The divine command theory essays

The divine command theory essays The Divine Command Theory can be a hot topic for some people to discuss in the field of philosophy. The Divine Command Theory states that an act is permissible or obligatory if and only if that act is allowed or commanded by God. (Class notes 1/12/05) To believe in this theory is to believe that God is good in everything he commands and wills a person to do. This theory though has a few holes that can cause controversy and debate among philosophers, such as the question Socrates expresses in the Euthyphro, Are morally good acts willed by God because they are morally good, or are they morally good because they are willed by God? (Plato: Euthyphro) I believe that all acts that are willed by God are good and have bigger purpose than humans are willing to believe. God is the creator of the universe and all that is good and pure; it is in his nature to do good things. God created and blessed all people with a unique creaturely calling. (Genesis 1:26) If one is to believe in the Divine Command Theory, then one must believe that God has nothing but the purest and best intentions. When God created humans, they were as pure as the driven snow, but when the Fall of Humanity happened, sin was introduced to man. The Fall of Humanity means that we cannot know Gods truth and ways by reason or any means other than a personal revelation. So, in order to understand Gods will, we must trust in Gods commands. Even though we may not be able to understand why he commands or wills some things. There are many arguments that hold true to the Divine Command Theory, such as the Abraham argument. This argument states that if the Divine Command Theory is correct, then no matter what God were to will, it would be morally required. (http://courses.washington.edu/phil332) This is evident in the bible with the story of Abraham, in this story, God commands Abraham to kill his one and only son Issa ...

Atheism and Communism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Atheism and Communism - Essay Example Similarly, communism is a socioeconomic and political term, which also seeks unity and cohesion among the members of society by denouncing any possibility of class discrimination culture. The paper also explores the differences between the two notions under investigation by declaring that a large majority of the communists follows one faith or the other, and hence does not disassociate it with spiritual belief system altogether. However, it is fact that the Christians, Muslims and Hindus are also the followers of communist politico-economic system. Consequently, atheism and communism serve as pole-apart concepts, which share one major commonality i.e. to free the humans from getting divided, alienated and weak subsequently. The Paper The notions atheism and communism have been in vogue for the last many decades, which seek their roots in political science, history, sociology and theology. Theorists are at daggers drawn in respect of exploring similarities and dissimilarities between the two notions. One school of thought declares both the terms as quite different from one another, which should not be taken the lights of the same source. On the other hand, some of the political scientists observe close proximity between atheism and communism, as both the two, according to them; negate exploitation of one or more strata at the hands of the other in the name of religion, race, region, ethnicity, gender or socioeconomic status. Since religious faiths, class discrimination and financial positions, they insist, invite differences and gulf among the individuals, belonging to divergent groups and communities, non-adherence to the belief systems pave the way towards the creation of a homogenous society, they assert. Somehow, association between both the two can be viewed due to the very reality that both these doctrines share several commonalities in their nature and scope, and portray the picture of an undivided as well as a classless society. While atheism denies the existence of any deity, communism concentrates upon the establishment of a homogenous society without being divided into classes, communities and religious beliefs. However, they cannot be stated as the aspects of one and the same coin; on the contrary, they are quite different from each other in nature and scope. Before embarking upon the topic under analysis, it would be advisable to define both the terms under analysis: Atheism: It has aptly been observed that an overwhelming majority of the populations, belonging to every society, culture, nation, country, race, region and ethnicity of the globe, seek support from some supernatural powers at the hour when they find themselves quite helpless in the face of hardships. Such belief subsequently ripens into strong faith, and develops some specific rituals, prayers and performances, which are imitated by the entire community by taking it as the source of their spiritual uplift and relief. The statistics reveal that thousands of religi ous beliefs are followed by the millions of the people all over the globe. However, still there exists a community that has not developed faith in the Supernatural powers, and consequently declares it as atheist or without religious belief. The members of this community take life and death as the outcome of the alterations taking place in their physical and social environment, which give way to the chemical and physical changes in the environment, including the conversion of matter from one form to the other. Hence,

Reviewing Mixed Methods Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Reviewing Mixed Methods - Essay Example This statement is the hypothesis. A hypothesis is not always necessary for a study because â€Å"some areas of research are too new to warrant tests of hypotheses or the findings are so mixed that a specific hypothesis is not supported by the literature† (Cengage Learning, 2005b). However, they are a feature of the hypothetico-deductive scientific method. When testing a hypothesis, we do not necessarily predict the outcome of one variable based on a change in another, though this may also be the case. But herein lies the difference between a hypothesis and a prediction because testing a hypothesis can alternatively be concerned for example, with whether or not effects actually occur, whether some treatments have effects on an outcome measure, or groups differ from each other (Cengage Learning, 2005a). In short, a hypothesis concerns â€Å"a testable statement about the relationship between two or more variables† (Gross, 1996), which may or may not be a predictable cause and effect relationship. In factorial designs for example, a hypothesis â€Å"typically involves an interaction between your Ivs† (Cengage Learning, 2005b) i.e. the independent variables. Thus, a hypothesis allows a prediction to be made, but it is not itself a prediction, whereas a prediction is the expected result of an experiment based on a given hypo thesis (Hays, 1999). This distinction between a hypothesis and a prediction is often unclear (Singer, 2007) in students. The accuracy of a prediction related to a hypothesis could give a strong indication that the hypothesis is true (and so the null hypothesis is to be rejected). At the heart of research through hypothesis formation and testing is the drive for scientific exploration. However, when several hypotheses arise together we are dealing with broader theories. Whilst a hypothesis deals with specific sets of phenomena, a theory constructs a framework of plausible rational explanations for the whole phenomena. The general everyday

Role and Functions of Law Essay Example for Free

Role and Functions of Law Essay Law is vast and diverse, which makes it overwhelming and confusing. The main purpose of the law is to create order in society and business. Law can be defined as â€Å"the body of official rules and regulations, generally found in constitutions, legislation, judicial opinions, and the like, that is used to govern a society and to control the behavior of its members, so Law is a formal mechanism of social control† (Sixth Form Law, 2012, par. 4). The following will describe the function of law and what role it has in society and business in addition to looking at how law affects a specific industry. Because American law is so diverse, it is broken down into several categories. Those categories include; Criminal law versus Civil law, Substantive law versus Procedural law, and Public law versus Private law. Please note that these categories are broad, and they are not mutually exclusive. An act or transaction can be classified in more than one legal category (Melvin, 2011). First, laws, primarily statutes, are considered to be criminal or civil. Criminal law protects society. It is between private parties and society. For example, if someone is brought up on murder charges they would be tried in a criminal court of law. Violations of criminal law could result in penalties of fines or imprisonment to violators if convicted of the crime and proven to have intentionally committed the crime. Civil law is between private parties. Civil laws are created to compensate parties who have experienced losses because of the other parties’ actions. Examples of civil law could be divorce and accidental injury cases. Next are the differences between Substantive law and Procedural law. Substantive law is a statutory law, which deals with the relationship between people or people and the state. Substantive law is used to define, regulate, and create people’s rights and obligations. They deal with the structure and the facts of the case to determine the type of crime and the severity. It also defines the rights and responsibility of the accused. For example, there are several degrees of murder, depending on the circumstances and the intent; there are different levels of punishment. On the other hand, Procedural law is a set of rules that govern the proceedings of criminal lawsuits and civil proceedings. It elaborates on the steps of how the case should proceed as well as assists in determining if the case requires a trial. These laws ensure fair practice and consistency in the due process (Diffen, n. d. ). Last is the summary of Public law and Private law. Public law governs the relationship between individuals and the government. It includes constitutional law, administrative law, and criminal law. Domestic violence is an example of Public law. Private law, also known as common law in some countries, governs the relationships between individuals. It includes civil law, labor law, commercial law, corporations law, and competition law. An example of Private law would be a contract for services. If someone renders a service according to the request of the client, but the client is not happy with the results and refuses to pay for this service. This agreement is legally binding and the rules of transaction are governed by the common law of contracts (Melvin, 2011). There is much to digest once reading about the categories of law and to think this is just skimming the surface. In addition to these categories the Congress is given power via the Commerce Clause to â€Å"regulate Commerce among the several states† (Melvin, 2011, p 32). If Congress chooses to regulate certain persons or products, the federal law is supreme to the state law that tries to regulate the same persons or products. In the case of Cipollone v. Liggett Group, the state law regulating advertising for tobacco products were preempted by the federal law (Melvin, 2011). It is important to know how state and federal laws can affect society and business. One industry, which is under constant scrutiny, is Appraising. Appraising has both state and federal laws to abide with, and they are constantly changing. Appraisers are required to obtain certain standards that are set forth in the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP), which is published by the Appraisal Standards Board of the Appraisal Foundation. If an appraiser fails to comply with these standards there could be punishment of fines, lawsuits, or loss of license. In conclusion, it is important to know the basic roles and functions of law in both society and business even though it is vast and diverse. Laws are needed to create balance and order within society and business, and they can be broken into broad categories to obtain the basic knowledge.

Love Story :: essays research papers

I was born into a non-Christian family. We thought we were Christians, because we used to go to church on Sundays. But we didn't know about the Bible verse that says we must be â€Å"born again† if we ever want to see the kingdom of God (John 3:3). Even if we'd heard it, we never stopped to think about how we could get â€Å"born again†. I got a job in a music store. Christine was a sales clerk there. She was one of the sweetest, most honest people I had come across up to that time. And she was open about being a Christian. I could see there was something different about her, and I was sure it had something to do with her Christianity. Her self-assurance, peace, and love for Jesus Christ made a strong impact on me. When I left the music store I got an office job. A young woman there, named Ruth, reminded me of Christine from my former job. It wasn't long before I found out that Ruth was a Christian too. I think these two young women were the only â€Å"born-again† Christians I had ever met up to that time, and they both stood out in a wonderful way. Ruth used to ask me about my beliefs, and I would ask her about hers. Whenever I asked her a question she didn't know the answer to, she said she would ask her pastor and get back to me with the answer. She always did. On the other hand, whenever she asked me a question I couldn't answer I would try to bluff my way through. I made some stupid comments to her at times, and looking back I don't know how she stopped herself from laughing at me. I guess it was her respectful Christian upbringing. I once told her that everyone in the world had been Roman Catholic until the time of Martin Luther. Ruth had no trouble demolishing that argument. In fact, she had no trouble demolishing all my arguments. Ruth was a happy person. She was always doing something exciting with her church youth group while I was doing little with my friends at all. Even after we both left that job, she kept in touch with me a few times, and made it clear that my spiritual life concerned her. Then events started happening in my life that kept me wondering whether I was missing something by not being a Christian.

Paleolithic Age

The Stone Age Social Studies Mrs. Perez By: Alexander Colon 6th grade The Stone Age Now I think we can all admit that The Stone Age was not a good time to be living in the glory and all that. But I bet we would all be having some pretty good times with the things that you were able to do back then. So, let me explain some to you. During the Paleolithic age nomads grouped together into small societies called bands. They also subsisted by gathering plants, hunting, or scavenging wild animals. They did this by using wood or bones carved to use as weapons. They started to use stones in the Neolithic so I will get to that later.Other organic commodities were adapted for use as tools also like leather or vegetable fibers. Although the Paleolithic age is part of the Stone Age nomads did not use stones until the Neolithic age; I’ll get to that now. The beginning of the Neolithic culture is co0nsidered to be in the Levant about 10200-8800 BCE. It formed directly from the Epipaleolithic Nafutian culture in the region, whose people pioneered the use of wild cereals, which evolved into real farming. The Nafutian period was 12000-10200 BCE, and the so-called â€Å"proto-Neolithic â€Å"is now included in the PPNA between 10200-8800 BCE.As the Nafutians had become dependent on wild cereal in their diet and a sedentary way of life had begun among them, the climatic changes and associated with the younger dryas are thought to have forced people to have develop farming. There also were weapons made by stones, flint, and other materials. I did not include this in the intro, but the Mesolithic actually falls between the Neolithic and Paleolithic age. Did you know that in the Stone Age you did not have to have a license for anything? If you wanted to go kill a horse, slap somebody, or even throw a rock at somebody you can do it without anybody telling you so.The term Mesolithic was first used to post-Holocene, but pre-agricultural material in Norwest Europe about 10000-50 00 BCE. It is also an applied material in Levant. As you can see the Stone Age had some pretty fun things to do. You can grab a bow and arrow and hunt down a random animal; you can even go horse-back riding, or even play with fire, nobody cared what you did. There were no laws. Why heck you could have gotten married at the age of five. I guess I just explained to you that we all can have a good time in the Stone Age even if there was no television.

Abstinence Only Programs Funding The Demolishment Of...

Abstinence Only Programs: Funding the Demolishment of Human Rights in America â€Å"Don’t have sex because you will get pregnant and die!† (Mean Girls). This famous quote said by Coach Carr, the health teacher, in the movie Mean Girls swarms the brains of teenagers all over the world. While this quote is quite extreme and is making a mockery of abstinence only programs, it’s analogous to what teachers across the nation are reciting to brainwash our youth. Abstinence-Until-Marriage programs are implemented in numerous high school and junior high schools across the country. While the title seems promising, â€Å"Mathematica [Policy Research Inc. (on behalf of U. S. Department of Health and Human Services) found that through] evaluation, [there’s] no evidence that abstinence-until-marriage programs increased rates of sexual abstinence† (What the Research Says†¦). Teaching a course that isn’t beneficial is meaningless and merely a waste of time. These curriculums use fear tactics to scare children away from sex, reinforce gender norms, and provide inaccurate medical information. Schools that provide abstinence only programs are denying our youth factual, substantial knowledge and survival skills. Instead, these schools should consider an abstinence-plus program, also known as a safe sex contraception education, for their students. According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 26, â€Å"everyone has the right to education† (United Nations). Thus, everyone has the right to be