Protestant Reformation and economy

Introduction Social activist have been trying to determine the relationship between religion and economic growth especially during the medieval times in Europe and America. It has been argued that the emergence of Protestants from the Catholic Church had a positive effect in the economic growth. This is because Protestants had a capitalist ideology while the Catholics still held on to the socialist ideologies, which hindered economic growth.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Protestant Reformation and economy specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More England and Netherlands for example attribute their economic growth during the 17th and 18th century to the change in their religion from the traditional Catholic beliefs. At the same time Spain and Italy saw a decline in their economy and political stability during the same period. Many scholars speculate that this fall might be due to the fact that these empires still held on to the traditional Catholic beliefs. Max Weber theory Many scholars have come up with theories which have tried to explain the relationship of Protestantism and economic growth during the medieval times. One of the strongest theories was put forward by Max Weber in his essay which was released in 1905 called Protestant Ethic (Cantoni 1). To this date historians, scientists and sociologists have never come to an agreement on the correct meaning of Weber’s ideas. However, during the early days, the essay was understood in its simplest terms where people believed that economic growth was tightly related to the changes in religion which were experienced during the sixteenth and seventieth century. With time, different people had different interpretation of the essay which brought about arguments as a result of difference in ideologies that people had. The sixteenth century is a period where Europe and America experienced a lot of economic changes. Much of these changes had alrea dy been experienced even before the period of reformation. However, it is during the reformation period that drastic changes occurred in the economy. That is why many scholars like Weber believe that the change in religion might have changed people’s ideologies, triggering economic growth. When people started to embrace the new religious ideologies they also developed the concept of capitalism, a key factor that led to economic growth over the years. This led to the development of trade on a credit system and the development of companies and trade unions. The western civilization was engaged in mass importation of sugar, silver and gold. There was also a massive increase in the Trans-Atlantic slave trade which involved large amounts of money that led to the development of the Atlantic coastal cities. This led to a shift in trade from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic as a result of the good market that the Atlantic region was offering. As a result some merchants became very r ich thus spread their businesses to new regions defying the rules which were set up by the state or the church most of which were governed by catholic beliefs. During these times many people enjoyed monopolies and thus imposed high lending rates to the loans which they offered to people.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In his essay Weber assumed that the western civilization was distinguished from other societies by its spirit of capitalism. This is because most of the people in these societies were Protestants and they embrace the worldly asceticism a reaction to the doctrine of predestination. He believed that greed and the love of making money were the key elements behind capitalism. Supporters of Weber’s Work Kemper Fullerton was one of the people who defended the works of Weber. He said that people have been having the element of greed all their lives but the con straints in the society suppressed this feeling. He believed that the elements of capitalism had been present in all societies but lacked the right of environment to sprout out. This is because the traditional religion and the early church were against the activities which would have led to the development of capitalism in the society. Weber also discovered that there was a difference between the lifestyles of the people who were Catholics and Protestants and that this difference could not have been just a matter of chance but it held some elements of truth behind it all. Therefore, Calvinism ethos resulted in the emergence of capitalism in the medieval societies. That is why Weber referred to Benjamin Franklin as the father of capitalism. Franklin most famous phrase was; time is money. People therefore needed to work hard all the time and make as much as they can because once time is gone it cannot be bought back. Therefore to capitalists, making money is more of a passion. As stat ed earlier, Weber believed that Protestantism had a direct influence to capitalism. In his thesis Weber looked at two villages in ancient Germany (during the sixteenth century). One village had Catholic believers while the other had protestants, mainly Lutherans. These two villages therefore offered extreme conditions for his studies. He managed to notice that Protestants earned more income as compared to the Catholics. He also noticed that the Protestants attended technical schools while Catholics attended liberal art schools. He therefore concluded that Calvinism was successful in instilling the notion that work and moneymaking was a vocation. This attitude thus could have been the avenue through which capitalism rose through into the modern society during the medieval times which later led to industrialization and economic growth in Europe and North America. As a matter of fact, many religious scholars also point out that Calvinism was a means through which bourgeois and urbaniza tion developed from which finally led to the growth of businesses, the economy and industrialization.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Protestant Reformation and economy specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More People thus became rational and developed industrious spirits since they knew that hard work led to success at the end of the day. People therefore dedicated much of their time in commercial activities and accumulation of capital. Calvinists cities also approved imposition of interest rates on money borrowed especially for commercial purposes, a thing which the catholic cities had refused to approve. Interest earned from money earned made the lender to feel the value of his money and also gave them extra money to invest in other businesses. This made the economy of protestant cities to be much stronger compared to catholic cities. One should thus expect as a result of these theories that protestant cities had a st ronger economic growth as compared to catholic cities especially if the cities had a strong potential in commerce and trade. Other theories suggest that the rise in Protestantism changed people beliefs and ideologies. These changes had a positive impact in the development of the spirit of commerce in individuals. This is because these beliefs had a form of economic teachings to the people who believed in them. Some branches of Protestantism like the puritans and pietists might have led to the emergence of modern science. The protestant teachings also stressed on individual freedom and flexibility in life which might have made individuals to be open to modern ideas. If these theories are true then Protestantism might have played a huge role in economic development and industrial revolution during the medieval times. Other scholars suggest that trust is a major element in the development of strong economic ties and market exchange. In ancient civilization when cities were under the ca tholic rule there was lack of trust even among the leaders of the society. This is because the hierarchical leadership under Catholicism discouraged horizontal ties among people leading to lack of trust in these individuals. Hierarchical states thus performed in a somewhat poor manner in terms of political stability, economic development, civic participation, development of infrastructure and corporations. Further studies on the issue show that Protestants are not likely to lie on taxes, take a bribe but might easily trust a stranger unlike Catholics who do not easily trust strangers, teach their young ones thrift and do not deal well with competitions. This might be reasons why Protestant states grew stronger in terms of development as compared to Catholic states.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More To expound further on the theory, it is believed that Protestants Cities taught their people how to read and write thus they were literate unlike the people living in catholic cities. They therefore could read and interpret the bible on their own which may have lead to the accumulation of human capital. This may have led to the development of the industrial economy by the Protestants especially during the nineteenth century. A classical example of this was in the Prussian communities who were mainly Lutherans and were taught how to read and write while they were in elementary schools. They thus became literate and acquired much wealth both in the cities and on the countryside which gave them a strong base of economic capital. Historians have gone on to analyze deeper the work of Weber and discovered that his work had a global and universal application. They say that he might have invented the term rationality as a key aspect to the development of modern capitalism. In his thesis, th e term rationality distinguished modern capitalism from other forms of development. According to these historians, rationalization in an individual can be measured as the degree which magical thoughts and beliefs are replaced. These thoughts and beliefs are strong in individuals who believe in ancient religion such as Islam, Catholicism and other ancient religions. This is because the orientation of religion contemplates on magical beliefs which hinder economic development. That is why dominant religions of the world during the medieval times did not have a strong economic base. The people who believed in the doctrine of predestination, the bible was seen as a sole authority which put an individual directly before God. This had the effect of displacing the magical beliefs which were the key elements of the ancient religion giving an individual the chance to get in touch with God directly and to make his own decision. This is the point at which individuals started to become rational in their thoughts and behavior. It came as a result of them being able to decide what they want and what they did not want. In the end capitalism emerged as the people had the thirst of making money and gathering capital. Calvinism thus led to the spirit of capitalism to develop in the people who believed in this new religion. Critics of Weber’s work However, not all historians and scholars were in line with Weber’s thoughts and beliefs of the development of capitalism. This is because Weber believed that capitalism developed as a result of the reformation that led to the development of Protestantism. Some scholars and historians argue otherwise since they believe that capitalism had long been experienced in the western civilization before the period of the reformation. It is just during this period that much of the development of capitalism was experienced and that is why Weber and other scholars think that capitalism may have been related to Protestantism. A theory w hich was advanced to critic the work of Weber was referred to as Leuthy Thesis (Wright 5). It was advanced by Herbert Leuthy, an Italian politician. This theory is in line with Weber’s thesis that the western civilization is characterized by the ideology of rationalism amongst individuals. However, it rejects the fact that capitalism and economic development during this period is related to Protestantism. According to Leuthy, the development of all sectors of the economy such as technology, economy, development of the mind and the liberation of man’s personality were related to the spirit of wealth accumulation which preceded the reformation in all parts of the western civilization. However, the other half of Europe did not experience these developments because of inquisition and trials based on heresy. In Calvinist Europe on the other hand, spiritual liberation was connected with the dropping of submission and fear, factors which led to the development of the modern c ulture that embraced capitalism. As a result, radical changes took place in the society. People started to apply and pursue scientific knowledge while the need of democracy in the society started to emerge. Meanwhile, a move to counter the reformation that was led by catholic scholars discouraged a free market which the forces of demand and supply determined the price of goods and services; a market which the Calvinist had established. These catholic scholars followed the beliefs of Aristotle which stated that an ideal market should be composed of natural goods which were mainly agricultural in nature. Businesses such as loaning money for interest and selling of goods for a profit were discouraged. The people who believed in the Roman Catholic religion were unable to adjust to the changes which had hit the market. They saw that this new culture was against the beliefs and practices of their religion. They therefore rejected to be involved in the market and economic activities leavin g those who were actively involved to wallow in sin. All these events had taken place even before the reformation and led to casuistry. According to Leuthy, Calvinism did not favor casuistry and led to its decline after the reformation started to be experienced. Protestantism only legitimatized capitalism which made people to have a true and natural economic spirit. It also clearly differentiated between private charity and acquired economic activities, things the Catholic Church was against. Due to the poor beliefs of the Catholic Church, many merchants and liberal Erasmian fled the religion and joined Protestantism bringing in their talents and skills. In their previous societies, merchants and Erasmians worked as subjects of the rulers, but in these new lands they actually earned money from their services leading to a rise in their living standards. Another scholar who differed with the works of Weber was Luther. He did not encourage avarice or greed. Avarice makes money to be de emed as the most necessary thing in life even though it cannot be eaten. It should be noted that Luther did not attack the development of trade and commerce. However, he was against their incorrect usage where one individual took advantage of the other in the name of trade. He also complained about usury especially in the advancement of loans where the lenders usually looked for loopholes to make the law to be in their favor. He believed that in the event of loan advancement, a security should be used. If a profit was earned in the process it should be shared between the two parties and losses should also be shared in the same manner. Impact of the Reformation on the Social and Economic Realm This whole argument can be summed up by looking at the impacts of the reformation on the social and economic realm. The works of Weber where the aspect of Calvinism was expounded on and the works of Luther both had a common feature of controlled begging as a means of discouraging poverty in the society. Through these concepts, lending of money started to follow certain stipulated laws and procedures which other economical sectors also started to follow. Drastically with time, capitalism emerged from these practices and beliefs in the society. This therefore led to the establishment of a rational society. Private and individual needs were abandoned and people started to focus on community issues and problems using a secular and rational approach to solve these issues. They people therefore recognized poverty as a bad thing and wealth to be a good thing in the society. That is why almost all communities in the world even at the present moment strive to eradicate poverty from their society and try to attain economic stability so that they can have a stable lifestyle. Conclusion The reformation had drastic impacts on the development of the economy. Although many contrasting theories have been advanced to explain the phenomena, they all have some common elements. During this p eriod people were rebelling against the Catholic Church and started protestant religions which gave the people the freedom to think and choose what is right. The ideologies of rationalism and capitalism developed in them. As a result, the economy of the states which believed in the protestant religion started to grow. This was a positive change in the lifestyle of man and his society. Thanks to the reformation people could now earn from their hard work. This made them appreciate their efforts. People could also engage in numerous economic activities which if carefully planned would earn them a good profit. The increase in income improved their living standards, gave them a chance to expand their businesses and also gave them the chance to come up with new ideas and innovations. In the end the general economy of these societies and of the entire world as a whole grew, revolution in the industrial and scientific world occurred leading to where the world is at the present moment. Works Cited Cantoni, Davide. The Economic Effects of the Protestant Reformation: Testing the  Weber Hypothesis in the German Lands. 2011. Retrieved from www.econ.upf.edu/docs/seminars/cantoni Wright, William. Economic Impact of the Reformation. Age of Reformation. (2003): 1-9. Retreived on 17 March 2011 from www.utc.edu/Faculty/Bill-Wright/ecoimp.pdf This essay on Protestant Reformation and economy was written and submitted by user L1ndsey to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Pond Ecosystem Report

Pond Ecosystem Report Free Online Research Papers The experimental pond ecosystem was polluted with oil to see what the effects would be. Every week our team added three drops of Pennzoil 5w/30 to our experimental pond ecosystem. We took a count of living organisms from our control and experimental groups at two different levels to see what effect the oil had on them. The results were dramatic on the upper level of our experimental pond ecosystem. Many if not most of the living organisms were destroyed, while the lower level was somewhat less impacted. The experimental pond ecosystem showed that pollution by oil is mainly limited to the upper portion of the ecosystem itself. The cause for this unusual circumstance is because of the hydrophobic property of the oil. Introduction: The ideas of pollution in our ponds and lakes are all to real in this day and age. Even in Alaska our streams and lakes are polluted to some degree. The Alaska Department of Natural Resources (2007) has reported that fecal coli-form bacteria, sediment, and petroleum products are the primary source of pollutants of the surface waters in Alaska. With man made natural disasters such as the oil spill of the Exxon Valdez in 1989, our environment has sustained major damage. This accident alone killed many animals and destroyed the natural ecosystem of the region. Greenpeace (2001) has reported that 250,000 to 500,000 sea animals died immediately, not to mention billions of salmon and herring eggs. The effects of the spill are still being felt with lower birth rates and stunted growth of nearly all of the animals impacted. The University of North Carolina (2002) has found that the effects of the Exxon Valdez oil spill are lasting longer than expected. The team estimates that some shoreline habitats may take another thirty years to recover. Before we go any further we should learn a little about what a pond ecosystem is. According to Wikipedia (2006), a pond ecosystem is a specific type of fresh water ecosystem that is largely based on autotroph algae which provide the base trophic level for all life in the area. The largest predator in a pond ecosystem will normally be a fish and in between ranges smaller insects and microorganisms. It may have a scale of organisms from small bacteria to larger creatures. Aquatic ecosystems perform many important environmental functions. For example, they recycle nutrients, purify water, ease flooding, and provide habitats for wildlife. Mini Pond (2004) reports that a pond ecosystem degrades when the ecosystem’s ability to absorb stress has been exceeded. A stress on these ecosystems can be the result of physical, chemical, or biological alterations to the environment. Usually in the pond ecosystem there are two types of organisms. The first is called Autotrophic. These organisms are the producers that generate organic compounds from inorganic material. Algae use solar energy to generate biomass from carbon dioxide and are the most important autotrophic organisms in an aquatic environment. The second type of organism is referred to as Heterotrophic. These are the organisms that consume autotrophic organisms and use the organic compounds in their bodies as an energy source. Our group thought it would be interesting as well as educational to see first hand what the effects of motor oil in a pond ecosystem would have. We believe that the motor oil will have a detrimental effect on the pond ecosystem. We also believe that the upper levels consisting of the algae and Cyan bacteria will be most affected since they are near the top and oil has hydrophobic relationship with water. We do not believe that the organisms in the lower portions of the ecosystem will be impacted as much because the oil will have a harder time reaching them. We also believe that given enough time that the ecosystem as a whole will die due to the lack of algae. Materials and Methods: The material we used in this experiment consists of living organisms and their food stuff. First, I will list the organisms, followed by the amount of food. We used half a pipette for the living organisms and the five milliliter rule for the food. They are as follows. Gloetrichia, Oscillatoria, Anabaena, Chilonas, Paramecium Caudatum, Stentor, and a few drops of Amoeba. The addition of food is as follows; 5g Mgso4 solution, 15g KH2PO4 solution, 10g K2HPO4 solution, 2.5g NaCI solution, 2.5g NaNO3 solution and 2.5g CaCI solution. These materials were added to two separate two liter glass containers filled with purified water and a measured scoop of dirt and gravel respectively. We then labeled each of the two glass jars, one control and the other experiment. During the four week period we introduced Pennzoil 5w/30 to our experimental group once a week using three drops from a dropper. We were careful not to disturb the water as we put the oil in because we did not want the oil to mix, but instead stay on top of the ecosystem. After our first week, we started collecting data from our pond ecosystem. We did this by taking samples with a dropper from the upper and lower regions of the control and the experimental groups. We made wet mount slides of each region and looked at them with the microscopes provided by the laboratory. The process we did for counting the organisms was a simple yet affective approach. We used the field of view approach that is noted in our Introductory Biology Lab book (2007). The book states that you have one field of view per slide. Within this field of view there are five points of interest; top left, top right, middle, bottom left, and bottom right. With the microscope set at 45X, we went to each of the points of interest and did a count of all living organisms. We did this weekly for the control group as well as the experimental group. Results: The results of our pond ecosystem experiment did produce some unusual findings. This may be the direct result of contamination that happened during the first week or to other factors that are unknown. The first graph reveals the results of counting the top layer of the control group. As you can see the Chilomonas were very productive after one week of being in the ecosystem. Likewise, the Amoeba’s were proficient in the second week. By the end of the fourth week all organisms excluding the Oscillatoria had declined. The next slide shows the four week results of the bottom level of the control group. All of the organisms in this group seemed to enjoy a steady increase of offspring. The counts during the fourth week indicate that the Paramecium’s were having a population explosion. The next sets of graphs are from the experimental group. If you remember our experimental ecosystem had 3 drops of oil introduced each week after the first week. As you can see the Oscillatoria and Chilomonas seem to have had a strong growth in population, but by week three everything seemed to be dead or greatly reduced. The last graph shows the bottom count for the experimental ecosystem. As you can see, there was dramatic growth in the second week by the Chilomonas as well as the Oscillatoria. This may be due in fact to an incident of contamination that we will discuss later. By the third week, everything seems to have returned to normal except for the rapid growth of the Stentor group. Discussion: Now that the experiment is over I would like to discuss some of the findings our group came up with. By looking at the graph for the experimental upper level versus the control upper level, one can clearly see that the oil had a negative effect on all of the living organisms in this region. Likewise, the experimental bottom level compared to the control bottom level shows a somewhat lesser amount of organisms. This could be caused by two factors, either the oil was penetrating to the lower level or the organisms were running out of food to consume due to the pollution of the oil on the surface of the ecosystem. Either way, it is clear that oil in the pond ecosystem has an overall effect of pollution causing death. One factor that may explain the substantial rise of organisms in our experimental ecosystem during the second week, was the inadvertent addition of Tetra Fauna Reptoman fish food on October 12, 2007 by a participant in another study. The contents of the fish food are as follows: 42.5% crude protein, 8.5% crude fat, 2% fiber, 8% moisture, 1.8% phosphorus, 25mg calcium and 100mg ascorbic acid. One can tell by comparing the charts from the control and experimental groups that the fish food had a rather dramatic effect on some of the organisms causing a population burst of sorts. In the end, the growth spurt was short lived and the oil had an even more profound effect on the experimental ecosystem. After some debate by my colleagues and me we came to the conclusion that our experimental design should have included the mixing of the oil with the water in the experimental ecosystem. We feel that this would be more representative of what would happen in the natural world. I believe this experiment, even with the introduction of the fish food, was a success. The data clearly shows that the introduction of the motor oil had a detrimental effect on the microorganisms that lived in our experimental group, more so on the upper level than the lower level. I would have to conclude that our original hypothesis was correct. : Alaska Department of natural Resources, division of mining, land and water. (2007). Retrieved on 10/05/2007, from http://dnr.state.ak.us. Greenpeace, The Exxon Valdez oil spill fifteen years later. (2004) Retrieved on 10/22/2007, from greenpeace.org. Mini-Ponds. To investigate diversity in a pond water ecosystem. (2004). Retrieved on 10/15/2007, from science-class.net. University of Anchorage Alaska, (2007). Introductory Biology lab book, wet mount micro-slide. Pg. PE4. Wikipedia. (2004) Aquatic Organisms. Retrieved on 11/25/2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquatic_ecosystem. Research Papers on Pond Ecosystem ReportGenetic EngineeringBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfThe Spring and AutumnDefinition of Export QuotasResearch Process Part OnePETSTEL analysis of IndiaIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married Males

Infant observation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Infant observation - Essay Example As I watched the child, after he had taken the yogurt, I could observe that he was able to wave at me and this is a sign of trust as explained by Erik Erikson in the first stage of development where there is either trust or mistrust. Trust occurs when the child is able to have faith in people around him and relate with well without fear that they could be harmful to him, while mistrust occurs when the child is unable to relate with people around him feeling that they have ill will on him. In addition, under Maslow hierarchy of needs where one seeks security and love after his basic needs such as food, clothes and shelter have been satisfied, i was able to observe that he only waved at me after taking yogurt, a sign to show hat he was satisfied with food and now needed love and protection. In this case, yogurt served as food. He moved his head up and down when music played as a way of dancing; this could be as result of classical conditioning in the theory of behaviorism. Classical co nditioning in behaviorism occurs when one is able to associate certain object or incidents that frequently happen with something familiar to ones immediate environment. This child learnt to associate music with dancing. He grabbed his friends’ hair and pulled it, stood by himself and walked across the room by holding the cribs. Additionally, he was able to make the ball roll round, shake the rattle, stretch out in the floor, and act like as if he was talking on the phone. The child is able to do this during infant development stage according to cognitive theory (Douglas 35). In his sensory development, I could observe that he was able to touch his friend’s hair and pull it, see me, and wave towards my direction when we first met. According to attachment theory, the child at infant stage is able to relate well with people close to him especially his caregiver. Therefore, from the above observation, it appears that he is already attached to his

Personal Financial Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Personal Financial Management - Essay Example Retirement plan is nothing but a plan which replaces our employment income after we retire. In terms of tax, retirement plan is defined by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) code in US. Dream of leading a secured and comfortable retired life can come true only with proper retirement planning. A plan to transfer ones estate after death is known as estate planning. Estate includes all the personal properties like cash, land, houses, jewelry, investment accounts, etc. Estate planning is done to ensure and fulfill certain objectives like transferring most of the estate to ones beneficiaries, least payment of taxes for the estate, etc. Estate planning is a continuous process and should start immediately when a person has a measurable base of assets (Gitman, Joehnk & Billingsley, 2010, p.18). Estate plans should be in accordance with ones goals and objectives in life. Loved ones can face undue financial burden due to inadequate estate planning. Four Aspects of Retirement Planning Retiremen t planning can be thought of as a framework which includes four main aspects (Prudential Financial, n.d). They are: i. Social Security: Social Security is an insurance program that provides several benefits to individuals like, retirement benefits, disability benefits, etc. ii. Employment based plans: These are retirement plans provided by employers to the employees. It includes defined contribution and benefit pension plans. iii. Personal Savings: The returns on investments made by individuals that can add up to the Social Security Benefits or Employment based plans. It includes options like IRAs, Bank Deposits, Mutual Funds, Annuities, etc. iv. Retirement Choices: For retirement security, lifestyle and financial choices play a significant role. Lifestyle choices include choice of retirement age, place of retirement, etc. Financial choices include allocation of assets in retirement, conversion of assets to income and then protecting that income. The Retirement Planning Process and Personal Retirement Plan The retirement planning process constitutes several steps. These steps are discussed one by one and how it relates with my personal retirement planning is also discussed below. The first step in a retirement planning process includes setting own personal goals and objectives in life. Next these objectives have to be arranged in descending order of priority. Also these objectives should have the time horizon included in it. These objectives can be revised and changed in due course of time. Now this step can be related to my case in the following way: My personal objectives in life arranged in decreasing order of priority with time horizon mentioned along with it are: 1. Maintain the standard of living on retirement at the age of 50 after 20 years. 2. Buying an expensive motor car within 2 years. 3. Buying a home within 5 years. 4. To make a mortgage investment within 10 years. 5. Paying off all the mortgage bonds within 20 years. The second step is about calc ulating and determining the money required for fulfilling each of the objectives. All the household incomes and expenditures are to be calculated and the difference is also to be calculated. Present value of money should be considered while doing the calculations and the annual inflation rate should also be taken into account. This can be applied in my personal retir

Research topic related to intelligence collection Paper

Topic related to intelligence collection - Research Paper Example Proper intelligence is an inevitable component of the defense system of all governments in the world to evaluate the threat by external as well as internal elements and to protect their countries from exposure to attacks by terrorists. In this context, the development of technology is a crucial factor for enabling nations to monitor and exercise surveillance over the activities of various organizations that sponsor and promote terrorism and other subversive activities. Intelligence collection is a process of â€Å"collection, processing, integration, evaluation, analysis and interpretation of available information concerning foreign nations, hostile or potentially hostile forces or elements or areas of actual or potential operations† (Forcese 2011, 181). For obtaining such intelligence and to ensure the safety of their citizens, countries deploy modern technology. The effective collection of intelligence by the US government through Unmanned Aircraft System has enabled the cou ntry to attain a high level of operational success in the global war on terror. Human history, right from its initial stage has evidenced the use of human intelligence for the purpose of obtaining the movements of their enemies for preparing for offensive tactics in wars. Similarly, in order to fight terrorism, countries also need to collect intelligence on various terrorist organizations and evaluate their strategies for offensives to properly counter the problem of terrorism. In his message to war fighters, Joseph Reynes Jr., Major General USAF, states that proper surveillance can facilitate the â€Å"prediction of an adversary’s behavior and the formulation and execution of preemptive activities to deter or forestall† offensive attempts by such adversaries (Commander’s Handbook for Persistent Surveillance 2011). This handbook has been developed with an intention to provide an overview of the present systems of surveillance as well as discusses future needs for

The Influence Of Thomas Reid In Philosophy And Psychology Philosophy Essay

The Influence Of Thomas Reid In Philosophy And Psychology Philosophy Essay This paper discusses how Thomas Reid was influential in psychology and philosophy. It talks about his works and his common sense philosophy. It discusses direct realism and his philosophical outlook on the theory of knowledge. Reid is also compared with David Hume and his ideas of skepticism. John Locke and Berkeley are also mentioned as influencing Reids philosophy. He rejects Humes arguments and publishes his own book about his own theories based on contradictions to Hume. He also gave lectures at different Universities that he worked at. Some of these lectures appear in his essays that he produces in his retirement. His common sense works show that we can perceive the world accurately through our senses and experiences with people are similar. And his essays talk about the reasoning and ideas that are not metaphysical in the world, but are real. Thomas Reid was a Scottish philosopher during the 18th century whose most famous contributions to the philosophy of intellect are his common sense works, his rational thinking, and his criticisms of fellow British empiricists, particularly Hume. He defended the existence of reasoning powers and influenced many others, including American thinkers of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and faculty psychology. Thomas Reid was born on April 26, 1710. His father, Lewis Reid, was a reverend for 58 years, and his mother, Margaret Gregory, lived a shorter life and died when Thomas was 22 in 1732. He came from a long line of intellectuals on both sides of the family that attended college. Reid had an older bother, David, who was five years apart and two younger sisters Isobel and Jane. He grew up in a rural area in a valley in Strachan just outside of Aberdeen on the north-east side of Scotland. This area also was the hometown of Immanuel Kant, who was another local philosophy celebrity during this time period and had a few parallels with Reid (britannica, 2011). Reid started attended a small country school when he was ten years old, then transferred to Aberdeen Grammar School, a higher and more prestigious school, until 1722. He then left to go to Marischal College at age twelve which was a norm in the area and time period. Reids granduncle, James Gregory, graduated college at the age Thomas started (Fraser, 1898). George Turnbull was Reids college philosophy professor for three years, and his influence had a large impact on Reid. Turnbull used much of Berkeleys philosophy in his teachings; this included his version of common sense: Common sense is sufficient to teach those who think of the matter with seriousness and attention all the duties of common life; all our obligations to God and our fellow-men; all that is morally fit and binding (Fraser, 1898). This meant that the spiritual facts of the mind cannot be ignored because of facts seen in the visible world, and what we call matter are only sensible ideas that come from us personally. These teachings influenced indirectly by Berkeley played an important role in Reids life. Thomas Reid studied theology from late 1726 to 1731 as per a requirement for the Church. This is one of the parallels with Kant and Reid; they are both theologically trained. After his completion of theology, Reid found a job as a librarian back at Marischal College in 1733, after his mothers death. Another Kant parallel was that he was a librarian after finishing college, but Kant got  £10 yearly while Reid only got  £9. While a librarian, Reids undergraduate friend and then current Professor of Mathematics at Marischal, Stewart, asked Reid to go him with on a tour of England in 1736. Other than this one particular instance, Reid, like Kant, did not travel far from his home for the rest of his life (Fraser, 1898). After his job as a librarian, Reid was presented the position of pastoral charge of New Machar, a town near Aberdeen, upon his return home. This position was administrator of the church. There was a problem because of rural prejudice, which was influenced by a sermon in early 1737 by Rev. Bisset, which made Reid a victim to attacks and mistreatment when got ordained later that year. Because of this sermon Reid was attacked because he was rural and not from a big city. Those who fought against him would come to change their opinions after his fifteen years there, to where they would have fought for him when he went away (Fraser, 1898) . Thomas got married in 1740, to his cousin Elizabeth, who was his Uncle Dr. George Reids daughter. With her he had six daughters and three sons, and one of the five daughters born in New Machar, died at not even a year old. His wife, in 1746, became critically ill and Reids religious side came out in some of his manuscripts, showing his devotion to god and his wife in his writings. His wife lived through her sickness but Reid eventually outlived everyone except one daughter, including his children. When Thomas Reid was thirty-eight, a paper of his appeared in print called An Essay on Quantity. His 1748 paper revealed the attraction to mathematics that Reid had, using mathematical reasoning with ratios to explain moral philosophy. He argued that genuine ethical inquiry is concerned with a class of facts which are under a higher category, and refuse to submit to geometrical measurement (Fraser, 1898). This recognition of other scientific methods other than mathematics shows a change in thought for this time. Reids most known work in philosophy, however, would come from an almost unnoticed book from London in 1739 by David Hume, who was exactly one year younger than Reid coincidentally. The Treatise of Human Nature by Hume would eventually make headlines in shaping European thought and would give Reid an argument. Hume reasoned that there should be a new system of sciences to prove that there is neither human nature nor science in the world, and that nothing can be true if you cannot logically reason from our senses. He believed that our impressions of our senses was exactly that, impressions which tended to be temporary and perceived differently from person to person, and therefore there cannot be truth since impressions are not universal. He also went on to say that what we call existence is only felt impressions, that time is an illusion, and that the word identity is nothing since a person is nothing more than an idea at the moment. To sum it all up, only current feelings exist in the universe. Reid took this as almost an insult. These ideas degraded our speech and communication to only abstract adjectives, because nouns and verbs dont truly exist. Because of this conclusion, we cannot communicate what doesnt exist because you cant communicate only through adjectives. It was a philosophical suicide that gave us an unknown universe we couldnt trust, because the skeptics at this time were saying that nothing exists, like David Hume. Reid began his own theory from these insults, starting with our senses and focusing on mathematical theory. The foundations of mathematical abstracts are in mathematical axioms, and so the foundations of all concrete reasoning are to be found in the rational constitution of perception through the five senses (Fraser, 1898). Forty years after that, Reid even went on to say that it was Hume that made him realize the faults of the Berkeley system that came from Descartes philosophy. He stated that what George Turnbull taught, gave me [Reid] more unea siness than the want of a material world, and to question its foundation (Reid, 1785). Hume gave Reid an argument and showed him that he should create his own theory. Thomas Reid left New Machar in late 1751, where he became a regent master at Kings College in Aberdeen till 1764. There he gave lectures, and the three-year regent course was still imposed for philosophy. He gave lectures in natural history and physical science one year, mathematics and natural philosophy in another, and finally philosophy of the mind in the third year, where the same students were still under his teachings. So, he had three three-year classes which he taught: 1753-56, 1756-59, 1759-62, plus the first two years when he started. Under some examination of Reids lectures in the Natural Philosophy classes, it was shown that he was very much knowledgeable in physical sciences incorporating laws of motion, astronomy and electricity. Reid also brought changes and reform to the university. Teaching sessions were extended by two months, there was much better organization in Latin classes, and material sciences had to be a prerequisite to psychology and ethics, which was consistent with a mind naturally observing then reflecting upon its observations. He also created the Wise Club at Kings College, which was a small society for philosophical inquiry with his old friend Gregory. This club also influenced later Scottish philosophic literature. The meetings consisted of reading of personal short essays, as well as a question proposed before each meeting for discussion. It was mostly the skeptical theology that Hume talked about that gave the society discussion questions, and Reid went as far as writing If you write no more in morals, politics, and metaphysics, I am afraid we shall be at a loss for subjects in a letter to David Hume (Craig, 1998). Since the start of the Wise Club in 1758 continuing to his last work of the society in 1762, Reid put in many works that would be later seen in his publications two years afterwards. A lot of the work itself dealt with our senses and perception, and he even received an honorary Doctorate of Divinity from Marichal College in early 1762. By the end 1763, he produced his first book An Inquiry into the Human Mind on the Principles of Common Sense, which was the result of his twenty years in New Machar and Aberdeen. The Inquiry into the Human Mind on the Principles of Common Sense was an argument against David Hume that allowed Thomas Reid to attain a very important role in the development of philosophy. In his book, he makes an important point about Humes Treatise of Human Nature. Reid argued that if we as humans have no evidence that things exist, then we could never encounter an external object directly, and what we perceive is in our own minds. How can one be sure of the outside realities that differ from ones own sensations? Reid also said, If I allow that my own sensations and ideas are my only possible original data, I cannot from such transitory phantoms infer the real existence of other persons. (Reid, 1764) This is also when Reid encountered Berkeleys theory a dead end for proving other intelligent beings existence. Reid was also later criticized by John Stuart Mill, specifically in his common sense book. Mill said that any appeal to intuition or self-evidence was a cover way of promot ing self-interest (von Dehsen, 1999). He argued further that if only sensations and ideas of the self cannot be broken through, then the self is an illusion and the word self means nothing. The universe is, not sensations that are all personal, but is put into isolated sensations which can be similarly experienced by others, but not the exact same sensations. Reid also found it unreasonable that we do not actually perceive external things and only certain images of them are imprinted in the mind called ideas and impressions. He thought this could only throw out all philosophy, religion, and common sense. These ideas are substitutions of the common reasonable sense, which neither requires nor admits of logical proof. Reid believed there two degrees of reason. The first degree of reason is the five senses to judge of things self-evident (Reid, 1764). The second degree is reasoning, which is able to make conclusions of non-self-evident reasoning from the first degree. Also, truth in judgments of common sense cannot be seen, they are only justified by reasoning and how human nature responds to them. For example, we have the common sense that fire is hot because other people perceive it as hot and it comes through our senses. This is part of nature in human understanding, and is inspiration of God. Reasoning is used to control everything from emotions to appetite, and allows us to live and serve under God. God has excellently fitted our conscience, reason, natural instincts and bodily appetites to the benefit of the species (Yaffe Nichols, 2009). He continued to say that this is what makes up the discoveries in our reasoning of the world and called this the common sense of mankind, and even started the School of Common Sense. When one ignores these innate senses though, another may find them as being crazy. Reid also explained what if Hume found is right, and to not trust our senses: I break my nose against a post that comes in my way, I step into a dirty kennel; and after twenty such wise and rational actions I am taken up and clapped into a madhouse (Reid, 1764). Though people may not know if the senses are correct, everyone assumes they are because they are commonly known and perceived. Our common sense, to Reid, is conscious and varies between persons, time periods, and locations. Reid listed six axioms that came from sensus communis, which was the term he used for common sense. The first is that the thoughts of which I am conscious are thoughts of a being which I call myself, my mind, my person. The second is that those things did really happen that I distinctly remember. The third is that we have some degree of power over our actions, and the determination of our will. the forth is that there is life and intelligence in our fellow men with whom we converse. the fifth is that there is a certain regard due to human testimony in matters of fact, and even to human authority in matters of opinion. and the sixth is that, in the phenomena of nature, what is to be, will probably be like what has been in similar circumstances (Reid, 1785). He concluded in his common sense philosophy four basic principles of knowledge. The first principle was that certain undemonstrable fundamental truths [are] immediately conclusive and absolute and that there are certain truths that are common among people. The second principle was that these truths cannot be subjected to criticism or support from science. The third principle was that philosophy itself comes from self-enlightening truth and anything that contradicts your truth is incorrect. The fourth truth was that our morality is what we use as guidelines in our life to perform our duties in society and we act with what goes with common sense and what we think is right (Reid, 1764). Thomas Reid, before the book was published, wanted David Hume to read some of it. Hume responded with a compliment saying it was deeply philosophical yet written with spirit, and that no one else is able to explain themselves with greater clarity. However he kindly disagreed with the abstract that was sent. Reid wrote back saying that he was only attempting to shine a little light on the subject, But whether I have any success in this attempt or not, I shall always avow myself your disciple in metaphysics (Reid, 1872). He also concluded that he learned more from Hume than everybody else known put together in the subject. Shortly following his book, Reid was offered to be the Chair of Moral Philosophy at the University of Glasgow when Adam Smith resigned in 1764. During his time of teaching in Glasgow College, the lectures that he provided would be the precursor of his published Essays of his old age. When 1772 came about, Reid had hardship in his personal life, when two of his older daughters died. When Reid was seventy, he discovered after sixteen years teaching at Glasgow, he found himself growing old. In a letter he wrote to his friend Lord Kames he reported this and turned over the class to his assistant Archibald Arthur so he could continue his philosophical authorship in retirement. After his retirement in 1780, he again found tough times the same year. His eldest son died, and only two years go by only to be heartbroken once again by the death of his last son, which left only one daughter in his family. Reids final works were his Essays, which come in two parts, and were based off his lectures at Glasgow. The first installment was an inquiry of mans intellectual power, while the second came a few years afterward explaining the facts of moral power and the invisible ideas in mans consciousness. In the Essays an advance is made towards a finally ethical interpretation of man and the universe. The Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man was the first Essay to come out, in 1785. It explained our perception through the senses and memory, imagination, and sciences dealing with time frames. It also contained some rebuttal to the abstract reasoning criticism of common sense. He presents direct realism which is the view that our minds are directly connected to the world, and that we experience objects immediately as objects because of our power of perception. This was the opposite thinking of consciousness being formed by adding sensations to our ideas. Reid started with an important part of all this: Human knowledge may be reduced to two general heads, according as it relates to body or to mind; to things material, or to things intellectual (Reid, 1785). Otherwise, we know that there are two worlds, mind and matter. In his essay Reid continued with, The Supreme Being intended, that we should have such knowledge of the material objects that surrounds us, as is necessary in order to our supplying the wants of nature, and avoiding the dangers to which we are constantly exposed; and he has admirably fitted our powers of perception to this purpose. [If] the intelligence we have of external objects were to be got by reasoning only, the greatest part of men would be destitute of it; for the greatest part of men hardly ever learn to reason; and in infancy and childhood no man can reason. Also, he said that God conveys this intelligence of objects in a way we can understand and use the information. The information of the senses is as perfect, and gives as full conviction to the most ignorant, as to the most learned (Reid 1785). This showed that Reid believed that reason could not be the prerequisite to perception and that god gave us the innate ability of perception through the senses to draw conclusions of the universe. Three years after the first set of Essays, he put out the remaining works in 1788, titled Essays on the Active Powers of Man. This concluded the ideas that are not of the physical world including ethics. A man can act from motives that are higher than any that move the lower animals. He sees one course of action as having dignity and value, and another as being base and low; and lower animals cant make such distinctions. Reid explains our higher sensibility as humans and our moral values as a society are means to set us apart from animals. The Essay continues to show that our power, though we cant perceive or be aware of it, is our minds reason. This is where Lockes theory, that we gather ideas our ideas through the senses and/or consciousness, con ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡icts with the fact that we have a conception or idea of power (Reid 1785). Another point he postulated was that for some things, we have a direct conception, while for others, we only have a relative conception. This can be possibly thought of as we have a direct conception of the third dimension since we live and experience it, but only a relative conception of the fourth. Reids hatred for Atheists and their reasoning in depriving man of all active power is also shown in this work, They join hands with theologians in depreciating human understanding, so that they can lead us into absolute scepticism (Reid, 1785). He also concludes that there cant be an exclusion of our senses, memory, and rational faculties in any further theoretical opinion. Reid discusses his early version of mental faculties as active powers of the mind that influenced ones thoughts and behavior. Also, faculties are innate and work together as one unifying mind, some of which included were attention, judgment, perception, and reason. There were 43 total faculties (Hergenhahn, 2009). Though this was not the actual school of thought that phrenologists believed later, it did however help influence faculty psychology. Thomas Reid died when he was eighty-six, on October 7, 1796 in Glasgow. His most notable ideas for his recognition in the Scottish Enlightenment were direct realism and common sense. His works in metaphysics, epistemology or theory of knowledge, mind, and ethics, would come from the influences of David Hume, Cicero, Locke, and Berkeley. His Inquiry into the Human Mind on the Principles of Common Sense would bring upon the Scottish School of Common Sense, and his works collectively would later influence those such as Victor Cousin, Alvin Plantinga, and C.S. Peirce. I think he was quite important in the development of psychology. I think personally that rationalism is much more sane and reasonable than what Hume and the empiricists were saying that we cant trust our senses. However, I think its important sometimes to take a step back to take two steps forward and play devils advocate as what the skeptics were saying, otherwise we may not have seen Reid. He talks about the important issue of our senses being accurate and reasonable to trust even if they are slightly wrong. I also liked his essays more in his common sense work just because it explained our reasoning abilities and our ethics, which no one really talked about in that much depth. If we were to believe Hume we could basically say that we are living in a matrix since the only thing real is feelings and ideas in the mind. This is why Reid is important because he explains how objects are actually real and how we communicate about them. He helped influence faculty psychology and phrenolog y which opened up the door for specific areas of the brain such as reasoning, consciousness, and attention.

Religion and the Energy Crisis Essay -- Natural Resources Essays Paper

Religion and the Energy Crisis When faced with the daunting specter of world energy issues and environmental crisis, it is natural to focus on finding solutions to our problems of sustainability and pollution. Before jumping into a frenzied search for solutions, however, it is necessary to take a hard look at precisely why we care to solve this problem in the first place. This is a much broader question, rooted in culture, philosophy, ethics, and religion. How we as a species deal with our spirituality has a great impact on our obligations to each other, to the world we live in, and to future generations. Looking at the potential harmfulness of the energy crisis, it is remarkable that more people are not concerned about changing lifestyles and conserving resources. Our high rate of growth and energy production are causing widespread climate change, poisoning our air and resulting in the extinction of species. Humanity cannot continue to consume energy at the present rate given the limited supply of fossil fuels and the consequences of pollution, yet there seems to be a problem in cultivating widespread public concern for these issues. Even if the average American does not know the specifics of the matter, most everyone is aware of global warming, dying species, and the fossil fuel problem, so the lack of motivation does not stem from ignorance. There is some other factor contributing to the motivation problem, one that goes much deeper into human nature. The basic problem faced in cultivating concern about the environment is one of selfishness. In our modern secular society people are encouraged to be self serving, seeking individual success. They are valued for what they are able to accomplish for themselves, with t... ...n. Islamic Teachings in Brief. Ed. Sayyid Khadim Jusayn Naquavi. Tans. Muzhgan Jalali. Iran: Ansariyan Publications, 1990. Tucker, Mary Evelyn. "Confucian Cosmology and Ecological Ethics: qi, li, and the Role of the Human." Ethics in the world religions. The Library of Global Ethics and Religion Vol. 3. Eds. Joseph Runzo and Nancy M. Martin. Oxford: Oneworld Publications, 2001. 331-345. Ward, Keith. "Religion and the Possibility of a Global Ethics." Ethics in the world religions. The Library of Global Ethics and Religion Vol. 3. Eds. Joseph Runzo and Nancy M. Martin. Oxford: Oneworld Publications, 2001. 39-62. Wright, Dale S. "Practices of Perfection: The Ethical Aim of Mahayana Buddhism." Ethics in the world religions. The Library of Global Ethics and Religion Vol. 3. Eds. Joseph Runzo and Nancy M. Martin. Oxford: Oneworld Publicatiosn, 2001. 219-233.

How to Reduce Stress

1. In today's smaller Air Force, members are finding themselves doing more with less. This in-turn has caused numerous stressful situations on and off duty. It is incumbent for Air Force members to recognize, treat, and eliminate stress whenever practical to increase morale and mission accomplishment. This paper will cover the emotional, behavioral, and physical signs of stress as well as importance of job stress management in treating and/or eliminating stress. 2. Before we can begin to reduce stress, we must be able to recognize indicators that lead to or help identify stress. Air Force psychologist Capt. Neil S. Hibler has developed a list of early warning signs (2:19). For our purposes we will discuss only a couple from each category. First, from the emotional category, is apathy. Apathy is the doldrums. Things you normally enjoy are no longer pleasurable. Along with apathy is mental fatigue. Being unable to concentrate or staying focus are only a couple of examples of mental fatigue. Emotional signs are very important to recognize, because if they are not noticed early on and addressed, behavioral or even physical problems can surface. The behavioral category signs include: being late to work, poor appearance, and being accident prone are just a few examples of administrative problems. Legal problems are even more evident, such as, traffic tickets, indebtedness, and inability to control violent impulses. As you can see, these signs of stress become more serious the longer TSgt Adams/H-Flt/0805/pfa/19 Jul 97 they go untreated or reduced. Finally, is the physical category; possibly the most serious of all. Stress not only effects the psyche of an individual, but the physical side of ones' being can also be altered. Ailments such as: headaches, insomnia, nausea, changes in appetite, and sexual problems can persist during times of stress. The individual may seek relief from stress by self-medicating and develop a dependence on chemicals that are harmful to the body. These signs are just a few of the more recognizable. Other signs can be very subtle and even more dangerous to the individual and others. This is why it is paramount to detect stress early and if possible treat, reduce, or eliminate before damage is done. 3. Once signs of stress are identified, it is time to tackle them with a few job stress management techniques outlined in â€Å"The Relaxation & Stress Reduction Handbook† (2:211). A 1985 study conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics found that more than 50% of workers surveyed experienced moderate to heavy stress on the job. To effectively combat work-related stress, you first need to identify symptoms and sources of job related stress. This can be accomplished by taking and scoring the survey in the handbook. Next, you need to keep a log on how you respond to your specific job stressors. Label four columns: stressor, feelings, thoughts, and behavior. After you have completed these task, setting goals and motivation is next. Set goals to respond more effectively to your job stressors. Develop a plan to react to stress you can anticipate or even avoid altogether. The idea here is to gain more control of your work environment. Rewards are a very important part of motivation. Create a specific reward for every goal you establish and make sure to give yourself the time to enjoy your reward. The next area to consider is more difficult for most of us. Dealing with your boss, negotiating with co- workers, and changing your thinking can be used to your advantage to help reduce stress. Don't side step these ideas, use them! The last two strategies to consider in job stress management are; pace and balance yourself, and know when to quit. Pace at your own tempo. Don't burn yourself out. This is one of the leading causes of stress at work. To effectively integrate job stress management into your daily lifestyle could take months, in just a day you can identify your job stressors and your responses to them. Getting started is the key! 4. We have discussed identifying stress by looking for: emotional, behavioral, and physical signs of stress. Then, more importantly, we discussed ways to: treat, reduce, or eliminate stress by applying techniques used in job stress management. Job stress accounts for billions of dollars lost annually in productivity, wages, and medical bills. Americans now know that job stress management makes personal and financial sense.

As You Like It †the Play Essay

As You Like It is considered by many to be one of Shakespeare’s greatest comedies, and the heroine, Rosalind, is praised as one of his most inspiring characters and has more lines than any of Shakespeare’s female characters. Rosalind, the daughter of a banished duke falls in love with Orlando the disinherited son of one of the duke’s friends. When she is banished from the court by her usurping uncle, Duke Frederick , Rosalind switches genders and as Ganymede travels with her loyal cousin Celia and the jester Touchstone to the Forest of Arden, where her father and his friends live in exile. Observations on life and love follow (including love, aging, the natural world, and death) friends are made, and families are reunited. By the play’s end Ganymede, once again Rosalind, marries her Orlando. Two other sets of lovers are also wed, one of them Celia and Orlando’s mean older brother Oliver . As Oliver becomes a gentler, kinder young man so the Duke conveniently changes his ways and turns to religion and so that the exiled Duke, father of Rosalind, can rule once again. â€Å"All the world ‘s a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts† As You Like It – (Act II, Scene VII). â€Å"Can one desire too much of a good thing? â€Å". As You Like It (Act IV, Scene I). â€Å"True is it that we have seen better days†. As You Like It – Act II, Scene VII). â€Å"For ever and a day†. As You Like It – (Act IV, Scene I). â€Å"The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool†. (Act V, Scene I). The play is fictitious, but shakespeare is said to have taken the traits if rosalind from ‘Rosalynde’ by thomas lodge. One of Shakespeare’s early plays, As You Like It (1598-1599), is a stock romantic comedy that was familiar to Elizabethan audiences as an exemplar of â€Å"Christian† comedy. Although the play does include two offstage spiritual conversions, the â€Å"Christian† designation does not refer to religion itself. Instead, it denotes the restoration and regeneration of society through the affirmation of certain Christian values such as brotherly love, marital union, tolerance for different viewpoints, and optimism about life at large. The plot is very simple: the resolution of the dramatic problem in the warped attitudes of two evil brothers toward good brothers, and related obstacles to marriage for several couples in the play (most notably Rosalind and Orlando) are easily overcome, and a happy ending is never in doubt. On one level, the play was clearly intended by Shakespeare as a simple, diverting amusement; several scenes in As You Like It are essentially skits made up of songs and joking banter. But on a somewhat deeper level, the play provides opportunities for its main characters to discuss a host of subjects (love, aging, the natural world, and death) from their particular points of view. At its center, As You Like It presents us with the respective worldviews of Jaques, a chronically melancholy pessimist preoccupied with the negative aspects of life, and Rosalind, the play’s Christian heroine, who recognizes life’s difficulties but holds fast to a positive attitude that is kind, playful, and, above all, wise. In the end, the enjoyment that we receive from the play’s comedy is reinforced and validated by a humanistic Christian philosophy gently woven into the text by a benevolent Shakespeare.

Free Essays on Odinary Men To Japaness Soldier

â€Å"Ordinary Men† to â€Å"Japanese Soldiers† Iris Chang's "Rape of Nanking" is a book that fails to heal but rather sears all efforts for good international relations because it prioritizes passion at the cost of basic historical facts. While Christopher Browning’s â€Å"Ordinary Men† tells the story of Police Battalion 101, and how they play a role in the Second World War in Europe. Both of these books outline what kinds of items a civilian would be subjected to during wartime. This ranges from persecution, certain death, or to begin made to mobilize to help one country’s war effort. In Brown’s Ordinary men he shows in detail the sequence of events and individual reactions which may turn ordinary men into killers. To understand where the story of these so-called â€Å"ordinary men† there must be an in-depth look taken at why these groups of Reserve Policemen where formed. The Order Police resulted from the third attempt in war enraged Germany to create large police forces with military and equipment. The police force that was created was supposed to work along side the German military to secure lands that the German army has conquered. Before the start of WWII the use of these men had not been thought about, but with the German army quickly advancing someone would have to occupy conquered lands. That is were these Order Police come into play. Police Battalion 101 was used a great deal in Poland. They were subsequently involved in rounding up Polish soldiers cut off behind advancing lines. They also collected military equipment that was abandoned by the retreating Poles, and also providing other services to secure the rear areas. (chap 2 Browning) Another duty that the Order Police were placed with was the collection and deportation of the Jews that occupied Poland. Early in the war they were used in Poland to collect the Jewish people and load then on trains that where headed to the ghettos wer... Free Essays on Odinary Men To Japaness Soldier Free Essays on Odinary Men To Japaness Soldier â€Å"Ordinary Men† to â€Å"Japanese Soldiers† Iris Chang's "Rape of Nanking" is a book that fails to heal but rather sears all efforts for good international relations because it prioritizes passion at the cost of basic historical facts. While Christopher Browning’s â€Å"Ordinary Men† tells the story of Police Battalion 101, and how they play a role in the Second World War in Europe. Both of these books outline what kinds of items a civilian would be subjected to during wartime. This ranges from persecution, certain death, or to begin made to mobilize to help one country’s war effort. In Brown’s Ordinary men he shows in detail the sequence of events and individual reactions which may turn ordinary men into killers. To understand where the story of these so-called â€Å"ordinary men† there must be an in-depth look taken at why these groups of Reserve Policemen where formed. The Order Police resulted from the third attempt in war enraged Germany to create large police forces with military and equipment. The police force that was created was supposed to work along side the German military to secure lands that the German army has conquered. Before the start of WWII the use of these men had not been thought about, but with the German army quickly advancing someone would have to occupy conquered lands. That is were these Order Police come into play. Police Battalion 101 was used a great deal in Poland. They were subsequently involved in rounding up Polish soldiers cut off behind advancing lines. They also collected military equipment that was abandoned by the retreating Poles, and also providing other services to secure the rear areas. (chap 2 Browning) Another duty that the Order Police were placed with was the collection and deportation of the Jews that occupied Poland. Early in the war they were used in Poland to collect the Jewish people and load then on trains that where headed to the ghettos wer...

Catholics opposing views on abortion over History Research Paper

Catholics opposing views on abortion over History - Research Paper Example The early Christians were opposed to abortion because it exposed the unborn babies thus making them die. Abortion was condemned with disregarding to what stage of the pregnancy it was carried out in the first three centuries of Christianity. This can be captured in Tertullian writings in 197AD that† it does not matter whether you take away life that is born or destroy one that is coming to birth. In both instances, destruction is murder.† The council of Ancyra (314) is said to have referred to an ancient law that excommunicated women that aborted their children deliberately. (life.org.nz, 2011) The second mention of abortion is in a theological tract known as the Epistle of the pseudo-Barnabas which was written in about 138 and highly regarded by the theologians of Alexandria. The author of this publication treats abortion as corollary to the law of fraternal charity which was in existence. This can be captured in the written statements that, â€Å"You shall love your ne ighbor more than your own life. You shall not slay the child by abortion.† (catholicculture.org, 2011) Athenagoras who was an Athenian philosopher states in a letter he writes to Marcus Aurelius (177) that â€Å"All those who use abortifacients are homicides and they will have to account to God for their abortions as well as the killing of men†. ... arly church councils established strong precedents in history in relation to matters of abortion which were later ratified and strengthened by the council of Chalcendon in 415 and Consillium Quinisextum in 692. During the early period of foundation of Christianity, there were many writers who condemned abortion as a gravel evil. These include Christians writer like Hippolytus (235), Cyprian (258), St Ambrose, Bishop of Milan (375), St Jerome (d. 420), St Augustine(d. 430), Caesarius, the Bishop of Arles(d. 543), and St Martin of Braga(580). The first collection of church laws that were promulgated with the authority of pope for the universal church was The Decretals of Pope Gregory IX in 1324. These laws list one canon that describes a murderer as one who procures an abortion. The decrials emphasized the idea of formed and unformed so as to determine the kind of penalties that applied for this type of crime. From the 13 century and the other succeeding centuries, the council of churc hes in existence continued to condemn abortion. (catholicculture.org, 2011) In 1588, the first papal legislation that was meant to bring into play penal sanction against abortion came into existence and was referred to EFFRAENATAM of Pope Sixtus V who reigned in the period 1585-1590. In 1591, Pope Gregory XIV altered slightly the constitution of Sixtus V so as to apply harsher punishments among those that caused abortion of animated fetus (a fetus whose movement could be felt). In spite of the changes to the constitution, the seriousness of abortion offences were emphasized (Haney, 2008, p 24). Not until in the 18th century when Martin Luther king led a reformation from the Catholic Church, most Catholics were united and accepted the Magisterium authority and condemnation of abortion. In

FOUNDATIONS OF SCHOLARSHIP & RESEARCH Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

FOUNDATIONS OF SCHOLARSHIP & RESEARCH - Essay Example The information systems have given enormous facilities to human and data management factors. This piece of work also contains information systems’ services to build mega projects (Link, 2008). The role of business professionals and IT professionals is very significant and inevitable. The professionals, in an organisation, focus on information administration, central systems and framework for smooth operations. As Walters and Tang (2006) state: â€Å"IT-enabled strategic management must address the role of IT plays in the strategy content options and priorities, strategy formulation processes and strategy implementation processes. Strategic management focuses on the identifying the direction of an organization, and designing and instituting major changes needed to gear the organization towards moving in the established directions†. (pp. 02) Hitt, Ireland and Hoskisson (2009) articulate that IT provides the tools for quality of services QoS and risk management in the process of strategic management. The study aims are to explore and identify the parameters and correlations between strategic management and information technology. Some factors of the understanding reflections in the affiliation among appropriate features and configuration, and the impacts of IT on business strategies, are discussed. This paper reveals some new avenues of information concerns and designing enterprises’ needs. Furthermore, in the practice of strategic management, the socio-technical factors also described. Project analysis, according to strategy, normally is completed for the reasons that adhered with vision, outcomes, administration and control (Sadler and Craig, 2003). The increasing complexities of organisations have created welcome environment for information technology in which the strategies are geared up for developing new grounds. IT supplies the accuracy, consistency and systematic framework to