Existentialism - God Essay Example for Free

Existentialism God Essay What is the meaning of life. The meaning of our lives, the purpose, and the dreams both dashed and realized, and the expectations forced upon us by others. In other words how do you translate what life is? Translation means to explain in simple terms. What is it supposed to be about? There are different answers for different people at different times in their lives. A persons lifetime is filled with self-examination. Why am I here? What am I doing? Is this as good as it gets? You have a beginning. Youre in the middle, and your story hasnt ended yet. If one would recognize the greatest things we have in life, they would not be asking this question. These great things are faith, hope, and love. Faith is the one that can keep one from asking questions. If God wanted us to know something, then we would know it. In most religions, Christian ones in particular, the question of meaning in life is inextricably wrapped up in a relationship with God. Living in, for, with, and through him. Therefore, how one answers the meaning of life question bears directly the existence of God. Soren Kierkegaard said to be the father of existentialism maintains that there are three basic answers to the question of the meaning of life. He called these stages of life, because he believed that people progressed from one stage to the next. Whether or not that is true, there do seem to be at least three fundamental outlooks on life. One is a life devoted to pleasure. This value perspective can be shown by a person whose only concern is for what they are doing now. They would rather gain from pleasures in life without any regards to how they might affect their future. Another stage is those choosing ethical and moral paths. People who are honest and loyal demonstrate this in their everyday lives. Finally, there is a live religiously. This has been the popular way of life for many of us. It is going to church and practicing your faith Stace argues, the present age has begun to weaken faith in God. The concept of a supernatural person has begun to seem unlikely to many people. The Bible no longer seems as respected for many Catholics. While many people say they believe in God they are beginning question whether faith and God are the answer to the meaning of life. Most of us whether we choose to admit it or not show that material things are what we base our lives around. These ideas are at the heart of existentialism, which is a view of life that says that human beings are the creators of their own sense of meaning or purpose. The most famous existentialist, John Paul Sartre in his books and novels developed several themes that portray existentialism. The first is the notion that existence precedes essence. A legacy of traditional philosophy has been that we have a fixed human nature. Sartre challenged that we have no such set purpose or meaning. Our real meaning or who we are is a result of our decisions. We are what we decide. The second associated concept is the importance of human freedom. Sartre believed that every human being has the freedom to live life as we choose to. He believed that we are often terrified by our freedom, and in fact frequently do not want to take responsibility for our own actions. This attitude Sartre called bad faith. Bad faith is an act of self-deception in which we rationalize our actions as being caused by circumstances instead of being self-caused. Basically blaming others for our own deceptions and mistakes. The third major concept of existentialism is the idea of the Absurd. The philosopher Albert Camus popularized this concept. The concept of the absurd is promoted by atheistic existentialist, such as Sartre and Camus. The similarity between Christian and atheistic existentialist is the significance of human freedom and the belief that we are the makers of our own lives One of the most significant pieces of the decline of religious faith is the continuing awareness that there may not be any purpose in life. Both Albert Camus, and Stace, write from this perspective. They believed that traditional Christians have found security in the belief that their lives are invisibly directed or orchestrated by God. That we have assumed that God has a plan for our life, that things happen for a purpose. But as we experience, if we do, the decline of faith or the reality of God in our lives, we come to realize that perhaps we are more responsible than God is for what happens to us. We begin to realize or suspect that it is we, not God, who is the creator of our lives. We are responsible for who we become. Of course, there are always going to be those people who doubt everything God stands for. For them, the body dies and eternity is darkness, I suppose. The fight is going to be, perhaps even as it has been a battle between those who reject God and the, and those who know that God is real. The soul is ones conscience. Without the acknowledgement of that soul, there is no inner voice that helps guide him in the decisions that he makes. Yet, the soulless atheists still seek to discover the meaning of life, and this is where the battle is fought. They are simply stating that there is no meaning to their lives they have no soul, there can be no meaning. Theists realize life isnt fair. People arent created equal. Atheists believe that until all people actually are equal, life is meaningless, and this is the connection we have to make for them. People are not equal, people will never be equal, and if this equality is the requirement for accepting the meaning of life, then life will always be meaningless. If ambition brings about advantage, those advantages must be neutralized. This is the goal of the atheist. If there is nothing but darkness after life, the goal must be to create heaven on earth. Everyone has questioned their purpose in life for example in his article, My Confession, Leo Tolstoy has gone through his life without ever really questioning the meaning. Then he periodically questioned it until one day he eventually could not picture himself living anymore until he came up with an answer to his questionings. All the things he was thought to be living by no longer made any sense or had any meaning at all to him. He tried to answer his question many different ways, but whichever way he went he kept coming up with a dead end. He first thought the answer must be his family. Although he loved them very much, as humans they are confronted with the same questions he is. They are living this lie right along with him pretending that they have all the answers, or just simply ignoring the questions. He next thought the answer to be in his work. Eventually, coming to the realization that with all of his success in art and poetry he had become distracted. He was using art as a decoy. Without knowing his answers to the meaning of life, it was wrong and useless to depict these lies to others. He soon felt as if life had stopped, and was even contemplating suicide when he came to the realization that faith is present in each one of us and is what makes our lives meaningful. Everyone must believe they have a purpose here, for if they didnt they would not be living at all. For life to have true meaning, that meaning must come external to the individual and be somehow consistent with life as a whole. Christians would argue that only God could grant this. It is the helping hand, which guides us through life with an honest and loving heart. Jesus is the only man to lead a true, meaningful life. His life is really the only life of meaning and it is only through him that we have the opportunity to live meaningful lives. Without accepting this answer, one will have only difficulty for the rest of their lives, especially in answering the question of the meaning of life. If you accept this answer, however life is much simpler, because your search is over. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life? John 14:6. The way the truth and the meaning of life itself. There are scriptural accounts of people claiming to see God, and while a witness is more proof than no witness is, there is no way to scientifically verify these statements. They must be accepted purely on faith. Some say that the existence of humans or planetary balance is proof that God exists. These do not prove He exists. Christians believe God is in control of everything in the universe, and created the same. God created all beings, and every atom in this universe. We know God exists because He says He does. The bible is His word, left for us to read. Psychologist Viktor Frankl wrote in Mans search for Meaning that we should not ask what we expect from life, but what life expects from us. He was making the point that people must deal with what daily tasks are put in front of them. Instead of arguing and complaining, we have to take action. Our strength is shown through the soul survival of the hardships we face. Which brings us to the problem philosopher John Hick was facing. In his article, The Problem of Evil he asks the question, if God is perfectly loving, he must wish to abolish evil. But evil exists; therefore God cannot be both omnipotent and perfectly loving. The very fact that there is such suffering gives good cause to doubt not only the value of the whole human race, but also the existence of God. A God that can be said to care in the slightest for whats been created, any God who has power over all things, who is anything other than a horrible monster who finds cruel unusual joy in squeezing every last drop of suffering out of them. It would rule out anything even vaguely resembling the God that Christians speak of. A God who deserves our utter hatred not our worship. However, Hick found that although harsh and painful, evil did have purpose in the world. He stated in his article, the finest characteristics of personal life must have a good deal in common with our present world. It must operate according to general and dependable laws: and it must involve real dangers, difficulties, problems, obstacles, and possibilities of pain, failure, sorrow, frustration, and defeat. Without these sufferings, we would not be able to know what happiness and love really was. Evil provides us with the possibility of soul making, and according to free will, we must choose our fate. The Laws of nature must be abided by without them the world could not exist. God may be creating the lesser of the evils. There must be suffering in order for God to give inner strength that compensates for loss, and gives the sufferer inspiration to live faithfully and effectively. What God provides are the resources so we can face the suffering and make something positive come from it. He gives the direction and power to make these resources work. He gives hope and wisdom to find the way past the suffering, and to learn from it. John Paul II gave us an outline of what is believed to be the salvific meaning of suffering. Suffering as he wrote in the Apostolic Letter Salvifici Doloris, cannot be transformed and changed by a grace form outside, but from within? This question of human suffering is not answered directly by God. As man begins to share in the sufferings of Christ, the answer is discovered within in him. Suffering changes and can either increase or decrease, and in those moments Christians become aware of Gods closeness. We are given inner peace and spiritual joy when we suffer generously. When we are suffering we are never alone we are with Christ. With Christ everything has meaning whether its moments of happiness and peace or of pain and suffering. Nothing in life can be fully explained without God. . Look to the bible and Jesus gives us the answer. Love God with your whole heart, mind, body and soul. Love your neighbor as yourself. If you do this, you are following all the commandments. Humble yourself and give the praise and glory to our creator. God the Father our creator is love and he loves you very much. God created us to worship him and he deserves all the praise because he is the first and the last. He has no beginning and no end. Just look around and take in all the beauty he has created. Everyone is special and made in the image of God. We are nothing without our creator. Sin will keep us from God for he is pure and perfect. It is hard to let go of pleasure and putting ones self first. However, the key to peace and happiness is to surrender your freewill to God, the author of life, and he will give you complete, happiness, peace, contentment and purity you are looking for. That is what we were created for. God is made evident every day when the sun comes up, and there is still air to breathe, and you made it through the night. One cannot believe that everything we know was created by accident. Things are just too perfect to have happened by chance. Man is too corrupt a creature to have invented the beautiful things in the world, as in faith, hope and love. He allows evil in this world because He wants us to have the opportunity to choose either Him or evil, thereby proving our love for Him. If His were the only game in town, then there would not be a free will conscious choice for Him. It is evident that the meaning of life has to far to complex for any one to fully understand or agree on the same answer. All these ideas of these different philosophers are not necessarily inaccurate, just incomplete. All pieces to a puzzle that one has no way of fully figuring out. No one has seemed to accomplish this yet in life. There are so many obstacles that we face as we try to achieve a higher good. Many of these are based in the fact that we are human beings, and because of that are flawed by the ways of our culture. Things such as self-doubt, worry, ignorance, and the values put into our heads since the day we were born all are roadblocks on our way to a higher level. Also being human beings makes vulnerable to the ways of the world around us, so it is not easy to block these things out of our lives. This life is a stage in which we are to develop our minds, bodies, and souls to their highest potential in preparation for the afterlife. Only God could ever really show anyone true meaning.

Army Alpha Testing :: essays research papers

The first mental tests designed to be used for mass, group testing were developed by psychologists for the U.S. Army in 1917-1918. The group tests were modeled after intelligence tests designed for individual use in one-on-one assessment. In developing the mental tests, the psychologists subscribed to the position that one could be quite intelligent, but illiterate or not proficient in the English language. Based on this reasoning, two major tests were developed, the Army Alpha for literate groups, and the Army Beta for illiterates, low literates or non-English speaking (Yerkes, 1921). Both tests were based on the theoretical position that intelligence was an inherited trait, and the assumption was made that native intelligence was being assessed. Each test was made- up of a number of subtests (Figure 4), the contents of which differed depending on whether the test was for literates or illiterates, low literates or non- English speakers. Test 1: Following Oral Directions, involves auding and comprehending simple or complex oral language directions and looking at and marking in the appropriate places on the answer sheet. Test 2: Arithmetical Problems, requires both the ability to read and comprehend the stated problem and the knowledge of arithmetic to perform the computations called for. Test3: Practical Judgment, clearly requires reading and comprehending language. Additionally, however, it requires knowledge of culturally, normative expectations to make the "correct" choice. Test 4: Synonyms-Antonyms, requires specific vocabulary knowledge, in addition to the knowledge of "same" and "opposite." Test 5: Disarranged Sentences, requires semantic knowledge about flies as well as grammatical knowledge to rearrange the sentences, and information has to be held in working memory while rearranging the sentences. Test 6: Number Series Completion, emphasizes reasoning with number knowledge in working memory. Test 7: Analogies, clearly emphasizes culturally determined, semantic knowledge retrieval from the long term memory knowledge base, and also information processing in working memory to detect similarities among the different knowledge domains addressed by the analogies. Test 8: Information is heavily loaded with cultural knowledge requirements. Based on a person's total Alpha score he was assigned a letter grade of A (superior intelligence), B. C+, C (average intelligence), C-, D, or D- (inferior intelligence). The letter grade became the person's mental category, and was taken as a general indicator of the person's native intelligence. This position was held even though there was a clear relationship of Alpha scores to years of schooling, in which much of the special knowledge, vocabulary and cultural knowledge would have been developed. Army Alpha Testing :: essays research papers The first mental tests designed to be used for mass, group testing were developed by psychologists for the U.S. Army in 1917-1918. The group tests were modeled after intelligence tests designed for individual use in one-on-one assessment. In developing the mental tests, the psychologists subscribed to the position that one could be quite intelligent, but illiterate or not proficient in the English language. Based on this reasoning, two major tests were developed, the Army Alpha for literate groups, and the Army Beta for illiterates, low literates or non-English speaking (Yerkes, 1921). Both tests were based on the theoretical position that intelligence was an inherited trait, and the assumption was made that native intelligence was being assessed. Each test was made- up of a number of subtests (Figure 4), the contents of which differed depending on whether the test was for literates or illiterates, low literates or non- English speakers. Test 1: Following Oral Directions, involves auding and comprehending simple or complex oral language directions and looking at and marking in the appropriate places on the answer sheet. Test 2: Arithmetical Problems, requires both the ability to read and comprehend the stated problem and the knowledge of arithmetic to perform the computations called for. Test3: Practical Judgment, clearly requires reading and comprehending language. Additionally, however, it requires knowledge of culturally, normative expectations to make the "correct" choice. Test 4: Synonyms-Antonyms, requires specific vocabulary knowledge, in addition to the knowledge of "same" and "opposite." Test 5: Disarranged Sentences, requires semantic knowledge about flies as well as grammatical knowledge to rearrange the sentences, and information has to be held in working memory while rearranging the sentences. Test 6: Number Series Completion, emphasizes reasoning with number knowledge in working memory. Test 7: Analogies, clearly emphasizes culturally determined, semantic knowledge retrieval from the long term memory knowledge base, and also information processing in working memory to detect similarities among the different knowledge domains addressed by the analogies. Test 8: Information is heavily loaded with cultural knowledge requirements. Based on a person's total Alpha score he was assigned a letter grade of A (superior intelligence), B. C+, C (average intelligence), C-, D, or D- (inferior intelligence). The letter grade became the person's mental category, and was taken as a general indicator of the person's native intelligence. This position was held even though there was a clear relationship of Alpha scores to years of schooling, in which much of the special knowledge, vocabulary and cultural knowledge would have been developed.

A New Employee Reward and Recognition Program Essay

In efforts to increase motivation, increase employee job satisfaction, increase communications, and raise the employee retention rate, a rewards and recognition program could be implemented. Being a non-profit organization with no budgetary spending allotted for a rewards and recognition program, makes this project challenging. However, the benefits appear to tremendously outweigh the burdens. Therefore, planning and developing this program will be a both challenging and beneficial. Objectives of Planned Intervention Objective one would be to increase motivation. Employees lack motivation due to not be recognized for all of the hard work, dedication, sacrifice, and fortitude they have performed or given for the organization. Being motivated does not come easy for every person. It is hopeful that the implementation of an employee rewards and recognition program will provide the employees with a common goal in order to receive the recognition; thus, requiring them to be motivated to get the job done. A sizeable change in motivation is hopeful to be around 75-85%, given all employees participate. This will be observable and measurable by the amount of work accomplished as well as how much effort the employee devoted to it. Objective two would be to increase employee job satisfaction. This goal is the purpose for doing this project. Lack of recognition has caused many of the employees to develop negative behaviors and work morale. They feel unappreciated, overworked, insignificant, and ignored. It is hopeful that their feelings will change as a result of an employee rewards and recognition program being implemented. In correlation to the first objective, this objective is suspected to increase employee job satisfaction by 75-85%. Not only will the job satisfaction increase but so will work morale. With employees being happy in their place of employment, improved work morale would be promising. Objective three would be to increase communications. Communication is the key to a successful organization. At this point, there is little to none. What is there is vague and often incomprehensible. Confusion and frustration should minimize due to more systematic employee communications; this being one of the largest obstacles due to the size of the department and the distribution of our locations. Time management should improve due to the reduction of re-doing and/or elimination of the duplication of work done. The employee communication process and procedures will change in order to give a more systematical approach on communication. Objective four would be to raise the employee retention rate. Currently, it is difficult to retain substitute teachers and bus drivers more than any other employee. It is expectant that this rewards and recognition program will inspire these employees to want to stay. It is hopeful that they will be motivated in trying to obtain a permanent position due to this as well. These changes would occur in all four counties (a total of ten locations), as the employee rewards and recognition program is intended to be implemented department wide. This includes four satellite offices/classroom locations as well as six classroom only locations. Strategies to segment the program into quarters are probable. By the end of the first program quarter, a substantial change shall be noticeable. With great anticipation, by the end of the third program quarter at least half will be have made notable growth. Description of Intervention In effort to achieve the objectives stated above, a plan of action is needed. The organization currently has one recognition process which is for years of service. However, there is nothing in the policies and procedures manual outlining this process. Due to the budgetary restrictions, there will be a section added to the policies and procedures manual but rewards will be left to be determined. The new procedure will require some constant creativity and teamwork. Planning strategies to raise money will be a challenge but with some creativity and teamwork, it should be effortless. A few fundraising opportunities that can be done quarterly are as follows. A bake sale! In hopes that employees will join forces and want to initiate this change together, as it will not be handed to them, it will be asked that they donate a baked goods item to the bake sale on a given date. All proceeds will then go into a fun reserved for the employee rewards and recognition program. This could be done monthly or quarterly dependent upon how low the fund is running. A weekend community picnic! This will more than likely be done once a year, as it is a particularly large project and will expect employees to volunteer outside of work. All proceeds again going into the employee rewards and recognition program fund. Blue Jean or Casual Fridays! This would obviously be done on Fridays, every Friday if permissible. Any employee who wants to wear blue jeans or casual clothing will have to pay anywhere from one to two dollars. In correlation, a themed casual day could be implemented as well. Things such as football Friday, where the employee could wear their favorite sports jersey, or during the holidays, they could or dress say in costume on Halloween; of course for a fee.

Nike E-Business Essay - 2179 Words

1. Company name – What is the company doing in general? Nike is an American multinational corporation that is engaged in the design, development, manufacturing and worldwide marketing of footwear, apparel, equipment, accessories and services. They’re known universally for producing a wide range of sports equipment for the amateurs and the professionals. They’ve built their reputation thanks to a great marketing campaign and by sponsoring the most famous professional sportsmen. As of 2012, it employed more than 44,000 people worldwide. In 2014 the brand alone was valued at $19 billion, making it the most valuable brand among sports businesses. 1. Key partnership(s) – Is the company owned by or aligned with any other company?†¦show more content†¦4. 5. Key developments in the companys history – Include only important developments that are relevant to your explanations later on. Do not use a cut and paste of part of the company’s website for this section. One particular pair of shoes made a very different impression. They featured a new innovation based on an outsole designed for traction but were lighter than traditional training shoes. With a new logo, a new name and a new design innovation, Nike needed an athlete to endorse and elevate the new Nike line : Steve Prefontaine. He became a powerful ambassador for the brand after he graduated from Oregon, making numerous appearances and sending pairs of Nike shoes to prospective runners. Nike entered the 1980s on a roll, thanks to the successful launch of Nike Air technology. By the mid-1980s, Nike had slipped from its position as the industry leader, in part because the company had badly miscalculated on the aerobics boom, giving upstart competitors an almost completely open field to develop the business. Fortunately, the debut of a new signature shoe for an NBA rookie by the name of Michael Jordan in 1985 helped bolster Nike’s bottom line. 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