A Comparison of Chuang Tzu's Ideas of Life and Death with those of Essay

A Comparison of Chuang Tzu's Ideas of Life and Death with those of Socrates - Essay Example You-Sheng revisited the Chuang Tzu’s argument that through the inaction of heaven, which is purity and that of the earth, which is space, things are brought to existence and are transformed mysteriously (You-Sheng, 2005, p. 14). He went further to explain that it is through this inaction that the living things have the mercy to grow and develop. One is born by chance, but once alive, death is imminent. Therefore, the essay is a comparison of Chuang Tzu ideas of life and death with those of Socrates. Chuang Tzu Ideas of Life and Death Watson examined Chuang Tzu’s basic writings to outline his ideas about life and death. He argues that during old age, the mind comes closer to death and probably nothing could restore the life to light (Watson, 1996, p. 32). Significantly, this comes as an automatic consequence of aging; therefore no one should be afraid of death. As a result, the people are in constant struggle and worry during their life, because they have to toil for the ir daily bread, and think that at one time, the life would be terminated (Watson, 1996, p. 32). Life and death, according to Tzu are fated and bound to happen (Watson, 1996, p. 76). In this regard, he equates their relationship to the succession between dark and down, through compulsion. As the dark nears its end, a new dawn succeeds it, meaning that as life nears its end, death dawns (Watson, 1996, p. 76). ... 77). In essence, he attributes death to a means of change, and since everything is constantly changing, no one has the capability of preventing the change from changing. Therefore, we should accept the facts related to change, and welcome it when it reaches, and there would not be anything to fear about death. Moreover, according to his conviction, in the beginning and end, early death, old age, and at all levels of human development, he/she should be delightful (Watson, 1996, p. 77). Apparently, the belief makes us believe that life that life and death are equal, not any important than the other (You-Sheng, 2005, p. 37). As well, the argument suggests that the people should be aware that at one moment, perhaps after birth, he/she is bound to die, through whichever means. Therefore, he attributed death to an automatic exit from the known world to unknown world, where only Tao has good knowledge about (You-Sheng, 2005, p. 39). Drawing from the Masters’ agreement, he argues that this is something that one should believe (Watson, 1996, p. 80). This is justified from his acknowledgement that non-being is actually someone’s head, life is someone’s back and death is someone’s rump. In another controversial question, he wanted to know whether life and death are all one body (Watson, 1996, p. 80). In reality, there is a common belief that once a person is dead, the aspects of life cease to manifest on the body. The body becomes helpless, lifeless and useless to perform any function. Therefore, life and death, despite being very far apart from one another, are simply one. For instance, life results to death and they can never manifest together, each does distinctively. He also put

Analytical and synthetic cubism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Analytical and synthetic cubism - Essay Example Cubism was founded by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, inspired by the artworks in African Sculpture, by painters Paul Cà ©zanne (French, 1839-1906) and Georges Seurat (French, 1859-1891), and by Fauves. Cubism was later divided into two branches, Analytical Cubism and Synthetic Cubism.Analytical Cubism is the first development phase of Cubism and was developed between 1908 and 1912. The Analytical phase consisted of analyzing the object and then breaking it down into basic geometric forms in the canvas.Synthetic Cubism, the second and more decorative phase of Cubism started after the Analytical phase in 1912. This phase was less complex than its predecessor phase.During Analytical Cubism the language of Cubism had become flatter, consistent, but also more ambiguous. In his portrait of Ambroise Vollard, Picasso fragmented a human figure into a number transparent geometric planes intersecting each other at a variety of angles, none of these planes giving the illusion of three dimens ionality.2 In this work, Picasso merged figure and environment, solid and void, background and foreground.â€Å"Synthetic Cubism was in part a reaction against the abstract tendency of the Analytical phase.†3 With his `Still Life with Chair Caning’ (1912, Musà ©e Picasso,Paris, France) Picasso invented a technique called collage (from the French word `coller’ meaning "to glue"). This started the second phase of Cubism known as Synthetic Cubism. Pasting pieces of paper or other material to the surface of painting is Collage. In his painting, Picasso used a piece of oilcloth. Soon both Picasso and Braque began using newspapers, wallpapers, advertising in their paintings implying that art can be created with anything and not just brushes and paint.2 During Analytical Cubism, the works produced by Picasso and Braque shared similarities in style since the objects were represented by geometric forms such as cylinder, sphere and cone. Whereas Synthetic Cubism was more like synthesizing several objects into a figure. The colors were minimum or almost non-existent in Analytical Cubism paintings. Many of the painting were entirely muted brown or grays. The main reason for this was that the two artists were concerned about geometric shapes. Synthetic Cubism on the other hand is more of a decorative phase of Cubism. Colors were reintroduced in synthetic cubism. For the decorative effort, bright colors were used, smooth and rough surfaces were contrasted with one another. Sometimes objects such as newspapers or tobacco wrappers were used in combination with painted areas.4 Abstraction was one of the main characteristics of Analytical Cubism. There was minimal resemblance with the real world as can be seen in the paintings 'Ma Jolie' (1911) by Picasso and 'The Portuguese' (1911) by Braque. The subject matter appeared to be structure of fragmented planes. In Synthetic Cubism both artists included stenciled letters, words (often pun) as a reaction against abstraction of Analytical Cubism.3 Right angles and straight-lines were mostly used in Analytical Cubism. Paintings were almost flat though sometimes in some areas the painting appeared sculptural, for instance in the painting Girl with a Mandoline' (1910), by Picasso. The synthetic phase of Cubism affirmed Cubism as a manipulative technique which plays games with both reality and perception, through the use of collage and letter stenciling. It also helped in accentuating its flatness. Picasso began to look at sculptures in a new way, due to his experience with collage, as an assemblage of parts rather than a shaped mass, which shows in the sculptures he made in 1912, riffs on the form of the guitar. Cubism as Modern Movement: Cubism is considered to be the most influential modern movement by many art critics. The reason being that Cubism gave a new meaning to looking at objects in a significantly different way from the one set during the Renaissance