The Influences of Machiavelli essays

The Influences of Machiavelli essays Machiavellis The Prince was a practical effort based on his worldly experience and observation of human nature. It was a work so simple in its idea that it was profoundly effective and has become a cornerstone of modern political philosophy.(Chew 1) In order to understand how truly qualified Machiavelli was in advising a new prince, one must understand his background. Niccolo Machiavelli, known to many as the father of modern political theory, was born on May 3, 1469 in Florence, Italy. He was educated in the typical renaissance style of the humane disciplines, encompassing Latin, history, moral philosophy and politics. Through these studies and his readings of such great writers as Aristotle, Herodotus, and Virgil, Machiavelli gained much of his historical perspective. When he was a young man, he was appointed head of the Second Chancery. The chanceries handled correspondence dealing with domestic, foreign and military affairs of Florence. He was soon after promoted to secretary of The Ten of War (the diplomatic relations committee of Florence). This position afforded him the opportunity to travel abroad to act as a diplomatic attach, sending home to Florence reports and observations of foreign nations and their rulers. His observations abroad resulted in many of the ideas that form the basis for the major statements found in his political works. (Ratliff 1) Thus, one may conclude that Machiavelli had first hand knowledge and experience in diplomacy and politics. This is how uniquely qualified Machiavelli was and why The Prince has become, to some, a political bible. Machiavellian politics has also come to describe unscrupulous political behavior. However, from Machiavellis perspective it is merely his observation of successful and effective pol itics. The Prince begins with a letter from Machiavelli to Lorenzo de Medici. Machiavelli acknowledges that the o...

Free Essays on The Gift Of Jews

The book I'm reading is called "The Gift of the Jews", written by Thomas. Basically, his writing style is such that both the believer and non-believer can be satisfied with his prose, without becoming unduly offended. He brings out points and events that most archeologists and/or biblical scholars agree on, but he does so in a way that tends not to offend. This includes the Reed Sea vs. the Red Sea, Hebrew as a written language was not developed until around 1000-800 BCE, Abraham and his descendants believed in other, less powerful Gods other than Jehovah, etc. He often puts himself in a given era and tries to portray what the people of that time probably thought and believed. For me, it was not an easy read, but a good way to better understand the Old Testament, the beginning of the Jewish, and how Jewish philosophy evolved over 2000 years, and became the basis for much of the Western World's philosophy about the human condition. When I say that, I'm not talking about Socrates or Ar istotle or the other Greek and Roman scholars. I think that they gave us the basis for rational, logical thinking. The Jewish culture, on the other hand, gave us the idea that life is a journey, not a cyclical repetition of past events, that we are all individuals, that we can all experience fullness of life, that justice is for all that humans have certain inalienable rights, and that we can all have a personal relationship with God. All of these concepts were completely foreign to the civilized world before the Jews came to be. When I think of the Tanach, the Jewish Bible, I think of it mostly as the source of guidance and identity for the Jewish people. The Bible is full of mitzvoth, commandments, both ethical and ritual, and also of the recounting of the events which created us as a Jewish people. The Bible is part of what holds us together as Jews of different nationalities and religious persuasions. It is the source of our common referents and our sens... Free Essays on The Gift Of Jews Free Essays on The Gift Of Jews The book I'm reading is called "The Gift of the Jews", written by Thomas. Basically, his writing style is such that both the believer and non-believer can be satisfied with his prose, without becoming unduly offended. He brings out points and events that most archeologists and/or biblical scholars agree on, but he does so in a way that tends not to offend. This includes the Reed Sea vs. the Red Sea, Hebrew as a written language was not developed until around 1000-800 BCE, Abraham and his descendants believed in other, less powerful Gods other than Jehovah, etc. He often puts himself in a given era and tries to portray what the people of that time probably thought and believed. For me, it was not an easy read, but a good way to better understand the Old Testament, the beginning of the Jewish, and how Jewish philosophy evolved over 2000 years, and became the basis for much of the Western World's philosophy about the human condition. When I say that, I'm not talking about Socrates or Ar istotle or the other Greek and Roman scholars. I think that they gave us the basis for rational, logical thinking. The Jewish culture, on the other hand, gave us the idea that life is a journey, not a cyclical repetition of past events, that we are all individuals, that we can all experience fullness of life, that justice is for all that humans have certain inalienable rights, and that we can all have a personal relationship with God. All of these concepts were completely foreign to the civilized world before the Jews came to be. When I think of the Tanach, the Jewish Bible, I think of it mostly as the source of guidance and identity for the Jewish people. The Bible is full of mitzvoth, commandments, both ethical and ritual, and also of the recounting of the events which created us as a Jewish people. The Bible is part of what holds us together as Jews of different nationalities and religious persuasions. It is the source of our common referents and our sens...

Management of Chronic Pain for Patients With Breast Cancer Essay

Management of Chronic Pain for Patients With Breast Cancer - Essay Example The International Association for the Study of Pain defines it as: "An unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage or described in terms of such damage." Subjectively it could denote any form of unpleasant sensation with varying degrees of intensity. Pain is distinguished based on two basic types identified as acute and chronic. Acute pain results from a disease process whereby there is inflammation or injury to tissues occurring rather suddenly after trauma or surgery and may be accompanied by anxiety or emotional distress. Usually certain medications serve to diminish the intensity of Acute Pain. Chronic Pain however, persists over a longer period than acute pain and is resistant to most medical treatments. Several factors may serve to heighten its perception and frequency thereby causing discomfort to patients in varying degrees. Pain follows a certain train of events before it is detected and proclaimed by a patient. Luckmann and Sorensen traced it to "the nerve receptors, named as nociceptors which differs from the complex receptors of vision and other senses". These nociceptors are simply free nerve endings in almost all types of tissues which react to change and require a high level of stimulation to elicit a response. However once their threshold is exceeded they communicate the presence of the painful stimulus. At times they become so over sensitized that long after the stimulus is removed, pain still persists. Once these nociceptors are stimulated, they discharge an impulse that travels in the form of an electrical activity to the spinal cord and on to the brain. The spinal cord is informed on the activity of the body through nerve fibers carrying somatosensory information. The spinothalamic tract then carries the painful information to the brain via the thalamus by passing through the somatosensory cortex which serves to localize and identify the quality of pain before it is diffused to the many areas of the brain including the reticular formation, medulla, hypothalamus and limbic structures. As a response, the brain sends to the receptors a complex response to the painful stimuli. It dictates the receptors to identify the degree, the character and intensity of the pain; its location and how to behave to reduce or avoid it in the future. "Pain can be inhibited if its pathways are blocked", as presented in the Gate-Control Theory of Melzack and Wall. The "gate" in their report is controlled by a dynamic function of cells that can facilitate or inhibit the transmission of pain signals. The fibers bringing pain information from the tissues are found in layers known as laminae. A certain Laminae II which is different from the rest of the layers and also called the Substantia Gelatinosa(SG) is proposed as the location of the "gate". This serves as the convergence point of all pain information, whether stimulus coming in from the tissues or identification from the brain. A spinal cord transmission cell also known as the t-cell either opens the gate thereby facilitating pain transmission or closing the gate. A variety of sources may close or open the gate but only the brain can manipulate the "gate" to inhibit or