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发表于 2006-7-26 12:34:54
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TOPIC: ISSUE36 - "The greatness of individuals can be decided only by those who live after them, not by their contemporaries."
Outline:
1.Many great men play a vital role in the society at their time and they are respected and praised a lot by the people of the day.
2.On the other hand, some greatness of individuals can not be appreciated by their contemporaries.
3.Before I come to my conclusion, I would like to point out that it is due to the unique advantages of the later generations that they can judge more fairly and better about the greatness of the individuals who lived before them than contemporaries of such individuals.
The author suggests that only those who live after the individuals can decide the greatness of them, while their contemporaries can not. I partly agree with the author's assertion since the people who live after these great individuals surely have a clearer and more integrated prospective to their greatness. However, it is a little hasty to simply overlook the ability of those contemporary people to judge in the greatness of individuals living at the same era.
Undoubtedly, many great men play a vital role in the society at their time and they are respected and praised a lot by the people of the day. It is especially the case when it comes to the fields of politics and economy which can obviously have a significant impact on the society as well as the life of people. Martin Luther King , one of the principal leaders of the American civil rights movement and a prominent advocate of nonviolent protest , fought for the civil rights of the Afro-Americans all his life and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 ,which proved his greatness and the respect from his contemporaries.A similar strking example would be Roosevelt ,one of the most famous and well-beloved presidents in the Ameriacan history.He enacted the New Deal in 1930s, which sucessfully save the economy of America in Great Depression and brought again hope to the American people as well as the prosperity to the society, from which he won a lot of praise from the contemporary people .Consequently, under some conditions the people who live at the same time can also judge the greatness of the individuals.
On the other hand, some greatness of individuals can not be appreciated by their contemporaries. In fact, many creative ideas or thoughts are always beyond the common cognition of the public and sometimes even viewed as a challenge to society of the time. Monet, the prominent paintest, suffered through extreme poverty all his life and did not win the acclaims at his time. Many of his works of pianting, such as "Impression: Sunset", were not understood initially at all, and his using of color in some paintings was severely criticized by the general public, espiecailly the contemporary artists. A same example can also be found in the areas of science. Bruno, an Italian philosopher who used Copernican principles in formulating his cosmic theory of an infinite universe, condemned by the Inquisition for heresy, immoral conduct, and blasphemy, he was burned at the stake on February 17, 1600.Therefore,some great men were unacceptable at their times and only the people living in the later generations can decide properly about their greatness.
Before I come to my conclusion, I would like to point out that it is due to the unique advantages of the later generations that they can judge more fairly and better about the greatness of the individuals who lived before them than contemporaries of such individuals. For one thing, the people lived in the same time as the great ones would, more or less, be influenced by the contemporary public opinions when they made the judgments while those live in the later generations can avoid such kinds of impacts and offer more accurate perspectives about those great men. For another thing, the greatness of individuals usually leads a profound impact on the future society, by analyzing which the people live in later generations can give more integrated commons on those great individuals.
To sum up, although the contemporaries of the great ones can also be successful in deciding the greatness of such individuals, those who live after the great individuals can offer a more objective judgment about the behaviors and achievements of those great men.
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