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference is made in the text of the dissertation. Name Signed _________________________________________________ Date ___________________________________________________ The most fundamental of the questions man asks himself in his lifetime are, â€Å"what/who am I ?†and â€Å"what is my purpose?† The curiosity over this issue of ‘the self’ has spanned human thought for millennia rooting from societal notion that â€Å"life cannot be just bricks and cement†. Due to the inherent nature of these fundamental curiosities mankind has struggled from ancient times to uncover these mysteries. In the western-context, this brief essay will try to explore the dimensions of the â€Å"essence of self† ranging from medieval to the modern conception of self. It will review the theories of self starting with Aristotelian science and Christian doctrines and their eventual marriage by St. Thomas Acquinas’ moral theory. In effect, it then explores critical viewpoints and traces the development of Scientific Rationalization. Progressively, it debates Rene Descartes’ rationalist views  shaping his dualistic conception of the self. Furthermore, it poses the contrasting empiricist views of John Locke where he places self-consciousness and memory as the variables to comprehend self. In addition, it contests David Hume’s proclamation of the self as fiction (Robinson, H., 2012). The theories of self and identity gradually developed over a historical timeline resulting in modern thought on the subject. In this regard, it is important to understand its development initiation from religious conception in the west. Curiosity on these issues can be traced back to accounts of Aristotle, where he is of the view that everything in nature has a purpose and everything can be rationalized based on its intent and the purpose it served (Greetham, B. 2006, p.213). This is referred to as the ‘teleological’ view, which contributed to the formation of medieval world view formed by Christian dogma and the Catholic church (Cavalier, G.,1989). This Christian conception viewed the world as being God’s creation and expression of his will which was cosmologically meaningful and structured. The purpose of things under this theology is God given and is a part of the ‘grand plan’ (Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy). This categorises the medieval belief of self, where humans have a certain place and purpose and the self is understood in terms of the role it plays in the grand plan of things. The medieval Christian conception of self was greatly inspired by the work of 13th century theologian St. Thomas Acquinas. In his opus he bridged the gap between faith and reason by linking Christian dogma and Aristotelian thought (O’Callaghan, R., 2010). In essence, he lived in a crucial juncture of western culture when the Latin translation of Aristotelian corpus was made available which in effect reignited the debate on relating faith and reason. His theories borrowed from Aristotle and Christian dogma and ethi cs which were consistently reaffirmed by the church over the centuries (auquinas from stanford). The aforementioned medieval religious conception of self forms the basis Acquinas’ ethical premise on how we ought to act (Greetham, B., 2006). Right and wrong actions based on their compliance with human nature and its place â€Å"God-given natural order†, categorized as natural or unnatural. Hence, the self bounded and confined to serving a purpose. However, this religious world-view came under intense criticism  with the advent of scientific advancement and rationality in the 16th and 17th centuries. Scientific thinking developed under the likes of Descartes and Locke and was reasoned based on the accomplishments of Galileo and Newton(Zalta, E., 2011). They disregarded the place of divine-will in their conception of self, basing it on mere experience, empirical evidence and mathematical formulations. This shift of conception is termed ‘demythologization’, where everything works without a purpose and results from mechanical interaction of particles regulated by universal laws which can be mathematically formulated (Greetham, B., 2006). Consequently, began the search of the self by looking within for purpose and meaning. The modern view of self is articulated in the works of 17th century philosopher Rene Descartes. He pioneered the dualistic understanding of the human being, which is made up of the â€Å"mental substance (mind) and the physical substance (body)† (Warburton, N., 1992). Here, the body has physical properties like having weight and using space, whereas the mind is a non-material substance, responsible for thought and experience and hence is the abode of consciousness. In his view, the self is a spiritual â€Å"subject of experience† which is fundamentally different from the body and nature, where the body inessential and the mind can exist independently. His radical scepticism led to the formation of the â€Å"Illusion argument†, where the bodily senses are deemed unreliable and thus the existence of the external world and body is uncertain. The only thing one can be certain of is that ‘I exist’. This is categorized under his famous proclamation -â€Å"Cogito ergo sum†, meaning â€Å"I think, therefore I am† (Cavalier, G., 1989). In essence, â€Å"the self is essentially mental† and the search for purpose and meaning should be searched within ourselves instead of classifying it under totality of nature. In his endeavours, Descartes used the â€Å"rationalist approach† to knowledge, which solely relies on logic and scepticism . In contrast, his contemporary, English philosopher John Locke relies on the â€Å"empiricist approach†, where knowledge is acquired by the means of watchfulness and experience. His theology of self underlines the role of reason, consciousness and self-consciousness. As for Locke, he sees self-consciousness as a  inseparable element in the conduct of any conscious action, like thinking and observing. The perception of the world by the senses, awareness of personal identity, actions performed and its retention (memory) over time is what constitutes self-consciousness (Robinson, H., 2012). Personal identity here is quintessentially the self, in which memory is decisive variable as the consciousness of past actions is critical to being the same person; and selfhood is reliant on the consciousness and not the body. For instance, if a person has memories from a past life as Salvador Dali, then he is the same person in the current life with a different body. These arguments however appear ambiguous upon correlation with Descartes’ accounts. However, Locke’s accounts differ where cites that it is not necessary that thinking, observation etc. to be the products of a non-material substance and leaves a prospect open that they could be of material origin. The self, Locke argues, is resultant from â€Å"continuity of consciousness† and not a ‘substance’ as proposed by Descartes (Greetham, B., 2006). Then again, there is a fallacy in these arguments; if the self is continuity of consciousness and memory retention then without the memory of past actions accountability for the actions is cannot be held (Cavalier, g., 1989). For instance, it could be hypothesized in Locke’s view, that a person who committed murder as a child, who grew up to become a doctor and then as an old man he cannot remember his crime as a child, hence in effect, he cannot be held responsible for the murder. Eighteenth century philosopher David Hume continued in the empirical approach, maintaining that authentic knowledge is solely acquired on the basis of direct experience (Robinson H., 2012). He borrows from Locke, however, he reaches drastic conception where he conceives the self as fiction. Thereafter, he entirely disregards the â€Å"substance view of the mind†. He bases his conception strictly on experience or ‘perception’ and maintains that the existential claim for the inner substance should be discoverable by experience (Greetham, B., 2006). Through his experience, Hume, found no such substance but instead only a variety of perceptions where there is no identity or self binding them. Academics refer to this view as the â€Å"bundle theory of substance†, where different perceptions are in eternal flux (Robinson H., 2012). However, Hume fails to identify a unifying  factor and puts forth a vague understanding of the mind just being a bundle of perceptions. Consequently, the Cartesian theory of self gained an upper hand as it offers the unifying substance of mind in the conception of the self (Greetham, B., 2006). The aforementioned theories of self significantly influence the post-modern conception of the self, as the subject has a tendency to develop over time (Cahoone, L., 2003). These western theories have borrowed from Eastern conceptions of self, which indicates ancient interaction between the west and the east. (Cavalier, G., 1989). In the contemporary world, the twentieth century has been the fore-bringer of brisk industrialization in the western world, begetting fast-paced consumer societies, where the people have little or no time for personal fulfilment (Cahoone, L. 2003). This along with advent of cultural pluralism, scientific rationalization and secularization of notions of religion has led to burgeoning interest in the conception of self (Olsen and Timothy, 2006, p.139). On a personal basis, the theories of self explored here provided a clearer picture on the gradual development of understanding of self with a historical context and an insight into how these theories have shaped post-modern notions on the same (Collinson, P. et al, 2000). Descartes’ accounts and his emphasis on the soul substance worked as a bride between my eastern thought origin and modern western conception on the subject. However, Locke’s and Hume’s empirical approach and their emphasis on discovering self through experience is also profound to my conception of self. Their conclusions however appeared radical and absurd especially in the case of Hume where proclaims the self as being fictional. References: Cahoone, L. (2003). From Modernism to Postmodernism: An Anthology. Carlton: Blackwell. Cavalier, G. &. (1989). Ethics in the History of Western Philosophy. New York: St. Martin’s Press. Collinson, P. &. (2000). Fifty Eastern Tihnkers. London: Routledge. Greetham, B. (2006). Philosophy. Norwich: Palgrave Macmillan. Jamal, T. a. (2009). The Sage Handbook of Tourism Studies. London: Sage. O’Callaghan, R. et al. (2010, December 21). Saint Thomas Aquinas. Retrieved May 1, 2012, from http://plato.stanford.edu/: Olsen, D.H. and Timothy, D.J. (2006). Tourism, Religion and Spiritual Journeys. Oxford: Routledge. Robinson, H. (2012, Demember 21). Dualism. Retrieved May 1, 2012, from http://plato.stanford.edu/: Warburton, N. (1992). Philosophy. Abingdon: Routledge. Zalta, E. (2011, September 21). Aquinas’ Moral, Political, and Legal Philosophy. Retrieved May 1, 2011, from www.http://plato.stanford.edu/: