Disagreements on the Interpretations of the Zhuangzi Essay

Disagreements on the Interpretations of the Zhuangzi - Essay Example These differences can be summed up in presenting two modern analyses and interpretations of some parts of the Zhuangzi, with emphasis on the governing forces that shape and control the universe. For writer Erica Brindley, she interprets the Zhuangzi as the driving force and endless source of power that moves the universe and is above even Heaven itself is the Dao ?, which is â€Å"an upright way†, â€Å"a method†, â€Å"a path†, or â€Å"a truth†.1 The Dao allows the proliferation of diversity, thus any kind of method is considered acceptable as long as it is in line with the truth, making it a cyclical or a circular concept. Meanwhile writer Michael J. Puett interprets Heaven or Tian ? as the apex in the universal hierarchy and governs laws initiating changes and transformations, similar to patriarchy as a social order.2 Because the two authors read and interpreted the Zhuangzi using two different terms with differing ideologies, there are disagreements b etween the two, wherein Brindley’s interpretation of the Zhuangzi shows that the universe has a cyclic nature accessible through transcendence, while Puett’s interpretation states that the universal hierarchy is linear with Heaven at the apex, and man must live in balance with it without having to enter transcendence. Comparisons of the Two Interpretations of the Zhuangzi Brindley’s interpretation of the Zhuangzi gives a greater emphasis on the Dao as the all-encompassing, dynamic, unbounded and limitless driving force that shapes the cosmos and initiates its constant transformations.3 This is due to how she explains some ideas in the Zhuangzi using the Dao as the major influence. For example, she interprets the Dao to be impersonal, thus when a person unites with it, the perception of the self ceases to exist and becomes indistinguishable through emptiness, Wu ?. Thus this person does not act of his own accord anymore, because the self is no more. A passage fro m Zhuangzi mentions the impersonality of the Dao: â€Å"The Way has its reality and its signs but is without action or form. You can hand it down but you cannot receive it; you can get it but you cannot see it (Zhuangzi 6.9).†4 The idea is similar to Descartes’ â€Å"I think, therefore I am†, but instead it becomes I no longer am, and thus my thoughts are not mine.5 This turns thoughts from something personal to something that is not from the person, thus being impersonal. On the other hand, Puett’s interpretations of the Zhuangzi gives more emphasis on Heaven to be the one governing all changes that happen in the universe, and that humans must strive not to work against it, but rather follow its patterns.6 This is because resisting or controlling these changes makes people resentful, and will turn into an endless cycle of dissatisfaction, whereas allowing changes to happen as fate brings one pleasure and peace. This can be further explained using a passa ge from Zhuangzi: â€Å"Such things from time to time may happen to come your way. When they come, you cannot keep them from arriving, but when they depart you cannot stop them from going (Zhuangzi 16.5).†7 By allowing things to happen according to the patterns of Heaven and forgoing all, man can easily live in peace. Another disagreement between Brindley’s and Puett’s interpretations of the Zhuangzi is on how normalcy or humanity is defined. For Brindley, what the universe creates that man does not see normal are the products of how the Dao allows diversity to exist in the cosmos, while for Puett anything that exists in nature, regardless of whether humans consider it normal or not are still the products of the will of Heaven and are thus â€Å"heavenly†. The two texts both mentioned the following passage from Zhua

Analysis paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 9

Analysis paper - Essay Example For instance, in the 1920s, there were various organizations that were dedicated in the in the provision of important precedents including suburbs and the bungalow building, Victoria streetcar among others (Cohen 194). Inequality in education that rose in the 1950s is another critical element that has been emphasized by the author. In fact, some of the problems that communities may be facing today regarding the inequality in education may have been as a result of the problems suburbia created during those days (Cohen 194). The author describes Suburbia as the home of affluence as well as the home of inequality. Inequality was the order of the day. Inequality was widely spread in almost every aspect of life in Suburbia. Access to mortgages, tax benefits, credit, as well as mass income tax, worked better in favor of a particular group compared to other groups. Additionally, there was still inequality between men and women, middle class, and working class as well as between the whites and the blacks. The prices of homes in Suburban communities were extremely high. Actually, they were high to an extent that very few workers in the manufacturing firms were willing to move closer the workplaces. With an average weekly was of $ 116.62, workers could not afford to pay for homes in areas where most industries were moving (Cohen 197). Segmentation of housing was somehow reduced after the postwar metropolitan housing market. Those working class individuals who were set aside for the middle-class suburban communities were simply by virtue of their personal expenses. For instance, to get a house in New Jersey in the early 1960s, about twenty miles away North West of Newark, an individual was required to take a mortgage of $ 15,000. Also, one was required to pay maintenance, taxes, other utilities and more important one was required to including the commuting cost. Mathematically, an individual was required to have an annual income of $

BUS WK4 HOMEWORK Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

BUS WK4 HOMEWORK - Essay Example In such a devastating situation, it is imperative that the company pays great attention at how to inform the world about the catastrophe. If this situation was not handled then the audience of the company which is enormous as it includes the whole world, would see the company in a much worse light. The company has to release the information in two ways; first they would have to break the news to the families of the workers and secondly the company’s employees and then to the media. The company has to be extra cautious in choosing the representatives who will handle these releases. They have to make sure that their reputation is kept intact and at the same time the information provided is honest and precise. This adversity affected a lot of people. It was not only the 33 miners in the mine who were affected;the families of those workers were also hurt. The anguish that their families had to go through was no doubt too much. They waited to hear any news about their loved ones an d worried whether they would make it out alive. Chilean Copper Mine was responsible of keeping the families continuously up to date on the rescue mission and what was being done to help the miners in the best possible way to save them. This process of communication is extremely important. The employees of the company also need to be kept informed about the situation because they need to know what the company they work for can do in order to protect them and how serious they are about their workers. This means of communication has to be really effective; it will have to give all the information to them as well as make them feel that the company does care about its employees and that they are all united in this situation. Communication has a meaning to every person in a situation. A crucial point of an effective communication is mutual understanding of the information. It involves the shared concern of the thoughts, feelings, needs, wants and intentions of the communicators (Krizan, 2 011). If the message is sent through mail or memo or a video, the message has to be sent using a proper tone. In the case of the trapped miners, the overall tone when sending the message across has to be considerate and consoling in order to maintain calm. The families of the affected should be informed verbally through a video. Providing this information through writing will not be enough. Draft 1: I would like to address the family members of the ‘33’ as per company protocol. The main message that I want to communicate is of patience and being positive. The journey has no doubt been very long and stressful especially without enough resources. The company has now directed towards other ways to proceed with the rescue. This includes consideration of all types of safety aspects to ensure that the miners come back to the surface with full health and conditions and rejoin their families. The company completely understands the concerns of the families and will address them. It would be difficult to present all the information so we will sum up the most significant points of the rescue plans for this accident. The most essential thing for us is the well-being of the affected; we will make sure that all of them will reemerge to a normal life. Draft 2: The Chilean Copper Mine cave that has trapped 33 of our employees is indeed a tragic incident. We are very well

Earth Science movie review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Earth Science - Movie Review Example Are any of the characters playing scientists? How are these characters portrayed? Geeky or cool? This movie has many characters playing the role of scientists; extremely part of the movie had its own reason and the parts were clear well. The casts had different roles to play in the movie making the movie to have a flow that to the viewer. The best part of the movie is the coordination that was there between the casts some scenes were direct to the point meaning they did not require any scripting one had to put his words that fit the story well. The target to set by NASA to stop an asteroid on a collision course with the earth was successful (Robert 4). What parts of the movie were scientifically accurate? I.e. what happened that was actually possible and correctly portrayed? The Armageddon movie involves rush thrills narrow escapes and explosions. Extremely thing in the movie is the superb content and it is attractive to the eyes of the viewer; the lighting and the change of scenes i n the movie are correctly timed (Rick 2). The scientists are also extremely well equipped this makes the movie to be real and appealing, this movie if its accuracy is to be compared to talk shows it may be Oprah’s show. ... The directors should have also used the most equipments for astronomy to improve the content. This movie gives many flashlights to the viewer. Were there parts of the movie that may have been possible, but were likely exaggerated for entertainment purposes? The building of a comet that was to head to the earth, the comet had larger bunkers that could keep up to a million people. This was fiction and the fact that they found two hundred thousand people with significant jobs to get into the bunker. At the end, the comet does not hit the earth surface, and people still survive. This part of the movie was exaggerated because in real sense, this is something that can be done but the number of people in the comet seems to be significant, if the number was little this could be argued to be fact (Yoram 9). The number of people, who were in the movie, should be significant because the movie talks about extremely many things at once. Reflect on the movie as a whole. Would it have been as inter esting or entertaining if it had been scientifically accurate? If the movie was scientific it would have been extremely easy for people to understand, if a person many people understand what they see if there is no fiction in the characters taking part in the movie. The scientific technology that in the movie is easy to digest so if any were improvement made then the movie would have been interesting. Some people may just not get in mind what is happening by listening to the words, by watching what is in the movie makes them understand even more and seeing what you have never seen. The word Armageddon is derived from scary thoughts. This word means too many people that it’s destruction of

Personal statement for college addimissions Essay

Personal statement for college addimissions - Essay Example aking decisions on such important issues as course selection and efficient use of time has been done with assistance from college advisers, at a distance from cues and support systems from my family. While being at Temple University has developed in me a greater sense of my abilities and myself socially and academically, I feel that a change is needed to bring me closer to home. I believe that this distance from home may have contributed to failing my classes at Temple University, despite having good high school grades with a GPA of 3.6 and a SAT score of 1930. My first semester was not satisfactory and, during spring break, I took time to re-evaluate what went wrong during the semester. Family and peers play a critical role in the learning and development of the individual. The friends I grew up with in high school were creative, bright, and competitive, which made for interesting and spontaneous opinions and discussions on almost every topic. At Temple University, the seminar formats and small class size have presented me with a wonderful setting in which to learn. The professors, who are highly motivated, have encouraged participation, and this has been one of my highlights at the university. However, I have found the student interaction level to be unsatisfactory, especially with regard to limited classroom topics, which has left me feeling insufficiently challenged by my peers. Indeed, at this moment, I feel that I chose to enter Temple University for the wrong reason because I followed my best friend who also joined the university. H owever, after he left to move back home after only one month, I felt that I had made a mistake in enrolling at Temple University. In my first semester at the university, I have come to the realization that family and community play a pivotal role in growth, learning, and development. It is for this reason that I would like to move to a university that is closer to home and my family. Based on the conversations that I have had

Phonetic exercises Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Phonetic exercises - Essay Example Phonetic exercises This course has given me a good understanding of the processes involved in articulation, articulation points and the manner of articulation. This knowledge will prove handy in helping students with pronunciation difficulties especially those taking English as a second language and for whom, their first language structure is markedly different in structure fromthat of the English language e. g in the pronunciation of consonants. Sounds are the building blocks of language. A good understanding of sounds contribute to better spelling, flowing speech, and good reading skills and better comprehension. I have learned that in English there are many ways in which to spell the same sound. Therefore in oral tests, the manner in which a student perceives sound determines how he/ she spells it. Different words have different sounds and meaning attached to them and so sounds give melody to language. The right intonation of sounds can convey a host of human feelings such as empathy, anger. Sounds can show confidence or certainty of our words. This course has helped me a appreciate the two fold meaning that sound can bring into one sentence through the use of word stress and sentence intonations to alter meaning. Constructing exercises for learners of English as a second language is now easier because of the emphasis I have learned that phonetics play on the meaning and the message sentences carry. I can also comfortably test the oral capability of my students from my knowledge of how words are constructed and how the vocal apparatus achieves this.

Decision Making, Decision Levels and Types of Problems Essay

Decision Making, Decision Levels and Types of Problems - Essay Example This root of the system is primordial and through interactions with each other and combinations becomes more advanced and complex assembling progressively more complex level of systems that cooperate and exchange information and ultimately forming an information system. Information systems theory postulates a system as a symbol within a representational medium (idiom) and the representational medium in itself. The general systems theory can be applied in structured problems to solve information system problems, where the problem and desired solution is clearly defined and can be split into a series of steps that are well defined (Skyttner 2001). For example, in developing an information system for an online retailer, a structured approach would be to list the products being sold, the available staff and the processes that will lead to making a sale, in which case a product inventory can be made. Members of staff are then allocated duties such as customer service and dispatch then how data on available inventory and deliveries will be made. In this case, what is needed is clearly defined. The inventory, who will handle what and how items will be delivered to customers so a system development sequence is employed. The general systems theory can be applied in structured problems to solve information system problems, where the problem and desired solution is clearly defined and can be split into a series of steps that are well defined (Skyttner 2001). For example, in developing an information system for an online retailer.... A decision support system (DSS) then comes in handy, as there is a need for some level of intuition. The DSS will do most of the ‘thinking’ as it provides data and models to help management make decisions. Non-structured situations would be for example designing a web site that can process payments from customers online, receive orders and queries and interact with a customer. Intuition will be needed on what would be most suitable for the customer and how to reduce threats of credit card fraud to the customer. The exact situation is not fully known but forms the wider system requirement and hence the solutions are not straight forward (Mathews 2008) General systems thinking is the practice of appreciating how different parts of an information system can impact and influence each other. For example, in designing a database system for a supermarket, one has to know how the accounting system will interact with the stock and inventory system and the payroll. In terms of str uctured problems, a designer can look at how the check out system will update the daily sales records and the stocks. The problem is defined as updating the daily sales account and knowing how much of what was sold. The problem can be designed in defined steps from what system to capture what has been sold, and for how much and then the stocks must be updated. A semi-structured problem would be how to know when stocks are running low or when to take money to the bank. A threshhold for cash sales will have to be established that alerts the finance manager to call in the couriers to deliver money to the bank. The system to know how much sales came from what products and how many were paid for by credit card. A non-structured problem would be how to handle customer complaints, track their