Rousseau and the General Will †Government (300 Level Course)

Rousseau and the General Will – Government (300 Level Course) Free Online Research Papers Rousseau and the General Will Government (300 Level Course) The general will is defined by Jean Jacque Rousseau as the common good of all of the people that live in the state. While this explanation of general will is vague, Rousseau does in fact delve deeper into a working definition of it by expressing its crucial role in the creation of a strong and fair government. Yet merely defining the term does not give justice to its meaning. One may ask where general will is indeed cultivated, in other words, from where did it come? Also, is it in fact necessary in a society to promote freedom to its people? These questions require a simple analysis of Rousseau’s work, which has had and will continue to have lasting impressions on modern political thought. For Rousseau, the general will is not just important, it is crucial for the existence of a strong and fair government. Though it is defined easily as the good of all, when instituted in the world it becomes much more than that. The general will therefore are the overall welfare of the whole (state) at any given time and the source of all governing laws. And while it pertains to all of the members of the state, that is where it stops, as it does not apply to those living outside of the lines of that society. Interestingly, it is not a tangible thing that can be grasped and unraveled, it is more of an evasive presence that is present always and acknowledged by those living with it and around it. In this way, Rousseau dodges a literal definition of general will. It must then exist more in the readers mind than in a physical sense. These characteristics suit the general will more appropriately. Knowing the meaning of the general will does not explain where the theory was cultivated. While the general will is implemented and adhered to by the government, it never really exists in their hands. It is the citizen’s actions together that create the existence of this will. Rousseau states that virtue is achieved through a combination of general will and particular will, still it seems as if at times the two overlap. Furthermore, it is stated that to will at all a citizen must be free and must will between public liberty and the authority of government. This would mean that the citizen find a happy medium somewhere between total freedom and the restrictions that government places upon their actions. Once the will is established it must be followed for there to be any hope of a popular and legitimate government existing. And in this government, the legislator, who makes the laws, must do so in a way that they reflect benefit to the general will and in any case where th e law may fail, the general will would be consulted for a quick resolution. The best for all in the state is the ultimate goal of the general will be both cultivated and implemented. This leads to the question of whether or not the state needs to adhere to this general will in order to promote freedom. Even after long deliberations no clear answer comes to mind for this perplexing question. It is clear that the general will is dependent on those that are free to create it, but that is not the question at hand. When thinking about promoting freedom, Rousseau clearly states that the general will is always on the side most favorable to the public interest, and it is known that general will exists as a pervasive force and that is a direct product of the individual and their thoughts and contributions to society as a whole. So it can be broken down even further so as to say what if there was no general will, if there is no concern for the good of all, or worse yet, no general good? Not only will the citizens run amok, but also the government could be in a position to impose limitations on its citizens and the state would resemble a dictatorship. Likewise, a situ ation could in fact arise in which the state does adhere to a Rousseauian general will, yet the people are constantly asking themselves to distinguish between good or bad, or even right and wrong. That would be a case in which the general will placed constraints on the people and thus they would not truly be experiencing freedom. Therefore both situations could easily exist and while it may be fair to say that many citizens that enjoy freedom were both assisting and enjoying the general will it does not guarantee freedom. So as no clear-cut answer arises immediately, by creating a scenario it can be deduced that the general will can produce freedom but a state does not have to adhere to the general will in order to assure it. Thus while the general will may have a number of meanings, the reader can interpret it as the common good of all. Not only can it be known as this common good, but also it is the source of laws and when those laws are not effective, the general will acts as the mediator that can settle any differences. The free citizens that have to execute it and place it somewhere between their own personal liberty and the authority of the government that rules them cultivate the will. And ultimately while it may lead to freedom of people a strict adherence to the general will may not automatically result in the enjoyable peace of all those citizens of the state. For that it seems that a balance is needed to create success in the general will. This balance must be somewhere between the private will and the general will of all those that live and work the state. That is what Rousseau meant by his general will. 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Women And Traditional Roles In Girl Interupted. Essays - Free Essays

Women And Traditional Roles In Girl Interupted. Essays - Free Essays Women And Traditional Roles In Girl Interupted. Essay #2 Women and traditional roles in Girl Interrupted Films tell us stories and present us with values and messages about our society and what needs to be changed. In the film Girl, Interrupted, Susannas struggle with self-discovery and her fight to find a place in society illustrates the view that the women who do not fit into traditional roles should be ostracised from mainstream society given that they pose the threat of change. It is clear that women like Susanna, who have little ambition in becoming a carbon copy of their mother, are seen as a threat and therefore classified as crazy. Susanna is clearly misunderstood by her peers as well as the authority figures in her life. She is not a degenerate but a young girl frustrated with her limited options for the future. When Susanna is held after class by her teacher to discuss why she is the only senior not going on to college, she tries to reach out for support from her teacher by explaining that she's not a druggie but she is concerned about ending up like her mother. The teacher does not hear this and claims that there are more options for women today. Susanna is trying to open up and seek some guidance, but the only solution she gets is that she gets is to start acting like everyone else. This scene reveals how secluded and trapped Susanna feels, nobody seems to understand her even her parents don't know what to do with her. The people she is reaching out to, brush off her ambitions of being an artist, as something to do in her spare time, and place social pressure on her to do what is expected. Even her peers expect more from her; at the after-grade party the boy that is trying to pick her up is talking about his scholarship and future, but this does not impress Susanna. He sees this as strange and is willing to believe her when she jokes about joining the Krishna's because she seems to have no plan for the future. This scene demonstrates that Susanna is also faced with peer-pressure. Susanna is not attracted to the status quo; the fact that this guy is basically doing the same thing as everybody else is tiresome and uninviting. Her peers do not accept her because she is unlike them and crazy for having no interest in her future. Being institutionalised at Claymore, Susanna is faced once again with the choice of conforming or being labelled as insane because she is different. The definition of normal is set in stone; according to the institution, any one who does not act or react according to the text book definition is ''crazy. When Susanna is being shipped off to Claymore she gets a Taxi driver who asks her what she did to be going to an asylum. She tries to explain but the only answer she can give is that she is sad, he claims that everybody gets sad. She goes on to say that she smoked a little weed, he says that if thats so then they should put Bob Dylan away, Susanna answers that she is not Bob Dylan. This examines the fact that Susanna doesn't think she is crazy she is merrily a girl who has no choice but to do as they say. She thinks that she is different from the people who surround her, but the world is a bigger place. At Claymore she learns that the more you open up to the doctor the better her chan ces of being released. This is where Susanna has to decide if she should do what is expected or not. Val influences her to ride the system out and not to get trapped in Claymore like Lisa, she tells Susanna that she does not think she is crazy. Val sees Susanna as lost which she is, the fact that at least one authority figure is willing to understand, her encourages Susanna to break free of the system she is trapped under. Closed windows are a running theme throughout the film they symbolise Susannas closed window of opportunity; she can see out them but cannot

Research Ethics in the Human Service Field Paper

Ethics in the Human Service Field - Research Paper Example This paper purports to discuss some of the more important legal and ethical implications. The first ethical requirement of the job is a high motivation on the part of the professional (NOHS, 2009). Since this profession demands a great degree of involvement and self motivation by the service provider, it is expected that the professional be fully committed to his job, and appropriately trained (NOHS, 2009). This means an effort in an ongoing training and educating lifestyle, so that the newer and better schemes and models of service provision can be adopted (NOHS, 2009). The professional needs to be well aware of the cultural diversity and differences in the society and community in which he is operating, so that he can keep his professional dealings in accordance with the societal norms (NOHS, 2009). He should impart equal respect and acceptance of all the various belief systems that his clients might present with. This is especially true of those professionals who are involved in direct relation with the clients, such as counselors and psychologists (NOHS, 2009). Whereas it is true that the professional is not expected to discriminate on the basis of demographic details, he is, nevertheless, expected to advocate for those classes of the society which are targeted, maligned, or otherwise marginalized (NOHS, 2009). It should be noted that every client is supposed to be treated equally by the service provider, who should abstain from bias or favoritism. Therefore, all personal interests should be kept at bay (NOHS, 2009). However, when it comes to protecting a client’s well being and dignity, the provider is bound to take a stand for the minorities or the targeted groups of

Assault Rifles Should Be Banned In Washington State Essay

Assault Rifles Should Be Banned In Washington State - Essay Example 7 should be banned because these rifles are most commonly used in mass shooting incidences, the ban will result in safeguarding the lives of defense officials and the ban is completely constitutional. One of the main reasons due to which assault rifles should be banned is that these fire arms provide an advantage to the shooter and allows them to take more lives and spread more fears in a very limited amount of time. These rifles mostly contain more than 10 rounds and are easy and much faster to shoot and due to this several lives are taken away in a very small period of time. For example: in the Sandy Hook case the shooter, Adam Lanza used an assault rifle known as Bushmaster and within a matter of 10 minutes ended up taking a total of 27 lives at a school (Flegenheimer 1). Another reason due to which assault rifles should be banned is that it restricts the defenders of the nation in carrying out their duties in the best possible manner. It does not only become an obstacle in the way police men carry out their duties, it has even resulted in the deaths of several policemen while they try to safeguard the citizens of Washington. According to Mathews, there has been an increase in the number of police officials being killed since the removal of the ban on assault weapons, he notes that during the period of 2009 there was an increase of 24% in the number of police officials being killed due to gun fire as compared to 2008 (Matthews 1). Banning of assault rifles is completely constitutional and does not infringe upon the citizen’s right to purchase and carry arms as stated in the Second Amendment. During the period of 2008, Justice Scalia held in a verdict that the Second Amendment protects the right of the Americans to own and carry firearms but the amendment does not cover fire arms that are dangerous and unusual (Fuchs 1). This means that if Washington State bans assault rifles they would not be going against the constitution because these weapons are very

Two stories Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Two stories - Essay Example The boy realized that it is easier and simpler to control temper and anger, than to hammer the nails into the wooden fence. Finally, the boy was capable of completely control his anger and temper. He informed his father concerning the new situation of experiencing no anger. The father ten directed the boy to remove the each nail, for the days he was incapable of managing his anger. The weeks passed, and finally the boy informed his father that all the nails have been removed from the wooden fence. The father led his son by hand and led him to the wooden fence. He instructed his son to observe the holes left in the fence. The holes distorted the surface of the fence. In a similar situation, anger distorts and leaves a noticeable scar. The father informed the son that if he strikes somebody with a knife and immediately removes it; the wound will forever be there, despite numerous apologies to the victim. Acha was a famous and renowned artist and sculptor in the ancient world. His sculptural work closely resembled the real inspirational object. On a certain day, Acha had a unique dream. The dream illustrated that immediately after the fifteenth day; he will be captured and taken by the death demon. To protect himself, Acha produced nine statues of the exact image of himself. During the fifteenth day, Acha heard of the coming of the death demon. He immediately stood between the nine statues. The death demon failed to identify him among the statutes. The demon was surprised to see ten, instead of one Acha, uncapable of making a decision, the death demon decided to report back to his master, the death god. The death god was so annoyed; hence he decided to capture Acha himself. On reaching the venue, he saw the ten Achas; the real Acha stood motionless, expressionless and alert. The ten Achas perplexed and confused the death god. He carefully analyzed the situation and then loudly remaerked that the sculpture will

Iranian Revolution and Persepolis Booklet Conventions Essay Example for Free

Iranian Revolution and Persepolis Booklet Conventions Essay High and Low cultures are terms given to value the quality of the text. Low culture text is usually the text written for entertainment and pleasure and does not encourage complex reflection and thoughts . Comics are considered as a Low culture and comics and graphic novel are similar to each other but graphic novel are not considered to be Low culture. High culture text is written to encourage complex reflection and thought. High culture are usually full of literary features while low culture has low literary features. Text with high culture also called privileged text and text with low culture is called marginalized . 2- Everyone has his own way of thinking, if three people read a book they will think differently and will have different opinions about it that’s why we respond to the text is shaped by our ideology because everyone understand it from a different perspective. The same thing happens when different people read a graphic novel , they all have different opinions and ideas and they discuss it some people may change their opinions after they heard someone’s else opinion ,that’s how it changes our beliefs, attitudes and values toward literature 3- Symbols in a Graphic novel are easy to understand cause most of the are colours , body language , objects and clothing etc.. .In Persepolis Satrapi has made it different than any other graphic novels , she made no colours only black and white and this is a symbol of something that happened in the past . 4- Satrapi choose to write Persepolis in form of a graphic novel to tell her story ,because she want us to understand what she understands .She is writing her story so she wants us to feel how it feels to grow up during a revolution and a war , and how it feels to move from your country to a different one having a new life she wants us to feel what she felt and she actually succeeded at it Style and Literary Traditions: Persepolis is more bildungsroman than a memoir, because Satrapi didn’t only want to tell the story of her childhood but she wanted to show the way she lived in Iran at the time of the Islamic revolution, also she wanted to show how she grew morally, socially and spiritually making herself an example of how a young girls grew up at this time and bildungsroman is when protagonist must progress from childhood to adulthood, leave home to undergo a journey, and develop a more mature understanding of his or her self. Satrapi also shows how is feels for a young girl to grow up during a Revolution and live in Iran while it was at war with Iraq, those young girls saw communists getting shot and killed by the shah army and hearing stories about political prisoners being tortured during the revolution and saw planes blowing up buildings and other events too. Although it was horrible but Satrapi use a satirical tone sometimes when talking to the revolution guardians Literary Features: Satrapi has been able to manipulate the literary features well though it is a graphic novel which sometimes authors find it hard to use the literary features. Satrapi has used alot of symbols and one of the most important symbol was â€Å" the veil â€Å" which shows the rebellious side of Satrapi and that she was against wearing it but the Islamic government said it is obligatory for women and girls to wear veil. She has also been hyperbole about it Satrapi has used many allusions; most of them are people some are rebellious figures like : Che Guevara, Fidel Castro , they symbolize how a young generation is forced to become revolutionary even though they know little about the turmoil they fight , most of the allusion are about being rebellion and the war. Unlike other writers, Marjane Satrapi has it a little easier because she is able to literally show us what she wants us to see , and the Major thing about persepolis is that it has no colours it’s all black and white to give the story a more ancient feel, she wants us to see that all of this has already occurred. Moreover, the simplicity of her images allows her to demonstrate that this time in her life was not a great one, and that most of it is blurry. Perhaps the lack of color also signifies how somber that time was. Furthermore, she usually draws herself in the background, this shows how inferior she unworthy of being at the same level of men. As she gets older in the novel, she starts to show herself more, it is almost as if she is starting to believe that she is finally getting to the level of men. She begins to talk more to people, and not only speaks her thoughts to herself. Themes: Any young woman growing up is going to face struggles especially during her adolescence. However, to grow up in the midst of the Iranian revolution is undoubtedly a life changing experience. In a society where one certain religion is forced upon you, and where you go, what you wear, who you see, and all that you do is restricted, it is clearly difficult to accept. Especially to a determined and independent young lady such as Marjane Satrapi. In Persepolis one of the most important themes of the novel is government and society and its role in determining the sequence of events that Satrapis life takes on such as in the first chapter veils are forced on the women of Iran. In Persepolis Satrapi has used many themes and as mentioned one of the most important themes is government and society. The Iranian society after the revolution was forced to do what their government tells them like wearing the veil and this is also connected to the theocracy and dictatorship theme that the Islamic government turned into a dictatorship , dictatorship was not only with the government but also in Satrapi’s house she calls her mother a â€Å" the dictator guardian of the revolution of the house The government played a big role in 1980’s Iran by implementing new laws and restricting old freedoms, whoever does obey is either sent to jail and tortured or being executed and a lot of people where being executed for doing things forbidden by Islam ,the government used Islam as a cover to do whatever they want without people questioning them. Even though the Islamic government prevented partying and drinking, people went to illegal parties and drank wine this is considered as an act of rebellion which is also a theme. Rebellion is also a major theme in Persepolis, rebellion is not only against a government it can also be rebellion to what people say. Satrapi uses cigarettes as a symbol of rebellion, she want to show that she can do whatever men can do because at this time in Iran there were feminism. Moreover , Satrapi uses more rebellion figures to support her rebellion theme like Che Guevara, Fidel Castro and Trotsky they are a symbol for freedom Iran was in an outer war with Iraq and internal war against Iranians. Those are the best words that could describe what is happening inside Iran in that time, the army was fight the Iraq’s and was also killing communists and people that have a secular thoughts. Although, the kids of the lower class are sent to war to fight for their country, but before they are sent, they are given this golden key which sybolizes the riches and wealth they will have if they go into war for their country. Not having much, these kids end up joining the army being promised these dreams that never happen. While on the other hand the higher classes are partying and enjoying themselves, not doing anything to protect their country, but only themselves. Isnt that sad. Also in the case of Marjane her maid doesnt sit with her and her parents had a cadillac showing that they were wealthy, but Marjane didn like the idea of that. If you are a powerful person that has a lot of money, or if you were a king, you were part of the high class people. If you are poor or a peasant, you are considered to be in the lower class. What also exists is a middle class who refers to those who can make enough money to dress properly and own certain things that peasants can’t. Being a part of the middle class doesn’t make you a high class person because you don’t have power and don’t have a fortune, but it’s enough for good living Martyrdom was also a major theme in Persepolis since the war started and Satrapi describes it â€Å"To die a martyr is to inject blood into the veins of society.† Marjane reflects that the regime depends on the war to retain its political control of the country. A million people lose their lives in the war. The regime becomes more repressive and seeks to stop â€Å"the enemy within† by arresting and executing those that defy its rule. Heroism is also a theme which is connected to Persepolis where Satrapi symbolizes the political prisoners that were tortured and executed as heroes and when she found out that her uncle Anoosh was tortured too ,she thought of him as a hero At this time in Iran the social classes was also a major theme in the novel mostly all social classes were unequal and this wasnt fair to Marjane at some points. She comes to learn that if you are not in the same social class as someone else, you are not able to marry them. Also, higher social classes were treated better and were paid more attention to, other than the lower class people. There was a specific part of the book where some kids asked Marjane if she had any star wars toys, and she didnt. All little Marjane had were some boring books to offer them. Persepolis is very powerful and informative. It showed the history of Iran’s civil war and revolution and the fall of the Shah. When someone would say the word Iran people would think of oil, criminals, and communist. they never knew that they would be able to relate Iran to family, love, peace, hope, Michael Jackson. It has definitely given a new meaning behind the word Iran. It has also given a new outlook of the people of Iran.

David Hicks Speech :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  David Hicks was a 34 year old black male. He was on death row in Texas from December of 1987 to April of 1988, sentenced to die by lethal injection for rape and murder, on April 25th 1988, of his 87-year-old grandmother, Ms. Ocolor Heggar. David was only a suspect because he was near her house at the time of the crime. There was no indication that he had been inside ¡Xexcept, for DNA evidence. The DNA test determined that similarities between sections of DNA removed from David ¡Ã‚ ¦s blood and DNA recovered from semen in Ms. Heggar ¡Ã‚ ¦s house would occur only one time in a total of 96 million people.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  On the evening of Ms. Heggar ¡Ã‚ ¦s death she was alone in her house. Eddie Ray Branch, her grandson, testified that he visited his grandmother on the day that she was killed. He was there till at least 6:30 p.m. Lester Busby, her grandnephew, and David Hicks arrived while her grandson was still there and they saw him leave. They then went in to visit with Ms. Heggar. While they were there, Lester repaid Ms. Heggar 80 dollars, which he owed her. They left around 7:15 p.m. and went next door to a neighboring friend ¡Ã‚ ¦s house. David Hick ¡Ã‚ ¦s went home alone from there to get something but returned within ten minutes of leaving. Because he was only gone for 5-10 minutes, prosecution theorized TWO attacks on Ms. Heggar because he could not have killed his grandmother during this 5-10 minute period alone. At 7:30 p.m., 15 minutes after the two had left, an insurance salesman called to see Ms. Heggar. He knocked for about 2 or 3 minutes and got no reply. Her door was open but the screen door was closed. Her TV was on. He claimed to have left after about 5 minutes and then he returned the next morning. The circumstances were exactly the same. With concern, he went to the neighbor ¡Ã‚ ¦s house and called the police. His reasoning for being there was because the grandmother ¡Ã‚ ¦s family had taken out burial insurance three days before she had died. David had strong ties and a compact relationship with his immediate family. During the course of the trial, the evidence was presented which seems to clear him: „h Several hairs were recovered from the victim; tests revealed that they were not from David Hicks. One was found to be consistent with Asian hair, another consistent with Lester Busby, the grandnephew.