Satan's predicament after he falls in Paradise Lost is utterly hopeless, yet he chooses to persevere. He reasons that he should continue to struggle, even though he is aware that it is entirely in vain. The process he follows to arrive at this choice is similar to the process Albert Camus will use to justify the unrelenting toil of his 'absurd man.' Before this becomes apparent, portions of Satan as a character must be eliminated from consideration, because they present an intractable set of problems. Prior to his rebellion, Satan is a divine being, who "stood'st in Heav'n, upright and pure," (IV, 936-37) like God and the other angels. We do not get a clear portrayal of this character, only Satan's and Raphael's memories and reconstructions of what he must have been like, and God's statement that He "made him just and right, sufficient to have stood" (III, 98-9). Like other angels, he has an "intuitive" (V, 488) way of knowing that Milton defines as far from human apprehension, particularly in our fallen state. We can on Earth only see "but the shadow of Heav'n" (575), which in this case is useful, because we are off the hook to even try to explain why Satan chooses to rebel in the first place. Milton too, by placing the godlike mind off limits to human reason as it is commonly understood, is off the hook as well to entirely "justify the ways of God to men" (I, 26). Instead we are presented with the paradoxical claim that God made his creatures "free to fall" (III, 99) "without least impulse or shadow of Fate" (120), and so somehow put bounds on his own omnipotence so that his omniscient "foreknowledge had no influence on their fault" (119). To try to enclose this tortuously defined causality within the mind of a mere huma...
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...others is not. Milton's impulse to produce so much of his most beautiful poetry while speaking in the persona of Satan suggests something to the contrary: the need to share one's appreciation for life and the precious beauty of the world that is born of a completely demolished and irreparable condition. Many people, not just the heroic and kind Camus, or the blind and defeated poet Milton, have been inspired towards good from the depths of despair. Like much else that is thrust upon him, Satan is instead forced into what seems an unnatural role to serve the purposes of his Author. In any case, he toils on, unceasing.
Works Cited
Camus, A. The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays. New York, NY: Vintage. (1991).
Milton, John. “Paradise Lost.” The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ed. 8. Logan, Greenblatt, Lewalski, Maus. New York, 2006. 1831-2055. Print.
Satan is the core of Milton’s master piece and no matter how he is interpreted; the overall complexity of his character cannot be overlooked.
In John Milton’s, The Paradise Lost, Milton’s representation of Satan makes us uncomfortable due to the recognition of his humanizing and relatable reaction to what happened to him. The reader expects Satan to be an evil, and malevolent figure who does evil acts because he loves it and there is no defense for it. While these aspects are prevalent in his character in the poem, Satan does not come across as a completely wicked person but instead, a victim. The representation of Satan has a personifying quality that any of us may have and do not want to admit. In book one, Milton’s portrayal of Satan makes us uneasy because we relate to his actions, which are ordinary human responses to similar situations. It is troubling to say that in this particular poem, Satan resembles humans. However, our human nature is to have an instant reflex to justify our actions without taking any responsibility, which resembles the way Satan justifies his mischievous acts in this poem. Most of the time, we would never think of Satan as a victim; yet, we find ourselves discovering our human nature in Satan’s rationalizations. So, what humanizes this monstrous figure? After thoroughly reading book one, there are many instances when Satan justifies what he has done to make sense of it. Satan believes that God deceived him because he did not know how much power he possessed. According to Satan, God did unjust things that justified his actions. Satan has a whole rationale that God had arbitrary power that caused Satan to become the way he is in the poem. This perception serves as Satan’s foundation on behalf of his justification, which we all can relate to because he does not take responsibility but pr...
In Milton’s Paradise Lost, Milton characterizes himself as a prophet in order to encourage us to listen to God’s order and turn away from our evil. As one becomes aware of Milton’s prophetic intentions, one recognizes how Milton uses Satan and his reaction to his downfall with God as a way to lead us to think of our own human sins and experience. Milton’s characterization of Satan’s envious, jealous, prideful and rebellious nature while battling God allows us to see Satan as mirror reflection of our own selves. By characterizing Satan, an evil icon, as a being with human flaws, Milton encourages us to see our own weaknesses in order to turn away from these sins.
In arguing for the distinction between mind and body, Descartes seeks to show that the two are independent substances and can exist separately. It will be useful to outline Descartes’ argument based on clear and distinct perception by listing his premises and conclusion. The essay will then analyse each premise in turn, arguing that the argument fails because his premises are faulty. The argument, found in the Sixth Meditation, runs as follows
The War on Drugs is believed to help with many problems in today’s society such as realizing the rise of crime rates and the uprooting of violent offenders and drug kingpin. Michelle Alexander explains that the War on Drugs is a new way to control society much like how Jim Crow did after the Civil War. There are many misconceptions about the War on Drugs; commonly people believe that it’s helping society with getting rid of those who are dangerous to the general public. The War on Drugs is similar to Jim Crow by hiding the real intention behind Mass Incarceration of people of color. The War on Drugs is used to take away rights of those who get incarcerated. When they plead guilty, they will lose their right to vote and have to check application
The mind which is a non-extended thing, thinking is very different from the body which is a non-thinking thing, an extended and therefore Descartes argues that it is possible for the body to function without the mind and the mind to function without the body (Sorabji, 72). In Descartes theory of mind-body dualism, there exist several theories. Descartes describes the real distinction as the distinction between two things or substances. A substance is something that does not require any other creature to exist since it can occur with God’s concurrence only. Mode, on the other hand, is the affection towards a particular substance. Descartes argues that there are two payoffs for arguing that the mind and body can exist without each other. This includes the religious motivation and provides hope for the immortality of the soul and the second one is the scientific motivation that paves way for the new version of Descartes mechanistic
Milton prompts the reader to understand God’s grace as the most almighty and powerful aspect within the first twenty-six lines. God is a powerful ruler who bestows blessings if his policies are followed and eternal damnation if not. The first two books of Paradise Lost portray Satan as a confused, resentful man who feels the need to rebel against God. Since Satan rebelled against God, he was banished from heaven and summoned into an eternal hell. While in hell, Satan gathered his fallen angels for a pep talk and exclaimed to them, “Farewell, happy fields, where joy forever dwell; in my choice to reign is worth ambition though in Hell” (Book 1, Line 1). In this exclamation Satan bids adieu to the pleasure and blissful surroundings of paradise and greets the gloom and dreadfulness that now surround him with open arms. The reader can conclude that Milton relays Satan’s speech as remorseful and full of regret at the penalty of his rebellious actions, but accepts what he has done and is ready to rule the underworld. The reader can also note one difference between Satan and God in this passage because unlike God, Satan chose to speak to all who follow him and wanted their feedback for his rebellious plans. Satan continues his speech by adding, “Receive thy new possessor. Not to be changed by place or time” (Book 1, Line 1). Satan is regulating his mental perception as he greets Hell. He portrays himself as equipped and ready for Hell to receive him as the leader. Like God, Satan brought his autonomous mentality, free of time or location, to Hell. As the new supreme leader of the underworld, with his independent mind, Satan boldly compares himself to God through the element of
As a result of Milton's failed political aspirations, he believes that individuals do not construct truth, or decide for themselves what the truth is; instead, individuals receive the truth directly or indirectly from God. Conversely, deception comes from Satan. In Paradise Lost, Milton sets up this idea by forcing good to result only from obedience to God's will and evil to result whenever God is disobeyed. Dr. Evans' argument that Milton's ultimate point in all this is to express a moral position that is very extreme, that no quality or action can be innately good or evil, is firmly rooted in this model. What determines the morality of anything we do is in whose service we do it. Since Raphael was sent from God, his warning is true and divine. Since Satan disobeyed God, his ideas are all false lies. Part of Milton's ideology may have come from his own life experiences. After the restorat...
As this paper had explored, US drug prohibition, from its inception, followed by the “war on drugs”, have failed. The repressive strategies found within the drug wars not only are not able to handle the inherently complex nature of the international drug trade, but it, as history has shown, has exasperated the problem. At the national level, the “war on drugs” effects was just as ineffective and detrimental to society with heavy mandatory minimum prison sentences and the world's highest imprisonment rate. In this regards, the drug war was a failure; however, in some other respect, it is a success. It is a success in that drug laws disproportionately affected minorities, especially the black community; moreover, it exclusively targets the lower rungs of society. As this paper has examined, the “war on drugs” is a proxy genocide of the lower class.
Lagemaat, Richard Van De. Theory of knowledge for the IB Diploma. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
From this place of doubt, Descartes comes to the conclusion that he has no senses, and that body, shape, extension, movement and place are fabrications. This philosophy leaves one wondering if they too do not exist whilst being surrounded by things that seem not to. Descartes approaches this wonder with the fact that the mere perception of one’s own existence in turn proves the existence of their mind. Following this idea, one can conclude that the only aspect of ourselves which definitely exists, is our mind. In a society where the physical body is what determines existence and being, one begins the wonder what they are. This wonder led Descartes to the idea of the mind and the body and how they coexist. He determines that the body is defined as a physical thing and the mind is defined as a thinking thing. Taking into account the previous meditation on senses and dreaming, Descartes determines that the body is almost irrelevant when it comes to observing reality because it is purely based off of senses. Thus, leaving thinking as the only thing inseparable from himself and therefore the only thing determining existence. “Were I totally to cease from thinking, I should totally cease to exist.” (Descartes, 18). This philosophy leads Descartes to the conclusion that one is only a thinking thing, which is defined as a thing that doubts, understands, affirms, is willing, is unwilling, and also imagines and has sensory perceptions. The idea that we are just thinking things completely disproves the thought that we can only exist in reality. Descartes says: “My mind enjoys wandering off and will not yet submit to being restrained within the bounds of truth.” (Descartes, 20). If our thoughts and therefore existence can
...t, Stephen, gen. ed. “Paradise Lost.” The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 9th ed. Vol. 1. New York: Norton, 2012. Print. 36-39.
In his Meditations on First Philosophy, Descartes states “I have a clear and distinct idea of myself, in as far as I am only a thinking and unextended thing, and as, on the other hand, I possess a distinct idea of body, in as far as it is only an extended and unthinking thing”. [1] The concept that the mind is an intangible, thinking entity while the body is a tangible entity not capable of thought is known as Cartesian Dualism. The purpose of this essay is to examine how Descartes tries to prove that the mind or soul is, in its essential nature, entirely distinct from the
Although the epic poem centers around the story of the fall of man, it is interesting that Milton intertwines in this story the fall of Satan from heaven and the consequences it has not only for Satan himself, but for Adam, Eve, and the world as a whole. Milton allows the reader to see the fall from the point of view of Satan, God, as well as Adam and Eve. Because Milton gives insight into these characters feelings regarding the fall, it is no surprise that he uses “eternal providence” in conjunction with the stories of Satan, Adam, and Eve. The providence being described here is the knowledge of good and evil. However, ev...
Agile software development is a group of software development methods based on iterative and incremental development, where requirements and solutions evolve through collaboration between self-organizing, cross-functional teams. It promotes adaptive planning, evolutionary development and delivery, a time-boxed iterative approach, and encourages rapid and flexible response to change.