Educational psychology Essay Example for Free

Instructive brain research Essay Acquaintance Welcome with the investigation of another significant subject in the Bachelor of Education Curriculum. Before the finish of this course the understudy will have the option to: 1. Characterize, human science and sociological establishments in instruction. 2. Distinguish any five significant focuses about the importance of Sociological establishments in training. 3. Look at indigenous Ghanaian Education System and its effect on Western Formal Education. 4. Draw a qualification between instructive human science and human science of training. 5. Break down the division among country and urban training conveyance. 6. Examine the elements and import of culture. 7. Characterize socialization and its pertinence to Western Formal Education. Meaning of Sociology and Sociological Foundations in Education 1. Vander Zanden considers Sociology to be the logical investigation of human association. 2. Agyeman (1992, p. 47), sees â€Å"Sociology† as â€Å" an order which examines the nature and elements of human social orders and the progressions that happen inside them. † He accepts that humanism is to a great extent worried about understanding the connections that exist between individuals which at last oversee their conduct inside the general public. 3. Metta Spencer thinks about Sociology as the investigation of human gathering life. The inquiry is, what is human gathering life? Human gathering life alludes to the life of individuals in an organization. Such individuals are administered by shows (unwritten constitution, or unwritten standards and guidelines), with points and purposes for sticking them together inside a specific area. 4. Human science as a control is keen on what makes human gathering life, conceivable, inside a given society. 5. What is society? The term society alludes to the whole intricate system of the social world. It might allude to public activity in the theoretical, without reference to a particular spot, however more frequently, it alludes to a nation, a country or a state like Ghana, Nigeria, Gambia, and so on. What is Educational Sociology? Bhattacharya (2003, 2006, p. 1. , in Brown 1947), characterized Educational Sociology as the utilization of Sociology to instructive issues. Instructive Sociology is especially keen on discovering how to control the instructive procedure to accomplish better social and character advancement. Instructive Sociology poses the inquiry what issues or impact does society bring to the school. What is Sociology of Education? Humanism of Education then again underscores on the idea of human relations inside the school and the social structure inside which the school works in the Community. As such, Sociology of Education is worried about what issues or impact the school brings to or/has on the general public. Result: Educational Sociologyâ€the impact of society on training. Human science of educationâ€the impact of training on society. Sociological establishments in instruction Now that we comprehend human science of training and instructive human science, we can apply the ideas to recognize what the course, sociological establishments in training looks to accomplish. This course resembles a bisexual. Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary characterizes bisexual as an individual, a creature or a blossom that has both male and female sexual organs and attributes. The Course thinks about the impact of society on training, and furthermore that of instruction on society. These two topics run however the course like a string that holds various dabs together. Section Two How social orders flourish Societies keep going long, in light of the fact that they meet the accompanying attributes: Each general public has an a. land area, b. culture and populace. c. Explicit requirements. d. In â€built instruments to accomplish these requirements. Ghana as a nation for example, needs to duplicate to renew her populace; she does this by †¢educating her residents, †¢producing merchandise and enterprises to meet the public activity and status of her populace, †¢governing her kin that so there could be peace, her kin turning out to be productive members of society, †¢ meeting their enthusiastic goals, for example, the mission for religion, and †¢assisting her residents to meet their recreational and physical needs through wellbeing administrations. From the prior signs about how families flourish, it might be expressed that cultural needs are given by social foundations inside a nation. Peil (1977, p.17) characterizes a social organization as â€Å"an suffering complex of standards, jobs, qualities and assents which grasp a particular portion of between human life. † As indicated by Peil, Social Institutions are uniquely sorted out and organized interpersonal organizations of the individuals who establish the general public. People are subsequently noted to be able to communicate with one another in their day by day experience; and by so doing accomplish their necessities and their coherence across ages (Agyeman 1992, p. 47). Society in this way, flourishes in four significant foundations: 1. Marriage and the family 2. Financial organizations 3. Political associations 4. Strict gatherings/Religious establishments. 1. Marriage and the Family When a kid is conceived, it is raised in a family, through a procedure called socialization. Specialists have characterized socialization. A couple of such definitions are as per the following, however quite a bit of it would be analyzed in exercise ten. Socialization is a procedure of figuring out how to identify with, and connect with others; a procedure of embracing the standards of conduct of the encompassing society; a demonstration of setting up oneself as indicated by the standards of communism; the demonstration of meeting for social purposes, and taking part in social exercises. .(http://www. babylon. com/definition/socialization/Latvian, recovered January 31 2012). Socialization is additionally a term utilized by sociologists, social analysts, anthropologists, lawmakers and educationists to allude to the way toward acquiring standards, customs and belief systems. It might give the individual the aptitudes and propensities important for taking an interest in exercises inside their own general public. A general public itself is shaped through a majority of shared standards, customs, values, conventions, social jobs, images and dialects. Socialization is consequently ‘the implies by which social and social progression are achieved. ’ (http://www. babylon. com/definition/socialization/Latvian January 31 2012). Accordingly the procedures of socialization decide the principle plan of marriage as a foundation; a couple of elements of marriage are as per the following: a. Multiplying: carrying youngsters into being to assume different jobs in the public eye. b. Meeting the physical needs of one another: the Lord God had expressed; â€Å"it isn't acceptable that the man should live alone, I will make him an assistance meet for him† Genesis 2:18 KJV). As it were, God Himself saw that man required an ally to assist him with adapting to life’s works, for he (Adam, the first to be made), had been doled out to dress and keep the nursery of Eden, an errand that required some assistance. Much could anyway be said about gathering the physical needs of mankind through the marriage establishments, however it might be summarized in this mainstream saying: â€Å"two heads are superior to one. † After all, when the couple team up, they can accomplish their life objectives, better. c. Another large job the marriage establishment plays in helping social orders to flourish, and inside the setting of socialization is found in one of the most significant elements of the wedded couplesâ€raising up youngsters in the dread of the Lord. We are to prepare our youngsters the correct way with the goal that they can turn out to be productive members of society when they develop (Proverbs 22:6). Today is a well established reality in each general public that solitary child rearing isn't the most ideal approach to bring up kids. Genuine Christians along these lines accept that God underscored the significance of youngster sustain through the participation of couples when He questioned couples in the prescience of Jeremiah, â€Å"Lift up your eyes and see them that originate from the north, where is the herd that was given thee, thy excellent group? † (Jeremiah 13:20 KJV). My preferred creator had noticed: The explanation there are such a large number of cruel people in our reality is that genuine warmth has been viewed as shortcoming and has been disheartened and quelled. The better piece of the idea of people of this class was distorted and overshadowed in adolescence, and except if beams of awesome light liquefy away their frigidity and pitiless childishness, the satisfaction of such is covered always (E. G. White, Adventist Home, p. 108, accentuation mine). In her book Child Guidance, a similar writer mentioned the accompanying objective fact. â€Å"To the mother and father the correct preparing of their youngsters is the most significant work of their life† (E. G White, Child Guidance, p. 556). To summarize the job marriage plays during the time spent socialization, and how it encourages social orders to flourish, one may understand that marriage is a truly imperative organization with regards to life on earth. It takes couples community endeavors in union with reproduce, or deliver posterity. What's more, when couple bear youngsters, these children should be supported to assume different jobs in social orders. It has been distinguished that as these couples participate to meet each other’s physical, passionate and mental requirements, they can likewise help train kids in the dread of the Lord to support society. 2. Financial Institutions: Many physical and material needs of society are given by monetary foundations. Ventures, banks, organizations, all team up to address the issues of individuals in a general public. Anyway arrangement of requirements by these monetary establishments could be upset by turmoil of some sort. Harmony is in this way required in each general public. To acquire harmony in social orders, we need political establishments. 3. Political Institutions: These exist to keep up harmony and dependability inside a nation or society, in particular; chieftaincy, national administration, the police administration, the military, and so forth. Without thes

Decision Making Process Paper Free Essays

Dynamic Process Paper MGT/230 June 26, 2011 Abstract The dynamic procedure has six phases. These stages comprise of distinguishing and diagnosing the issue, creating elective arrangements, assessing choices, settling on the decision, actualizing the choice, and assess the choice. Deciding to return to class and what school to go to was an issue that I had that should have been made sense of. We will compose a custom article test on Dynamic Process Paper or then again any comparable theme just for you Request Now I didn't utilize the dynamic procedure; on the off chance that I had I don't know whether my choice would have been the equivalent. Choosing to return to class was something I pondered for a couple of months yet finding a way to do so was something that solitary took an hour to do. The dynamic procedure has six phases yet I may have just made three of those strides in my procedure. The dynamic stages are to distinguish and analyze the issue, create elective arrangements, assess choices, settle on the decision, actualize the choice, and assess the choice (Management, 2011). To distinguish and analyze the issues intends to perceive an issue or something he of she needs to do that exist and tackle it. Produce elective arrangements can be isolate into two classifications, which are instant arrangements and specially crafted arrangements. Instant arrangements are arrangements you have attempted previously or guidance from others with comparable issues, and uniquely designed arrangements are arrangements intended for a particular arrangement. Assess options implies choosing which arrangement will be ideal and which arrangement will fit the issue that you have. In the wake of thinking about all the arrangement, you should settle on a decision. When you have settled on your decision, actualize the choice. Execute the choice way to make a move. Start the arrangement to take care of your concern. The last stage is to assess the choice by gathering data on how well the choice is functioning. These are the six phases of the dynamic procedure. My concern was choosing progressing back to class and which school to join in. My means were to consider what might be ideal and my family with respect to me to return to class, which school to go to, and apply to that school. My family was engaged with y process since I needed their contribution on everything that I did. My initial step was to talk about the thought progressing back to class, which to my family was not an issue since they accepted that I had so much information that I expected to accomplish something with it, yet I was reluctant due to my kids. My subsequent advance was to choose which school to join in. The decision was between University of Phoenix and Gaston Community College. I decision these two schools in light of the fact tha t my stepmother goes to Phoenix and she prompted me it would be a decent chance. Gaston Community College was a proposal my beau had on the grounds that it was near where I lived yet the main issue was my kids were not in childcare, so who might have the option to watch them and I was in school. Another issue was they didn't offer any online projects that year in my field. My choice was simple since I thought of my kids first. The last advance I took was applying to University of Phoenix. I didn't make indistinguishable strides from the dynamic procedure contains however I may have taken a couple. I identified that I had an issue, concocted arrangements, settle on a decision and actualized my choice. The dynamic procedure has six stages, however I just utilized four of those means in my procedure. On the off chance that I had utilized the dynamic procedure my choice might be unique. On the off chance that I had pondered everything about my life, for instance, my kids going to class this year, I may have picked the junior college since it would have been helpful at that point. Additionally on the off chance that I had found a way to converse with childcares about placing my most youthful kid in one, I would not need to stress over finding a sitter when I went to class. The dynamic procedure would have caused me to pose inquiries about what I needed and what I could do. The procedure additionally would have permitted me to assess my choice and decide whether a junior college would have been correct. My concern was returning to class and which school to join in. I might not have followed the dynamic procedure however I do trust I have settled on the correct decision. The dynamic procedure has six phases: recognize and analyze the issue, produce elective arrangements, assess options, settle on the decision, execute the choice, and assess the choice. The dynamic procedure can be powerful if one somehow managed to utilize it. Reference Bateman, T. S. , and Snell, S. A (2011). The executives: Leading Collaborating in a Competitive World (ninth e. d. ). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin. Step by step instructions to refer to Decision Making Process Paper, Essays

Things Ive Missed About Home

Things I’ve Missed About Home So Im writing from the end of a well-needed break back in San Francisco, just about to fly back to Boston to prepare for FAP (Freshman Arts Program), and the adjustment back to home life has been, as usual, greater than a three-hour time difference. These adjustments are mostly positive, but there are exceptions to every rule, and mine is not being bothered by volumes of different people at all hours of the day. What can I say? Sometimes you miss the freshman boy next door barging in and asking you what you think of the brand-new stubble, courtesy of No Shave November. That, and the fraternity I was living in over the summer had free cereal 24/7, and I mean the good kinds that your mom never bought you, like Cocoa Puffs and Lucky Charms. Cereal and I have such an involved long-term relationship that it doesnt even know Im cheating on it with Cold Pizza. (Thanks, college!) But to focus on the mostly positive, here are the things Ive missed about home: * Not having to wear shower shoes. Believe it when I say it that there is no weirder feeling than stepping into your shower for the first time in months without having to flop around in flip flops. That, and maybe knowing that all the hair in the drain is yours, and not the freshman boy next doors. (And even thats questionable.) * Home-cooked meals. A cliche, but with good reason when youve been cooking for yourself at school, or even if you havent, its pretty awesome to come home to food that you know is delicious, was made personally for you, and has a zero percent chance of coming with the bitter aftertaste of your suitemate using and not washing your chopping board last night. Or has a zero percent chance of tasting like.. exactly what was served in the dining hall two weeks ago. (But hey, thats what my buddy Takeout Menu is good for, right?) * Not sweating so much even your eyeballs feel dry. Boston summers are ridiculously and completely unnecessarily humid, which means a couple things never wearing white (ever), never turning off the air conditioning you found for free in your dorms storage, and never a reprieve from the stickiness, even the second you shut off your cold shower. Oh, and sometimes, itll rain torrentially for about twenty minutes, probably in the twenty minutes you were walking across the Harvard bridge with nothing but your $1200 laptop. And probably a $1500 rental camera. Or something equally water-resistant. (I spent the rest of the day in my friends fluorescent green running shorts and carrying all my prized posessions in LaVerdes bags.) * Smoothies. Smoothies are difficult to come by in Boston; instead, you get bubble tea. Im not complaining; I like boba as much as anyone, but smoothies, man. Theres a Jamba Juice in the BU student center, but MIT has barely tapped into the goldmine of the smoothie industry. (Leave it to MIT to devote its resources to renewable energy initiatives instead. Again, not complaining..) * All things not associated with cities. Like seeing the stars out at night. Or the occasional mountain lion scare that comes with living in the burbs at the base of a mountain. Or wild turkeys. Actually, I almost got killed by a wild turkey chasing me down in Brookline a couple weekends ago, but thats a story for another time. (I guess thats pretty much it. I almost got killed by a turkey chasing me down in Brookline. Who knew those things could run as fast as a 54 Asian girl?)(That probably doesnt rule out a lot of birds, but whatever.) * My family. Man, have I fooled myself into thinking Im mostly self-sufficient, but that all seems to come crashing down whenever I go home. This time it was started by the fact that my dad swims in the San Francisco bay without a wet suit. Daily. That water fluctuates from about low 40s to 60 degree Farenheit. Its something I usually tell people accompanied with a smile and an eyebrow raise and the phrase completely crazy, but in my week visit back home, on one particularly chilly eve, I decided to put my money where my mouth was and did my first open-water swim. It was cold. Seriously, all the creative literary training in the world could not paint a world picture adequate enough to describe how cold this water was. It was freezing. Arctic. Glacial. Brisk. (Thanks, Thesaurus.com!) It was also an incredible experience that I never wouldve had without my family pushing me to get in the water, stop hyperventilating, and let the cold take over. But the first five or ten minutes where I couldnt breathe was pretty much just me reciting oh-my-god-I-cant-breathe-what-was-I-thinking-ahh-ahh-ahhhh. (That, and channeling Michael Phelps.) Whatre you going to miss? Your favorite hair colorist? Your orange Buick Riviera?

Gender Inequality - 911 Words

Throughout generations there is one controversial topic that has managed to withstand the test of time, while also holding its relevance; gender inequality. In other words to be considered, the various accounts of inequities women are faced with in relation to men. Visible in everyday aspects; home life, and especially that of the workplace. Though there are those who believe gender to have no significance to an individual’s power, this demonstrates otherwise. Women are faced with numerous hindrances in comparison to men, as a result of the femme stereotype that has developed across time. The gender inequality issue is one that has remained prevalent with time passing, exceedingly visible in what has now become of our modern society.†¦show more content†¦From situations as the workplace, does this demonstrate the idea of women standing down from running positions of such hierarchy. With the expectation to let by what goes before them, and keep to themselves. This is s een in the novel A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, in various situations. Often throughout the story the protagonist Blanche speaks the truth in how she feels of having to carry herself in front of others, â€Å"When people are soft - soft people have got to shimmer and glow -... You’ve got to be soft and attractive.† (Williams 92), demonstrating the beliefs of society women are expected to abide by; that of being ever so accommodating to the acts of others. A result of the characteristics women are continuously tied, that have prevented the chance of opportunity in various aspects. Where the issue of gender inequality is often seen amongst the workplace, it can also be seen in day to day life; home life to be exact. Considering the role a woman is thought to fulfill that of being a housewife. In other words, to take responsibility of the housework, care for the children, cook for the family, and far more. It is a consequence of the female stereotype deve loped over time, and remains difficult to be broken. In an article titled â€Å"The Negative Effects of Gender Roles† by Amiee Jean Jones, is it an issue that remains increasingly visible with time. To young children, a majority are brought up on the idea that â€Å"...females are nursesShow MoreRelatedEssay On Gender Inequality1127 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"superior† race/gender of a white male were typically treated as if they were less. Women and African-Americans aren’t being treated as bad today, but they’re still being treated worse than the white males of society. Even today, when white males are typically the leaders of society, it’s not always race and gender that creates inequality; sometimes it’s money that creates the issue. Not just from past evidence, but from present evidence as well, America shows signs of inequality by the way peopleRead MoreSocial Inequality And Gender Inequality Essay2163 Words   |  9 Pagesn Amer icaSocial inequality is defined as the set of unequal for different social classes or statuses for various individuals within a group or society. It usually refers to people of distinct genders, ages and ethnicities. Many American’s have experienced some type of social inequality throughout their lifetime. America’s gaping inequality is seen everywhere from education to the workforce. Society tends to oversee inequality based on race, gender, and other social characteristics believe that racialRead MoreSocial Inequality And Gender Inequality Essay2091 Words   |  9 PagesSocial inequality is defined as the set of unequal opportunities for different social classes or statuses for various individuals within a group or society. It usually refers to people of distinct genders, ages, and ethnicities. Many American’s have experienced some type of social inequality throughout their lifetime. America’s gaping inequality is seen everywhere from education to the workforce. Society tends to oversee inequality based on race, gender, and other social characteristics . AmericansRead MoreGender Inequalities And Gender Inequality922 Words   |  4 PagesGender Inequalities in Education Judge Sonia Sotomayor states, â€Å"Until we get equality in education, we won t have an equal society. That quote resonates throughout the world because of gender inequality in education. Researchers believe gender inequality still exists in the 21st century. Through research, controversial opinions exist about inequality in schools and what has been done to address this situation. What is gender equality? Gender inequality refers to disproportionate dealing or assessmentsRead MoreGender Inequality : Gender Inequalities825 Words   |  4 PagesMichael Ursini Mrs. Karen Cardenas English 4 Sec 03 Sum 17 07 July 2017 Gender Inequalities Thesis: While this could be the best thing the world could accomplish if something changes, Women and men should not be segregated into their own category. Because both genders should have equal rights when it comes to working, money, households, relationships and other categories. This problem has been around for a long time but never been brought to a lot of people s attention, because of this nobody talksRead MoreGender Inequalities And Gender Inequality1791 Words   |  8 PagesGender inequalities have been around since the beginning of time, and it has been a long and bumpy road to achieve the amount of equality that we have today. Still everyday women have the risk of being discriminated against for simply being women. Depending on where these women live, what the predominate culture in the area is, and the amount of education that is allowed affects their risk of being discriminated against and the severity of the act itself. Discrimination can be displayed in formsRead MoreG ender Inequality And Gender Equality1667 Words   |  7 PagesGender inequality is the state in which access to rights or opportunities is affected by gender. Gender inequality is an issue not just nationally but globally. This issue is portrayed by the mistreating of individuals, mainly women, and not valuing everyone as one. This presentation will illustrate the exploration of gender equality, propose a solution and why that solution will produce a better future for a better world. Gender inequality is a very important issue common in our world today thatRead MoreGender Equality And Gender Inequality979 Words   |  4 Pages Throughout the past few decades, the gender inequality discourse have became a dominant feature of international, national and local policy debate on the subject of economic development. This policy concern has emerged as an area of scholarly research which seeks to show that improving gender equity leads to economic growth. Gender Inequality in Australia: According to the data published by Australian Bureau of Statistics in May 2015, the full time average earnings of women is $284.20 or 17.9%Read MoreGender Inequality And Gender Inequalities1787 Words   |  8 PagesGender inequality plays a critical role when it comes to social progress. As a woman, I have seen the struggles for equality to men in many aspects. Regardless of the great strides that women have achieved today, it is still hard to find equal opportunity and to be fairly recognized. Some of the areas where gender inequality is very prevalent are in areas such as, equal pay in the workplace, professional education careers, household work, sexism and discrimination just to name a few. GenderRead MoreGender Inequalities Of Sports And Gender Inequality1468 Words   |  6 PagesGender Inequalities in Sport Men throughout history have been the dominant gender, from the times of hunting with stone weapons to the modern day metal and automated machines. Many negative connotations are thought of when comparing women to men like strength, but less so when comparing men to women. Is it the society’s view that women are weaker than men or is it a natural fact brought to light? In sports women experience many prejudices, but even so some sports are equal or even female dominant

Student-Athletes Should Be Paid by NCAA - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 4 Words: 1192 Downloads: 4 Date added: 2019/05/28 Category Career Essay Level High school Tags: Should College Athletes Be Paid Essay Did you like this example? Professionals get paid to put their bodies on the line for the team they are playing for, why shouldnt it be the same for college athletes? It is true, collegiate athletes are considered extremely lucky because they are gifted with a multitude of scholarship opportunities to play for that school and are given the right amount of exposure to succeed and take their talents to the next level whether in sports or elsewhere. Nevertheless, college athletes are being mistreated by the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association), and athletes, students, and even coaches are rising up to demand reform. People across the country, including myself, believe that college athletes should be paid (excluding school transactions such as tuition, etc.). Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Student-Athletes Should Be Paid by NCAA" essay for you Create order The NCAA is taking advantage of college athletes, gathering huge profits while the players, who are putting their bodies on the line, dont see a dime. In college, especially in higher ranked schools (in terms of sports), being a student athlete is a big commitment to take on, equivalent to a job. A good amount of your time is focused on that sport. You are constantly trying to get better and elevate to the highest level of play. Take into account that they are also students. They have classes and exams to worry about and while doing all of this, trying to maintain a social life at the same time. Although this is doable, it is still quite hard. According to NCSA, the typical day for a D1 football player starts 5:30 am and doesnt end until 12 am (NCSA). A large chunk of the day has to do with said sport and this wasnt even taking into account days where the athletes play a game for hours upon end and still have all these other responsibilities to pursue. So once again playing a sport in college (depending on the division or school) is similar if not the same as having a job and yet these players are not being compensated. College sports wouldnt be as big as it is without the athleters great performances, and itrs not fair that these hard-working players dont get to benefit from the money they are generating. The NCAA puts a college playerrs name on jerseys and tons of other apparel and none of that money is ever even seen by the player. Student athletes should be able to receive a percentage of revenue generated on their account and also be able to sign business deals and engage in endorsement opportunities. There is a rule in the NCAA handbook stating that schools are forbidden from offering any form of compensation beyond a scholarship in exchange for a studentrs talents, and students are not permitted to accept endorsement deals of any kind (The Oracle). College athletes are very good at what they do, and the skill/talent level only increases when increasing in Divisions (Division 1, D2, D3) and in Conferences (ACC, SEC, Big Ten, PAC 12, etc.), so it wouldnt be a surprise if a big corporation, such as Nike or Adidas, would want to sponsor these talented athletes. Athletes should have the freedom to explore their options and be able to take advantage of the opportunities granted to them. College athletes deserve financial recognition for the merchandise profit they generate, as well as the opportunity to pursue their own financial gains. As athletes, they work hard on the field every day to bring in fans and wins for their school; itrs only fair that they are rewarded for their efforts, at least in some small way. In college sports, the NCAA rules state that an athlete will lose his/her eligibility if they receive any type of payment to play, sign a contract with an agent, receive a salary, incentive payment, award, or play on a professional (including overseas) team (ESPN). The NCAA is an amateur sports league. The dictionary definition of amateur is engaging or engaged in without payment; nonprofessional (Webster). The word amateur in sports was intended to stand for positive values but has ended up doing the opposite by not respecting the players talents, hard work and dedication enough to pay them what they owe. William Geoghegan, Flyer News sports editor writes, Would paying athletes tarnish the ideal of amateurism? Maybe, but being fair is far more important than upholding an ideal (Geoghehan 1). In other words, people understand that having strong ideals are important and look good on paper, but as time goes on things have to change and these players deserve to be paid. College sports obviously dont hold the same weight as professional leagues, the NCAA is still making outrageous profits from merchandise, ticket sales, food, and jerseys thanks to the performances of the players. The same players who are not receiving any sort of cut from the revenue the NCAA is generating. The NCAA pulled in $761 million from the 2017 NCAA tournament. That number is set to rise to $869 million this year. The NCAA also generated $129.4 million in ticket revenue and $60 million in marketing rights for the 2017 fiscal year (ESPN). The NCAA has topped $1 billion. The majority of these earnings come from Menrs Basketball and more importantly the Menrs Basketball tournament called March Madness. The NCAA March Madness tournament is considered to be one of the top sporting events in the world. At one point it was ranked behind the FIFA World Cup and the Super Bowl two extremely anticipated events. It is shocking that a college sports event is ahead of most of the professional sports events. Its also crazy to take into consideration that March Madness at one point brought in more revenue than the NBA Championship. College basketball is a very popular collegiate sport that gets a large number of people tuning in. powerhouse schools like Duke, Kentucky, North Carolina, UCLA, Villanova and many more dominate the NCAA basketball scene and bring in hundreds of millions of dollars every year. For the NCAA, March Madness is its most profitable business, earning roughly $900 million in revenue(CBS news). March Madness brings in almost $1 billion by itself and the players who push themselves to the limit and make the event possible in the first place dont get some sort of remuneration. The NCAA and other coaches and organizations believe that yes, the starters may be worthy of compensation, but what about the players that dont get a lot of playing time or arent as good as certain players on the team? Certain sports getting paid more than others? There indeed needs to be a concrete plan. The NCAA has the resources to figure out a plan to pay their athletes, but they are choosing not to. They have no interest in doing so which is why this has become such a controversial topic. The NCAA is denying athletes their basic economic rights and it is not fair to the athletes who are putting their bodies on the line day in and day out. Student-athletes should be paid for their hard work and commitment to not only the sport but to the school. That is the least the NCAA can do since the athletes bring in so much revenue for both the NCAA and the school.

Pride And Prejudice, And The Last Man By Mary Shelley

Pride and Prejudice by Jan Austen And The Last Man by Mary Shelley The connection created between Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, and The Last Man by Mary Shelley permits the readers to increase their thoughts about the nature of the society, especially its importance in the lives of women and how social class works in society during the romanticism era. Moreover, these novels increase our imagination about how different people at different times have particular clarifications of what it means to be human. It is essential to understand how different social and historical backgrounds interpret the world in certain ways. This is specifically significant if someone’s wants to know how and why a particular novelist held the ideas and†¦show more content†¦One of her most recognized works is the novel Pride and prejudice, which was very much valued during the Romantic Movement. Austen through her novel illustrates the importance of marriage, either with or without love. She is one of the most important novelists who through their novel is trying to demonstrate the historical preferences and a class separation. She shows the social proposal for that time by how people desired to marry into a higher class, and how the marriage should arise from love despite social standing. Austen through her novel is trying to bring awareness to inequalities between people of the same community. Some of these inequalities are the results of individual differences in ability and effort, but much of it also refers to the social differences regarding power, wealth, and prestige. Pride and Prejudice is a love story that was pointing out the inequality that rules the connections between men and women and particularly how it affects women s choices about marriage. Austen in her novel goes on to describe the character’s prideful toward each other, â€Å" I could easily forgive his pride if he had not mortified mine† (Ch. 3) Pride shades both Elizabeth and Darcy toward their real feelings about each other. Darcy s pride in his social class makes him look down on individuals that are out of his group. Elizabeth, on the other hand, takes pleasure in her ability that is linked to her

Research Methodology Strategy and Management

Question: Describe about the Research Methodology for Strategy and Management. Answer: Critique the problem definition the research addressed? 1: The beginning step in the research process occurs when the research management suffers any problem or if the management can sense any opportunity, which involves the requirement of any further information or data, based on which the decisions can be made and the actions can be implemented. Bergh Ketchen (2014) opined that it very essential to work closely with the team in order to determine that the findings of the research will produce effective information, which is worth with the cost, and this will require identification of the research environment variables, which are ultimately going to affect the research. This first step is to ensure that the decision have been correctly defined by the research management. In the next step the correctly defined management decision will be translated to particular research term in order to give the research a clear objective. The achievement in the research purpose will give management the effective and sufficient information, which it nee ds in the decision making process (Bernard 2013). The third step should incorporate the identification of the research objectives after defining the specific set of research questions. This will give detailed information in order to provide solution and answer to the research question. The final step should be proceeding ahead in order to collect data by making an assessment of the value of data obtained and this is to be done after the finalizing of the research objective. In the case where the information value is less than the cost of collecting the data or information then the research must not begin. Bryman Bell (2012) stated that the identification of the research problem can be challenging not only because of lack of problems that can be investigated but also due to the persuasion of the objective in order to formulate the relevant researchable issue which is unique and is not duplicate work of others. 2. Evaluate what secondary data are provided in the report, if any and what Secondary data may be useful for this research? Secondary data collected in the research is from relevant books, journals and websites. The difference between primary and secondary data collection is encountered so far. Crowther Lancaster (2011) opined that it is essential to assess the quality of the data before using and it depends on various factors, which are its accuracy and completeness. Secondary data collection and have a very significant role in all types of researches. Suppose conduction of a survey among a particular population. The characteristics of the population survey are compared to the overall characteristics of total number of population. This process will provide a check of the survey of representative. Secondary data might be interpreted and used in order to help the actual design of the research (Delavarkhalafi Poursherafatan 2015). The inexperienced researchers can obtain important insights into the techniques of the research. Secondary data are valuable at several stages of the progress of the research. S econdary data can be used as outline for major classification of the sources for the research. Burns (2014) mentioned that although, there are several advantages for using secondary data analysis, there are also some limitations involved for secondary data analysis for the research. The most general barrier for effective use of the research is the overload of information, which acts as a challenge in secondary data collection. In addition, sometimes there are no appropriate data present for secondary data sources, which can create problem for conduction of the research. In this research the quality of the secondary data collected will depend on the size of the sample because the larger the sample is the answer will be much better and precise and all this depends on the purpose for which the data has been collected and should be similar to the research aims and purpose. This will help to rely on the data in the research. 3. What research design (exploratory, descriptive, causal, or some combination) was used and was this appropriate? What further information (if any) would you It is important to complete this module successfully the researcher has to go through these steps; differentiate between primary and secondary data, differentiate between quantities and qualitative data, understand what is meant by research design, know how to select the particular research design for a specific context and compare and discriminate the research design. Herrmann et al. (2014) opined that the research design and technique are two different parts of the research where the research design deals with the selection of data samples based on the problem whereas the technique deals with the way to get answers of the problem defined in the research. The research design will often specify the techniques, which will be used for focused groups or as an experiment. The research design also shows that who will be involved as responded in a survey. It will also inform the researcher that how the data or information will be gathered. Finally it will show that how it will be evaluated. For each research design, a brief explanation will come out for the researcher to evaluate the whole project. Some common techniques and finally a brief summary of some of the strength and weakness of the design will be given. For an example, the same techniques such as a questionnaire, can be used in all three types of research design, is what differentiate them in this case it is purpose of the research. (Kastner Fruhwirth-Schnatter, 2014) stated that the difference between the research technique and research design is that research design is always decided first and then a suitable technique is chosen. Finally, it should be stressed that often a research project in a qualitative way. The researcher must always remember that the way he / she are doing it cannot be reviewed repeatedly. That is why he / she need to do it very carefully from the initial stage of the research. Are the methods used to collect data (eg focus groups, questionnaires) sufficiently justified and described? What further information (if any) would you need? The method used to collect data is questionnaire over here. The particular questioner has focused on four points only and the data collected is based on these points alone. The points given are: relevant academic discipline for the research,identification of three high quality academic journals to search for relevant theories for job Satisfaction, identification from the literatures used at least one theory for job satisfaction, explanation regarding the help provided by the theory for the research. The points discussed above are not relevant in the case of job satisfaction. The questionnaire is not well framed as well as it is not explained in a clear form. The questioner has focused on the provision of three journals but has used only one theory out of it. More journals could have been included or more amounts of theories could have been used for increasing the literature content of the study, which would have provided ample information to explain the job satisfaction theory more clearly (Newbold 2011). Further, these questionnaires may have contained the point where to evaluate the positive and negative theories on job satisfaction. Koo (2016) that contradiction is always a good way to increase the job quality. So the contradicting theories would have been helpful for enhancing a better opinion on the particular point or topic of job satisfaction. Only journals are taken but the use of books have been nullified from this particular questionnaire. The aim of data collection me thods is to get suitable and useful information (Kudlats et al. 2014). This includes describing the research data and summarizing it by identifying the relationship between different research variables. This also includes comparison of variables and the identification of the difference between these variables by ultimately achieving the desired outcomes. The questionnaires have advantages over the surveys because they involve less cost and require less effort having answer standards that are easy and simple in order to compile data. References list Books Bergh, D. Ketchen, J 2014, Research methodology in Strategy and Management, Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing Ltd. Bernard, H 2013, Research Methods in Anthropology: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches, Plymouth: Alta Mira Press. Bryman, A. Bell, E 2012, Business Research Methodology, New York: Oxford University Press. Burns, R 2014, Business Research Methods and Statistics Using SPSS, London: Sage Publications. Crowther, D. Lancaster, G 2011, Research Methods, London: Routledge. Journals Breznau, N. 2015, Secondary observer effects: idiosyncratic errors in small-N secondary data analysis, .International Journal of Social Research Methodology, vol. 19, no. 3, pp.301-318. Delavarkhalafi, A. Poursherafatan, A. 2015, Credit Rating via Dynamic Slack-Based Measure And Its Optimal Investment Strategy, Data Envelopment Analysis and Decision Science, vol. 2015, no. 1, pp. 1-12. Herrmann, N., Silvers, A., Godfrey, K., Roberts, B. Cerys, D. 2014, A prototype statistical advisory system for biomedical researchers II: Development of a statistical strategy, Computational Statistics Data Analysis, vo1.8, no. 3, pp. 357-369. Kastner, G. Frhwirth-Schnatter, S. 2014, Ancillarity-sufficiency interweaving strategy (ASIS) for boosting MCMC estimation of stochastic volatility models, Computational Statistics Data Analysis, vol.76, no. 2, pp. 408-423. Koo, M. 2016, Reporting of secondary data analysis using routinely collected health data European Journal of Internal Medicine, vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 304-308. Kudlats, J., Money, A. Hair, J. 2014, Correspondence analysis: A promising technique to interpret qualitative data in family business research Journal of Family Business Strategy, vol. 5, no.1, pp. 30-40. Newbold.B. 2011, Secondary migration of immigrants to Canada: an analysis of LSIC wave 1 data, Canadian Geographer / Le Gographecanadien, vol.51, no.1, pp. 58-71.

Becoming A Knight Essays - Knight, Stock Characters, Romance

Becoming A Knight Essays - Knight, Stock Characters, Romance Becoming a Knight During the middle ages, in order to become a knight one had to go through many years of training. A knight-to-be spent at least fourteen years of his life learning the proper conduct and etiquette of knighthood. Once the years of training were completed, often an elaborate ceremony took place when the gentleman was knighted. Once knighted, the man had to live by the code of chivalry. This code had the basic guidelines of a knight's behavior. This code was so respected that abiding by it brought honor and respect from others. The education of a knight began at the age of seven. This was when a boy was taken from his home and sent to the castle of a famous noble, perhaps his father?s lord. Here he served the lord and the lady as a page until he was fourteen years old. One of the many duties of a page was to accompany the lord and lady at all times. He also waited on them during meals, and went with them on various affairs doing whatever was asked of him. As a page, he received religious instruction from the chaplain. The squires taught the page fighting skills, and gave him training in arms. The mistress and her ladies taught the page to honor and protect all women. He also learned to sing and to play the lute, in order to hunt and hawk. The most important thing that he learned during the seven years as a page was how to care for and ride a horse. This was a skill that was essential when becoming a knight, because a horse was his primary mode of transportation. At the age of fourteen, the page became a squire, and at the same time, was formally assigned to a knight. He now learned to handle a sword, lance, and to bear the weight of heavy armor. Along with his continued duties from when he was a page, he now had to carve at the dinner table, and accompany his knight to war. He was constantly receiving instructions from the knight, and attended to the knight?s personal needs. He assisted the knight with putting on his armor, and had to make sure the sword and other arms of the knight were polished. He also had to care for the knight's horse, which entailed grooming, feeding, and constant attention. The squire stood by in battles to give aid in a conflict should the knight be overmatched, and to lend his horse should his master lose his own. It was the squire who picked up the knight when he fell, and took his body away if he was injured or killed. This all lasted for the next seven years of the squire's life. At the end of th! is period, when he was twenty-one, a squire who had demonstrated his competence and worth, either by successful completion of his training or on the actual field of battle, was knighted. The ceremony of the squire becoming knighted was often very elaborate. The squire had to first take a purification bath that symbolized the purity of his new life. After the bath, he knelt or stood all night in prayer before the altar on which the armor he would wear later lay. In the morning they had a religious ritual, with perhaps a sermon on the knight?s duty to protect the weak, make wrongs right, and honor women. After this, in the courtyard in the presence of the assembled knights and fair ladies, the knight's armor was buckled on. He was presented with a pair of golden spurs, which only a knight could wear, a shining new suit of armor, a sword, a shield, a lance, and a charger. After putting on the armor piece by piece, he knelt to receive the accolade. This was a blow upon the neck or shoulder, given by the officiating lord, or knight with his fist, or with the flat of a sword. As the blows were given, the lord said, ?In the name of God and St. Michael and S! t. George, I dub thee knight; be brave and loyal.? He was now a full-fledged bachelor knight entitled to all the honors and privileges

How to Check the Accreditation of Any Online College

How to Check the Accreditation of Any Online College Accreditation is the process by which an institution- in this case, an online college or university- is certified to have met standards set by a board of representatives selected from peer institutions. An accredited degree from a certified school of higher education will be accepted by other schools and organizations as well as by prospective employers. Proper accreditation for an online degree can mean the difference between a degree that gets you a new job and a certificate that isnt worth the paper its printed on. The two kinds of accreditation are â€Å"institutional† and â€Å"specialized,† or â€Å"programmatic.†Ã‚  Institutional accreditation normally is given to the  institution as a whole, though it doesnt mean that all components of the school are of the same quality. Specialized accreditation applies to parts of the school, which may be as large as a college within a university or as small as a curriculum within a discipline. You can check any online schools accreditation status in less than a minute. Heres how to find out if a school is accredited by an agency recognized by the United States Department of Education: Checking United States Department of Education  Accreditation Listings Go to the U.S. Department of Educations (USDE) College Search page. (You also can check the USDEs accreditation database.) Enter  the name of the online school you would like to research. You dont need to enter information in any other field. Then hit search. Youll be shown a school or several schools that match your search criteria. Click on the school youre looking for. The selected schools accreditation information will appear. Make sure this page is about the school youre seeking  by comparing the website, phone number, and address information you see at the top left  with the information you already have. You can view the colleges institutional or specialized accreditation on this page.  Click on the  accrediting agency for more information. In addition to accreditation status, this information includes the accrediting agency, the date the school was originally accredited, the most recent accreditation action, and the next review date. Checking Council for Higher Education  Accreditation  Listings You may also use the Council for Higher Education Accreditations website to search for accredited online institutions. The process is much the same as with the USDE search, though at the CHEA site you must agree to the terms and conditions  before reaching the search field. Also, the CHEA page provides less information than the USDE page. You also can access a chart comparing CHEA and USDE recognition. Accreditation Doesnt Guarantee Success Accreditation doesnt guarantee that credit hours will transfer to another institution nor assure acceptance of graduates by employers. That remains the prerogative of the school or prospective employer. The Department of Education recommends that students take other steps to determine if the institution will meet their goals, including asking other  schools whether your credits will transfer  or asking possible employers if, for example, the institutions courses will count toward a professional license.

Jean Watson Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Jean Watson - Assignment Example A nurse who adopts this model acts in a caring manner to enhance his/her relationship with the patient. The nurse while caring for the patient should base on the value system of an individual. The nurse should place the patient/client in the family, the community as well as the culture context (Sitzman & Eichelberger, 2011). Nursing practice should be personalized while at the same time less technical and generic in nature. The client should be the focus of care and not the available technology for treatments One hard aspect in this model is that it may overlook to express the nurses’ responsibility of providing the patients with physical needs, which is a basic role of the nurse in the health care team. Patients’ biophysical needs are given less weight, and the major focus is on patients’ psychosocial needs (Basford & Slevin, 2003). Ms. M who is 25 years old diagnosed with HIV/AIDS stage III is my patient. Using this model, I would handle her better by allowing her express her fears in regards to the diagnosis. I would obtain information about her, her life experiences, bodily sensations, spiritual and cultural beliefs as well as her goals and expectations so as to provide holistic

Management Maturity Model Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Management Maturity Model - Research Paper Example Killen and Hunt (2013) stressed the maturity level of any project and argued that the project maturity level is directly linked to the long term value of the project portfolio and resource allocation. Apart from Killen and Hunt (2013), other research scholars such as Rad and Levin (2006) and Pellegrinelli and Garangna (2009) have also stressed that project management maturity model is one of the crucial factors for any project management team. In the context of theoretical arguments of research scholars and project managers, the researcher has decided to shed light on project management maturity model with the help of both practical examples and theoretical hypotheses. Although the researcher is a project manager, throughout the paper the researcher will take a conjectural view in order to address the research problem in a fact-driven manner. Project Management Maturity Model Korbel and Benedict defined a project management maturity model (PMMM) as the systematic framework for a project management team to perform benchmarking and deliver value to the modern organization. A maturity model is basically an assessment approach by which an organization compares its project performance with the industry’s best practices and prepares a structured pathway to improve the existing processes. Korbel and Benedict pointed out a number of benefits associated with project management maturity models (PMMM) such as cost saving, an increase in the preciseness of project schedules and improvement of the quality of the project. ... f research scholars and project managers, the researcher has decided to shed light on project management maturity model with the help of both practical examples and theoretical hypotheses. Although the researcher is a project manager, throughout the paper the researcher will take a conjectural view in order to address the research problem in a fact-driven manner. Project Management Maturity Model Korbel and Benedict (2007) defined a project management maturity model (PMMM) as the systematic framework for a project management team to perform benchmarking and deliver value to the modern organization. The maturity model is basically an assessment approach by which an organization compares its project performance with the industry’s best practices and prepares a structured pathway to improve the existing processes. Korbel and Benedict (2007) pointed out a number of benefits associated with project management maturity models (PMMM) such as cost saving, increase in preciseness of pr oject schedules and improvement of quality of the project. Research scholars have found a positive relationship between project performance and project maturity level. The relationship can be depicted in the following manner; Figure 1: Relationship Between Project Maturity Level & Project Performance (Source: Korbel & Benedict, 2007) The above mentioned model is showing that the performance of a project increases as its maturity level increases. The researcher believes that there cannot be one PMM model which can be used in all projects. As a project manager, the researcher has recalibrated the PMM model in order to satisfy the interests of the stakeholders of the project. For example, a PMM model for a health and safety project differs significantly from that for a construction project.

Role of Public Sector in Modern Economies

Role of Public Sector in Modern Economies Forces of demand and supply control prices in modern capitalist economies, government intervention has been limited to provision of social services. Prices of goods and services as well as cost of production are determined with minimal government intervention. A perfect capitalist economy can only exist in an ideal situation and since there is no ideal situation, there are always some government controls, rules and regulations in an economy (Pigou, 2006). In general, government controls the performance of an economy through fiscal and monetary policies. These policies are aimed at changing or controlling certain factors in the economy to enhance or limit production. Government participation varies among countries were developing countries need a higher involvement than developed countries (Ceccacci, Marchesiani and Pecchi, 2007) This paper discusses the role of the public sector in modern economies and factors public sector consider when making financial decision. Political stability The government is made up of political class, who control the economies of a country, they play the role of politicians and economic drivers, and however, political situation in the world is not stable. There have been changes and uncertainty in different countries. A country like Kenya in East Africa underwent tribal crashes in 2007 after a disputed election. The crisis affected the economy of the country. In November 2010, Ivory Coast in Central Africa had disputed election a move that have affected the countrys economic performance. In civilized countries like the United States of America, which is the worlds largest economy, the performance of the ruling class affects the economy positively and negatively. A country as China, which has the highest economic growth in the world, has a stable government (Dalton, 2003) from the above discussion, it is clear that one major functions of government is to ensure there is political stability in the country. If the political class maintain s political harmony in an economy then growth and stability in the country is possible. One of the most surprising thing is that to destroy an economy that had been built for many years can take a matter of weeks in case of political unrests. For example, Zimbabwe was among Africans best performing countries, when there were disputed presidential economies in 2009; the country is now ranked as the poorest in the world. Other than local politics, international politics affects country economic, social and political performances. International policies and relations affect how economies conduct their business. There are times that goods from a certain countries have been limited to enter in the international market through tariff and non-tariff barriers (Buchanan, 1987). Maintaining good International relations Foreign ministry in different countries is given the responsibility of maintaining good international relations with different countries. Globalisation and international trade has opened the international market, assisted by transport and communication networks (Quigley, 2000). To ensure that a country participates in international trade effectively and reduce chances of international rivalry, it should ensure that there are good international relations. Switzerland has managed to be the world largest tourism country because of its political neutrality and maintaining of good relations with other countries. Sometime to be competitive, countries engage in economical alliances to be able to negotiate for better teams in the world markets. Such integration includes European Union, East African Community, and Pan African among others (Dietmar, 2000). Other than having a good international relations, it is the role of the government to ensure that its country have a good reputation. It sh ould not be known for negative things like poverty, corruption and inequality. Such reputations are not built by word of mouth by through actions undertaken by the government. Protection of citizens The government has the mandate of ensuring that the constitutional rights of every human being are respected. These rights include rights to protection, where the government provides security to its citizens. Security is from foreign and internal attackers. There are times that the government sets minimum or maximum prices of goods to ensure that consumers are not exploited. On the other hand, the government also sets standards required in a country; this is in the move to ensure that it has protected its consumers against substandard goods and services provided by businesspersons. There was another move made by Chinese government, which has been seen as a new government move where the government aims at reducing the rate of economic growth in the country (Edward, McCaffery and Joel, 2006) Infrastructures The government has the mandate of providing infrastructures like roads and communication networks, which cannot be left in the hands of individuals. These infrastructures ensure that an economy has social resources that can be used by society members without paying for them directly. In time of disaster, the public sector is called upon to assist. This is in case of terror attacks, drought and floods. The government should have adequate machinery and mechanisms to ensure that in case of a disaster, it has assisted its own citizens and sometimes extend the help to other nations. Other social economic factors affect an economy. They include inflation and deflation. The government has the mandate of ensuring that its economy has neither excess funds (inflation) or has limited funds (deflation) (Gabriele, 2009). Leadership and strategic decision-making The government is expected to make strategic decisions, which define the pathway that the country aims to follow over a certain period. This can be yearly or take a couple of years. Every year, governments make financial budgets to be followed when financing various projects in the country. These budgets contain yearly, monthly or projects that take more than one year. Such policies are the ones, which attract international investments in a country. In the 1990s, many countries had Vision 2000, which they wanted to have attained certain economic, social and political goals. In the current 20th century, there are calls to Vision 2020, Vision 2015 and visi0n 2030 among others depending with a country and the goals it has for the economy (Wildasin, 2008) Issues a government need to take into account when financing the activities adopted to fulfil the role set out in (a) above The government control an economy using fiscal or monetary policies. They can be either direct or indirect. The kind of financing adopted, depends with the goal and objective the government want to attain in a particular time. To control the economy effectively, consideration must be made to ensure that the most appropriate measure is taken (Reed and Swain, 1997). Generally, there are factors that government need to consider when financing different projects in the economy they are: The level of economic development in the country or locations The government has the role of setting up infrastructures to be used by the public and private sectors in their efforts to grow the economy. Before certain infrastructures are made, the government need to analyse the project and ensure that it is economically viable. Priority should be given to those places that have potential yet the exploitation of such potential is hindered by lack of infrastructures like roads and communication networks. Investments in infrastructures is an expensive exercise where the government spend public resources to make such infrastructures, they should thus benefit the greatest majority in the country. In developing economies, the government has a more active role where it is expected to make a platform that international and national inventors can built on. Such infrastructures include electricity production plants, transport networks, taxation incentive and communication networks. Some countries like China have had the government cut down its public fin ance expenditure to ensure that the economic growth rate in the country slows down. It has opted to have higher taxation to companies and individuals to ensure that they have low income to spend in economic development (Schulte, 2000). Countries competitive advantage sectors Different countries have different economic potentials; the kind of products that can be produced effectively by a nation varies among different nations. There is need to understand the potential that a country has and investments should be skewed to that direction. For example is a country has a potential in natural resources like oil reserves or good climate, then the government should direct most of its finances to these sectors. This will ensure that high levels of efficiency have been attained for economic development. Absolute and competitive advantages are important when deciding the countries to make economic integrations. There are times that countries produce the same commodities, in such cases such countries can make good economic blocs to negotiate for better prices for their products. They though cannot make good trading partners since they make more the same products (Schumpeter , 1994). The rate of inflation/deflation The rate of inflation in country affects expenditure decision by the government. When an economy is facing high rate of inflation, then the government has the mandate of controlling the economy. Controlling inflation and deflation are monetary issues where the government devises measures to reduce money in circulation (in the case of inflation) or increase money in circulation (in the case of deflation). In inflation, the government can decide to sell government securities like bond and bills at an attractive interest rate where investors will be attracted to buy them and the money in circulation is reduced. On the other hand, it might decide to increase the lending rate to banks through central bank, which will be transmitted, to consumers making the cost of lending money expensive. This reduces the rate of money attractiveness thus, the growth of money in the economy reduces (Sheila, 2004). In the case of deflation, the government devises measures to increase the flow of cash in the economy. If the government decides to reduce central banks lending rate, then banks will be more willing to lend money. This increases the money in circulation curing the deflation (Tresch, 2002). Living standards Different countries have different living standards. It is the dream of leaders to have citizens who have high living standards. To attain this need, the government takes deliberate measures to increase the living standards of its people. Such measures include wide investment in social facilities like public hospitals, building of roads, communication networks and education facilities. There are countries, which have opted to offer free medical and educational facilities to their citizens in the move to have increased living standards. Countries with high living standards do not require much invention of the government in their affairs but those that are underdeveloped and have reduced living standards the government intervention is highly required (Shinnick, 2008). Some government have national libraries, some even mobile ones to ensure that its population has access to information for personal empowerment. Adoption of technology in different sectors has enabled a countries population have higher living standards as people are more informed of their rights that they can fight for (Shoup, 2006) Resources distribution Resources in a country are not equally distributed; there are some parts, which have higher allocation of natural and manmade resources in a country. The in-equally bring about difference in social, economic and sometimes political. The government should ensure that its country have well distributed resources for a harmonious growth in all regions of the country. The differences make the government direct most of its resources to areas that are disadvantaged (Musgrave, 2008). They are given priorities in the efforts to see whether they can catch up with other areas. A country that has high levels of inequality is most likely to be in political disputes from time to time. This is when some people feel oppressed by the system. In the past, social rivalry in countries for example in French revolution, were brought about by inequality and oppression in the economy. To avoid a repeat of such things in an economy, the government should ensure there is equality in the economy. Equality can be brought through indirect measures like education, social amenities, and employment (Moore, 2009). Unemployment level Government has a role in creating employment in its country. If the economy is facing high levels of inflation, then the government must put on measures to ensure that the economy produces job opportunities. For an increased employment creation in country, the government should create an atmosphere where local and international investors feel attracted (Minea and Villieu, 2009). Such measures include reduce taxation, offer incentives to investors like tax holidays , investments deductions and offering land for factory settlements. Other than focusing on international and local major investors, the government can undertake different measures to facilitate small-scale investments through small traders and artisan. Finances can be directed to the areas where the government offer loans to deserving population to starts up their own business . Other than business, there are other individual talents that can be tapped and still create employment. This includes sporting activities and enter tainment industry where the government can support youth to engage in such activities (McGee, 2004). Security situation It is the role of the government to ensure that its citizens are protected from internal and external security threats. The state of security in a country will determine the amount of investment that will be directed to this task. There are times that a country may be threatened of an attack, or the security system in the country is not good. In such cases, the budget for security should be increased appropriately. Different times require different security levels, for example, in times of political unrests, high security is required than in times of harmony in a country, so the amount of investment that a country makes in investment is determined by security level in the country (Martin, 2005). Global environment The international community affects the trend of spending in a government. There are times that international relation and trade may require a government to spend higher than in normal circumstances. Currently with globalisation, the world is facing an increased trade among countries. The trade calls for improved infrastructures, communication systems and security along borders. Although these factors benefit an economy, they require the government to make investments in the economy. To facilitate international trade, the government need to invest in good roads to transport goods produced within the country to the departure ports and those coming from abroad to their destinations (Kabelo,  Khalo and Mafunisa, 2007). Communication is crucial in making trading negotiations and contracts where the government should lay good communication systems. International trade does not just happen without government intervention, there is need to control the flow of goods. Through customs depart ment, the government imposes custom duties and tariffs to some imports and exports in its move to collect revenue and protect internal industries. Through borders, some goods that are harmful to a population can get their way; it is the role of the government to ensure that borders are free from such goods. For border security, revenue collection and national companies protection to be effective, the government has to make massive investment in detecting tools like scanners, personnels to patrol the borders and revenue collection officers. Making of ports is capital intensive and thus before such an investment is made the government should ensure that it has analysed the economic benefit of such a move. For example, the decision to make Suez Canal was for trading purposes, it has assisted North African countries like Egypt, however, maintaining high standards in such an entry is an expensive practice (Jà ¼rgen and Wagner, 2004) Technology Scientific innovation and inventions have resulted to an increase in technology in the world. Efficient technology assists a county to produce goods and services effectively with maximum utilisation of resources. The government has a role to play in technological development and adoption in the economy. This can be through its own adoption of technology in its systems or it can be creating an environment that enables companies to adopt technology. There are times that the government controls the rate of technological adoption in its economy. For example in Kenya, the government is opposing the use of tea plucking machines by tea growing factories since it believes that the number of jobs that will be lost as a result are going to harm the economy. To enhance adoption of technology, the government have sometimes offered incentives to those companies with high technology like tax incentives to facilitate further technology use (Hyman, 2007) Environmental concerns The world is having increased concerns about environmental damage. International bodies have enacted rules and regulations to be followed in its efforts to reduce environmental damage. Such international regulations include Kyoto protocol on green gas emission where signatories were expected to reduce their production of green house gasses (Howard, 1992). To facilitate moves that protect the environment, the government is involved in different activities that aim at corporate and to individuals. It has put on measure that reduces the amount of emission from industry. Such measures include taxation on carbon emission, having national environmental control policies and programs, offering tax incentive and facilitating technology adoption (Bradford, Auerbach and Shaviro, 2000). The rate of investments in a country The investment environment in countries determines the rate of investment in a country. When the environments are not attracting investments, then the government has to undertake strategic measures to ensure that it has facilitated investments. This can be through targeting certain industries, which are crucial for investment decisions in a country, and enhancing their capabilities in attracting investments (Gstoettner and Jensen, 2010). For example, the energy sector is important for economic development and attracting investment. The government can control prices in such an industry and cover the deficit. This will make investors attracted by the low rate of production cost offered by such moves. In countries like China, the government have used this consideration to devise measure that reduces the rate of investment. There are times that the government becomes the investor in come strategic industries, which are considered low income generating. This is in the move to ensure that all essential products and services are available in a country (Blanca and   Wodon, 2006) Economic deficits and Balances of payments There are times that a country may be facing economic and balance of payments deficits. The deficits harm an economy, the government requires to take strategic decisions to ensure these deficits are cured. In cases of economic deficits, it means that a government will not be able to finance all budget activities in a particular year or periods. It may be forces to offer some government bonds and bills, which are offered at a cost to the public. It may also decide to sell its products to raise money to finance its deficit. The right move to make in such case is determines the decision made by the government (Bastable, 2003) International trade brings about balances of payments (B.O.P.). For a healthy economy without a deficit in balance of payment, then imports should be of a lower cost than exports. To facilitate an increase export, or reduce importation, the government have a role to play. In facilitation of exports, the government offers incentives to exporters to increase their exportation. These incentives may be subsidies in production. To discourage importation, the government can increase taxes charged to imports and empower local companies to produce goods that were otherwise imported. When a country has a healthy balance of payment, its currency is strong making its goods and services competitive in the international markets (Arye, 2003) Conclusion Modern economies are mostly capitalists, where forces of demand and supply determine prices. Government intervention in these economies is minimal but important. Government intervenes in economies to facilitate an appropriate economic growth rate and protect citizens from violation of their constitutional rights. It uses monetary and fiscal policies to control the economy. Before making an investment decision, government consider economic, political, social, global and environmental implication of such decision. Maintain political stability in a county is an important role of the government. The right decision to make is one that results to increased welfare of majority in the country.

Oedipus, the Cursed Man Essay -- Oedipus the King Oedipus Rex

Oedipus, the Cursed Man      Ã‚  Ã‚   Have you ever had one of those days when it seems that everything is against you, that life could not look any bleaker than it does right now? We have all had moments like those, but nothing can compare to the feeling Oedipus had on that dreadful day when he found out that he was cursed by the gods, destined to kill his father and marry his mother. This tragic story of the cursed man is told in Sophocles' play, Oedipus the King. This essay will examine one of Oedipus' speeches, found in lines 1183 - 1194, made before he learns of his appalling fate. It is a passage full of dramatic irony. We, the audience, know the truth. Even Jocasta has just come to realize the facts, but Oedipus is still unaware of the impending doom.    Let it burst! Whatever will, whatever must! I must know my birth, no matter how common it may be-I must see my origins face-to-face. She perhaps, she with her woman's pride may well be mortified by my birth, but I, I count myself the son of Chance, the great goddess, giver of all good things- I'll never see myself disgraced. She is my mother! And the moons have marked me out, my blood brothers, one moon on the wane, the next moon great with power. That is my blood, my nature-I will never betray it, never fail to search and learn my birth! (Oedipus lines 1183-1194)    The passage begins with Oedipus crying, "Let it burst! Whatever will, whatever must! / I must know my birth, no matter how common / it may be-I must see my origins face-to-face" (lines 1183 - 1185). He is eager to know his past, no matter how ugly it may be. He believes the truth can be no worse than learning that he comes from a humbl... ...ldren and siblings. Again, the audience knows the truth and wishes the opposite of what Oedipus persevered to discover. The reader wishes that he would indeed give up the search to find his true origins. It will only result in ending his life in horrific misery.    This short yet heartfelt speech made by Oedipus before he learns of his fate is packed with dramatic irony. He is blinded to the truth, but the readers are entirely aware of his dreadful fame. This makes the speech all the more painful and wrenching for the audience. Oh how we must pity a king like Oedipus, the cursed man. May what happened to him never happen to another.    Work Cited Sophocles, Oedipus the King. Trans. Robert Fagles. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. 2nd ed. Vol. A. Ed. Sarah Lawall and Maynard Mack. New York: Norton, 2002. 617-658.         

A Review of Rene Descartes Meditations on First Philosophy

INTRODUCTION This article is a summary of Rene Descarte’s Meditation on First Philosophy. It seeks, as permitted by the Meditator himself, in his letter to the reader, to examine his treatise with the possibility of instituting change if necessary. †¦I doubt not, if you but condescend to pay so much regard to this treatise as to be willing in the first place to correct it (for mindful not only of my humanity, but chiefly also of my ignorance, I do not affirm that it is free from errors); in the second place to supply what is wanting in it, to perfect what is incomplete, and to give more ample illustration where it is demanded, or at least to indicate these defects to myself that i may endeavour to remedy them;1He starts his meditations which spans over a period of six days by sitting himself, I dare say, comfortably, by the fire side†¦ MEDITATION I SKEPTICAL DOUBT IN THE First Meditation, the meditator expounds the grounds on which we may doubt generally all things, and especially material objects, so long at least, as we have no other foundations for the sciences than those we have before now possessed. The meditator was struck by how many false things he had believed, and by how doubtful the structure of beliefs he had based on them.He realized that if he wanted to establish anything in the sciences that was stable and likely to last, he needed – just once – to demolish everything completely and start again from the foundations. I can do this without showing that all my beliefs are false, which is probably more than I could ever manage. My reason tells me that as well as withholding assent from propositions that are obviously false, I should also withhold it from ones that are not completely certain and indubitable.So all I need, for the purpose of rejecting all my opinions, is to find in each of them at least some reason for doubt. I can do this without going through them one by one, which would take forever: once 1 Rene Descar tes, Meditations on First Philosophy, (Start Publishing LLC: eBook edition, 2012) kobo file. the foundations of a building have been undermined, the rest collapses of its own accord; so I will go straight for the basic principles on which all my former beliefs rested. Whatever I have accepted until now as most true has come to me through my senses.But occasionally I have found that they have deceived me, and it is unwise to trust completely those who have deceived us even once. 2 The Meditator goes further to say that although our sense perceptions deceive us yet one could not possibly doubt all of what one has come to know through the senses for example, his seating by the fire, clothed in a winter dressing gown or that he is truly in possession of this arms and legs. This led to what is popularly referred to as the dream argument where he argues that; I often have perceptions very much like the ones I usually have in sensation while I am dreaming.There are no definite signs to dis tinguish dream experience from waking experience. therefore, It is possible that I am dreaming right now and that all of my perceptions are false3 Objection to the dream argument: It could be argued that the images we form in dreams can only be composed of bits and pieces of real experience combined in novel ways. Therefore, Although we have reason to doubt the surface perceptual qualities of our perception, we have no reason to doubt the properties that we perceive the basic components of our experience to have. In particular, there is no reason to doubt the mathematical properties that material bodies in general have. )4 The First Meditation can thus be seen as presenting skeptical doubts as a subject of study in their own right. Certainly, skepticism is a much discussed and hotly debated topic in philosophy, even today. Descartes was noticeably the first to raise the mystifying question of how we can claim to know with certainty anything about the world around us. The idea is not that these doubts are 2 â€Å"Rene Descartes 1639.Meditations on First Philosophy in which are demonstrated the existence of God and the distinction between the human soul and the body. † marxists. org. n. p. n. d.. http://www. marxists. org/reference/archive/ descartes/1639/meditations. htm (accessed April 10, 2013). 3 Banach, David. â€Å"An Outline of Descartes's Meditations on First Philosophy. † anslem. edu. Creative Commons License. 2006. http://www. anselm. edu/homepage/dbanach/medol. htm (accessed April 10, 2013). 4 Banach, ‘An Outline†¦ philosophy. ’ op. cit. robable, but that their possibility can never be entirely ruled out. And if we can never be certain, how can we claim to know anything? Skepticism cuts straight to the heart of the Western philosophical enterprise and its attempt to provide a certain foundation for our knowledge and understanding of the world. It can even be pushed so far as to be read as a challenge to our very notion of rationality. Skepticism cannot be lived, we as individuals cannot possibly doubt everything as this will lead to an infinite regress.We should note that Descartes' doubt is a methodological and rational doubt. That is, the Meditator is not just doubting everything at random, but is providing solid reasons for his doubt at each stage. For instance, he rejects the possibility that he might be mad, since that would undercut the rationality that motivates his doubt. Descartes is trying to set up this doubt within a rational framework, and needs to maintain a claim to rationality for his arguments to proceed. MEDITATION II OF THE NATURE OF THE HUMAN MIND; AND THAT IT IS MORE EASILY KNOWN THAN THE BODYDay two of the meditation sees the meditator still in doubt, following Archimedes, the meditator attempts to find a starting point or at least one point which he would not doubt. I will nevertheless, make an effort, and try anew the same path on which I had entered yesterday, that is, pro ceed by casting aside all that admits of the slightest doubt, not less than if I had discovered it to be absolutely false; and will continue always in this track until I shall find something that is certain, or at least, if I can do nothing more, until I shall know with certainty that there is nothing certain.Archimedes, that he might transport the entire globe from the place it occupied to another, demanded only a point that was firm and immovable; so, also, I shall be entitled to entertain the highest expectations, if I am fortunate enough to discover only one thing that is certain and indubitable. 5 Recalling the previous meditation, he supposes that what he sees does not exist, that his memory is faulty, that he has no senses and no body, that extension, movement and place are mistaken notions. Perhaps, he remarks, the only certain thing remaining is that there is no certainty. Descartes, ‘On†¦ Philosophy. ’ op. cit. kobo file The meditator then wonders, is he not, the source of these meditations? (that is after doubting his existence; of his body and senses) does that mean he cannot exist either? He has also noted that the physical world does not exist, which might also seem to imply his nonexistence. And yet to have these doubts, he must exist. For an evil demon to mislead him in all these cunnuing ways, he must exist in order to be misled. There must be an â€Å"I† that can doubt, be deceived, and so on.He formulates the famous cogito argument, saying: â€Å"So that it must, in fine, be maintained, all things being maturely and carefully considered, that this proposition (pronunciatum) I am, I exist, is necessarily true each time it is expressed by me or conceived in my mind. â€Å"6 The cogito argument is so called because of its Latin formulation in the Discourse on Method: â€Å"cogito ergo sum† (â€Å"I think, therefore I am†). This is possibly the most famous single line in all of philosophy, and is generall y considered the starting point for modern Western philosophy.In it, the Meditator finds his first grip on certainty after the radical skepticism he posited in the First Meditation. The cogito presents a picture of the world and of knowledge in which the mind is something that can know itself better than it can know anything else. 7 The latter part of the Second Meditation dwells largely on the â€Å"Wax Argument† with which the meditator hopes to show that we come to know things through the intellect rather than through the senses and that we know the mind better than anything else. His argument focuses on the process of change by which solid wax melts into a liquid puddle.The senses seem to tell us things about the world, and Descartes admits that what we know about the solid piece of wax we know through the senses. The senses can similarly inform us about the melted wax, but they cannot tell us that the melted wax and the solid wax are one and the same. Nor, the meditator argues, can the imagination. Only the intellect can organize and make sense of what we perceive. The senses only perceive a disconnected jumble of information: the intellect is what helps us to understand it. 6 7 ibid, kobo file. SparkNotes Editors. â€Å"SparkNote on Meditations on First Philosophy. † SparkNotes LLC. n. d.. ttp:// www. sparknotes. com/philosophy/meditations/ (accessed April 12, 2013). MEDITATION III. OF GOD: THAT HE EXISTS At the beginning of Meditation III, the meditator finds a whole host of truths which he holds we can know for certain. These truths involve the causal or representational theory of perception. This theory holds that we directly perceive ideas which are caused by objects in the external world. Descartes claims that we can know for certain that we are seeing a particular idea (of the sun or the stars or this room or that tree), what we don't know for certain is if there is a sun or stars or a room or tree ausing our ideas). The meditator goe s on to produce a criterion for truths which we can know for absolute certainty. He does this by reflecting on those truths which he has already discovered using the method of doubt, and determines that what they all have in common is that the ideas in them are all clear and distinct. Thus any truth composed of clear and distinct ideas can be known for certain. Descartes then proceeds to try to move from the foundation, to determine what truths might be based on those truths. The first thing he must do, as it turns out is to prove that God exists!Without doing this he cannot get rid of the Evil Demon hypothesis. 8 When considering God as â€Å"a substance that is infinite, eternal, immutable, independent, supremely intelligent, supremely powerful, and which created both myself and everything else,† the Meditator realizes that the idea of God must have far more objective reality than he has formal reality: God is an infinite substance whereas he is only a finite substance. Sin ce the idea of God cannot have originated in himself, he concludes that God must be the cause of this idea and must therefore necessarily exist.The Meditator counters the argument that he might conceive of an infinite being through negation, that is, through conceiving of it in contrast to his own finite being. Doubts and desires come from an understanding that we lack something, and we would not be aware of that lack unless we were aware of a more perfect being that has those things which we lack. While he can doubt the existence of other things, he cannot doubt the existence of God, since he has such a clear and distinct perception 8OSU. â€Å"the meditations. † n. p. n. d. ttp://oregonstate. edu/instruct/phl302/philosophers/meditations. html (accessed April 13,2013). of God's existence. The idea has infinite objective reality, and is therefore more likely to be true than any other idea. The Meditator then entertains the possibility that he may be supremely perfect, that al l his deficiencies are potentialities within him, and that he is slowly improving toward perfection. If perfection is a potentiality within him, then it is plausible that the idea of God could be conceived in him without any outside cause.The Meditator rejects this possibility for three reasons: first, God is all actual and not at all potential; second, if he is constantly improving, he will never attain that perfection where there is no room for improvement; and third, potential being is not being at all: the idea of God must be caused by something with infinite actual being. If the Meditator could exist without God, he would have come to be out of herself, or from his parents, or from some other being less perfect than God. If he derived his existence from himself, there is no reason that he should have doubts and desires.He also cannot escape this reasoning by supposing he has always existed and never had to come into being. There is no reason that he should continue to exist unl ess there is some force that preserves him, that creates him anew at every instant. As a thinking thing, he should be aware of that power of preservation though it came from within him. If his parents or some other imperfect being created him, this creator must have endowed him with the idea of God. If this creator is a finite being, we must still ask with respect to it how it came to possess the idea of an infinite God.We can trace this chain back through countless creators, but we must ultimately conclude that the idea of God can originate only in God, and not in some finite being. We can thus sum up the third meditation: Every idea must be caused, and the cause must be as real as the idea. If I have any idea of which I cannot be the cause, then something besides me must exist. All ideas of material reality could have their origin within me. But the idea of God, an infinite and perfect being, could not have originated from within me, since I am finite and imperfect. I have an idea of God, and it can only have been caused by God.Therefore God exists. 9 Anderson, JT. â€Å"Summary of Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy. † n. p. 1999. http://home. sandiego. edu/ ~janderso/10/descart. html. ( accessed April 13, 2013). 9 MEDITATION IV OF TRUTH AND ERROR The Fourth Meditation, subtitled â€Å"Truth and falsity,† opens with the Meditator reflecting on the ground he has covered so far, observing that all his certain knowledge, and in particular the most certain knowledge that God exists, comes from the intellect, and not from the senses or the imagination. Now that he is certain of God's existence, a great deal more can follow.First, he knows that God would not deceive him, since the will to deceive is a sign of weakness or malice, and God's perfection would not allow it. Second, if God created him, God is responsible for his judgment, and so his faculty of judgment must be infallible so long as he uses it correctly. One wonders then following f rom the evil demon argument and the third meditation on the existence of God, how then error comes to play if God is too perfect to be infallible yet He (God) is responsible for our judgement? Error, the meditator believes comes from improper use of our intellect, i. e. in judging things we do not really know.Summation of the fourth meditation is thus: Only an imperfect (less than perfectly good) being could practice deliberate deception. Therefore, God is no deceiver. Since my faculty of judgment comes from God, I can make no mistake as long as I use it properly. But it is not an infinite faculty; I make mistakes when I judge things that I don't really know. God also gave me free will, which is infinite and therefore extends beyond my finite intellect. This is why it is possible to deceive myself: I am free to jump to conclusions or to proclaim as knowledge things that I don't know with absolute certainty.I therefore know now that if I know something with absolute certainty (clearl y and distinctly), then I cannot be mistaken, because God is no deceiver. The correct way to proceed is to avoid mistakes and limit my claims to knowledge to those things I know clearly and distinctly. 10 The Meditator also questions why a supremely good God would not create us with infinite being. In sum, we are given a variant on the answer, â€Å"The Lord works in mysterious ways. † The Meditator suggests that God's motives are beyond our meager comprehension.While on our own, we may be seen as imperfect, we are only a small part of a much larger creation. We might think of a steering wheel on its own as rather useless and imperfect, but when we see it in the larger context of a car, we understand that it is perfectly designed to suit its purpose. 11 10 Anderson, 11 ‘Summary of†¦ Philosophy. ’ op. cit. Sparknote Editors, ‘Sparknotes on†¦ Philosophy. ’ op. cit. MEDITATION V OF THE ESSENCE OF MATERIAL THINGS; AND, AGAIN OF GOD;THAT HE EXIS TS The Fifth Meditation opens with the Meditator turning his attention toward material objects.Rather than inquire into the things themselves, he inquires into her ideas regarding material things. He concludes that he can distinctly imagine extension, size, shape, position, and local motion, which is associated with duration. The Meditator has reasons here that a triangle must have all the properties he ascribes to it, because the triangle exists as an idea in his mind and he clearly and distinctly perceives all these properties. He then reasons by analogy that God exists as an idea in his mind and he clearly and distinctly perceives all of his qualities.One of these qualities is existence, so it follows from his clear and distinct perception that God must exist. If existence is the essence of God, then God would not be God if he did not exist, just as a triangle would not be a triangle if it were not three-sided. At the very least, then, the existence of God must be as certain as t he properties of mathematical and geometrical objects since he can prove them in the same way. Does this mean that thinking of something means that it exists? According to the meditator; If I conceive of a triangle, I must conceive of a figure whose angles equal two right angles.But it doesn't follow that the triangle must exist. But God is different. God, being perfect, is the one being to whom existence must belong. Thus, when I conceive of God, I must conceive of a being that exists. Because God, being perfect, is not a deceiver, I know that once I have perceived something clearly and distinctly to be true, it will remain true, even if later I forget the reasoning that led me to that conclusion. I could not have this certainty about anything if I did not know God. 12 The proof of God's existence found here is a version of a proof that was popular among the Scholastic philosophers.Our idea of God is the idea of a perfect being, and one of the attributes of a perfect being would be existence, since it is more perfect to exist than not to exist. In Descartes' formulation, existence is not just an attribute, but an essential property of God's, so that God cannot be conceived of without existence. This proof, however, rests on the faulty assumption, first pointed out by Kant, that existence is a predicate or a property, like â€Å"being red† or â€Å"being tall. † In fact, â€Å"exists† is a very different kind of predicate than â€Å"is red† or â€Å"is tall. † The predicate â€Å"exists† does not 12Anderson, ‘Summary of†¦ Philosophy. ’ op. cit. modify an object so much as it modifies the world. If I say â€Å"the red car exists,† the property of redness is something that modifies the car. On the other hand, â€Å"exists† does not modify the car so much as it says that the world is such that the car is in it. In that sense, â€Å"exists† is not a property of the car. 13 MEDITATION VI OF THE EXISTENCE OF MATERIAL THINGS, AND OF THE REAL DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE MIND AND BODY OF MAN The meditator starts his sixth and last meditation by drawing a line between imagination and pure understanding.In the case of a triangle, he can perceive that a triangle is three-sided and derive all sorts of other properties using the understanding alone. He can also perceive these properties with the imagination, by picturing the triangle in his mind's eye. However, the weaknesses of the imagination become clear when he considers a thousand-sided figure which the meditator calls a ‘chiliogon. ’14 It is very difficult to picture it in his mind's eye, and more difficult still to differentiate that mental image from the mental image of a 999-sided figure.The pure understanding, however, dealing only in mathematical relations, can perceive all the properties of a thousand-sided figure just as easily as it can a triangle. The imagination cannot be an essential property of his mind, since the Meditator could still exist even if he could not imagine. Therefore, the imagination must rely on something other than the mind for its existence. The Meditator conjectures that the imagination is connected with the body, and thus allows the mind to picture corporeal or tangible objects.In understanding, the mind turns inward upon itself, and in imagining, the mind turns outward toward the body. The Meditator admits that this is only a strong conjecture, and not a definitive proof of the existence of body. The Meditator then turns to reflect on what he perceives by means of the senses. He perceives he has a body that exists in a world, and that this body can experience pleasure, pain, emotion, hunger, etc. , 13 14 Sparknote Editors, ‘Sparknotes on†¦ Philosophy. ’ op. cit. Descartes, ‘On†¦ Philosophy. ’ op. cit. kobo file. nd can perceive other bodies with extension, shape, movement, hardness, heat, color, smell, taste, etc. He thinks it not unreasonable to suppose that these perceptions all come from some outside source. They come to him involuntarily, and they are so much more vivid than the perceptions he consciously creates in his own mind. It would be odd to suggest that he can involuntarily create perceptions so much more vivid than the ones he creates voluntarily. And if they come from without, it is only natural to suppose that the source of these sensory ideas in some way resemble the ideas themselves.From this point of view, it is very easy to convince oneself that all knowledge comes from without via the senses. 15 What Descartes understands by â€Å"body† is somewhat counter-intuitive and is closely linked to his physics, which is not made readily apparent in the Meditations. This section of commentary will depart a bit from the text it comments on in order to clarify some concepts of Cartesian physics. The entirety of Cartesian physics rests on the claim that extension is the primary at tribute of body, and that nothing more is needed to explain or understand body. Extension† means extended in space, and so a body is anything that occupies space. We should recall that Descartes was also a great mathematician, and invented both analytic geometry and the coordinate system that now bears his name. Descartes' physics is highly mathematical, and we should understand bodies as anything that could be graphed in coordinate space. 16 ON THE MIND BODY DUALISM The Meditator muses that he has been puzzled as to why his mind seems particularly attached to one particular body, which he calls his own. Why does he feel pain and tickling in this body but not in any body external to it?And why should a tugging in the stomach of that body suggest to his mind that he should eat, since there is no obvious connection between the tugging and the decision to eat? He concludes that he is inclined by nature to assume the things he does about his body and about the world external to it , since he accepts these assumptions prior to developing any arguments regarding them. The Meditator reasons that imagination and sensory perception are modes of thought. He could conceive of himself without imagination or sensory perception, so they are not essential to him, but 15 16Sparknote Editors, ‘Sparknotes on†¦ Philosophy. ’ op. cit. ibid imagination and sensory perception could not exist without a mind to contain them. Similarly, there are modes of extension that cannot exist without a body to contain them. The Meditator next considers those ideas about body that he perceives only confusedly and obscurely, hoping that his knowledge that God is not a deceiver will help him further. First, he reasons that he must have a body, as nature teaches that to him more vividly than anything. Further, mind and body are intermingled to form one unit.If the mind were in the body like a sailor in a ship, he would be able to perceive pains and hungers by purely intellect ual understanding. Instead, he feels these sensations sharply and directly as if his mind itself were suffering. The confused modes of thinking that arise with respect to these sensations result precisely because the mind and body are intermingled and the mind cannot survey the matter disinterestedly. The Meditator argues that mind and body have nothing in common, so they must be two totally distinct substances.We could point out that Clark Kent and Superman are very dissimilar and are yet the same thing, and so argue by analogy that mind and body might be two very different ways of looking at the same thing. However, even the primary attributes of mind and body are different. Body is essentially extended, whereas mind is non-extended and essentially thinking. Since the two are totally different, the Meditator concludes that he is only mind, and not body. This is a step beyond what is stated by the sum res cogitans in the Second Meditation, as there the Meditator asserts that he onl y knows that he is a thinking thing.This sharp distinction between mind and body is called â€Å"mind-body dualism† and has had tremendous impact on Western philosophy ever since. If sensory experience is in the mind and the bodies that cause our sensations are in the world, the question arises as to how the two can causally interact. What is the connection between mind and world? This has been a great concern in particular for the rationalist philosophers that followed Descartes–Malebranche, Spinoza, and Leibniz being the most important–as well as for philosophy of mind in general ever since. 17 17 ibid. CONCLUSIONThe mind and the body if held as totally distinct from each other leaves no room for interaction. The mind becomes a separate entity as well as the body. The body is extended and occupies space, it is measureable, visible and degenarates hence the body is matter. The mind however is a direct opposite. It cannot be measured, it is not visible and does not occupy space. Also, since the body is extended in three dimensional space, it can be divided into specific parts, the mind however does not occupy space and cannot be divided. The nature of the body according to Descartes was that, unlike the mind it was divisible. 8 â€Å"There is a great difference between mind and body, inasmuch as body is by nature always divisible, and the mind is entirely indivisible. â€Å"19 How then an immaterial mind (that Descartes denied had a location in space) moves a physical body that does, how a body consisting of space-occupying matter influence an immaterial mind remains a philosophical problem, I dare say, beyond any discuss in the philosophy of mind, a metaphysical problem that the whole discipline of philosophy up till date is yet to find a solution to. 18 ‘Rene Descartes. ’ n. p. 2002. ttp://www. renedescartes. com/essay/rene_descartes_essay_001. htm (accessed April 13,2013). 19 ibid. Further Readings Meditations on First Ph ilosophy in which are demonstrated the existence of God and the distinction between the human soul and body Rene Descartes Copyright  ©2010–2015 All rights reserved. Jonathan Bennett Foundationalism, Epistemic Principles, and the Cartesian Circle James Van Cleve The Philosophical Review Vol. 88, No. 1 (Jan. , 1979), pp. 55-91 Published by: Duke University Press Article Stable URL: http://www. jstor. org/stable/2184779