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Whether ’tis horrible to fill your mind with sin
And think of weapons of terror and destruction
Or to take arms against a sea of enemies,
And by opposing kill them? To murder: to stab;
All the time; and by a death to say we end
A life with a thousand natural shocks
That electricity burns , ’tis a goal
Devoutly to be wish’d. To knife;
To drown: perchance to shoot with a rifle
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When down to the grave the victim goes
This must Not give us pause: there’s the disrespect
That makes others lives miserable lives
For who would bear the lashes and whips of
The righteous oppressor, the humble man’s pain
The pangs of manipulative love, the law’s delay,
The dishonesty and fraud in office
That impatient desire to destroy all in sight,
When he himself might his life take
With a bare bodkin? who would daggers bear
To grunt and sweat in the attack
But that the dread of something after death,
Does not bother the one who causes demise
No innocent return from that dark grave
And makes us bear the guilt that homicide causes
We can not shuffle off the condemnation
That conscience pokes us to repent
And thus the native hue of resolution,
Can be turned aside by doubt
And enterprises that we should take right now
End amidst the plan of action
And lose the sweet smell of death
Rough is the end of all mankind
The devil with open arms does find
That all the evil will end with him
In the lake of fire that burns
Never ending the scorch and sizzle
Screaming does prevail forever
Utter darkness and gnashing of teeth
Pain beyond description or belief
The Rich Man wanted others warned
But Abraham said the prophets did speak
The truth of God of life everlasting

Exposition:

1) What is Descartes’ argument of for the existence of the thinking  “I”?

Descartes begins in what seems a world of confusion. He constantly has the senses of touch, taste, sight, smell, and hearing interferring with his logical, rational mind. Adding to these multitudinous stimulations emotion, desire, and dreams.
Dreams seem a way for Descartes to explain how to go from the “imaginary” to the real. He deciphers that 3+2 equals five in his dreams as well as when he thinks he is awake. These truths do not change amidst the confusion of any stimuli. The one problem might be that every time he thinks through the thought to come to a conclusion of truth, an evil genuis plants a false solution in his mind. Descartes answer to the evil genuis problem is that he has the ability to doubt his thoughts. Being able to doubt convinces Descartes that there is truth and that the truth can be known. He summarizes that he can be sure he exists because he has the ability to think or doubt.

2) What is Descartes’ argument for the existence of God?

Descartes sees that there are imperfections in himself. He then wonders where he gets the ideas of perfection. If he has imperfections, there must be a being of which has no imperfections.The lacking of existence is an imperfection and could not be attributed to the idea/being of where perfection comes. He has a little knowledge that can grow, thus there must be a being who has all the knowledge that he can learn. He is able to conceive of eternal life, thus this being must be eternal in order to not lack this perfection. All other perfections are attributed to this being.

3) What is Descartes’ argument for the existence of material bodies?

Since we have established that God is not an evil deceiver, that he has not given Descartes a faculty that will ever lead him into error if used aright, and that we can know to be true that which we can perceive must clearly and distinctly, the senses about the physical world can be believed. Descartes says that if he calls together his senses, memory, and understanding, and they do not lead him apart, that which is agreed upon is true.

Analysis: Choose one of the following to answer:

4) To what degree does Descartes’ argument depend upon a coherentist epistemology?   How might Descartes avoid a vicious circle?
OR

5) Define the terms “clear” and “distinct”. How do Descartes’ arguments rely upon the notions of clarity and distinction, and what difficulties does sucha reliance create?   How might Descartes respond to such difficulties?

clear: that which is not tainted, uncloudy, understandable–within the mind
distinct: separate, different from another, incidents are categorized well

Descarte takes these two terms and says that if he has ideas that are both of these, that the ideas are true.The difficulty is defining these subjective, unmeasureable terms. What is clear and distinct for one person may be confused and lumpy for another. Descartes would say that each person follows a similar path in the thought processes when following this system.

Descartes could/would also say that clear and distinct thougts lead one to the Highest Being who will guide them into truth.

All Written by a 4th/5th grader…
America is rich and free,
likin’ nature and the bee,
feelin’ great about their state,
readin’ books in cozy nooks,
workin’ hard to the dawn,
sleepin’ comfy in their lawn,
smilin’out at the world,
helpin’ people live their lives,
havin’ fun and playin’ games
doin’ their duty when on call,
stoppin’ crime without a flaw,
livin’ fully in our dream of life.
Belly Walkers

In my view, snakes are okay if they are where they belong. I think they are fascinating to watch while they slip and slither to get to their unknowing prey. They also score with me because they keep the rodent count at a feasible level. The feet less ones also make good pets for kids. They help them learn about nature, pet care, and life in general. Snakes can exist in this world, as long as they aren’t at my house.
A small, peaceful forest a little ways down the road in early fall is full of a few, yellow finch, half a dozen red robins, and a couple of cute blue birds chirping loud and wild. While the leaves rustle gracefully on the trees when the wind blows gently and quietly, smelling fresh, clean, and crisp and the air is just starting to cool. But when it blows strong and hard some smooth, bright and rough, faded leaves fall with the colors of red, orange, yellow, brown, some even purple while some still green. There are a few patches of red, plump, juice-filled raspberries and some patches of sour, tart, and small blackberries. There is also clumps of green and gray grass with fury, fuzzy, and soft tips.
The same forest on a dark, cool, stormy day.

You feel the mud underneath. It is cold, mushy, and wet from the rain. You walk on, it’s getting darker. Then you start to see spooky shadows .You hear rustling, you hope it’s just the wind blowing the leaves. It starts to smell like dead, rotten trees. You look up, the moon is slowly coming out from behind the clouds .It is full. You get scared and start to run.

The pouch begins with Dante and Virgil climbing where “without the
hand the foot could not go on”(XXVI: 18). They get to the top of
the mountain and Dante sorrows. He sees numerous flames where “every
flame contrives to steal away a sinner”(43-44). Dante goes “to balance
where the bridge’ high point gives a better view”(45). Virgil explains
the pouch saying, “each one here/ Enfolds himself in what burns him”(50-
51) Looking out they see two sinners who are “Enduring vengeance
together, as they did wrath”(59). In these flames are the famous
or infamous “Ulysses and Diomedes”(vs.58). The people of the time
considered these men heros while Dante is making the suggestion that
God considers them prideful brutes. Dante asks “If they can speak
with those sparks of flame”(67). These sinners are so much in fire
that they have become their own fire. Ulysses and Diomedes are eternally
burning together and when they speak it is a “murmur like fire the
wind beats”(85). Odysseus uses the serpentine tongue of the fire
to hiss out his tale of woe. Odysseus explains his sin crackling
“Not fondness for my son, nor any claim/ of reverence for my father,
nor love I owed / Penelope, to please her, could overcome / my longing
for experience of the world”(91-94). His abandonment of his family
is a grave error for any man to make. This betrayal is not his only
sin for he is also chastised for sailing beyond “Hercules markers”(103-
104). His folly is “the pursuit of knowledge and the good”(115) without
the guidance of God. All Odysseus would be able to find is the wisdom
of this world. The temptation for the knowledge of good and evil
resounds through out all of human history. Ulysses made the choice
to become like God and not to surrender to God. Scholars bring much
more insight to Canto XXVI.
Lawerence V. Ryan, a literary critic, gives an analysis of Canto
XXVI. He explains how all people have “the restlessly searching human
mind [that longs] for philosophical knowledge”(227). He is saying
that all people, at least initially, disobey God by choosing the
fruit the devil desired for man to have. Only once man knows that
sins is evil does he decide to reject the rebellion and thus submit
and trust God. He relates this human trait to the incident with Ulysses.
“Presumptuously taking his [Ulysses’] metaphysical “folle volo”
without having had his mind and heart converted to God” (227) is
foolishness. The only true wisdom a person can find is in God. Ryan
says that the highest calling of man is contemplation, but not at
the cost of family and country. These responsibilities are the duty
of man to others, to himself, and to God.
Furthermore, Canto XXVII tells of, Guido da Montefeltro, another
false counselor. He says, “I was expert / in all the stratagems and
covert ways”(XXVII: 74-75).  He hoped to rid himself of sin and “do
penance by wearing the rope [of the friar]” (65-66). Not  understanding
that one is saved through faith by grace and not by works, Guido
falls back into sin when Boniface VIII ask him counsel about political
issues. Vengeful politics is not an area the Pope should ever have
his hand on. The Pope told Guido that he absolves him of any sin
that he will commit and thus that it is alright for him to help the
devil do his work. This is not acceptable to God because sin can
not be planned, absolved by a pope, and then acted upon with immediate
forgiveness available. The irrationality of the incident, along with
its spiteful twist, caused trouble for Guido and Boniface VIII. When
Guido dies Saint Francis comes for him but a black cherubim of hell
appears to steal away the unrepentant sinner. The demon growls that
“He must be carried down / among my servants”(116-117). The fallen
angel reason that “no one has absolution without repenting; nor can
one will a sin / and repent at once”(119-121).
Ryan contends that  “The episodes [of Ulysses and Guido] are meant
to be read together not only as a single poetic unit but, even more
importantly, as part of the total fabric of the Commedia”(Ryan 228).
Ryan says “doing so, moreover, can help to solve the apparent discrepancy
within the character of Ulysses, who is presented as both trickster
at Troy and captain of the aging crew who sail boldly into the uncharted
waters of the western ocean”(227). Ryan offers the interpretation
that the two facets of Ulysses character must be linked and that
by understanding the story of Guido, one can gain insight into the
initial story.
Ryan gives a few reasons why the two Cantos are meant to be connected.
He says one is that, “the manner in which his [Dante’s] attention
is drawn from the receding two-pronged [flame] to another approaching
flame”(229) shows a “smooth transition”(229). Examining Canto XXVII,
one sees the visual progression. Dante records that “The flame already
was quiet and erect again, done speaking” (XXVII:1-2). This means
that the first flame was already done speaking by the end of Canto
XXVI. Dante then writes that, “behind it [the first flame] another
one [ the second flame] was drawing near”(vs. 3-4) This diverging
and emerging contains more than the obvious connection of Cantos.
The two sins are themselves being linked.
Ryan says another connection is that “the image of the rash sea-
voyage is recollected” (230). Guido says that at the time “when we
should let our sails descend and coil the ropes”(79-80) he felt sorrow
for his sins. The angel of darkness points out that Guido was a late
repentant and thus not worthy of eternal light and life, just as
Ulysses deserved the same diatribe. Ulysses says that, “dim in the
distance we saw a mountaintop: It seemed the highest I had ever seen.
We celebrated– but soon began to weep, for from the newfound land
a storm had grown, rising to strike the forepart of the ship”(230).
Ulysses final comment might mean that they realized they had committed
a severe error by going past the markers of Hercules [God], and were
repenting at the last minute just as Guido tried to do.
Ryan’s third link is that “the terzine in the two cantos revealing
neglect of obligations that lead to the eternally fatal decision
are strikingly similar”(230). The verses themselves contain parallels.
Ryan is referring to the relationship betrayal between Guido and
Boniface, and Ulysses and his family. Ryan says that “Ulysses’s abandonment
of son, father, and wife is an unnatural act, and one especially
reprehensible in a ruler”(232) Ryan continues this connection of
relationship neglect. “Guido did make the effort to drop anchor securely
in the haven of a Franciscan convent, but he was tempted out onto
perilous seas again by the false promise of Boniface, the reckless
pilot of the ark of the church” (234). Both ‘fathers’ neglecting
to care for their ‘children’ is pronouncedly tantamount.
Ryan summarizes his point well saying, “the two sinners represent,
in turn, the fraud that undermines res publica, ordained by Providence,
to help human beings fulfill the potential of their nature within
time, and ecclesia, the divinely instituted means for attainment
of the supernatural end of the species”(228). This shows God two
supreme purposes for mankind: earthly paradise and heavenly bliss.
(See footnote 6 of Ryan essay for more info on last sentence)
From the earthly garden of Eden to the New Heavens and the New Earth,
people can know that God has intimate plans for the places where
they will spend time with him. Eden did not work out, but mankind
has hopefully learned their lessons so as to be ready for the New
Creation. Dante and Ryan are telling everyone that they must choose
to live in the city of God or the City of man.  Dante’s written pictures
of the cities provides ample insight into their essence and environs.
Assuming that all humans are pilgrims on a journey with a final
destination, would hell or heaven feel more like home?

Lovers Lost In Bliss

Lovers Lost In Bliss: An Incomplete Short Romance Story

Penelope was sitting at her kitchen table munching on a donut and stirring her coffee. She was thinking about her beautiful daughter Calypso. Her bright blue eyes glowed with love for every flower and sprout she came across. Calypso wanted to be the world’s most brilliant botanist. Penelope lost the apple of her eye last year in the biggest fire that town had ever seen. The old Munston barn was a hang out for kids. Sometimes they would go there after school to talk and other times it became cancer corner. Most of the time there was a bunch of kids there, but the accident took place when Calypso got there before her friends. Some older kids had just got done having a smoke and decided to go the the ice cream joint. All the kids dropped their cigarettes and jumped on their bikes to get some rocky road. It just so happened that Calypso went up to the loft while a small flame started in the hay. It grew bigger without her notice and eventually engulfed the barn with no means of escape. Penelope’s mind was stuck on that event day after day and her terrible depression had kept growing worse. Her boss at work was ready to fire her for her showing up late and poor work ethic. She never wrote the newspaper articles on time, tended to be a glum influence on the others workers, and was full of other such downward pulling behavior. Penelople was persuaded to move somewhere tropical; She was convinced that it was in her best interest to get away from the frigid Canadian life. She had just finished putting most of her useless items on ebay. She had numerous dolls and other such collectibles that had no pragmatic purpose. She had plans to go to Mexico, where a sister had a vacation home. Her kind sister advised her to go to Mexico and get out of the rut she was in. Penelope was excited about the oppurtunity to leave Canada and spend some time painting. Loving drawing scenic pictures and portraits, Penelope was looking forward to having the inspiration of new landscapes and a new culture of people. She was looking forward to the food…Oh, she could hardly wait to have authentic salsa, and tacos, and burritos, and other such new finds.
It was a fortnight when most of her stuff had sold and been shipped out. She now had enough money to pick up her life and move. Penelope got a taxi to the airport, she had prearranged her tickets online, and arrived with plenty of time to sit back in the waiting area and read a book. Security was a little tight and they made her take off her high heels and they demanded to go through her suitcase. ( They even had her pantyhose and underwear fall out on the floor.)  As she was recovering from her embarassment, she took out her favorite novel and began where she had left off a month or so ago. The story was about a couple living in Spain. The wife came down with a rare disease when she had visited Africa. Her husband nursed her back to health with his constant concern, prayers, and loving care. Penelope hoped for a man like that. The last bum she was married to for three years left her when she became pregnant. He was to immature to have kids and went who knows where to party and burn out the rest of his life. Penelope raised Calypso on her own with the help of a single parent support group. As she was engrossed in her novel, a fine looking young man sat down next to her. He was obviously successful in business as he had a fancy suit and watch on. Penelope’s heart was imagining a man somewhat like him to sweep her off her feet. She noticed that he did not have a marriage ring on. Her interest was caught. She fearlessly leaned over and asked the man if he was seeing someone. Startled, he answered in a suave voice, that “I myself am looking for someone special.” Energy rushed through Penelope’s body. The two new friends started chatting. He introduced himself as Mr. Selson, a stock market man, that  had struck it rich by investing in Enron. He said that such close associates could call each other by first names.
“Mac, what caused you to go into the stock market? It seems like such a risky job.”
“Oh, well, I have always been very skilled in mathematics and so I double majored in Statistics and Economics. I knew that I could beat the system with my intuition and talent”
Penelope took all this to mean that he was an intelligent man with a slight case of an inflated ego. She was alright with that. Wanting her man to think well of himself and be self sufficient, this was a plus. Much better than a guy that was too timid to even acknowledge his accomplishments.
“You seem to be a well off guy.”
” I consider myself lucky”
“Where do you happen to be traveling?”
“I am going to Mexico City to meet a man for a stock trade.”