Adolescent Sexual Development

Adolescent Sexual Development Kari Svendsen Abstract: This paper touches on the importance of providing public awareness and education to our educators, parents, and students so that we reduce the number of girls that have onset puberty. It also provides information on how we can teach parents to be supportive during adolescents, which can be a difficult and confusing time for students, which is more important than ever. With the improvement of sexual education programs taught in our school systems, parents and teachers can adequately prepare students for the negative effects of sexual activity before it is too late. The numbers of adolescents engaging in sexual activity, STIs and teen pregnancies can be reduced. Adolescent Sexual Development Sexual maturation and growth spurts both accompany puberty and can be a difficult and confusing time for adolescents, especially with children hitting puberty at an earlier age than ever. It is essential that adolescents have the support of their teachers, parents, and physicians at this transitional time in their lives. Even though sexual education is taught in our school systems, these students are inadequately prepared and a staggering number of students are exposed to sexually transmitted infections and teen pregnancy; not to mention the emotional distress that adolescents will endure. It takes years for the average adolescents’ body to go through the process of sexual maturation. The onset of puberty is not triggered by any particular event, but rather a multitude of things such as stress, genetics, nutrition and diet as well as the amount of body fat to name a few (Gentry, p. 1, 2002). There is also a growth spurt that is brought on by puberty when the skeletal system grows rapidly. This can occur in girls starting at age 10 and boy at age 10.5; this growth spurt usually ends around 19 for girls and 20 for boys (Headlee, p. 7, 2010). Hands legs and feet are first and then the growth spurt will hit the torso; in girls, the sexual hormone will attribute to broader hips. These growths spurts can be an awkward time for adolescent children as their bodies are evening out. Some researchers say there is no external cause for early onset puberty, while others say different. Some researchers have linked obesity as a contributing factor (Parent, p. 670, 2003). The inactivity and poor diet of our youth is putting them at risk for a higher percentage of body fat which leads to premature puberty. Environmental chemical have also been linked to an onset of puberty. Chemicals are added to almost all commercial cleaning products to include: shampoo, teething toys, bottles. Chemicals can also be in the food that adolescents eat. Another onset of puberty can be linked to the absence of a girl’s father; researchers have shown that the longer the girls has been away from her father the earlier she will start her first menstrual cycle (Parent, p. 671, 2003). Research findings show that girls who are ill-prepared for the physical and emotional changes brought on by puberty will have the most difficult time (Gentry, p. 1, 2002). This means that providing adolescents a stable and encouraging environment with family, teachers, and physicians is crucial. Beth Ross, Director of student services at Rockdale County School, expresses her concern of parent and teacher involvement after uncovering a syphilis outbreak in her school system. Rockdale County is a small, close-knit community, made up of wealthy families in a desirable part of Atlanta. Here, at least 19 females and 4 males were part of the syphilis outbreak (Ross, 1999). Through interviews and investigations it was learned that at the center of the outbreak were a group of young girls that were no older than 16 (Ross, 1999). The sexual activity would sometimes be accompanied with the use of drugs and alcohol, and the sexual interactions were with slightly older boys. These interactions would take place at one of the girl’s home when her parents were not in the house. These girls not only had sex with each other but also with all of the other boys in an open and communal environment. Beth Ross has been a counselor for over 16 years and says that the needs of children into today’s world are the same as 16 years ago when she started; they have not changed (Ross, 1999). These children have the same needs, the only thing that has changed is that both sets of parents are now working and have become too â€Å"busy† (Ross, 1999). She also points out that the young girls, who are at such shockingly young ages, that are sexually active and it stems from being asked as well as needing to feel loved and wanted. This comes from something lacking in the childhood for them to desire to become sexually active at such a young age. She mentions that these students are lacking limits and structure in their lives, lack of parents being there for them to say this is how far you go and what is acceptable. Sixteen years ago parents were more adamant about what children were and were not allowed to do so there was no question in their mind what their limits were. Some par ents say that they did not like the way they were raised and that they would never treat their child the way they were treated, but this is when the structure they hated as a child goes out of the window and where rebellion begins. Rules and structure are crucial to children. After the follow-up interview was conducted at Rockdale County, some 6-12 months later, a few of the girls were still sexually active and also still used drugs. There were just a few of the girls that said they were no longer sexually active due to the stricter rules and supervision enforced by their parents. The girls interviewed all seemed to agree that there was still a lack of communication with their parents and that no real action had been taken since the outbreak occurred. By the end of the follow-up interviews and investigation 8 of the over 20 girls were pregnant (Ross, 1999). An extensive study has been conducted by Selma N. Caal, in 2008, on high-risk sexual behavior. Caal reported that youth with highly cohesive families and low peer norms reported low risk sexual behavior; however, youth with highly cohesive families and high peer norms reported high risk sex (Caal, 2008). Youth coming from low cohesive families did not base their sexuality on their peers. If youth perceived that the peers were okay with and engaging in sexual behavior then they were more likely to be sexually active themselves (Caal, 2008). During adolescence teens try to separate from their parents and become closer to their peers, so parental communication regarding sexual behavior is crucial to the youth’s sexual activity. The more time that parents spend away from their children, the more room for risky behavior. In a time when dual parents are working full-time jobs is it harder than ever to stay in communication and enforce rules. Age also plays a factor with risky sexual behavior; as older youth were more likely for this behavior, possibly because of their sexual maturity level (Caal, 2008). Also media plays a very strong role in adolescent sexual behavior as they are exposed to it constantly, and can send messages that high-risk sexual behavior is welcomed and accepted. The age of youth engaging in sexual activity drops each year and is a great concern which proves that our youth should be better educated and monitored not only at home but also in the school system. The numbers of high-risk sexual behavior adolescents could be significantly reduced by educating our youth and holding them more accountable. Advocate for Youth reports the effectiveness of sexual education in schools has contributed to lower numbers in teen pregnancy, lower numbers of youth engaging in unprotected sex, and also delayed initiation of sexual behavior altogether (McKeon, 2006). Sexual education seems to be failing as a whole, as there are 1 million people a day who acquire a sexually transmitted infection (STI) (WHO, 2013). We are failing our youth and our world at a rate of 30 million people a month, 360 million people a year (WHO, 2013). Our adolescents account for nearly half of these numbers. STI’s are causing major infertility problems and in some cases even death. They are also costing billions of dollars annually. Unprotected sex and teen birth is still a problem; however, we are moving in the right direction as a 9 percent drop was recorded from 2009-2010 (Hamilton Ventura, 2012). This puts us at a record low rate of 34.3 births per 1000 girls between the ages of 15-19 (Hamilton Ventura, 2012). Although numbers are lowering, this is a still a major concern for both mother and child as they are rarely able to financially support themselves and cost the public 10.9 billion dollars annually (Hamilton Ventura, 2012). These staggering numbers can change if we start providing The Development Assets, created by the Search Institute, to our youth; this is a guarantee. These assets are 40 research-based encouraging qualities that affect adolescent development. By providing them to our youth, we are helping them to become caring, responsible, and productive adults. These assets have be proven to work and are quickly becoming the most positive youth development in the United States and globally. All across the world and now in other countries it is apparent the positive affect that the assets have been for all cultural and socioeconomic groups (Institute, 2007). Also, high-risk behavior is better predicted by the level of Developmental Assets one has, than their family, resources, or location. However, like with Rockdale County, most of our adolescents will have less than 40 Assets (Institute, 2007). The Developmental Assets include things such as family support, positive family communication, and service to others as well as integrity, honesty, and restraint to name a few. These assets are a stepping stone and a guideline for parents. They can especially be used in a â€Å"busy† lifestyle with both parents working full-time jobs. This checklist allows no excuses for parents who are at a loss and do not know what to do with their child. It also teaches parents and teachers how to hold the children responsible and how to discipline the children instead of allowing their actions to continue. These assets can be appropriately used from the time they are 3 years old through adolescence, and would help in never seeing situation like Rockdale County arise. The more Developmental Assets that a person is exposed to the more likely they are to thrive and be successful. Researchers show that parents can set their children up for a bright future and almost guarantee that they will not be involved in high-risk behavior such as drug and alcohol use, sexual activity and drug use, by providing more assets to their child (Institute, 2007). When our adolescents have more assets they are more diverse, have better opportunities and less likely to become involved in high-risk behaviors. There are also a few Developmental Assets that can possibly help our children to prolong their puberty. One external asset of empowerment is safety, which can be considered as the normal external world but also internal. Parents are responsible for what their children use as far as cleaning products and the food they eat, which both contain chemicals and can increase onset puberty. It is the parent’s responsibility to provide safe and desirable products and food for their children. This also leads to obesity, as it can promote onset maturation. Another external asset is constructive use of time; this means that children should participate in weekly sports club or organization within the school or community. By keeping our children active there will be less room for obesity. Another contribution to onset maturation was the absentee father, which is also covered in the assets in the support section; it states that family should provide children with a constant loving and supporting relationship. Some reasons for an absent father cannot always be avoided; however, providing the child’s father that just chooses to be absent may be swayed if he were introduced to the determent it would cause his daughter. Again, following the Developmental Assets will not only allow us to prolong puberty in girls but also allow us to provide a promising future for our children. Before researching and learning more about sexual behavior in our youth I would have said that if there were sexual education classes in our schools that they shou ld be kept to a minimum and not go into much detail on the topic, this is because of how I grew up. As a family and a school we were not open about our sexuality at all, nor did we have sexual education in our school system. And I personally, did not engage in high-risk sexual behavior nor did I know it was a concern. This could be contributed to my own Developmental Assets that my parents provided me with as there were very few, if any, that I was not given. My views have changed drastically on the need for better and more thorough sexual education programs in our schools after seeing the drastic change in numbers of teen pregnancy and STIs. We have to prevent the age of youth engaging in sexual activity dropping each year; it is a great concern and our responsibility to educate them in schools. We should provide the parents and teachers education classes addressing these issues as they may not have been educated themselves. Schools should make information more available to parents and maybe they will see the importance of this issue. Brochures that address concerns and causes for onset puberty would be beneficial to parents, and also providing information to parents at PTO meetings, and other meetings when they already have the parent’s attention. Our schools are concerned with meetings about budgets and addressing lunch programs and ignoring important issues such as sexual development. It is one thing to teach our students, but we must also teach their parents. Advocate for Youth reports the effectiveness of sexual education in schools has contributed to lower numbers in teen pregnancy, lower numbers of youth engaging in unprotected sex, and also delayed initiation of sexual behavior altogether (McKeon, 2006). I think this proves that sexual education in our schools without a doubt needed. Schools can provide sexual development information at correct ages instead of local news and radio stations trying to stop the spread of sexual activity and STIs. I know now just riding in the car with my daughter in the middle of the day listening to the radio with my daughter, there are condom commercials. She is 7 years old and should not be exposed to that for many years to come. I think the internet and television are far worse and if we are not around to monitor our children from a young age then they will be more likely to partake in these kinds of activities. School is the place to educate our children where they can ask questions and learn from adults, not just assuming on their own and among their peers. We can also offer students counseling and behavioral interventions, hopefully before, but especially after children like Rockdale County, as this would provide both parents and students to find out the underlying cause for wanting to engage in sexual activity. If counseling and treatment were more readily available student would not continue to engage in inappropriate behavior and quite possibly be prevented from becoming teen parents as we also saw with the Rockdale county students. These counseling sessions and treatments can be a more intense version of the sexual education classes in our schools that can provide students who are already sexually active and those who want to become sexually active. They can provide both pre as well as post STI test counseling so that teens can recognize symptoms of these infections, be encouraged to let their partner know, and not go untreated. Also, counseling and intervention should use condom promotion to influence students to practice safe sex and lower the risk of teen pregnancy. By providing public awareness and education to our educators, parents, and students we reduce the number of girls that have onset puberty. Parents being taught to be supportive during adolescents, which can be a difficult and confusing time for students, is more important than ever. With the improvement of sexual education programs taught in our school systems, parents and teachers can adequately prepare students for the negative effects of sexual activity before it is too late. The numbers of adolescents engaging in sexual activity, STIs and teen pregnancies can be reduced. References: Caal, Selma M. (2008) Adolescent Sexual Development: Contextualizing a Cognitive Process in the Decision to Engage in Protective or Risky Sexual Behavior. George Mason University.UMI. Web. 14 Dec. 2013. http://denhamlab.gmu.edu/Theses and Dissertations PDFs/Caal2008.pdf>. CDC. (2011). Effective HIV and STD Prevention Programs for Youth.Sexual Behaviors.http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/sexualbehaviors/effective_programs.htm Gentry, J. (2002). Developing Assests. Washington: American Physcological Assosication. Hamilton, B., Ventura, S. (2012). NCHS Data Brief. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved December 18, 2013, from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db89.htm Headlee, K. (2010). Growth and Development, Ages 13 to 17à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ What You Need to Know. Developing Adolescents, 1, 7. Retrieved December 16, 2013, from http://lee.ifas.ufl.edu/FCS/FCSPubs/Fact_Sheets/Growth_and_Development_13-17.pdf McKeon, B. (2006). Effective Sex Education. Advocates for Youth. Retrieved December 19, 2013, from http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/publications450 Parent, A. (2003). The Timing Of Normal Puberty And The Age Limits Of Sexual Precocity: Variations Around The World, Secular Trends, And Changes After Migration. Endocrine Reviews, 24(5), 668-671. Parke, R. D. Gauvain, M. (2009).Child psychology: A contemporary viewpoint(7th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill. Ross, B. (1999). The Lost Children of Rockdale County. PBS. Retrieved December 21, 2013, from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/georgia/interviews/beth.html Institute. (2007). 40 Developmental Assets. Search Institute. Retrieved December 12, 2013, from http://www.search-institute.org/what-we-study/developmental-assets Sexually transmitted infections (STIs). (2013). WHO. Retrieved December 20, 2013, from http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs110/en/

Guy Montag as a Hero Essay

When we hear the word ‘hero’ we think about those who fight for our country out at war or those who put their lives in jeopardy everyday protecting their community like a police officer or fireman, all of these citizens doing this for a small wage in comparison to Rap artists who rhyme profane words making millions of dollars. However you don’t have to live on the streets or have more money than sense to be a hero, you just have to make a difference. In the end identifying someone as a hero or a villain is up to you, it’s in the eye of the beholder. Guy Montag was a fireman for his community and made his mark as a hero through countless acts of courage, bravery, and emotion in the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. Montag stood up for his rights on books and defied his government, even if it meant losing hisfamily, friends, job, and property all in order to do what he believed in. Bradbury symbolizes Montag as a sympathetic hero through the use of diction. Montag is one of the only characters in the novel to actually feel an array of different emotions and understand them. For instance, after the old woman had stood atop the pile of burning books and burned with them, Montag pondered what he saw, â€Å"There must be something in books, things we can’t imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. †(51) and for the first time Montag was exploring feelings he was not very familiar with, like curiosity and sympathy. For the first time the reader gets the feeling that Montag acts differently to the rest of the characters and may be on to something due to his curiosity. Montag shows sympathy in a conversation with Millie, â€Å"A man had to take a long time to put them down on paper†(52) referencing the author of the novels that he and his fellow firemen had burnt. Montag gradually becomes a hero however this results in getting himself into trouble. As the book progresses it is fair to say that â€Å"Curiosity killed the cat† as Montag got caught red handed. Courage, the second attribute that Montag performs,can be seen through the use of imagery. Throughout the novel Montag shows that he has courage to do the right thing even though things are against him. For example, â€Å"Montag places his hand on the woman’s elbow and says, ‘You can come with me'†(39) referring to the old woman who refused to leave her precious books. He tries to convince the old woman to get out of the house which was about to be burned even though other men had already told her to leave. This act requires courage because in a society presented in Fahrenheit 451, nobody cares about others and by trying to help the old woman; Montag creates suspicion toward himself by the other firemen, all because he was trying to save someone’s life. A second example of his courageousness can be found in the river scene. Bradbury paints a picture in the readers mind, â€Å"A storm of light fell upon the river and Montag dived under the great illumination as if the sun had broken the clouds†(139) using specific word choices and exact detail. In addition to the excellent imagery Montag takes a ‘leap of faith’ or in his case ‘plunge of faith’ as he plummets into the river in his attempt at escaping the mechanical hound. Whether it was fluke or not the reader doesn’t know, but Montag safely escaped and stumbled upon an interesting group of men. As stated before, the hero in this book is the main character, Guy Montag which is depicted through character development. Montag is a very curious and careful man, and from the start, different from the rest. A lot of Montag’s character is revealed when he is talking to Clarisse. He’s a good listener and Clarisse spikes his curiosity even more, for example, when she describes to him how she enjoys opening her mouth when it rains, he is extremely surprised, but after she leaves, he tilts his head back and tries it too. (21) Clarisse even remarks, â€Å"You’re not like the others. I’ve seen a few; I know. When I talk, you look at me. When I said something about the moon, you looked at the moon, last night. The others would never do that† (21). He is a very thoughtful man, and has a sensitivity about him. He also is a searcher for a deeper meaning in life. He says, â€Å"We need to be really bothered once in a while. How long is it since you’ve been really bothered? About something important, about something real? † (49). Montag is also imperfect. He is really rash and is filled with a passion that sometimes cripples his goals. He can be destructive, like when he rashly kills Beatty (113). He gets confused and overwhelmed with tough situations and sometimes doesn’t know how to get out of them. All and all Bradbury knew he wanted to make Montag the hero and builds that image bit by bit. Montag represents truth. He represents the want for happiness in our lives and the search for why things are like they are. He wants to find TRUE happiness. Not the happiness everyone else thinks they have. Montag goes on his own search, breaking laws, and doing anything to find out the truth of his own life and that is why he represents the abstract idea of truth. Fahrenheit 451 depicts that a character’s personality may have many more facets than are first visible. Bradbury is able to refract the crystal of Montag’s character, so that it reflects into each reader’s heart a different aspect of humanity. Once Montag becomes more human, Bradbury makes it nearly impossible for the reader to hold grudges about his past. Using this as a tool, Montag, the first apparent antagonist of the story, overcomes the government, which is the real antagonist, and emerges as the hero. From a work literature you have read in or out of school, select a character that, in your opinion, is heroic. In a well-developed composition, identify that character and explain why he or she is heroic. Thesis: Montag is eventually known as a heroic character.

Friedrich Nietzsche Essay

Existentialism provides a moving account of the agony of being in the world. The spirit of existen- tialism has a long history in philosophy. But it be- came a major movement in the second half of the 20th century. Existentialism is not a systematic body of thought like Marxism or psychoanalysis. Instead, it is more like an umbrella under which a very wide range of thinkers struggled with ques- tions about the meaning of life. Much of the appeal and popularity of Existential- ism is due to the sense of confusion, the crisis, and the feeling of rejection and rootlessness that Euro- peans felt during World War II and its aftermath. Existentialism’s focus on each person’s role in cre- ating meaning in their life was a major influence on the Phenomenological and Humanistic traditions in psychology and on the â€Å"human potential† move- ment that emerged from them. Rene Descartes (1596-1650) said, â€Å"Conquer your- self rather than the world. †. To modern existential- ists this means that the World itself has no real meaning or purpose. It is not the unfolding expres- sion of Human Destiny or a Divine plan, or even a set of natural laws. The only meaning is that which we create by acts of will. To have a meaningful life we have to act. But we should act without hope. Acting is meaningful but it doesn’t create meaning that lasts beyond the acts themselves or beyond our own lifetime. You are what you do – while you are doing it – and then nothing. (Very depressing. ) In The Myth of Sisyphus, Albert Camus (pronounced â€Å"Kam-moo†) (1913-1960) describes life as a kind of hopeless, endless, uphill labor. Hence, the only true problem is that of suicide. Yet, he rejects nihilism; for the human being must fight and never accept defeat. The problem is to be a saint without a God. The last judgment takes place everyday. The human being must do his best, try for what he can within the confinements of his situation. Camus describes Sisyphus condemned by the gods to push a stone up a hill over and over, only to have it roll back down each time he reaches the top. A task that can never be completed. But he finds meaning in the fact that Sisyphus at least gets to decide each time whether to carry on or end it all. Camus says, â€Å"The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy. † Although there can never be any meaning in Sisy- phus’ task, there is meaning is choosing each time to continue. Despite encompassing a staggering range of phi- losophical, religious, and political ideologies, the underlying concepts of existentialism are simple: Mankind has free will. Life is a series of choices, creating stress. Few decisions are without any negative conse- quences. Some things are irrational or absurd, without explanation. If one makes a decision, he or she must follow through. Notes on Existentialism by Tanweer Akram. The fundamental problem of existentialism is con- cerned with the study of being. The human being’s existence is the first and basic fact; the human be- ing has no essence that comes before his existence. The human being, as a being, is nothing. This nothingness and the non-existence of an essence is the central source of the freedom the human being faces in each and every moment. The human being Notes on Existentialism Compiled for PSY 345 (Fall 2004) Existentialism Notes 2 has liberty in view of his situation, in decisions which makes himself and sets himself to solves his problems and live in the world. Thrown into the world, the human being is con- demned to be free. The human being must take this freedom of being and the responsibility and guilt of his actions. Each action negates the other possible courses of action and their consequences; so the human being must be accountable without excuse. The human being must not slip away from his re- sponsibilities. The human being must take deci- sions and assume responsibilities. There is no sig- nificance in this world, this universe. The human being cannot find any purpose in life; his existence is only a contingent fact. His being does not emerge from necessity. If a human being rejects the false pretensions, the illusions of his existence hav- ing a meaning, he encounters the absurdity, the fu- tility of life. The human being’s role in the world is not predetermined or fixed; every person is com- pelled to make a choice. Choice is one thing the human being must make. The trouble is that most often the human being refuses to choose. Hence, he cannot realize his freedom and the futility of his existence. Basically existence is of two types: authentic and inauthentic forms of existence. Authentic existence is contrasted with dynamic and is the being-for- itself, rising from the human being’s bad faith, by which the human being moves away from the bur- den of responsibility, through this beliefs in dogma and by regarding himself as subject to outside in- fluences and his actions to be predetermined. There is a striking contrast between the authentic and the inauthentic forms of being; the authentic being is the being of the human being and the inau- thentic being is the being for things. Yet, authentic being is only rarely attained by the human being; still it is what the human being must strive to gain. The inauthentic being-in-itself is characteristically distinctive of things; it is what the human being is diseased with for his failure to see himself as and act according as a free agent and his impotency to reject bad faith. Things are only what they are. But the human being is what can be. Things are deter- mined, fixed, and rigid; the human being is free; he can add essence to his life in the course of his life and he is in a constant state of flux and is able to comprehend his situation. The human being does not live in a pre-determined world; the human be- ing is free to realize his aims, to materialize his dreams; hence, he has only the destiny he forges for himself because in this world nothing happens out of necessity. The human being hides himself from freedom by self-deception, acting like a thing, as if he is a pas- sive subject, instead of realizing the authentic be- ing for the human being; this is bad faith. In bad faith, the human being shelter himself from re- sponsibility by not noticing the dimensions of al- ternative courses of action facing him; in bad faith, the human being behaves as others demand of him by conforming to the standards of accepted values and by adopting roles designed for him; in bad faith, the human being loses the autonomy of his moral will, his freedom to decide; in bad faith, the human being imprisons himself within inauthentic- ity for he has refused to take the challenge of re- sponsibility and the anxiety that comes along with his freedom. Anxiety ascends from the human being’s realiza- tion that the human being’s destiny is not fixed but is open to an undetermined future of infinite possi- bilities and limitless scope: The emptiness of fu- ture destiny must be filled by making choices for which he alone will assume responsibility and blame. This anxiety is present at every moment of the human being’s existence; anxiety is part and parcel of authentic existence. Anxiety leads the human being to take decisions and be committed. The human being tries to avoid this anguish through bad faith. But the free human being, in his authenticity, must be involved; for his own actions are only his, his responsibility is to himself, his being is his own. The human being must be com- mitted. To be committed means not to support this in place of that, but to attach a human being’s total- ity to a cause; it is the human being’s existential freedom that leads to total commitment. Existentialist thinkers begin from the human situa- tion in the world; the condition of despair, the modes of existence, the human being’s tendency to avoid authentic existence, his relation to things, his own body, and to other beings, with whom he can- not come into genuine communication, and the sufferings of life. Starting from the study of being, each existentialist thinkers originate their own doc- trines, with their own emphasis on particular as- pects. Very often their viewpoints is conflicting and sometimes contradictory; yet this philosophi-cal attitude of being, as a whole, can be described as the existentialist movement, which stresses upon the â€Å"being† of the human being. Existentialism Notes 3 Additional Notes on Existentialism Existentialism, philosophical movement or ten- dency, emphasizing individual existence, freedom, and choice, that influenced many diverse writers in the 19th and 20th centuries. Major Themes Because of the diversity of positions associated with existentialism, the term is impossible to define precisely. Certain themes common to virtually all existentialist writers can, however, be identified. The term itself suggests one major theme: the stress on concrete individual existence and, consequently, on subjectivity, individual freedom, and choice. Moral Individualism Most philosophers since Plato have held that the highest ethical good is the same for everyone; inso- far as one approaches moral perfection, one resem- bles other morally perfect individuals. The 19th- century Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard, who was the first writer to call himself existential, reacted against this tradition by insisting that the highest good for the individual is to find his or her own unique vocation. As he wrote in his journal, â€Å"I must find a truth that is true for me . . . the idea for which I can live or die. † Other existentialist writers have echoed Kierkegaard’s belief that one must choose one’s own way without the aid of universal, objective standards. Against the traditional view that moral choice involves an objective judgment of right and wrong, existentialists have argued that no objective, rational basis can be found for moral decisions. The 19th-century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche further contended that the indi- vidual must decide which situations are to count as moral situations. SubjectivityAll existentialists have followed Kierkegaard in s tressing the importance of passionate individual action in deciding questions of both morality and truth. They have insisted, accordingly, that per- sonal experience and acting on one’s own convic- tions are essential in arriving at the truth. Thus, the understanding of a situation by someone involved in that situation is superior to that of a detached, objective observer. This emphasis on the perspec- tive of the individual agent has also made existen- tialists suspicious of systematic reasoning. Kierke- gaard, Nietzsche, and other existentialist writers have been deliberately unsystematic in the exposi- tion of their philosophies, preferring to express themselves in aphorisms, dialogues, parables, and other literary forms. Despite their antirationalist position, however, most existentialists cannot be said to be irrationalists in the sense of denying all validity to rational thought. They have held that rational clarity is desirable wherever possible, but that the most important questions in life are not accessible to reason or science. Furthermore, they have argued that even science is not as rational as is commonly supposed. Nietzsche, for instance, asserted that the scientific assumption of an orderly universe is for the most part a useful fiction. Choice and Commitment Perhaps the most prominent theme in existentialist writing is that of choice. Humanity’s primary dis- tinction, in the view of most existentialists, is the freedom to choose. Existentialists have held that human beings do not have a fixed nature, or es- sence, as other animals and plants do; each human being makes choices that create his or her own na- ture. In the formulation of the 20th-century French philosopher Jean Paul Sartre, existence precedes essence. Choice is therefore central to human exis- tence, and it is inescapable; even the refusal to choose is a choice. Freedom of choice entails com- mitment and responsibility. Because individuals are free to choose their own path, existentialists have argued, they must accept the risk and respon- sibility of following their commitment wherever it leads. Dread and Anxiety Kierkegaard held that it is spiritually crucial to rec- ognize that one experiences not only a fear of spe- cific objects but also a feeling of general apprehen- sion, which he called dread. He interpreted it as God’s way of calling each individual to make a commitment to a personally valid way of life. The word anxiety (German Angst) has a similarly cru- cial role in the work of the 20th-century German philosopher Martin Heidegger; anxiety leads to the individual’s confrontation with nothingness and with the impossibility of finding ultimate justifica- tion for the choices he or she must make. In the philosophy of Sartre, the word nausea is used for the individual’s recognition of the pure contin- gency of the universe, and the word anguish is used for the recognition of the total freedom of choice that confronts the individual at every mo- ment. Existentialism Notes 4 History Existentialism as a distinct philosophical and liter- ary movement belongs to the 19th and 20th centu- ries, but elements of existentialism can be found in the thought (and life) of Socrates, in the Bible, and in the work of many premodern philosophers and writers. Pascal The first to anticipate the major concerns of mod- ern existentialism was the 17th-century French phi- losopher Blaise Pascal. Pascal rejected the rigorous rationalism of his contemporary Rene Descartes, asserting, in his Pensees (1670), that a systematic philosophy that presumes to explain God and hu- manity is a form of pride. Like later existentialist writers, he saw human life in terms of paradoxes: The human self, which combines mind and body, is itself a paradox and contradiction. Kierkegaard Kierkegaard, generally regarded as the founder of modern existentialism, reacted against the system- atic absolute idealism of the 19th-century German philosopher G. W. F. Hegel, who claimed to have worked out a total rational understanding of hu- manity and history. Kierkegaard, on the contrary, stressed the ambiguity and absurdity of the human situation. The individual’s response to this situation must be to live a totally committed life, and this commitment can only be understood by the indi- vidual who has made it. The individual therefore must always be prepared to defy the norms of soci- ety for the sake of the higher authority of a person- ally valid way of life. Kierkegaard ultimately advo- cated a â€Å"leap of faith† into a Christian way of life, which, although incomprehensible and full of risk, was the only commitment he believed could save the individual from despair. Nietzsche Nietzsche, who was not acquainted with the work of Kierkegaard, influenced subsequent existential- ist thought through his criticism of traditional metaphysical and moral assumptions and through his espousal of tragic pessimism and the life- affirming individual will that opposes itself to the moral conformity of the majority. In contrast to Kierkegaard, whose attack on conventional moral- ity led him to advocate a radically individualistic Christianity, Nietzsche proclaimed the â€Å"death of God† and went on to reject the entire Judeo- Christian moral tradition in favor of a heroic pagan ideal. Heidegger Heidegger, like Pascal and Kierkegaard, reacted against an attempt to put philosophy on a conclu- sive rationalistic basis—in this case the phenome- nology of the 20th-century German philosopher Edmund Husserl. Heidegger argued that humanity finds itself in an incomprehensible, indifferent world. Human beings can never hope to under- stand why they are here; instead, each individual must choose a goal and follow it with passionate conviction, aware of the certainty of death and the ultimate meaninglessness of one’s life. Heidegger contributed to existentialist thought an original em- phasis on being and ontology as well as on lan- guage. Sartre Sartre first gave the term existentialism general currency by using it for his own philosophy and by becoming the leading figure of a distinct move- ment in France that became internationally influen- tial after World War II. Sartre’s philosophy is ex- plicitly atheistic and pessimistic; he declared that human beings require a rational basis for their lives but are unable to achieve one, and thus human life is a â€Å"futile passion. † Sartre nevertheless insisted that his existentialism is a form of humanism, and he strongly emphasized human freedom, choice, and responsibility. He eventually tried to reconcile these existentialist concepts with a Marxist analy- sis of society and history. Existentialism and Theology Although existentialist thought encompasses the uncompromising atheism of Nietzsche and Sartre and the agnosticism of Heidegger, its origin in the intensely religious philosophies of Pascal and Kierkegaard foreshadowed its profound influence on 20th-century theology. The 20th-century Ger- man philosopher Karl Jaspers, although he rejected explicit religious doctrines, influenced contempo- rary theology through his preoccupation with tran- scendence and the limits of human experience. The German Protestant theologians Paul Tillich and Rudolf Bultmann, the French Roman Catholic theologian Gabriel Marcel, the Russian Orthodox philosopher Nikolay Berdyayev, and the German Jewish philosopher Martin Buber inherited many Existentialism Notes 5 of Kierkegaard’s concerns, especially that a per- sonal sense of authenticity and commitment is es- sential to religious faith. Existentialism and Literature A number of existentialist philosophers used liter- ary forms to convey their thought, and existential- ism has been as vital and as extensive a movement in literature as in philosophy. The 19th-century Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky is probably the greatest existentialist literary figure. In Notes from the Underground (1864), the alienated anti- hero rages against the optimistic assumptions of rationalist humanism. The view of human nature that emerges in this and other novels of Dostoyevsky is that it is unpredictable and per- versely self-destructive; only Christian love can save humanity from itself, but such love cannot be understood philosophically. As the character Alyo- sha says in The Brothers Karamazov (1879-80), â€Å"We must love life more than the meaning of it. † In the 20th century, the novels of the Austrian Jew- ish writer Franz Kafka, such as The Trial (1925; trans. 1937) and The Castle (1926; trans. 1930), present isolated men confronting vast, elusive, menacing bureaucracies; Kafka’s themes of anxi- ety, guilt, and solitude reflect the influence of Kierkegaard, Dostoyevsky, and Nietzsche. The in- fluence of Nietzsche is also discernible in the nov- els of the French writers Andre Malraux and in the plays of Sartre. The work of the French writer Al- bert Camus is usually associated with existential- ism because of the prominence in it of such themes as the apparent absurdity and futility of life, the indifference of the universe, and the necessity of engagement in a just cause. Existentialist themes are also reflected in the theater of the absurd, nota- bly in the plays of Samuel Beckett and Eugene Ionesco. In the United States, the influence of exis- tentialism on literature has been more indirect and diffuse, but traces of Kierkegaard’s thought can be found in the novels of Walker Percy and John Up- dike, and various existentialist themes are apparent in the work of such diverse writers as Norman Mailer, John Barth, and Arthur Miller. Conclusion Existentialists make endless claims. They never bother to show how they reached their claims or if these are, indeed, true. The existentialists when he pretends to present a representation of reality pro- vides no cognition; unverifiable assertions may well express powerful and even necessary emo- tions and passions, but that’s best left to the arts and literature. Existentialism is a highly passionate philosophy and, from the outset, seems to aim at a dynamic and fashionable life-style. Also it is mostly unsys- tematic and pays little attention to logic or science. Whatever one makes of its metaphysical claims, one cannot deny that existentialism was able to provide a moving account of the spirit of the con- temporary world and the nausea and frustration of survival. Indeed, it is basically for its richness in psychological insight and its impact on culture that existentialist philosophy will continued to be stud- ied.

The Are You Living On Purpose - 1015 Words

Are you living on purpose? To live on purpose is to live with a sense of being. Living in ones truth in lite of Gods word. Did you know that your purpose is inextricably interwoven with the purpose of others? Like a teacher, their purpose is to deliver instruction to a pupil. They cannot fulfill their purpose if there isn t anyone to teach. Arguably, an airline pilot s purpose is to fly an aircraft from one location to another. However, unless they have access to an airplane and fly from one geographical location to the other, they cannot fulfill their purpose. In both cases, the purpose of the pilot and teacher are tied to something or someone that is beyond them. God has divinely weaved humanity together in the fabric of life†¦show more content†¦This is an arduous process, but it is worth it. It is time consuming but there is great value. At times, our patience will be tested but if we keep the big picture in mind, God will complete the masterpiece of our very lives. Each puzzle piece represents a season and experience and it is through these moments that God grants us glimpses of our purpose. Through this daily process, God grants us the favor and strength to keep putting the pieces together. For this reason, I believe that the Hebrew writer was on target when they encouraged us to never forsake the gathering of the saints (Hebrews 10:25) because the faith community can help us make decisions about where the puzzle pieces may work best. In other words, their Godly advice and wisdom will help to point us in the right direction. Here are five helpful steps in putting the the pieces of purpose together. 1. Don’t rush the process but take your time! Remember that you are on God’s time (Isaiah 55:8) and His time is perfect. The longer you live, the more God will reveal to you who you are. Enjoy the journey of learning what His purpose is for you. Prayer, meditation, worship and praise is not a sprint, but a marathon. Take your time to get to know your Creator through what John Wesley calls, The Means of Grace. 2. Take the puzzle out of the box and work on it. In other words, think outside the box! Don t worry about finishing the puzzleShow MoreRelatedA Reflection On My Life1441 Words   |  6 Pagesthought of the future. Every day we are bombarded with many old and new ideas of how to have live a fulfilled life. As a young teenager myself, I tend to not worry about my purpose or meaning in this world. But, as I’m getting older there are constant thoughts that go to my head about my purpose in life. Living without a purpose or meaning creates a sense of incompleteness with the quality of life we live with. Concepts that we are taught while we are young produces a plan to be guide to live lifeRead MoreThe Goals Of Making Life Worth Living1167 Words   |  5 Pagesget anything substantial. There are also people living without wondering about the purpose of life, like the ship into the sea does not determine what direction it goes. Then there are people intent with very great thoug hts but end up with very small business. Success or failure depends on so many reasons, which mainly features is purpose. Therefore Socrates has stated: â€Å"the unexamined life is not worth living†. In order to make one’s life worth living, this statement strongly addresses the idea thatRead MoreArticle On : Discover Your Life Purpose985 Words   |  4 PagesDiscover Your Life Purpose By Tamara Baruhovich | Submitted On November 02, 2008 Recommend Article Article Comments Print Article Share this article on Facebook Share this article on Twitter Share this article on Google+ Share this article on Linkedin Share this article on StumbleUpon Share this article on Delicious Share this article on Digg Share this article on Reddit Share this article on Pinterest Expert Author Tamara Baruhovich Not too long ago, people used to live life in a very similarRead MoreTruth vs Happiness Fahrenheit 4511272 Words   |  6 PagesTruth vs. Happiness Essay (Fahrenheit 451- Ray Bradbury) Submitted on Wednesday, March 27th Submitted By: William Would you rather be happy in your life and live in ignorance or would you rather live your life with more of a purpose? 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Last summer I visited Armstrong Redwoods Natural Preserve near the Russian River. These trees are the tallest living things on our planet! Some are taller than 350 feet, and over 2,000 years old. Every one of those huge and awesome trees started out as a small seed, as something you could literally hold in your hand. Yet in that small seed was the entire blueprint for the manifestation and full-self-expressionRead MoreWould It Matter Tomorrow?916 Words   |  4 Pageswon’t even remember you or the people around you, in two hundred years. Why is it that people do what they do? Nagel argues how religious people would answer this question. Can you live a life without having to worry about the meaning behind it? What is the meaning of life to you? There is no secret about it, the way our lives work is all the same. We are born, we live, and then, we die. If we all die at the end, then what is the purpose of living at all? When I say the word living, I mean everythingRead MoreCommon Perspectives On The Meaning Of Life800 Words   |  4 Pagesmeaning of life. The religious perspectives tend to ascribe to an ‘outside’ force, which provides purpose and meaning. More importantly, the external force or spirit is what guides the behaviour, often not just in this life, but the one after. The world has experienced a number of religions and even today, you have a number of different ways to practice and believe. If you were to make a simplification, you could divide religions to the western religions, such as Christianity, and the eastern religionsRead MoreObtaining A Life Of Meaning And Purpose In Life Is Something1579 Words   |  7 Pageslife of meaning and purpose in life is something that every human being struggles with. Trying to find yourself and locate your value in society. Even today it’s one of the biggest struggles. 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