Humanities Ethics Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 3

Humanities Ethics - Coursework Example He notes than humans use this criterion as a moral importance that they believe succeeds in excluding all animals and including all humans. He points variations that exist among humans themselves that sometimes could undermine the essence of equality among human beings themselves. For instance, he argues that there exist essential differences among humans such as different sizes and shapes, different intellectual abilities, differing moral capacities, differences in ability to communicate effectively, different capacities to experience pain and pleasure, differences in the amount of benevolent feeling and sensitivity towards others. According to singer, humans equally have differences as mentioned hence it could be incredibly erroneous to assert that there should be equality among humans when the differences are profound. In other words, Singer posits that humans then, have only a common ground in which they share a fundamental characteristic. That is, all human beings belong to the species of Homo sapiens. So the existence in the human species confers the moral responsibility of humans to control the lives of other non-human beings. He considers this understanding arbitrary and that human beings should not take advantage on the difference that exist among groups to see themselves as morally important. According to him, â€Å"speciesism† exists and human beings have hijacked the differences in species to confer among themselves moral importance vis-a-vis that of animals (White, 328). Scruton would almost go contrary to the assertions of Singer. But certain distinction need to be made in Singer’s argument, he defends animals and demand that there should be equality. This simply does not mean that animal right should be exactly comparable to that of humans, or to any extent supersedes that of human. Scruton believes that it may be essential to defend the life and rights of animals but, he makes an emphasis that doing so at the expense of human life makes no sense. He believes that human beings have interests while non-humans do not have interests. They may feel the same pain and pleasure but that ends just there, while humans tend to look at the outcome or how certain actions would impact on them. He then believes that it is not appropriate my any mean feat to terrorize the lives of humans for the sake of protecting the interests of animals. On his radar is the Animal Liberation Front in Britain, which he sites as the most dangerous terrorist groups. He also criticizes the Parliament for acting as if they are the representatives of animals. 2. Human â€Å"animal use† runs the gamut from use for food, research, recreation (fighting/hunting), to protection. How would you differentiate between killing bacteria (antibiotics), cockroaches (bug spray), or a rogue tiger, where they pose a real danger to humans? What about using animals in medical research that may save human lives, although the animals may suffer, or die? Shou ld all living things be grouped together under the same rules? Explain. There are very serious moral issues that Scruton cites with relation to animal rights. For instance, he uses the example of fur trade that has seen serious resistance from animal activists. He also cites the situation the Oxford Professor,

Hidden Time Capsule from both the Renaissance and the Age of Baroque Essay

Hidden Time Capsule from both the Renaissance and the Age of Baroque - Essay Example This period began in Italy, Rome, at around the year 1600 and rapidly spread to other European regions (Fitzpatrick, 2008). Its popularity and success were however encouraged by the Roman Catholic Church which insisted that the arts produced at the time were to communicate various religious subjects through emotional or direct involvements. This was in response to the protestant reformation that was taking place at the time. The baroque architectural styles were perceived as means through which visitors would be entertained and triumphant control or power would be expressed (Buelow, 2004). On the other hand, the renaissance period began back in the 14th century and lasted through to the 17th century and was also started in Italy while spreading to other European regions in the course of time (Hinds, 2009). The period mainly encompassed the creative flowering of the vernacular and Latino literatures, the establishment of linear perspectives along with various rendering styles for brin ging out the natural realities of painting (Mason, 2005). In writing this paper, I am imagining that I am a cultural anthropologist searching a hidden capsule from both periods with two items each from these periods’ art, music, architecture, philosophy and literature locked inside them. The paper therefore describes the each of the items that have been found in the capsules from these periods. Inside the first capsule, I found the first art from the Renaissance period which came from Giotto di Bondone who lived between the years 1267-1337 and treated paintings as windows in space. He made his break by using the Byzantine styles and made his first masterwork found were the decorations of Padua’s Scrovegni Chapel which were completed around the year 1305 (Hinds, 2009). I also found the sculptures of Pieta and David that were made by Michelangelo even before he turned thirty years were classical and herculean in structure in this capsule. Michelangelo was the most famous painter, sculptor and artist of the renaissance period (Mason, 2005). Inside the second capsule that came from the baroque period, Aleijadinho of Brazil creations of the statute called Santuario de bom jesus de matosinhos that is located in Congonhas was found. Most of his finest works were several soapstone structures of Old Testament prophets that were created on the terraces of the Brazilian temple (Fitzpatrick, 2008). The fountains of Bernini that were created between the years 1598 to 1680 also have high traits of the Baroque period were also found in the second capsule. Bernini was renowned for making sculptures that could combine the spiritual with the physical and created several busts for the powerful people who lived during his time (Buelow, 2004). In the first capsule, I found music from the renaissance period that had been produced by composers like Guillaume Dufay and Giovanni da Palestrina which included masses and motets (Mason, 2005). Masses were sacred compositions that mainly set the Eucharistic liturgies into music. On the other hand, motets were highly varied musical compositions that were choral (Hinds, 2009). In the second capsule, I found musical types like the concerto and the sinfonia which came into being during the baroque period. The sinfonia was an Italian form of symphony and comprised of an orchestral piece whereas the concertos were composed of three elements which were the solo instruments, movements and an orchestra that accompanied the two (Fitzpatrick, 2008). The cathedral of Morelia Michoacan that are situated in Mexico and the Basilica di San Sebastiano gardens in Sicily are the best examples of baroque period architecture that were found in this capsule. These two