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Western philosophy has been around since before the time of Jesus. Few philosophers have had as much influence on the world as Plato in western philosophy. Born over 400 years before Jesus, Plato’s influence may be second only to Christianity in this day and age (outside of eastern philosophy). One of Plato’s greatest works, and considered by many his masterpiece, is The Republic, which is widely read today and covers many topics. In The Republic, Plato presents many interesting ideas and thoughts that look to expand one’s wisdom and knowledge of the world. Plato uses a unique style of writing and welcomes controversy and opposing opinions. Some of the main concepts covered are justice, both on an individual and societal level, what is the nature of a man’s soul, the order and character of a just city-state, the forms of government, and theories of universals such as the Forms, and virtue. However, this book is mainly thought of as a philosophical treatise on politics. The main character in the Republic is Socrates, while other characters like Cephalus, Polemarchus, Thrasymachus, Glaucon, and Adeimantus help Socrates navigate through the problems presented by conventional wisdom, while displaying Plato’s thoughts and wisdom. Each of these characters play a key role in setting up Plato’s ideas and thoughts, while bringing to the story their own perspective and intellect. While Plato was an understudy of Socrates, and became the philosopher he is because of Socrates, Plato uses Socrates as a fictional character in his writing and expels his knowledge mainly through him and the conversations he has with the other characters. Plato is a very interesting philosopher, beyond the wisdom he has passed on to others; he writes in a unique ... ...nd forms previously mentioned. Plato presents that particulars participate in forms and give their common quality, which the quality is a reflection of his idea. Plato finally concludes with an argument for the immorality of the soul. The soul’s illness is ultimately injustice. A man can ultimately overcome injustice by harmonizing reason, spirit, and appetite (desire), which will lead to a healthy life and soul.4 Although Plato uses circular reasoning in many of his arguments, he embraces resistance and argument towards his ideas and philosophy. Plato embraces this because this is what dialectic is, refuting one’s views to progress towards a true knowledge. Dialectic is held very dearly to Plato and this is how Plato became so knowledgeable and wise. Plato is one of the greatest philosophers of all time, and The Republic is a prominent figure in today’s society.

Aspects of Human Nature in “Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad Essay

Joseph Conrad’s novel Heart of Darkness encompasses many themes and concepts dealing with the very nature of humanity and its complexity. This novel is set up in two different locations, the Thames River and the Congo River. Conrad uses these two rivers to represent the different cultures that clash in this novel, which are the â€Å"civilized† and the â€Å"savages†. While exploring these two different worlds Conrad exposes the human nature at its core through the characters in this novel proving that not everything is straightforward and is at it seems. The Thames River located in Southern England represents the advanced European world. In this novel the Europeans regarded themselves as civilized and cultured. On the other hand, Conrad embeds numerous dark intense imageries to describe this â€Å"enlightened† culture such as violent, death, brooding gloom, and more. While the Congo River represents the uncivilized native inhabitants that are described as â€Å"utter savagery† (Conrad, 1990, p. 4), but the nature that surrounds the Congo is described as mysterious, glittering, and precious. The contrast of these locations and representations reveals different aspects of human nature. One un-admirable quality of human nature that is shown is pride. The European characters in this novel had the mentality that they were superior to the natives. Because of their superior status they felt that European Imperialism and the stations set up were meant for â€Å"humanizing, improving, instructing† (Conrad, 1990, p. 29) the uncivilized savages. Instead these civilized European men â€Å"Christianizing† and trying to conform the natives to their standards they have succumb to the darkness within the jungle displaying their true nature. Another aspect of human nature shown by the ironic descriptions of the â€Å"civilized† and â€Å"uncivilized† locations is man’s destructive nature. There were numerous events in this novel that portrayed man’s destructive nature due to ulterior motives. An example that destructive behaviors are apart of human nature is when Kurtz raids countless tribes for ivory for the very purpose of gaining wealth and power. Another example of man’s destructive nature is when numbers of â€Å"pilgrims used to turn out in a body [hippopotamus] and empty every rifle they could lay hands on at him. Some even had sat up o’nights for him. † (Conrad, 1990, p. 25). These men waited for and wasted shots just to kill an old and innocent creature not for survival purposes, but for amusement. Conrad enforces the concept of mans destructive nature in the beginning of the novel when he is describing the â€Å"civilized† world. An example on page one Conrad describes the scenery of this â€Å"superior† civilization as â€Å"The air was dark above Gravesend, and farther back still seemed condensed into a mournful gloom, brooding motionless†¦ † Later on in the novel Marlow reads Kurtz pamphlet and is led to believe that Kurtz is not another greedy, self – serving, and power crazed individual like the many characters he has met up with on his journey, but that Kurtz shares the same beliefs that he does. Marlow’s belief that the purpose of European Imperialism in Africa was to improve the culture and to benefit them equally rather than cause chaos for their own personal gain. Marlow’s excitement to meet Kurtz based off his pamphlet and how well everyone speaks of him is an example of how not everything is straightforward. Kurtz wrote his pamphlet in a way that intrigued Marlow and convinced him that they shared the same beliefs, but when Marlow finally met Kurtz he realized that Kurtz is ill physically and mentally. Trickery and inconsistency is embedded within human nature. As much as one would like to believe that humans are consistent and honest, that is not true and apparent in this novel. The main character is not exempt from human tendencies of inconsistency. Earlier on in the novel Marlow states, â€Å"I hate, detest, and can’t bear a lie,† (Conrad, 1990, p. 23). On the other hand at the end of the book he lies to Kurt’s intended to give her sense of peace and saves her from more pain and grief. Though his reasoning is not selfish he still went against his own beliefs and proves inconsistency. Throughout this entire novel Conrad introduces several European characters that portrayed so many non – admirable qualities such as greed, arrogance, envy, vengeance, sloth, and much more. Yet they are considered the â€Å"civilized† ones. Ironically the cannibals and the other natives in this novel show more admirable qualities such as loyalty, hard work, obedient, strong will, and most importantly restraint. While the civilized men were plotting against one another thinking only of themselves the natives displayed much more honorable character. For example, the native tribes that pledged their loyalty to Kurtz were obedient and remained loyal. They would accompany him on expeditions and kill on his command. Another example of honorable qualities portrayed by these â€Å"uncivilized savages† was restraint. The cannibals that assisted Marlow on his journey had been starving for months and never made a move to attack their fellow crew- members. These â€Å"heathens† displayed true character in this situation because â€Å"It takes a man all his inborn strength to fight hunger properly. It’s really easier to face bereavement, dishonor, and the perdition of one’s soul – than this prolonged hunger †¦ no earthly reason for any kind of scruple. Restraint! †¦ the fact facing me – the dazzling fact. † (Conrad, 1990, p. 38). Through the novel â€Å"Heart of Darkness† Conrad portrays and exposes human nature at its best and at its worst. Conrad embeds irony throughout the entire novel to show that not everything is as it seems and that when involving humans there are contradictions. The main point that Conrad is conveying to his reader is that technological advances do not make a culture superior or civilized, but rather the moral code that they live by. There is not one culture superior to the other. Also that each human being is responsible for their own civil or savage behaviors. What makes one civilized is based off of what they do when no one else is around and how they react to any given situation good or terrible. This novel served as a warning from Conrad of man’s true darkness and the â€Å"human secrets that baffle probability†. (Conrad, 1990, p. 37). One is not civilized based on where they grew up, but their reactions to the world they live in. To be civilized is to act with morality, but to be a savage is to embrace the heart of darkness.

The History of Shoes and Footwear

The history of shoes — that is to say, archaeological and paleoanthropological evidence for the earliest use of protective coverings for the human foot — appears to start during the Middle Paleolithic period of approximately 40,000 years ago. The Oldest Shoes The oldest shoes recovered to date are sandals found at several Archaic (~6500-9000 years bp) and a few Paleoindian (~9000-12,000 years bp) sites in the American southwest. Dozens of Archaic period sandals were recovered by Luther Cressman at the Fort Rock site in Oregon, direct-dated ~7500 BP. Fort Rock-style sandals have also been found at sites dated 10,500-9200 cal BP at Cougar Mountain and Catlow Caves. Others include the Chevelon Canyon sandal, direct-dated to 8,300 years ago, and some cordage fragments at the Daisy Cave site in California (8,600 years bp). In Europe, preservation has not been as fortuitous. Within the Upper Paleolithic layers of the cave site of Grotte de Fontanet in France, a footprint apparently shows that the foot had a moccasin-like covering on it. Skeletal remains from the Sunghir Upper Paleolithic sites in Russia (ca 27,500 years bp) appear to have had foot protection. Thats based on the recovery of ivory beads found near the ankle and foot of a burial. A complete shoe was discovered at the Areni-1 Cave in Armenia  and reported in 2010. It was a moccasin-type shoe, lacking a vamp or sole, and it has been dated to ~5500 years BP. Evidence for Shoe Use in Prehistory Earlier evidence for shoe use is based on anatomical changes that may have been created by wearing shoes. Erik Trinkaus has argued that wearing footwear produces physical changes in the toes, and this change is reflected in human feet beginning in the Middle Paleolithic period. Basically, Trinkaus argues that narrow, gracile middle proximal phalanges (toes) compared with fairly robust lower limbs implies localized mechanical insulation from ground reaction forces during heel-off and toe-off. He proposes that footwear was used occasionally by archaic Neanderthal and early modern humans in the Middle Paleolithic, and consistently by early modern humans by the middle Upper Paleolithic. The earliest evidence of this toe morphology noted to date is at the Tianyuan 1 cave site in Fangshan County, China, about 40,000 years ago. Concealed Shoes Historians have noted that shoes seem to have a special significance in some, perhaps many cultures. For example, in 17th and 18th century England, old, worn-out shoes were concealed in the rafters and chimneys of homes. Researchers such as Houlbrook suggest that although the precise nature of the practice is unknown, a concealed shoe may share some properties with other hidden examples of ritual recycling such as secondary burials, or may be a symbol of protection of the home against evil spirits. The time-depth of some particular significance of shoes appears to date from at least the Chalcolithic period: Tell Braks Eye-Temple in Syria included a limestone votive shoe. Houlbrooks article is a good starting point for people investigating this curious issue. Sources See the page on Fort Rock sandals from the University of Oregon for a detailed description of the shoes and a bibliography of site reports.Geib, Phil R. 2000 Sandal types and Archaic prehistory on the Colorado plateau. American Antiquity  65(3):509-524.Houlbrook C. 2013. Ritual, Recycling and Recontextualization: Putting the Concealed Shoe into Context. Cambridge Archaeological Journal 23(01):99-112.Pinhasi R, Gasparian B, Areshian G, Zardaryan D, Smith A, Bar-Oz G, and Higham T. 2010. First Direct Evidence of Chalcolithic Footwear from the Near Eastern Highlands. PLoS ONE 5(6):e10984. Free to downloadTrinkaus, Erik 2005 Anatomical evidence for the antiquity of human footwear use. Journal of Archaeological Science 32(10):1515-1526.Trinkaus, Erik and Hong Shang 2008 Anatomical evidence for the antiquity of human footwear: Tianyuan and Sunghir. Journal of Archaeological Science 35(7):1928-1933.