Deontological Ethics Essay

Immanuel Kant’s theory of ethics is considered deontological for several different reasons. [4][5] First, Kant argues that to act in the morally right way, people must act from duty (deon). [6] Second, Kant argued that it was not the consequences of actions that make them right or wrong but the motives of the person who carries out the action. Kant’s argument that to act in the morally right way one must act purely from duty begins with an argument that the highest good must be both good in itself and good without qualification. Something is â€Å"good in itself† when it is intrinsically good, and â€Å"good without qualification†, when the addition of that thing never makes a situation ethically worse. Kant then argues that those things that are usually thought to be good, such as intelligence, perseverance and pleasure, fail to be either intrinsically good or good without qualification. Pleasure, for example, appears not to be good without qualification, because when people take pleasure in watching someone suffering, this seems to make the situation ethically worse. He concludes that there is only one thing that is truly good: Nothing in the world—indeed nothing even beyond the world—can possibly be conceived which could be called good without qualification except a good will. [7] Kant then argues that the consequences of an act of willing cannot be used to determine that the person has a good will; good consequences could arise by accident from an action that was motivated by a desire to cause harm to an innocent person, and bad consequences could arise from an action that was well-motivated. Instead, he claims, a person has a good will when he ‘acts out of respect for the moral law’. [7] People ‘act out of respect for the moral law’ when they act in some way because they have a duty to do so. So, the only thing that is truly good in itself is a good will, and a good will is only good when the willer chooses to do something because it is that person’s duty, i. e. out of â€Å"respect† for the law. He defines respect as â€Å"the concept of a worth which thwarts my self-love. â€Å"[8] Kant’s two significant formulations of the categorical imperative are: Act only according to that maxim by which you can also will that it would become a universal law. Act in such a way that you always treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, never simply as a means, but always at the same time as an end.

Theories of development are important Essay

A theorist is a person who develops or believes an idea in which to explain something, including what, how and why. Theories are development through observations, analysing and experiments. Theories of development are important because they help us to understand children’s behaviour, to help us understand the sequence that children and young people develop. Theorists- influencing current practice. Cognitive development. A Swiss biologist and psychologist jean piaget (1896-1980) is renowned for constructing a highly influential model of child development and learning. He suggested that children develop cognitive skills through mental â€Å"maps†, schemes and network concepts for understanding and responding to physical experiences within his or hers environment. Piagets theory identifies four developments stages these four stages are, sensorimotor stage 0-2 years, preoperational stage 2-7 years, concrete operations 7-11 years, formal operations 11-15 years. Educators must plan activities that are developmentally appropriate according to the curriculum which expands the student’s logical and conceptual growth. Another theorist that supports cognitive development is Vygotsky. He believes that children learn and understand through others around them, such as friends and family. He believed that children need challenges and teaching experiences set for them to help them develop in all areas and to help them to reach their full potential. Psychoanalytical development. Sigmund freud (1856-1939) another theorist believed that there are 3 parts to each child and young person’s personality. He believed that there are; the ID, the ego and the super ego. He believed that these 3 parts aren’t always there from when the child is born but develop with the child as they grow. He said that they are different through certain factors and behaviour between each different child, Humanist. Abraham maslow (1908-1970) looked at peoples motivation in the 1940’s. He believed that people needed to meet their fundamental needs before they could meet their potential or self-actualisation. He believed that if they were not met then they would become a deficiency in the person. This links to practice because we need to meet the needs of the children for, warmth, care, hunger and environment that they are providing and what they do to meet the children’s needs. Social learning. Social learning theorists believe that we learn through observing others. Albert bandura born 1925 believes that we learn through ‘imitation’. Eric Erikson (1902-1994) believed that a child and a young person’s personality will change throughout their life, due to social development and experiences. This links to practice as nursery practitioners are told to be good role models to the children. This is because they observe us and ‘copy’ or ‘imitate’ actions that we may make. Operant conditioning. The theory of operant conditioning is based on learning from the consequences or reinforcement due to a type of behaviour. B.F skinner (1904-1990) is recognised as a key figure for developing the behaviourist approach to learning and developing the theory for operant conditioning. He believed that we learn through our experiences in the environment and the consequences to our behaviour. Skinner separated the sequence of actions into three groups; 1; positive reinforces 2; negative reinforces 3; punishers. The positive reinforcers are what make us repeat actions or behaviour when we get something we desire. Skinner suggested that the positive reinforcement was the most effective way of encouraging new learning, such as getting attention from adults, receiving praise and receiving rewards. The negative reinforcers is a behaviour that also makes us repeat actions or behaviour, but not in a bad way but in a way to stop something bad happening from something good. For example children may learn to hold onto the stair rail when walking down the stairs to steady them self rather than feeling the need to sit on their bottom and bump down them. The ‘punisher’ is what is going to stop people from repeating behaviour, such as checking the temperature of the bath water before getting in it, after burning yourself because you didn’t check. Skinner also researched unexpected positive reinforcers. This is when children show negative behaviour to receive attention from adults. He proved that showing more frequent positive reinforcement was the most thriving way to help children learn about acceptable behaviour. This links to practice because we reward and praise children for showing positive behaviour. Nursery practitioners often say ‘well done’ to children as a way of praising them for showing positive behaviour than their negative behaviour. We also try to focus more on children’s positive behaviour rather than their negative behaviour, this is because they eventually learn that their good behaviour is more noticed and praised than their bad behaviour. This proves skinners theory. Behaviourist. The behaviourist theories suggest that learning is influenced by rewards, punishments and environmental factors. ‘conditioning’ is often used by behaviourists because we learn in a certain way due to past experiences that teach us not to do something or to do something. Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936) was a physiologist who was studying dogs. Whilst doing this he recognised that the dogs started to salivate before their food had been put down for them. He came to the conclusion that they were doing this because they learnt to associate the arrival of the food with other things such as, the sound of footsteps and the bowls or buckets. He did and experiment to look at this more closely. He used a bell because dogs do not salivate when hearing a bell. The dogs eventually begun to associate the bell with been fed. He then rang the bell constantly and eventually the dogs begin to stop salivating and finally did not react to the sound of the bell. Behaviourists use the term extinction when this happens. John b.watson (1878-1958 Took up pavlovs work and demonstrated that children and adults can be classically conditioned. In an experiment he created a phobia of rats in a little boy known as little Albert. In our practice we do not experiment or use classical conditioning, although we may recognise it among the children for example, children may become excited when they see bowls or a tray been brought into the room, they may associate this with food being given to them after this happens. Another example would be that at the end of the day all the children put their coats on they then may anticipate home time because they associate putting their coats on with their parents arriving to take them home. It is also useful to remember that classical conditioning can relate to children’s phobias. Social pedagogy. Social pedagogy is the holistic and thoughtful way of working. The aim of this is to improve the life chances and social outcomes of babies and children, therefore we must work with each other as well as the children to find the best possible way of improving these outcomes. The theories of development that have been shown help childcare workers put together framework and education for the children. It also helps us to understand why babies, children and young people do things the way they do. Conclusion. This shows that theorists have helped us come to conclusions for why we do things the way we do as well as how we learn through our experiences. It also helps to understand these theories so that we can provide better care and knowledge in the childcare setting. Task c. introduction pack for a new staff member. At the mother goose pre-school we monitor each child’s development we do this by using the learning journey. In the children’s learning journey we have â€Å"early learning goals† for each specific age group, to give us guidelines or the â€Å"norm† development for each stage of their time at the setting. We also carry out observations on the children to show which stage they are at, at the time on the early learning goals. Before any observations take place on the children, permission must be given from the parent/carer, this is also helpful as we can share findings with the child’s parent/carer and they can share findings with ourselves. If we were to do observations on a child without consent from their parent/carer then they may feel angry and upset as they may not understand that this is normal practice and help us to help the children. Assessment methods. Here are two examples of assessment methods we use to monitor a child’s development; checklist/tick chart and a free description with a snap shot picture. A checklist and tick chart observation is a chart with particular activities written on and the child is observed to see if they can reach the milestones set according to the child’s age. These observations are usually taken place when structured activities are set up for the children to do and are based over a longer period of time, but are taken place less frequently to show the progress in the children’s development. The advantage of using this observation is that you can observe more than one child at a time and they are quick and easy to use. The disadvantage of this is that observing at different times may produce different results and that it only shows what the child can and cannot do, not how confident and happy they are to attempt tasks and join in. A free description with a snap shot picture is to show skills that children show or are seen doing. A description of what you see is written into a small observation sheet and put the child’s learning journey next to the picture of them doing so. These observations are used frequently to show what milestones the child is at for their age group. The observation has the advantage of been able to use it frequently and no preparation is needed. Although the advantage is that different observers pick up on different things that children do and it can be hard sometimes to find the right words to use to describe what you are seeing. Examples of why sometimes child/young person’s development does not follow the expected pattern. Children develop at different stages for example, a baby of 12 months may be walking with support but a baby of 10 months may be walking unaided. Some children just happen to develop quicker or slower than others, but for some babies and children there are reasons why their development does not follow the expected patterns. Premature birth can have an effect on development, such as sitting up unaided, crawling, standing and walking. Learning difficulties can also have an impact on development, some children may pick up writing and reading easier than with a learning difficulty, but help is available such as special support and multi-agency approaches. Another reason why development may be delayed could be disability for example, a baby that has a disability with their legs may not be able to walk until they are 2 or 3 where as the expected age is roughly 1 years old. Impact by disability. Disability can impact and effect development as it can prevent children and young people from completing tasks. Although most activities can be adapted to suit children and young people’s needs. Intervention. Intervention can be done to promote positive outcomes for the child or young person where development is not following the expected pattern. Specialist support can be used in the preschool to support children with learning difficulties or disabilities. They can arrange meetings to come and see the child to observe them and give the child’s key worker activities and goals for the child to meet. Multi agency approaches can also take place to help babies, children and young people to meet the expected pattern of development. Another intervention could be supported play by adapting the activities to support the child or young person to reach the milestones for their age group. Task d . Early identification. Early identification of speech, language or communication delay is important for a childs well-being because it can affect their development. The sooner it is picked up on the sooner it can be amended therefore the child will not miss out on educational activities and lessons which would otherwise potentially hold them further back. Potential risks. Any delays in a child’s speech, language and communication could result in a lack of development in the future. They may not be able to develop their skills further for example, if a child cannot speak then communication will also become a problem. This is why it is important to identify these delays early. If a child cannot speak then their development will slow down as they cannot further their skills through others around them. This can therefore cause the problem to become greater if it is left to long. Importance of early identification and potential risks of late recognition. It is very important that early identification to speech, language and communication as it can affect children and young people’s further development and expanding skills. If it is picked up on early enough then help can be given to the child to either overcome the issue or to give extra support to them to help them develop further. If it isn’t picked up on early enough then the child could fall behind in development and education. When a child falls behind it can sometimes be difficult for them to catch up although there are organisations to give extra support to the child. Multi-agency team. There are many organisations that can help support a child or young person’s speech, language and communication. The child’s GP (general practitioner) can refer the child to a speech therapist which will help their speech and communication. The child’s health visitor can also help with the child’s speech, language and communication. How when and why. A multi-agency team would be brought in to support a child when a speech, language or communication delay takes place. The manager would have a meeting with the child’s parent/carer to discuss the issue and then they would discuss the best possible option for the child. If they decide that a multi-agency team is to be contacted then a meeting would be arranged with the team to examine how the child can be helped. They then will arrange with the team to examine how the child can be helped. They then will arrange the times and dates that they can come and visit the child either at the childcare setting or at home. Play opportunities. There are many types of play opportunities that can be put into place to help support a child’s speech, language and communication. Role play is one of the most important parts of play for children, it covers physical activity as well as allowing the child to communicate, be creative, be independent and build self-confidence. Another play opportunity could be music and movement activities which include singing, dancing and nursery rhymes. The children can be independent and make their own choices to join in. this allows children to communicate with each other and to sing along to the songs and rhymes. Reading stories are vital in a child’s development. By reading and listening, children pick up new words and meanings which allow their knowledge to expand. If a child has a difficulty in communicating or in their speech then books can be very useful for developing their speech and communication. Show and tell is another way of supporting a child’s speech, language and communication. It allows the children to listen to others and to communicate if they wish to by asking questions about the show and tell that is shown, which can expand their word dictionary by using new words. All of this concludes that noticing a delay in a speech, language or communication development is important to prevent further delay in other areas of development.

Men In The New Society

I was raised to believe that everything is created equal. This belief was suddenly changed when I entered college. People’s perception and opinion has in a way awakened me to the reality that our choices in life are sometimes affected by the inequalities set by our society. These inequalities have adversely influenced people’s choices and roles in life. These may sometimes come in a very subtle form of formal compliance to the expected responsibilities and roles that a person should assume in the society yet these are harsh forms of deprivation of individual’s decision and expression of one’s being. Society’ stereotyping of men and women’s role and responsibilities has created so much damage to people especially among men. In this new age where everything is fast changing and evolving, society should learn to view men and women equally and try to eradicate stereotyping in the system. Society should learn to be fair and equitable in its dealings between men and women. Both are human beings who have the right to live according to personal choices and preferences, rather than according to society’s unfair expectations and bias opinions. Men and women alike should be given equal opportunities to discover their purpose in life rather than force to assume traditional roles in the family, society and in the country. It is a reality that nowadays society still viewed women favorably than men. Women are afforded more tolerance and understanding while men are stiffly expected to do their roles with ease and comfort. This treatment is even reinforced because of greater advocacy to the protection of women’s rights rather than on the promotion of the equality of the two sexes. Studies have shown that feminist movement is more prevalent and supported than men movements. Indeed, society’s treatment between men and women created a huge distance between the two sexes that in effect encouraged men and women alike to strengthen movements purportedly for the purpose of asserting and protecting their respective rights in the society. Conflicts are then heightened rather than resolved. It is said that the most challenging and significant issue that men in the US face today is the oppression among men. This issue is anchored on the reality that society’s treatment to men sometimes partake the nature of oppression. Men are being unfairly deprived from opportunities to express real self. Most often they are pushed to assume roles like that of being the family’s provider, a responsibility that can be traced back traditionally. These norms of roles and responsibilities set by the society are seen as oppressive yet unrecognized by many. According to Schenk â€Å"men’s form of oppression have not been adequately defined, thus they are perceived to be non-existent†. Because of this, society continued to set the standard of behaviors and roles for men and dictate men’s actions and decisions. Since childhood, men are taught to be tough and strong. They are taught not to cry or to demonstrate emotions. Their minds are conditioned to be the provider of the family and the defender of the country. Should they fall short on these social expectations they are criticized, punished, rejected or harmed often throughout their lifetime for the effects of the social conditioning that has been put upon them. Also, men have been systematically trained to give up their beginning inherent, easy expectation of having relaxed attention from another when they are tense. The big boys don't cry principle even begins very early in a boy’s life unless his parents have made the effort that is needed to allow his emotional release process to be left intact. This mistreatment forces males to hide or defend their distresses, which sometimes makes the process of recovering one's inherent individuality and discovering one’s potential and capabilities much more challenging. Indeed social expectations are more difficult for men rather than women and society has not done significant actions to break this vicious and unfair cycle. Rather society allows the continued oppression against men by several institutions. Society’s institutions like the armed services, the courts, police and prisons, the drug and alcohol industries, the sports industry, and the work place has directly and indirectly hurt men. Whether society is aware of this is beyond comprehension as society’s only concern is for men to continue serving women and the society in the same old traditional system of thinking and behavior. Men are also falsely portrayed in the media. They are treated stereotypically and as less than human throughout society. Oftentimes they are projected as the violent sex and oppressive to women. This bad projection has created an indelible mark on the perception of many even to the young generation that makes it more difficult to break the vicious cycle of unrecognized oppression among men. Men in a way do get privilege from the way society sets up everyone with the roles they are in. But the privileges are real and material. It lacks substance and do not in a way satisfy the highest need of men which is to have positive self-esteem. It should be noted that the very best of being human is not material or material privilege, it is our human qualities to be close, to care for others, build many relationships of all kinds, to feel significant and to have positive self-concept. In these areas the lives of men are certainly not privileged and mostly not yet powerful. On the other hand, the extent to which men accept mistreatment and less-than-fully-human relationships is the extent that they not only accept their own oppression but also contribute to that oppression and pass the received oppression to other groups. The internalization of their own group's oppression is all that has been needed to maintain the oppressions of all other groups. When anyone gets tense and behaves in a less-than-fully-human way this behavior reinforces the stereotypes for all the people involved. The oppression of men affects all men. The challenge to face and help resolve the issues of oppression among men is so immense. At my stage now, I may not be able to even make a great contribution to these issues. However, my learnings to these issues in life of men and women would help me a lot in my decisions in life. According to Benett-Goleman, â€Å"life itself can be a teacher, presenting us with the chances to transmute the emotions brought up in us. When life disappoints us, it offers an opportunity to reach beyond ordinary conventions and understandings toward a greater perspective† (365). My awareness and understanding to these issues would then strengthen my resolve that I have to stand firm on my decisions and choices. I may not be able to make a significant effect in the society but at least I can make a difference starting from my own life sphere with the significant people in my life. At least I can break-free from this vicious paradigm of behavior. Reference List Benett-Goleman, Tara. Emotional Alchemy: How the Mind can Heal the Heart. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2001. Schenk, Roy. Shame and Male Oppression. National Coalition of Free Men. Retrieved February 13, 2007

English-Value Claim Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

English-Value Claim - Essay Example English-Value Claim When we claim that Occupy Wall Street is moral movement we are trying to argue based on the rightfulness or principles or rules that the movement does which are based on ideologies of right conduct in the society. Whatever the movement is passionate about must be a great deal that is affecting the economy of the societies. Money has been a huge driving force behind all policy makings and watching the entire economy collapse is devastating, we should be rewarded for our hard work and shun corruption, oppression of equality, self over justice and greed overwhelm our corporations. The word moral has been used in the Oxford Dictionary to refer to principles that concern right or acceptable behaviors that are accepted in a particular society. It entails manifesting or holding high principles for appropriate conduct. Morally acceptable behaviors are those accepted in the society. The word is to be used to refer to claims that I personally approve of. When the act does not seem to affect the society and is meant for the well-being of everybody, then it is moral. I do not intend to make you think otherwise of situations that you find right to me and wrong to you as justified to be morals, but whatever you find right is moral. For instance when I claim that government tax is moral, then it means I personally approve the imposition of government tax to everybody. For a Christian to claim murder as immoral then he/she is bringing in personal approval that according to the ethics of Christianity it is against the will of God to commit such acts.

Philosophy 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Philosophy 3 - Essay Example As a function of approaching the issue from such a perspective, this student hopes to expound upon the overall suitability of Kantian morality and provide a well balanced approach to determining the inherent strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that should an approach would necessarily espouse. In the Kantian approach to ethics and morality, the ultimate identifier of a â€Å"good action† is one that is performed out of duty; with no other ulterior motive being present as a means of rewarding or punishing the individual performing the action. Although Kant was not the first individual to support such an approach to morality and ethics, he was the first that has been known to record such an approach and pass it along as a moral code of ethics that, as he argues, should be applied universally. This universality of Kantian morality is one of the hallmarks of such an approach that ultimately makes it unique among the other forms of ethical and moral approaches that have thus far been studied. This universality is born out of an understanding that the main guiding precept that defines goodness is duty. Therefore, the duty, as Kant describes it is not necessarily born out of an imprint of Godliness upon he hearts of mankind; rather, it is born out of the universality of reason in helping to develop moral and ethical approaches to the many situations that greet the individual within his/her daily life (Lachapelle 2005, p. 608). It should of course be noted that Kant never sought to distance God and/or his influence upon morality from his approach. Instead, Kantian morality and ethics take the approach that God is exhibited through reason and rationality and therefore is present within the duties that ultimately lead an individual to perform a moral act for the sake of duty itself. As a means to further this moral approach, Kant argues that the â€Å"good of humanity† in and of itself is sufficient enough a cause for

Global Warming. What Are the Human Behaviors which Hasten Global Essay

Global Warming. What Are the Human Behaviors which Hasten Global Warming - Essay Example Digging out the earth’s resources such as coal, gas and oil also leads burning of fossil fuels which again release one the of greenhouse gases CO. Cutting forests and grass lands and converting them into a living place and use it for farming means letting the stored amounts of carbon enter the atmosphere. This is because those plants stores carbon and cutting down means releasing more and more carbon. This is known as deforestation. Methane is another harmful green house gas which is hundred times more powerful than carbon. Methane is basically is found underwater especially when digging out fossil fuels, landfill and leakage of natural gas. Also, methane is found in the intestines of herbivorous animals so, more live stock means more manure and more manure leads to release of methane. It is also used as the fertilizer in cropping. Another source of methane is gas consuming car which are getting more in use these days. Population is another cause of global warming which means more people requires more food and use of more transportation. Cars burns fossil fuel by consuming oil where as to provide food to such a large population agriculture is a must. In twentieth century farmers started using more chemical fertilizers and machines. These chemical fertilizers are the cause of the development of nitrogen.... (Manoj Kumar, A Cooler Climate) Crake’s decision: Crake’s intentions behind creating the hominids are right as the world really seems to be environmentally devastated and corporation controlled in future. The scientists will keep on experimenting on human without checking it and directly use for genetic treatment which is becoming a threat to the survival of humanity. According to Crake they just want to earn profits and interest without giving a thought to the consequences which will occur to those human beings. Nowadays, in world such is happening. Nuclear weapons are so devastating and bio-products are so dangerous for the survival of human beings. Technology on the other hand is invented for the ease of human but it is used as a tool to earn profits. This world consists of so many problems like pollution, global warming, many pandemic diseases, and war like situation, socio-economic issues. Crake created hominids in order to make this world peaceful and environment friendly creature that loves nature and does not harm each other and there are no such catastrophes. ( Bouson, Bloom, Lin) The culture of violence and pornography is also troubling the world and it is because of the misuse of internet. Pornographic sites are becoming cheaply and easily available everywhere on the internet. Also, sites which shows live coverage suicide and gives easy access to porn sites promotes unethical and moral less people. Games on computer are highly becoming the source of mass destructions for the adolescent and children. They enjoy playing such games which indirectly teaching them violence and feeding in their mind that how to win over anything by killing or destroying everything. Unless, they win and excels in it, they keep on playing with high concentrations.

Period of adolescence Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Period of adolescence - Assignment Example Adolescents via social interaction become great communicators, however they may experience issues completely grasping grown-up interchanges in light of the fact that the social (and sociocultural) universe of a pre-adult is still altogether different from that of a grown-up in our general public. We as grown-ups must fare thee well to be particular and demonstrate what we mean when we correspond with young people, making a point to pick our words such that they fit into a connection that is compelling to the pre-adult (Karpov, 2005). Vygostsky and Neo-Vygotsky contend that adolescence stage is described by time of numerous conceivable outcomes in that they have a conviction that they have great open doors to live great lives than their guardians did. Moreover, rising grown-ups have a solid feeling of character toward oneself in that they have to build adoring and private associations with those individuals around them. Further, accomplishment in their professions prompts feeling of any expectation of brilliant future while disappointment is connected with confinement and forlornness (Karpov, 2005). The relationship between an associates and tyke is fundamental throughout this period on the grounds that as a distinct movements from the part of subordinate to expect the part of a grown-up, the motion of the family changes. Consequently, folks ought to acknowledge the status of their youngster as a grown-up. An alternate imperative characteristic of this period is that junior grown-ups regularly create the inclination of definition toward oneself and lost-personality (Karpov, 2005). Vygotsky demands we think about the sociocultural connection of taking in and natures turf outside of school, the framework around the immature as he or she experiences cognitive improvement. In the event that a secondary school scholar hails from a

MySpace is not a Controversy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

MySpace is not a Controversy - Essay Example This paper summarizes and analysis an article on My Space controversy by Bill Hewitt and highlight the points and reasons of disagreement. MySpace is an online recreational area for kids and at the same time it draws the attention of perverts and creeps (Hewitt).I disagree with the way Hewitt positions this article to prove MySpace as a controversy right from its title and description. Primarily aimed at building a community of young people looking for new friends, sharing music and their experiences, the website attracts and teenagers on a large scale. These attractions make it one of the biggest web players with 20 percent of young visitors between the ages of 14-17(Hewitt). With such level of popularity and its widespread use among young adults and kids throughout the world, criminal use of such a convenient source right from their bedrooms is not unlikely. The fact is disturbing; however, it does not make â€Å"MySpace Nation† as Hewitt calls MySpace users, a controversy. I disagree with his term MySpace Nation at the first place, and secondly attributing them as a controversy. If we go by Hewitt understanding, we must attribute those schools and all their students as controversy whose students are found guilty of rape or violence. Criminal acts like murder and rape are also associated with the teens using MySpace that has become preferable location for cyber-bullies and pedophiles (Hewitt).I completely disagree with Hewitt when he attributes criminal acts like murder and rape with the use of MySpace. It is not more than an exaggerated accusation without supporting evidence. By doing so, Hewitt may also refer Harvard as a terrorist institution just because people who studied there were found involved in some terrorist activity. Hewitt does not clarify that how using MySpace is linked with 2 or 3 out of their million users being murderer or rapists. The picture Hewitt portrays injects a fear in the mind of readers and they immediately feel threatened by online safety of their kids using MySpace specifically. Hewitt describes parents’ experience who felt blown away by MySpace use as personal diaries. However, I completely disagree with the idea of comparing MySpace with personal diaries. The main idea of MySpace is networking with friends and keeping the sense of community alive. For the safety part, kids can always personalize their space and select their friends. Parents can keep check on their kids’ friends and activities online to some extent as well. However, the idea of restricting MySpace use or limiting the time of using internet to 15 minutes seems completely impractical. MySpace membership is restricted to users who are 14 or above, however, younger children with email address can easily access and get exposed to objectionable content instantly (Hewitt). Though the claim is true, but I disagree on the grounds of attributing it only with MySpace. The fact is that it is same with all socializing networks on internet. None of the network uses proper identification of its members, targeting MySpace specifically seems strange. Random incidents of crime and predators targeting kids seem very threatening. However, Hewitt does not inspire authorities to make changes in the model of social networking sites. Rather than attacking MySpace, Hewitt should have suggested some built-in features or some membership requirements that can stop underage membership or even

Birth Rate Control Proposal Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Birth Rate Control Proposal - Research Paper Example Uncontrolled bearing of children has numerous ramifications to the society with the government bearing the heaviest burden. For instance, though the government has spent billions of dollars in poverty elevation and reduction programs, poverty is indeed worsening instead of reducing (Roy, 2013). The Welfare program that the government has been using in supporting the poor and the less fortunate in the society has been abused in that some people have been relying on the program to raise their families. For instance, in 1992 Clinton’s campaign was based on abolishing welfare in the US government and in making the program a second option and not a way of life for many (Roy, 2013). This was followed by the signing of the Welfare Reform bill of 1996 that required those in welfare program to seek jobs or lose their benefits (Roy, 2013). Since then, welfare has increased tremendously in the country with the 2013 study revealing that welfare remitted more than $10 per hour in 33 states , while in the other states, welfare remitted less than $8 per hour. In fact, today, welfare pays much better than the minimum wage in more than 35 states, in America. This suggests some people entitled to welfare benefits have a better life than those working in the field. Another disadvantage of welfare is that the benefits are tax free unlike salaries that are taxed. Therefore, welfare is a huge burden to the taxpayer in the US. On the same note, considering that poverty is on the increase rather than on the decrease; this suggests that even poor people depending on welfare are bearing more children to be supported by the government, a situation that needs to be controlled. Teens are also bearing children due to peer pressure and motivation from the media. For instance, research has revealed that the program Teen Mum aired on MTN has contributed in many teenagers bearing children with the number of birth rates among teens in US being the highest among developed nations, and twice the birth rate of teens in Canada (Chang & Hopper, 2011 & Karen et al (316). There is a need to demulsify the myths held by teens and which are contributing to the high birth rate in   discouraging teens from having children at an early age, and before they have stabilized financially. Another factor that leads to social problems is bearing of children among people who are not mentally fit to bear and bring up children; children from such mothers lack proper care as they grow up (Kauffman, 315). On the other hand, adopting children in the US is an extremely tedious and expensive process that discourages many prospective parents from adopting children (Gilman and Fleivalds, par 5). The result is that there are many children who are suffering psychologically due to lack of a  decent family, a situation that can only be solved by controlling birth rates. This will help in  ensuring  fewer children are born in families with the right capacity to look after them with the right c are and concern. This proposal aims at recommending a program that may limit birth rates in the society

Freemasonry and the Eternal East Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Freemasonry and the Eternal East - Essay Example What then are these symbols These are the symbols of the Fraternity which reveal the inner most spiritualities of life. In the true tradition of how Masonic idealism, along with the profounder aspects of the notions of a Fraternity this essay will discuss the journey of the Freemason to find reality,to find God as Manly P. states "Infinity mocks our puny efforts to imprison it in definition and dogma. Our most splendid realizations are only adumbrations of the Light. In his endeavours, man is but a mollusc seeking to encompass the ocean. Yet man may not cease his struggle to find God. There is a yearning in his soul that will not let him rest, an urge that compels him to attempt the impossible, to attain the unattainable." Manly .P goes on to state the relationship of the freemason with his soul which is heaven bound and takes the freemason to a new realm of peace and happiness. For him a mason is a true mason due to his true, pure and well prepared heart which makes room for the fraternity of builders. Once he is ready he will begin his journey to the East to search for what is lost-what he is meant to find. The eternal paradox is that freemasonry is not a philosophy of life after death.It is a philosophy of spiritual growth and spiritual healing.It is the paradox of this philosophy is that you can walk for miles and miles and wind up finding happiness at your own door. Many writers refer to freemasonry " spiritual ethics" of mankind and thus it is more than a religion.(Manly P.)As the Mason graduates from an average to a Master Mason this coming of age and blossoming from a student to a teacher as assumes the position of a "the sun (as a ) a great reflector of light, who radiates through his organism, purified by ages of preparation, the glorious power which is the light of the Lodge"(Manly P)The Master Mason has the great snake Hydra, passing through it and this will illuminate him with the rising sun towards the "immortal" East which is his end and beginning . At this end the True Master seeks many beginnings and many ends to fraternity's as his students now make his own journeys and embark upon new destinations of the self. At this moment of loneliness the Master Mason is in the moments of the finding of himself as Manly P. notes "The temple is finished and in my faithful Master is found the missing stone." This is a moment of transformation. A kind of a spiritual death and rebirth when mind and the heart of the Master Mason who has come so far will be in perfect harmony as he looks towards the eternal East the wisdom and light of which he has sought through out this journey. Freemasonry points towards the soul of the man reaching its highest understanding, the coherence and wholesomeness that comes forth from an eternal centre, and comes full circle in his search for the beauty of completeness, inner peace and in essence God. But then we come to the final query.Is this a philosophy of a life after deathWhat and where does death stand here.If we speak of death as the transformation and the journey of the Freemason during his walk to the

Business Law Essay Example for Free

Business Law Essay Under the law governing offer and acceptance, a valid offer has been made through an advertisement. In order for an offer to be accepted, the party must entirely accept the offer. The rules governing acceptance has to be positive not passive. Silence does not forms acceptance. The general rule of acceptance is that the acceptance must be received by the offeror, otherwise it has no effect. An offer made to a particular person can be rightfully accepted by him alone and in order to avoid complications, acceptance is to be in writing received by the offeror or if it is orally, it must be heard by the offereor. In applying the law to the facts of the case before us, Wayne has made a valid offer to sell his house for $2 million dollars. In this case, Wayne is the offeror and Scott, Kyle and Magdelene are the offeree. Scott offers to buy the house for $1. 8 million dollars and Wayne said nothing. In this case, Scott has now become the offeror and Wayne is the offeree as a counter offer has been made. Looking at the principles of acceptance, an acceptance made must be positive not passive. Wayne said nothing about the offer therefore there was no communication between them of any sort of acceptance. This would highlight that the fact that silence does not form acceptance as per case of Felthouse v Bindly (1862) The offeror cannot impose acceptance just because the offeree does not reject the offer. Therefore, Scott wanting to take legal action towards Wayne is not valid as there was no form of acceptance in either form of writing or orally. When Kyle came to view the property, he agrees to Wayne’s offer of $2 million dollars but â€Å"subject to contract†. Wayne agreed. The definition of subject to contract is that both parties are agreeable to the terms of the offer but propose that they negotiate a formal contract on the basis of the offer. Referring to the case of Yap Eng Thong v Faber Union, the court found the agreement to sell a house â€Å"subject to contract† was not binding. Hence, Kyle wanting to take legal action towards Wayne will not be valid as â€Å"subject to contract† does not bind anyone to the contract before signature. In this case, Wayne revoked his offer to Scott and Kyle by selling the house to Magdalene. An offer can be dismissed at any point of time before acceptance s made. In the case of Routledge v Grant (1828), there was offer made to buy the house and acceptance must be made by the offeree in 6 weeks time. In less than 6 weeks, offeror chooses to withdrew his offer, in which he had a right to do so. Furthermore, the revocation is valid as it is communicated to Scott and Kyle since they have heard of it. The notice of revocation does not necessarily come from Wayne himself. In conclusion to the case study, both Scott and Kyle cannot bring Wayne to legal action as the offer was revoked before their acceptance was made. Revocation was made being communicated and need not come from the offeror himself. Which links to the next point of acceptance must be positive and not passive. Silence does not make up acceptance. Hence, Scott wanting to take legal action against Wayne is not valid. As for Kyle, Wayne has the right to sell his property to anyone as long as a formal contract is not signed by any party. Kyle cannot take legal action against Wayne as â€Å"subject to contract† does not guarantee acceptance and either party can withdraw before signing .

How Reference Groups Exert Influence on Consumer Behavior Essay Example for Free

How Reference Groups Exert Influence on Consumer Behavior Essay Component Attitude Model An attitude is the psychological response to a person, an object, to a situation, to society and to life itself that generally influence our behaviors and actions. Attitudes are either positive or negative. However our attitudes are not always dictated by our values and beliefs. Other factors in a given situation may influence our behavior. We can also have different attitudes towards the same thing depending on whom we are dealing with, the actual context of an exchange or an event or occurrence. Three major components of attitude are : 1) Affective: emotions or feelings. (2) Cognitive: belief or opinions held consciously. (3) Conative: inclination for action. Cognitive Component The cognitive component refers to the knowledge, beliefs, and opinions the person has about the Nike product. The cognitive component is the individual’s information and knowledge about an object or concept. A person’s cognition is the knowledge and perceptions that are acquired by a combination of direct experience with the attitude-object and related information from various sources. This knowledge and resulting perceptions commonly take the form of beliefs; that is, the consumer believes that the attitude-object possesses various attributes and that specific behaviors will lead to specific outcomes. Beliefs are the cognitive component of consumer attitude. Positive brand associations enhance brand equity and are achieved through a number of positioning strategies. The beliefs about an object tend to control the change that may take place in an attitude. Affective Component The affect component of an attitude reflects feelings (â€Å"affect† is the technical term for positive or negative feelings), evaluation, or emotions regarding the attitude object. Affect refers to the way a consumer feels about an attitude object. It relates to the emotional content and arouses either likes or dislikes of a particular object. A consumer’s emotions or feelings about a particular product or brand constitute the affective component of an attitude. Conative Component The conative component reflects behavioral tendencies toward the attitude object. Conation refers to the act of attempting something. Conation is concerned with the likelihood or tendency that an individual will undertake a specific action or behave in a particular way with regard to the attitude-object. This conative component of attitude may include the actual behavior itself. In marketing and consumer research, the conative component is frequently treated as an expression of the consumer’s intention to buy. Buyer intention scales are employed to assess the likelihood of a consumer purchasing a product or behaving in a certain way. Examples of Intention-to-Buy Scales: I definitely will go I probably will go Behavior involves the person’s intentions to do something with regard to an attitude object. The behavioral component of an attitude is one’s tendency to respond in a certain manner toward an object or activity. Consumers are asked to make a subjective judgment on the likelihood of buying a product or brand or taking a specific action in the future.

Foundation Stage Curriculum in Design and Technology

Foundation Stage Curriculum in Design and Technology Introduction The following study is designed to be a very brief introduction to one distinct area of the Foundation Stage Curriculum. It would be impossible to fully discuss all the issues which have been raised by my study, nonetheless, it will attempt to provide a succinct introduction to each of the main points. Rationale I have chosen to research the Designing and Making aspect of Knowledge and Understanding of the World from the Foundation Stage Curriculum (DFES 2000, 91). I have chosen this particular area of Learning because I feel that I have had limited experience of teaching Design and Technology at any point in the Primary age range, and as such wish to develop extend and develop my understanding through further research. The Foundation Stage Curriculum could be considered to be the basis for all other learning throughout a child’s life, and as such a thorough grounding in teaching and learning Knowledge and Understanding of the World, should provide a sound basis for teaching Design and Technology in other phases of the Primary school, as this quote demonstrates: ‘In this area of learning, children are developing the crucial knowledge,  skills and understanding that help them to make sense of the world. This  forms the foundation for later work in science, design and technology,  history, geography, and information and communication technology  (ICT).’ (DFES 2000, 82) In addition to the reason given above, I am also unsure how to best support a child as they develop designing and making skills at such a young age, with regard to providing them with a wide range of opportunities, yet taking health and safety into consideration. ‘Understanding design work will come from using a variety of joining methods and materials,’ (DFES 2000, 82), yet how should these methods be taught to best effect? It is also difficult to know which specific designing and making skills will be useful to the child, and what range of skills should be taught to the child. Should each child be taught a range of skills which are specific to them? My final reason for choosing to study this particular aspect of the Foundation Stage Curriculum has been derived from looking at the Ofsted Subject Reports for 1999-2000 (Ofsted 2000). ‘In one quarter of schools standards and the quality of DT have risen markedly since the previous inspection, but in one school in six DT provisions have deteriorated,’ (Ofsted 2000, 1), this shows that although the provision of design and technology has improved in a quarter of our primary schools, it has either stayed the same, or deteriorated badly in three quarters of primary settings. This would seem to support the assertion that the provision of good quality design and technology teaching and learning, should be of paramount importance to out schools, starting with facilitating children as they access the Knowledge and Understanding of the World portion of the Foundation Stage Curriculum. A solid base on which to build, as discussed above, should ensure that children are better place d to access the design and technology curriculum as they progress through school. Evidence The following is a summary of the evidence collected concerning the teaching of designing and making skills in the Foundation stage settings of two different Primary schools. The schools will henceforth be referred to as School A and School B. School A is a large Primary school with an integrated Foundation Unit. The majority of the staff in the Foundation Unit are ‘High/Scope’ trained and as such the setting follows the High/Scope daily routine, as outlined by Hohmann and Weikart (2002, 151-165). ‘In the High/Scope approach to early childhood education, adults and  children share control. We recognize that the power to learn resides  in the child, hence the focus on active learning practices. When we  accept that learning comes from within, we achieve a critical balance  in educating young children. The adult’s role is to support and guide  young children through their active learning adventures and  experiences. I believe this is what makes our program work so well.’ (Hohmann and Weikart 2002, 3) The above quote neatly summarises the main reasons which prompt different settings to adopt a High/Scope or ‘active learning,’ approach to the Foundation Stage Curriculum, the main idea being that children learn best from first hand experiences and from self-generated learning opportunities. This idea is further supported by the Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage, for instance, ‘they learn effectively by doing,’ (DFES 2000, 82). I observed a plan-do-review session, as part of the daily routine at School A. During such sessions the children choose where they wish to work, for example in the water area, and formulate a plan which they will execute once they start work in their chosen area. Following the main, ‘doing,’ part of the session the children are encouraged to ‘review,’ what they have done and comment on the relative success or failure of the plan. In this way the children are encouraged to learn from their mistakes, and also to gain encouragement from their successes, (Hohmann and Weikart 2002, 167-243). I observed one child during the aforementioned session, Child A, and followed her through the entire process. She had planned to work in the construction area with the large bricks, and had decided to build a boat. Before beginning work she collected a piece of paper and a pencil and sat down to plan her boat. Child A worked for some time on this design before starting work. She used the large bricks to build her boat and then started to collect other equipment from around the setting to place ‘onboard,’ including large quantities of plastic food from the role play area. When asked about this Child A explained that she was going on a long journey and needed to take lots of food with her. During review time Child A explained to the rest of her group and the adults who were present, that she felt she had successfully carried out her plan, however, she would have preferred to build a boat that would float. The class teacher explained to her that this might be possible in th e following plan-do-review session. Indeed for the following session, the teacher collected lots of materials, such as plastic bottles and corks to give Child A the scope to build her own floating boat: ‘When adults seek out and support children’s interests, children are free  to follow through on interests and activities they are already highly  motivated to pursue. They are also willing to try new things and to  build on what they are already doing.’ (Hohmann and Weikart 2002, 55) The evidence outlined above shows a good example of how children can be supported in developing their own designing and making skills, and indeed can be highly motivated to do so. Child A was given the opportunity to meet an early learning goal through the medium of play: ‘Provide opportunities for children to practise their skills, initiate and  plan simple projects and select, choose and devise their own solutions  in design and making processes†¦.’ (DFES 2000, 91) In School B, I was able to observe the teaching of designing and making skills in a completely different way to that outlined above. I observed a Reception teacher leading a planned lesson in which the aim was for each child to produce a money box. The children were taken in small groups to sit with a classroom assistant to make their money boxes, while the rest of the children played. The children were asked to assemble the net of a box, which had already been cut out for them, by gluing the flaps and sticking them together. They were then permitted to decorate their boxes as they chose. It was difficult to assess whether any true learning had taken place during the lesson as the children were all producing exactly the same piece of work, and in many cases much of the actual assembly work was carried out by the teaching assistant. School B does not appear to have embraced the key features of the Foundation Stage Curriculum as outlined by Tassoni (2002, 1) in Appendix I, as such the children are unlikely to meet the Early learning goals for designing and making skills, one of which is detailed above (DFES 2000, 91). They would benefit from developing a child initiated approach to teaching design and technology in the early years, as advocated by the High/Scope approach (Hohmann and Weikart 2002) and the Foundation Stage Curriculum (DFES 2000). It is obvious from the evidence given that no real learning took place in the design and technology lesson which was observed in School B. Such a directed activity can leave no room for the child’s initiative and the development of their individual designing and making skills. Conclusion In conclusion, the evidence outlined above has led me to conclude that designing and making skills can be best taught through child initiated learning. The adult can support the child’s learning by providing further opportunities and materials once they have highlighted the child’s own interests. A directed approach to teaching design and technology in the Early Years does not follow the guidance given in the Foundation Stage Curriculum (DFES 2000), and as such should have no place in our schools as it does nothing to further the children’s learning. I now feel more confident that I would know how to approach the teaching of designing and making skills if placed in a Foundation Stage setting. Appendix I ‘Key Features of the Foundation Stage: Recognition that young children need to learn through practical experiences rather than being taught. Play is emphasised as the vehicle of learning for children. The importance of working from children’s interests and needs is highlighted. It is the first curriculum in England to cross the divide between pre-schools and schools. Personal, social and emotional development of children is recognised as providing the backdrop for other learning. The role of parents is promoted as that of being an equal partner.’ (Tassoni 2002, 1) Bibliography DFES (2000) Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage London: Department for Education and Skills. Hohmann, Mary and Weikart, David P. (2002) Educating Young Children London: High/Scope Educational Research Foundation Ofsted (2000) Ofsted Subject Reports, 1999-2000: Primary Design and Technology (DT) London:Ofsted Tassoni, Penny (2002) Planning for the Foundation Stage: Ideas for themes and activities Oxford: Heinemann Educational Publishers

Good Man :: essays research papers

A "Good" Man Is Hard To Find A "Goodman" Is Hard To Find I had never really analyzed any work of literature before this class. I read books and stories for fun but never to analyze them. I now understand that in any piece of literature there is always a background or hidden agenda that the author wants the reader to get from the reading. In this paper I am going to analyze Nathaniel's Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown" to find the meaning. In "Young Goodman Brown" the protagonist experiences redemption, and through this redemption comes to an uncertain truth about himself and his life. This uncertain truth lies within his "faith" in himself, his community, and his wife. Young Goodman Brown is initially characterized in the story as a good Puritan who is devoted to his wife, the community, and the Christian way of life. His wife, Faith, symbolizes his faith in himself, the community, and "Faith" herself. Goodman Brown is struggling with temptation, the devil, and t he ways of the Christian faith. He doesn't feel that he can face this struggle. He has a low level of confidence in himself, as did the author, Hawthorne himself. Hawthorne wrote this story during a time when he himself was growing up doubting the Puritan faith. This story takes place at least a generation after the Salem Witch Trials. Both Brown and Hawthorne exhibit doubt in themselves as well as their Roland 2 ancestors. Goodman Brown is also struggling with his past. He must take a journey into the forest, which represents temptation and evil, but can also represent good. Salem can be described as a good place as well as an evil place. Several events take place during Brown's journey. On his way into the forest, Brown meets his "fellow traveler", who is easily recognized as the devil. The devil tries to get Brown to crossover from the Christian way of life to sin by offering his serpentine staff. He makes several advances, but Brown continually refuses. The devil tells Brown that his family has had dealings with him in the past (269). This makes Brown even more aware of his faith. He wants to remain a good man no matter what his ancestors were accused of, which was witchcraft and deviltry. Going on about his trip, Brown passes many of his mentors including Goody Cloyse and Deacon Gookin.

An Evaluation of the Work of Jan Svankmajer :: essays research papers

An Evaluation of the Work of Jan Svankmajer Jan Svankmajer is an animator like no other that I know of. Surrealist in style, his artistic work encompasses a broad range of mediums- film, sculpture, painting, graphic design, prose and poetry. His filmic work often involves a combination of animation, puppetry and live action- a challenging style for any filmmaker to use effectively. Svankmajer films are by trademark dark and macabre tales, told not for the sake of aesthetic or technique, but always to serve a very personal purpose, which I will talk about shortly. In this essay, I will deal mainly with the work that Svankmajer created as an animator. To put it in context, however, I will first give a rough overview of his background and the work for which he is best known. Svankmajer was born in Czechoslovakia in 1934. His parents were both artistically inclined; his father was a window dresser while his mother was a dressmaker. After studying puppet theatre for four years in Prague, Svankmajer began his career as a director, designer and puppeteer at the State Puppet Theatre in Liberec. During the Early 1960s he collaborated with several different theatre companies in Prague to stage a variety of plays. In 1964 his interests turned to filmmaking. In this medium he felt that more would be possible technically, and that his work would reach a wider audience. After creating various award-winning short films like The Last Trick, his work underwent a decisive transition from Mannerism to Surrealism in 1968. As a surrealist Svankmajer would create many highly acclaimed films involving animation and live action. Svankmajer’s work became surrounded by political controversy with the making of the film Antonio’s Diary (1972). The film was not intended to have political meaning, but the Czech authorities banned him from making films for seven years simply because it contained unauthorised footage depicting everyday Czech life. Dimensions of Dialogue (1982) became his best-known short, and won several international awards. Like Antonio’s Diary, however, it was banned in Czechoslovakia, and was also shown to the ideology commission of the Central Committee of the Czechoslovak Communist Party as an example of the kind of film that should not be made. Alice (1985-87), based on the book by Lewis Carol, was Svankmajer’s first feature film, and his first to reach an American audience. Since then he has made two more feature-length films: Faust (1993) and Conspirators of Pleasure (1996).

Serious Errors within Rene Descartes’ Meditations on First Philosophy :: Philosophy Religion Essays

Serious Errors within Rene Descartes’ Meditations on First Philosophy One of Rene Descartes’ major culminations in Meditations on First Philosophy is â€Å"I must finally conclude that this proposition, I am, I exist, is necessarily true whenever it is put forward by me or conceived in my mind† (Descartes:17). This statement can be explicated by examining Descartes’ Cartesian method of doubt and his subsequent discovery of basic truths. Even though I do believe that Descartes concludes with a statement that is accurate: cogito ergo sum, there are areas of his proof that are susceptible to defamation. These objections discover serious error with Descartes’ method used in determining the aforementioned conclusion. In the first meditation, Descartes makes a conscious decision to search for â€Å"in each of them [his opinions] at least some reason for doubt†(12). Descartes rejects anything and everything that can be doubted and quests for something that is undeniably certain. The foundation of his doubt is that his opinions are largely established by his senses, yet â€Å"from time to time I [Descartes] have found that the senses deceive, and it is prudent never to trust completely those who have deceived us even once†(12). First, Descartes establishes that error is possible, employing the example of the straight stick that appears bent when partially submerged in water, as mentioned in the Sixth Replies (64-65). Secondly, he proves that at any given time he could be deceived, such is the case with realistic dreams. Further, Descartes is able to doubt absolutely everything since it cannot be ruled out that â€Å"some malicious demon †¦ has employed all his energies in or der to deceive me† (15). The malicious demon not only causes Descartes to doubt God, but also sends him â€Å"unexpectedly into a deep whirlpool which tumbles me around so that I can neither stand on the bottom or swim on the top†(16). Descartes has reached the point where he must begin to rebuild by searching for certainty. In the second meditation, Descartes is searching for an Archimedian point on which to seed a pearl of certainty. By doubting everything in his first meditation, Descartes consequently doubts his own existence. It is here that a certainty is unearthed: â€Å"If I convinced myself of something then I certainly existed†(17). However, Descartes â€Å"does not deduce existence from thought by means of syllogism, but recognizes it as something self-evident by a simple intuition of the mind,† or in other words, by natural light (Second Replies:68).

Personal Leadership

There are as many leadership philosophies as people and rightly so. Each person is unique in their own ways with specific personality traits and aptitudes which make them who they are. While some people are more naturally inclined towards leadership than others, the majority of leaders are developed through the continued honing of their leadership skills. Along their leadership Journeys people acquire various skills and paradigms allowing them to extend and apply themselves beyond their own natural abilities.While people cannot change their genetic makeup, they an take specific action and make certain decisions to help them be an effective leader. In this paper I will discuss three leadership concepts (personal integrity, transforming leadership, and encouraging and enabling others) which convey my leadership philosophy. Finally, I will illustrate how the adaptation of these three concepts would help a person lead their organization more effectively. PERSONAL INTEGRITY There are many leaders and managers in our world who are given titles, yet fail to lead, guide, or unite their constituents because they fail to model their expectations.In The Leadership Challenge, Kouzes and Posner (2002) begin a discussion of modeling by saying â€Å"Titles are granted, but it's your behavior that wins you respect† (p. 14). While salaries and titles may have some personal value toa leader, they mean little to their subordinates and may even be a target for criticism for some if a leader lacks integrity. As a leader, it is critical to model the way and move forth with servant leadership. Servant leadership is different from the traditional power- based leadership in many ways.Robert Greenleaf (2005) defines and identifies the oals of servant leadership by saying this: â€Å"The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant-first to make sure that other people's highest priority needs are being served. The best test, and difficult to administer, is: Do tho se served grow as persons? Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants? And, what is the effect on the least privileged in society?Will they benefit or at least not be further deprived? † (p. 25) The focus of servant leaders is on the raising up and growth of constituents through modeling. Rather than assigning a task and expected a result, servant leaders will come alongside constituents teaching them the way to accomplish the task and at the same time instilling the values of servanthood and modeling in them. effective leadership and greater rapport amongst constituents. Yukl (2006, p. 210) writes that â€Å"Integrity is a primary determinant of interpersonal trust.Unless one is perceived to be trustworthy, it is difficult to retain the loyalty of the followers or to obtain cooperation and support from peers and superiors. † Without the support and eamwork of constituents, a leader will fail t o meet the set goals. The Center for Creative Leadership found that the absence of integrity directly correlated with the failure of leaders and vice versa (p. 211). For a leader to develop integrity amongst their constituents, they must be deemed honest, trustworthy, loyal, and uphold confidentiality.The development of a leader's integrity requires time, energy, and patience invested in their workers through modeling and servant leadership. John J. Gardiner summarizes this competently in saying â€Å"integrity comes from sublimating our egos nd giving ourselves entirely to life† (Spears, 1998, p. 1 19). TRANSFORMING LEADERSHIP Many different paradigms of leadership exist and are useful tools for leading groups of people to success, but transforming leadership offers an excellent overarching view and structure for leaders to use when working with people of different values and persuasions.James MacGregor Burns says the transforming leader â€Å"looks for potential motives in the followers, seeks to satisfy higher needs, and engages the full person of the follower,' which results in ‘a relationship of mutual stimulation and levation' for both leader and follower† (Carey, 2008, p. 7). By having insights into the constituents' attitude towards the organization, the transforming leader can develop personalized strategies to help workers move closer accomplishing both the goals of the organizations and their personal aspirations.In the second module, the five frames of reference were described illustrating the disruption causes by self-embeddedeness. Being stuck in a single frame of reference can become a problem for a worker when required to work with those stuck in other frames of reference. When the partial truths contained in one of the individual the frames are confused with the whole Truth, then whatever value there is in the frame's outlook becomes distorted† Carey, 2008, p. 2). When a leader operates solely within a single frame of reference, their distortions impact the goals and workers of the organization.Transforming leaders move from their original frame of reference towards a â€Å"fundamental option for self-transcendence† which â€Å"pulls the individual toward the logos and, therefore, in the direction of either transactional or transforming leadership† (Carey, 2008, p. ). While transactional leadership is sometimes necessary to accomplish intermediate goals and simple tasks, the conversion of workers to leaders through transforming leadership will be more likely to accomplish long-term success for both the organization and its constituents.I have never encountered a person who has claimed they have received too much encouragement. I have also never met anyone that has single-handedly made their organization successful. In other words, leaders need to be surrounded with people united in purpose for their organization to be successful. One of the best ways to align constituents with your vision and goals is through forming relationships through encouragement. â€Å"Giving encouragement requires us to get close to people and show that we care†¦ t's more likely to accomplish something other forms (of feedback) cannot: strengthening trust between leaders and constituents† (Kouzes and Posner, 2002, p. 321). Futhermore, Freire (2000) describes the benefits of an encouraged and enabled group of workers when he writes: â€Å"This adherence coincides with the trust the people begin to place in themselves nd in the revolutionary leaders, as the former perceive the dedication and authenticity of the later.The trust of the people in the leaders reflects the confidence of the leaders in the people. † ( p. 150) Encouraging and enabling constituents is ongoing task that requires a continual commitment of transforming leaders. However, the satisfaction and success that comes with leading an encouraged team of workers enabled to do their Job well is unparallel a nd critical to the overall success of organizations.†Leadership is not an affair of the head. Leadership is an affair of the heart† (Kouzes and Posner, 2002, p. 99) It is with those words that The Leadership Challenge concludes and we are reminded that transforming leadership all begins with the heart and integrity of the leader. However, character and integrity are not enough as transforming leaders are required to not only understand various frames of reference, but also pull constituents towards the logos enabling them to operate outside their natural frame of references and in the process become transforming leaders themselves.When leading with integrity, a transforming leader who encourages and enables positions themselves, their constituents, and their organization for success.

Should Teens Be Tried as Adults

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A Review of Things Fall Apart

Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, is the story of tribal Africa both before and during the colonial period.The story follows the main character, Okonkwo, through his life as a highly respected man in his tribe, an accident that forced him away, his anger at the white man moving in and changing things, and his untimely death at his own hand. Things Fall Apart is a moving tale that speaks of the normalcy of tribal life before the arrival of the white man, and the falling apart of society as it was known due to the introduction of Christianity and the white man’s law.Chinua Achebe’s purpose in writing this story was to present the colonial period in Africa through the eyes of the people it really affected. Achebe uses the first and second portions of his novel to explain what everyday life was like in a fictional section of Africa before the white man came (Achebe, 1959).Through his writing, the reader learns much about the way these people lived. Every part of their so ciety, from cooking to house building to tribal ranks, is covered in detail, but it is told through the eyes of people who would have really lived that way.Achebe seems to wish for his readers to see that there was more to African tribes than what little was told about them in history books. He pulls the reader in and makes them a part of the tribe by explaining everything in minute detail. It almost feels as if one is in the camps as they read.The controversy that Achebe focuses on is the ruin of tribal society by the arrival of the white man, the Christian religion, and the white man’s law. The tribes had their own ways of dealing with problems and the breaking of their laws, but the white men moved in and changed all of that. They built courts and prisons so they could carry out their own kind of justice (Achebe, 1959).The tribal religions were ancient, but Christianity was introduced and made many villagers turn away from the gods that their families had followed for life times (Achebe 1959). Achebe’s opinion of these actions appears to be less than accommodating.From the way that he writes, it seems that he sympathized greatly with the people who were undergoing such change. One gets the impression that Achebe believes that the tribes would have been better off left alone. His presentation of the information is split into three sections, and each section deals with a different part of the main character, Okonkwo, life falling apart.The first section is a description of his happy life in his tribe, the second part deals with his banishment to his mother’s family land, and the third deals with his encounters with the white man and his desperate bids to change things back to the way they were (Achebe, 1959).It is made very clear that things have been so changed that they will never be â€Å"normal† again, and that seems to be the reason for the three point process. Life changes before the reader’s eyes, just as it changes be fore the characters eyes.   In this way the reader feels the loss of the tightly woven society bit by bit, and that seems to be what Achebe hopes to accomplish.Things Fall Apart is a fictional work, and so it does not have a basis in outside printed sources, or at least none that Achebe lists. This book is based on a reality that has been passed down for generations, and no doubt Achebe used some old stories and songs to base his story upon. However, the purpose of this book is not to focus on any one area. Instead, it is meant to represent all of Africa and all of what was lost during colonization.Narrowing the scope to a place and people that existed in reality would lessen the scope of the book. Perhaps that is why Achebe did not choose to use printed sources as his guide. Melding the bits of knowledge that he had about the whole colonization process into one book gives the reader pieces of every tribe, not just one in particular.Things Fall Apart has many chapters, but three m ajor sections. The first section tells the reader all about everyday life in the tribes. The reader learns how important it is to be seen as â€Å"manly,† and how necessary it is to stay in the good graces of the gods (Achebe, 1959). Also covered in this section are descriptions of the diet of the tribe, the clothing they wore, and the buildings in which they lived (Achebe, 1959).Tribal lore is also introduced, such as the thought that twin babies were evil and must be left to die, and the idea of the obanje child, an infant born again and again to the same woman, only to die at a young age every time (Achebe,, 1959). The reader also learns of the tribal forms of punishment, particularly the rule that accidental murders lead to a banishment of seven years to the motherland of the convicted (Achebe, 1959).This rule is particularly important to the rest of the story, because it is the first step in the downfall of Okonkwo. Achebe’s argument in this portion of the story s eems to be that although tribal life could be hard and cruel to outside eyes, it was nearly perfect for the people who lived it.Everyone in the villages knew their place and their contribution to the tribe as a whole, and as long as everyone did their part and kept to the rules that had been in effect for hundreds of years, life ran smoothly.Achebe paints a picture of a society that might not make a lot of sense to outsiders, but worked out just fine for the people within it. The underlying argument is, â€Å"Why force change on something that works?†

Case study on Online grocery stores in India Essay

This case study involves three retailers that engaged in alternative approaches to eGrocer strategy formulation. The primary goals were to assess the relationship between a company’s business model(s) and its performance in the online grocery channel and to determine if there were other company and/or market related factors that could account for company performance. The first company is BigBasket currently present in Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore. The other one is Aaramshop which is a website that operates in National Capital Region of India and offers FMCG and CPG goods and the last one is Salt n Soap, Online Grocery Store in Kolkata operating out of Kolkata. First, we seek to achieve insight into how uptake of Internet-based eGrocer relates to management orientation and find relationships between the uptake of Internet-based eGrocer and entrepreneurial orientation, competitive intensity, and IT maturity. BIGBASKET see more:old age homes article Overview: BigBasket.com is India’s largest online food and grocery store. It has over 10,000 products ranging from fresh Fruits and Vegetables, Staples, Spices and Seasonings to FMCG branded products, Beverages, Personal care products, Meats and much more. The order is delivered right to the customer’s doorstep, anywhere in Bangalore, Mumbai & Hyderabad. Within a year, the company is planning to start services in Delhi and Chennai as well. Subsequently, it also plans to cater to Pune, Ahmedabad and Kolkata. The customer can schedule their delivery date and time (4 delivery slots per day). Payment options include cash on delivery, credit and debit cards or food coupons. The Company is co-founded by V.S.Sudhakar (Director), HariMenon (CEO and head merchandising), Vipul Parekh (head finance and marketing), Abhinay Choudhari (head customer service and business development) and V S Ramesh (Head logistics and Supply Chain). BigBasket’s Board of Directors include Meena and Ganesh K of Tutorvista. The average monthly order size stands at Rs 1,500. Since its inception, the company has seen demand grow 25-30 per cent on a month-on-month basis. Business Model: Once a customer registers on BigBasket.com he can browse the wide range of products, select the products he wants and place an order online. Internally the products are then picked, hygienically packed and delivered to the  customer in the time slot selected by the customer. BigBasket has tie-ups with manufacturers, wholesalers and importers and the merchandising teamwork on a combination of post order procurement and in house stocking. The service is unique as it lets customers shop for daily essentials from the comfort of their homes, saving them time, effort and money. The company provides high quality products at competitive prices along with an on time delivery guarantee. There are two operating models. It is called just-in-time model. This means that not just perishables but everything they bring against an order. So they consolidate orders for the day, go and buy the products and deliver. When they reach a particular volume, they move from the just-in-time mo del to what is called the warehouse stocking model. That is where they are as far as Bangalore is concerned. They buy products directly from the supplies, like Unilever and Procter & Gamble, they buy from farmers and mills and stock the products in the warehouse. They stock a certain number of days of sales, depending on the product and sales. They are able to set initial inventory levels and then decide what the re-ordering levels are. So it is all completely automated. Analysis: BigBasket’s business model relies on on-time delivery of goods, and in order to manage the operations smoothly and efficiently, it uses the hub-and-spoke mode of distribution. Here wholesalers deliver goods to BigBasket’s warehouses. Branded delivery vans then deliver these goods to the consumers. Perishables are only warehoused for a matter of hours, and in some cases it’s 24 hours from farm to fridge. It handles 1,500 plus orders a day in Bangalore and 700 plus orders a day in Mumbai and Hyderabad. The grocery store banks on technology-driven solutions to track everything from the time an order is placed to delivery. BigBasket uses AssetTrackr RestAPI interface to tightly integrate with the ERP system and handle all movement of trucks and delivery vehicles, notification to customers on estimated delivery times, etc. AssetTrackr’s real time location data helps achieve optimal vehicle utilization. AARAMSHOP Overview: AaramShop is a hybrid retail platform that enables sales and marketing of FMCG / CPG brands to â€Å"short on time – high on stress† consumers. It enables grocery shopping by leveraging the strengths of the  neighborhood retailers and integrates them with opportunities provided by the internet. AaramShop was founded by Vijay Singh, who, as an entrepreneur, has a deep focus and passion for brand marketing. Head-quartered in New Delhi, AaramShop is a small team of techies and marketers that have been operational since a little less than a year. Over 1900 retailers across 26 cities in India use AaramShop as their preferred commerce platform. Their tie-ups with retailers are based on mutual strengths. The retailer has a time-tested local presence, which includes an ability to deliver goods to the doorstep of the consumers in his catchment area. They intend to add to this strength with the increased accessibility of the shop on web and mobile devices. This is don e at no additional cost to the retailer. AaramShop currently lists over 12k SKUs. Only branded products are listed in AaramShop; commodities and private labels are excluded from their platform. The core idea of AaramShop is to enable independent retailers, who have a physical presence, to have a web-store, which allows them to connect better with modern consumers. Business Model: The business model of AaramShop is different from most e-commerce sites, as they do not believe that transaction based revenues is the way to go in the grocery category at the moment. AaramShop does not make revenues on taking part of the margins made by the grocers; rather, they have created a number of premium services that are offered to brands. These services are in various genres like, advertising options, on and off the platform, analytical led marketing and marketing at the retail point. The idea behind this unconventional and unique business model is that AaramShop does not disrupt the existing business practices and thereby ensures no escalation of costs. New Delhi-based AaramShop has partnered with retailers so that customers can shop at these local retailers online. Once logged in to the site, users can choose a local retailer and shop for groceries. AaramShop then sends the order to the retailer in real time. The groceries are delivered to the customerâ₠¬â„¢s doorstep and the customers pay for the goods upon delivery. They don’t keep any inventory and their partner retailers maintain their own inventories. There is no cost for the retailer to join AaramShop, they are basing their ability to get revenues by offering premium opt-in services offered to the brands. Analysis: The model does look scalable and rather interesting as compared to regular ecommerce shopping. There is no logistics cost that the startup incurs and it brings in the comfort of your local store as well. The only issue is predictability of order delivery as live inventory is not available online. The current format is more like providing one more interface to your regular grocery store, with the same issues and comforts. A more of ajax functionality would make the shopping process faster and avoid showing shopping bag page after every item is added. Unlike other online grocery delivery stores that become a threat to the small local businesses, AaramShop puts the ball back into the court of local businesses that had begun to feel underprivileged in this age of Internet. AaramShop has overcome three major hurdles of business. †¢It has convinced kiranawalas about the business model by putting them in touch with customers and being paid directly. †¢Secondly, it has convinced customers by eliminating the need for online payments. Furthermore, since customers can choose their own kiranawala, they can be assured of quality. †¢Thirdly, it has cut its own operational costs by eliminating the need to set up an inventory to stock goods or hire delivery boys. AaramShop is a great example of how you can optimize on the available resources to maximize your gains. AaramShop makes most of its money through ads of the numerous grocery brands it stocks on its portal. With a model like AaramShop, everybody is a winner – the suppliers, the consumers and the business itself! SALT N SOAP Overview: Salt n Soap, a BlueBeaks initiative, intends to provide its consumers a convenient, social, enjoyable and rewarding experience of shopping their daily grocery needs online from the comfort of their homes and offices. Started in November 2012, Salt n Soap (www.saltnsoap.com) is owned and operated by BlueBeaks Solutions LLP (www.bluebeaks.com). Though the services of booking daily grocery needs online and receiving timely delivery at the convenience of home or office are the basic foundations of Salt n Soap, Salt n Soap is more than just another online version of a hyper  mart, supermarket or a local kirana store. Salt n Soap intends to provide today’s busy urban consumers online tools for making their shopping experience social, enjoyable and rewarding. Salt n Soap enables this through the various social features of the website, engaging and interesting games and contests. Salt n Soap comes up with, and, last but not the least, the goldmine of information and analyt ics that facilitate a smarter buying decision. Apart from offering what conventional online grocery sites have to offer (i.e. online purchase, home delivery, discounted products, etc.), they have come up with quite a few innovative and engaging products and services that will catch attention of discerning customers. First, they are positioning online grocery services to â€Å"cash reach, time poor† segment of population, typically SEC A1 and A2 class of people, working couple with busy work schedule and very little time to do daily shopping chore. Hence, Salt n Soap position is more on â€Å"value† a customer derives by saving time rather than being just a â€Å"discount† shop. Business Model: Salt n Soap is a Kolkata-based outfit that has apparently pioneered the concept of â€Å"open analytics† in this space where customers can instantly summon a variety of data on a product like its market share, purchasing trends, and a comparison with what people in the same socio-economic class are buying. The site also lets you know when it thinks a particular product has run out, thanks to some nifty code, and pings you so you’re reminded to buy more of it. Consumers have access to a variety of data like market share of a product, purchase trend of a product, comparison of purchase trend with average pattern of people in the same SEC (Socio Economic Class). Consumers can maintain their budget for purchase and track their consumption compared to the budget. Salt n Soap also seem to have developed an algorithm that predicts (presumably reasonably accurately) the number of days of provision that a user has and thus prompting him/her when he should buy the same product again. Salt n Soap has integrated their product with social media to provide a social experience to their consumers. Consumers are also rewarded with redeemable points for sharing their shopping experience with their friends in social media. The website has been designed to enable users to shop through a â€Å"list† where he/she can select multiple products from one screen instead of having to navigate to multiple screens. Analysis: They seem to operate efficiently with very low capital investment. Plus they provide a lot of innovative value added features to consumers which are typically not available in a brick and mortar store. Some such features are a unique web front that allows customers to shop multiple products without having to navigate to many pages (remember, unlike some other products like books, apparels or jewelry, for groceries, customers buy many products at one time), providing personal shopping assistance, helping customers to plan and monitor their grocery budget and inventory, analytics on market share and sale trend of products, etc. Salt n Soap seemed to have understood that online shopping and especially grocery shopping is not about just providing a web front to the consumer allowing them to book an order and then delivering the goods to the consumer’s doorstep. They have introduced the concept of â€Å"Personal Shopping Assistance† where they promise to provide pe rsonalized assistance to consumers in buying through qualified professionals. Salt n Soap is constantly innovating on the features to ensure a more enriching and meaningful experience for its users. CHALLENGES OF ONLINE GROCERY BUSINESS Grocery is a pretty complex business from the back-end and supply chain perspective. The complexity is one of the biggest challenges. We deal with close to 8,000-10,000 SKUs. Order sizes are large. Typically at the beginning of the month you have 30-60 items in one order. That makes it very different from typical ecommerce businesses where you normally shift one or two products, it could be a camera or a mobile phone and so on. The back-end is complex because the supply chain is not yet efficient. You deal with a large number of vendors and suppliers and not all of them are organized. WHY ONLINE GROCERY RETAIL BURNS CASH †¢Lack of consistency in quality and fill rates †¢Delivery and inventory costs †¢Low repeat customer rates †¢Touch and feel nature of Indian shoppers †¢The supply chain in India is built to help kirana stores †¢Order value is  very low †¢Brands and distributors will not give long-term credit †¢Warehousing needs skill, technology is just a tool †¢Organized retail far from saturated Online grocery business in India: The grocery segment has one of the most predictable consumption patterns and buying these products online has a huge advantage. It follows that online groceries would be big business in India. The truth is no player has broken even and the market is littered with shutdowns across the country. It is estimated online groceries contribute less than one per cent of the total food and groceries market in India and an equally small percentage of the e-commerce market in India is dominated by travel, electronics and apparel. One of the biggest rivals of e-grocers is the local kirana store, which offers home delivery in many cities, often within an hour. But kirana shops lack the cost advantages to offer customers the best price, and cannot stock a wide range of products. CONCLUSION Online grocery has been a late entrant in e-commerce space in general (probably albeit due to early failure stories like Webvan), and in India, in particular. However, since 2011, quite a number of start-ups have launched online grocery stores all across India. They are generating reasonable amount of traffic and interest as well as good amount of venture capital funding. While no one doubts the eventual ascent of this segment, when that will happen and at what cost remain unanswered, primarily because of its single-digit margins, low order values and complex logistics, as well as the high cost of customer acquisition. So, few online groceries have been funded and fewer still will be able to get subsequent rounds of finance. The big difference is that there is a very large population on the Internet today. Today smart phones and smart devices allow customers to use the Internet on the go. More than half a dozen start-ups have launched online grocery stores in recent past. Working people, happy to have rice, sugar and even organic  pepper delivered to their doorstep, may wonder why no one thought of it sooner. There is, of course, room for growth. Within this category, the organised food and grocery market, is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 30 per cent in the next five years. Truly online grocery seems to have come to a different age from the time when the colossal failure of Webvan started by George Sheen hit the headlines in 2000 and someway led to the dotcom burst. Better IT infrastructure, more net savvy customers and leaner warehousing and logistics compared to the early stage start-ups in online grocery will probably make online grocery stores succeed now. Online grocery stores in India seem to have an inherent advantage over those started in the West because of comparatively lower labour costs. However, the flip side is poor logistics infrastructure in India.