Single-sex education Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Single-sex education - Research Paper Example ts have the right to get a good education, the readers can identify the advantages and disadvantages of each system to develop the current education system. Single-sex or gender-separate education relates to education that involves members of the same sex attending the same classes. This may occur in elementary, secondary schools or even in higher education. This is in contrast to the more conventional coeducation style of education where students of both sexes attend the same classes and schools. This single-sex education has been used in so many countries where it is considered as an appropriate style from the view of religion, or cultural tradition. Also, it was a worldwide style of education before the nineteenth century (Wikipedia, n.d.). According to The New York Times magazine, the number of single-sex schools had increased to forty-nine in 2008. In 1995, this number was only two in the whole United States (Silva, 2008). Each student has the right to get better educated and the solution is to have a coeducation system which offers single-sex classrooms to approach the advantages of both. Title IX was the first law that seemed to support the learning of both boys and girls together. It stated that boys and girls should be educated equally and together. Nevertheless, in 2006, the Department of Education removed these boundaries that only supposed on single-sex education. Since then, single-sex schools and classes was split across the country(Stanberry, n.b.). The change to Title IX to allow single-sex education in public schooling provided more choices in the public schools. Parents from then on have variety of options in the public schools for their children’s education. For example, Prestige Academy was going to open in 2008 in Wilmington, America for boys’ only public charter school. This was an important step to help black and Latino boys that come from low-income, and scored lower than the average score in most of the school’s requested goals

PUBLIC HEALTH AND COMMUNITY NURSING Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

PUBLIC HEALTH AND COMMUNITY NURSING - Essay Example Of concern specially is smoking among adolescents which can contribute to several health problems and birth defects in babies born to pregnant women who smoke. Thus, the community selected for critical analysis of health needs in this essay is adolescent smokers. The extent of problem and the impact and effectiveness of public health in the primary care setting with reference to this community will be discussed through review of suitable literature. The Community According to the 2009 statistics, 29 percent of pupils have tried smoking atleast once and the prevalence of smoking in young people was 6 percent. Though this proportion is the lowest since the time the survey began in 1982, it continues to be a significant problem for both health authorities and public. The prevalence of smoking between 11-15 years old has been estimated to be 6 percent. The prevalence is more among girls (7 percent) when compared to boys (5 percent). Another important finding of the survey is that the pre valence of smoking increases with age. At 11 years of age, the prevalence is 0.5 percent and at 15 years of age it is 15 percent. Ethnicity has an influence on the prevalence. It is more common in White pupils when compared to Black of Mixed ethnicity pupils. It is also more prevalent in pupils coming from lower socioeconomic strata (Smith et al, 2009). According to the Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use survey of 2006 (NHS, 2007), nine percent of pupils in England are regular smokers and a further 5 percent are occasional smokers. The survey defined regular smokers as those smoking atleast one cigarette per week and occasional smokers as those smoking less than one cigarette a week. Pupils who smoked regularly smoked an average of 6 cigarettes a day, approximately 43.5 cigarettes a week. 74 percent of the regular smokers smoked cigarettes from a packet and 6 percent smoked from rolled tobaccos. Girls were more likely to smoke from a packet (NHS, 2007). Regular smoking in this age group has been associated with drug abuse, alcohol intake and truancy and school exclusion. The dependence of smoking by children is mainly related to the time they spend as regular smoker. Those who have smoked for more than a year as regular smokers have reported that they find it difficult to not smoke each day. However, more than 50 percent opined that they knew the ill effects of smoking and thus would like to give up. Most pupils knew that smoking caused lung cancer. But two-thirds of them reported that they felt relaxed because of smoking. Thus, the immediate benefits of smoking outweighed the future potential hazards of smoking. According to the survey, majority of pupils were aware of the fact that their families had negative attitude towards smoking. One third of the pupils who smoked did so secretly and occasional smokers were more likely to be secret smokers. Also, households of pupils who smoked were more lenient that those who did not smoke (NHS, 2007). Since most adult smo kers begin smoking at young age, it is every important to ascertain and understand the causes of smoking in young children so that predictors of smoking can be evaluated and targeted for prevention. Several risk factors have been studied in this regard. According to the Liverpool Longitudinal Smoking Study (Smith et al, 2009), deprivation at both school and home was strongly associated with smoking among adolescents. The trial of smoking is influenced by several school-related environmental factors

Western philosophy Essay Example for Free

Western philosophy Essay Philosophy is the discipline concerned with questions of how one should live (ethics); what sorts of things exist and what are their essential natures (metaphysics); what counts as genuine knowledge (epistemology); and what are the correct principles of reasoning (logic). The word is of Ancient Greek origin (philosophia), meaning love of wisdom. Definition of philosophy: Every definition of philosophy is controversial. The field has historically expanded and changed depending upon what kinds of questions were interesting or relevant in a given era. It is generally agreed that philosophy is a method, rather than a set of claims, propositions, or theories. Its investigations are based upon rational thinking, striving to make no unexamined assumptions and no leaps based on faith or pure analogy. Different philosophers have had varied ideas about the nature of reason. There is also disagreement about the subject matter of philosophy. Some think that philosophy examines the process of inquiry itself. Others, that there are essentially philosophical propositions which it is the task of philosophy to answer. Although the word philosophy originates in Ancient Greece, many figures in the history of other cultures have addressed similar topics in similar ways. The philosophers of East and South Asia are discussed in Eastern philosophy, while the philosophers of North Africa and the Middle East, because of their strong interactions with Europe, are usually considered part of Western philosophy. Branches of philosophy: The point of philosophy is to start with something so simple as to seem not worth stating, and to end with something so paradoxical that no one will believe it. To give an exhaustive list of the main divisions of philosophy is difficult, because various topics have been studied by philosophers at various times. Ethics, metaphysics, epistemology, and logic are usually included. Other topics include politics, aesthetics, and religion. In addition, most academic subjects have a philosophy, for example the philosophy of science, the philosophy of mathematics, and the philosophy of history. Metaphysics was first studied systematically by Aristotle. He did not use that term; the term emerged because in later editions of Aristotles works the book on what is now called metaphysics came after Aristotles study of physics. He calls the subject first philosophy (or sometimes just wisdom), and says it is the subject that deals with first causes and the principles of things. The modern meaning of the term is any inquiry dealing with the ultimate nature of what exists. Epistemology is concerned with the nature and scope of knowledge, and whether knowledge is possible. Ethics, or moral philosophy, is concerned with questions of how agents ought to act. Platos early dialogues constitute a search for definitions of virtue. Metaethics is the study of whether ethical value judgments can be objective at all. Ethics can also be conducted within a religious context. Logic has two broad divisions: mathematical logic (formal symbolic logic) and what is now called philosophical logic, the logic of language. Greek philosophy and Hellenistic philosophy: Ancient Greek philosophy may be divided into the pre-Socratic period, the Socratic period, and the post-Aristotelian period (or Hellenistic period). The pre-Socratic period was characterized by metaphysical speculation, often preserved in the form of grand, sweeping statements, such as All is fire or All changes. Important pre-Socratic philosophers include Pythagoras, Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes, Democritus, Parmenides, Heraclitus, and Empedocles. The Socratic period is named in honor of Socrates, who, along with his pupil Plato, revolutionized philosophy through the use of the Socratic method, which developed the very general philosophical methods of definition, analysis, and synthesis. While no writings of Socrates survive, his influence as a skeptic is transmitted through Platos works. Platos writings are often considered basic texts in philosophy as they defined the fundamental issues of philosophy for future generations. These issues and others were taken up by Aristotle, who studied at Platos school, the Academy, and who often disagreed with what Plato had written. The subsequent period ushered in such philosophers as Euclid, Epicurus, Chrysippus, Hipparchia the Cynic, Pyrrho, and Sextus Empiricus. Though many of these philosophers may seem irrelevant given current scientific knowledge, their systems of thought continue to influence both philosophy and science today. Medieval philosophy History: Medieval philosophy is the philosophy of Western Europe and the Middle East during what is now known as the medieval era or the Middle Ages, roughly extending from the fall of the Roman Empire to the Renaissance period. Medieval philosophy is defined partly by the rediscovery and further development of classical Greek philosophy and Hellenistic philosophy, and partly by the need to address theological problems and to integrate sacred doctrine (in Islam, Judaism and Christianity) and secular learning. Some problems discussed throughout this period are the relation of faith to reason, the existence and unity of God, the object of theology and metaphysics, the problems of knowledge, of universals, and of individuation. Philosophers from the Middle Ages include the Muslim philosophers Alkindus, Alfarabi, Alhacen, Avicenna, Algazel, Avempace, Abubacer and Averroes; the Jewish philosophers Maimonides and Gersonides; and the Christian philosophers Anselm, Peter Abelard, Roger Bacon, Thomas Aquinas, Duns Scotus, William of Ockham and Jean Buridan. Early modern philosophy History(c. 1600 c. 1800): Modern philosophy is usually considered to begin with the revival of skepticism and the genesis of modern physical science. Canonical figures include Montaigne, Descartes, Locke, Spinoza, Leibniz, Berkeley, Hume, and Kant. Chronologically, this era spans the 17th and 18th centuries, and is generally considered to end with Kants systematic attempt to reconcile Newtonian physics with traditional metaphysical topics. Later modern philosophy History(c. 1800 c. 1960): Later modern philosophy is usually considered to begin after the philosophy of Immanuel Kant at the beginning of the 19th-century. German idealists, Fichte, Hegel, Hoelderlin, Schelling, expanded on the work of Kant by maintaining that the world is rational and it is knowable as rational. Rejecting idealism, other philosophers, many working from outside the university, initiated lines of thought that would occupy academic philosophy in the early and mid-20th century: Contemporary philosophy History(c. 1960 present): In the last hundred years, philosophy has increasingly become an activity practiced within the modern research university, and accordingly it has grown more specialized and more distinct from the natural sciences. Much of philosophy in this period concerns itself with explaining the relation between the theories of the natural sciences and the ideas of the humanities or common sense. It is arguable that later modern philosophy ended with contemporary philosophys shift of focus from 19th century philosophers to 20th century philosophers. Realism and nominalism in Philosophy: Realism sometimes means the position opposed to the 18th-century Idealism, namely that some things have real existence outside the mind. Classically, however, realism is the doctrine that abstract entities corresponding to universal terms like man have a real existence. It is opposed to nominalism, the view that abstract or universal terms are words only, or denote mental states such as ideas, beliefs, or intentions. The latter position, famously held by William of Ockham, is conceptualism. Rationalism and empiricism in Philosophy: Rationalism is any view emphasizing the role or importance of human reason. Extreme rationalism tries to base all knowledge on reason alone. Rationalism typically starts from premises that cannot coherently be denied, then attempts by logical steps to deduce every possible object of knowledge. The first rationalist, in this broad sense, is often held to be Parmenides (fl. 480 BCE), who argued that it is impossible to doubt that thinking actually occurs. But thinking must have an object, therefore something beyond thinking really exists. Parmenides deduced that what really exists must have certain properties for example, that it cannot come into existence or cease to exist, that it is a coherent whole, that it remains the same eternally (in fact, exists altogether outside time). Zeno of Elea (born c. 489 BCE) was a disciple of Parmenides, and argued that motion is impossible, since the assertion that it exists implies a contradiction. Plato (427-347 BCE) was also influenced by Parmenides, but combined rationalism with a form of realism. The philosophers work is to consider being, and the essence of things. But the characteristic of essences is that they are universal. The nature of a man, a triangle, a tree, applies to all men, all triangles, all trees. Plato argued that these essences are mind-independent forms, that humans (but particularly philosophers) can come to know by reason, and by ignoring the distractions of sense-perception. Modern rationalism begins with Descartes. Reflection on the nature of perceptual experience, as well as scientific discoveries in physiology and optics, led Descartes (and also Locke) to the view that we are directly aware of ideas, rather than objects. This view gave rise to three questions: Is an idea a true copy of the real thing that it represents? Sensation is not a direct interaction between bodily objects and our sense, but is a physiological process involving representation (for example, an image on the retina). Locke thought that a secondary quality such as a sensation of green could in no way resemble the arrangement of particles in matter that go to produce this sensation, although he thought that primary qualities such as shape, size, number, were really in objects. How can physical objects such as chairs and tables, or even physiological processes in the brain, give rise to mental items such as ideas? This is part of what became known as the mind-body problem. If all the contents of awareness are ideas, how can we know that anything exists apart from ideas? Descartes tried to address the last problem by reason. He began, echoing Parmenides, with a principle that he thought could not coherently be denied: I think, therefore I am (often given in his original Latin: Cogito ergo sum). From this principle, Descartes went on to construct a complete system of knowledge (which involves proving the existence of God, using, among other means, a version of the ontological argument). His view that reason alone could yield substantial truths about reality strongly influenced those philosophers usually considered modern rationalists (such as Baruch Spinoza, Gottfried Leibniz, and Christian Wolff), while provoking criticism from other philosophers who have retrospectively come to be grouped together as empiricists. Empiricism, in contrast to rationalism, downplays or dismisses the ability of reason alone to yield knowledge of the world, preferring to base any knowledge we have on our senses. John Locke propounded the classic empiricist view in An Essay Concerning Human Understanding in 1689, developing a form of naturalism and empiricism on roughly scientific (and Newtonian) principles. During this era, religious ideas played a mixed role in the struggles that preoccupied secular philosophy. Bishop Berkeleys famous idealist refutation of key tenets of Isaac Newton is a case of an Enlightenment philosopher who drew substantially from religious ideas. Other influential religious thinkers of the time include Blaise Pascal, Joseph Butler, and Jonathan Edwards. Other major writers, such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Edmund Burke, took a rather different path. The restricted interests of many of the philosophers of the time foreshadow the separation and specialization of different areas of philosophy that would occur in the 20th century. Skepticism in Philosophy: Skepticism is a philosophical attitude that questions the possibility of obtaining any sort of knowledge. It was first articulated by Pyrrho, who believed that everything could be doubted except appearances. Sextus Empiricus (2nd century CE) describes skepticism as an ability to place in antithesis, in any manner whatever, appearances and judgments, and thus to come first of all to a suspension of judgment and then to mental tranquility. Skepticism so conceived is not merely the use of doubt, but is the use of doubt for a particular end: a calmness of the soul, or ataraxia. Skepticism poses itself as a challenge to dogmatism, whose adherents think they have found the truth. Sextus noted that the reliability of perception may be questioned, because it is idiosyncratic to the perceiver. The appearance of individual things changes depending on whether they are in a group: for example, the shavings of a goats horn are white when taken alone, yet the intact horn is black. A pencil, when viewed lengthwise, looks like a stick; but when examined at the tip, it looks merely like a circle. Skepticism was revived in the early modern period by Michel de Montaigne and Blaise Pascal. Its most extreme exponent, however, was David Hume. Hume argued that there are only two kinds of reasoning: what he called probable and demonstrative (cf Humes fork). Neither of these two forms of reasoning can lead us to a reasonable belief in the continued existence of an external world. Demonstrative reasoning cannot do this, because demonstration (that is, deductive reasoning from well-founded premises) alone cannot establish the uniformity of nature (as captured by scientific laws and principles, for example). Such reason alone cannot establish that the future will resemble the past. We have certain beliefs about the world (that the sun will rise tomorrow, for example), but these beliefs are the product of habit and custom, and do not depend on any sort of logical inferences from what is already given certain. But probable reasoning (inductive reasoning), which aims to take us from the observed to the unobserved, cannot do this either: it also depends on the uniformity of nature, and this supposed uniformity cannot be proved, without circularity, by any appeal to uniformity. The best that either sort of reasoning can accomplish is conditional truth: if certain assumptions are true, then certain conclusions follow. So nothing about the world can be established with certainty. Hume concludes that there is no solution to the skeptical argument except, in effect, to ignore it. Even if these matters were resolved in every case, we would have in turn to justify our standard of justification, leading to an infinite regress (hence the term regress skepticism). Many philosophers have questioned the value of such skeptical arguments. The question of whether we can achieve knowledge of the external world is based on how high a standard we set for the justification of such knowledge. If our standard is absolute certainty, then we cannot progress beyond the existence of mental sensations. We cannot even deduce the existence of a coherent or continuing I that experiences these sensations, much less the existence of an external world. On the other hand, if our standard is too low, then we admit follies and illusions into our body of knowledge. This argument against absolute skepticism asserts that the practical philosopher must move beyond solipsism, and accept a standard for knowledge that is high but not absolute. Idealism in Philosophy: Idealism is the epistemological doctrine that nothing can be directly known outside of the minds of thinking beings. Or in an alternative stronger form, it is the metaphysical doctrine that nothing exists apart from minds and the contents of minds. In modern Western philosophy, the epistemological doctrine begins as a core tenet of Descartes that what is in the mind is known more reliably than what is known through the senses. The first prominent modern Western idealist in the metaphysical sense was George Berkeley. Berkeley argued that there is no deep distinction between mental states, such as feeling pain, and the ideas about so-called external things, that appear to us through the senses. There is no real distinction, in this view, between certain sensations of heat and light that we experience, which lead us to believe in the external existence of a fire, and the fire itself. Those sensations are all there is to fire. Berkeley expressed this with the Latin formula esse est percipi: to be is to be perceived. In this view the opinion, strangely prevailing upon men, that houses, mountains, and rivers have an existence independent of their perception by a thinking being is false. Forms of idealism were prevalent in philosophy from the 18th century to the early 20th century. Transcendental idealism, advocated by Immanuel Kant, is the view that there are limits on what can be understood, since there is much that cannot be brought under the conditions of objective judgment. Kant wrote his Critique of Pure Reason (1781-1787) in an attempt to reconcile the conflicting approaches of rationalism and empiricism, and to establish a new groundwork for studying metaphysics. Kants intention with this work was to look at what we know and then consider what must be true about it, as a logical consequence of, the way we know it. One major theme was that there are fundamental features of reality that escape our direct knowledge because of the natural limits of the human faculties. Although Kant held that objective knowledge of the world required the mind to impose a conceptual or categorical framework on the stream of pure sensory data a framework including space and time themselves he maintained that things-in-themselves existed independently of  our perceptions and judgments; he was therefore not an idealist in any simple sense. Indeed, Kants account of things-in-themselves is both controversial and highly complex. Continuing his work, Johann Gottlieb Fichte and Friedrich Schelling dispensed with belief in the independent existence of the world, and created a thoroughgoing idealist philosophy. The most notable work of this German idealism was G. W. F. Hegels Phenomenology of Spirit, of 1807. Hegel admitted his ideas werent new, but that all the previous philosophies had been incomplete. His goal was to correctly finish their job. Hegel asserts that the twin aims of philosophy are to account for the contradictions apparent in human experience (which arise, for instance, out of the supposed contradictions between being and not being ), and also simultaneously to resolve and preserve these contradictions by showing their compatibility at a higher level of examination (being and not being are resolved with becoming) . This program of acceptance and reconciliation of contradictions is known as the Hegelian dialectic. Philosophers in the Hegelian tradition include Ludwig Andreas Feuerbach, who coined the term projection as pertaining to our inability to recognize anything in the external world without projecting qualities of ourselves upon those things, Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, and the British idealists, notably T. H. Green, J. M. E. McTaggart, and F. H. Bradley. Few 20th century philosophers have embraced idealism. However, quite a few have embraced Hegelian dialectic. Immanuel Kants Copernican Turn also remains an important philosophical concept today. Pragmatism in Philosophy: Pragmatism was founded in the spirit of finding a scientific concept of truth, which is not dependent on either personal insight (or revelation) or reference to some metaphysical realm. The truth of a statement should be judged by the effect it has on our actions and truth should be seen as that which the whole of scientific enquiry will ultimately agree on. This should probably be seen as a guiding principle more than a definition of what it means for something to be true, though the details of how this principle should be interpreted have been subject to discussion since Peirce first conceived it. Like Rorty many seem convinced that Pragmatism holds that the truth of beliefs does not consist in their correspondence with reality, but in their usefulness and efficacy. The late 19th-century American philosophers Charles Peirce and William James were its co-founders, and it was later developed by John Dewey as instrumentalism. Since the usefulness of any belief at any time might be contingent on circumstance, Peirce and James conceptualised final truth as that which would be established only by the future, final settlement of all opinion. Critics have accused pragmatism of falling victim to a simple fallacy: because something that is true proves useful, that usefulness is the basis for its truth. Thinkers in the pragmatist tradition have included John Dewey, George Santayana,W. V. O. Quine and C. I. Lewis. Phenomenology in Philosophy: Edmund Husserls phenomenology was an ambitious attempt to lay the foundations for an account of the structure of conscious experience in general. An important part of Husserls phenomenological project was to show that all conscious acts are directed at or about objective content, a feature that Husserl called intentionality. In the first part of his two-volume work, the Logical Investigations (1901), he launched an extended attack on psychologism. In the second part, he began to develop the technique of descriptive phenomenology, with the aim of showing how objective judgments are indeed grounded in conscious experience not, however, in the first-person experience of particular individuals, but in the properties essential to any experiences of the kind in question. He also attempted to identify the essential properties of any act of meaning. He developed the method further in Ideas (1913) as transcendental phenomenology, proposing to ground actual experience, and thus all fields of human knowledge, in the structure of consciousness of an ideal, or transcendental, ego. Later, he attempted to reconcile his transcendental standpoint with an acknowledgement of the intersubjective life-world in which real individual subjects interact. Husserl published only a few works in his lifetime, which treat phenomenology mainly in abstract methodological terms; but he left an enormous quantity of unpublished concrete analyses. Husserls work was immediately influential in Germany, with the foundation of phenomenological schools in Munich and Gottingen. Phenomenology later achieved international fame through the work of such philosophers as Martin Heidegger (formerly Husserls research assistant), Maurice Merleau-Ponty, and Jean-Paul Sartre. Indeed, through the work of Heidegger and Sartre, Husserls focus on subjective experience influenced aspects of existentialism. Existentialism in Philosophy: Although they didnt use the term, the nineteenth century philosophers Soren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche are widely regarded as the fathers of existentialism. Their influence, however, has extended beyond existentialist thought. The main target of Kierkegaards writings was the idealist philosophical system of Hegel which, he thought, ignored or excluded the inner subjective life of living human beings. Kierkegaard, conversely, held that truth is subjectivity, arguing that what is most important to an actual human being are questions dealing with an individuals inner relationship to existence. In particular, Kierkegaard, a Christian, believed that the truth of religious faith was a subjective question, and one to be wrestled with passionately. Although Kierkegaard and Nietzsche were among his influences, the extent to which the German philosopher Martin Heidegger should be considered an existentialist is debatable. In Being and Time he presented a method of rooting philosophical explanations in human existence (Dasein) to be analysed in terms of existential categories (existentiale); and this has led many commentators to treat him as an important figure in the existentialist movement. However, in The Letter on Humanism, Heidegger explicitly rejected the existentialism of Jean-Paul Sartre. Sartre became the best-known proponent of existentialism, exploring it not only in theoretical works such as Being and Nothingness , but also in plays and novels. Sartre, along with Albert Camus and Simone de Beauvoir, all represented an avowedly atheistic branch of existentialism, which is now more closely associated with their ideas of nausea, contingency, bad faith, and the absurd than with Kierkegaards spiritual angst. Nevertheless, the focus on the individual human being, responsible before the universe for the authenticity of his or her existence, is common to all these thinkers. Structuralism and post-structuralism in Philosophy: Inaugurated by the linguist Ferdinand de Saussure, structuralism sought to ferret out the underlying systems through analysing the discourses they both limit and make possible. Saussure conceived of the sign as being delimited by all the other signs in the system, and ideas as being incapable of existence prior to linguistic structure, which articulates thought. This led continental thought away from humanism, and toward what was termed the decentering of man: language is no longer spoken by man to express a true inner self, but language speaks man. Structuralism sought the province of a hard science, but its positivism soon came under fire by poststructuralism, a wide field of thinkers, some of whom were once themselves structuralists, but later came to criticize it. Structuralists believed they could analyse systems from an external, objective standing, for example, but the poststructuralists argued that this is incorrect, that one cannot transcend structures and thus analysis is itself determined by what it examines, that systems are ultimately self-referential. Furthermore, while the distinction between the signifier and signified was treated as crystalline by structuralists, poststructuralists asserted that every attempt to grasp the signified would simply result in the proliferation of more signifiers, so meaning is always in a state of being deferred, making an ultimate interpretation impossible. Structuralism came to dominate continental philosophy from the 1960s onward, encompassing thinkers as diverse as Michel Foucault and Jacques Lacan. The analytic tradition in Philosophy: The term analytic philosophy roughly designates a group of philosophical methods that stress clarity of meaning above all other criteria. The philosophy developed as a critique of Hegel and his followers in particular, and of speculative philosophy in general. Some schools in the group include 20th-century realism, logical atomism, logical positivism, and ordinary language. The motivation is to have philosophical studies go beyond personal opinion and begin to have the cogency of mathematical proofs. In 1921, Ludwig Wittgenstein published his Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, which gave a rigidly logical account of linguistic and philosophical issues. At the time, he understood most of the problems of philosophy as mere puzzles of language, which could be solved by clear thought. Years later he would reverse a number of the positions he had set out in the Tractatus, in for example his second major work, Philosophical Investigations (1953). Investigations encouraged the development of ordinary language philosophy, which was promoted by Gilbert Ryle, J.L. Austin, and a few others. The ordinary language philosophy thinkers shared a common outlook with many older philosophers (Jeremy Bentham, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and John Stuart Mill), and it was this style of philosophical inquiry that characterized English-language philosophy for the second half of the 20th century. Ethics and political in Philosophy: From ancient times, and well beyond them, the roots of justification for political authority were inescapably tied to outlooks on human nature. In The Republic, Plato declared that the ideal society would be run by a council of philosopher-kings, since those best at philosophy are best able to realize the good. Even Plato, however, required philosophers to make their way in the world for many years before beginning their rule at the age of fifty. For Aristotle, humans are political animals (i. e. social animals), and governments are set up in order to pursue good for the community. Aristotle reasoned that, since the state (polis) was the highest form of community, it has the purpose of pursuing the highest good. Aristotle viewed political power as the result of natural inequalities in skill and virtue. Because of these differences, he favored an aristocracy of the able and virtuous. For Aristotle, the person cannot be complete unless he or she lives in a community. His The Nicomachean Ethics and The Politics are meant to be read in that order. The first book addresses virtues (or excellences) in the person as a citizen; the second addresses the proper form of government to ensure that citizens will be virtuous, and therefore complete. Both books deal with the essential role of justice in civic life. Nicolas of Cusa rekindled Platonic thought in the early 15th century. He promoted democracy in Medieval Europe, both in his writings and in his organization of the Council of Florence. Unlike Aristotle and the Hobbesian tradition to follow, Cusa saw human beings as equal and divine (that is, made in Gods image), so democracy would be the only just form of government. Cusas views are credited by some as sparking the Italian Renaissance, which gave rise to the notion of Nation-States. Later, Niccolo Machiavelli rejected the views of Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas as unrealistic. The ideal sovereign is not the embodiment of the moral virtues; rather the sovereign does whatever is successful and necessary, rather than what is morally praiseworthy. Thomas Hobbes also contested many elements of Aristotles views. For Hobbes, human nature is essentially anti-social: people are essentially egoistic, and this egoism makes life difficult in the natural state of things. Moreover, Hobbes argued, though people may have natural inequalities, these are trivial, since no particular talents or virtues that people may have will make them safe from harm inflicted by others. For these reasons, Hobbes concluded that the state arises from a common agreement to raise the community out of the state of nature. This can only be done by the establishment of a sovereign, in which (or whom) is vested complete control over the community, and which is able to inspire awe and terror in its subjects. Many in the Enlightenment were unsatisfied with existing doctrines in political philosophy, which seemed to marginalize or neglect the possibility of a democratic state. David Hume was among the first philosophers to question the existence of God, circa 1700. Jean-Jacques Rousseau was among those who attempted to overturn these doctrines: he responded to Hobbes by claiming that a human is by nature a kind of noble savage, and that society and social contracts corrupt this nature. Another critic was John Locke. In Second Treatise on Government he agreed with Hobbes that the nation-state was an efficient tool for raising humanity out of a deplorable state, but he argued that the sovereign might become an abominable institution compared to the relatively benign unmodulated state of nature. Following the doctrine of the fact-value distinction, due in part to the influence of David Hume and his student Adam Smith, appeals to human nature for political justification were weakened. Nevertheless, many political philosophers, especially moral realists, still make use of some essential human nature as a basis for their arguments. Consequentialism, Deontological ethics, and Virtue ethics in Philosophy: One debate that has commanded the attention of ethicists in the modern era has been between consequentialism (actions are to be morally evaluated solely by their consequences) and deontology (actions are to be morally evaluated solely by consideration of agents duties, the rights of those whom the action concerns, or both).

The microstructure of cast iron

The microstructure of cast iron ABSTRACT THE MICROSTRUCTURE OF CAST IRON: In the experiment, the microstructures of five samples of different cast iron forms were observed and investigated under the optical microscope and an iron-carbide phase was studied. The suitable drawings were made under different magnification of 100 and 200. Each constituent of the microstructure was identified and also other structural features of the sample provided were identified. The samples areBlackheart malleable cast iron, Ferritic spheroidal graphite iron, Pearlitic spheroidal graphite iron, White cast iron and Phosphoric grey cast iron. The differences in the microstructure were due to the difference in heat treatment, process of cooling and additives present. COPPER SILVER EUTECTIC ALLOY: The eutectic alloy formed between silver and copper was observed. The microstructure of all the four samples was drawn using the optical microscope with 200 magnifications. 90%Ag 10% Cu, 72%Ag 28% Cu, 50% Ag 50% Cu, 30% Ag 70% Cu are the samples provided. An equilibrium diagram was constructed for the copper-silver alloy system, the features of interest as well as the constituent of the structure was identified for all the samples. INTRODUCTION THE MICROSTRUCTURE OF CAST IRON Cast irons are a class of ferrous alloys with a carbon content of between 2.0 4.5%; they contain sufficient carbon so that the eutectic reaction occurs during solidification. They are the most economical in terms of foundry cost which makes the useful even though they are quite brittle; they are fine for low stressed components like cylinder block. Their versatility makes them a high demand in the market. Cast iron contain contrasting amount of manganese, sulphur and phosphorus. They have varying strength and can resist wear and abrasion and corrosion and they can be easily machined. They are easily melted and cast making the good casting impression. The carbon in a cast iron exists in two forms, as a free form of graphite or in a combination as a cementite which is unstable iron carbide. Iron is hard and difficult to machine due to how brittle the cementite is while graphite is soft making the iron softer and easy to machine. Graphite weakens metal due to its occurrence in flakes by breaking up its continuity. Because of the characteristics of these two carbon form, the relative amount, the shape and distribution in the cast iron produces different cast irons variety of properties. Grey cast iron contains tiny interconnected flakes of graphite that allow low strength and ductility. Its the mostly used cast iron and named after its grey colour on fracture surfaces. White cast iron produces more cementite than graphite during solidification, it is a hard brittle alloy containing massive amount of fe3c. Alloyed white cast iron is used due to their hardness and wear resistance for abrasive wear. The name was given due to white fractured surface. Malleable cast iron is formed by the heat treatment of white cast iron, it has better ductility and they produce rounded clumps of graphite. It is very machinable and is made by heat treating unalloyed 3% carbon. A spherodite are micro constituent of coarse spheroidal graphite particles in a matrix of pearlite or ferrite, permitting excellent machining characteristics in high carbon steel. The structure of cast iron is affected by a number of factors. The type of iron form is determined by the rate of solidification as slow cooling will produce grey iron and the rapid one will produce white iron structure. Whether graphite or cementite is formed and by what quantity is determined by the carbon content of the melt and presence of other element. For example nickel and silicon promote the formation of graphite in the iron structure. The structure is affected by the type of heat treatment, cementite will decompose to ferrite and graphite will produce a completely different structure. COPPER-SILVER EUTECTIC ALLOYS: There are three single phase regions on the phase diagram of binary alloys of silver and copper. The phase is a solid solution rich in copper which has silver as the solute and an FCC structure it also include pure copper and is considered to include pure copper. An eutectic region can be defined as a three phase invariant reaction in which one liquid phase solidifies to form two solid phases. Copper and silver form an eutectic at 72%Ag and 28%Cu at a temperature of 780oC.The temperature at which an alloy become totally liquid decreases as silver is added to copper which is also the same as the addition of copper to silver. A microstructure may be defined as the structural feature of an alloy, its grain and phase structure that are subject to observation under microscope. Copper is a face centred cubic structured metal possessing good ductility, good thermal and electrical conductivity. It is often used as a constituent of various metal alloys. The melting point of pure copper is 1083oC while that of pure silver is 961oC. Silver possesses one of the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of any metal. It has FCC structure and is sometimes produced as a by-product of copper. When the full liquid solubility is possible with complete solid insolubility or very limited solid solubility then an eutectic relationship exist. This exists in copper and silver but they are fully soluble in liquid state. EXPERIMENTAL THE MICROSTRUCTURE OF CAST IRON Five prepared micro specimens were provided and the microstructure of each studied and drawn using a microscope. The specimens provided were Blackheart malleable cast iron at magnification 100 Ferritic spheroidal graphite iron at magnification 100 Pearlitic spheroidal graphite iron at magnification 200 White cast iron at magnification 100 Phosphoric grey cast iron at magnification 200 Each constituent and other structural feature of importance in the microstructure of white cast iron was labelled on the drawing. The procedure was performed to all specimens. COPPER-SILVER EUTECTIC ALLOYS Four polished and etched micro sections of copper silver alloys were provided. 30% Ag 70% Cu 72%Ag 28% Cu 50% Ag 50% Cu 90%Ag 10% Cu These alloys have already been melted in a gas fired furnace, deoxidised by polling with graphite rod and then cast in refractory moulds preheated to 500oC. I placed the samples under the microscope at a magnification of 200; my observation was drawn with the help of the microscope. The constituent and structural features are drawn and labelled, I repeated the steps for the entire specimen and the equilibrium diagram was drawn from the data. RESULTS The results are compiled in the couple of pages attached to the next pages. DISCUSSION THE MICROSTRUCTURE OF CAST IRON The way a metal is cooled produces the different structures of cast iron. Two of these structures are white and grey cast iron. As the metal is cooled, the amount of austenite in the matrix increases. At the eutectic temperature of 1130Â °C the remaining liquid solidifies producing austenite in a eutectic matrix. A structure consisting of cementite, Fe3C and eutectoid iron starts to form as structure starts to decompose. The eutectoid contains area of pearlite and cementite and its also a mixture of cementite and ferrite. The pearlite is formed as a result of the decomposition of the austenite on cooling. This structure is that of white cast iron which is formed due to the rapid rate of cooling. The cooling rate of white and grey cast iron affects the structure; fast cooling rate promotes white cast iron while slower cooling rate promotes grey cast iron. The carbide composition can have effect on the structure of the iron produced; high amount of chromium promotes white cast iron while low amount promotes grey cast iron. Section size can also determine iron structure obtained. Cool section cool faster and produce white cast iron while thick sections will cool slower promoting formation of grey cats iron. A number of variables must be controlled in order to produce grey cast iron instead of white cast iron. For a grey cast iron to form, the rate of cooling must be made as slow as possible. High silicon content will also promote the formation of grey cast iron as silicon has strong graphitising tendencies. Phosphoric grey iron is stronger, has a lower melting point and better fluidity than normal grey cast iron. The Blackheart malleablising process is the packing of white iron castings into pots with a neutral packing, such as sand or crushed slag, and heating them to 900Â °C for three days. After the three days they are cooled very slowly. The cementite in the white iron is being decomposed into ferrite and graphite is being precipitated in a smoothly dispersed form. The structure is composed entirely of ferrite and graphite. The graphite present in the structure is shown as ‘rosettes of carbon in the ferrite. After the process, the small amount of pearlite left has no effect on the properties of the casting. The steel produced in this process has good wear resistance and strength and reasonable toughness. Additives are used to produce spheroidal graphite iron rather than flake graphite iron. Magnesium amounting to 1-2% of the weight of the iron is added in the form of a nickel magnesium alloy of 10-20% magnesium. The alloy is used to prevent an extremely violent reaction from occurring. The presence of silicon also assists the formation of the nodules therefore Ferro-silicon is added. The sulphur level needs to be kept low in order to avoid removing the Mg as sulphide. In the production of a ferritic graphite iron, spheroids of graphite in pearlite matrix are heat treated to form spheroids of graphite in ferrite matrix. This is time dependent process and doesnt go into completion therefore causing pearlite area to still be seen. COPPER-SILVER EUTECTIC ALLOYS On drawing of the 30%Ag70%Cu, alpha particles can be seen and dark patches show primary dendrites outside eutectic. The 50%Ag50%Cu alloy sample also shows primary alpha dendrites outside eutectics. In the 90%Ag10%Cu sample there is small amount of eutectic and light areas show beta particles while the dark areas show alpha particle. On the equilibrium diagram ADB is the liquidus and ACDEB is the solidus. The area ACF represents the alpha phase of the silver in copper while BEG represent the condition of limited solid solution of copper in silver which is the beta phase. Below FCDEG the two phases alpha and beta exist side by side. The 72%Ag28%Cu micro section has an all eutectic composition with dark areas also representing alpha particles and light areas showing beta particles the centre of the microstructure is the first to solidify then the outside area. Composition of solid and liquid phases will vary with the temperature along the solidus and liquidus lines. The final liquid between composition C and E will always end at eutectic regardless of what the initial composition may be. As a result the solid will be composed of masses of A and B. At eutectic CW parts liquidus composition Y while WY parts composition C. During casting its virtually impossible to achieve equilibrium conditions. Coring is the non equilibrium cooling on microstructures. Coring explains how the varying primary dendrites allow lighter areas in the centre than in the outside. The properties of a cored structure are less than optimal, as a casting having a cored structure is reheated causing grain boundaries regions will meet first as long as they are richer in low melting components. The liquid film that separate the grain gives an outcome of sudden loss of mechanical integrity. The melting may begin at a temperature below the equilibrium solidus temperature of the alloys. Homogeneous heat treatment can be used to remove coring at a temperature below the solidus point of the alloy composition. During the process, atomic diffusion occur producing compositionally homogeneous grain. CONCLUSION Cast irons have many different structures each one caused by a different cooling rate, additives and different heat treatments. Formation of grey cast iron over white cast iron is promote by slow cooling rate and enormous silicon content Coring can be eliminated by a homogenising heat treatment. Magnesium and silicon help to produce spheroidal graphite iron rather than flake graphite iron To produce a ferritic spheroidal graphite iron from pearlitic spheroidal graphite iron the steel must be heated to just below the lower critical temperature. Phosphoric iron will enable to cast very fine details and in blackheart malleablising process, rosettes from graphite in ferrite matrix are produced from white cast iron. The composition of the copper silver eutectic alloys has a very large effect on the microstructure of the alloy, with different amounts of the phases being produced on cooling.

A Comparison of Civilization in The Oresteia and Miltons Paradise Lost :: comparison compare contrast essays

Civilization in The Oresteia and Paradise Lost      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The continual search for a perfect civilization marks the history of human progress. From Plato to Locke to Marx, man has sought to order society to provide justice for himself and his children. In this quest for paradise, myths of primitivity help describe how social institutions can direct humans away from their temptations toward higher goals. In Aeschylus' The Oresteia and John Milton's Paradise Lost, human civilization is viewed as an imperfect balance of opposites which helps combat man's tendencies toward barbarism and misogyny.    For Aeschylus, successful civilization defines itself not by complete devotion to Fate or the gods; instead, society forms "the ultimate product of conflict between opposing forces" in which violence and antisocial behavior are repressed through a "hierarchization of values" (Zeitlin 1). The social myth of The Oresteia is viewed not as a historical reality but as a useful symbol - a consideration of humans run amok as the social institutions of family and government give way to a cycle of destructive violence. The trilogy sets justice, family, and city against revenge and ambition in a test of whether any social institution can survive in the face of a threat to its supremacy.    In contrast, the strongly Puritan John Milton describes the structure of society as a least among evils; it forms the "scaffolding" which, "when the building is finished," is only a "troublesome disfigurement" to man's own ability for good (Milton The Reason of Church-government qtd. in Fish 534). The conflict in Paradise Lost juxtaposes man's submission and faith with his sensuousness and ignorance. The Coming of the Son promises the final solution to man's problems and an end to this "clash of values" (Fish 536). Yet until the Resurrection, the Fortunate Fall leaves lasting marks on human civilization that are dramatically portrayed as cracks in the veneered perfection of mythic Eden.    The gorgeous garden belies the theological chasm that separates man from his Creator. Humans cannot accept the command to "be lowly wise" (PL VIII.173). When Adam promises to avoid "obscure and subtle" (PL VIII.192) thought, he acknowledges that "apt the mind or fancy is to rove/Unchecked" (PL VIII.

The Conflict with Traditional Culture Essay -- Traditional Culture, Ho

The conflict with traditional culture The general people consider Hong Kong as an international city because a lot of cross-cultural enterprises choose Hong Kong as a landing base to enter into Chinese market and even Asian market.As a result ,the conscientious of women leadership can be brought into the working ecology through the expending of multinational firms. Nevertheless, it is misleading that the concept of women leadership can wholly be applied to companies in general and help increasing the number of women leader. There are several reasons. Firstly, in Asian countries including Hong Kong , the local market climate is dominated by the local companies and those companies are a kind of family business. A family business means one family has a significant ownership and influence to the decision in the company and the chairman of the company can only be the son within the family. This tradition can be a huge and unbreakable barrier to the women even though the companies are facing the influence of external culture. More important is that this new working concept especially the idea of women empowerment can not readily neutralize the traditional culture. The reason behind is that the setting rule of patriarchy is still utilized in the world today. Patriarchy is a social system which is male dominate and is central in the social organization. (Chesney-Lind, 2006) .One obvious example is that the children surname are followed by father’s family name, which means the sons are entitled to inherit everything from their father normally. As a result, the male can administrate the collective benefits within the family and consolidate the state of male. It should also be highlighted that the system has a conflict to enhance women s... ...nagement. In Fagenson, E.A. (ed.) Women in Management: Trends, Issues, and Challenges in Managerial Diversity. London: Sage. ISR survey. (2005) .On Hong Kong's Scene, how relevant is Gender in Recruitment - Business Perspective by Mr. Eddie NG, Chairman of HKIHRM International Committee, Hong Kong Institute of Human Resource Management .Retrieved from http://www.eoc.org.hk/EOC/GraphicsFolder/InforCenter/Conference/Content.aspx?Type=6&DateTime=2007 Equal Opportunities Commission .(2009). Study on Public Perception of Portrayal of Female Gender in the Hong Kong Media. Retrieved from http://www.eoc.org.hk/EOC/GraphicsFolder/InforCenter/Conference/Content.aspx?Type=6&DateTime=2007 SHAMIR, B. , SALOMON, I. , MANAGEMENT, A. , & Shamir, B. (1985). Work-at-home and the quality of working life. Academy of Management Review, [Electronic version]. 10(3), 455-464. The Conflict with Traditional Culture Essay -- Traditional Culture, Ho The conflict with traditional culture The general people consider Hong Kong as an international city because a lot of cross-cultural enterprises choose Hong Kong as a landing base to enter into Chinese market and even Asian market.As a result ,the conscientious of women leadership can be brought into the working ecology through the expending of multinational firms. Nevertheless, it is misleading that the concept of women leadership can wholly be applied to companies in general and help increasing the number of women leader. There are several reasons. Firstly, in Asian countries including Hong Kong , the local market climate is dominated by the local companies and those companies are a kind of family business. A family business means one family has a significant ownership and influence to the decision in the company and the chairman of the company can only be the son within the family. This tradition can be a huge and unbreakable barrier to the women even though the companies are facing the influence of external culture. More important is that this new working concept especially the idea of women empowerment can not readily neutralize the traditional culture. The reason behind is that the setting rule of patriarchy is still utilized in the world today. Patriarchy is a social system which is male dominate and is central in the social organization. (Chesney-Lind, 2006) .One obvious example is that the children surname are followed by father’s family name, which means the sons are entitled to inherit everything from their father normally. As a result, the male can administrate the collective benefits within the family and consolidate the state of male. It should also be highlighted that the system has a conflict to enhance women s... ...nagement. In Fagenson, E.A. (ed.) Women in Management: Trends, Issues, and Challenges in Managerial Diversity. London: Sage. ISR survey. (2005) .On Hong Kong's Scene, how relevant is Gender in Recruitment - Business Perspective by Mr. Eddie NG, Chairman of HKIHRM International Committee, Hong Kong Institute of Human Resource Management .Retrieved from http://www.eoc.org.hk/EOC/GraphicsFolder/InforCenter/Conference/Content.aspx?Type=6&DateTime=2007 Equal Opportunities Commission .(2009). Study on Public Perception of Portrayal of Female Gender in the Hong Kong Media. Retrieved from http://www.eoc.org.hk/EOC/GraphicsFolder/InforCenter/Conference/Content.aspx?Type=6&DateTime=2007 SHAMIR, B. , SALOMON, I. , MANAGEMENT, A. , & Shamir, B. (1985). Work-at-home and the quality of working life. Academy of Management Review, [Electronic version]. 10(3), 455-464.

Defining Marketing Essay

To answer the premise of the paper, ‘Defining Marketing’ a definition of marketing is a proper beginning for consideration. My personal definition of marketing is the concept or premise of a function in which products, goods or services are transferred to a consumer or client by a producer or seller. Other definitions exist to describe marketing aside from the prior definition. Marketing has been described as, â€Å"A management process identifying, anticipating and supplying client or consumer requirements with efficiency and profitability.(Tutor2U, 2010) In that same article marketing is described as â€Å"human activities that are directed at facilitating and consummating exchanges. † (Tutor2U, 2010)This last expression or definition rings true, in that as a consumer I want appeal, product or name recognition, quality, and value for my money. The sellers or producers are engaged in making a profit and ensuring a positive client experience and consumers or clie nts who want products that are within their budget, durable and meets the expectations of the transaction; thus a deal can be made between the two entities. In the course text, Basic Marketing, by Perrault, Cannon and McCarthy, the term marketing is further defined as â€Å"performing activities seeking to accomplish an organizations’ objectives through the anticipation of customer needs and directing the flow of need satisfying goods and services from producer to client or customer. †(Basic Marketing, page 6, 2009) Marketing is important for organizational success along with companies having flexibility, exuding a transparent organizational culture and challenging employees to excel and remaining accountable for their actions. Many companies and organizations struggle to find the right balance in management to ensure the company growth and achieve profitability. Marketing can plan an important role in companies excelling with their corporate goals. The use of marketing is how companies conceive and promote corporate brand management and strategic positioning; but it also works toward a corporate strategy and allows for companies to be innovative and thrive in their industries. A company with a marketing business plan considers the key stakeholders, communication channels, the business environment and, core corporate competencies. Using the company brand is a leverage to be used to its full potential. Marketing can assist in developing new consumer channels, products or services that can grow the company or organization and make a sustainable difference in industry trends. The marketing business strategy should include ideas on obtaining new clients, retaining current clients or customers, brand management and tactical to promote sales of the company’s products and services. As a business tool or foundation, marketing uses strategic tactics designed to identify the appropriate market and time for implementation and will impact the organization success of a company. Verizon Communications is a favorite in the telecommunication industry and one of the most powerful national companies in the specialty. Verizon uses new technology recently developed and follows through by introducing the advances to a competing industry. Through research and marketing, Verizon has found what telecommunication technology works and has become very proud of starting a major transformation in the wireless world. As an innovator, Verizon is a industry leader in providing information technology and advanced communications to customers. Through a partnership with major computer companies, Hewlett Packard and Dell Computers, Verizon can produce technological products that are of high quality. The use of these practices helps the Verizon organizational structure through strategic business goals including employee development, diversity awareness, and recruitment. (Verizon, 2010)Another company that has demonstrated consistently to employees and stakeholders, honest and fair business practices resulting in significant organizational success is Dole Food Company. The Dole name is one often associated with high quality and nutrition for fresh cut flowers, vegetables and, fruit. Dole also markets a line of packaged and frozen foods and serves as a leader in the industry for nutrition education and research. (Murdock, 2008) Dole Foods underwent a two-year research and redevelopment program for the Dole Fresh Vegetable product line. (Dole, 2008)Dole’s willingness to share knowledge publicly, invest in new technology, fight food born disease, are all public benefits derived from their ethical leadership. Dole’s financial stewardship and social responsibility underscores the fact that the company is both ethical and profitable. In business, there is more to being successful and achieving organizational success than having products or services at reasonable prices. Many companies underuse marketing as one of their business functions. Alternatively there are many companies that have been successful because of the effective use of strategic marketing such as Microsoft, Sony, American Express, Disney and Wal-Mart,just to name a few.