Some Weak Points In the Views of Karl Marx

"Discuss two weak points in the views of Karl Marx, and explain what's wrong them."


One weak point that I have found in the views of Karl Marx is how he believed that people only become worse and worse off under capitalism. This, of course, is not the case, as time has shown us. With the coming times we actually see the working classes having improvements in life under capitalism. Another weak point that I have seen in this man's views is namely this; Karl Marx thought that the amount of labor that went into a product would then proceed to translating how much it sold for. In other words, that the labor determined the price. Then how about pieces of art? One may not take more time than another to create a picture but it is sold for much more than the other. Why? Karl Marx couldn't answer these sorts of questions, and therefore his theory was proven false. Karl Marx had some truly interesting ideas, but that doesn't mean that they were all true. Thanks for reading!

Luther's Thoughts on Pope Leo X, and His Knowledge of the Indulgence Salesmen's Words

"Do you think that Luther really believed that Pope Leo X did not know what the indulgence salesmen were saying?"


As to this topic, I have two main hypotheses.  The first is that he honestly thought he was defending the pope by saying that the pope didn't know what the indulgence salesmen were saying.  The second is that he simply hoped that he was correct in assuming as much.

Truthfully, I am unsure as to what Luther thought at this time in my study.  I will need to dive further into this topic in the future, and I highly suggest that you do the same.

Thank you so much for reading, and please give me some feedback on this essay!

The Conflicts Between the Holy Roman Emperors and the Popes

The popes and Holy Roman Emperors engaged in many different conflicts time and time again, but the main reasons behind the conflicts are really quite simple.  The conflicts arose generally out of hunger for power.

For example, the emperors would sometimes completely throw the promises that they made to the popes out the window.  Likewise, on several different occasions we see the Holy Roman Emperors attempting to downsize the power of the pope.

Many desired to assert their power over vast areas, and this concerned the popes.  The popes feared that the Holy Roman Emperors would try to gain some amount of control over the papacy, and this was unacceptable in the minds of the popes.

Like I said, the reasons for the conflicts between the emperors and popes were quite simple.  The lesson that we should take from these conflicts, is that a quest for power usually stands in the way of peace, and it is unfortunate that the emperors didn't pay attention to this major truth.

Thank you very much for reading this essay, and please give me some feedback in the comments section below!  I would love to hear from you!    

The 12th Century Renaissance, the University System in the High Middle Ages, and Scholastic Philosophy

"What kinds of developments occurred during the
renaissance of the twelfth century?"


During this period in history we see many interesting developments occurring.  Among them was an interest in the Latin classics.  There was much reading of Latin authors, poets, and the writing of commentaries.  As time goes on we see more of a decline in these, and an increase in the study of philosophy and the like.

Besides these developments, there is a revival of the Roman law.  This wouldn't have been all that bad since several aspects of Roman law are familiar to western thought, had it not been for the fact that during the time of Justinian the law was modified to give more jurisdiction to the emperor rather than the people.

As you can tell, the renaissance of the twelfth century held many fascinating occurrences.




"Discuss the origins and features of the university system in the High Middle Ages."




 During the High Middle Ages the rise of universities became quite popular.  Before these new universities, there had not been anything like them in past history.  Of course there had been different schools, but there was not a "university" per-say.

We are not entirely sure as to how some of the major universities of the time came about, but it seems that many had their origins rooted in the monastic and cathedral schools, as well as random meetings of professors in one place.

These universities introduced the awarding of degrees, had a more or less fixed program of study, and a distinction of graduate and undergraduate study.




"What was Scholastic philosophy?"




Scholastic philosophy was more so a switch from positive theology (confirmations from Scripture, councils, etc.) to speculative theology (faith that was in agreement with reason).  In other words, if faith and reason do not make sense together, this means that you have simply misinterpreted faith or used reason incorrectly.

As an example of a Scholastic philosopher, I would like to use St. Anselm.  St. Anselm would try to use ontological proof for the existence of God.  This means that he would use the argument that God must be the greatest conceivable being.  Something that is only in your mind is obviously less meaningful than something that is right in front of you.  Since this is the case, God must be something that is not only in your mind, but also something conceivable.   See, he is trying to combine faith and reason.


Thanks for reading this essay, and please let me know what you think!  I would love to hear your feedback!  




  




 

Biotechnology and DNA

                                                Biotechnology

     In this section of my essay I will be talking about my thoughts and questions pertaining to biotechnology.  

     Biotechnology has always been a part of our lives in one way or another.  Cheese making, beer brewing, and antibiotics are all examples of things where biotechnology is used.   

     To make you a little more familiar with this extremely useful tool in life, I will give you the definition of biotechnology.

"1. the exploitation of biological processes for industrial and other purposes, esp. the genetic manipulation of microorganisms for the production of antibiotics, hormones, etc."

     For the moment I will talk a bit about it's role in food making.  

  

    In about 6000 BCE the Sumerians and Babylonians would use yeast in order to make beer, in 1300 CE the Aztecs discovered that the algae in lakes could be a potential food source, in 1852 cross-fertilization is discovered in corn, and in 2000 Australia created its first cloned cows.  

     Of course there were other discoveries but I am only going to list these ones right now.  

     If we have been using biotechnology for this long and it took so many years to discover cross-fertilization in corn of all things; how long will it take to make some of the far more advanced discoveries?  That is one question that I ask myself when learning about biotechnology.

                                 DNA

     Am I the only one who has wondered if perhaps one day we will be able to bring the dinosaurs into existence again or create a real superhero?  I guess that this is something that I have always been fascinated with.  It probably sprouts from my love of science fiction.  Star Trek, Spider Man, The Avengers, etc., are most likely the culprits.  

     Since Friedrich Miescher discovered DNA in 1869, and Watson and Cricks' discovery of the double-helix stucture in 1953, we have made many advances in the way that we use DNA.  From using it to find criminals, the making of insulin, and finding a specific person in mass-war graves, DNA is becoming more and more useful!   

   
     It really does make you think about the possibility that science, using DNA, could actually turn some science fiction tales into a reality.  

     I wonder how far away these discoveries in DNA are?  If they are ever made, I wonder how they will be used?  

     Perhaps they would be used purely for scientific purposes, but most likely they wouldn't be.  Seriously, let's just think about this for a minute.  If these discoveries were made, how would governments try to use them?  They have created atomic bombs, machine guns, fighter jets, etc., using the discoveries that have been made in science.  What would happen if real super heroes were created using DNA?  What would happen if human cloning was made successful and legal?  Would the government perhaps try and use these things to their advantage?  Of course they would!  They would be stupid not to.  

     The idea of these things happening is quite frightening to me, but then again, I don't think that we will have to worry about this for quite a long time.  I mean, we cloned Dolly, (the first cloned sheep from an adult somatic cell) in only 1996. 

I hope that you have enjoyed this essay, and please let me know what you think!