John Stuart Mill’s Education Essays -- John Stuart Mill Education Essa

John Stuart Mill’s Education John Stuart Mill’s education was intense at all times, but at different stages in his life he learned different things and in different ways. Though his education was unique by all accounts, it embodied many virtues that modern educational systems strive to include. These include: close parent involvement and one-on-one work between students and teachers; exposure to intellectual role models; emphasis on independent thought, logic, and pursuing curiosities; being held to high standards for achievement; being free from invidious comparisons to peers; and learning the value of seeking out peers for intellectual support and stimulation. He also learned, during personal struggles to understand his relationship with his father and to rediscover passion for life after his mental crisis, that the responsibility for his education and his happiness ultimately lay with himself. Most stunning in his account is what he learns about his father during his process of evaluating the way his father educated him, judging his father’s ideas and abilities, and navigating his relationship with his father over time. During his early childhood Mill’s father tutored him in classical languages and history through structured lessons overseen by his father. His father’s patience encouraged him to ask questions and made him understand that his education was a priority. In retrospect he described his early education as an example of how much can be accomplished in a period of life that is generally wasted. Though he was reading Greek by age three, he attributes his achievements not to his own genius but to his learning environment. While the modern reader is inclined to disbelieve this modest assertion, his unique up... ...his education at different stages of his life, but I think I presented it here much as I read it – which is to say, I’m more inclined to praise Mill’s education than my professor and classmates are. I hope I’ve done a good job of explaining why I think his early education prepared him for everything, even his mental crisis, because I consider that personal struggle a vital part of his education. Learning about oneself and having to provide one’s own meaning for life is an important part of education, and the foundation of logical thought, facing and meeting challenges, and persevering with tough tasks, helped Mill through his mental crisis. I still really like Mill, and though I’m obviously no where near the extreme of his life, I identify to some extent with the way he thinks, the way he was raised, and the personal struggles he’s had to work through on his own.

Writing as an Artist

â€Å"Detail makes the difference between boring and terrific writing. It’s the difference between a pencil sketch and a lush oil painting. As a writer, words are your paint. Use all the colors.† Rhys Alexander makes an interesting connection between authors and artists in his quote about writing. The idea that writers are indeed artists of a sort, gives us the opportunity to think about how words can become like paint applied to a canvas. The canvas, when one looks further, is actually our reader’s mind. This happens because the reader’s mind becomes the dwelling place where the full color and texture of our written ideas are absorbed and understood. Taking this idea of the artistic endeavors of writing a step further, a writer, like an artist, is most often influenced by the environment around them. Would Monet’s painting of water lilies have turned out so ascetic if the day had been dull and rainy, thus altering his mood to reflect a dull and listless pond? As writers our environment touches on our senses and perceptions, altering our mood and also our writing; thus adding to our strengths and weaknesses, and giving our words the vibrancy and hues we need to paint our â€Å"canvas†. A bedroom is a wonderful safe haven from the chaos of everyday life. In this room we rest, dream and spend time with our own being in simple comfort. These sensations of relaxation and solitude form the basis of why I choose it as my primary writing environment. Here I can mix the ideas, opinions and data I have collected from the outside world and make a work of art that reflects my own inner thoughts of the experiences of which I write about. In my room I can be as creative as I like, without others to criticize or influence my words. Granted, people will do that later once the work is complete; but while it’s being created, it’s completely my own. The comfort of my room strengthens my writing because it adds to my feelings of comfort and security. These perceptions allow me to search deeper and possibly write with more courage about how I feel. If I were to do this anywhere else I would fear that others would judge my words and ideas even before the writing is finished. Then I might not find the nerve to write my own thoughts and opinions, but rather someone else’s. In this sense, solitude and comfort help me paint my verbal canvas with clarity. Solitude and comfort in a bedroom can however be a weakness due to the fact that it at times feels like the â€Å"same old thing† and induces writer’s block. Sometimes the feelings of our surroundings â€Å"lock† us into a repetitive pattern, and soon we find that all of our writings begin to take on similar qualities with no unique flare to make them original. For this problem, sometimes it is best to escape to the outside world and gather more data, or try and capture someone else’s enthusiasm for a topic. When this is not available however, altering a writing environment can help. Open the blinds, let some sunshine in, or maybe even close them and try writing by candle light. These are ways that can improve if not the writing environment itself, at least the writer’s mood. Hanging inspiring paintings or photos on the wall may or turning on music that suits the feelings we are trying to convey may also be helpful. Sometimes writers have to be as creative with their environment as they are with their words. Thus far we have seen that a writer’s environment touches on their senses and perceptions, altering their mood and also their writing; thus adding to their strengths and weaknesses, and giving their words the vibrancy and hues they need to paint their â€Å"canvas†.   I have only minimally explored and shared with you what my environment means to me and how I can improve it if needed. However, I hope that you as the reader have gotten a glimpse of where and why I create my art the way I do. I believe that each of us is inspired by the environment around us, whether it be the crashing of a thunderstorm or the slow steady roll of the ocean waves lulling us to sleep. Works Cited Alexander, Rhys. (author of webpage unknown).

Animal Testing Has Been A Part Of Pharmaceutical - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 2 Words: 725 Downloads: 7 Date added: 2019/04/12 Category Biology Essay Level High school Tags: Animal Testing Essay Did you like this example? Animal testing has been a part of pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and toxicity research for many years. Many innocent animal lives are being taken for the sake of science, when it is unnecessary to do so. Scientists have had the knowledge of human embryonic stem cells for research for years and yet they decide to use sentient animals instead. Even though animal testing has proven beneficial in the past, scientists should use human embryonic stem cells to do research instead of animals because it would not only be cheaper, but it would also be more accurate and morally appealing. If scientists were to start using human embryonic stem cells instead of animals, it would save the american taxpayers billions of dollars. There are so many more important thing that the government should be spending tax money on, but they choose to instead pay for useless, expensive testing. Bethany Hope Rishell states in her article Harming Humans via Animal Analysis: A Utilitarian Critique of Regulatory Requirements and Emphases in the Pharmaceutical, Cosmetic, and Industrial Chemicals Industries that a simple toxicity test frequently costs about $30,000. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Animal Testing Has Been A Part Of Pharmaceutical" essay for you Create order She then goes on to state, More complex testing, such as carcinogenicity tests, cost closer $1 million. These numbers do not account for what the scientists that conduct the tests are being paid. These numbers could be easily lowered if scientists decided to start testing on hESCs instead of animals. If these numbers were to be lowered, it would significantly lower the costs of medicine and medical treatments. Another pro to stem cell testing is that it would be a lot more accurate than testing on an animal. Logically speaking, the way humans react to certain things is significantly different than the way a rat or mouse would. So, why would scientist still use animals to test life saving medications and medical treatments meant for humans? According to Rishell, animal testing has delayed finding the cure for certain diseases such as cancer and diabetes. An example of this is when she mentioned, while humans cannot live without insulin regulating their blood sugar, mice, including mice genetically engineered specifically for the study of diabetes, can survive without insulin. This example means that all the time and money spent on testing mice for the cure to diabetes was to no avail. Another example of animal testing being unreliable is when scientists were attempting to test on animals for heart disease and other heart problems, they could not successfully create medications to help cure these diseases. Eventually it was discovered that cardiovascular disease almost never develops in any other species other than homo sapiens. There is no denying that animals cells work very different than that of a humans. Lastly, testing on human embryonic stem cells would be more morally appealing than testing on a sentient animal. The main difference between hESCs and animals is that an hESC cannot feel pain unlike an animal which can. Of course, it could be argued that an hESC is or could be a living person, but animals are already living creatures. This is where the political debate comes in. According to Davor Solter, the author of the article From Teratocarcinomas to Embryonic Stem Cells and Beyond: a History of Embryonic Stem Cell Research, the scientific community is becoming more politically driven. Because there are so many people in politics that believe that hESCs are living humans, they are letting these animals suffer instead. Science should not be about politics, but about doing whatever is needed to come up with medicines, cures, and treatments to help whoever needs it. Morally speaking, everyone can agree that researchers should not inflict pain on something that can actually feel it, and risk the results not being accurate, but instead test on something that cannot feel pain and would give more accurate results. Testing on hESCs give scientists more accurate results and less room for error. Some may argue that animal testing has been beneficial in the past and science should switch practices if the ones they use work. The main problem with this counterclaim is that even though animal testing has gotten science pretty far, as I had previously stated it has not been reliable. The more that scientists discover about the human body and the diseases that can inhabit it the more complex and in depth the research on these diseases need to be