Phenomenology and theological aesthetics

Notes on Hans Ours von Baluster's Thought Edmund Hustler's phenomenology analyzes the downfall of science into techno, deprived of its necessary foundation in objective evidence. It responds to this impoverished self-understanding of science, the human being and the goals of reason themselves, uncovering in the roots of this epistemological and cultural crisis the true founding of our understanding and praxis of human experience.In a seemingly different arena, the possibility of religious experience has been object of a harp criticism that has uncovered and denounced its ideological social function, the unconscious constitution of its symbols and categories, and its denial of the worldliness of the human being, escaping to another fictitious world. After its own troubled polemics with modern reason the last century, Christian religion has come to understand its role in this dialogue, not as that of an enemy, but in any case, of a possible companion or inspiration for the quests of hu manitarian that triggered those critics.Nonetheless, catholic Christianity still faces some paretic uniqueness of this critic understanding of its faith, as well as the vital questioning from those to whom religion says nothing, or apparently offers nothing but another ethical proposal. This complex situation, due to, for example, different local developments, is not reducible to oversimplified oppositions or labels.The Swiss theologian Hans Ours von Blathers (1905-1988) stays in the crossroad of these contemporary interpolations and reaffirms: it is possible to experience God, and to give a reasonable account of this experience. Following the first volume of his The Glory of the Lord – A theological aesthetics we can point out some of the central challenges he seeded to face. (1) Is it possible to speak about certitude and truth in the space of faith? About the misleading â€Å"either †¦ Or† approach to faith and reason. 2) Is God ‘s revelation possible? Ag ainst a representational reduction of Jesus. (3) Can we grasp the revelation -or, better, can it grasp us- through tradition? Concerning historicity, the mediation of the community and the critic potential of faith. (4) Is it possible to respond to the calling discovered in religious experience? About the following of Jesus, autonomous ethics, the availability of salvation and, above all, the ultimate proximity but absolute asymmetry in the relation between the human being and God.In this central point lies also Baluster's main suspicion against phenomenology. These discussions will bring us the most fundamental question when meeting Baluster's thought: his claim about the necessity of an aesthetically approach to understand religious experience, or, in other terms, what he means with the affirmation that the self-emptying of the Son that makes himself a human being, lives like one, dies rectified, descends to hell, and is resurrected, reveals the true Glory of God, the proper objec t of faith.We will explore the meaning of this claim that the (ultimate) thing itself can give itself, and actually is given to us in the form of a man, making explicit the phenomenological spirit of these discussions, and how they can provide a fruitful orientation for our study of human experience. Truth and certitude Let us be guided by the structure of The Glory first volume. Its first part discusses the subjective side of religious experience, focused on the subjective evidence.Blathers shows how the Scripture and tradition know no incompatibility between Christian pistils and gnomish. The problem is not an critical use of the terms in the Godspeed, Paul, etc. But our constrained by an impoverished notion of knowledge shaped by a misunderstood sense of objectivity in natural sciences. Faith is not Just a substitute for knowledge, that accepts unfounded propositions impulses by a nude leap.Despite this fragmented modern construct, for Christian tradition to believe is an integra ting certitude that moves all human dimensions to a commitment that exceeds the individual as its only possible centering, and that's why believing cannot be understood without taking into account the form – the structure of the object – given in the experience, which is the focus of The Glory second part. The form is the thing itself in its manifestation, the nucleus that gives coherence to all the aspects of the manifestation, and gives believing its specific nature.Therefore, religious experience can ‘t be understood only in terms of an impenetrable subjective certitude founded in (IR)rational or emotive dogmatism. We face an experience that affirms itself as a convection of the lifework, perception and praxis of the subject, radically referred to an objective truth criterion. This is an important introductory hint to the aesthetically approach Blathers is sketching.He understands this reciprocal reference of subject and object in religious experience, as that of the true perception -Haranguing – of the beautiful object in nature or art, where the description of any experience of Joyous contemplation of beauty is incomplete without the consideration of its particular object (and no other). The subject experiences himself guided by the object that brings together various capacities, or develops them, in a fashion that cannot be properly described in terms of a causal explanation that considers the object as a mere physical entity.The analysis of the experience demands itself to consider the presence of the object in the subject, and of the subject in the object. Truth, as beauty, isn't Just conformity to external parameters or expectations: a breathtaking landscape or a Mozart masterpiece seems to have â€Å"everything in its place†; it poses, inside the experience, its own objective criteria. As we experience the beautiful object, we wouldn't normally struggle to condense it in one formula, definition or perspective point t o â€Å"capture† what it is about.We would rather, as Blathers repeatedly remembers, give ourselves to the experience, walking around the sculpture or painting, letting ourselves deepen our view of it by the successive partial perspectives that constitute the richness of the experience. We are proposed a symphonic experience of truth, whose harmonious variety structures an inner conformity that penetrates us subjects, who find ourselves in this music that â€Å"speaks† of us, as well as to us.What is â€Å"spoken† it's not Just a metaphoric resemblance of what is said in language, but its more profound human roots: the logos directed to the very center of the human being where all the dimensions of his experience are integrated, and he finds himself addressed as a true human being. Thing itself and representation What is given to us in perception is the manifestation of the thing itself, not Just a mere signing.For Christians, Jesus is the manifestation of God, in him is revealed the truth about God and about the human being, creature of the world. He is the nucleus ND permanent form of the revelation which comprehends the Scripture, Mary, the Church, the Creation and the Eschatology. The true scope of the form is condensed in the formula: â€Å"He who sees me, sees the Father†. The form does not testify about himself but about the Father, and so it is the Father who testifies about the truth of his words, actions, gestures, etc. I. E. The truth of his manifestation. Thus, the thing itself manifests, and its manifesting – its self- giving – is so essential to it that, as far as we can grasp its misters, it really is this very elf-emptying seeking to reach the human being as testimony of the Father. Jesus' life reveals itself as a total openness to the Father: his most intimate identity is an act of reception. In Jesus, mission and being are one; what he does is not an outer expression of his identity, but the active re ception of God's will.So, in Jesus' experience of the Father, their absolute reciprocal reference is revealed in the form of obedience which is not an irrational subjugation to an external imposition, but the receiving of his being from He who is all for him, with whom he is one in the Spirit. This openness to the Father drives Jesus to the human world. His being with others is the Father's will turned into response, because the Father wants to manifest himself to mankind.The revelation affirms the rich density of the life of a human being, where the ultimate Being reveals itself: the form of Jesus is inseparable from the sportsmanlike frame in which it occurring. So, the true experience of the form presupposes a subject within a history, a community, a body, opened through his expectations, plans and actions to the future. Our always partial experience grows as his constituents are opened through its attention to He who gives completely to us, in an infinite process that seeks its fulfillment in the object that captivates us in such a profound manner.The absolute became flesh and made his dwelling among our history, our cultures, our lands and, thus, becoming one of us, fulfilled himself accomplishing the Father's will in the Spirit. Historicity and understanding For Blathers the historical-critical method ‘s most important contribution is to show how God's word is God's word in human word. He has has nothing but praise for the academic rigor of these methods, which made possible a profound rediscovery of the Scriptures, the Holy Fathers and the tradition.He denounces, however, a common methodological extrapolation that subtly precludes the objective pole of revelation: exegesis dogmatically reduces itself to an analytic of the sign within the net of its historical mediations, that seeks nothing more but the reflection of the community about its faith, with its hermeneutic criterion being its paraxial significance for our present existential urgencies.O ur theologian feels compelled to reaffirm the manifestation of the truth in the objective form that is the Scripture, or rather, the books that form the Scripture, which, though incarnated in our present perplexities, is far more than a â€Å"dialogue† about them. The Scripture is a form submitted to the form of Christ, constituted of different forms articulated through complex relations. The completeness and profundity of the form of Christ is made evident in the richness variety of these forms. None of them is obsolete.Such prejudice is based in the previously mentioned impoverished experience of truth which imposes reduction as the exclusive form of universalistic and understanding. Beyond any unforgiving systemization of the symphonic truth that has its nucleus in Christ, the plenitude of the form manifests only in the final harmony of these irreducible forms. Hence, from this form-centered hermeneutic perspective, we cannot claim that scientific exegetical methods per SE provide us the definitive access to this truth.Our author confronts this pretended superiority, with the testimony of the first apostles and Fathers, who din ‘t only display and admirable intellectual power, but gave themselves to the living Truth that became their lives, showing us that not only the rue exegete but the true theologian is only the saints. Affirming this, we are not renouncing to the objectivity of truth, or despising exegetical sciences. We must be critically aware of the historically mediated categories (conceptual, aesthetic, etc. ) of the Scripture, as well as ours.But history is not Just a collection of facts, or a coherent articulation of sense that stood indifferently in front of us. Understanding the Scripture is recognizing -I. E. Letting us be grasped by- the spirit that animates it. It supposes human limitation, the particularity of the form in which t manifests, for only because of it, it is accessible to other limited humans as ourselves. Such lim itation constitutes the openness of our historical and cultural horizons, supported by the objectification of a written text, articulating a living tradition.Tradition, the form of the community through history, living up to our days, finds then its true form as the testifying, embodied in all its declarations and actions, that finds its truth in its submission to the form of Christ, light, path and Judge. This doesn't exclude the possibility of unfaithfulness to this calling, but rather stresses rearmament the need to test oneself under the light of the guiding objective pole. This understanding of the revelation and tradition in its historicity, reveals itself as a calling to the truth, mediation or conversion.History is this history which we consider, and it takes the form of our own patriarchal history as we understand it. Hence, historicity it's not an obstacle, as neither is it Just a neutral bridge to the truth. Its openness, as it constitutes our understanding of what was re vealed to us in Palestine and was given to us through the experiences of others conformed to the arm of Christ, constitutes simultaneously our own self-understanding.So the understanding -the experience – of the revelation enabled by the tradition which we form, reveals itself as a commitment to truth, as an integral response in the form of a conversion orientated objectively by a calling. This committed response in conversion, as well as the very understanding of the calling, presuppose a capacity to (self) critic, which doses ‘t identify with the historiographer methods but uses them and urges its development to understand critically (I. E. In conversion attitude) the historical situation in the past and nowadays.The call for conversion, the ultimate critical principle, sovereign over our own criteria, reaches us in a moment – in every moment – in our own questions, our own already traveled path, building or destroying a future expectation. In the believ er community, the living face of tradition, centered by the Scripture and the Eucharist, the individual is reached by Jesus who calls him or her by name. His life, death and resurrection, the very form revelation of God, are the form of this calling.And that profound is, when understood and believed, also the form of the free response enabled by this revelation. Praxis, responsibility and beyond Modern thought has sought to found its humiliating project as a paraxial imperative of reason, where truth achieves its fulfillment in an uninterested and persevering action: giving one's own life for a more human world for all human beings, specially for those we put the last, even protecting and Judging with the same Justice friends and enemies. The experience of the Christian commandment of love disapproves nothing of this demand and aspiration.Rather it has much to admire, and even to confess humiliated, due to its own critic potential, its sins of power and violence, hen its distinctive force is the cross, its absurd weakness, failure and inadvertent power, only experienced through one's own sin and powerlessness. For the believer this commitment to the others to have life, and that they might have it more abundantly, is the following of Jesus; not a theoretical affirmation about â€Å"religious truths† or some ritualistic praxis to gain heaven, but an all-life integrating response to the gracious love he has offering.Love refers here to the content of Jesus' life: a total self-giving to the others. This â€Å"message† embodied in the impoliteness of a human life , demands a correlative life response, whose truth criterion is the conformation of this life to the form of love, or its rejection. Thus, all the infinite possibilities of forms of the Christian life, integrate in the archetypical form of Christ, and, because his life was his total self-givens to the others, specially the most needed of healing, the follower is enabled and invited to see in his or her neighbor, the misters of that love: God himself has given his life for this man or woman.Once again Blathers proposes Mary as the true believer model, for she appears to s as the model of openness: she emptied herself for the life of God to flourish, and, doing so, she opened mankind to his revelation. In this foundational human â€Å"yes† to God, we face the pre-eminence of the feminine form over the masculine form in the objectively true response to the calling. Through the mother, he was opened to the world, to the others an their life, and to his self-discovery.His life is framed by the â€Å"yes† of the mother: in Nazareth and before the cross, she gave herself to the misters. Theology must understand -contemplate – the importance f this human constitutive conditions for the Christian response: the corporal and affective experience of the mother (previous to and beyond linguistic objectification) founds the experience of every human being of the world as good (bonus), true (verve) and beautiful (fulcrum)xv. This openness directs us to the worldly things and, through them, to the Being, and, most of all, to the possibility of infinite love.This is the horizon of Christian praxis. This experience of fulfillment through openness, which encounters in the neighbor the misters of God's redeeming love is thus mediated in ordinary life by the immunity. The believers gather responding to the Father's calling in Jesus to flourish in this shared Spirit of service, hope and expectancy, that goes beyond the sums of their individual experiences. They conform the form of the Church that serves the form of Christ manifesting him.In this way the community's life goes beyond its factual frontiers in the form of a loving life conformed to that of Jesus, where the extra ecclesiae null callus formula expresses not an elitist barbarism, but the universal calling signed by the humble, paraxial and gracious invitation, where imposition has and sh ould've had no place. As we have seen, this calling that brings the community outside itself is always situated. God din ‘t instrumentalist human nature, but fully revealed himself in it and still does here and now, appearing and calling.Thus, neither through a theoretical faith nor through an enterprise to be achieved, can the follower replace the Schwa deer Gestalt, the vision of the form that in this world, and in the most concrete way, reaches him or her in this calling. In this human perceptive openness God speaks to his creatures, and because love alone is believable, have they been rasped by the unifying misters of redemption that assumes their history and animates them in our present life, lighted by its scatological fulfillment anticipated in Jesus.The human tendency to the infinite is fulfilled and radically transformed in Jesus, truly man, and truly God, in such a manner that openness is not closed, for Jesus himself, as we have seen, receives the totality of his be ing from the Father, in the unity of the same Spirit. The human life is thus introduced to the Trinitarian lifelike, and sent in mission to the world. But this response constituted as a truly profound human praxis in that glimpse of eternity, is only possible as a gift, never as an extrapolation of human expectancies.The nucleus of the calling, of Jesus' life as the fulfillment of his mission, is neither the external imputation of a new place in the cosmos derived from his natural place, nor the recruitment in the most humanistic or revolutionary world project. Any cosmological or anthropological reduction of the Revelation in Jesus, misses the truth his life manifestation. What was and is given to human experience in Jesus, resembles no true analogy to human reason or actions, left to their own resources, to which it is, at least, scandal and madness.Though truly pipelining of his humanity, man's relationship with God is not a personal relationship, and that is why, our theologian warns, the phenomenological way cannot encounter with the essence of religious experience, for it is, at least, inattentive speaking about it in terms of dialogue, and of God as â€Å"interlocutor† of maxi. There's no discussion, adult emancipation, or middle point agreement here, but a self-giving obedient response.Jesus experience is archetypical in the sense that its integrative authority lies in its absolute singularity. As we have seen, this integration takes place in the true reception -Haranguing – of the form revealed in Jesus' life. That form is the Glory of God, which shined in his plenitude in the Cross, where the absolute beauty of the substance of God revealed itself evidently and irresistibly. This is the uniqueness of redemption that no cosmological or anthropological reduction can duplicate.To the thing itself: Hierarchical, a theological aesthetics Huskers referred to the phenomenological attitude as aesthetically. This term is also the key access to B aluster's thought in his most well-known work structured as a helically aesthetics (the Lord's Glory, Hierarchical), followed by a Therefore (Thermodynamic) and, finally, a Theology (Theologies). Blathers relies on the renewing power of Christian and western tradition which, he contests, presupposes the methodological pre-eminence of the aesthetic approach to speak about our experience of God.This interpretation denounces the perversion of theology as a static system attached from life, as well as its reduction to a militant ethical project. Baluster's recuperation of the fulcrum before the bonus and the verve, certainly refers to beauty, but, more precisely, to the sublime, in Kantian terms. In its experience we are captivated not Just by the conformity we experience in the object, but subjugated by its overwhelming worth in which we discover our insignificance, filled and elevated.Our author finds this perspective behind the whole tradition, but focuses, as tradition, in the exper ience of the disciples and the first believers of the kerugma, who didn't testify a new knowledge or ethical way, but confessed being overwhelmed by the life of this Maxine, whose transparency evidenced for them what human life really is through the eyes of God. They couldn't ignore this proposal hat demanded and received a response, whether of acceptance and redemption, or scandal and damnation.We have discussed how love is the form of the life of Jesus. He din ‘t Just proclaimed salvation to the prostitutes, lepers, tax collectors, Pharisees or fishermen, but lived among them, and doing so, in his most simple actions and in his miracles, never gave testimony of himself but of the Father who had sent him to mankind. But the splendor of this form has its center in the Cross, where this whole life of self-giving love is desiderated, mocked, fallen in disgrace and abandoned.The crucified finds himself not only ripped apart from the men and women he was sent to, but also from the Father who sent him: â€Å"My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? â€Å". Rejected, Jesus appears most clearly, as he who is sent, as the free communication of God that is at once the possibility of communion with him. As far as human reason can understand, that's who the Son in the immanent Trinity really is, the Our-genesis that pressures since ever the genesis, the self-emptiness, made visible, touchable and urging in the Cross.If reason sought the Cross, it would lose itself in self destruction r in the morbid contemplation of an irrational death and suffering, without any bendable link with the ones it pretends to give life for. It might be reasonable to give life for Justice and the well-being of human beings, but it makes no sense to love -in Jesus, give life for – every human benefiting. This is what the disciples slowly grasp since the Resurrection: that God accomplished the ultimate extreme for the sake of mankind giving it his his own Son.His absolute self-g ivens still offers in the Cross saving calling, silently shouting in terrifying loneliness. Theological aesthetics is, hen, no aesthetically theology. In this absurdity, Jesus radically fulfills his mission of integrating in the form of his life the totality of the human experience, sharing the fate of those who live and lose their life in the absurdity of suffering, indifference and desperation. This integration isn't Just a titanic solidarity that somehow, after the Resurrection, reaches us as an external imputation of redemption.Blathers insists in the traditional faith declaration: Jesus took our place and saved us; in him, all men and women have died and been resurrected. He died, and doing so he, the innocent, studiously made his own the sins of mankind introducing this evil in the divine lifelike, up to the point that he also suffered the condemnation of hell. In perhaps some of his most interesting and dramatic pages, Blathers describes the Holy Saturday experience of Jesus descent to hell, where he experienced himself cutter out from every relation, from the world, the others and even, in the absolute extreme, from his Father.We can only imagine -meditate in the light of the Scripture and the saint's life, that report us this misters – this absolute experience of the Saint himself, haring the destiny of the damned. Therefore, contemplation lies at the center of these considerations, for we find ourselves in a misters. Not between incomprehensible affirmations, but realizing how the extreme love fully revealed in the cross has broken every ethical barrier and radically transformed our sense of ourselves, our world and where lies the ultimate reality in which we dwell.This is the self-giving love that in its true and evident splendor enraptures the deepest intimacy of man or woman, enabling the response, for love alone is believable. So love is the absence of God xv, and the medium in which we are made participants of the Trinitarian life. The Gl ory is the manifestation of this redemption crucified love, fully accomplished in the Resurrection, in which we are resurrected, integrated in the path traced and completed by Jesus.Supported in this aesthetically enrapture in the form of Jesus, we are capable of carrying out our response, as the acceptance of our role in this Grant Theatre del Mound. Blathers explores the Therefore of the following, in the frame of the bigger action of Redemption, characterized through the image of Cauldron De la Barb's assistance. Each one is invited to accept freely the role reserved for him or her by God, between the characters of the action. Obedience appears here as letting God be God in one's own life, Just like Mary, and, ultimately, Jesus.The follower is incorporated in the central action which inevitably leads to the Cross, the redeemers Haranguing of the form of Christ, which enables our response, conforming it to him, sent to the others in loving self-givens. Thus, in the neighbor we fin d the acting love of Jesus for this limited human being, that is addressed by his or her singular personal name. The neighbor is not Just an associate or the beneficiary in our praxis, but a particular person, named by God, singled out of the mere world of things.And, for I recognize in this experience the godly love for this sinner, I am reminded of my own sin and acknowledge thankfully the redemption I was also given. In strict sense, I'm not to be â€Å"another Jesus† but a co-participant in his redeeming action. His is the accomplishing and the Judgment. All the dogmatism of Christian faith stems from this encounter space between the believer and the neighborhoods, in which they are integrated by Christ.There is manifested his being sent by the Father, his true humanity as the true face of the Father in the all-involving love of the Spirit. This misters is remembered, meditated and cherished in the community by its expression in the declarations of faith, as we have seen, no esoterically outwardly affirmations, or normative tools measured by its usefulness for our praxis. Only from this path can the believer attempt a word conformed to the truth of the Misters to which he or she looses his own life, to be born in the new life opened by Jesus.This is the true position and role of Theology. From this experience, it's Seibel to risk a word about the truth of the world, in dialogue with its now regrettably divorced companion, philosophy. There blossoms the truth about the human being, and the truth about God. This knowledge, aware of the absolute truth from where it flows, as well as its limitation to an analogical language, is the Christian noosing, the service of the truth developed in tradition, expressed in the teachings of the Magistrate and permanently explored by theologically.Conclusion (I): Servants of human experience Hans Ours von Baluster's theology invites the reader to realize the human capacity to eek and reach -or, rather, being reached by – the thing itself. Even more, the full profoundness of the ultimate â€Å"thing† itself is revealed precisely in a man, Jesus. Human experience is not Just a sign of the absolute, but the space of its true Revolutionaries, which awakens and enables the obeying response of letting oneself be appropriated by the form of Christ.In him, man is really turned into the language of Goodwin. This full attention of the believer in the contemplation of the only important thing, God, orientates him or her to the world in a self-giving that, Just like Jesus, is not a canonical predication, but the true embracement of the world's hopes, pains, and struggles. As we have seen, the faithfulness to the Spirit which constitutes the community, prevents its mission from the temptation to build its own kingdom in this world, for what is now lived is a pilgrimage.This faithfulness demands from the community -its authority structure, its rituals, its groups and individual members form of the life of Jesus: exposition to the world and powerlessness, in order for the true power to find its silent way. â€Å"Integrity†, as von Blathers calls it, is not Just a catalogs desire for an impossible comeback to Christendom; it's a denial to the Cross, the fall in the ever present temptation of building securities out of ourselves. Christians may and should collaborate with all human projects to protect and foster the human spirit.Doing so they shouldn't look down on the nonbeliever, not only because of the vivid memories of their shameful past, but because Jesus himself elevated the love of the pagan (the good Samaritan) to the level of his own lovelier. His is the Spirit to flow wherever the Father wishes. Thus, the Church rejoices in Jesus or all development of the human world, but should ‘t measure itself against the world's criteria: growing number, influence, appreciation, etc. Xiii Only the Spirit gives the measure: the form of Christ, poor, unarmed, respec tful of the human response, and abandoned in God.The community knows itself as forgiven sinners, and there lies the permanent force of its critic capacity in order to continuously convert itself to God's forgiving love. The consciousness of this love, and their poor response to it, drives Christians confidently and humbly to the world, given to them as the talent, not as property. Far away from despising this world, the believer cooperates in what he or she knows is a never ending task that it's not up to us to measure.This anticipated experience of the Kingdom is that of giving reason with meekness and fear, through life, of the loving hope which fulfills the longings of the world. Excursus:This Lifework Blathers dialogues with the contemporary European religious indifference, as well as the perplexities of the post-conciliator Christianity. What sense can it make to discuss philosophically this theology in a seemingly inverse context like Peru and Latin America, with such particul ar experience f widespread institutionalizing of individual autonomy, massive access to technology, wealth and leisure, religious pluralism or practical atheism?Let us briefly address this question, before finishing. One day in October it is possible to see a Senor De Los Mailbags procession along the main pathway of this University where professors and students of its Science and Engineering School carry the image into their building between typical chants, attire and even Peruvians women with the traditional incense. Statistical data shows this was and is a familiar experience for many of these professionals of natural

The Journey Through Nine Circles Of Hell - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 4 Words: 1349 Downloads: 9 Date added: 2019/08/07 Category Literature Essay Level High school Tags: Dante's Inferno Essay Did you like this example? The Inferno is the first part of Dantes epic poem, Divine Comedy, of the 14th century. The poet (Dante) starts a spiritual journey where he is guided by the soul of the Roman poet Virgil. Dante takes the journey through nine circles of hell where he observes the punishments that the sinners who had passed on earlier are going through. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The Journey Through Nine Circles Of Hell" essay for you Create order In the first canto, Dante is lost in the dark woods and lost both his literal and spiritual sense, which makes him descend to Limbo. This is where Dante meets Virgil, his poetic idol. They both get into hell where they explore the nine circles and come across the historical, biblical, as well as mythological characters, the ones suffering and those offering the punishments. At the ninth circle, Dante meets Lucifer and raises his hefty body to make a return to earth. Dantes element of his journey makes exploration of the descent of a man into sin as he uses poetic justice, mythical and historical figures. He crafts the work to focus on the nature of sin and the nature of sin in society. This paper critically analyses the cantos, themes, key figures in the Inferno of Dante. Inferno is a representation of a microcosm of society. Every sort of individuals, including lovers, politicians, non-specialists, clergy, and scholars, among others, are all brought together for punishment and most human attributes. In spite of the blemished nature of hell, it is civilized by the fact that the people punished are diverse as they come from every region irrespective of their beliefs, gender, race or age (Dante 3.123). Although Dante did not come up with the idea of hell to be a place where sinful souls are punished after they die, he created the concept of imagination that has acquired notable attention in different works of the medieval, classical and even biblical eras. The Divine Comedy has been perceived to be among the supreme works of the Italian literature since its writing in the 14th century. Poetic justice has also been explored extensively in Dantes Inferno and has been effected through drama, conceiving necessary punishments for every sin committed by every person. From the non-existence to betrayal, Dante documents the sinners punishments- the popular and the unknown, beloved and infamous. Every punishment given to the sinners fits the kinds of penalty they are given. The poem discusses Satans domain, as well as the Christian incarnation of evil. There are nine circles in the inferno, including gluttony, limbo, treachery, wrath and sullenness, fraud, violence, violence, lust and avarice, and prodigality based on the deadliest sins in society. At the beginning of the poem, Dante is lost in the woods and unable to escape the three beasts, a lion, leopard, and a she-wolf, surrounding him (Dante 1.18). He cannot manage to walk straight through the mountain, which represents the road to salvation. The lion represents pride; the leopard represents envy as the she-wolf is a representation of greed. The blockage by these three beasts forces Dante to descend to hell. This journey as a whole is an analogy of an individuals fall into sin (inferno), then receives redemption (portrayed through Purgatorio), and finally, gets saved (portrayed in Paradiso). Dante passes through the gateway to hell and sees the words that suggest something bad is awaiting him inside. The writing at the gateway says Abandon every hope, who enter here (3.9). The two (Dante and Virgil) witness a variety of people who lived miserable lives with disgrace and no praise on the fringe of inferno (3.17-34). In this domain, Dante and Virgil come across the souls of the miserable people who cowardly live a life of disgrace and were thrown away from heaven and had been refused entry by hell. The sinful souls are given no option, but to race after the unstopping banner where they are constantly stung by wasps and flies as their tears and blood nourish the worms at their foot (3.69). These sinful and coward souls suffer a limpid punishment for their failure to make proper decisions, which has made them end cast out of both the eternal paradise and damnation and all they have got is to run after the unstopping banner as they endure suffering continuously. Another significant character in the poem is Charon, hells boatman. Charon is an irritable old man given the responsibility of piloting the boat that moves the shadows of the deceased to the underworld through the waters (3.83). Charons irritability can be seen as he takes someone who is still alive (Dante) to the land of the dead. The guide of the leading character (Virgil) gives the boatman the appropriate credentials and the transportation is made as planned. There is a place set aside for the ignorant, Limbo. People are punished for their ignorance and are forced into spending their lives in a place that seems no to be much of hell, but still not heaven. The noble-Christian souls, as well as those who spent their life before Christianity, receive their punishment in limbo. This is the idea of a place for the souls that did not get baptized as much as they did not sin (4.34), which is a show of ignorance. Dante incorporates the babies who never got baptized and the remarkable non-Cristian adults in the version of limbo, bearing a similarity to the Asphodel Meadows where common souls were taken to live after their death. Even though these souls are not left to languish in hell, the Limbo is not as a good place as paradise, and that makes it the appropriate place for the ignorant according to Dante. Classical poets such as Homer, Lucan, Horace, and Ovid are also encountered by Dante in Limbo. The classical poets welcome their comrade (Virgil) back and honor Dante as their colleague as well (4.79-101). Other significant characters who make an appearance in the Limbo include Aristotle and Socrates, the well-known figures for their scholarly successes in their time. Socrates is renowned for his thoughtful and diligent questioning of the works of Plato, who also makes his appearance. Moreover, one outstanding non-Christian soul, Saladin, also finds himself in the Limbo. This is an eminent leader of the military and Egyptian sultan who got a lot of admiration even from the enemies for his nobility. According to Dante, all non-Christians irrespective of whether or not they were exemplary in their lifetime had to get to the Limbo. In the second circle, the lustful receive their punishment through the blowing of the hurricane. The hurricane blows them constantly with no rests, wheels, and pounds (5.31-33). Through lust, many found themselves in the sin of adultery, which made characters such as Cleopatra, Dido, and Troy, among others who suffer a violent death. Lust has been symbolized by the strong and violent winds, which also represents the strength it contains in the affairs related to blind passions. Several famous lovers such as Paris, Dido, Tristan and Semiramis are contained by lust. The Assyrian powerful queen, Semiramis, is allegedly reported to have been a very awkward individual who went to the extent of making incest legal in her territory. Dido, on the other hand, was the queen of Carthage who killed herself after her lover abandoned her. Paris perished in the Trojan War. The Inferno by Dante is an indication of a revolution in the theology of Christians as it uses poetic justice to deal with the wrongdoers, historical figures, as well as classical mythology. Through a combination of these aspects in a single poem, Dante gives the people of the western world a new perception on the imagination of the afterlife and what the hell entails. He successfully reveals the vision of hell through his focus on scenes and the specific identities of the characters he managed to make an encounter with while there. Throughout the centuries since the writing of the poem, there have been several reviews ranging from passion to repulsive responses depending on the notion that the poem instills on the readers. However, the most agreed response on this supreme work of the Italian literature will remain to be half-hearted.

Comparación entre la visa K-3 y green card

Si eres un ciudadano americano y està ¡s casado con un extranjero que se encuentra fuera de EEUU puedes reclamarlo con una K-3 o con una tarjeta de residencia,  ¿quà © es mejor? Si te has casado y no sabes cuà ¡l es el camino mà ¡s rà ¡pido y conveniente para que tu esposo/a venga a los Estados Unidos a vivir contigo como residente permanente legal lee esta comparativa antes de decidir quà © hacer. Elementos comunes a la K-3 y a la solicitud de la tarjeta de residencia para un esposo mediante el formulario I-130 En ambos casos tà º, el ciudadano americano, tienes que enviar la solicitud al Servicio de Ciudadanà ­a e Inmigracià ³n (USCIS, por sus siglas en inglà ©s). Si la aprueba, contactarà ¡ directamente con el consulado correspondiente.El consulado citarà ¡ a tu esposo/a para una entrevista y serà ¡ el oficial consular el que decida si aprueba la solicitud de visa K-3 o de la tarjeta de residencia, segà ºn la peticià ³n que tà º le presentaste al USCIS. Quà © pasa si solicitas una K-3 para tu cà ³nyuge La K-3 una visa que permite al esposo/a de un ciudadano americano entrar en Estados Unidos. Una vez aquà ­ deberà ¡ realizar un ajuste de estatus para conseguir la greencard.  A consecuencia de ello hay que dedicar unos seis meses a esta tramitacià ³n. Quà © pasa si solicitas una tarjeta de residencia Si en la entrevista el oficial consular aprueba la peticià ³n, entonces tu cà ³nyuge recibirà ¡ una visa de inmigrante para entrar en Estados Unidos. Cuando llega a la frontera y le sellan el pasaporte se convierte en residente permanente legal. Y en unos meses recibirà ¡ por correo ordinario la tarjeta de residencia. (pero residente es desde el momento en que entra a Estados Unidos).  ¿Cuà ¡l es la ventaja y desventaja de la K-3 sobre la peticià ³n del permiso de residencia? Hubo un tiempo en el que las K-3 se tramitaban de una manera mà ¡s rà ¡pida y por eso habà ­a quien las preferà ­a para acortar el tiempo en el que los esposos permanecà ­an separados. Sin embargo,  hoy en dà ­a esto ya no es asà ­. El tiempo de demora de las tarjetas de residencia para los esposos de los ciudadanos que se encuentran en otro paà ­s varà ­a entre los seis meses y el aà ±o, en la mayorà ­a de los casos. Depende en gran medida de la oficina del USCIS que tramite la peticià ³n y del consulado en el que tiene lugar la entrevista. Otra desventaja de la K-3 que puede afectar a algunas parejas es que la entrevista consular ha de realizarse en el paà ­s en el que se celebrà ³ la boda (excepto si es Estados Unidos, en cuyo caso tendrà ¡ lugar en el consulado del paà ­s en el que viva el novio extranjero). Por ejemplo, si una pareja donde la novia es de Estados Unidos y el novio de Colombia deciden casarse en Parà ­s durante un viaje romà ¡ntico, tienen que saber que la entrevista para el visado no va a tener lugar en ningà ºn consulado colombiano, sino en uno francà ©s. Asà ­ que habrà ­a que viajar a otro paà ­s, con el consiguiente gasto.  ¿Cuà ¡l es la ventaja de pedir directamente la tarjeta de residencia? Que el cà ³nyuge extranjero se convierte en residente nada mà ¡s pisar suelo de los Estados Unidos y ser procesado por un oficial de Inmigracià ³n en la aduana. No es necesario realizar un ajuste de estatus. Y como el tiempo de tramitacià ³n se ha reducido y se asemeja al de las visas K-3, realmente la opcià ³n mà ¡s ventajosa en la mayorà ­a de los casos es la de reclamar una tarjeta de residencia para el cà ³nyuge extranjero. A tener en cuenta Tanto en los casos de visas K-3 como de peticiones de tarjetas de residencia, la greencard serà ¡ condicional por dos aà ±os si los esposos llevan menos de dos aà ±os casados. Toma este test de respuestas mà ºltiples sobre la tarjeta de residencia.  ¡Te ayudarà ¡ a evitar cometer errores! Documentos para realizar las peticiones En ambos casos necesitas rellenar la planilla (forma) I-130. Una vez que es aprobada por el USCIS (te lo notificarà ¡ con un documento conocido como I-797), si deseas seguir el camino de la visa K-3 deberà ¡s rellenar el formulario I-129F, incluir una copia del I-797 y enviarlo a la oficina de Dallas del USCIS.

Cybercrime And The Healthcare Industry - 1582 Words

A big concern in society and the healthcare industry, which is just as likely to be a victim as any other industry, is the growing number of attacks caused by cybercrime. Healthcare costs rise because of cyberattacks and there is an increase of safety concerns for patients, not to mention the Health Insurance Probability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is violated. The effects of cybercrime can be damaging to all aspects of the healthcare industry, including but not limited to, consumers, healthcare providers, payers and pharmaceutical companies. The purpose of this research paper is to state facts about cybercrime and the effects it has on the healthcare industry, what actions can be taken for prevention, as well as my opinion on the issue. Cybercrime Facts According to Dictionary.com (Cybercrime, n.d.), cybercrime is defined as â€Å"criminal activity or a crime that involves the Internet, computer system, or computer technology†. There are many kinds of cybercrimes, such as the spreading of computer viruses, cyberterrorism, and the stealing of someone’s identity. A computer virus is a piece of malicious programming code that is associated with an attachment. It causes a computer to act in such a way that can be detrimental for the user and is often times unnoticed. When the attachment is opened, it will spread to other computers, therefore infecting them as well (Reynolds, 2014, p. 89). Cyberterrorism is a threat made toward all types of organizations including emergencyShow MoreRelatedThe United States Healthcare System1742 Words   |  7 Pagesday to day lives. The benefits of expediency and the convenience afforded to those who utilize information systems their business dynamics is undeniable. This paper will discuss the various threats and vulnerabilities related to the United States healthcare system as well as government regulations and policies as well as the issues of overall personal data security as a whole. Threat assessment in regards to a cyber- attack and the level of liability in the aftermath of a cyber-attack will also beRead MoreCybercrime Bigger Than Terrorism : Cybercrime1275 Words   |  6 PagesCybercrime bigger than Terrorism. â€Å"There are two kinds of people in America today: those who have experienced a foreign cyber attack and know it, and those who have experienced a foreign cyber attack and don t know it.† (Frank Wolf). The world has become more connected today than ever before. The world’s technology is growing larger and the internet’s traffic is boosting. Major internet-related industries are doubling profits because of the online traffic. With all the wonderful and positive thingsRead MoreImpact Of Cybercrime Today : Government And Private Industry Through Information Sharing Methods1354 Words   |  6 PagesImpacts to cybercrime today is forcing government and security agencies to place focus on cybersecurity within government, private, and public sectors. In 2015, the administration intends to pass legislation to strengthen cybersecurity across the U.S. government and private industry through information sharing methods. Contradictory controversy exists whether the gov ernment may dictate how the private industry should carry out their cybersecurity, if so, is it effective? Over the last severalRead MoreThe Institute Of Electrical And Electronics Engineers Essay744 Words   |  3 Pagesspectrum of products and services in numerous industries including technology, electronics, construction, dairy and livestock. Established almost 100 years ago, ANSI has provided standards for many products including lamps, cameras and computers. The International Organization for Standards (ISO) is a similar body that has an international focus in providing standards for many different sectors including technology, food safety, agriculture and healthcare. Similar in nature to ANSI, ISO was originatedRead MoreInformation Technology Business Model Of The Organization1435 Words   |  6 PagesInformation technology business model of the organization The IT industry business models have changed a lot from past many decades, as compared to the traditional direct selling to providing a free platform and then drawing margin out of it. Historically, IT industry use to work on a model of direct selling, where the companies develop a software or hardware and either it is purchased by direct consumers or vendors, and or the same customers may undergo licensing or maintenance contract. One ofRead MorePrinter Security : Understanding Health Data Security And Print Infrastructure1039 Words   |  5 PagesInfrastructure Although printer security is often overlooked, there are several steps healthcare IT managers can take to properly secure their printer ecosystem. By Mario Doss HP For those who may not see the urgency in printer and software upgrades let me point out how the last two years have seen several high profile, costly health data security breaches from some major healthcare organizations including Anthem Healthcare, Premera Blue Cross BlueShield, Excellus BlueCross BlueShield and UCLA HealthRead MoreData Breaches And The Healthcare Industry1676 Words   |  7 PagesSummary of data breaches in hospital industry Data breaches have become common nowadays especially in the healthcare industry. For example, a number of hacking events have been reported in the past years (Croll, 2007). Such events in the healthcare industry, have threatened the safety of private medical records. Since the healthcare environment posses the most valuable information of patients, they are the establishments who are most likely to suffer from hackers. Most importantly, patients worryRead MoreRisk Management Systems Are Designed1453 Words   |  6 Pagesrisk event occur. Hartford Healthcare faces external and internal risks that could hurt the company s bottom line. The risk managers in the organization realize the deviation that these risks could create, therefore they try to contain these risks through a priority type system. They measure risk through severity and frequency, as a result, it was easy to narrow down the top four risks the hospital faces. With that being said, these are the following risks Hartford Healthcare faces according to MaryRead MoreContemporary Issues Of Health Information Management Essay1740 Words   |  7 Pagesof health records paper based are being replaced with electronic health records. Healthcare quality and safety require that the right information be available at the right time to support patient care and decision support health system management decision. Patient records are primarily legal documenting the healthcare service. The following are some of the contemporary issues in health information management: HEALTHCARE FUTURE GOING MOBILE Read MoreHealth Access Monitor Essay Model1126 Words   |  5 Pagestechnology into a single software run on any mobile device or computer. Fundamentally, HAM would function as a personal medical doctor tailored to the unique needs of a user’s genetics and lifestyle. The era of personalized precision medicine and healthcare is fast-approaching, in which our own unique data will determine our disease risks and treatment needs. Cutting-edge Next-Generation DNA Sequencing (Next-Gen Sequencing or NGS), involving the parallel sequencing of DNA in order to yield substantially

Cybercrime And The Healthcare Industry - 1582 Words

A big concern in society and the healthcare industry, which is just as likely to be a victim as any other industry, is the growing number of attacks caused by cybercrime. Healthcare costs rise because of cyberattacks and there is an increase of safety concerns for patients, not to mention the Health Insurance Probability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is violated. The effects of cybercrime can be damaging to all aspects of the healthcare industry, including but not limited to, consumers, healthcare providers, payers and pharmaceutical companies. The purpose of this research paper is to state facts about cybercrime and the effects it has on the healthcare industry, what actions can be taken for prevention, as well as my opinion on the issue. Cybercrime Facts According to Dictionary.com (Cybercrime, n.d.), cybercrime is defined as â€Å"criminal activity or a crime that involves the Internet, computer system, or computer technology†. There are many kinds of cybercrimes, such as the spreading of computer viruses, cyberterrorism, and the stealing of someone’s identity. A computer virus is a piece of malicious programming code that is associated with an attachment. It causes a computer to act in such a way that can be detrimental for the user and is often times unnoticed. When the attachment is opened, it will spread to other computers, therefore infecting them as well (Reynolds, 2014, p. 89). Cyberterrorism is a threat made toward all types of organizations including emergencyShow MoreRelatedThe United States Healthcare System1742 Words   |  7 Pagesday to day lives. The benefits of expediency and the convenience afforded to those who utilize information systems their business dynamics is undeniable. This paper will discuss the various threats and vulnerabilities related to the United States healthcare system as well as government regulations and policies as well as the issues of overall personal data security as a whole. Threat assessment in regards to a cyber- attack and the level of liability in the aftermath of a cyber-attack will also beRead MoreCybercrime Bigger Than Terrorism : Cybercrime1275 Words   |  6 PagesCybercrime bigger than Terrorism. â€Å"There are two kinds of people in America today: those who have experienced a foreign cyber attack and know it, and those who have experienced a foreign cyber attack and don t know it.† (Frank Wolf). The world has become more connected today than ever before. The world’s technology is growing larger and the internet’s traffic is boosting. Major internet-related industries are doubling profits because of the online traffic. With all the wonderful and positive thingsRead MoreImpact Of Cybercrime Today : Government And Private Industry Through Information Sharing Methods1354 Words   |  6 PagesImpacts to cybercrime today is forcing government and security agencies to place focus on cybersecurity within government, private, and public sectors. In 2015, the administration intends to pass legislation to strengthen cybersecurity across the U.S. government and private industry through information sharing methods. Contradictory controversy exists whether the gov ernment may dictate how the private industry should carry out their cybersecurity, if so, is it effective? Over the last severalRead MoreThe Institute Of Electrical And Electronics Engineers Essay744 Words   |  3 Pagesspectrum of products and services in numerous industries including technology, electronics, construction, dairy and livestock. Established almost 100 years ago, ANSI has provided standards for many products including lamps, cameras and computers. The International Organization for Standards (ISO) is a similar body that has an international focus in providing standards for many different sectors including technology, food safety, agriculture and healthcare. Similar in nature to ANSI, ISO was originatedRead MoreInformation Technology Business Model Of The Organization1435 Words   |  6 PagesInformation technology business model of the organization The IT industry business models have changed a lot from past many decades, as compared to the traditional direct selling to providing a free platform and then drawing margin out of it. Historically, IT industry use to work on a model of direct selling, where the companies develop a software or hardware and either it is purchased by direct consumers or vendors, and or the same customers may undergo licensing or maintenance contract. One ofRead MorePrinter Security : Understanding Health Data Security And Print Infrastructure1039 Words   |  5 PagesInfrastructure Although printer security is often overlooked, there are several steps healthcare IT managers can take to properly secure their printer ecosystem. By Mario Doss HP For those who may not see the urgency in printer and software upgrades let me point out how the last two years have seen several high profile, costly health data security breaches from some major healthcare organizations including Anthem Healthcare, Premera Blue Cross BlueShield, Excellus BlueCross BlueShield and UCLA HealthRead MoreData Breaches And The Healthcare Industry1676 Words   |  7 PagesSummary of data breaches in hospital industry Data breaches have become common nowadays especially in the healthcare industry. For example, a number of hacking events have been reported in the past years (Croll, 2007). Such events in the healthcare industry, have threatened the safety of private medical records. Since the healthcare environment posses the most valuable information of patients, they are the establishments who are most likely to suffer from hackers. Most importantly, patients worryRead MoreRisk Management Systems Are Designed1453 Words   |  6 Pagesrisk event occur. Hartford Healthcare faces external and internal risks that could hurt the company s bottom line. The risk managers in the organization realize the deviation that these risks could create, therefore they try to contain these risks through a priority type system. They measure risk through severity and frequency, as a result, it was easy to narrow down the top four risks the hospital faces. With that being said, these are the following risks Hartford Healthcare faces according to MaryRead MoreContemporary Issues Of Health Information Management Essay1740 Words   |  7 Pagesof health records paper based are being replaced with electronic health records. Healthcare quality and safety require that the right information be available at the right time to support patient care and decision support health system management decision. Patient records are primarily legal documenting the healthcare service. The following are some of the contemporary issues in health information management: HEALTHCARE FUTURE GOING MOBILE Read MoreHealth Access Monitor Essay Model1126 Words   |  5 Pagestechnology into a single software run on any mobile device or computer. Fundamentally, HAM would function as a personal medical doctor tailored to the unique needs of a user’s genetics and lifestyle. The era of personalized precision medicine and healthcare is fast-approaching, in which our own unique data will determine our disease risks and treatment needs. Cutting-edge Next-Generation DNA Sequencing (Next-Gen Sequencing or NGS), involving the parallel sequencing of DNA in order to yield substantially

Art Is a Lie That Brings Us Nearer to the Truth free essay sample

Art is different from most areas of knowledge primarily in terms of its objective and also the means by which it reflects, transforms and expresses them. For art, like philosophy, reflects the reality in its relationship with man, and represents the latter, his spiritual world, and the relations between the individuals and their interactions with the world. Pablo Picasso was known for representing his work in a non-realistic manner. However, the audience could relate to his works; Guernica is an example of his success, since it represented the tragedies of war, which the audience could sympathize with. Hence, we shall ask if by distorting our perception to reality, how art is a lie and how it brings us nearer to the truth? As a result, we will discuss three main points of the Picasso’s quote; art, lies and reality. Then, this will be highlighted with the effect of art in Ethics and, through pertinent examples; we will emphasize the distinction between ethics and art. Finally, we will analyze Picasso’s quote in relation to literature and visual art in contrast to his art. Firstly, how can we assess this quote in relation to art? And what does Picasso mean by the lies and the truth? First, we need to understand that art is an imitation of reality. Indeed, Picasso was an impressionist who produced this imitation with his cubist methods, which was a new form of art as a development of illusionism, and this was the reason why Picasso had denounced art as a lie. On the other hand, the full quote from Picasso was: We all know that art is not truth. Art is a lie that makes us realize truth, at least the truth that is given us to understand. The artist must know the manner whereby to convince others of the truthfulness of his lies. Zayas) Indeed, not only did Picasso distinguish that the artist had to make art seem like a lie that helped us come nearer to the truth, but he also knew that the arts had to do this in a way that the latter’s manipulation would give the effect of a lie to then justify the art’s link to the truth. Moreover, the truth can be found if someone questions the impact of a work of art on its surrounding. Therefore, the question define s the understanding of a person in the arts through the subjective perspective of the latter. In the work The Glass Menagerie, the opening monologue of Tom Wingfield is almost identical to Picasso’s ideology: Yes, I have tricks in my pocket, I have things up my sleeve. But I am the opposite of a magician. He gives you illusion that has the appearance of truth. I give you truth in the pleasant disguise of illusion. (The Glass Menagerie, Scene I) Clearly, if both the latter quote and Picasso’s are put in parallel, we may deduce that art does not tell the truth as it is. Moreover, art distorts the truth in order to highlight certain aspects. In order to communicate an idea, the artist must represent some tricks and ignore others. Therefore, art is not straightforward in an objective manner, but it is certain that it shows the truth that was not as obvious at first. So, the lie helps art convey and evoke particular emotions through the artist for the audience. Henceforth, can we acknowledge artistic expression as the lie revealing the truth? Not only is artistic expression an expression that evokes the dreams and imaginations of a person, but also if an artist feels certain emotions about something, instead of just describing it, he will create a world, a story or piece of music, in the case of Picasso a painting, where there is the evocation of his own emotions. For example, Charles Dickens wrote David Copperfield, which is a fictionalized autobiography so that he could express his own personal experiences. So it is a lie, but due to the fact that the emotion is genuine and subjective in itself, the lie brings the audience closer to the truth in order to feel the artist’s emotion, in this case Dickens’. For a musician, it is known that when an artist is involved in his work and gets lost in it, he is not aware of most of what he or she creates, it depends on his subconscious, as the emotions come from it. Consequently, if an artist analyses his own work after finishing it, on one hand, can reveal a new truth in order to understand him or herself and, on the other hand, the audience can learn a new aspect of truth with a lie that the artist had created. But even if a lie opens one’s eyes to the world, whether it is the audience or the arts, does art reflect the artist’s thoughts or are they influenced by facts and current events? Since art is, in effect, an imitation of reality, the realistic movement in literature proves to be one of the most important movements to show life as it is in a work. In particular, Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert is one of the best examples to demonstrate that the realistic movement does this. And although the work had great success in France, it raised much debate concerning ethics since it criticized the 19th century French woman and also represented them in a vulgar way. Therefore, Flaubert was considered controversial in his work, which calls into question the degree of freedom given to artists in a society. Indeed, this limitation adds to the lies of art. Furthermore, to what extent are ethics limited when one gets closer to the reasonable truth in relation to the arts? The reasonable truth in art can be determined only by the artist himself, ensuring that the ethical interpretation is always subjective even if a person tries to be objective in his or her interpretation. Take for example, the exhibition of Gunther Von Hagens – the Bodyworlds. Von Hagens is an anatomist who tried to create art using unclaimed bodies, he puts them in positions of everyday life and yet his art was only recognized after an ethical shock that was to such an extent that his art refused to be exposed in Paris. Moreover, Hagens removes the skin from the bodies to prevent racial separation of the latter by his audience. On the one hand, we find that people still culturally tied refuse such a technique of art, placing it as a desecration, due to their respect for the dead. On the other hand, Gunther Von Hagens could be accepted in the future as a pioneer who changed art, as we know it. Therefore, the reason of the â€Å"ethics of art† depends purely on the emotional perception, due to cultural attachment, of the person who is subject to the work of art. However, can art, as a domain of emotion, be related to any domain in the world? Of course, art can be found in everything that surrounds us. Since contemporary art, it looms that â€Å"anything† can be classified as art. But even if anything can be art, this does not mean that the latter’s artistic message will be well received. It depends on the level to which the audience shall appreciate the art, and it is because of this that contemporary art is still a controversial subject. In addition, compared to areas of knowledge, to what extent is art related to the truth suggested by Pablo Picasso? As already explained, the truth of art is achieved through an understanding of a work and that is why the relationship between ways of knowing and art related in a subjective way because, ethically, each person has his or her own thinking. Thus, even if a person thinks in a mathematical perspective, he or she will try to frame the art in an absolute truth, but will always be limited by what brings them closer to this reality. Finally, to what extent is art a lie bringing us nearer to the truth, why is it so abstract when it binds the different types of art from the truth? Two types of art can be distinguished: Literature and Visual Arts. In literature, we often find that authors writing their works under the influence of external factors affecting his subconscious. However, there are exceptions such as the latters’ biographical novels, fantasy, etc. But compared to Picasso’s quote, all literary works have this concept of a lie that reveals the truth. An example would be the novel Animal Farm by George Orwell. By, using allegory to tell his story, he manages to criticize the situation in the USSR during the Cold War. This lie is a truth disguised as animals, which is the reason that this novel allows us to conclude that art is a lie that brings us nearer to the truth. Furthermore, in visual art, lies used depend on the manipulation of the artist. But, particularly, in abstract art, the manipulation of shapes that the audience recognize aides in hiding the truth by an ambiguous lie. It is through this lie that art could be appreciated. To conclude, we can see through the various examples used that art shows us something that have not already realized, and it is due to this notion that Pablo Picasso declares such a quote. Indeed, the latter is reflected in all fields of art and its difference with ethics is not far away. However, instead of distinguishing this truth directly as in ethics, it is best to keep in art the hidden truth to be better noticed and valued because the lie bringing the audience nearer to the truth is what gives art it’s true significance.

The Role of Geographic Information Systems in Climatology free essay sample

Climate change is a problem that is affecting people and the environment in the modern world. The average weather conditions are changing and the intensity of extreme weather events is becoming greater. It remains to be seen if this is a natural progression of the earth over time or if humans are exacerbating it, but it is clear that there is a change occurring in today’s weather patterns. The purpose of this literature review is to look at current studies in climatology and the role that Geographic Information Systems (GIS) plays in helping to visualize the effects weather is having on the Earth. Climatology and GIS Climatology and GIS separately are broad fields covering many topics that vary in scope. To receive an overview of climatology and GIS used in conjunction with each other, the article that will be first discussed examines the use of GIS in the field of climatology and meteorology. We will write a custom essay sample on The Role of Geographic Information Systems in Climatology or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The study breaks down climatology and meteorology into the subfields of agriculture, ecology, forestry, health and disease, weather forecasting, hydrology, transport, urban environments, and energy (Chapman 2007). The article looks at applied research in spatial climate data. Results of this study provide evidence that the use of GIS is an integral part of the ongoing study of climatology. GIS has evolved into a powerful management tool used for capturing, modeling, analyzing, and displaying spatial data (Chapman 2007). Since climatological phenomena happen in spatial variables, it makes GIS a useful application to manage spatial climate datasets. Applications of Climatology and GIS GIS maps have enabled researchers looking at environmental impacts of the variations of climate at a variety of scales, but I will focus on two main aspects of applications within the field of Climatology. The two focuses will be on applications within agriculture and ecology. This section will outline literature that use GIS as a tool to analyze climate datasets. Agriculture There is potential for GIS to help in the field of agricultural climatology by helping to predict yields, fertility, and future climate models. An example of this is provided by (McKenney 2000) using thin plate splines to model climate gradients in Canada to determine plant hardiness zones. By using a trivariate position of latitude, longitude, and elevation, maps of temperature, and rainfall enabled the mapping of each variable required for plant hardiness at a 1km resolution (McKenney 2000). The methods that are provided show a repeatable, objective approach to mapping climate and plant hardiness that can be used throughout the world. Spatially reliable estimates of climate provide a better basis for assessing climate impacts, with or without climate change. Elevation is an important part for determining both temperature and precipitation. When overlaying the new map of plant hardiness with the old map of plant hardiness in Canada you can see that changes are more pronounced in western Canada, and are consistent with what is known about climate change. The zones are associated with probabilities of plant survival in relation to average; broad scale conditions (McKenney 2000). Extreme variations, local topography and human interventions can have a significant impact on plant survival in any particular location. Another example of the use of GIS techniques in agricultural climatology is in McKenney et al. (2007) where they look at traditional plant hardiness zone maps to identify areas that are relatively homogenous with respect to climate conditions that affect plant survival. Using climate envelopes to map the potential range of plant species in North America in wild and cultivated settings they show the predicated climate change impacts can be incorporated into models. The plant hardiness zones are traditionally defined by using extreme minimum temperature (McKenney 2007). In their different approach to looking at traditional plant hardiness zones, they attempt to develop a generic, transparent, and repeatable process for showing the potential distribution of large numbers of perennial plant species. In order to accomplish this they summarize the minimum and maximum values for different climate variables at locations where a species is known to survive and then mapping the potential range of the species by identifying all locations with conditions that fall within those extents (McKenney 2007). With the climate envelope approach, it is relatively simple way to incorporate predicted impacts related to climate change. In the study, (Dockerty 2003), they use climate models to show the potential impacts of climate change on nature reserves by looking at 241 plant species from a sample of 86 nature reserves in Great Britain. Present-day and potential future climatic values over the next 100 years are compared against the climatic ranges of the species to determine future climatic suitability for species at each site. The results showed that warming climate would favor a large portion of plants on Scottish reserves and be less favorable for many plant reserves in the south of England (Dockerty 2003). They overlayed climate envelopes of the same species found together as fossils to estimate past temperatures at the site from the area of overlap of climatic envelopes. They created the model using ArcGIS to show potential future values of variables at different location derived from three climate change scenarios. Future climate scenarios are constructed and the climatic values from these scenarios are used with the climate space models to determine the likelihood of the species occurrence at the location in the future as the climate changes (Dockerty 2003). The results in the article show that the models used are capable of providing a tool to help conservation resources towards protecting communities in regions that are least likely to be negatively impacted by climate change. Species respond individually to climate change and can be evaluated at a particular location to show that increases in temperature will lead to climates that are more optimal to some species and less optimal for the same species in different locations. A GIS-based computer model was used to identify climate change adaptation ssues arising in regional agricultural production systems in the article, (Sposito 2009), by integrating land suitability analysis with uncertainty analysis to determine optimal agricultural land at a regional scale. This study involves the South West region of Victoria, Australia and looks at current and future climate conditions and the adaptation responses to the challenge posed by climate change. The article identifies areas that are under threat of productivity decline and suggest alternative agriculture commodities that would be more suitable under different climate conditions. The model uses multi-criteria decision making and GIS to map the degree of land suitability for the growth of several agricultural commodities, given current and future climate conditions (Sposito 2009). Agriculture covers 60% of the state’s total land surface and was the reason Victoria, Australia was chosen for this model. The baseline year chosen was 2000 and the future predictions were for the year 2050. The model was created in ArcView GIS and ranked areas in terms of suitability for the growth of the commodity under consideration. The regional areas that may be unsuitable for a current agricultural system may one day become suitable in the future because of climate change. Exploring the possibility of interpreting climate impacts and presenting it in GIS-based visualizations that can be used at the local level can be found in Dockerty (2005). A GIS database was constructed for Norfolk in Great Britain to show the agricultural landscape that undergoes climate change in the 2020s. The article focuses on expressing climate change in a visual format because it can be absorbed by the human brain much more efficiently than textual information. They link GIS databases with more sophisticated visualization tools to be able to alter viewpoints, terrain, or positions of buildings and vegetation (Dockerty 2005). It is necessary to create future scenarios that exclude climate change effects alongside scenarios that include climate change effects to be able to prepare for all possible future outcomes. GIS is also used in agriculture to monitor future air temperature and precipitation that will have potential effects on plant yields. In Ninyerola (2000), the article studies the modeling and mapping of air temperature and total precipitation using GIS techniques. The geographical area that is used is in northeast Spain where they developed multiple regression analysis between meteorological variables and geographical variables to produce a general model that can be used over a relatively large area. These techniques are used to create accurate and objective monthly and annual climatic maps of air temperature and precipitation that can be used to show where plant species will be able to grow with maximum yields and to show where future problems will occur for plant species due to temperature and precipitation changes over time. Ecology In much the same way that potential crop distribution can be modeled with GIS, ecological biodiversity can be modeled with respect to spatial climate datasets (Chapman 2007). For example, Eatherall (1996) looks at future climate scenarios that have been applied to five United Kingdom sites to see if they are sensitive to climate change using a model based approach. The model is used to show the effect of the other sub-models on the grassland model. The linked model consists of water balance, grassland, evapotranspiration, and interactions between sub-models (Eatherall 1996). The models show that there is a significant impact on United Kingdom grassland productivity and water resource planning due to impacts of future climate change. In Cowell (2003), they look at uncertainty theories with GIS for modeling coastal hazards of climate change. They present a GIS model that integrates existing predictive model using a differential approach, random simulation, and fuzzy set theory for predicting coastal hazards as effects of sea-level induced recession and storm erosion (Cowell 2003). The model can be used to predict different scenarios of coastal hazards with uncertainties, but can be used in other fields that involve predictive modeling under uncertainty. The coastal impact of climate change looks at greater frequency of storm surge, sea-level rise of ocean water, and the changes in wave patterns. The uncertainties that are involved in this study are a result of the highly complex nature of coastal processes that are found across time and space. Grid raster-based modeling techniques were used in this model. The study area, Fingal Bay Beach, is located north of Sydney, Australia and was selected because it represented a typical beach in SE Australia. This study shows that differential, fuzzy set, and random simulation models can be combined to predict hazard probability due to coastal impact of climate change (Cowell 2003). The demand for developing and using environmentally friendly renewable energy has lead to an increase in the use of wind farms. In the article Baban et. al (2000) looks at applying a GIS-assisted approach to locating wind farms in the United Kingdom. A GIS model was created to apply criteria using two different methods to combine layers that were first weighted as equally important and then were graded as perceived importance. The criteria used to locate areas that are suitable for wind farms were compiled by sending out questionnaires to both the public and private sector. The major factors that were included were proximity to residential areas, noise, greenbelt, topography, ecology, conservation areas, and distance from electricity gridlines (Baban 2000). GIS was used to give weights to each layer and different scores to each attribute within the layers using reclassification and buffer generation methods. The maps show the most and least suitable areas for locating wind farms. GIS has the capability to manage large amounts of data while being able to be used for modeling impacts of proposed and operational sites to avoid future climate change problems created by current energy resources. Conclusions In recent years, the use of GIS in a variety of applications involving the process of climatological data has increased. GIS can be used to derive and enhance data by taking climate change data and producing maps that can be used for a variety of different applications. The use of GIS has increased due to the more commercial presence of GIS products on the market, as well as the advances in computer processing ability. As computers become increasingly able to handle high-resolution datasets, the easier it will be to use GIS in climatology and to manage the manipulation of spatial data. They have shown through applications in agriculture and ecology climatology support the future use of GIS as a legitimate tool to be used in both scholarly and professional applications.