Vaux-le-Vicomte Essay Example for Free

Vaux-le-Vicomte Essay Architecture is the style of art in which spatial configuration is most important. The way in which the body of the building situates itself on the landscape, the way in which the building rises and falls with the horizon and the way in which Vaux-le-Vicomte’s facade and garden is what this essay will seek to explore. The Vaux-le-Vicomte is located in Maincy, was built in 1656-1661, with the intention of housing artists/poets/writers by the parliamentarian/financial secretary of France. The essay will focus on the element of light as it applies to the chateaux as well as how the building can be considered a Baroque masterpiece (Blunt 108). The basis of the Vaux-le-Vicomte’s design was a castle. The building actually an offshoot of a castle which explains its grand design. Three men are attributed to the design of the Chateau, which was purchased by Nicolas Fouquet: The architect Le Vau, the painter/decorator Le Brun, and the landscape artist Le Notre (Vaux-le-Vicomte 2008). The structure of the once castle turned into one of the â€Å"predominant chateau’s of France† (Sitwell 100) begins with the Baroque age architecture. Baroque architecture is known for its lavish nature, its supreme accoutrements to buildlings increasing in size and grandeur and the culmination of which is seen in Vaux-le-Vicomte. The elements which define the Baroque era in art and which are exemplified in Vaux-le-Vicomte are fanciful, extravagant and theatrical, each of which are extremely dominant in the facade of the chateaux with the dome, in the spire/gazebo atop the dome and the high windows with Corinthian columns as a faux facade to the architecture. Baroque art was in opposition to the previous artistic movement of the Renaissance in many ways. The Baroque era was the flowering of the Renaissance in different ways: While the Renaissance was static the Baroque had a certain dynamism or movement in their architecture. The Baroque style and the fact that the castle was redesigned into a grand chateaux had a lot to do with the expansion of France in the 1600’s. This is when colonization was very popular and strong and nationalistic monarchs such as Louis the VIIII were pressed into creating such grand scale items in order to prove their powerful positions. The imprisonment of Nicolas Fouquet in fact had to do with him outshining the king during a royal visit to the chateaux. The focus of the Baroque movement can be found with the scientist Galileo. Galileo changed how people see the world around them and thus their place in the world. Space of universe becomes fascinating aspect of Baroque art. Light becomes just as fascinating and symbolism of light and scientific point of view can be seen through the architecture of Vau-le-Vicomte, in the way the windows are situated in the building to the way in which the sun’s reflection from the rivers and the fountains plays upon the building itself. The theme of Baroque art is sensuality with emotion; thus there must be passion in the architecture (despite the Catholic Church’s resistance to such design avenues). Thus, the chateaux was in defiance of religious points of view (which also attributed to Nicolas’ imprisonment) as well as supporting this new scientific outlook on the world while also encapsulating light/sun as a main architectural element of the building (Wolf 45). The truly beautiful and Baroque encompassing element of the chateaux is it’s wide garden space. This space truly sees Galileo’s philosophy of the scientific point of view and one’s relationship with the outer design of things in the gardens pure geometrical forms made with bushes, fountains, walkways and more. Le Vau designed the house to have a pavilion which is in turn surrounded by wings. The crowning achievement of Le Vau is found with the cupola which is extravagant in itself as it is the highest point of the chateaux and therefore the first symbol anyone sees upon coming up to the once castle (McCarthy 3). As well as the copula there is also a pedimented entranceway found on the front of the chateaux – thus the design aspect of the outside of the house if dichotomized in a relaxed form as well as a formal form. This dichotomized nature, â€Å"This dual personality, severely formal on one side, grandiloquent on the other, was repeated in the treatment of its walls. Originally designed in brick, then altered, presumably at Fouquets request, to Creil stone, a concave recession pulls the visitor inward toward the great entrance vestibule, then thrusts him through the immense airy space of the saloon out to the garden terrace† (Shama paragraph 16). It is from this formal standpoint of the raised threshold that the spectator can see the vibrant and lush design of Le Notre. Le Notre’s design encapsulates everything Baroque: The pattern of the plants (i. e. hedges, shrubs, etc. ) there is a distinct nature of lavishness mixed with formality (as is the Baroque style). The element of water and subsequently light is essential in the portrayal of Baroque in the garden, â€Å"The play of water intersects the view, not with the furious drama of the Versailles fountains, but rather the more modest gushing of cascades and drowsy pools where water trickles from lichen-mottled stone mouths. Indeed, the whole house seems elevated on a platform or pedestal so that it appears to be not so much surrounded by a moat as actually floating on a body of limpid water. † (Shama paragraph 17). Another interesting element of the chateaux’s gardens is how very similar in construction it is to Frank Lloyd Wrights’ Falling Water house in Pennsylvania, and how conscious both landscape architects were to the landscape itself; from the horizon to the way in which the water reflected the sun on the facade of the chateaux; the viewer can tell that there was much thought in the placement of each water pool, and fountain (even with Nicolas’ diversion of the river by 45 degrees in order to have such spectacular natural architecture). The design of the gardens by Le Notre is so very singular in its approach and cohesive because Nicolas gave the landscape architect free rein over the garden. The word cohesion is used appropriately here as the entire estate would not have worked well if several gardeners were employed by Nicolas; the design would have been flawed because not every landscape artist can build with unification along with other designers; thus the design process by one ‘gardener’, Le Notre, is so important to the lasting impression of the chateaux. As has been mentioned the beauty of the landscape was achieved through harmony of the building and nature working as a combined force of Baroque architecture. The three architects of the chateaux, architect Le Vau, the painter/decorator Le Brun, and the landscape artist Le Notre, worked as a combined force of Baroque artistry as described by Shama, The result is a pleasing comedy of the unexpected: the house suddenly appearing in its inverted reflection in a mirror pool; steep escarpments that are abruptly made accessible with hidden flights of steps; teasing games of freedom and captivity made more poignant by the inescapable ghost of Superintendent Fouquet. From the stepped terrace at the back of the house, the frame of the great Oriental rug-garden is delineated by white pathways punctuated with mercilessly pruned conical topiary and statues of lions and tigers, the Graces and various deities. Within those borders, low hedges weave embroidery patterns that echo the curves and angles of the house itself. (Shama paragraph 19). Even the way in which the pathways are cut according to exact geometric measurements is breathtaking. The elements of mythology mix in with the complete design of the garden especially as the visitor goes from the promenade to the central allee and back into the grotto. It is this space in the garden that the nature of mythology and the extravagance that the Baroque period is best-known for come into fruition. The grotto is lorded over by two river god statues who are in a reclining mode carved within two niches. In the actual park, past the two reclining gods the viewer sees other elements of the Baroque mixed in with mythology such as little fountain or ‘water grille’ in which woodland deities romp around. It is at this point in Le Notre’s design that the active viewer begins to see how he had some fun with his design, â€Å"The ground drops sharply away toward a rectangular reflecting pool. Advance farther and another barrier interposes itself: a broad lateral canal, uncrossable, as elegant in form as its name, poele (frying pan), is homely. To reach the river gods requires another walk around the canals perimeter† (Shama paragraph 20). This essay has shown how the unification of landscape with construction has lead to one of the Baroque era’s finest accomplishments in architecture: Vaux-le-Vicomte. The design of the gardens could not have been exemplified as the genius that it is without the facade of the chateaux as well as the partnership between each architect (Wolf 67). The elements of water and light played an important role in the overall design in that they allow the chateaux the illusion of floating on water which adds that element of a fairy tale or otherworldliness which is further emphasized by the architects inclusion of various statues around the grounds of wood nymphs and river gods. Thus, the extravagance of the Baroque era is found in an enormous amount in Nicolas Fouquet’s chateaux. Works Cited Blunt, A. Art and Architecture in France: 1500 – 1700. Penguin Books. 1953.McCarthy, G. The Theatres of Moliaere. Routledge. 2002. Shama, S. Palaces and Pleasures: Vaux-le-Vicomte: A Perfect Chateaux Envied by a King. 20 October 1991. Online. 2 April 2008. http://query. nytimes. com/gst/fullpage. html? res=9D0CE1DB1E3FF933A15753C1A967 58260sec=spon=pagewanted=all Sitwell, S. and Smith, E. Great Houses of Europe. Putnam. 1961. Vaux-le-Vicomte. 2008. Online. 2 April 2008. http://www. vaux-le-vicomte. com/en/vaux images-chateau. php. Wolf, J. Louis the XVI. W. W. Norton. New York. 1968.

Red Badge of Courage - The Power of Fear Exposed Essay -- The Red Badg

Power of Fear Exposed in The Red Badge of Courage The Red Badge of Courage, by Stephen Crane, is a book based on a young soldier’s engagement in the Civil War. The psychological conflict that he faces throughout the story is both internal and external. The battles are fought in the reader’s face to show the young soldiers' conflict with himself, other soldiers, and the battle itself. With Stephen Crane’s amazing power of description, the reader becomes engulfed in the battle at hand and feels that the conflicts of the soldiers are becoming his own. The main topic of the book is fear, and how it would affect a young man in a bloody war such as the Civil War. The war becomes the young soldiers worst nightmare, which gives him conflicting thoughts, emotions and fears. The young character soon realizes, as all of these things affect him emotionally and physically, that the war is very different from what he had hoped it was going to be.   Although the soldier becomes nervous and even runs away at the Battle of Chancellorsville, he eventually returns to find that he and his fellow soldiers have grown. They had learned more about themselves then they had ever believed possible. The young soldier becomes a man with plenty of courage by the end of this book. When we first meet Henry with his regiment, the 304th New York, he is bored and even lonesome, wishing to return to the farm. As time passes at the camp, Henry begins to realize that being a hero in the war may not be as easy as he had once dreamed. The inner conflict begins with Henry wondering about how he will react when the battle begins. He wonders whether he will run like a chicken, or stay a fight bravely. In the first battle Henry fights bravely, but as time goe... ...en Crane also uses his powerful descriptions in the parts of the book where the character is fighting battles. He puts the reader in the face of the enemy and describes to them every last detail, making the reader know what every detail was like. If Crane had made the battles any less dramatic, the reader would have had a hard time following what Henry was having an emotional conflict about. Since Crane put you right there in the battle, you also felt the way that Henry felt. Stephen Crane used the young soldiers inner and outer battles to give the reader a true idea of what the Civil War must have been like. The reader will visualize the battles, smell the gunpowder, hear the guns, and sense everything else that happens throughout the book due to Crane’s use of description. The reader even begins to feel and sympathize with Henry’s emotions and feelings.   

People are not free to make moral decisions Essay

Is it right to say that our actions are determined, or are they free? Hard determinists argue that when we make a moral decision, we have no free will. This is significant because if we do not choose our actions we cannot be held morally responsible. Given our experience of decision making this determinist position is hard to accept and perhaps the compatabilist approach of soft determinism is more valid. Soft Determinists recognise that we can make a decision freely that is coerced but the choices in themselves may be determined themselves. This contrasts with libertarianism, which states that we freely choose our actions and rejects determinism. To fully examine whether we are in fact free or not to make moral decisions, we must first analyse what particular factors affect our decision making. When we debate over a decision we consider/ weigh up our options, we know that we have a choice and only we can make that choice, this is known as a libertarian view. Libertarians believe that we have full responsibility of our actions and nothing else affects our decision, however genes, environment, lifestyle and our upbringing affect or sometimes might determine our choices. Determinism objects libertarianism and believes that our choices are influenced by factors other than the will of the individual, events and actions are predetermined by other events therefore freedom of choice is an illusion. Free will is the term made up of ‘autos’ meaning self and ‘nomos’ meaning rule. Many philosophers such as Kant say that you can only be responsible for actions that you undertake of your own will, this is opposed to Determinism. Libertarianism is the belief that humans are free to make moral choices and therefore morally responsible. â€Å"By liberty we can only mean a power of acting of not acting according to the determinations of the will†. David Hume. In the definition of libertarianism a distinction between the persons character or personality and his/or her moral self. It is this moral self or will that is free. â€Å"Your destiny is allotted to you, but you shall choose it for yourselves†. Plato. There are many arguments that support libertarianism, the most predominant of these being the argument from experience, this states that we all experience making choices, such as the very fact that I am sat here writing this essay is the result of a choice, I did have another option so I could’ve chose otherwise. We are also aware of going through a decision making process, we can weigh up our options and act upon this. Libertarians also believe in the necessary cause stating that for Y to happen X must have caused it, without X Y will not happen. This is a determinist understanding, However Libertarians recognise that causes are contingent and not necessary, they may or may not cause Y, this is a libertarian view. However opposed to this Determinists would argue that if free will exists then what actually causes our actions, surely our actions are caused by something, for example what about our past experiences and emotions? Also a determinist would argue is it part of human nature to assume that we are free and what exactly is moral responsibility, and how is this separate from our personality. If it comes from the soul then what causes the soul. Hard determinism states that people do not have free will to act in moral situations. It also states that everything has a prior cause which precedes it; everything is a product of the cause which is unchangeable and fixed. Therefore we cannot be held morally responsible or blameworthy for their actions because their actions are determined. When we think that we are making a moral decision, hard determinists believe that this is an illusion that we are free but in fact we are not and the decision that we made was already determined. John Locke’s example of the man in the locked room shows that we believe that we are free but we are actually not. However libertarians would argue that we had the choice whether or not to go into the locked room. Psychological determinism is another form of Hard Determinism. This suggests that our characters are determined by our upbringing and experiences. There are many influencing factors on human behaviour such as hereditary, society, culture and environment. Freud taught that our early years have impact on our actions in the future, there is also much evidence to support this view such as Pavlov’s dogs which operant conditioning demonstrates that we can mould our behaviour through rewards and sanctions, it also demonstrates how our behaviour is determined. However a libertarian would argue that just because you can condition one element of decision making doesn’t mean that all behaviour is determined, we always have a choice. Theological determinism is also another form of hard determinism. This is the view that the causal chain can be traced back to an uncaused causer, as shown in Aquinas’ Cosmological argument, and this uncaused causer is God. If God is, as suggested by Calvin through his predestination view which suggests that God has already determined a plan for us so we are either damned (going to hell) or elect (going to heaven) , an omnipotent and omniscient God then we cannot have free will as our actions must be predetermined because of this. There are many criticisms for this view that Libertarians would address as it conflicts with biblical teachings as in Genesis it states that God gave us free will and also for theological determinism to be accepted, libertarians would also argue that there is no proof of this God, so in their view we still have a choice. A form of Hard Determinism that contrasts and argues this view is scientific determinism; this approach states that science tells us that for every physical event there is a physical cause. If we consider the mind to be material activity in the brain, so then our thoughts are also pre determined. Another form of hard determinism is Biological determinism which states that our characters are determined by our genes, this is partly true as genes do give us our characteristics such as what we look like, even our IQ, all this can determine our behaviour for example the violent gene as evidence can be traced back to the genome (e. g. a violent gene recognised by the Italian supreme court). However libertarians would argue that because there is only 0. 2% variation in our DNA, so this doesn’t seem efficient enough to explain all the variations in human behaviour, it’s not just our genetic makeup that influences our behaviour, and they would argue that we always have a choice. Soft determinism states that we are morally responsible for our actions; this approach allows libertarianism and hard determinism to be compatible. It states that as long as no one forces you to make a decision then you are free, this can be described as internal freedom. However soft determinists make a distinction between internal and external causes, these explain why freedom and Jeremy moral responsibility are not only compatible with determinism but actually require it. Soft Determinism, unlike hard determinism, allows for moral responsibility, for example if person A does not save a drowning child because person A cannot swim, he is not morally responsible. However, if he chooses not to because of his personality, a combination of his conditioning, an upbringing and so forth, then he is to be held responsible. Soft determinists believe that all human actions are caused and when we say that a person acted freely we are not saying that there was no cause but rather they were not forced to do it, here they act as free agents even though their actions are still caused. A main philosopher associated with soft determinism is Hume whom was a soft-determinist. He stated that all things are necessary and believed that some things are uncaused or happen as the result of chance. Hume also believed that we are free, he goes on to say that we don’t blame people for things they do ignorantly, and blame them less for things that are not premeditated, and any sense of moral blame can only come if something we do is the result of our character. Hume believed that free will, and moral responsibility, require determinism. Soft determinists are criticised by hard determinists for failing to realise the extent to which human freedom is limited and also by libertarians for failing to recognise the true extent of freedom. Whilst Soft determinism offers a ‘middle ground’ between hard determinism and libertinism an agreeable account of moral freedom, a line still has to be drawn between that which is determined and that which is open to choice. The major fault with soft determinism is that they have to try and agree on what is a determining factor and what is not and the complexities of genetics, psychology makes such a line difficult for them to draw. So In conclusion, through the arguments expressed in this essay, I believe that perhaps a Soft Determinist approach is more susceptible towards moral decision making, as although it allows us to make our own decisions, they are to an extent determined due to numerous factors such as our upbringing, environment and culture, however it also allows us to accept responsibility for our actions whatever they may be.

Online Privacy Open Link - 1428 Words

Brandon Joyce Dr. Bradley J. Fest ENGCMP 0200 20 March 2017 Online Privacy: Open Link in a New Incognito Window? Imagine you are at your local outlet mall with some friends, browsing around and make a few purchases here and there. You are enjoying a nice relaxing time with some close friends with no responsibilities to worry about. But did you notice the strange man wearing all black following you around and taking notes on your every move? He noted everything down from what you purchased and even to what you briefly looked at even for a mere second. An innocent day out with your friends was fully documented; you have become a prisoner of public surveillance. Many people fear that a similar situation is happening with their internet†¦show more content†¦He is showing here that the modernization of Foucault’s disciplinary societies are in fact the control societies he describes. The United States Patriot Act - Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 - expands the government s ability to perform sear ches among US citizens. The Act was passed shortly after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks for what seemed like a suitable reason at the time. Its goals were to intensify domestic security and extend the powers of law-enforcement agencies in order to prevent terrorist attacks. Those who support the Act say that is has been extremely influential in the arrests of numerous terrorists; whereas, non-supporters counter that the act gives the government too much power. â€Å"The general juridical form that guaranteed a system of rights that were egalitarian in principle was supported by these tiny, everyday, physical mechanisms, by all those systems of micropower that are essentially nonegalitarian and asymmetrical that we call the disciplines† (Foucault 204). 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