Mary Wollstonecraft was a feminist. She fought for the rights of women, and she thought that women lived like slaves. She also believed that both Men and women need to have same education, and women would be more independent after receiving education in great degree. However, women’s rights and positions were oppressed by the society, so women become “weak characters” and “more useless members”. At that time, women just had some basic knowledge; they even cannot have formal education. Their jobs were take care their children and do the housework.  They depended on their fathers and husbands.

I think that women’s social standing was decided in ancient time. In ancient time, men were more powerful and can gain more food. This made women need to relay on men, and men also saw women as their property. They set up the rule to adjust women’s behaviors and positions. As the time pass on, “they do to-day, what they did yesterday, merely because they did it yesterday.” Mary Wollstonecraft also said, “All the difference that I can discern arises from the superior advantage of liberty, which enables the former to see more of life.” Men had more power and can receive more education, so they can see more. People can see more means they can know more things and control more powers. They didn’t want women to become out of their control. At that time women were “blind obedience” to their men. Therefore, I knew Mary Wollstonecraft was in a very difficult situation when she decided to stand up and speak for the rights of women because she didn’t have enough power to fight against men. Now, women still face prejudice when they work outside.

A Modest Proposal by Dr Johnathan Swift is basically his way of dealing with the social issues of Ireland in the 1700’s. Swift states “For preventing the children of poor people in Ireland,from being a burden on their parents or country, and for making them beneficial to the publick. I believe Swift intends to transform a vital social issue into something that may benefit in the long run.

At the beginning of his proposal Swift informs the reader about the mothers who beg for food and money on the street. these particular mothers have many children and cannot afford to feed themselves and their families. Swift also states that many mothers kill their babies for these reasons.

Swift’s proposal revolves around starting an orphanage or charity that would be funded by those who have 2 shillings to donate. Swift provides statistics to show how the donated funding will be used and how most births result in miscarriage or death. Mothers who are forced to beg for food or money would be employed as wet nurses.

I would say Swift is a humanitarian.After being the subject of begging , he decided it was time to many a change.Swift believes in resolving this social issue will increase the overall stasis of Ireland. Swift would help create homes, jobs, and life by employing mothers and providing food and shelter for those of less fortune. Orphans

The last statements Swift makes explain why he is interested in dealing with these issues.

“I profess, in the sincerity of my heart, that I have not the least personal interest in endeavouring to promote this necessary work, having no other motive than the publick good of my country, by advancing our trade, providing for infants, relieving the poor, and giving some pleasure to the rich. I have no children, by which I can propose to get a single penny; the youngest being nine years old, and my wife past child-bearing.”

It seems like Swift makes a decent humanitarian approach by proposing a way to care for children and mothers of those less fortune. Actually he has a different approach.

“I have already computed the charge of nursing a beggar’s child (in which list I reckon all cottagers, labourers, and four-fifths of the farmers) to be about two shillings per annum, rags included; and I believe no gentleman would repine to give ten shillings for the carcass of a good fat child, which, as I have said, will make four dishes of excellent nutritive meat, when he hath only some particular friend, or his own family to dine with him. Thus the squire will learn to be a good landlord, and grow popular among his tenants, the mother will have eight shillings neat profit, and be fit for work till she produces another child.”

Swift is proposing that the child would be fed and taken care of until the physical weight and health is worthy of selling. The mother would make a profit and the buyer would be able to eat the body and feed his tenants ( if applicable ).

Others would be able to make gloves or boots from the skin of the babies.

Understanding this proposal has proven to be difficult but i believe Swift is creating a satire in attempt to humiliate the state of his country and the government. He does so by comparing the up-bringing of animals such as cows and pigs to humans. Swift is humiliating the fact that there are many beggars and poor families in Ireland and the government does not know how to take care of this issue.

Thomas Hobbs the great English philosopher stated that human nature is naturally wicked, furthermore, Hobbs believed that human life is nasty, brutish and short. Well, If I didn’t have any other experiences of the world besides the reading of  “A Modest Proposal” by Dr. Jonathan Swift, I’d swiftly sign up for that school of thought without any recourse.  Nonetheless, the reading was brutal and I’d assume that Dr. Jonathan Swift was a very wealthy man because of how he treats the poor; Dr. Swift heard the cries for help from his common man, he offered help, but his help didn’t come with benevolence.

I think from the exordium Dr. Swift heard the cry from the common man, however, the help he was offering was to extinguish the poor cast of society that wasn’t producing.  I believe his style was Nazi with a twist of cannibalism and capitalism served cold.  The reason why I am disgusted with Dr.Swift is because he wanted to serve children on dinner plates, as if they’re veal.  The bottom line falls down to the school of thought from Thomas Hobbs; human nature is naturally wicked, for Hobbs his school of thought definitely did win in the 18th century in Ireland.

-Fabian Varcianna

Oh dearest enlightenment, we meet for the umpteenth time. I can sum up this whole epoch with just one quote: “Have the courage to use your own reason- that is the motto of enlightenment”. Wasn’t that short and simple, yet straight to the point? Definitely. Kant’s goal was merely to encourage individuals to begin thinking for themselves. Apparently, prior to the enlightenment era, there was a laziness epidemic that crippled the minds of many. People weren’t considered wise because they never challenged themselves, they were basically living off of the labor of others rather than their own. I mean it all makes sense doesn’t it? If I can get some one else to do something for me, why should I even bother attempting it, right? It’s like having an all around the clock maid—so handy! That’s the mentality that many had at the time, and oddly enough, to this day it remains an issue.

For instance, every semester a syllabus is handed to students, which contains the expectancies of the class in regards to academic integrity and along with that, it states the repercussions that come with disobeying the established policies. That proves that people will always be encouraged to think for themselves instead of using the ideas of others. That was on a whole other tangent (tends to happen often whilst discussing a rather dull historic topic), but I thought it somewhat relevant? Maybe?Well to sum this all up, I believe that there will always be a source of influence in our lives, so our own “reason” will continuously be skewed. We just Kant stop, and won’t stop taking the “easy” way out.

-Shirley Mieses

In these days, I just finished reading a book wrote by a famous tv show host in my country. This book is a recorder of her life. She presides over an entertainment tv show, and brings happiness to her audiences. In a story, her friend wondered, “I’m very curious about how is your world looks like?Won’t you feel tired and bored sometimes since you always bring us happy and hope?” She responded, “That’s part of my job, and I enjoy the sense of achievement when I saw them smiling.”

Applied these questions on myself, my answers will be the opposite. When I with my friends, I am mood maker. Sometime I felt tired when they are all laughing, and no one notice the fleeting sadness. I think myself as being perfectly ridiculous.

After reading the passage “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift, I have found that the author is trying to satirize the policy in Ireland as well as the heartless and greedy of upper class people and the society. At that time, the population grew fast especially among the poor people. However, the poors couldn’t raise their children by themselves and the government did not care about this condition as well as the rich people. They only cared about the economic and money. Thus, it was very common to see lots of beggars including little children on the street begging. In order to help the development of the economic, the government and the riches suppressed the poors and exploited from them. Lots of poor children died every year. The author pointed at this situation and made a suggestion. In order to solve this problem and get a perfect result, the poor people could sell their children to the rich people for their meal. In doing this, population problem could be solved, poor people could solve their economic problem and the rich people could be satisfied and happy. The society’s heartless and greedy led to this tragedy.

As reading this passage, I felt like that the author’s mind was a little abnormal. It sounded strange and very cruel. At the same time, I could feel the helpless of the poor people and the heartless of the rich people from author’s writing. I think the world would be better if the government changed the policy and people could help each other. If the society and the rich people could be more concerned about the poor people and give hands to poor people and help them out, if people could help each other, all problems would not be problems. Selling children and made them be a meal was very cruel and could not be a way of solving problems. As to those little poor children, they did not know how they born and did not know how they died and became a meal on the table.

Women fought for their rights since the Enlightenment. Mary Wollstonecraft is one of  advocators who vindicate of rights of women. Women needed education to change their lives and to prove their abilities in the society, but they had less opportunities to attend school to get great degrees. Society set women’s role, I think the role for women at that time is like slaves. Wollstonecraft also attacked men’s maturity and understanding. She thought women might have more knowledge than men. People ‘s viewpoints were influence by manner.

On my opinion, it was hard time for advocating rights of  woman, but if advocators were not advocate it,  we would not having women’s rights. Wollstonecraft enlighten me that we should have courage to fight for what we want.  “You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result.”

Well, I hope I’m writing about the correct passage but here it goes. After reading the passage “A Vindication of the Rights of Women” by Mary Wollstonecraft, I found that education was not available for women. In the beginning she describes how they are not allowed to go to school or become educated. Roles are set among men and women, and that is what they are there to do. By them not allowing women to be educated, it is setting a very negative appearance towards the next upcoming generations, and what they will basically be forced to do, due to no other choice because of the strict no education role. The life of women in my opinion, is almost like being slaves, they are taught not to argue or express their emotions about anything that would bother them, which leads to a very unhappy life.

I felt that after reading this passage, this is where the chance of women becoming educated would become available, during the Enlightenment. Due to all of the change and new learning that was taking place, I feel that this specific time would be the perfect opportunity for women the break through and become more then people say they are. After this women would no longer feel the need to rely on men, they could become their own and break the “roles” that were set among them, and show that they can be just as good as men.

-Joe Higgins