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Reading through   Oroonoko , it is difficult to see whether this story is promoting slavery or condemning it. In the story, the narrator is quick to draw attention to Oroonoko’s dark skin, seemingly saying that he could be   perfectly  beautiful if not for his pigment. It is moments like these you cannot help but think,   how could this possibly be condemning slavery when it is promoting racism?   That is when I came to this conclusion: a person can  absolutely  be anti-slavery but still be racist.    I also think it is important to point out there is a difference between anti-slavery and an abolitionist. For someone who was anti-slavery, they might have believed the institution of slavery is morally wrong (which it is). For an abolitionist, they also thought slavery was morally wrong, but they wanted to free the enslaved and incorporate them as equal members of society. A person can be anti-slavery and not believe in abolition. Similarly, a...

Image source "I have always thought the actions of men the best interpreters of thought." -John Locke John Locke was revolutionary in the way he viewed humankind. From his education to his political beliefs, it is infinitely clear that this man was wise. The most poignant of Locke’s ideas was that humans possessed the ability to reason. Where other creatures had simple instinct, we had reason which gave us the ability to be logical. Now, we still do have basic instincts much like any other animal, but Locke truly sets us apart with this idea.  Multiple times in class, we have drawn parallels between political unease during the Restoration period and the same unease present-day, and that makes Locke’s ideas that much more palpable. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy said this; “For the individual, Locke wants each of us to use reason to search after truth rather than simply accept the opinion of authorities or be subject to superstition” (Uzgalis).  Seeking the truth through...

  I have some experience with blogs, but I am not an expert, by any means. So, it was a little daunting when I found out that this class will focus on blogging, but it was certainly something I was intrigued about as well. After going over the reading in the Top Hat textbook, I have been given a new appreciation of blogs, especially within an educational setting. Blogs can be used as a portfolio in ways that assignment turned into a Dropbox cannot be. I think blogs can be a great tool to utilize within education.   Image source Overall, I am proud of majority of my blogs posts. The last post about science and religion can use some tweaking to make it a bit better, but overall, the rest of them are something I am proud of. The only aspect of these blog posts that ever stress me out is figuring out the layout before they are posted. The writing aspect and sharing my writing does not usually affect me in any negative way, but I sometimes can get a little frustrated or stressed wi...

"Science investigates; religion interprets. Science gives man knowledge, which is power; religion gives man wisdom, which is control." –Martin Luther King, Jr.  The Celestial City from John Bunyan's A Pilgrim's Progress Sir Isaac Newton believed in a theory called God of the Gaps . In his Mathematical Principles of Mathematical Philosophy , Newton explained the theory like so, “This most elegant system of the sun, planets, and comets could not have arisen without the design and dominion of an intelligent and powerful being... And if the fixed stars are the centers of similar systems, they will all be constructed according to a similar design.” Essentially, God of the Gaps means that any questions or unknown in science places God (or another divine being) as the reason for its existence. The theory describes God as a mystical hand, guiding along inner mechanisms or unexplained phenomena in science. God of the Gaps was Newton’s way of drawing together his two great love...