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Essay on darwin theory
Essay on darwin theory
Essay on darwin theory
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"Good, Better, Best,
Never let it rest,
Until the Good is Better
And the Better is Best."
My class was taught this rhyme by my English teacher in school to ensure that we would not forget this exception to the rule of superlatives. However, other teachers also quoted this rhyme when they wanted to motivate my class to reach the zenith of their ability; that is, improve until we were "the best". One of my papers showed how a deeper understanding of natural selection made me cease to think of human beings at the top of the evolutionary Tree of Life, making me remove words like "superior" and "best" from my evolutionary vocabulary. Now I find myself questioning the premises upon which this rhyme rests: What makes something better than something else? What is best? Who sets these standards? Using the Darwinian concept of equality through natural selection, I want to discuss the concept of an equal morality in order to show that such a theory can successfully exist.
Through an understanding of natural selection, I have come to accept that all creatures currently in existence are equal. However, for the purposes of this paper, I am limiting my question to the relevance of equality for human beings. I am narrowing my categories because morality is a human created concept couched in language, the use of which differentiates humans from other organisms. Dennett claims:
"Whereas animals are rigidly controlled by their biology, human behavior is largely determined by culture, a largely autonomous system of symbols and values, growing from a biological base, but growing indefinitely away from it. Able to overpower or escape biological constraints in most regards, cultures can vary from one another enough so that important portion...
... middle of paper ...
...per discusses the effect on society of the snatching away of a comfortable blanket moral code. However, I too base my arguments on the "truth" of premises such as Darwin's theory of natural selection. I would like to protect myself from the above contradiction within Dennett's text by saying that this account is simply my story and my perception of morality. I am open to the telling of different stories; however, I ask that the story teller respect my story in the same way that I do theirs.
1 "Moral, n 1" Dicionary.com. Lexico Publishing Group, LLC, 2003
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=moral
2 "Ought 2" Dicionary.com. Lexico Publishing Group, LLC, 2003
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=ought
Works Cited:
1. Dennett, Daniel. Darwin's Dangerous Idea. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995.
2. Dicionary.com. Lexico Publishing Group, LLC, 2003
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The video, “What Darwin Never Knew”, is a stunning time line that details the theory of evolution formed by Charles Darwin, and the recent advancements made that answers some of the questions he simply could not. Darwin 's theory explained why today there are 9,000 kinds of birds, 350,000 kinds of beetles, 28,000 kinds of fish, and at least 2 million kinds of living species and counting. Darwin figured out that all species are connected, and he also realized that species evolved and adapted, but he did not know how.
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Every human being must find a certain motivation or inspiration to give them the momentum they require to achieve the goals they have in life. For some it is the incentive to be active, to accomplish tasks, even to do the mundane a simple tasks life may demand. Several influential individuals who have reached a level of recognition in their life will give words of advice to those who are seeking to become successful themselves. Often these are words of encouragement through the periods we find strenuous, their words are meant to help us weather the storms that may come our way in trying times. Dante’s The Inferno is meant to motivate in a similar manner as the successful in our day attempt to do, only Dante uses his personal hell to create speculation and to stimulate people to act with a more moral behavior than they were in his day. The lines from the passage quoted above were not only written for the readers, but most likely for the author as well, asking that we take heart even in the difficult moments and to continue forward because there is much more yet to come. Dante uses many examples leading up to this point to help motivate those who venture to read his poem. For example, the wrathful and the sullen in the fifth circle of Dante’s hell, the heretics in the sixth, and the violent in the third circle. Each depicts a punishment fit for the crime and it is when these lines are spoken that we begin to connect the inspirational words to the very identity of the entire poem.
On first entering the folds of Dante's poetic fiction, `Inferno', one finds oneself, like the pilgrim therein, quite lost. To get beyond the enjoyment of it as sheer poetry, to understand its meaning and its historical significance, it presents a multitude of problems. Not least of these is the uncertainty we face when trying to interpret Dante's use of allegory, a practice common to medieval poets but somewhat alien seven centuries on, and beneath which the meaning of the `Comedy' lies. This uncertainty does not go away if we seek guidance from some modern approaches to Dante's use of allegory such as tho...
ABSTRACT: Michael Ruse has argued that evolutionary ethics discredits the objectivity and foundations of ethics. Ruse must employ dubitable assumptions, however, to reach his conclusion. We can trace these assumptions to G. E. Moore. Also, part of Ruse’s case against the foundations of ethics can support the objectivity and foundations of ethics. Cooperative activity geared toward human flourishing helps point the way to a naturalistic moral realism and not exclusively to ethical skepticism as Ruse supposes.
Hezbollah is a right wing, sociological, psychological, religious terrorist organization. Hezbollah provides an environment to protect and grow its cause through cultivation of its community by prescribed religious and academic teachings to develop a national and religious identity. Use of religious rhetoric combined with the demonization of all who do not subscribe to their specific brand of Islamic Shiitism; Hezbollah is able to re-enforce its fanatical military wing while maintaining a productive infrastructure. (Hezbollah – Capabilities And Role In The Middle East (Full Documentary))
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