Abstract
This paper discusses how anthropomorphism is a time-honored literary and visual device that has been used to satirize and comment on the human condition. The paper explores this subject and attempts to show how anthropomorphism functions in the works of three visual artists. The three artists are Art Speigleman, John Tenniel and Alexandre Gabriel Decamps. Together with illustrations of their work, the paper examines how Speigelman used this method to make a vivid and strong statement about the human condition and the propensity for human cruelty and injustice in history. The paper also looks at how John Tenniel and Alexandre Gabriel Decamps have employed anthropocentricism to expose pretention in culture and to express their views about society.

Outline:
Introduction
Speigelman
John Tenniel
Alexandre Gabriel Decamps

From the Paper
" Sir John Tenniel was well known as an illustrator and is possibly best known today from his cartoons and caricatures for Punch magazine. He is also renowned for his illustrations in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass. Tenniel used anthropomorphism and caricature to comment on human foibles and ultimately as a means of questioning and satirizing the society of the time. For example, he satirized nationalistic and patriotic concerns, such as the conflict and tension between England and Ireland. He achieves this by making use of animals and other graphic metaphors to express his views.
"He created numerous cartoons and caricatures of political life and of members of parliament, depicting some members of government with vulture's heads and other anthropomorphic devices to satirize geed, incompetency and the abuse of power. The following illustration is a clear indication of the way that he represented the difficult and obstinate Irish land question by using the image of a bull to symbolize these qualities."

Tags:Art, Speigleman, John, Tenniel, Alexandre, Gabriel, Decamps

Abstract
The mechanistic worldview, on the one hand, depicts nature as atomistic, passive, lifeless, and wholly devoid of purpose. Feminist critics of deep ecology's insistence that an anthropocentric worldview is the root cause of the ecological crisis agree that there are important connections between the oppression of nature and the oppression of women that the anthropocentric emphasis of deep ecology obscures. Nature itself is conceived of as feminine. The powerful metaphor of "Mother Nature" allows one to see women and nature as both nurturing and gentle as well as wild and unpredictable. The irrational forces of nature must be tamed by culture and the emotional nature of women must be constructively directed by the masculine force of rationality.

Tags:argument, for, anthropomorphic

Abstract
The paper explains why the argument to "think about animals as animals", as posited by Erica Fudge, is problematic because the only way humans may understand animals is in human terms. The paper cites the views of famous dog trainer Vicki Hearne, Erica Fudge and Harriet Ritvo. The paper believes that the absence of empirical evidence or a clear mode of expression between animals and humans promotes anthropomorphism as the only desirable way to understand animals.

From the Paper
"Animals occupy a vast cultural and social spectrum ranging from the inferior and superstitious feline of the sixteenth and seventeenth century, to "man's best friend" in twentieth century England, all the way to the Arabian stallions capable of completing mathematical equations. The controversy surrounding anthropomorphism, the attribution of human characteristics to non-humans, derives from the inability to communicate with them. The level of ambiguity originates from human fear and lack of control resulting in domination and manifesting through the depiction of animals in film, literature, ritualistic ceremonies, language and domestic life. The argument to "think about animals as animals" posited by Erica Fudge in "Animal," is problematic because the foundation of human language is a metaphoric representation of reality through a human lens. Similarly, the idea of humans thinking as animals is impossible simply because they are human. It is logical for humans to attribute human characteristics to animals; what would be the alternative?"

Tags:language, behaviors, species, communication

Abstract
The paper defines air pollution as consisting of contaminants or elements that have been introduced into the atmosphere in greater concentrations than naturally occurring processes have the capacity to process. The paper explains that these pollutants can be either natural or manmade in origin; naturally occurring pollutants are those from biological processes such as decay or volcanic eruptions for example while manmade pollutants are termed anthropomorphic and arise from numerous sources. The paper relates that most common anthropomorphic air pollutants are the result of the burning of fossil fuels in the industrial setting. The paper discusses how the Environmental Protection Agency or the EPA is responsible for air quality in the United States and air pollutants from industrial settings are governed within the NAAQS.

From the Paper
"Air pollution is defined as consisting of contaminants or elements that have been introduced into the atmosphere in greater concentrations than naturally occurring processes have the capacity to process. These pollutants can be either natural or manmade in origin. Naturally occurring pollutants are those from biological processes such as decay or volcanic eruptions for example while manmade pollutants are termed anthropomorphic and arise from numerous sources. The most common anthropomorphic air..."

Tags:advances, emissions, control

Abstract
The paper posits that it is not particularly easy to define Canadian native culture insofar as there are many different tribes and each tribe has its own practices - even if the distinctions are subtle. The paper argues that a generic description of native culture is that it is nomadic and involves living off of the land and with the land. The paper relates that it also appears as though the world was founded and ruled over by a Great Spirit that, for all intents and purposes, created the world for the natives and for all the other living beings to occupy; it is not clear, looking at the available materials, that the world was simply produced so as to be exploited by natives. Thus, the paper concludes that the First Nations people are distinguished from their white counterparts in the sense that their culture is not as anthropomorphic as the culture of the Europeans who came later.

From the Paper
"It is not particularly easy to define Canadian native culture insofar as there are many different tribes and each tribe has its own practices - even if the distinctions are subtle. In any case, a generic description of native culture is that it is nomadic and involves living off of the land and with the land. It also appears as though the world was founded and ruled over by a Great Spirit that, for all intents and purposes, created the world for the natives and for all the other living beings to occupy; it is not clear, looking at the available materials, that the world was..."

Tags:issues, diversity, nations

Abstract
The paper looks at why the characters in Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" failed to appreciate and discern the humanity in the doctor's monstrous creation. Ultimately, the paper explains, the monster was consigned to the margins of society because of his hideous physical appearance. The paper also explains that at the same time, his own malevolent acts made him a villain and denied him the opportunity to be viewed as an anthropomorphic being deserving of at least some of the considerations granted to human beings normally.

From the Paper
"The following paper will look at why the characters in Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" failed to appreciate and discern the humanity in the doctor's monstrous creation. Ultimately, the monster was consigned to the margins of society because of his hideous physical appearance. At the same time, his own malevolent acts made him a villain and denied him the opportunity to be viewed as an anthropomorphic being deserving of at least some of the considerations granted to human beings normally. Finally, it may be argued that the creature was not conceived of as being a human being because it..."

Tags:humanity, frankenstein, shelley

Abstract
This paper explores how Confucianism differs from Christianity, maybe the greatest contribution of the western world to global philosophy. Specifically, the paper looks at what Confucianism aspires to do and how Confucianism seems to take a more humanistic approach vis-a-vis human mastery over the self whereas Christianity seems to eschew humanism and rationalism in favor of "faith" - especially faith in an anthropomorphic God in Heaven. In a related vein, this paper notes how "Heaven" in Confucianism potentially means several different things while, in Christianity, it really means only one thing. The paper concludes by pointing out how Confucianism falters as a guarantor that its practitioners will behave themselves. Ultimately, the paper shows how Confucianism is not so much a self-consciously religious philosophy (like Christianity) as it is a self-consciously rationalistic and humanistic philosophy that, in its striving after ethereal forms, bears something in common with Platonism while simultaneously acting as a sort of prototype for what we now know as humanism.

From the Paper
"Confucianism is, possibly, the greatest contribution of the East to world philosophy; certainly, it is in the first rank. With that in mind, the following paper will look at how Confucianism differs from (and is similar to) Christianity, maybe the greatest contribution of the western world to global philosophy. Specifically, the paper will begin by looking at what Confucianism - in the main - aspires to do; from there, the paper will look at how Confucianism seems to take a more humanistic approach vis-a-vis human mastery over the self whereas Christianity seems to eschew humanism and rationalism in favor of "faith" - especially faith in..."

Tags:confucianism, christianity, differences

Abstract
This paper proposes that Darwin's theories need to be re-analyzed and considered together with today's advances in science and with the advantage of hindsight and modernity. The paper explains what Darwin's theory is and then explores the issues and problems with the theory in light of today's knowledge.

Contents
Introduction
Anthropomorphic Animal Understanding
Assumed Intelligence or Programmed Response
Environmental Stresses as a Precursor to Change
The Difference Between Animals and Humans
Darwin?s Assumption
Examples in Plant Life
Positive Response to Environmental Stress
Chemical and Biological Programming for the Well-being of the Species
Examples in Animal Life
Well-Fed Bears
Maladaptive Response to Reward Training
Discussion
Conclusion

From the Paper
This hypothesis does not take into consideration the positive nature of adverse conditions. This hypothesis does not address that learned behaviors, a mental cognitive function, may not be the only factors influencing the animal's behaviors. In humans, we have the ability to use our mental abilities to overcome fears, to relearn habits, and to change behaviors. Humans have the ability to, as a result of stresses or reward, chart an individual course of action unrepentant of environmental stimuli. As a facilitator of the success of individualization, we also have the ability to overcome environmentally adverse conditions if necessary in order to complete our mentally cognitive chosen course of action.

Tags:animal, bear, food, nature, survival, fit

Abstract
This paper compares and contrasts the idea of God posited by Benedict Spinoza with that posited by Gottfried Leibniz. The paper points out that, according to Spinoza, God exists necessarily from its divine nature, inhabiting the world as the world inhabits it. It claims that Leibniz saw the elegance of this utterly rational God, though he also espied a threat that he attempted to displace by defending the traditional anthropomorphic idea of God. Spinoza's God is beyond human, to which the human notions of 'good' and 'evil' do not apply. Leibniz saw in this God no freedom, no agency, and no morality by which man could live. The paper concludes that these two philosophers, arguably the most significant of their day, differed drastically in their views of God's role with regard to the world. While Spinoza's view of a non-human God appeals to humanity to find a liberal and democratic method by which to exist in the world, Leibniz's more traditional view of God involves the reliance upon faith and provides a perfect example upon which humanity must model itself.

From the Paper
"While this eminently rational idea of God possesses an almost geometric elegance, the implications of such a view would greatly disturb Spinoza's contemporaries, Leibniz among them. Since all things follow necessarily from God's nature as substance, determined solely through itself, it follows that things could not be any other way than they are. "Things could not have been produced by God in any manner or in any order different from that which exists." This is an utter rejection of the supreme anthropomorphic father figure, who chooses between right and wrong and lays down laws by which humanity is judged. Good and bad are reduced to human notions relative to our limited experience of the world, completely irrelevant to a universe that functions from the necessary. Morality is seemingly abolished, and God seems too powerless to ever have created anything at all. In fact, freedom to Spinoza is the ability to be determined by nothing other than one's nature, which entails that only God is completely free as the one substance, and to choose to be anything but what he is would be absurd, as what he is, is perfection. "...God alone is a free cause. For God alone exists only from the necessity of his nature and acts from the necessity of his nature." The threat to the theocratic order is explicit here, for while Spinoza's God is necessarily perfect, he is not necessarily good. Following from necessity, what we term 'evil' is as much in God as what we call 'good'. This God is not based on relative human notions or longings: it follows purely from the necessity of reason. Spinoza maintains that he sees God as surely as he can see the truth of a geometric proof: "I know it in the same way that the three angles of a triangle are equal to two right angles." The rejection of ultimate reward and punishment places the onus for morality squarely upon human shoulders; a yoke religion explicitly labors to remove because it is too heavy for most humans to bear and would lead to social chaos. Perhaps Spinoza had such in mind when he penned the last line of his Ethics: "...all things excellent are as difficult as they are rare."

Tags:morality, ethics, philosophy, existence, faith, logic, metaphysics, rational

Abstract
This paper compares and contrasts two origin myths, that of the Judeo-Christian outlook as seen in Genesis of the King James Bible to "How the World Was Made" of the Cheyenne people. The paper shows the commonalities of the myths, showing how both describe how the world originated. Both stories also describe the relationship between the divine creator and his relationship with man. This is contrasted with the differing views of this divine creator. The god of Genesis is omnipotent whereas the Cheyenne god is more anthropomorphic. The paper concludes that the comparison of these two stories suggests that the Judeo-Christian tradition views the creator God as a more punitive and powerful being than the Cheyenne, who see their creator god Maheo in continual dialogue with humanity and his creation

From the Paper
"The omnipotence of the God of Genesis is conveyed by his stated approval "it was good," noting his creation of the light (163). However, this goodness is self-evident, it is never in question that a good God is making good things, and this good God knows 'what he is doing.' God knows what the world will resemble in minute detail, even before it occurs: "let the earth bring forth grass, the earth yielding seed,' he says (163). In contrast, Maheo is taken surprise by all of the creations that delight his eye and heart. There is a creation but the animals and beings that transpire from his creative process take him by surprise: "I should like to see the things that have been created" he says, upon surveying the animals (11). For Maheo, the beings he meets are also much more powerful than Adam and Eve."

Tags:Genesis myth, origin myths, Native American folklore