“Utopia First!” A Machiavellian Conception of Solidarity in More's Utopia

Moreana ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 55 (Number 209) (1) ◽  
pp. 79-93
Author(s):  
Marie-Claire Phélippeau
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Farm Work ◽  
The World ◽  
Social Difficulties ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Democratic Elections ◽  
Communal Organization

This paper shows how solidarity is one of the founding principles in Thomas More's Utopia (1516). In the fictional republic of Utopia described in Book II, solidarity has a political and a moral function. The principle is at the center of the communal organization of Utopian society, exemplified in a number of practices such as the sharing of farm work, the management of surplus crops, or the democratic elections of the governor and the priests. Not only does solidarity benefit the individual Utopian, but it is a prerequisite to ensure the prosperity of the island of Utopia and its moral preeminence over its neighboring countries. However, a limit to this principle is drawn when the republic of Utopia faces specific social difficulties, and also deals with the rest of the world. In order for the principle of solidarity to function perfectly, it is necessary to apply it exclusively within the island or the republic would be at risk. War is not out of the question then, and compassion does not apply to all human beings. This conception of solidarity, summed up as “Utopia first!,” could be dubbed a Machiavellian strategy, devised to ensure the durability of the republic. We will show how some of the recommendations of Realpolitik made by Machiavelli in The Prince (1532) correspond to the Utopian policy enforced to protect their commonwealth.

Chimeras In Time-Honored Societies

Think India ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 463-466
Author(s):  
TUMMALA. SAI MAMATA
Keyword(s):  
Major Elements ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Life Changes ◽  
Inner Self ◽  
The World ◽  
Nature And Nurture ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Right ◽  
Superstitious Beliefs

A river flows serenely accepting all the miseries and happiness that it comes across its journey. A tree releases oxygen for human beings despite its inner plights. The sun is never tired of its duty and gives sunlight without any interruption. Why are all these elements of nature so tuned to? Education is knowledge. Knowledge comes from learning. Learning happens through experience. Familiarity is the master of life that shapes the individual. Every individual learns from nature. Nature teaches how to sustain, withdraw and advocate the prevailing situations. Some dwell into the deep realities of nature and nurture as ideal human beings. Life is a puzzle. How to solve it is a million dollar question that can never be answered so easily. The perception of life changes from individual to individual making them either physically powerful or feeble. Society is not made of only individuals. Along with individuals it has nature, emotions, spiritual powers and superstitious beliefs which bind them. Among them the most crucial and alarming is the emotions which are interrelated to others. Alone the emotional intelligence is going to guide the life of an individual. For everyone there is an inner self which makes them conscious of their deeds. The guiding force should always force the individual to choose the right path.  Writers are the powerful people who have rightly guided the society through their ingenious pen outs.  The present article is going to focus on how the major elements bound together are dominating the individual’s self through Rabindranath Tagore’s Home and the World (1916)

scholarly journals Reading Habits of Users of Sardar Patel University: A Study

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dr. Shishir H. Mandalia
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Reading Habits ◽  
Knowledge And Skills ◽  
Continued Education ◽  
New Knowledge ◽  
The World ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The University

Reading plays a vital role in life of a human. Reading provides experience through which the individual may expand his horizons of knowledge, identify, extend and intensify his interest and gains deeper understanding of himself, of other human beings and of the world. The study carried out to assess the reading habits of user of Sardar Patel University, VallabhVidyanagar, Anand, Gujarat. As a research tool; questionnaire was used for the data collection. Collected data were analyzed and tables were used to present the results of findings. Reading especially is a resource for continued education, for the acquisition of new knowledge and skills, for gaining information through media, especially newspapers, books, radio, television, and the computers. In this article investigator attempts to investigate the reading habits of users of the university.

Plato

Classics ◽  
2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luc Brisson ◽  
Richard Dufour
Keyword(s):  
Political Life ◽  
The Political ◽  
Military Force ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Political Role ◽  
Material Growth ◽  
The World ◽  
Principal Points ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Intellectual Knowledge

Born at Athens in a family of noble descent, Plato (b. c. 428–427– d. c. 348–347 bce) naturally sought throughout his life to play a political role as councilor or legislator, not only at Athens but also abroad, especially in Sicily. A writer and philosopher, Plato was above all a citizen who, as is attested by the ten books of the Republic and the twelve books of the Laws (which constitute almost half of his work), wished to reform the political life of his city by assigning power not to wealth or to military force, but to knowledge. Against the traditional vision of culture in his time, essentially transmitted by poetry, Plato proposed a new system of education based on knowledge, in which mathematics plays an important role, and which culminates in the contemplation of true realities and of the Good. Plato’s life is therefore inseparable from his thought. Fairly early, a dogmatism (the term being taken in the minimal sense of the exposition of a doctrine) developed, with the appearance of a doctrine whose principal points became more specific over time. This doctrine is characterized by a twofold reversal. First, the world of things perceived by the senses is a mere image of a set of intelligible forms that represent true reality, for they possess the principle of their existence within themselves. Second, human beings cannot be reduced to their bodies, for their true identity coincides instead with an incorporeal entity, the soul, that accounts for all motion, both material (growth, locomotion, etc.) and spiritual (feelings, sense perceptions, intellectual knowledge, and so on).

scholarly journals Pyotr Chardynin’s The Idiot as a Phenomenon of Creative Reinterpretation of Dostoevsky’s Novel

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 34-42
Author(s):  
Anastasia Ryabokon’
Keyword(s):  
Film Adaptation ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
National Cinema ◽  
Garden Of Eden ◽  
Human Personality ◽  
The World ◽  
The One ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Main Protagonist

The essay explores the artistic and expressive features of the world's first film adaptation of Dostoevsky's novel The Idiot, directed in 1910 by Pyotr Chardynin. The author substantiates the degree of influence of one of the most important philosophical concepts of the novel that of a split in the human personality on Russian national consciousness at the beginning of the 20th century. The analysis of the figurative system of the film shows that its semantics and the images of its characters were ahead of its time and, therefore, deserve closer critical attention.In the The Idiot the idea of Dostoevsky about a human beings separateness in the world is revealed in the four main characters Prince Myshkin, Parfyon Rogozhin, Nastasya Filippovna and Aglaya who are not complete, full-fledged personalities but separate components of a harmonious human personality. These characters, like puzzle pieces, possess mutually complementary qualities. Thus, Prince Myshkin, the bearer of the highest spirituality, is contrasted with the earthly and passionate Rogozhin. And the images of Nastasya Filippovna and Aglaya are connected, respectively, with the images of Heavenly Love and Earthly Love. If the characters of the novel could unite with each other in love and harmony, the world would get a complete harmonious person, like the one created by God for the Garden of Eden. However, such a merger seems impossible within the limits of earthly existence. In Dostoevsky's novel the individual parts of the soul could not unite into a harmonious whole. Egoism, passion, pride and imperfection of human nature do allow the protagonists to unite and lead them towards personal disintegration.In Russian national cinema, Dostoevskys idea of human beings separateness undergoes a number of transformations. The changes introduced by Pyotr Chardynin into the film adaptation of the novel mostly relate to the image of the films main protagonist Nastasya Filippovna, whom the filmmaker associates with a dying Russia. Chardynin also transforms other protagonists. Prince Myshkin is the only carrier of the highest spirituality, while Nastasya Filippovna, Aglaya and Rogozhin are earthly and passionate. At the end of the film, Nastasya Filippovnas murderer Rogozhin, dressed in a Russian folk costume, sobs at the bedside of the dead tsarina, while heavenly prince Myshkin who was not accepted by her in her lifetime, comforts the sinner. Chardynins film transforms the idea of a split in the human personality into the idea of the Russian separateness from God, the internal split within the Russian world and, as a consequence, that worlds inevitable death.

scholarly journals قتل اور خودکشی ،اسلام اور بدھ مت :تقابلی مطالعہ

rahatulquloob ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 189-197
Author(s):  
Muhammad Sulaiman Nasir ◽  
Prof. Dr. Muhammad Abdullah
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Comparative Study ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
The Core ◽  
The World ◽  
Core Issue ◽  
The Right ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Present World

The sanctity of human life is the core issue in almost all religions of the world. In the present world scenario, human beings are suffering a lot. Human life is at risk. The most important and precious figure in society is human beings as it is the greatest creature of Almighty Allah. Buddhism and Islam both emphasize the sanctity of human life. The stress laid by the teaching of Islam on the sanctity and respect of human life can be understood by the fact that Islam does not allow the killing of people who are not physically involved in the war. Islam also against suicide. Similarly, the teaching of Buddha has emphasized the holiness and sanctity of human life. According to the philosophy of non-violence in Buddhism (Ahimsa), Killing of human beings is far from Buddhist’s creed even they are against the killing of insects. In Buddhism, “The nonviolence is one of the five precepts of Dhamma, which form the right action, right views and right-thinking on Eightfold Path. This article focuses on the teaching of Buddhism and Islam, a comparative study regarding killing and suicide as these topics are closely related to the sanctity of human life.

The German Language in the International Cultural Space

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3-2) ◽  
pp. 314-336
Author(s):  
Galina Vasilyeva ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Dynamics ◽  
Practical Experience ◽  
German Language ◽  
Federal Republic Of Germany ◽  
Historical Aspect ◽  
Federal States ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
The World ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Individual

The author considers the factors, which determine interest to the German language in different regions of the world. The object of research is the role of the German language in international sociocultural contacts and the humanitarian sphere development, in the world educational space formation. The subject matter is practical experience of mastering the German language, linguistic achievements and problems of specific nations in this area. The author considers practical application of the German language in the language policy of several countries, studies intercultural interaction difficulties, analyses international research projects in ethno-social dynamics. The goal of the research determined the tasks: to present a socio-anthropological approach to the consideration of the language situation in the countries, to comment on the institutional aspects of the German language dissemination, to substantiate the multilingualism significance as a tool of intercultural education. The chronological framework of the study covers the first decades of the XXI century. At the same time, if we consider the problem in a historical aspect, we will inevitably turn to the earlier periods. A systematic approach allows us to establish a logical relationship and interdependence of these periods, traces changes in the status of the official language in Germany. This issue is not only linguistic, but also historical and cultural. The author analyzes the problems of the ethnolinguistic situation associated with the study of the German language in a number of countries: among them, the United Kingdom, in which other languages (but English) have a lesser degree of social prestige and are being squeezed out of the language space. The French Republic, along with the Federal Republic of Germany, as the leader of Europe, has always been on the axis of European construction. The country continues the policy of promoting internationalization of the French language. At the same time, Francophonie is a movement for cultural diversity. The Kingdom of Belgium and the Swiss Confederation are related to Germany in institutional architecture. It is necessary to study the situation in these ethnically heterogeneous and multilingual federal states, where German is one of the official languages. The author appeals to the history of Spain and the Republic of Korea because the citizens of these countries participated in the reconstruction of Germany after the Second World War. Issues related to the individual linguistic rights implementation determine national and political processes, educational and cultural policies. Learning several languages forms the idea that a multilingual society is the standard model of communication.

What he may seem to the world: Isaac Newton's autograph book epigrams

2020 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
pp. 409-452
Author(s):  
George Gömöri ◽  
Stephen D. Snobelen
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Personal Life ◽  
Social Utility ◽  
Republic Of Letters ◽  
The World ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Scholarly Projects

This paper identifies, describes and analyses Isaac Newton's known inscriptions in alba amicorum (autograph books). It begins with an introduction to the early modern autograph book and its social utility for travelling students. Each Newton inscription is contextualized with brief biographies of the individual album owners. The potential reasons for Newton's use of his chosen epigrams are considered, as are possible reflexive dynamics between him and the album owners that may have helped to inform these choices. An allied consideration is the degree to which Newton's epigrams relate to scholarly projects with which he was engaged when he penned them. A special feature is the identification of the owner of an album from which a Newton inscription was stolen more than half a century ago. This study offers a glimpse of Newton's intellectual reputation across several decades, both on the Continent and in his native England. More broadly, this paper makes contributions to our understanding of Newton's personal life and the strategic use of alba amicorum in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries within the Republic of Letters.

scholarly journals HANNAH ARENDT’S “POLITICAL BEINGS” AS A REPRESENTATION OF POLITICAL EXISTENTIALISM FOR HUMANS EXISTING IN THE WORLD

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrian Ray Lienardy ◽  
Rendi Lustanto ◽  
Ganang Dwi Kartika
Keyword(s):  
Political Systems ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Political Struggle ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
The Public ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The World ◽  
Political Idea ◽  
Vita Activa ◽  
The Individual

Discussions in politics often focus on a broad range of political systems or political movements. This focus leads to the efforts to direct the public to the conversation of "Politics" in the sense of a system and it overlooks the fact that politics is built on the crystallization of ideas from individuals who interpret the condition of togetherness in the world. The interpretation is very important because it is the starting point for political discourse to grow and develop, which is often referred to as individual’s "political" struggle. The struggle involves a conversation between me and myself which is later embodied into an individual political idea. The effort to uncover the importance of "politics" within the framework of individual struggle becomes very important when the discourse provided by "Politics" reaches an impasse. This condition gives an impact on the quality of "Politics" that can cause a significant decline, that is "Politics" is not interpreted to achieve justice but only as a means of pursuing mere interests. This study applies qualitative methods based on theoretical and literary studies on Hannah Arendt’s existentialism, namely Vita Activa theory. The expected result of this study is to reconstruct the political concepts on the individual level that are necessary for human beings to be in the world.

scholarly journals Learning in a designed world

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger Säljö
Keyword(s):  
Decisive Role ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Writing Systems ◽  
External Resources ◽  
The World ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Way

See RECORDING Human beings have an incredible talent for learning and for converting the insights they make into technologies. Some of these technologies (hammers, knives, bicycles etc.) transform our bodily capacities; they change the way we interact with the world when we repair an object or move between places. Other technologies (numbers, writing systems, texts, calculators) transform our capacities to think, remember, solve problems and communicate with fellow human beings. These symbolic technologies, as the evolutionary psychologist Merlin Donald calls them, play a decisive role for our capacity to learn, to preserve information and, more generally, to think at the individual as well as collective level. And these technologies are restless, they change continuously. In a designed world, our intellectual capacities are dependent on our abilities to productively utilize such external resources in what we do. What we know is no longer exclusively beneath the skin or between our ears.

scholarly journals Considerações a partir do filme “O Capital” sobre a financeirização do mundo e da vida / Considerations from “The Capital” film: on the financing of the world and life

Profanações ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 45
Author(s):  
Sandro Luiz Bazzanella ◽  
Danielly Borguezan
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Social Imaginary ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Essential Condition ◽  
The World ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Vital Forces

O presente artigo é resultado da análise do filme “O Capital” (Le Capitale), lançado em 4 de outubro de 2013 (1h53min). Direção: Costa-Gavras. Elenco: Gad Elmaleh, Gabriel Byrne, Natacha Régnier; Gêneros: Drama, Suspense. Nacionalidade: França. A referida obra cinematográfica coloca em debate a financeirização do mundo, das relações sociais e individuais em que a sociedade contemporânea esta envolvida. O crédito que substituiu no imaginário individual e social a ideia de dinheiro, mas que preserva a sua condição “essencial” como aquilo que desperta reações, paixões, desejos mobilizando forças vitais, determinando as expectativas de vida, de futuro dos seres humanos e sociedades, apresenta-se na forma de transcendência. Assim, na condição de transcendência exige culto, sacrifico e, sobretudo crença incondicional em suas condições de efetivação de suas promessas de uma economia da salvação. A financeirização dos espaços e tempos vitais nas quais se movem sociedades e indivíduos demarca o recrudescimento da ação política realizada entre homens com o fim de potencialização do espaço público como lócus por excelência do bem viver, da busca da felicidade. O dogma da financeirização afirma diuturnamente que a felicidade pode ser comprada e, usufruída individualmente basta ter crédito, ter fé no futuro.AbstractThis article is the result of the analysis of the film "The Capital" (Le Capitale), released on October 4, 2013 (1h53min). Direction: Costa-Gavras. Cast: Gad Elmaleh, Gabriel Byrne, Natacha Régnier; Genres: Drama, Thriller. Nationality: France. The aforementioned cinematographic work challenges the financialization of the world, of the social and individual relations in which contemporary society is involved. The credit that replaced the idea of money in the individual and social imaginary, but which preserves its "essential" condition as that which awakens reactions, passions, desires mobilizing vital forces, determining the expectations of life, the future of human beings and societies, Presents itself in the form of transcendence. Thus, in the condition of transcendence requires worship, sacrifice and, above all, unconditional belief in its conditions of realization of its promises of an economy of salvation. The financialisation of spaces and vital times in which societies and individuals move, marks the intensification of the political action carried out among men with the aim of enhancing the public space as the locus par excellence of well-being and the pursuit of happiness. The dogma of financialization affirms day after day that happiness can be bought and, enjoyed individually, it is enough to have credit, to have faith in the future.

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