Blog 3

            Virtue directly translates to the “essence of man” which means that the word ‘man’ and the word ‘virtue’ can essentially be used interchangeably. Machiavelli and Michelangelo both painted and wrote about what it means to be a man, but in completely different ways with different beliefs about what it means to be a man. Machiavelli uses the example of what a prince should be like to describe what man is whereas Michelangelo reaches out to God’s likeness to describe what a man should be.

            Machiavelli’s text, The Prince, compares what the people are like to what the leader should be like. For example, on page 42 the text states, “Any man who tries to be good all the time is bound to come to ruin among the great number who are not good. Hence a prince who wants to keep his authority must learn how not to be good, and use that knowledge, or refrain from using it, as necessity requires.” Therefore, a man who wants to be ‘The Prince’ or have authority and power over others must be what the people are. By comparing this to politics today, leaders like Mitt Romney will not be voted into office, but leaders like Donald Trump will be voted into office because the majority of the population thinks along the same lines as Donald Trump. Machiavelli thinks that man should be powerful and what the people want. Another example from The Prince is found on page 115 and says, “the means of attaining glory are different in a republic that is corrupt from what they are in a republic that still preserves its institutions pure.” This explains the difference that man can and has the ability to be. For example, nations that are one thing will follow a man who is the same. But the nation who values other things will value the leader who values those same things.

            Michelangelo on the other hand describes man in a completely different way. He pulls from God’s likeness to describe what man should be. His sculpture David was described as “a symbol of the Ideal Renaissance man- a speaker of words, and a doer of deeds, a king, a shepherd, a poet, and a lover.” These things that David symbolizes are traits that God also symbolizes. Michelangelo showed through his sculpture of David the beauty, strength, and goodness that man can be by being like God. He shows that virtue comes from God. Michelangelo’s painting the Creation of Adam also shows the similarities but differences from man to God. It is said that “Michelangelo strove in every way to restore to Adam's presence his corporeity, the features of ancient beauty. With great daring he even transferred this visible and corporal beauty to the Creator himself. We are probably witnesses to an extraordinary piece of artistic audacity, since it is impossible to impose the likeness proper to man on the invisible God.” Michelangelo truly loved the beauty that man could have when based off of God’s beauty. He showed this through his artwork that man is truly from the likeness of God.

            Overall, there is a lot to what man is or is not. Some of what man is is based off of what authority men want or what men can have. Man is also based off of what God shows what men could be. Machiavelli’s view is very different from Michelangelo’s but both show how what man is based off of another power whether God or man. Both artists show how man is strong and powerful and great. The essence of virtue lies in man itself.

Blog 2, part 2

Child abuse is unique to our society because the Roman society had such strong loyalty to their country that there was no room to abuse their children. Children were brought up to learn how to be participating members of their society. There is no Roman record to show that children were abused in any way, mostly because children were not written about often enough to see if there were any abused in that time period. Today, with the overuse of drugs and alcohol and mental illness that seems to occur more often, children are more at risk of being abused today.

Obesity is unique to our society mostly because food today is abundant whereas in Roman times it was not, and being overweight in that time was a rare occurrence and even seen as a rich or royal because most did not have access to enough food and sedentary activity to even cause a possibility of being obese. In today’s society most Americans live a sedentary lifestyle and with easy access and processed foods we are never without food to worry about not having enough to eat, and therefore we put on weight easily which is how obesity is caused today.

Health care is unique to our society mostly because of the Roman’s lack of a health care system. Yes, they had “doctors” but without much of a medical advance in technology they didn’t have a health care system to have issues with like we do today.

“The fellow stands up against me, and bids me halt; obey I must. What else can you do when attacked by a madman stronger than yourself?” This directly relates to my challenge of violent crime. People are scared of crime and if someone tries to fight an individual they are going to be scared and do whatever the person says because they do not want to get hurt in the process such as what happens with Juvenal in his satire.

“Yet however reckless the fellow may be, however hot with wine and young blood, he gives a wide berth to one whose scarlet cloak and long retinue of attendants, with torches and brass lamps in their hands, bid him keep his distance.” This directly relates to my challenge of alcohol consumption. Here this character is “hot with wine” and scares all the people who wish him to stay away from them because they are scared of his drunkenness. People today feel the same way, because they do not like to be around those who are drunk and dangerous and cannot control themselves.

Blog 2, Part 1

            America faces many challenging social problems in this day and time. I personally think that the most five challenging are; child abuse, obesity, health care, violent crime, and unemployment. Child abuse is one of the most horrifying issues that is heard about in the news daily. It is something that needs to be stopped because these abused children tend to grow up into adults who have serious issues because of their childhood. Obesity is another issue that seems to only be getting worse. Obesity causes another large number of issues and is something that can be fixed. Health care is an expensive issue that with the right approach can also be fixed. Health care is expensive for the common people but the work that health care workers is also very timely and requires hard work and intelligence which needs to be compensated as well. Violent crime is seen and heard every day and can make our nation safer by tackling this issue. There is no need for America’s citizens to walk around feeling unsafe when we can take care of this issue. The last challenging problem is alcohol consumption. Not only does alcohol cause a large number of deaths by overconsumption and driving while drinking but it is also a cause of other issues such as other social problems like obesity and child abuse.