Swifts Real Argument

Below is a free term papers summary of the paper "Swifts Real Argument." If you sign up, you can be reading the rest of this term papers in under two minutes. Registered users should login to view this term paper.

Term Paper Title	Swifts Real Argument
# of Words	1129
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	4.52

Swift's Real Argument

        God only knows from whence came Freud's theory of penis envy, but one
of his more tame theories, that of  "reverse psychology", may have its
roots in the satire of the late Jonathan Swift. I do not mean to assert
that Swift employed or was at all familiar with that style of
persuasion, but his style is certainly comparable. Reverse psychology
(as I chose to define it for this paper) means taking arguments that
affirm an issue to such a degree that they seem absurd, and thus oppose
the issue. Swift, in "An Argument  [Against] The Abolishing Of
Christianity In England" stands up for Christianity, and based on the
absurdity of his defense, he inadvertently desecrates it. He sets up a
fictitious society in which Christianity is disregarded and disdained,
but nominal Christianity remains. The author writes to defend this
nominal Christianity from abolition. The arguments that the author uses,
which are common knowledge in his time, if applied to Christianity in
Swift's time would be quite dangerous allegations. Indeed, the reasons
that Swift gives for the preservation of  the fictitious Christianity
are exactly what he sees wrong with the Christianity practiced in his
time.  By applying Swift's satirical argument for the preservation of
this fictitious religion to that which was currently practiced, Swift
asserts that their Christianity served ulterior motives, both for the
government and for the people.
        If we are to prove that the government was using religion for selfish
purposes, we must be sure that it was not serving its intended purpose,
the assurance of the moral sanctity of its policies. This is quite
evident in the author's comment that if real Christianity was revived,
it would be, "destroy at one blow all the wit and half the learning of
the kingdom; to break the entire frame and constitution of things[.]"
This proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Christianity has no
influence on the government's current policies. It even seems as if the
government established Church isn't completely rooted in Christianity,
as the author weakly suggests that, "[A]bolishing Christianity may
perhaps bring the church into danger."
The ways that the government actually uses Christianity are completely
selfish. One such purpose is the consolation of allies, "among whom, for
we ought to know, it may be the custom of the country to believe a God."
He later goes on to suggest the abolition of Christ...

This is not the end of the termpaper! Register below to see the complete version of this term paper.

Membership Plans	Credit Card	Check

1 month membership

3 month membership (You Save 50%)

6 month membership (You Save 67%)

Copyright © 2002-2007 Mid Term Papers. All rights reserved. This term papers website is used for research purposes only.
If you have forgotten your username or password, please click here.
If you like to cancel your account, please click here.

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22