Biology Essay 13

What does it mean to say a creature is “intelligent?” Describe some of the intelligent behavior of various animals, and compare it to human intelligence.

Animals can be very smart and perceptive one of the most common examples are apes and monkeys. They work together in groups to hunt for food, they can recognize members of their group, they respond to their surroundings in a sensible manner and teach their young to do the same. While monkeys and apes are both very intelligent they are not as smart as humans and will never surpass our intelligence because we have a skill that they cannot adapt to which is language. Monkeys and apes might make noises that they can understand, but there have been studies of teaching monkeys to talk and ask questions but none have been compliant in a ground-breaking way.

Another intelligent animal is an elephant, similar to monkeys they use each other to their advantages and hunt in packs, they pay attention, take care of their young and can recognize their members. Some other things elephants can do is mourn for the loss of a member and can paint pictures of nature if given the right tools. They don’t look at a surrounding and paint like many humans do, instead they paint from their own mind and paint a new picture every time. This means that elephants must have a good memory to remember what not to paint.

In conclusion, animals are intelligent creatures but again they are creatures, not humans, humans were given more intelligent brains and are programmed to respond and perceive the world in a different way. This does not mean that animals are not intelligent, it means that animals and humans have our brains wired in a certain way that is different from each other and that means that we also perceive the world in a different way. We are both intelligent in our own different way.

History Western Civilization Essay 26

How does Thomas Aquinas, following Aristotle, argue for the existence of God on the basis of the concepts of potency and act (or potentiality and actuality)?

Thomas Aquinas was a Christian Catholic and was a Scholar in Catholicism, he studied Aristotle’s works and greatly admired them. He began to begin his own arguments with rational reasoning using Aristotle’s philosophy to defend God and prove the existence of him. His reasoning was that potential is only potential until someone or something turns that potential into an actuality, ex. An inanimate object might have the potential to move but it cannot move by itself until someone moves it for them. He then says that there are essentially ordered sequences, this means that an effect is dependant on an ultimate cause that is ultimately independent. Thomas said that the ultimate cause was God because he is pure and cannot be moved.

Describe the main principles of just-war theory.

Just-war theory was made so that when people went to war there would not be as much violence, and so that it was considered to be a just action that was not as murderous, and there were three rules put in action.

1. The authority of the country has accepted the command to wage war. This was put in place so that there wouldn’t be dozens of wars going on for people who were hot-headed and had no common sense to rationalize with.
2. A just cause is needed to go to war. If there is any way someone can avoid a war they should, war should only be a last resort.
3. You need to have a rightful intention. If there was a motivation of malice or wrong intent this third law stopped a war from happening.

Western Literature Essay 25

“Did this literature encourage Christians to exercise political leadership?”

During medieval times, most of the literature was by Christian Catholics because most people during those times could not read or write. The monks at monasteries were the ones who would copy texts and scripts so most of them were about the church and its beliefs. So did this literature encourage them to gain political power? No, the literature was about Christ and the church’s beliefs on him. The main themes were that God is in complete power, the Bible is the law, Christians will go to heaven to be with Jesus, and non-followers will perish in hell. These themes have nothing to do with gaining political power or wanting it. The literature was peaceful and was for teaching and gaining wisdom and using that wisdom for God and his kingdom. The literature is about looking forward to the future of a kingdom of God that will be known by all for his complete control over the entire universe. If there was any talk of power it was that God holds it all and he has complete control over everything. I am sure this literature inspired, encouraged, and made Christians feel stronger not because they could gain power here on earth but because they have power within Christ and can use that power for him.

Another power that they did talk about was the power of hell, they may not have specifically said that there is power there but there must be if people go there to die and are held captive there. This was something that probably motivated Christians to follow the laws of the church and of God because they did not want to perish or have their spirits in agony.

History Western Civilization Essay 25

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

In the High Middle Ages, the origin of universities are not completely known but the most likely origins are that a school from the church became a university, or that someone started teaching and it grew from that. Universities had to be accepted by a Church, or a King. If it was only accepted by a King they could only teach in that region, but if it was accepted by a Church they could teach anywhere. If it was  University students were unliked by many people in the towns because they were thought to be a nuisance and a disruption. They were so disliked that there was a student who was accused of murdering a woman and some of the townspeople went and killed three students. That is why the church protected universities and if there were trials that needed to involve the university they had to take place in a church court so that it was fair to the university.

What was Scholastic philosophy? Give an example of someone in the Scholastic tradition and discuss that person’s work.

Scholastic philosophy was a study of thinking and the professors highly encouraged their students to practice this kind of philosophy. It is when people prove that reason and logic are consistent with faith and religion. Aristotle’s works were the texts that were mostly used, and a passage was taken from the Bible and was compared to each other and they would discuss the differences and the students would make a conclusion.

Write a brief overview of the life and work of Thomas Aquinas.

Thomas Aquinas came from a stable family and when he wanted to go become part of the Dominican his family was opposed to that decision because they thought he was going to be an influencer of the world. While a Dominican was someone who just learned and taught a little. His family kept him for a year to try and change his mind but they did not succeed. The Dominicans sent him to learn under Albert the Great in Cologne, he studied in Paris and after he finished his studies he taught at Cologne, but went back to Paris after teaching there for a while. Thomas would end up teaching at Cologne, Paris, Bologna, Rome, and Naples. Thomas loved to write and he wrote around 8 1/2 million words in his lifetime, and he referenced around 48,000 in his writings. Thomas also was offered to become an Archbishop but turned it down because he preferred his studies. Thomas was a very intelligent man and was very knowledgeable in many subjects.

Western Literature Essay 24

“What was Augustine’s view of Christianity’s role in history?”

Agustine was a very strong Catholic Christian and he was a pastor who wrote sermons and was a preacher of those sermons, even though his sermons were complicated and full of ethical questions people still enjoyed listening to them. He believed that God is the one with ultimate power and we are horrible sinners who deserve hell but through Gods mercy, we can be saved through Christ. He also strongly believed that Christ is the rock that the church stands on because he made a great sacrifice when he died.

He thought that Christians were very important people who would not help save humanity but help the kingdom of God grow and after it, his kingdom had grown the Christians would help win its victory. He believed that the future of the world was doomed and said that humanity was also doomed and filled with destruction. He thought the role of the Christians was to go and save as many people as possible, but that they were special and were more of a people who had a higher status in this world because they were Christians and were saved by God made them more important than other people on the world. He said that peoples souls and bodies are disconnected so if a man kills another man they only killed his body, but God has the power to kill both the body and the soul and he summed that sermon up by implying “respect God or go to hell.” For the people who are unbelievers, he said that they would perish in hell.

Augustine had some very interesting ideas on what Christianity will do for the world while I don’t believe in everything that he said, I still learned a lot from him and I respect him for saying what he believes.

Biology Essay 12

Can a poisonous arthropod provide benefits to human beings? Are there virtues in the venom? Give a few examples to support your point of view.

Arthropods are a group of animals that are closely related to insects but most are not classified as insects. Some of these arthropods are spiders, scorpions, and bugs such as bees and butterflies. While many of them are harmless there are poisonous arthropods that can be dangerous to humans, but if treated correctly you will most likely be fine. The poison can be useful to humans, it can be studied and used in medicine. There is a scorpion called the Deathstalker and its venom has been thought to help fight against tumors. Bees make beeswax that doctors use when in surgery it is used as a filler, bees pollen also has useful properties, it is filled with vitamins, and enzymes that protect against colds. Its pollen can also help against asthma and hay fever. Bee venom also is used to detect explosives which is very useful. Spiders also have spider silk which is not a venom but still very useful, it was used a long time ago to help stitch wounds back together because it has vitamin k and helps with blood clotting. It can also be made into clothing, crosshairs, it was even made into violin strings. There have been many experiments because spider silk is so valuable and useful.

History Western Civilization Essay 24

What did the Albigensians believe?

The Albigensians were a religious group of people who believed that there was good and evil in the fact that everything in the world was evil, and that the soul was good. There were ranks of the Albigensians and they were the Perfects and the Believers. The Perfects did not eat meat or drink milk, they were the vegans of the middle ages and were the ones very committed to living a life as departured from the world as possible. The Believers did support the Albigensians but if they did not want to completely give up everything to be an Albigensian then they would just support the Albigensians by being at the meetings. It was the goal to be a Perfect by the time you die and would most commonly become a Perfect on their death bed so that they would not be tempted to sin. They believed that they had to be so departed from their earthly selves that they would not help the widows and orphans in a way that they truly needed, instead of giving them food or water they would put their hands on them and give them grace through their hands and truly thought that was how to help them.

What was the significance of King Philip IV of France?

King Phillip was also known as King Phillip the Fair and contrary to his name he was not a very fair king at all, he was named fair because he had handsome features. When he was a toddler he was appointed to be the next king but because he was so young he had to wait until he was old enough to have the throne so the previous king’s nephew held the throne until it was time for him to reign. When he was appointed king he wanted to have more land and money so if there were matters that needed to be settled then they needed to go into the king’s court to resolve the issue because that was a way that the king made some revenue. Then Phillip wanted to take control over the church so he appointed bishops, he had an argument with Pope Innocent the third about who was going to be one of the bishops and went as far as to threaten anyone who sided with Innocent would have their eyes gouged out, and their noses cut off. The bishops still kept their ground and sided with Innocent. After the incident, there was a man Phillip appointed who sided with the church and fled England to go to France. After about ten years the church told Phillip if he didn’t make amends with that man they were going to take away the crown from him after they made amends that man was killed by some of Phillips supporters and Phillip was hated by the public so he went on a pilgrimage in honor of that man. When Phillip was in a war with another country he made money less valuable then it was originally was because he needed money for the war.

History Western Civilization Essay 23

What are some common misconceptions about the Crusades, and why are they incorrect?

The crusades were voyages the westerners took because they wanted to take back the holy land that the Muslims had taken when the pillaged Antioch, Jerusalem, and other cities in the east. There are many misconceptions about the crusades and many of them have to with the motive for the crusades. Some people think that there was no reason that the westerners went to crusade, but the reason that they wanted the land back so badly was because it was holy land where many of the apostles and martyrs had been buried. I believe it had something to do with the fact that God promised that land to his children when Moses was alive and the people took that passage way too literally. Many times it was the pope leading these crusades so they probably wanted it back for that reason. A reason that the crusaders actually went on the crusades was because it was a penance for their sins that the pope had given them to complete, again many of the crusades were orchestrated by the pope.

Based on the different versions of Pope Urban II’s speech, discuss the main themes in the Pope’s remarks.

Pope Urban II must have been a pretty persuasive guy because when he made his speech about the crusades and taking back the holy land in 1095, the next year in 1096 people were already leaving to go on a crusade. In his speech, he talked about how people needed to give penance for their sins and that taking back the holy land and the rest of the east was the way to have God forgive their sins. Pope Urban II seemed to really hate the Muslims because he called them rapists, thieves, and says their race is cursed. He really plays into the idea that God wants them to go on these crusades and wants them to take back the land that was given to them and taken away.

Western Literature Essay 23

“How important was the doctrine of hell to the martyrs?”

There have been many Christian martyrs throughout the years and some of these include Polycarp, the apostles, Augustine, and many others. They were martyred because they believed in Christ and refused to give up their faith.

The doctrine of hell was very important to the martyrs because it helped them to stay strong while they were being tested and waiting for their deaths. They believed in it because it helped prove that Jesus was real. They felt peace with their decision to be martyrs because they knew that they would not be dying without a purpose, and that they would be sent to be with Jesus. This doctrine also talks about good and evil and if there is evil then there must be good, if there wasn’t then no one would do anything to help the other, and there would only be destruction and ruin.

This doctrine helped the martyrs in a time where their faith was being tested and they were in a lot of pain and discomfort and were probably scared, but they clearly believed that God was real and they would rather die than say he wasn’t real because they also believed that if they blasphemed God’s name then they would go to hell. These people showed great courage in a time where they probably did not want to die, but kept things as bright as possible in a time of darkness when ultimately it ended with them seeing the light.