What was Plato's key contribution to metaphysics?

Metaphysics means "above" physics. Although Plato was preceded by other metaphysical philosophers, most directly by Paramenides, I consider him to be THE classical/ancient metaphysical philosopher, meaning his influence was the greatest of the ancient world.

His metaphysics, as the first poster noted, has to do with Ideal Forms. These are the concepts which are the metaphysical ideas which provide the concept from which objects manifest or 'form' themselves.  There is the concept of a chair and the real physical chair. The Ideal Form of the chair, which is defined by its function and form is the perfect chair. The actual physical chair is once removed from that Ideal Chair and a painting of the chair is twice removed from that Ideal Chair. This system of thinking is also exemplified by Plato's most famous "Allegory of the Cave."

People are chained, unable to move, facing one wall in a cave. There is a fire behind them and figures passing in front of the fire, also behind them. For them, reality is the shadows on the wall. Plato thought what would happen if a prisoner was freed and able to see that the figures using the fire were more real than the shadows. He further thought, what if the prisoner made it outside the cave to the Sun, the Ideal Reality. He answered this by saying the philosopher could get out and must go back in to try, perhaps futilely, to teach the others to break the bonds of their illusions of reality.  The parallels are the Ideal Chair/Sun, physical chair/fire and figures, and painting of a chair/shadows on the wall.  This was the beginning of a metaphysics which showed how reality is based on perception and that maybe Actuality, the objective Ideal, might be obtainable. These ideas of reality being based on perception and the concept of Ideal Ideas still circulate in philosophical discussions and even in science where the goal is objective observations: cue the Sun.

What are some disadvantages of corporal punishment? Corporal punishment may be divided into three main types: parental or domestic corporal...

Judicial corporal punishment doesn't fit with American society at all.  It's just not in our culture.  We view a government that can punish prisoners in this way as tyrannical, and put in the 8th amendment to protect us from such punishment.

As someone who is trained to be an educator, I am not trained to administer corporal punishment, nor would I want to be.  Since its purpose is fear, that also goes contrary to the educational process and distracts students from why they are there.  Plus, how would that function in today's lawsuit-happy society, where grabbing a student's arm can be cause for dismissal of the teacher?

Any number of parenting studies suggest that any control or conditioning achieved with kids through corporal punishment can also be achieved in other ways, and usually more effectively.

What is the main theme of book 2, chapter 6 in A Tale of Two Cities?

The main theme is a foreshadowing, a kind of calm before the storm.

The setting is a scene of typical domestic tranquility - Sunday dinner with the Manettes.  The main protagonists, Dr. Manette, Lucie, Darnay, and Carton, are all present.  Although everything seems peaceful for the moment, there are a number of signs that disaster is approaching.  Dr. Manette's shoemaking bench and tools are present, indicating that the effects of his imprisonment are still there.  There is a storm coming, and echoes of distant footsteps, which grow increasingly louder.  The chapter ends with the line, "Perhaps, see, the great crowd of people with its rush and roar, bearing down upon them, too."

What are some ironic situations in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead?

The complete slanted inversion of Hamlet (The holiest Holy of all theatrical productions) so that it is told 'through a glass darkly' by a couple of minor characters and that those characters are not 'in' the play but cluelessly bouncing around, (ie at the whim of a fickle, God-like playwright who can mould reality) that is ironic. Hamlet turns from the world's best loved tragedy into a surreal farce.

Yesterday R+G were in the real world, normal R+G, or were they? "What's the last thing you remember", "I forget"... but then they were "sent for" and entered this weird theatrical drama. And their comi-tragic doom is certain. There's always blood. "The blood is compulsory." It is ironic because the characters have become self-aware of their environment enough to observe it is barely real, but not so self aware that they say, "oh we are in a play." The truth keeps slipping away from them, they go in the play, behind the scenes with the actors, back in the play, mind-games and reality puzzles,

"One... probability is a factor which
operates within natural forces.

Two... probability is not
operating as a factor.

Three... we are now held within sub or supernatural forces"

Those supernatural forces are 'the magic of the theatre'.

Was the success or failure of the progressive movement in relation to Working Conditions?i am doing an assignment in us history

The question isn't quite clear, so I'm assuming you mean evaluate the success of the movement in terms of working conditions.

Because so much of the country's population at that time was living in poverty, and working long difficult hours to get to even that level, the progressive movement had to get most of its membership from the small middle class (about 5% of the population at the time).  The lower classes did not have the education, time or opportunity to participate in reform efforts in a meaningful way besides labor strikes, which were virtually all unsuccessful.

Later, after Teddy Roosevelt became President, some real reforms were introduced for the first time, but more because of the President's popularity and initiative than by the efforts of progressives themselves.

How well did Hitler succeed in taking over Europe?

Hitler failed completely in his efforts to taking over by force in war, territories belonging to other countries. Hitler did achieve some spectacular victories in the World War II. Starting from September 1, 1939 Hitler invaded Poland, Denmark, Luxembourg, Sweden, Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, France by June 1940. The fighting also spread to Greece and Norther Africa after Italy joined hands with Germany in June 1940. In June 1941 he invaded USSR.

But slowly the successes of Germany were declining. By 1942 advances of Germany in Russia were stopped. Allied forces landed in Italy in 1943 and in France in 1944. In 1954 the Allied forces drove into German territory from the East and the West. By May 7, 1945, Germany was completely defeated and forced to surrender. Thus Hitler failed to achieve anything for Germany as a result of World War II.

In Animal Farm, what is the dispute about defense of the farm? Which one is no longer in effect on the farm?

Napoleon and Snowball disagree about the best way to defend the farm. Snowball wants to create more rebellions on other farms by sending the pigeons to stir things up. Napoleon thinks the best way to secure their safety is to do it from within. He wants to get weapons and train the animals to use them.

Snowball believes the way to improve the farm is through the building of a windmill. Napoleon does not think it is a good idea, he wants to increase food production. They decide to put it to a vote. When the animals come together to vote, and the vote appears to favor  Snowball's idea, Napoleon cues the nine dogs he took under his wing, and they rush at Snowball. Snowball is forced to run for his life, and narrowly escapes. He is never heard from again.

Can the defendant be convicted of robbery?The defendant went to the victim’s house supposedly to look at and buy a rifle owned by the victim....

Turning the rifle on the owner is the unprovoked and obvious threat gesture.  You can be charged with robbery for the mere appearance or suggestion of a weapon coupled with a demand for property.  A man with his pointed finger in a jacket pocket can be charged with robbery.  So in this case, clearly, the threat was intentional and obvious with the goal of stealing property, which we assume was found in the defendant's possession.

The only defense he could use would be that no threat gesture existed, nor was any force used to enter the house or to acquire the gun.  Since there are no witnesses (that your story suggests) or physical evidence other than possession, I could even suggest that I paid for the gun and it's simply my word against his.

If I have no prior criminal history, it would be a 50-50 chance of getting a conviction in a case like this.  With priors for burglary and robbery or violent crime, it's more likely the DA would pursue it.

What is Dante's ideas of love? Thank You.

In Dante's pseudo-biographical work La Vita Nuova, there is a moment where a girl asks him what his true intentions were towards Beatrice. The insinuation is that Beatrice's girlfriends know what men want and are intrigued at the thought that Dante may be planning an affair with Beatrice, who was engaged to another man. In his youth Dante was known to get around and he suffered due to this reputation, more out of guilt than anything.

So do we believe that Dante's concept of love was simply courtly love? I certainly don't. I offer as evidence the poems he wrote during his exile concerning a common maid who drove him crazy because he desired her but she would be so cold with him. In the poems he even refers to her as a "bitch"! To drive our beloved poet to curse she must've been quite the seductress in bed, yet he was disgusted with how she played him.

It is my delight in this side of Dante, who speaks directly in his vernacular, that inspired me to explore the same issue of Love and Sex in my book _White Man's Inferno_, since Love (or rather the severe lack thereof) is what we're all preoccupied with.

Explain the theme of sight and insight in King Lear.

The physical blinding of Gloucester is perhaps one of the most horrific scenes in all of Shakespeare.  It serves to reinforce his blindness to his world.  He cannot see the truth which is that his bastard son is deceiving him.  Too readily he believes the lies.  Perhaps it is his guilt at his treatment of Edmund.  This just goes to show that he really doesn't know his sons.

Lear also does not know his children.  If he did, he would not ask the question he does ask---how much do you love me?  Goneril and Regan play daddy's game.  They both know that he wants to be flattered, so they give the old man what he wants.  Cordelia, on the other hand, does not understand this and "cannot heave her heart into her month".  In a sense, she is blind to what her father wants and perhaps at this stage of his life needs.  Instead she is honest.  Here, they are both blind in their own way.  Lear's journey through madness opens his eyes to the truth but it is too late to save either of them. 

Both Lear and Gloucester are blinded by their egos and pride at the beginning of the play and must discover enlightenment only through the pain they suffer.