Isaac Asimov's Foundation - Cycles of History
Foundation is a novel throughout which the cycles of history are present. Isaac Asimov's peculiar notions on how change in the environment affects the nature of historical change are present throughout this novel. Asimov uses principles of Marxism to fabricate his future history. Asimov also creates a future political structure modeled on the Roman Empire.
According to Jean Fielder, one of the greatest influences on Asimov's Foundation novel is Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. This parallel is most discernible as Foundation depicts the gradual disintegration of a great empire, the concomitant rise in regional trade, and the eventual consolidation of political and economic power in the trading city- (or planet-) states. And, like a history, "[Foundation] focuses on mass movements rather than on individual actions"(Fiedler 59). In Foundation, the Galactic Empire is the gradually disintegrating great empire, just as the Roman Empire is the disintegrating empire in Gibbon's work. And, as in Gibbon's history, the Foundation builds a trading empire that later unites the planets together.
Many popular histories seem to focus on the empire-builder's military conquests. However, in Foundation, Asimov's history of the future "makes the cogent point that the true tools of empire-building are economic and socio-political development" (Fiedler 57). This principle is shown through the use of the Seldon Crises. Most often, the resolutions to these crises are a unique mix of psychological manipulation and technological usage. For example, the Galactic religion provides a means of psychologically manipulating the people of the galaxy to become dependent upon the technological sophistication of the Foundation.
Much of Asimov's Foundation is based upon Marxism and the Marxist principle of historical materialism. In Charles Elkins's opinion, these Marxist ideas include the
old puzzle of historical inevitability (predestination) versus free will, which itself flows out of the often unsuccessful yet desperately necessary-and therefore always repeated-struggles of men to control their personal futures and the futures of their societies.(Elkins 100)
These ideas are shown throughout Foundation, and in fact are the basis behind most of the heroic characters. Characters like Hober Mallow, Salvor Hardin, and Limmar Ponyets epitomize men who struggle to control their futures (Elkins 105). These men devote their lives to doing their part to help Seldon's Plan to be a success, but in reality, they are a planned part of Seldon's plan to help the Foundation succeed.
The change in enthalpy for the combustion of magnesium metal. Abstract = == ==
The end of the Vietnam War was not the end of the issues that the war brought up within the United States. The 1970s became a period of violence and distrust of government. The Watergate Scandal was the peak of the speculation of government and ended in the impeachment of President Nixon. This mistrust has spilled into the current state of American society and politics, where the people constantly feel they are being cheated and lied to by government officials. In addition, there is a huge separation between those who are for or against government intervention in other countries. Public support for operations in the Middle East is divided, much like during the middle years of the Vietnam War. One can only speculate about whether the public and government will rally around one stance like Americans did during the Vietnam
In this essay I shall argue that Paul Rée is correct in saying that free will is just an illusion. Throughout the reading entitled “The Illusion of Free Will,” Rée makes numerous great points about how we believe we have free will but we really do not. He discusses how one’s childhood upbringing determines his actions for the rest of his life, which, as a result, diminishes his freedom of will. He brings about the major issues with the common thought that since you could have acted in a different way than you actually did, you have free will. Another main argument was the proof of the reality of the law of causality, which can also be referred to as determinism.
The Marx-Engels Reader by Robert C. Tucker is an anthology containing essential writings of German philosophers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Major writing selections are to understand Marx perspective about history and society, such as The German Ideology. Marx introduces his historical materialism philosophy in the German Ideology: Part 1 of this book, where he proposes communism. Although I agree with a few points Marx gives, I cannot accept his overall conclusion that communism is the only way to become truly free. Marx suggest abolishing private property ownership and remove economic power from the hands of privileged people to accomplish freedom.
Here in America there is little tangible evidence of the war in Afghanistan, no visible scars besides the ones involving processions of caskets coming from Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. The mentality though remains. People are tired of this war; they have lost the patriotic spirit that had been created after 9/11. With the war reaching a decade people are losing hope and faith in the government. They are losing the desire to continue in their support for the war. People have taken negative viewings to Muslims as well because of this war and have become very aggressive over those coming from the Middle East and of Islamic origins even if they have been citizens of the United States before 9/11. “We kid ourselves if we think we can be a people at war for a decade without suffering consequences” states James Carron (Hampson).
For centuries philosophers have debated over the presence of free will. As a result of these often-heated arguments, many factions have evolved, the two most prominent being the schools of Libertarianism and of Determinism. Within these two schools of thought lies another debate, that of compatibilism, or whether or not the two believes can co-exist. In his essay, Has the Self “Free Will”?, C.A. Campbell, a staunch non-compatiblist and libertarian, attempts to explain the Libertarian argument.
one gram of water by 1ºC. I chose to use water because it is safe,
There is not really that much I can do to help make this experiment a
water has had equal amounts of time for it to heat up, again I will
Lucinda lives in a small apartment off-campus. She has been frequently late for classes and missed multiple class periods each semester. She has been experiencing a lot of stress trying to keep up with her class work and considering dropping 1 to 2 courses this semester. ...
One thing that philosophers are great at is asking big questions, usually without providing answers. However, Saint Augustine has a more direct approach to his speculation, often offering a solution to the questions he poses. One such topic he broached in The City of God against the pagans. In this text, Augustine addresses the problem of free will and extends his own viewpoint. Stating that humankind can have free will with an omniscient God, he clarifies by defining foreknowledge, free will, and how they can interact successfully together (Augustine, 198). Throughout his argument, he builds a compelling case with minimal leaps of faith, disregarding, of course, that you must believe in God. He first illustrates the problem of free will, that it is an ongoing questions amongst many philosophers, then provides insight into the difference between fate and foreknowledge. Finally, finishing his argument with a thorough walk-through on how God can know everything, and yet not affect your future decisions.
Within recent decades, college has become a more easily available path than it has been for the past generations. In a current news release, The Bureau of Labor Statistics stated that, “Of the 2.9 million youth age 16 to 24 who graduated from high school between January and October 2014, about 68.4 percent were enrolled in college in October” (BLS Economic News Release from April 2015). When a student graduates high school, most of them intend to continue on to college. They have the idea that, while there, they can break away from all the general classes and just focus on what they want to learn. However, for almost all students, they find that this is not the reality. Just like high school, they find that they have to take approximately two years in general studies in order to attend and graduate with the major of their choice. General education classes should not be required because a majority of the information learned has already been covered in past years. Most of the courses do not benefit a student 's major, and the total amount of required hours for these classes can become a big waste of time and money.
Does changing the length of the carbon chain effect the heat of combustion of water when heated for 2 minutes?
This would keep more of the heat produced during combustion close to the calorimeter so more is absorbed. Lining the reflector with silver/ shiny surface would also mean a lot more of the heat is kept in the apparatus so that I am able to measure it.
After only being at The University of Akron for three weeks, I dropped two classes. Shortly after dropping those classes, I received an email from my advisor asking to schedule an appointment. While in my academic advisors office, she proceeded to tell me that most students who drop two or more classes tend to not graduate. These words frightened me and even made me regret the decision to attend college as a whole. I sat there and thought about how disappointed my family would be and wondered if I would be successful in college. Since then, I have learned that there is a lot more to being successful