Is God Necessary for Morality?

If you are finding Plato's Euthyphro--and the challenge that Socrates poses to religious believers--to be somewhat challenging and confusing, the following video should help you clarify some of the core concepts involved, and it should also give you an idea of how philosophers debate with each other without their disagreements having to end up in shouting matches :)

William Lane Craig, philosopher and Christian apologist, argues that an objective morality can only make sense in the context of God, and that any naturalistic, materialistic, atheistic worldview is ultimately inconsistent with a morality universally binding on everyone.

On the other side, Dr. Louise Antony argues that even if God existed, God could not possibly be the source of any morality worth having, and that if God were morally good, it would have to be for secular, and not for religious reasons. Both points are the logical implications implications of the Euthyphro dilemma.

Whatever side of the issue you stand on, you are sure to be stimulated.

Craig's attempt to show the Euthyphro dilemma is a false dilemma, some have argued, only moves the problem one step back... to exactly the same problem, as this hilarious/brilliant cartoon demonstrates:

You might also want to check out a debate between Richard Dawkins and Alister McGrath, or between Alister McGrath and Christopher Hitchens on similar topics.

Zeitoun

In the first stage in Campbell’s stages in the journey of the hero, The Ordinary World Zeitoun is introduced to the story sympathetically. The reader gets to see Zeitoun’s background, where he came from and how that might have resulted in the situations he finds himself in throughout the novel. He would always face dangerous situations as a child.  Zeitoun could not wait for when his older brother would take him fishing. He was accustomed to the diligent life style back in Syria and that affected many of his choices later on in life. Such as, the decision he made by staying behind to take care of his home. 

Required Research Skills for English 103 Grade

Research Skills I Will be Looking for In Your Essays:

 

1.        You have found relevant research that supports your argument

2.       You have integrated that research smoothly by identifying who is speaking and the context.

3.       You have explained (after the quotation) how the statement  supports, enhances your argument.

4.       You have used correct parenthetical documentation: (Sophocles 42).

5.       You have created a complete and correct Works Cited Page using MLA style:

 

For book: Author, last name first. “Title of Article.” Title of Book. Where published, by whom, date.

 

For journal article: Author, last name first. “Title of Article.” Title of Journal. Date (Vol.): pages

Zeitoun and the Journey of the Hero

 In the novel Zeitoun, Campbell describes  the 11th stage as the"The Resurrection". This stage is at the climax of the character. In Zeitioun, we see Zeitoun tested beyond despair. He is thrown into jail, cavity searched and miss treat. Although Zeitoun had good intentions like the military and was not giving a change to prove himself. it still did not deturn him from his faith. He still prayed even though he was filthy and did not lose sight of the mission he was on. "The Resurrection" also goes on to say he is purified by a high and more complete level, meaning by the hero's action the conflict in the being start to lessen as when they initially started In the end its worth it.

Zeitoun

In Zeitoun the stage that Campbell describes as "The Ordinary World" is shown at the very beginning as the book opens with a flashback into Zeitoun's youth when he used to go fishing in the waters off of Syria. Dave Eggers connects with the audience by showing Zeitoun having an average morning in an american family. With not only Zeitoun but also Kathy, Eggers gives some personal history. With Kathy it is the story of her family and her relationship with them. With Zeitoun, we see his family history with the sea as well as his own family with the story of him forgetting his firstborn child on the lawn while trying to help his wife into the apartment. This gives us a little bit of insight on Zeitoun as a person. And of course the polarity with his family wanting him to leave New Orleans and his own desire to stay and watch over the properties.

Campbell Hero Journey for Zeitoun

Campbell’s Hero Journey Stages- Zeitoun

I have chosen the first stage that Campbell describes as the Hero’s Journey, The Ordinary World. This stage describes the hero as uncomfortable and introduces the hero sympathetically, recalling parts of his/her history and being set into an unsettling situation that is driving him/her crazy! In the novel Zeitoun by Dave Eggers, Abdulrahman Zeitoun is introduced through a lovely flashback filled with astounding imagery! He used to work as a fisherman in Syria and waited years to join the older men who fished under the moonlight. He has always been a hard worker since in the flashback it says that Abdul and his brother Ahmad would earn little money and give it to the welfare of their home and instead would fish for free. Years later, Abdul is the head of his Painting Company. In the morning, Abdul is awakened by his four children and various phone calls for service from the company. Ever since leaving his firstborn child alone in the yard after bringing her home from the hospital, Abdul has questioned that and has worked sullenly since then.

Zeitoun and the Journey of the Hero

Hello Everyone--I am pasting in below a description of the journey of the hero from Joseph Campbell--you can find many versions of this online.  We will use this document to reflect on Zeitoun's journey.  Some of the stages in the journey Zeitoun may not apply but many do.  We will also use these stages to compare Zeitoun to the other major characters we have studied this semester.

For your blog Sunday (midnight) you should pick one stage that Campbell describes below and apply it to Zeitoun, using a specific moment in the story to illustrate the stage.  What does Eggers do to make Zeitoun sympathetic?; What is Zeitoun's "call to adventure"?  What are the external pressures that pull him in different directions?  Where does he "cross the threshold"?  What is the nature of his ordeal?  (Choose one!)

Here are Campbell's Stages in the Journey of the Hero:

The Hero's Journey Outline

The Hero’s Journey is a pattern of narrative identified by the American scholar Joseph Campbell that appears in drama, storytelling, myth, religious ritual, and psychological development.  It describes the typical adventure of the archetype known as The Hero, the person who goes out and achieves great deeds on behalf of the group, tribe, or civilization.

Its stages are:

1.        THE ORDINARY WORLD.  The hero, uneasy, uncomfortable or unaware, is introduced sympathetically so the audience can identify with the situation or dilemma.  The hero is shown against a background of environment, heredity, and personal history.  Some kind of polarity in the hero’s life is pulling in different directions and causing stress.

2.        THE CALL TO ADVENTURE.  Something shakes up the situation, either from external pressures or from something rising up from deep within, so the hero must face the beginnings of change. 

3.        REFUSAL OF THE CALL.  The hero feels the fear of the unknown and tries to turn away from the adventure, however briefly.  Alternately, another character may express the uncertainty and danger ahead.

4.        MEETING WITH THE MENTOR.  The hero comes across a seasoned traveler of the worlds who gives him or her training, equipment, or advice that will help on the journey.  Or the hero reaches within to a source of courage and wisdom.

5.        CROSSING THE THRESHOLD.  At the end of Act One, the hero commits to leaving the Ordinary World and entering a new region or condition with unfamiliar rules and values. 

6.        TESTS, ALLIES AND ENEMIES.  The hero is tested and sorts out allegiances in the Special World.

7.        APPROACH.  The hero and newfound allies prepare for the major challenge in the Special world.

8.        THE ORDEAL.  Near the middle of the story, the hero enters a central space in the Special World and confronts death or faces his or her greatest fear.  Out of the moment of death comes a new life. 

9.        THE REWARD.  The hero takes possession of the treasure won by facing death.  There may be celebration, but there is also danger of losing the treasure again.

10.      THE ROAD BACK.  About three-fourths of the way through the story, the hero is driven to complete the adventure, leaving the Special World to be sure the treasure is brought home.  Often a chase scene signals the urgency and danger of the mission.

11.     THE RESURRECTION.  At the climax, the hero is severely tested once more on the threshold of home.  He or she is purified by a last sacrifice, another moment of death and rebirth, but on a higher and more complete level.  By the hero’s action, the polarities that were in conflict at the beginning are finally resolved.

12.       RETURN WITH THE ELIXIR.  The hero returns home or continues the journey, bearing some element of the treasure that has the power to transform the world as the hero has been transformed.

Your Antigone Essays

Greetings All--Hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving!

I have received Antigone essays from Brian, Yuka, Stacy, Cat, Erika, and Renetta.  

EVERYONE ELSE needs to send me the Antigone essay this weekend!!!  As in today, Friday.  If you do not send them you will not have opportunity to revise.  

If you sent it and I did not receive it, please send again to my gmail: slyckvan@gmail.com.

Monday I will go over research and documentation.  Revisions will be due Tuesday in lab.  I repeat!  If you do not send your essay now, you will not be able to revise as I will not have time to review it.

Please see next blog for an important document on the journey of the hero, which we will use to discuss Zeitoun.  You should come to class Monday having finished the book.  More details on next blog.

Zeitoun

            From what I’ve read so far Zeitoun come off as someone who is strong, wise, ambitious, kind, loving and a hard worker. I see his love for his wife, his kids and his community. Zeitoun grew up as a hard worker which he embodies from his father traits. Zeitoun is a hero because he helps family out every day by fixing any problems in their house that needs to be fixed. He goes above and beyond just to make sure that he’s jobs gets complete without any breaks, he’s everyone hero. Somehow, Zeitoun can come off as very stubborn but not so much as Creon. He knew that the storm Katrina was coming and his wife insisted that they leave home but Zeitoun did not want to leave. When Zeitoun and his wife would talk on the phone she would bring up the storm Katrina, Zeitoun would either change the subject of their conversation or just dismiss it completely. In the mindset of Zeitoun, he’s thinking how can he leave his home when there are so many things that need to be done and so much people depending on him. His stubbornness already got him in trouble with his wife. She had left him one time to go to Florida with the kids. Zeitoun didn’t believe she would actually leave but when he saw her packing the car with luggage’s and the kids already strap in he knew she was serious. Zeitoun decision off being stubborn and avoiding the warning can cost him his life and the life of his wife and kids.

Antigone

Creon and Antigone both have two different ideas of law and justice. They both strongly agree and stand firm in what they believe in. Creon’s justice is mainly about the law and the state.  “But whoever shows by word and deed that he is on the side of the state,- he shall have my respect while he is living, and my reverence when he is dead” (Antigone 193). Creon depends on obedience & see’s the earth as a political place. He also believes that the state is king. “My voice is the one voice giving order in this city” (Antigone 215). Creon shows that nothing else matters to him but law of the state and the power that he upholds.

Antigone on the other sees justice as love. Antigone is more so about fighting for the one she loves. “It is my nature to join in love, not hate” (Antigone 206). I would consider Antigone more of a protector. She welcomes and respects the dead. She sees the earth as a she would see her family. Antigone laws and justice lies in fighting for what is right and fighting for the love of her family and love one.

Barack Obama 44th President

I already had my mind made up that Barack Obama was going to win the Presidential election. He did his part with persuading the people as to why they should re-elect him as president. President Obama had shown himself to be strong and full of courage even when the odd seems to be against him. I was at home with my family when the election was going on. At first we got nervous because we saw Obama falling short in numbers but then when we heard he was re-elected to do another term as president we was all happy. For the next four years I believe that the economy will start to improve and business would start booming again. I wish President Barack Obama nothing but the best of luck.

I believe Zeitoun is heroic because he is a very hard worker and is very strong. When he was young his bike got a flat while running to work and he did not give up. He used his strength carried his bike with him and ran with it over his shoulder in Even his boss at the time told him how great of a guy he was. He is very stubborn though beause he is getting repeated warnings about the hurricane from his wife and bother and he just won't leave. It's driving me crazyyyy. He should be taking his family and himself into consideration. Why even put them in danger?

Zeitoun

Zeitoun is a hero because he stays behind to protect his life's work. Even though there was a warning for everyone to evacuate the area, he still insist on staying. He was brave and very hardworking. He didn't want to lose everything that he worked for. The flaw in Zeitoun is that he is very stubborn. He is very much like Creon, he didn't want to listen to others. He acted only on what he believed was the right thing to do.

ZEITOUN

      Zeitoun is a person who has built everything he owns from scratch. He has great  pride in everything he and his wife have accomplished over the years and he refuses to let a hurricane destroy that. Zeitoun has many heroic traits, he decides on his own to stay behind to protect his home, his store and the neighborhood. He has a chance to leave and go stay with Kathy's family but he is too stubborn to do so even though he knows the hurricane is too strong to prevent any more damage. Zeitoun will not allow anyone to insult his wife or workers. During times when his business could not afford to turn down any jobs he left a work site because a man was making rude comments to his wife and his workers. I find this to be heroic because it takes a great deal of strength to do that in times of need. Zeitoun is also extremely stubborn. On an everyday basis him and his wife are constantly competing with each other. Even if she is right about something he will not admit it. 

Zeitoun

Zeitoun is a hero in the sense that he wants to insure the safety of what he has worked so hard to achieve however, the circumstances he chooses to do this under seem to cross into the realm of stubbornness. Zeitoun, being overconfident in his past experiences, mirrors the stubbornness and pride of Creon and seems to almost challenge nature in the same way that Creon challenges the Gods. Zeitoun ignores the warning of the media and his family just like Creon ignores the warnings of his son.

Zeitoun

Zeitoun is a very hardworking man. He is a person that came from nothing and became very well established having many different businesses to support him and his family. However Zeitoun does posses many good qualities but on the down side he is very stubborn. There is a storm that is going to hit which starts off as a category one but later progresses to a category five. He ignores all the warnings from his wife colleagues and radio. He feels that he has endured many storms in his life and that this particular storm is being made much more then what it is. Zeitoun posses traits of a tragic hero choosing to avoid the warnings he is not only putting himself in danger but his family and business.

Zeiton

I must say the book is really interesting. The perspectives of the characters in the book are portrayed so clearly, it feels like I am that character. Zeiton is a hard working, and determined man, who comes from a hardworking family. He is very stubborn in the book, resembling Creon, but not to such extent. His work keeps him very busy, and he stays very close to his business. During the first part of the book, the Zeiton family are being told to evacuate from New Orleans, due to a storm that is coming. His wife persists to have the whole family leave the area, but he is stubborn and says he needs to stay with the house and the business. I would say the stubborn behavior could have led him to his death. If he was not so skilled and lucky, he may have gotten trapped in the house. On the other hand, Zeitoun is a strong and courageous man. He is humble, and that is a heroic trait. He is also determine, refering to the flashback he had when he began working for a small business, he had to take a bike miles to work. But his tire gave out, yet he still carried the bike on him and began running toward his job. He is very passionate and intelligent. I like Zeitous as a person in the book.

Zeitoun

Zeitoun is a hero in many ways. In the first chapter,Zeitoun hear that Hurricane Katrina has the potential of becoming a Category 5 storm.  Although avoluntary evacuation is ordered. Kathy insists again to Zeitoun to leave, but still Zeitoun wants to remain in order to secure his job sites and watch their home.  This is heroic because he wanted to stay back and help and take care of the home while others left. He is brave, stubborn, fearless, and persisant.In a way he is a tragic hero do to the simple fact that he doesnt listen to warnings. He feels as though he knows best.

Janet Noaln Zeitoun

In what I read so far in the book, Zeitoun is an incredibly man he strives for what we call the "American Dream". I personally believe that he has achieved that and so much more. I do believe that he is a hero but not in the classic way were he has super powers or anything of that sort. Zeitoun is just an ordinary man with extraordinary heart and worth ethics. I don't believe he is a tragic hero from what I read right now but I do believe he is incredibly stubborn. For example he brother had advised him numerously to evacuate but he would not. Another time he was very stubborn is when his wife wanted to go away and take a vacation and he said no and she went any way with out him. Which made him miss a family trip.But one thing that showed great heroism is when he left job site because the owner of the house yelled at his wife and made discrimination comments against his workers. That to me is truly heroic because you can have all the strength in the world but if your not brave enough to stand up for what is right you will never be a hero. So when your in contracting every job is important and it looks bad for the business to quit a job sight. But Zeitoun had no fear and left any way. I think he is a hero.

Zeitoun

Here is your blog for Sunday by midnight on the last book for the course.  We have been discussing tragic heroes, so what I would like you to write about is Zeitoun: how is he a hero? What qualities does he have that seem heroic to you?  Is he also stubborn (like Creon)? Is he, possibly a tragic hero?  Discuss Zeitoun's behavior in the first half of the book and give two to three examples of heroic and or stubborn behavior.  Consider, if you wish, behavior that is likely to get him into trouble.

IF YOU DO NOT DO THIS BLOG THERE WILL BE A QUIZ, JUST FOR YOU, ON MONDAY.

Happy Sunday--and keep reading Zeitoun. 

Janet Nolan

Rockaway Hurricane You Tube Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IibIB-P-a6c&feature=player_embedded

Antigone Essay Topics

Reason, Passion, Madness, Revenge and Justice

Fall 2012 Liberal Arts Cluster
Dr. Van Slyck

Essay #3: Antigone

You will write a 600-800 word essay on Antigone, double spaced, 12pt font, using MLA documentation.

The essay should include specific support from the play (at least 3-4 quotations) and supporting evidence from at least one other source.  Depending on the topic you choose, your secondary source may be one of the following: Aristotle’s definition of tragedy, Bradley’s definition of tragedy; 2-3 Greek definitions (hubris, hamartia, ate, perepetia (reversal) anagnorisis (recognition); Ortner’s essay on women’s relationship to nature, culture; Segal’s essay on Antigone’s relationship to family and earth and womb; ideas about loyalty to the clan or loyalty to the city (polis) in classical Greece.  Some of this material is in coursepak; some you will have to research a little more!

Here are the possible topics.  Choose ONE.

1.        Both Antigone and Creon are passionate about their beliefs.  Examine the nature of the passion that guides each of them.  Do you feel that each is acting rationally?  Are there times when each seems guided by emotion rather than reason?  How does this affect their arguments? Compare and contrast their arguments.  Then explain which of the two has the stronger argument(s) in your opinion and why.  Be sure to use quotations from Antigone and information about Greek ideas about family loyalty and loyalty to the state.

2.       By standing up to Creon, Antigone defies many of the gender roles of her time.  On the other hand, her loyalty to family and to burial rites is proper to her domain as a Greek woman.  In your essay, argue that Antigone is or is not a proto-feminist hero (that is, someone who battles against gender inequality).  Please include material from the play but also ideas about women’s roles that she transcends, overcomes, challenges or embraces.  (Hint: Ortner)

3.       Make the argument that Creon, not Antigone, is the tragic hero of the play.  Use ideas we have discussed in class (dramatic arc) and from Aristotle on the nature of the tragic hero.  You need to explain, for example, where you see him undergoing a reversal of his initial position.  Also, does he have a moment of recognition?

4.       Make the argument that Antigone is the tragic hero in her commitment to her values, the greatness of her nature, and willingness to die.  Show how the play exemplifies Bradley’s definition of tragic waste (coursepak page 77).

5.       The French psychoanalyst, Jacques Lacan, argues that Antigone chooses death and that this choice defines her courage and her “splendor.”  Why do you admire Antigone for her decisions, in particular her decision to die.  Discuss her ethical choices, the reasons she chooses to die, and why you find her position courageous.  Do you think Sophocles admires Antigone?