Analysis Of Nelson Mandela And Socrates

Character by definition is the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual. My character is something that my parents always worked hard towards so I would grow up and be the best possible person I could be and I like to think that is distinctive to me. My character is seen in the ways that I deal with everyday life situations. Over the last few years I’ve paid more attention to the things I say after I read a book on suicide that had a large impact on me; I’ve started to stand

“Hundreds and thousands of Africans are thrown into jail each year under pass laws. Even worse than this is the fact that pass laws keep husband and wife apart and lead to the breakdown of family life.”(Nelson Mandela- April 20,1964 “An Ideal in Which I Am Prepared to Die) This quote comes from a well known African leader Nelson Mandela who fought to help his people in South Africa against apartheid, A set of laws which allowed whites to have all the power in South Africa from 1948 to 1991. He explains in the quote the mistreatment of his fellow Black, Native Africans forced out of homes and jobs due to the white government. Nelson Mandela and many other great leaders used certain rhetorical techniques to convince their people that apartheid is negatively affecting their country. The rhetorical techniques used by Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and Steve Biko help to persuade their audiences of their messages of the negative effects of apartheid in South Africa. Nelson Mandela and Steve Biko were both activists in the fight against apartheid in South Africa, while Desmond Tutu is an Archbishop who created TRC (Truth and Reconciliation Commission). Nelson Mandela soon became the president of Africa, Steve Biko was murdered by police, Archbishop Desmond Tutu continued helping the truth behind apartheid get out so South Africans can have peace. The rhetorical techniques used in Nelson Mandela’s “An Ideal for Which I Am Prepared to Die” were pathos which is used to persuade a reader by making them feel emotional for the cause as if it is important to them as well which is an appeal to emotion, ethos to credit himself for his hard work which is the appeal to credibility , and logos a logical apply which is using facts about how it’s affecting them, Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s “Forgiveness is Liberating” also uses pathos while applying repetition, the technique of repeating a phrase to persuade the reader that what they are saying is correct and anecdote which is to tell the reader a story of the event to convince them, while Steve Biko’s “Black Consciousness and the Quest for True Humanity” also as Nelson Mandela’s “An Ideal for Which I Am Prepared to Die” applied to logic and used the appeal to credibility.

Character is defined as one’s moral qualities. I have very high expectations for my character, and I hold myself to them. Every time a person isn't the nicest to me or someone else, I remind myself not to stoop to their level. I tell myself, “Treat others how you would want to be treated.” I will always treat myself and everyone around me with respect, courtesy, and kindness.

I think that good character is very important in life because it shows who you are as a person, how you carry yourself as a person and how you treat other people. Having good character is what I believe you need to be successful in life, having good character can cause you to get a good job, possibly getting a raise in your job, making friends and just doing the right thing in general.

The first example of this would be I always try to be honest with everyone including myself. I think it’s important not to be dishonest because you lose people’s trust, and you become unreliable. This is not what I would consider a good quality in a person. Another example of my character; is being someone who everyone can rely on and come to when they need advice or help with school, family, friends or etc. This is a very important because its significant to be able to have someone you can rely on at all times. The last example of my character is having flexibility in my life. For example when I was needed to change my position on my team I did so with ease and being a team player. Theses are a few ways I have demonstrated character through out my high school

Character is simply who you are. I am convinced that you are not defined by what you do, but by the way you do things and the principles

“To deny people their right to human rights is to challenge their very humanity. To impose on them a wretched life of hunger and deprivation is to dehumanize them. But such has been the terrible fate of all black persons in our country under the system of apartheid (“In Nelson Mandela’s own words”). Nelson Mandela was a moral compass symbolizing the struggle against racial oppression. Nelson Mandela emerged from prison after twenty-seven years to lead his country to justice. For twenty-seven years he sat in a cell because he believed in a country without apartheid, a country with freedom and human rights. He fought for a country where all people were equal, treated with respect and given equal opportunity. Nelson Mandela looms large in the

Character is the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual, though morality is subjective, in today’s society it is predominantly agreed upon that someone who is of good character has certain qualities that contribute to their decision making, trustworthiness, and intelligence. I previously mentioned prudence, which is the ability to govern oneself by the use of reason to make good judgements that allow you to avoid troublesome situations, which allows one to face the adversities of life while only encountering necessary risks. This is the ultimate show of genuine character, those who can judge for themselves and aren’t afraid to admit their faults, or

Imagine the feeling of sitting in room isolated from the rest of the world, left alone with your thoughts and kept guarded away from freedom. What would one with their spare time? Would one contemplate escape? Would one sit alone with their thoughts and fixate on what has led to such a lonely end? Would one compose a letter to those who detained them? Perhaps these are the same thoughts that inspired the words of Socrates, in Plato’s Crito or the emotional words that were spewed on paper by Dr. Martin Luther King while detained in Birmingham Jail. The philosophy of Socrates and Dr. Martin Luther King are grounded in peace. Both philosophers are faced with conflict from the laws put in place by the society that they are in. The purpose of this essay is to compare how each philosopher discusses the concept of law. The fictional tales of Socrates was inspiration to the belated Dr. King as he strived to challenge the status quo set for society. Throughout Plato’s poems Socrates constantly stretched the mental capabilities of those who conversed, and at times even challenged him. Dr. King was not fearful of “Causing tension to the mind” of those around him. In particular Dr. King challenged his ideals of those who opposed his approach of nonviolent protesting. In “The letter from a Birmingham Jail” Dr. King response to a clergyman in form of a letter. This letter expresses the many obstacles put in front of Dr. King as he strives to create an equal society for African-American or

What is character? Character is something that is hard to explain. It is who we are, the way we act, and the kind of person we truly are and want to be. Character is what you are in the dark. But if character is the kind of person you are when no one is looking, then why does it matter? Character matters because even when we think no one is looking, they are. People are always watching us and the way we behave and many will look to us in admiration and inspiration, so it is our job to constantly be a role model of good character. A couple of ways that we can show our character are through gratitude and respect, but we can also look up to others, such as Benjamin Franklin, as role models for good character.

During the reign of the Apartheid regime Nelson Mandela was born and raised. Nelson Mandela was a South African lawyer and prominent activist. He was also the leader of the African National Congress party and the first black President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He is known for his devotion and struggle against the Apartheid regime.

As an Athenian philosopher, Socrates spent his life in constant pursuit of insight. He loved engaging in conversations that helped him derive philosophical views on a number of different issues. The birth of ideas through critical reasoning can be credited back to his method of teaching, which is now known as the Socratic Method. Although widely respected today, many of his teachings were found controversial in Athenian times. Socrates was placed on trial and put to death soon after because of the disapproval of his ideas.

There are actually two different meanings of character. The first meaning of character could be a person in a novel, play, or movie while the second meaning of character is, according to the Webster’s dictionary, the moral nature or strength of a person. It is the compound of mental and moral traits that marks a person. In this case, I am referring to the second definition, which is the compound of mental and moral traits that mark a person. The word ‘character’ comes from the Greek word kharakter, which means engraved mark, imprint on the soul and instrument for marking. The dictionary describes this character as “the stable and distinctive qualities built into an individual’s life which determines his or her response regardless of circumstances”. This means that character is the steady qualities built into a person that determines how he or she will act despite the situation. Someone who has the character trait of being trustworthy, will be more likely to be a better accountant than a person who you cannot trust, who lies all the time and who is unreliable. Character, according to Abraham Lincoln, is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of the character and the tree is the character itself. Things like how you dress, your favorite music or whether you are shy does not have anything to do with character, but rather, it is how your actions and thought relate

“On the first day of school my teacher, Miss Mdingane, gave each of us an English name. This was the custom among Africans in those days and was undoubtedly due to the British bias of our education. That day, Miss Mdingane told me that my new name was Nelson. Why this particular name I have no idea." My name is Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela and I was born in July 18th 1918. I have seen much in my lifetime and my goal was to unshackle my homeland of South Africa from its white oppressors. I had gone from living in a straw hut, to prison, and becoming the first black and democratically elected president of South Africa. I feel I am nearing the end of my life and have put in my will that this book be released after my story reaches its happy end. In my second biography I will tell you what inspired me to join the anti-apartheid movement, why I had the ANC used armed force during the protests, and how the world and South Africa would have reacted if I had been executed on court order.

From personal experience, when the world is so full of evil and sadness, it's good to go into a make believe world and try to forget the bad. Considering Mandela had to be hiding out most of the time he had lots of time to be reading and in one of these quotes he states, “Those Greek plays, you know, are really worth reading. it's like the classics, you know the works of Tolstoy and so on, because after reading that literature... you always come out… feeling very elevated and your sensitivities to… fellow human beings have been deepened it is one of the greatest experiences... you can have you know to read a Greek tragedy in Greek literature in general” (Mandala 113). It arouses a feeling of comfort when I find out I'm not alone in this way of thinking. Books have an impact of people's way of thinking and helps people see the ugly in the world or see the light life has to offer. He had so much extra time to read and interpret things due to the amount of solitude he had. I feel like it was a good coping mechanism for him to get through the obstacle course that is prison. I have heard many scary prison stories. For example, inmates beating each other to death or raping each other. I find it interesting that Mandela stook to his beliefs and stayed strong throughout the entire time he was stuck inside.