Gratitude the parent of all virtues

Gratitude the parent of all virtues Everyone indeed has experienced receiving gifts, favors or benefits. How does it feel? Certainly, the common emotion that one feels is the feeling of being thankful or grateful. But on the other hand, one might also feel indebted. Thus, through this study, a deeper understanding will be grasp to understand every part of the emotion gratitude: what is gratitude, how is gratitude experienced, the difference between gratitude and indebtness, its impact to the people and limitations. Gratitude is one common emotion to aid (Gallup, 1998). According to Emmons Crumpler, (2000) it is an emotion evident in all cultures and is a virtue encouraged by all of the major religions of the world. The importance of gratitude has been taught by several world religions (Emmons Crumpler, 2000). But it has been largely neglected in the field of psychological science until the 21st century despite the fact that it is believed by many thinkers in various disciplines from Western social theorists Seneca an d Cicero to Adam Smith and David Hume, to modern social scientists Robert Frank and Robert Trivers, that this emotion is essential for building and preserving social relationships (Bartlett DeSteno, 2006 McCullough, Kimeldorf, Cohen, 2008) and has been marked not only the best, but the parent of all other virtues (Cicero, 1851 p.139). Gratitude in theological aspect is defined as the affirmation of a bond between giver and receiver, which is central to the human divine relationship (Emmons Kneezel, 2005). This means that when one experience gratitude, it signifies that a relationship exists between the benefactor and the receiver. In New Webster Dictionary (2002), it is defined as a feeling of appreciation for a kindness or favor received. Psychologists on the other hand typically define gratitude as a positive emotion (Tsang, 2006). Being a positive emotion means that it encourages people to engage in cognitive and behavioral activities that will build resources that will become useful during threatening, and challenging situations (Fredrickson, 1998, 2001). It has also been acknowledged as a moderately pleasant emotion (Mayer et al., 1991) but it is different from plain happiness since gratitude generally goes with the perception that one has benefited from another persons generosity. Although it is generally a ccepted that expressing gratitude brings great happiness (Gallup, 1998). Experiencing Gratitude Gratitude as described by Emmons and Crumpler (2000) is an emotional response to a gift (p. 56), adding that it is an interpersonal emotion that is felt not toward oneself but toward other people. But gratitude does not solely occur after a gift is given, as various researches have shown, the benefactor, the recipient and the gifts affect such experience. In Heiders theory of gratitude, it states that the beneficiary would encounter less gratitude in situations where the benefactor would obliged the beneficiary to be grateful, because the beneficiary prefers to infer their gratitude to be self-motivated, rather than controlled by external sources (Watkins et al., 2006). Hence, if a return favor is expected, a feeling of gratefulness declines. Individuals also experience gratitude when they see a benefit was caused by the efforts of others (Weiner, Russell, Lerman, 1979; Zaieski, 1988), a nd also when they are able to recognize appropriately the effort of others as the cause of another persons gratitude (Weiner et al., 1979). On the other hand, providing intentionally valued benefits, as perceived by the recipients, create greater feelings of gratitude (Tsang, 2007). Similar to it, Emmons and McCullough, (2003) stressed on the personal benefit received by the individual that was not deserved or earned, but because of the good intentions of another. These benefits whether intentionally provided, costly to the benefactor, and or valuable to the recipient helped increase the amount of gratitude one may experience (Tesser, Gatewood, Driver, 1968). Benefits that are seen to be costly to the benefactor bring forth a larger sense of gratefulness, as long as the benefactor does not have a need for personal benefit on the first place (Okamoto Robinson, 1997). Likewise, people are also seen to expect feeling more grateful to friends, associates or acquaintances, and stranger s who benefit them than to genetic relatives (e.g. siblings parents) who provided the same benefit (Bar-Tal, Bar-Zohar, Creenberg, Hermon, 1977). Gratitude versus Indebtness In the beginning of this review, it is stated that obtaining benefits does not always result to gratefulness. Sometimes individuals react negatively, for instance compelled to repay. In the earlier writings of Greenberg, he treated gratitude and indebtness as synonymous (Greenberg, 1980). As such, people often use interchangeably the phrases Im grateful to you (gratitude-related) and I owe you one (obligation- related). However, these two constructs are different and have distinct psychological effects (McCullough, Kimeldorf, Cohen, 2008). Greenberg (1980) defined indebtness as a state of obligation to repay another and is an emotional state of arousal and discomfort (p.4). A study of Watkins, Sheer, Ovnicek, and Kolts (2006) discovered that when benefactors assist them with an obvious expectation of a return favor, individuals felt indebted and obligated, but not grateful. This implies that the greater the recipients gratitude for a benefit, the greater it is for the individual to aid, praise, and be near to their benefactor. On the contrary, the greater the recipients indebtness, the greater it will generate distress and desire to shun away from the benefactor, thus, an important distinction between the two is that indebtness is an emotion of exchange, whereas gratitude is not (Watkins et al., 2006). Furthermore, indebtness is accompanied by negative emotions, whereas gratitude is a positively valenced emotion (Lazarus Lazarus, 1994; Mayer et al., 1991). This is supported by another research study of Watkins et al., (2006) where participants were asked how they would respond to the favors received after reading a scenario on gratitude. They found out that gratitude was strongly associated with gladness while indebtness was significantly correlated with guilt. Another, indebtness has been found to be coupled with self-reported avoidance motivations, where gratitude is associated with prosocial motivations (Gray et al., 2001). This premise will be further elaborated under the impact of gratitude to the people. Also, from Fredricksons broaden and build theory of positive emotions to gratitude, gratitude should have broad and creative thought or action tendencies similar to positive emotions, whereas indebtness should be associated with a more narrowed mentality of reciprocity (Fredrickson, 2004), a moral code stating that (1) people should help those who have helped them, and (2) people should not injure those who have helped them (Gouldner, 1960, p. 171). Taken together, it confirms that gratitude and indebtness are truly two different concepts. Impact of Gratitude Being able to distinguish the difference between gratitude and indebtness, it is good to consider the importance of gratitude to human beings. How it can affect the lives and behaviors of the individuals, both the receiver and the addressee. In field experiments, it revealed that expressions of gratitude can reinforce kidney donation (Bernstein Sim mons, 1974), and volunteering behavior toward people with HIV/AIDS (Bennett, Ross, Sunderland, 1996). By these findings, it indicates that gratitude can create, nurture, and sustain positive social relationships. In another experimental work, Watkins, Grimm, Kolts (2004) conducted a memory recall of grateful persons, and found out that gratitude was positively correlated with a positive autobiographical memory bias. Specifically, grateful individuals tend to recall more positive memories when told to do so and moreover, tend to have more positive memories come to mind even when they are attempting to remember negative events. In addition, Emmons and McCullough (2003) found that first, individuals who were tasked to remember the things they were grateful for, provide a wide variety of emotional benefits such as contentment in life and optimism. Second, these recollections of events assist one in coping with stressful events. By these findings, the tendency to recall positive happen ings would likely enhance ones judgment of their satisfaction with life (Schwartz Clore, 1983; Strack, Shwartz, Gschneidinger, 1985), and promote subjective well-being (Watkins, in press). This is also supported by a three experimental, longitudinal studies that showed that when participants are manipulated into focusing on the good side of their lives for how many weeks, there are considerable improvements on happiness, depression, and even physical health (Emmons McCullough, 2003; Lyubomirsky, Sheldon, Schkade, 2005; Seligman, Steen, Park, Peterson, 2005). Hence, the emotion gratitude improves the current psychological as well as the physical well-being of an individual. As a whole, these studies showed proof to the notion that gratitude helps one to reframe negative emotional memories by decreasing ones aversive impact on them (Watkins, Grimm, Kolts, 2004). Aside from the findings that gratitude enables one to remember positive events in ones life and enhances the individua ls psychological and physical condition, it as well facilitates the persons coping strategies. Wood, Joseph, and Linley (2007) made a study on whether gratitude was linked with distinct coping styles. They discovered that grateful people were more likely to search for emotional and instrumental social support as their means of coping. In addition, grateful people generally used more positive coping strategies that are largely characterized by approaching the problems rather than avoiding them such as self-blame, denial, and substance abuse. For these results, generally gratitude is related to positive coping strategies involving facing the problems instead of withdrawal tendencies. Furthermore, recent research has shown that individuals who habitually experience gratitude engage more frequently in prosocial behavior than do individuals who experience gratitude less often (McCullough, Emmons, Tsang, 2002). According to McCullough et al, (2001) gratitude possesses three psychological features that are significant in processing and responding to prosocial behavior. First, gratitude as a benefit detector. It alerts or signals that one has benefited from anothers benevolent actions. Tsang (2006a) discovered that participants felt more grateful toward benefactors who lend them a hand out of kindness rather than self-serving motives. Second, gratitude acts as a motivator of prosocial behavior. It motivates an individual to behave in a benevolent and prosocial way after receiving benefits. Modern research has confirmed this from Bartlett and DeSteno (2006) when they found that grateful participants tend to exert more effort in helping their benefactor on an unrelated task (e.g. answering a cognitively boring survey) compared to the nongrateful participants. Furthermore, a study done by Tsang (2006b) compared the likelihood of gratefulness to benefits given intentionally and by chance alone. It was found that not only people felt more grateful when they received the benefits that were intentionally given by their partner, but were also more likely to act openhandedly for their partner in response, than those people who received the benefits by chance. Gratitude may motivate prosocial behavior by influencing the psychological states that support generosity and cooperation. In simpler terms, gratitude leads an individual to give other people a credit for their accomplishments (McCullough, Kimeldorf, Cohen, 2008). Third, gratitude plays the role of a moral reinforcer. Expressing gratitude to a benefactor such as saying thanks functions as a social reward (Polak, Michael, McCullough, 2006) and therefore increase the probability that benefactors will act prosocially once more in the future (McCullough et al., 2001), just as showing ingratitude can instill anger and resentment in benefactors and inhibit future acts of kindness (Buno McCullough, 2006). McCullough and colleagues (2001) concluded that benefactors who were given appreciation or being thanked were willing to perform more and work harder than were the benefactors who were not thanked, when future opportunities take place. In other words, expressing gratitude acknowledges the benefactors benevolent act and thus, may encourage the benefactor to do similar deed when future events come. Limitations Research on gratitude has been recently growing (Emmons, 2004). Many of these studies make use of recall methodology or self-report measures, and gratitude scenarios. Utilizing such methods has some drawbacks. Taking first into account the recall methodology, there is a likelihood that participants would possibly have altered or reconstructed their memories and thus, elicit either a genuine or fake gratitude. Other limitation also is that of a positive memory bias. Asking participants to recollect both positive and negative events in their life does not necessarily show that the participants would exhibit a similar bias if not asked to do so (Watkins, Grimm, Kolts, 2004). In other words, do grateful people more likely to count their blessings even if not told to do so? And does the experience of gratitude plays a role in remembering positive happenings or does recalling of positive happenings elicit gratefulness? Further limitation also is utilizing gratitude scenarios. Gratitude scenarios do not essentially stimulate grateful emotions. Moreover, participants may respond basing on their personal theories in gratitude (Weinar et al., 1979) than stating their authentic grateful emotions. In simpler terms, scenario method addresses on the cognition of the individuals rather than on the affective state. Overall, these methods have potentially low psychological realism and tend to elicit low cost responses (Hegtvedt, 1990). Additionally, the genders of the participants have an effect on the studies too. In a study of Kashdan et al, (2009) on gender differences in gratitude, they assessed whether men comprehend and respond to gratitude differently than women. They found out that men view gratitude as more challenging, anxiety provoking, and burdensome; and women possess greater willingness to openly express emotions and view this as an effective regulatory act. Therefore, as much as possible future research on gratitude must have an equal number of male and female respondents. Finally, most experiments population is culturally limited. The results obtained on gratitude may perhaps not extend to the people from different cultures. Conclusion As noted by Seligman (1998)Sadly, while plumbing the depths of what is worst in life, psychology has lost its connection to the positive side of life- the knowledge about what makes human life most worth living, most fulfilling, most enjoyable, and most productive (p.4). Therefore, positive emotional states deserve attention because positive states are perceived as essential for a fulfilled life. Thus, psychological research on gratitude has evoked that gratitude holds one of the main correlations with well-being, of almost any personality characteristic (Park, Peterson, Seligman, 2004). Moreover, research exploring on the parent of all virtues has progressively revealed the power of gratitude in drawing out positive results to individuals and benefactors. Finally, taking the words from Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1967): In ordinary life, we hardly realize that we receive a great deal more than we give, and that it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich. Hence, gratitude is indisputably the parent of all virtues.

Absence Of The Father Figure

Absence Of The Father Figure In a play that is very well written by a famous and talented writer, the absence of a father from a middle class family shows a sever effect on the children. Thomas Lanier Williams known as Tennessee Williams was the writer of a play titled The Glass Menagerie. Mr. Williams often saw his parents engaged in violent argument and how it frightened his sister Rose. His father who was a shoe sales man forced him out of college to work for the shoe company, but later in life he returned to college and won an essay contest. Tennessee Decided to become a play writer after watching a production of Henrik Isbens named Ghosts. In his lifetime he won several awards for his writing including 2 times the Pulitzer Prize. He suffered from deprecation in the last ten years of his life after losing his loved one to cancer. Mr. Williams battled alcohol and prescription drug addiction and ended his life chocking to death on a bottle cap in his New York City residence. In his play the Glass Menagerie he clearly pictured a lower middle class family with a crippled daughter, a mother who normally brags about her glorious days, a father who had left leaving behind not much but a bizarre massage and a brother who resented all of that and want to go and follow his dreams. First, the play takes place in the Wingfields apartment across an ally from a ball room. It is narrated by Tom who is also the son of Amanda, the mother, and the brother of Laura, the daughter. Amanda is a single mother trying to raise her children under a harsh financial condition. Frequently, she talks about her old days and how she was charming and wanted by too many Gentleman callers. Tom is the son who is obligated to let go of his dreams and work in a warehouse to support his family, but he cant just forget his passion for adventure, so he relive it by watch movies and imaging himself to be the main character. Laura, Amandas daughter, is a very shy young girl who is also crippled. She confines herself to her glass collection which is so fragile to hide away from the real world. Many critics consider her to be the main character of the play because of her ideal role as well as the play name. Jim OConnor who is Toms work mate and used to be Lauras class mate. He was invited to di ner by Tom to be a Gentleman caller to Laura, but he is committed to another person. Mr. Wingfield, which is represented by a Hugh portrait in the room, he is absent and no one knows where he is, and the only thing his family knows about his departure is that he left a massage saying hello and good bye. Second, the play is a classic about a single mother devoted to her children trying to raise them under a very harsh financial condition remembering her glory days and denying the fact that her daughter is handicapped. Amanda the mother wants the best for her daughter Laura. She wants her to marry a respectable Catholic man who has a good job and not a drunkard. Amanda asked her son Tom to bring a friend from work to be the gentleman caller for her daughter. Tom is son who works in a warehouse to support his mother and sister, he does not only hate the being a warehouse worker he dreams about leaving the house to follow his desire for adventure. Laura who is disabled and lacks self confidence, she hides behind a glass collection from the real world. Laura sees her disability as something that very shameful. She dropped out of college because of her low self steam, and finally a memory of a selfish father who left his family struggling to survive. Third, the writer used so many techniques which made the play exciting and very attractive to the audience. One of many was the symbolizations in which the writer used an object to reflect on the characters personality or feeling. In the Glass Menagerie, such methodology was used. Tom used to go out for smoke on the fire escape every time he gets upset of angered by his mother. Although the fire escape was just a place, the writer used to symbolize Toms desire to escape and leave this life style behind him. The glass collection itself symbolizes the fragility of Laura. Finally, the play is a very well written and structured in which the writer emphasize the role of each family member and their effect on the rest of the family. Thinking about the play, the idea of a mother that is abandoned by her husband to care for her children without much resources is well exploited. The absence of the father had lest undeniable effect on the whole family. The mother had to work hard and take on the role of the father too to raise her children. The daughter lacked self confidence and isolated herself from the outside world. The son was unable to go after his dreams for a while having to support his mother and sister ding what he hated. A portrait of father shows a missing part of that family.

Free Essay: Use of Symbols and Symbolism in Three Green Windows :: Three Green Windows

Use of Symbolism in Three Green Windows Superficially, Anne Sexton's poem Three Green Windows is an account of an old woman daydreaming an the verge of sleep. Upon looking deeper the reader realizes, through the use of general symbolism, the author portrayed the daydreams about a better life by a middle-aged woman, recalling the events of her past, and picturing what her future will be like. The order of the stanzas followed the order of present, past, then future. The organization made the shoreline of the woman falling asleep more realistic. At first, the woman described her present situation: falling asleep while realizing her life was wasting away: "I have forgotten that I grow middle-aged" (line 6). The narrator, (the old woman), then went on to describe the simile of how she felt she looked in her present aging state. "I see three wet gargoyles covered with birds" (lines 10). The "gargoyles" symbolize how the woman felt her looks resembled; the ugly gargoyle covered with birds somewhat represents the woman's feeling of ugly wrinkles and loss of beauty with age. The last line which mentioned the skins of the gargoyles, backs up these views about how the gargoyles covered with birds represents the woman's face growing ugly and wrinkled with her age, "Their skins shine in the sun like leather" (line 11). Throughout the first stanza the narrator began to notice things which reminded her of her past and future. The second stanza moves into the woman recalling her past. The stanza begins with the simile describing the woman to be "as light as a sponge" (line 12) symbolizing her small state as a child in her past. In lines 14&15; this symbolism was prevalent, as the woman described her mother: "She is my mother. She will tell me a story and keep me asleep." The childhood innocence which the woman seemed to remember also obviously symbolized through the objects which she discussed. "I see leaves- leaves that are washed and innocent, leaves that never knew a cellar, born in their own green blood like the hands of mermaids" (lines 17-21). The leaves seemed to symbolize her childhood innocence, and obviously they also showed how the innocence was lost with her growing older. The narrator's future was portrayed through the use of symbolism in the third stanza. The reader is able to gather a feeling of being in heaven.

Fraud :: essays research papers

FRAUD MANY OF MY FRIENDS and acquaintances are still reluctant to use their credit-card numbers on the Internet, even to buy from well-known merchants over secure connections, and even when their credit-card issuers offer full protection against fraudulent charges. This side of the Internet fraud problem has received much more attention than the other side: that Internet merchants have no really effective way to protect themselves against credit-card fraud. Standard credit-card processing software will give the merchant an approval if the card account is valid, and has enough open credit to cover the sale. For cards issued by U.S. banks, there is an additional security feature called Address Verification System, or AVS. This compares the billing address associated with the card with the one entered by the merchant. The system works fairly well for goods shipped to billing addresses in the U.S. But there are two major gaps in protection. First, and most seriously, there is no AVS for cards issued by foreign banks. In other words, there is no way for a merchant to use the standard credit-card processing system to guarantee that a foreign credit-card transaction is valid. This forces them to use heuristic, and sometimes arbitrary, measures for fraud screening. My company, for example, won't fulfill orders from Romania, having been burned a few times too many. Customers with hotmail or other free, Web-based e-mail accounts have a point or two against them. Express shipping, ordering many items, and ordering the latest games (instead of reference or educational software) all reduce the likelihood that we'll accept the order. The case is similar for U.S. cards when the goods are shipped to an address other than the card's billing address. If we guess wrong and ship an order that turns out to be fraudulent - we usually find out months later - we get a "chargeback," meaning that the amount we received for the order is taken back from us. If we guess wrong the other way, refusing to ship a legitimate order, we risk alienating potential customers. My company manages to keep its chargbacks very low, but it's frustrating to be in this situation where there is no way to avoid doing the wrong thing from time to time. There are commercial fraud-screening services that filter credit-card transactions automatically, applying these and other checks, but they are not perfect. We have had limited success referring fraudulent transactions to collection agencies.

Samuel Slater :: essays research papers

Description Son of a yeoman farmer, Samuel Slater was born in Belper, Derbyshire, England on June 9, 1768. He become involved in the textile industry at the age of 14 when he was apprenticed to Jedediah Strutt, a partner of Richard Arkwright and the owner of one of the first cotton mills in Belper. Slater worked for Strutt for eight years and rose to become superintendent of Strutt's mill. It was in this capacity that he gained a comprehensive understanding of Arkwright's machines. Believing that textile industry in England had reached its peak; Slater immigrated secretly to America in 1789 in hopes of making his fortune in America's infant textile industry. While others with textile manufacturing experience had emigrated before him, Slater was the first who knew how to build as well as operate textile machines. Slater, with funding from Providence investors and assistance from skilled local artisans, built the first successful water powered textile mill in Pawtucket in 1793. By the time other firms entered the industry, Slater's organizational methods had become the model for his successors in the Blackstone River Valley. Later known as the Rhode Island System, it began when Slater enlisted entire families, including children, to work in his mills. These families often lived in company owned housing located near the mills, shopped at the company stores and attended company schools and churches. While not big enough to support the large mills which became common in Massachusetts, the Blackstone River's steep drop and numerous falls provided ideal conditions for the development of small, rural textile mills around which mill villages developed. One of the earliest of these mill villages was Slatersville. Located on the Branch River in present day North Smithfield, Rhode Island, Slatersville was built by Samuel Slater and his brother John in 1803. By 1807, the village included the Slatersville Mill, the largest and most modern industrial building of its day, and two tenement houses for workers, the owner's house and the company store. In the early twentieth century, industrialist and preservationist Henry P. Kendall took a personal interest in the village and initiated many of the improvement projects, which give the village its traditional New England Charm. Impact The system of child labor in Rhode Island mills began with Rhode Island's first textile mill - the Slater Mill. Samuel Slater's first employees were all children from seven to twelve years of age.

Conducting Scholarly Research Essay

Conducting Scholarly Research The following tutorials and information are mandatory, though no assignment is required to be submitted. The skills developed in these tutorials will be used throughout the nursing program. Evaluating the resources you use One of the major challenges today, with the sheer amount of information available at your fingertips via the Web, is determining the reliability of the information presented. It can be quite difficult to determine the quality, authenticity, and authority of the information you encounter. However, there are a number of tools and skills at your disposal that help to determine if the information you find is trustworthy and of academic quality. Watch the Evaluating Websites tutorial to learn more about how to determine the quality of information found on the Web. Review the tutorial: â€Å"Evaluating Websites,† located at http://tutorials.gcumedia.com/evaluatingWebTutorial/vp02.swf What makes a resource scholarly? Throughout your courses at GCU you will be encouraged to use scholarly resources to support your assignments and discussion questions. But what is a scholarly source? Simply put, a scholarly source is a resource or research created, published, and or written by scholars and professionals in a specific discipline. In addition, a scholarly source should have undergone rigorous fact checking and peer review to ensure the research and information presented is of strong academic quality. The bulk of scholarly resources can be found in books and academic and/or professional journals. A large majority of these are research based. A scholar or professional may publish articles in other resources, such as in magazines, newspapers, and even Web sites and blogs. However, these sources do not go through the rigorous fact checking that is expected from scholarly journals. This rigorous fact checking is called peer review. When a scholar or professional submits their article to be published the journal will send the article to another expert in the field to review the work. The reviewer will look to see that the quality is high, the research sound, and the  conclusions in line with the work presented. If it is approved, it will then be published in the journal. This process gives students like you the added confidence in the resource being used. How to find Scholarly Research The Web is filled with information and resources. It is possible to find scholarly articles and research on the Web. However, most will ask that you pay a fee to read the article. The GCU library has subscribed to a number of the journals so that you do not need to pay to read the research. These journals and articles are contained in collections called Databases. Some are multidisciplinary, but most are specific to a subject area. For instance, in nursing, the strongest databases include CINAHL, OVID, and the ProQuest Nursing & Allied Health Source. These can be found on the Nursing subject page in the GCU library. Watch the â€Å"GCU Library Walk Through Tutorial† to learn how to access the library and its vast resources. The â€Å"GCU Library Walk Through Tutorial† is located at http://tutorials.gcumedia.com/libraryWalkThrough/vp02.swf Watch the CINAHL Tutorial to learn more about how to specifically use this nursing specific database. Pay special attention to the section discussing subject headings. Learning to use tools like these will help you design effective search strategies and significantly reduce the time and frustration that comes with research. The CINAHL Tutorial is located at http://tutorials.gcumedia.com/CINAHLTutorial/vp02.swf The GCU library has a number of Librarians and staffed trained specifically to assist you with your research. Please contact them if you have questions or concerns with finding information. They can help walk you through the technical aspects of using a database and assist in developing search strategies that will enable you to find the information you need. Call them at 800.800.9776 ext. 6396641 or email them at using the form at http://library.gcu.edu/AskALibrarian Scholarly Writing Writing will be a large part of the work expected in this program. Scholarly writing can often be intimidating, but there are a number of resources GCU has provided to ease this strain and help you learn to write good scholarly papers. A key to scholarly writing is using evidence to support your arguments. The skills you learn as a researcher will aid you in your writing. The purpose of education is to build your knowledge and the purpose of academia is to contribute to and build the knowledge of the culture as a whole. By taking the research and writings of others and evaluating and adding it as essential pieces of your own research, you then move the knowledge of both yourself and the community to the next step. To enable this process, it is essential to cite where the information is found that is used in your papers. This is why scholars use citation styles, such as APA, to standardize how this is done and allow others to easily follow from where the information has come. This is, of course, in addition to the ethical reasons that argue that one should be acknowledged for the work that is done. Watch the tutorials below to learn more about scholarly writing and what resources are available to you. The Writing Center, located in the Student Success Center Writing in APA Tutorial http://tutorials.gcumedia.com/mediaElement/apa-6th-edition-tutorial/apa-6th-edition-tutorial-v1.1.html Plagiarism Tutorial http://tutorials.gcumedia.com/plagiarismVideo/vp02.swf LoudCloud Tutorial http://tutorials.gcumedia.com/studentWTCTutorial/vp02.swf The Writing Process Tutorial http://tutorials.gcumedia.com/writingProcessTutorial/vp02.swf The Center for Learning Advancement has a number of staff and tutors available to assist you in your academic writing. In addition they have a number of resources available at the click of a button. Find out more at

On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense

1. IntroductionIn the following I will consider Nietzsche’s essay ‘On truth and Lies in a nonmoral sense’.   First I will look at a small section of this to work out his views on language, then I will examine the whole of the essay in order to consider his use of metaphor, metonymy and anthropomorphisms in detail. This examination will lead, by way of a consideration of the ways in which he uses metaphor and other devices, into a consideration of his arguments regarding the nature of language. I will put forward the view that his interpretation of the nature of language undermines itself as it seeks to put itself forward as a truth while denying that truth exists as such.2. Truth and LanguageFirst, I consider the passage which starts â€Å"What then is truth†.   In this passage, Nietzsche wants to convey the flexible and changing quality of language.   The statements which we take as truth, straightforward and easy to understand, were in fact original ly more akin to poetry in their relationship with how things really are. Language which was originally used in a metaphoric, metonymic or anthropomorphic way has lost the vital force of the original statements, the original power of the symbolic use of language has become lost and only a shell remains.Over time the non-literal original sense has become literal so we take the words as a straightforwardly true or false statement.  Ã‚   In the original use of language, people could understand that the terms were not meant literally but a rich and evocative picture of how things are. This richness has become lost and we are left only with the empty structural force of the language, which we interpret as simple truth.This is my overall understanding of this paragraph. However it is difficult to paraphrase accurately, due to the richness of the language Nietzsche uses. We could in fact say that his contention that â€Å"truths are illusions which we have forgotten are illusions† is couched in terms which are in themselves heavily metaphorical, rather than the propositions which would be easy to paraphrase.Truth, in the paragraph in question, is ‘a movable host’, an ‘illusion’, something which is ‘drained of sensuous force’ and a ‘coin’.   The associations of these are rich, but not necessarily reconcilable. A coin, for instance, is not an illusion as it is an everyday part of economic exchange.   Therefore, the most important facet of Nietzsche’s argument would seem to be that it is not a conventional argument; rather he uses poetry and metaphor to demonstrate the nature or language, rather than explain it in a step by step way.I now turn to the larger essay of which this quotation is a part.   There are a host of metaphors, metonymies and anthropomorphisms in it[1], and as pointed out in the question it is easy to overlook these.  Ã‚   I will pick out a few of these to discuss why it is eas y to overlook them.   Part of the reason would seem to be that the text is simply so dense with them. In some sentences,   several of these devices being crammed into it. Take, for example, the first few sentences (1).   â€Å"World history† is described as â€Å"arrogant and mendacious†; an anthropomorphic device ascribing human characteristics to an abstract notion.Nature, likewise, is said to â€Å"draw a few breaths† which combines anthropomorphism with the metaphor of taking a while to pause.   Later in the same paragraph, nature is said to â€Å"swell up like a balloon† which again combines metaphor and anthropomorphism.   As well as the denseness with which these devices are packed, it is also the case that a more obvious device masks one in the same sentence which is less flamboyant.   For example, in the sentence quoted immediately above, nature is also described as â€Å"reprehensibleâ€Å": a quality which properly speaking should really be ascribed to humans only. This less noticeable anthropomorphism somehow comes across as a literal statement. I suspect this is part of Nietzsche’s intention, as it shows the way in which language can slip from being thoroughly poetic to less obviously so.The structure of his essay works to underline this. Passages of a less metaphorical or metonymic nature occur in between passages where the use of these devices, together with anthropomorphism, is dense.  Ã‚   For example, Nietzsche discusses (4) how metaphor is involved in every step of verbalization and conceptualization from sense perception to abstract terms. This discussion is couched in reasonably straightforward language without obvious use of metaphor and the like.Passages such as these are, however, set against ones in which the language is dense with poetic devices, where, as Nietzsche says there is â€Å"a moveable host of metaphors, metonymies, and anthropomorphisms† (5).  Ã‚   Such poetic pas sages require a different type of reading, one in which we are forced to recognize language as the dense and image-packed structure Nietzsche would have us believe it is in its entirety. In other words, I would contend that the mixing of metaphorical passages with more ’straightforward’ ones is a device intended to remind us of the inherently metaphorical nature of all words.Another way in which Nietzsche uses the devices reinforces the above. The metaphorical, metonymical and anthropomorphic passages provide a vivid and strong illustration of his points in the more straightforward sections. For example, he talks about man’s need for deception (2) â€Å"a continuous fluttering around the solitary flame of vanity†. The visual image thus constructed powerfully reiterates the later points he makes about the nature of truth and the value it plays for mankind.  Ã‚   He appeals, as it were, to both our intellect and our senses.Section two of the essay is rich    in unusual use of metaphor and other devices.   Perhaps the most dense passage occurs at the end, where Nietzsche talks about intuitive (as opposed to rational) man.   He piles device upon device to reiterate the way he portays intuitive man. He is said to â€Å"reap† â€Å"a harvest† from his intuition, but Nietzsche takes the unusual step of elaborating this metaphor in another direction, for what man reaps is â€Å"continually inflowing illumination†, a metaphor one would associate with a river, not a harvest.I believe Nietzsche compounds metaphors in this way in order to demonstrate that the sense of what he is saying is not straightforward but has depths and resonates in different directions. It is also unusual that these two metaphors hide another, at the beginning of the sentence, where man is said to be â€Å"standing in the midst of a culture†.   Here one could almost overlook the metaphoric nature of the expression, as it is close to a common-sense expression. I’d suggest that here Nietzsche is using the more unusual figures of speech as a way of alerting   us to the metaphorical nature of all expression, including cases like this where the metaphor has almost passed into ordinary use.Another remarkable passage starts section two. Here the scientist is described as building his â€Å"hut†, which is equated with his understanding of the world. The imagery here is particularly rich and evocative, drawing up a visual image of a towering structure.   It would seem that Nietzsche uses such particularly visual imagery to introduce his discussion of dreams, for the words evoke images akin to dreaming consciousness.A final point I would make about the use of metaphorical devices centers on his use of different metaphors (in this case with an animal theme) to reinforce his points.   For example, when talking about the development of conceptualization, he compares it to both building upon a spider†™s web and to a bee’s building with wax (7).   Earlier in the same passage he talks of this conceptualization in the context of the Roman gods.  Ã‚   Because he repeats metaphors taken from levels ‘above’ and ‘below’ that of man, it is as if he is creating an over-metaphor which draws attention to man’s nature and its distinctness from the animal kingdom and that of the gods, which in turn serves to reinforce his notion of the subjectivity of language and perception.I now turn to the general points made about language in the essay as a whole. Firstly, I will give an overview of the essay itself before turning to a critique of Nietzsche’s points.   The essay divides into two parts, and the tone of each is slightly different. The first contains more argument of a philosophical nature, although in the context of rhetorical passages, whereas the second is more lyrical in tone throughout.   In part one, Nietzche discusses manâ€⠄¢s intellect. We think we are the centre of the universe, and that our knowledge is a special thing, but so do the most lowly members of the animal kingdom.Our nature is inherantly deceptive, not aimed towards truth, however due to social constraints we feel it necessary to embrace truth in order to become part of a social world.   He then turns to the nature of truth, which for Neitzsche is inherantly illusionary and based on metaphor. Looking at the way in which we come to understand the world, this is based not on an actual coherence to things in themselves but an illusion,   even at the most basic perceptual stage.   Likewise concepts and abstractions have no inherant connection to the ‘real’ state of the world.The moral impulse towards truth is nothing more than a Darwinian survival of the fittest.   Man cannot escape the trap of his inherantly metaphorical viewpoint, which is also specific to the human species alone. However, to give ourselves a sense of security, we have to forget the metaphorical nature of understanding and take our experience as an experience of how things really are. Nietzsche concludes part one with a summary of the subjectivity of man’s experience.Part two has a different tone, being more poetical overall.   He starts by dismissing the claims of science to impart general truths which hold for all time. He reiterates that the drive to metaphor is the most important. Dreams are a way in which we can begin to understand the richness of the creative and metaphorical drive for what it is, a drive which is distinct from the scientific, rational one. In this section, Nietzsche seems to be hinting, against the first section, that through dreams and art man can perhaps come to an understanding of the role metaphor plays in language and truth.Nietzsche makes several general assertions about the nature of language in his essay. His foremost point is that language is inherently metaphorical.   As pointed out, h e reiterates this by use of the type of device he believes is a model of language.  Ã‚   This, I think, is the central theme of his essay, and one which, by his use of language, he puts across most subtlety.   However, there seems to be a problem with his view point.   He seems to be taking the viewpoint of someone who can say what is true and what is not.He wants to say that truth as we perceive it is an illusion, but does not explain why we should believe his illusion rather than any other.   He does not merely want to suggest by poetic devices that truth is an illusion, but to argue that this is the case.  Ã‚   He wants to do philosophy, not poetry, and philosophy is concerned with using rational argument to put forward ones own case, and dismiss opposing views.   The problem is that any argument he uses to support his own view also works against this view.I believe Nietzsche’s other points are flawed also.   Man’s nature, he contends, is to deceive hi mself, and this, he postulates, is for a Darwinian end, the survival of the individual (2).  Ã‚  Ã‚   The first instinct of the individual is self-preservation, and hence to deceive. However, social forces come into play; if man wants to exist happily with others he cannot be seen to tell lies, that is, to disagree with the herd.   Therefore the desire for truth comes into play.Truth is useful to society. Man does not desire truth for his own sake, as the philosophers say, rather he â€Å"desires the pleasant, life-preserving consequences of truth† (3).  Ã‚   Nietzsche thus postulates a socially driven theory of truth, where the quest for knowledge is an illusion, and social reality the only reality.   My argument with this would be it fails to explain cases where individuals act in a way which they know will make their position in their social group uncomfortable and unpleasant, and do so because they want to find the truth.Nietzsche talks about the way in which huma ns develop language to argue that metaphor is always present from original sense perceptions (3-4).   He says â€Å"a nerve stimulus is transferred into an image: first metaphorâ€Å" (4).   After this, he says, each subsequent stage is also built upon metaphor. However, I would argue that in order to distinguish a metaphor as such, we need to have a concept of how things really are, in order that we can know when descriptions are metaphorical (that is, not literal).   If, as Nietzsche argues, metaphor exists from the very first act of perception, then how can we make sense of a distinction between metaphor and non-metaphor?There is also, I believe, a confusion in the essay about the status of what Nietzsche proposes. He suggests that man had to erase the understanding of the metaphorical nature of language from his consciousness in order to live with any sense of security, and also that if man could escape from the confines of this prison-like viewpoint, â€Å"his â€Å"s elf-consciousness† would be immediately destroyed† (8).   This suggests that man is permanently trapped in the view of language as a truth bearing vehicle, unable to see things as they really are.This is problematic in two ways. First, that Nietzsche obviously thinks he can stand outside this language trap in order to explain how others are bound by it. Secondly, he seems to suggest at the same time that man can come to the realization that the nature of language and indeed life is other than he believes it to be, which assumes that the prison of language is one that can, and should be overcome.   This confusion seems at least partly to derive from the two sections of the essay, which are different in tone. In the second section he seems to be saying that art is one way in which man can free himself from the confines of language and â€Å"confuse the conceptual categories and cells by bringing forward new transferences, metaphors, and metonymies† (10).3. Concl usionIn the above, I have attempted a brief analysis of Nietzsche’s essay. I have attempted to bring out his central point, that language is essentially metaphorical, and also to look his other discussions of the nature language and truth plays for man.   I have looked at the ways in which he uses metaphor, metonymy and anthropomorphism in different ways, each of which underline his central ideas about language.   I have tried to show that, for me, his arguments although subtle and dense are ultimately not coherent, as he tries to step outside the framework of metaphor to explain how things ‘really are’.I also suggest that although Nietzsche is attempting philosophy, to convince the reader that he has a valid thesis and to present the argument for this, it is difficult to answer his case fully as he uses the resources of a poet as well as a philosopher.   It is not within the brief to use poetry and metaphor to answer Nietzsche, so there’s a sense in which I am unable to answer him on his own terms.[1]   briefly, a metaphor is when one thing is compared to another by saying â€Å"a is b† or similar, for example â€Å"my heart is a fountain†, where b is something which a is not normally literally said to be.   Metonymy is where a feature of something is used as a shorthand for the thing itself. For example, a school child might refer to a particular teacher as ’big nose’.   Finally anthropomorphism is when human characteristics are ascribed to animals: Nietzsche’s use seems also to include the ascription of specifically human traits to an impersonal non-human world.