Thursday, November 28, 2019

Charlotte J. Patterson MD. Parents Sexual Orient Essays - Gender

Charlotte J. Patterson MD. "Parents' Sexual Orientation And Children's Development" I-M Medicine March 2011. Patterson has been described as "the world's expert on psychological research on children and youths raised by lesbian and gay parents. In addition to publishing numerous scientific studies on this topic she testified before theInstitute of Medicineon the topic of lesbian-related research in 1997. Her research has found that children raised by same-sex parents develop at least as well as children raised by heterosexual parents. She published this article in state of California in 2011 where she reached out to the majority by presenting with the question What if any influence does parents sexual orientationhave on children's development? Research suggests that contrary to concerns voiced by many observer's parents sexualorientationhas little if any direct impact on children's development. Even so, some distinctive qualities of experiences in families of lesbian and gay parents have been noted, and their implications are not fully understood. Moreover, research on individual difference s among families headed by lesbian mothers and gay fathers and their possible impact on children. She researches to the conclusion that like any other house hold nothing can determine sexual oration and doesn't offer any more effects then heterosexual households. I believe that her credentials do not affect her research in any way and is aimed more for higher level learning in psychology. But unlike my other research Dr. Elizabeth Morgan is trying convey men and women form all different types of race, culture, religion and countries do have an effect on sexual orientation which it adds to my research 2 different viewpoints but Patterson emphasizing on gay households affecting young children with sexual orientation. Which it compares with my other articles that households have a lot effect on sexual orientation. I believe that the author doesn't have any biased thinking do to the fact the she mentions that she comes from a heterosexual household which nothing of that sort of nature w as mentioned in the article not affecting her research in any way.

Sunday, November 24, 2019

Enlightens or Darknesses

Enlightens or Darknesses Valentina GjoniEng: 00404/22/03Professor: Janet OliverEnlightens or DarknessesTechnology is not the most important factor in our lives. Every one of us that emigrated from poor countries experienced a non advanced technology world. It did not nuisance us because we did not know the existence of the high quality machines or anything related with technology. The two stories describe the life of the Third World countries in different views at some points but the same on others. Norberg-Hodge and Pitroda argued about the advantages and disadvantages of the technology influences on other people lives.Based on the story "Nothing is Black, Nothing is White" Norberg-Hodge give us the view of life were everything is primitive and her opinion of people could live happier than now. The natives of the Ladakh do not have luxury. They survive the same way as many years ago "with basic comforts." ( Norberg-Hodge 195) In the winter they do not use heat.English: Sam Pitroda, Indian businessman and ch air...

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Health as an Expanding Consciousness Research Paper

Health as an Expanding Consciousness - Research Paper Example She received a Master’s degree in Medical-Surgical Nursing and Teaching in 1964 at the University of California. In 1971, she was awarded a Doctorate of Nursing Science and Rehabilitation at New York University (Newman, 1994). She completed her graduate studies at New York University from 1971 to 1976. During this time, she worked and taught alongside nursing theorist Martha Rodgers. In 1977, she was the professor in charge of graduate nursing studies at Pennsylvania State. In 1984, she was a nurse theorist at the University of Minnesota and later served as the Director of Nursing at the clinical research center at the University of Tennessee. Newman is one of the successful female nursing scholars and theorists in the 21st century. She has taught and led research activities in several institutions. Her education achievements serve as a challenge to nursing students in the university. The purpose of the theory is to present the relationship between individual consciousness and health conditions. Concepts †¢ Expanding Consciousness †¢ Consciousness †¢ Movement †¢ Time †¢ Space †¢ Pattern †¢ Pattern recognition †¢ Transformation Definition of concepts a. Consciousness is the information capacity of the system and its ability to interact with the environment. Consciousness does not cover only the cognitive and affective awareness but includes the interconnectedness of the living system (Endo, 2004). Expanding consciousness is becoming aware of oneself, finding meaning in life, and reaching new levels of connectedness with other populace and the globe. Pattern is information that presents the whole, creates understanding of the meaning of the whole, and relationships at once. Coming in touch with one’s person helps become aware of the other persons pattern, which is called pattern recognition. Transformation is a change that occurs at once rather than gradually in a linear fashion. Movement is a reflection of consciousness and person conveys self awareness through the movement from posture, language, and body (Newman, 1994). Time is a function of movement and a measurement of consciousness that centers primarily on the percei ved duration. . Space is the three-dimensional expanse where all matter exists. Rationale Statements and Propositions Some individuals suffer from chronic diseases and other disabilities that cannot be separated from their health issues. Nurses view such individuals as those faced with uncertainty, debilitation, loss, and death in the long run (Picard, Jones and Newman, 2005). Structure Newman begins by stating and defining concepts used in the theory. She then states the propositions and assumptions made in the theory. The paradigm shift is them stated by explaining the shift from instrumental view to relational view. The meta-paradigm shows the relationship between the person, environment, health, and nursing. The theory assumes that: Health encompasses conditions that are referred to as illness or pathology. Pathological conditions can act as a manifestation of the total pattern of the person. The pattern that manifests itself as pathology exists prior to structural or functional changes. Removal of the pathology will not change the pattern of the individual. If the pattern of an individual can only be manifested by becoming ill, then that is the health of that particular individual. Health is an expansion of consciousness. Theory critique Origin and Context Newman conceived the idea of health as expanding consciousness when caring for her who has Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Newman, 1995). Both Newman and her mother experienced alterations in movement, time, space, and consciousness. They also

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

A short paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

A short paper - Essay Example The French were the first Europeans to settle in what later became the Canadian province of Quebec and to appease the population after their humiliating defeat by the British in the 1700s, they were granted certain rights including the retention of their religion, judicial and educational systems. These rights were maintained when Canada moved from colonial status to an independent democracy in 1867. While there are pockets of French heritage settlements in the rest of Canada, most are in Quebec province where they constitute the majority of the population. Unfortunately the classical French educational system with its’ close ties to the Roman Catholic church and lack of business orientation, was ill equipped to prepare students for business management positions so that in the industrial revolution most were relegated to low skill work serving Anglophone managers imported from the rest of Canada and had few prospects for advancement. Naturally this situation created resentment which was expressed in the formation of a political party dedicated to separation from the rest of Canada and a more militant group (the FLQ) . When this group escalated their activities from blowing up mail boxes and other symbols of alleged Anglophone authority to the kidnap of a British diplomat and the murder of a Quebec cabinet minister, Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau stepped in with the army to prevent an armed insurrection. However, people of Quebec were allowed to vote twice in referendums to express their desire whether to separate or remain within Canada, with the pledge that the majority wish would be respected and if separation was chosen there would be no military action and negotiations would commence for an equitable division of the country’s assets and liabilities. While in both cases the majority voted to remain in Canada, one was very close. Trudeau, although a

Monday, November 18, 2019

What is the relation between the divided line and the allegory of the Essay

What is the relation between the divided line and the allegory of the cave from Books 6 and 7 of the Republic Do you find this to be an accurate representation of the process of learning - Essay Example According to Plato, the bottom two; imagination and belief, can be perceived as simple opinions and are different from one person to another (Baird 500-520). The two are found in the physical world and are discoverable through senses that can be mistaken making the truth that is associated with these two vary form one person to another. The next two, which are understanding and reason, are in existence to seek truths in the meta-physical world making them collectively true. The type of truth associated with understanding included that of mathematics, maxims along with definitions, and even though they are artificial, they are questioned. The best way to achieve truth of knowledge is through reason which actively questions issues in the environment. In Plato’s view, reasoning brings understanding of the forms and forms possess the ultimate truth. Plato implies that goodness and love are products of reason but this love is not identical to the kind of love that is perceived in the present day. Love as explained by Plato is the desire for something that is not possessed, and this motivates people to get what they do not have. The allegory of the cave explains the route one must take in order to achieve this knowledge and how individuals are bound in the cave of imagination where the shadows that are on the walls are the truths. The people who create the shadows are those in positions of power who have the belief that they are conversant with the truth and attempt to utilise it in corrupting the masses into giving them more power. Fire stands for an imperfect good while love represents a self-good that is supposed to bring more power to them. An individual inside the cave should be able to see further than the shadows and turn in the direction of the fire while identifying that the objects seen in the hands of the puppeteer may seem true but are not actually true. When a person leaves the cave, he will be blinded by the

Friday, November 15, 2019

Representations of media in film

Representations of media in film Question 2: Compare and Contrast the Approaches to the Representations of the two different Media in Almost Famous (2000) and Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004). Word count: 2305 Almost Famous is a 1998 American film directed by Cameron Crowe, it tells the story of the 1970s American hard rock band Stillwater struggling in the harsh face of stardom from the perspective of a Rolling Stone Magazine journalist William Miller (Patrick Fugit). Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy is a 2004 American parody film directed by Adam McKay, it tells the story of how Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell), a famous television news anchor in San Diego, descends from fame and later comeback. I choose these two films as both protagonists William Miller and Ron Burgundy are from San Diego and these two different stories happened in the same period of time – mid 1970s. They both portray the media effects on audiences and their reaction to these audiences. In Almost Famous, audiences are portrayed as active to the music industry and have a good knowledge of the entertainment business. In contrast, audiences in Anchorman are presumed as passive receivers of TV news information rig ht at the beginning. It lacks serious critics of events. Females are presented considerably in both films as important but a menace to the male characters. Almost Famous treats women less seriously but females are free to do what they like. On the contrary, female characters in Anchorman are constantly under male power and cannot do what they want but they are treated more justly as a practitioner within the industry. Both films shed light upon the gender inequality in a serious tone. I am going to use theories of ‘reflexivity’ to examine how audiences are portrayed respectively in two different types of media. I will also use the theories of ‘self-reflexivity’ to compare the difference between two industries in terms of the production and competition. I will use ‘intertextuality’ to discuss the genres of two films. Reflexivity, argued by Rosenberg (1990. p3), refers to the process of an entity acting back upon itself. Almost Famous and Anchorman both reflected the media effects on audiences. Almost Famous started its story in the house of the Millers. The first actual audience mentioned in the film is William Miller’s sister Anita Miller (Zooey Deschanel) who is a real fan of rock n’ roll music. She is an inner-directed person and regards rock n’ roll music as an integral part of her life and her future. Elaine Miller (Frances McDormand), mother of William and Anita, is a traditional-minded woman who teaches in a local college. Her ideas would not allow Anita to get involved with the low culture she deemed. Anita angrily leaves her home at the age of 18 and starts her career as an air stewardess. At the very beginning of the film, the notion of ‘audience’ is seriously examined. The first audience of music is portrayed as brave and, most-importantly, fully awar e of their own behaviours and wants. Before Anita leaves home, she holds her brother William and tells him ‘Look under your bed’. Judging from those worn surfaces of records and the notes she made on each one of them, we can speculate here Anita has been a very loyal fan and has spent much time, energy and money on the medium she consumes. William is clearly influenced by her sister as he later grows up to be an even more loyal fan to rock music. It would be hard to imagine that in such a strict household, an obedient young child like William Miller will grow up to be a journalist on rock n’ roll which is against his mother’s will. He often writes for Creem magazine and knows every song from his lyrics. The devotion wins the chance for him to make friends with musicians as he uses the word ‘incendiary’ to describe the ‘Fever Dog’ song of Stillwater right in front of its members. His passion in pursuing his career as a journalist e ven makes him give up the chance of attending his graduation ceremony. Another important character inside the film is Penny Lane (Kate Hudson), the founder of Band Aid. She gathers friends to support bands they love instead of just passively listening to their songs without thinking. Penny and William sometime challenge the thoughts of their idols and will give them some constructive ideas. The sad thing is that they have never been regarded seriously until the very end of the film. Anchorman also examines the media effect on audiences but in a less serious tone. From the beginning, a non-diegetic voice narrates the traits of television audiences in the 1970s – ‘There was a time, a time before cable, when the local anchorman reigned supreme, when people believed everything they heard on TV’. This statement at the very beginning positions TV audiences as passive receivers of information. The first time when Ron Burgundy starts broadcasting, an old rocker-like man yells in a bar ‘hey everybody, shut the hell up, Ron Burgundy is on’. The following scene is a toddler saying her first words ‘Ron Burgundy’. It is a clearly a computer generated scene. However, it is a metaphor of the overwhelming power of television in 1970s. ‘Stay classy San Diego’ is what Ron Burgundy says every time at the end of his broadcasting. Then we see people from different places (home, bar, work place), young or old, white or black , repeat after Ron. This scene fortifies the idea of Television’s manipulation over audiences. In a general case in film, males are often portrayed as heroes who struggle and females are put to a less important position (Mortimer, 1997). In both films, females play a great part of the plot but inevitably become portrayed as sex objects. In Almost Famous, Penny Lane and her band aid claim to be supporters of band only, however, ironically, they failed to escape the fate as groupies. Penny Lane is in a very subtle but intimate relationship with Stillwater’s guitarist Russell Hammond (Billy Crudup). In many occasions Penny is braless and wears a very thin top or blouse. When the band Stillwater travels to Cleveland, Penny Lane and Russell Hammond are flirting with each other and Penny only wears her panties. There is even short scene showing her breasts and her full naked back. Other girls, for example, Polexia (Anna Paquin) is one hundred percent a groupie who tried every time to make out with rock stars and even travels all the way from America to Europe to be with Deep Purple. When William Miller is writing his ideas for Rolling Stone magazine in a bathtub, Penny comes straight in to pee just in front of him. Later William is dragged out by three other young women into bedroom. They claim to ‘deflower Opie’ and ‘Opie should die’. Later we see the pace of imaged has been slowed down, the vibe on the screen becomes highly erotic when they start to undress William and themselves. In Anchorman there is only one woman who has been seriously portrayed – Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate). When she enters the Channel 4 News station for the first day, members from Channel 4 News Team try to seduce her and refuse to take her seriously as a journalist or a colleague. Veronica became the object of their sexual imagination when they talk about her good body inside the office. Later Ron tries to date her and succeeds at that night and has sex with her. When Ron talks about her life with Veronica in the future with his teammates, Veronica is only wearing a cook apron. The conversation is highly erotic too and Veronica in his imagination is a full-time housewife without any careerism. The image of women is degraded and the relationship between male and female protagonists becomes obvious. Women are portrayed as men’s most important and shiny ‘accessories’, however, to a certain extent, they are a threat to the career of the male prota gonists. The flight scene in Almost Famous exposes the promiscuous relationships between band members which cause a huge brawl between them. In Anchorman, Veronica, with her talent and hard work, makes Ron out of job and takes over as the Channel 4 New anchor. In both films, ‘women function as erotic objects both for the characters within the story and for the spectator, who identifies with the main male protagonist and derives a sense of omnipotence from this identification’ (Mulvey, 1975. p14). Talking about gender inequality, it is a different landscape between these two films. Women in the music industry are more likely to be themselves. They choose their favourite music, the bands they watch, the food they eat, the place they are and the life they want. Being a journalist in the Television industry, Veronica is not lucky enough to be like them and choose the things she likes to do. As she mentions ‘it is the same everywhere that men make jokes of women. To be the best journalist is the way to get respect’. The good thing is that Veronica achieved success and became the first female anchor in America. And later the configuration of having two anchors, one male and one female, report news is nowadays a fixed form. Females inside television industry are treated more seriously as ‘women’ in contrast to ‘sex objects’ in music industry. ‘Self-reflexivity is used to describe films or texts which self-consciously acknowledge or reflect upon their own status as fictional artefacts or the processes involved in their creation’ (Krenn, 2007. p36). Almost Famous exposes some of the ugliest facts about the rock music industry. Hypocrisy is the most severe problem within the industry and inside people. The first time William meets Jeff Bebe (Jason Lee), Jeff tries to glorify himself by stating ‘rock n’ roll is a way of thinking, a life style. Fame and money are not important but the chicks are great’. He sounds like a rascal who is desperately for staying the spotlight, a hobo who is desperately to be cool. When he says all these things, we can see that Russell is looking at him contemptuously which shows that he knows Jeff is pretending to be someone he is not. Russell, compared to Jeff, has a more honest attitude on music. He tells William what makes a song is actually those tiny mistakes. You need only one in the song, and it is what makes fans remember it. The production process in Anchorman seems not very professional. The film constantly shows the mistakes inside Channel 4 News Studio such as the mistakes on the teleprompter and Ron Burgundy’s grumpy character and his low IQ (e.g. He reads out anything he sees). The sense of responsibility is different in two films. Stillwater gives up a show half way and leaves the venue straight away. In television news industry however, when some emergencies happened, there is always a back-up plan to keep thing going. Mead (1934) and Cooley (1902) showed clearly that ‘reflexivity among human beings is rooted in the social process, particularly the process of taking the role of the other and of seeing the self from the others perspective’ (Rosenburg, M. 1990, p3). The Rolling Stone magazine which trashed Eric Clapton’s ‘Layla’ also ended the career of Stillwater. They hasted too much to be famous but lost themselves. William’s article wakes them up but it is already too late to re-establish a good public image. Ron Burgundy learnt from his failure and realised the hard work of Veronica, he finally got to know who he should be and together they made a huge progress for television news industry. The most hilarious sequence in Anchorman is the fight between five news teams. They fight each other near a factory which make people think of the typical gang fight scenes in other films. The fight is fierce and the casualties are heavy. The siren of the police ends this chaos. This is a satire of the vicious and sometimes illegal competitions for higher ratings inside the television news industry. ‘Intertextuality strongly linked with postmodernism, designates, in its narrow sense, the ways in which a film either explicitly or implicitly refers to others films (e.g. through allusion, imitation, parody or pastiche), or in its broader sense, the various relationships on (film) text may have with other texts’ (Nelmes, 2012. p191). Both films are based on historical events, so they are themselves inherently examples of ‘intertextuality’. Almost Famous is a drama in terms of genre. It vividly retells the stories of a band which failed to become a hit. It tells us a story about chasing dreams and making mistakes. Those pieces of fine music are an intertext of nostalgia for old good times. Anchorman is a parody and this decides it will not analyse events in a more serious fashion, but it shows a historic event of women being recognised in the television broadcasting industry. It is these use of techniques of intertextuality that add power of credibility to the films. Compare and contrast the representation of media in these two films, the media’s effect over audiences has been examined in both films. Almost Famous tends to analyse the audience’s reaction to media effect from the perspective of individuals. Most notably, it uses three characters, William, Anita and Penny, to show audiences’ active reaction to the medium they love and live on. Anchorman tends to present television news audiences as a passive whole group. The individual characteristics are diminished. Both films recognise the importance of females inside the society. Females in Almost Famous have more freedom to do what they like but failed to be taken seriously as ‘women’ by the society. In Anchorman, the gender inequality is a more prominent problem but females are justly treated as ‘women’ with dignity and characteristics. They both used ‘intertextuality’ to create the sense of reality, but one with a more serious tone as a drama and the other less critical as a parody. Bibliography: Cooley, C. H. (1902) Human Nature and Social Order. Charles Scribner’s Sons. Krenn, S. (2007) Oriental and Postmodern Elements in Moulin Rouge!. Università ¤t Stuttgart Deutschland Mead, G. H. (1934) Mind, Self and Society: From the Standpoint of s Social Behaviourist. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Mulvey L. (1975). Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema. In: L. Braudy and Marshall Cohen (eds), Film Theory and Criticism: Introductory Readings. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999, pp.6-18. Nelmes, J. (2012). Introduction to Film Studies. 5th Edition. London: Routledge. Rosenberg, M. (1990) ‘Reflexivity and Emotions’ in Social Quarterly, Vol. 53, No. 1. (Mar, 1990), pp 3-12. Fimography: Almost Famous (2000). [Film] Directed by Cameron CROWE. USA: Dreamworks. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004). [Film] Directed by Andy MCKAY. USA: Dreamworks. 1

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Essay on Sin in Sophocles Oedipus the King and Ibsens Ghosts

The Impact of Sin in Sophocles' Oedipus the King and Ibsen's Ghosts      Ã‚  Ã‚   Sophocles' play Oedipus the King was written for a Greek audience as a religious right and lesson around two thousand years ago, while Ibsen's play Ghosts was written as a criticism of the Norwegian society during the 1890's. Although these plays were written for very different reasons and under different circumstances, the universal theme connecting them is mankind's liability to sin because the results affect a greater whole. One of the more specific themes of these plays is the negative effect that parents' sins have upon the generations to follow.    In Oedipus the King, Oedipus is born the son of Laius and Jocasta, the king and queen of Thebes. However, when they hear Apollo's prophecy (that Oedipus will kill his father and sleep with his mother) they decide to destroy Oedipus. Apollo's prophecy made Oedipus an unwanted child. In this case, the parents' transgression of the law was that they attempted to defy the gods by evading Apollo's prophecy. Later Jocasta states that "no skill in the world, nothing human, can penetrate the future" (Sophocles 201). Oedipus, as a later response to her statement says, "...all those prophecies I feared - Polybus packs them off to sleep with him in hell! They're nothing, worthless" (Sophocles 214). In this way, Oedipus and Jocasta quit believing in the prophecies altogether. In Ghosts, Regine is the result of an affair that Captain Alving had with the housemaid, Johanna. Since Regine is a child born out of wedlock, she is unwanted by Captain Alving because she is the result of his sin, and if a nyone were to discover her true origins it could destroy the respect that society has for him. She is also unwant... ...ther sins and results that happened after that would never have occurred. In short, do not let your pride blind you to the knowledge of those who are wiser than you. In Ghosts, Ibsen's message is that the Norwegian society was hypocritical and unmoral. This is shown through Oswald's suffering because he is simply a victim who is paying for what a hypocritical society permits - men's immorality. The overall idea behind this play is that hypocrites should not criticize others; as Manders criticizes Oswald the companions that he chose during his stay in Paris. However, they are both combined by the intricate link of sin and its effects on the whole.    Works Cited Ibsen, Henrik. Four Major Plays. Trans. James McFarlane and Jens Arup. New York: Oxford UP, 1998 Sophocles. The Three Theban Plays. Trans. Robert Fagles. New York: Penguin Classics, 1984

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Kant’s ‘Copernican Revolution’

Describe Kant’s ‘Copernican Revolution’ and explain (and outline) how he hopes it will give rise to synthetic apriori knowledge. Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason [1781] was birthed out of the Leibnizian-Wolff tradition. He rejected this tradition due to a dislike of the principles of Sufficient Reason and Non-Contradiction. Although much of the Critique can be read as a spirited attack on this tradition, Kant’s real catalyst for the writing the Critique was the empiricist David Hume, and the way one reads the Critique is informed by the awareness of the Critique as a duel attack.The creation of the ‘synthetic a priori’ and the ‘Copernican Revolution’ that gave rise to it are both conversant of this attack. This essay aims to outline and defend how the ‘Copernican Revolution’ evolved and how this ‘metaphysical revolution’ formed the concept of the ‘synthetic a priori’. In the Preface to th e Critique Kant describes metaphysics as once being the ‘queen of all sciences’ (A ix). Yet, despite this, he argues that reason in metaphysics fails to have the stability of mathematics or natural science.The conflict of Newtonian science with Leibnizian metaphysics, rationalism with empiricism, and natural science with morality and religion, are all instances of metaphysics as a ‘battle ground’ (Gardner 1999: 20). Kant argues that: â€Å"If the various participants are unable to agree in any common plan of procedure, then we may rest assured that it is very far from having entered upon the secure path of a science, and is indeed a merely random groping† (B vii).For Kant, the natural sciences and mathematics are in contrast to metaphysics because the former have undergone a peculiar process of stability. Kant adheres to a ‘Maker’s Knowledge Thesis’, which argues that a subject has supreme (a priori) knowledge of an object, if the y are the maker of that object or able to reproduce it. Thus, maths has a priori status because we can construct mathematical objects ourselves. He affects to reproduce an analogous revolution in metaphysics.At†¦Kant gives his ‘Copernican Revolution’ of metaphysics: â€Å"Hitherto it has been assumed that all our knowledge must conform to objects. But all attempts to extend our knowledge of objects by establishing something in regard to them a priori, by means of concepts, have, on this assumption, ended in failure. We must therefore make trial whether we may not have more success in the tasks of metaphysics, if we suppose that objects must conform to our knowledge.This would agree better with what is desired, namely, that it should be possible to have knowledge of objects a priori, determining something in regard to them prior to their being given† (B xvi). The ‘Copernican Revolution’ attempts a compromise between the optimistic Leibnizian real ists, who argue that we can have objective (a priori) knowledge of the external world through the Principle of Sufficient Reason and the Humean sceptics, who argue that we can have no knowledge beyond immediate experience.By a ‘Copernican Revolution’, Kant intends a complete overhaul of what has previously been taken as objective fact: like Copernicus explained the ‘objective’ movement of the sun by the subjective movement of the observer on earth, Kant explains our knowledge of ‘objective’ external objects in terms of our subjective modes of cognition (Gardener 1999: 42). On the ‘Maker’s Knowledge Thesis’, for an agent to have a priori metaphysical knowledge, they must have at least partially formed a sum of that knowledge.Kant claims that this is achieved by the input of our cognitive faculties on what we observe. Some critics question how Kant’s ‘revolution’ does not merely collapse into an account of Berkeley’s mind-dependence, that we ‘create’ the external objects in our own minds (Gardener 1999: 43). But Kant is not idealist in the way that Berkeley is, to say that the subject ‘forms’ the object by the modes of their cognition, is not to say that objects are the creation of our representations.Kant does hold that there are objective external objects in the world, he merely denies that we can know them as such. He makes a distinction between objects as they appear to us and objects as they are in themselves. Locke makes a similar distinction between what he called the ‘primary’ and ‘secondary’ qualities. In his Essay Concerning Human Understanding, he argued that the secondary qualities such as an object’s colour, smell etc. is fundamentally different from their ‘primary’ qualities such as their size or extension.The secondary qualities are things that can be known by the observer, but not as a prope rty of the thing in its self, whereas primary qualities are independent of whoever is observing them, and are properties of the thing as it is in itself. Kant’s distinction is even more limited insofar as he does not think that any of the properties Locke describes as ‘primary’ are properties of an object in its self. He believes that all we can know of an object in its self is that it exists. If the fact that an object exists is all that we could ever know of an object in itself, then a rationalist perspective would hold that this s all we can ever know of that object (full stop) because they believe that knowledge conforms to the object. However, because Kant believes that the object conforms to knowledge, he also believes that we can know other things about the object through the faculties of our cognition. We can never have knowledge of a thing its self because we cannot have ‘Maker’s Knowledge’ of such a thing, but we can have ‘Make r’s knowledge’ of a thing as it appears to us because we ‘form’ these appearances with our own cognition. These are what Kant terms ‘synthetic a priori’ judgements.Kant distinguishes â€Å"cognitions a priori†¦ from empirical ones, which have their sources a posteriori, namely in experience† (Guyer 2006: 45). An analytic judgment is one in which â€Å"the predicate B belongs to the subject A as something that is contained in this concept A† (Guyer 2006: 46). They are concepts known through identity, such as ‘All bachelors are married men’. By contrast, synthetic judgements are those in which â€Å"the predicate B lies entirely outside the concept A, although to be sure it stands in connection with it† (ibid).Championed by Hume, the orthodox view of the time was that while analytic judgements can be known a priori, given the fact that they can be immediately experienced and understood if you can understand the composite meaning of the proposition, synthetic judgements could only ever be understood a posteriori. A posteriori cognitions are merely based on the experience of an object and a synthetic judgement such as ‘this macbook is white’ can only ever be known by looking at the object (macbook) and a posteriori judging it to have a certain property (whiteness).Kant disagreed with this Humean reasoning, and while he accepted that there could not be an analytic a posteriori, he did think that there could be synthetic a priori cognitions. Kant blames the instability of metaphysics on the fact that the possibility of ‘synthetic a priori’ judgments has never been considered. In the Preface of the Critique Kant argues that the ‘real’ problem of pure reason is â€Å"contained in the question: How are synthetic judgements a priori possible? † (Gardener 1999). He makes an initial concession to the empiricists insofar as all knowledge necessarily ‘begins with’ experience.However, he argues that from this it does not necessarily follow that all of our knowledge be derived from such experience (it may, conversely, be derived a priori) (Gardener 1999: 53). Kant argues in the Introduction of the Critique that â€Å"if we find a proposition such that in thinking it we think at the same time its necessity, then it is an a priori judgment; and if, in addition, it is not derived from any proposition except one that itself has the validity of a necessary proposition, then it is absolutely a priori† (B3).Kant presupposes that we have this kind of knowledge: we have a priori knowledge of mathematical objects, and the principle of causation has ‘strict universality’ (Gardener 1999: 53). However, Kant does not regard these as analytic. Instead, Guyer argues that â€Å"[f]or Kant, all the fundamental propositions of philosophy as well as the contents of pure mathematics and even the basic principles of na tural science are nothing less than synthetic a priori cognitions† (Guyer 2006: 47).Kant argues that the term ‘synthetic’, when applied to judgments, â€Å"has a double sense of connecting a predicate with a concept in which it is not contained, and of presupposing a corresponding act of synthesis or putting together on the part of the subject† (Gardener 1999: 55). This is the act of ‘transcendental synthesis’. This process is significant when considering the a priori. Kant argues that although some concepts are indeed analytical, such as ‘all bachelors are married men’, concepts such as ‘every cause has an effect’ are not.Such concepts are a priori by virtue of being necessary, but they are also synthetic because they intend to add something to the sum of human knowledge. According to Kant, any informative concept must also be synthetic (Gardener 1999: 56). Because of this, Rawls advances two analytically distinct cri teria for analyticity: a judgement is analytic if (1) Its truth can be determined on the basis of conceptual considerations or the meaning of its composite terms; (2) â€Å"if it is self-evidently true rather than such as to extend our knowledge† (Gardener 1999: 61).These criteria have lead critics to argue that Kant confuses two different versions of the analytic/synthetic distinction; the first definition of analyticity encompasses what Kant calls ‘synthetic a priori’ because they would be true for conceptual reasons. However, These critics fail to give an account of how conceptual considerations are intended to extend knowledge the way that the synthetic a priori entails.Some critics argue that Kant’s method of proving the existence of synthetic a priori judgments is analytic, an argument of regress from the effect back to its cause. By arguing as such, they thus accuse Kant of presupposing the very thing he is intending to prove. Guyer argues that â₠¬Å"[o]f course, if one doubts that mathematics and physics do contain synthetic a priori cognition, then the use of this analytic or regressive method to arrive at further metaphysical truths is in trouble from the outset† (Guyer 2006: 48).Kant admits that his methodology is analytical in the Prolegomena, however, in the first edition Kant argues that his process was synthetic, by inquiring within pure reason itself. In the Preface Kant argues that his objective is â€Å"to demonstrate and make comprehensible the objective validity of his concepts a priori†. In the Introduction to the First Edition Kant argues that reason â€Å"†¦finds itself compelled to resort to principles that go beyond all possible use in experience, and that nonetheless seem so little suspect that even common human reason agrees with them.By doing this, however, human reason plunges into darkness and contradictions; and although it can indeed gather from these that they must be based on erro rs lying hidden somewhere, it is unable to discover these errors†¦[t]he combat of these endless conflicts is what we call metaphysics† (A viii). The ‘Copernican Revolution’ is the way Kant attempts to prove the possibility of synthetic a priori knowledge without flying off into ungrounded metaphysics (Guyer 2006: 49). If we assume that the sensory representations and conceptual organisation of objects is contained only in experience, then knowledge can never be more than a posteriori.But, if we discover cognitive ‘forms’ of these representations and organisations, then we know that nothing can ever be an object of knowledge without being subject to these forms, and thus that these ‘forms’ necessarily apply to the objects of our knowledge and therefore must constitute synthetic a priori judgments (Guyer 2006: 49-50). Bibliography: Gardner, Sebastian (1999) â€Å"Kant and the Critique of Pure Reason†, London: Routledge. Guyer, P aul (2006) â€Å"Kant†, Oxon: Routledge. Kant, Immanuel (Pluhar, Werner: Translator) (1996) â€Å"Critique of Pure Reason†, USA: Hackett Publishing Company.

Friday, November 8, 2019

Earn an Online Certificate From an A-List School

Earn an Online Certificate From an A-List School Did you know that you could earn a certificate from Harvard, Stanford, or Cornell without leaving your house and without having to meet rigorous enrollment requirements? Several prestigious schools offer open-enrollment distance learning certificate programs targeted to working professionals that dont have time for lengthy residencies. The coursework can be challenging. However, a certificate from a prestigious school can make your resume stand out from the crowd.Consider these certificate programs:​Stanford – Stanford offers a variety professional and graduate certificate programs that may be completed through distance learning. Many of the distance learning courses must be completed by watching live video broadcasts through the internet. Some of the science and technology based professional certificates such as the Computer Security Certificate Program (off-site link) may be earned in just a few hours online. This can be a particularly quick way to get formal recognit ion for skills you already have. Harvard - Through the Harvard Extension School, students can choose from dozens of distance learning courses each semester and even earn a graduate certificate by taking a series of five courses in a particular field. Certificates in sustainability, strategic management, web technologies, and religious studies education may be earned completely online.Cornell – eCornells distance learning website offers certificates in over twenty different subjects and five fields including Leadership and Strategic Management, Financial Management, Management Skills, Human Resources, and Hospitality and Foodservice Management. Some certificates such as the Financial Management Certificate (off-site link) ask students to complete as few as four courses. Others require more.Earning a distance learning certificate can be an effective way to improve your resume and your skills. Dont forget to mention it at your next job interview.

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Louis Pojman Theory

Louis Pojman Theory Louis Pojman suggests of a world where â€Å"the virtuous are rewarded and the vicious punished in proportion to their relative deserts†. Merit and desert are the two different fundamental ethical principles that are focused on in his statement. Merit is the reward or punishment due to a person while desert means deserving.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Louis Pojman Theory specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This theory therefore implies that people should be rewarded or punished based on not only their natural traits, but also the extent of goodness or badness of their actions. I would agree with Pojman that we deserve what we earn; however looking at the reality on the ground it is undeniable that this is not the case. Furthermore, due to the different laws and cultures in our world, it would be seemingly impossible to uphold such a rule (Waller 2008) According to Pojman, â€Å"the idea of rewarding the good and punishing the bad is the normal of evolving of culture†. To dictate what constitutes good or bad is quite subjective, but the question is how one should determine the degree of goodness or badness. The impact or repercussions of an individual’s deeds could be one measure that could be used in this instance. Pojman observes that a good deed done half-heartedly should be rewarded differently from an action done whole heartedly. An individual should therefore be compensated on the basis of his efforts or how well he has performed his tasks, but empirically there’s no way of determining his or her input into the task. A person could be good at something, based on a natural attribute, which would make him give the same value of output as another person who works harder in the same task since the second person doesn’t share the same attribute. Following the theory, the two individuals should be compensated based on their input, which would be unfair because they both produced the same output. A person could perform good deeds because they have an obligation to do so. A police officer has a duty to stop and prevent a crime, a fire fighter has a duty to put out fires but these classes of people should not be rewarded extraordinarily for performing their duties. The law does not allow a police officer to sue for a reward for finding a missing person even though there was a clause or offer from the missing person’s family, so in this case the theory fails. Another instance could be found in our work places.Advertising Looking for essay on philosophy? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Many CEOs work half day and enjoy the rest of the day playing a round of golf as their employees slave all day, yet the CEOs take the bigger pay simply because of their positions. Despite the fallbacks of this theory on the concept of good, it has a more positive impact in the case of evi l. Individuals are and should be punished based on the level of the bad they do. As is the case with our modern society, criminals serve different punishments depending on their crime. A murderer should be withdrawn from society, possibly for the rest of his or her life. A petty thief will serve shorter sentence than an individual on a robbery with violence charge, even though the two criminals may have stolen the same value of items. This theory therefore discourages evil, since individuals will avoid doing serious crimes for fear of retribution. Without this fear of getting punished, criminals and terrorists would roam free while world gets stuck in chaos. However, the theory upholds law and order, a major victory for justice (Waller, 2008). Due to our different backgrounds, cultures and religions, each and every individual is unique from each other. These differences influence our judgments thus explaining our differences in opinion regarding certain topics. Most western countrie s permit abortion, while other countries especially in the developing world consider it a crime. Differences in opinion mean that there’s no agreeable value of the deeds we perform. There’s no way of measuring a person’s goodness or badness. There’s also no stated best way of rewarding or punishing a person. Both rewards and punishments could take various forms, and their impact or influence could be dissimilar for two different people. A monetary reward could have little significance for an individual with a wealthy background while the same figure could greatly influence a person from a humble background. A person who has never been in jail before will think twice before repeating an offence while a seasoned criminal who did the same offence will have little in his way in case they get similar punishments. In this case, rewards and punishments may not have the desired outcomes if applied to different people. In conclusion if such a world existed, a plac e where which â€Å"the virtuous are rewarded and the vicious punished in proportion to their relative deserts,† people would strive to perform good deeds which would never go by unnoticed. Its common nature to love oneself, and if a reward is the only way to influence a good act, then so be it.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Louis Pojman Theory specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More An employee cannot be expected to work harder if he knows that there is nothing that will commend him for his efforts. Despite the problems discussed earlier, the theory would still have significant impact on behavior. Pojman was right to assume that we should anticipate rewards for doing good deeds and expect punishment for bad deeds. References Waller, B. N. (2008). Consider ethics: Theory, readings, and contemporary issues (2nd ed.) New York, NY: Pearson/Longman.

Monday, November 4, 2019

Uncle Toms Cabin brief summary and why the novel is so important to Essay

Uncle Toms Cabin brief summary and why the novel is so important to American history - Essay Example He also saved her life when she fell on water causing her father, St. Clare, to buy him from a slave trader (Weinstein 12). Major events in the second are the hunting of Eliza’s family and Tom’s life with St. Clare in New Orleans. While on escape, Eliza met George her husband but could not manage to escape to Canada because Locker, the slave tracker, trapped them. In New Orleans, Eva became ill after Tom had stayed with them for two years. Before she died she saw a vision of heaven which after sharing, it caused the other characters to purpose to change their lives. St. Clare’s cousin Ophelia ended her prejudice against the blacks. The third part is about Tom as Simon Legree’s slave. Legree hates Tom because he refused to whip a fellow slave and decided to beat him viscously and crush his faith in God but Tom persevered. Tom encouraged Cassy, a fellow slave, to escape with Emmeline. He refused to tell Legree where Cassy has gone which caused him to order that Tom be killed. While dying, Tom forgave the overseers who where beating him. This humility caused them to become Christians (Weinstein 26). The final section is about Cassy’s and Emmeline’s ride to freedom where they met George Harris’ sister. On reaching Canada, Cassy discovered that Eliza was her child who was sold when young. Being united again as a family, they travelled to France and finally to Liberia. Mr. Shelby went back to Kentucky and freed all his slaves. According to Grant (267), this novel is of great importance in the American history because it contributed to laying the groundwork for the civil war. The characters were used to personify different views of slavery by allowing those who were not slaves to hold varied views and actions in regard to slaves. For example, St. Clare bought a black slave called Topsy and had him educated by Ophelia his cousin who hated black slaves. The Shelby family related well with their slaves whereas Legree is seen to be inhuman

Friday, November 1, 2019

Contested globalisation and governance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Contested globalisation and governance - Essay Example The main person responsible for coining the term globalization is considered to be Theodore Levitt. With the passage of time, the phenomenon has grown at a steady rate whereby the setting under which it is held is one that focuses on the global patterns related with the sociological findings. Globalization, for that matter, is also remarked as Internationalization since the nature of the two terms is on a worldwide scale more than anything else. However, on the part of the two terms, the one thing common however is the fact that these have identified themselves well with the changing (and growing) trends, where most of these are credited on the shoulders of the World War II, after which there has been a resurgent rat race nonetheless. The movement of commodities, people, information, money, technological developments, organizational infrastructures, legal frameworks and so on and so forth have only proved to all and sundry that globalization is a phenomenon and it is one that is here to stay for long. The world has become a global village due to globalization and it is a good omen if seen in the proper perspectives. Globalization entails within it the changing technological innovations, the improvement in structures and different infrastructures, the advancements in basic thinking mindset of man, his ability to break loose from the ordinary and reach out towards the unknown and in all essence do something which can bring about an ultimate change, for the better. (Kantor, 2001) Having said that, we need to understand that globalization is not just a phenomenon, it is the science of human evolution and since man has for long held fast to this belief, there can be no reason as to why he should not comprehend the basis of the phenomenon of globalization. It is a paradigm shift or a movement as we might call it, one that brings more stability within the ranks (where it is applied) and unison in the efforts and activities of all concerned. More