A new 2008/2009 analogy

OK I didn't know how to officially delete a post so I simply tried to edit it. Here is an updated analogy for 2008/2009

In class we discussed the example of a "Bratty" toddler. We've all observed this in real life when a little two year old throws a tantrum because they want something they can't have. This is a perfect illustration of a CONFLICT. A conflict between parent and child and a conflict between what is right and what is wrong. A good parent knows that they run a very real risk if they reward or give into this child's tantrum simply to avoid the conflict. They realize that giving in may quiet the child down momentarily, but it will not work towards training him up in the way he should go!

Idealism wins!

Here is my first analogy:

Imagine a man with a bow. He is aiming his bow at a target; the target is the goal, the bow the means which the goal is achieved. If the target is taken away, the bow is of no use to the man, since the purpose of the bow is assist the man in hitting the target. Just as in this example, pragmatism is pointless without idealism, for without ideals to guide one’s pragmatism it is directionless and meaningless. Furthermore, we must value idealism above pragmatism because the final goal is not the bow, but the target; we aim not for total pragmatism, but the completion of an ideal. And if the ideal is forsaken in exchange for the pragmatic, the pragmatic loses its purpose.

Idealism Analogy

Imagine a small child, all of his dreams rest upon one object. That is a new bycycle and he begins to save his money to go and buy it. At first he starteds out strong but as time goes on other thing begin to catch his eye and he thinks that it would not much money to buy candy or a basketball. Before you know it the child has lost focus of his goal and spent his savings on trivial objects. The slightly tragic story of this child leads me to affirm the resolution that when in conflict, idealism ought to be valued above pragmatism. The reason is that just as the child looked to the bicycle we as humans also have ultimate goals that we look too but just like the child we struggle not to lose focus on this goal and so we must emphasis on its pursuit