Monday, September 30, 2019
Western Farmers Dbq
From 1880-1906, western farmers were affected by multiple issues that they saw as threats to their way of life. The main threats to the farmers were railroads, trusts, and the government, because these institutions all had the power to drastically affect the ability of the farmers to make profits. Therefore, the farmers were not wrong to feel frustration toward those institutions when the institutions caused the farmers to live lives of increasingly extreme poverty.The main source of agrarian discontent with the railroads was a result of the rising railroad rates that made it increasingly difficult for the farmers to make a decent living by shipping their crops via freight trains. In a book called The Octopus, a farmer named Dyke planned to ship his hops and was shocked upon discovering that the railroad rate had increased from two cents per pound to five cents per pound, rendering him unable to make any profit at all (Document H).This practice of raising the railroad rates without w arning was unfair to the farmers and made it virtually impossible for any farmer to make a profit by shipping his crops. The farmers were also largely affected by the activity of trusts and banks and the control that trusts exerted on their particular lines of business. In a book by James B. Weaver the argument is made that trusts were in complete control of the situation, having power over both the producer of raw materials and the consumer of the products (Document F).In most cases, the farmers fell under both categories, and the trusts often took full advantage, buying raw goods from farmers at very low prices that made it very difficult for farmers to profit and selling back the completed goods at high prices the farmers could barely afford if at all. The Eastern banking conglomerates were especially powerful due to their ability to call in debts and repossess homes of the farmers. The picture in The Farmerââ¬â¢s Voice, a Chicago newspaper from the late 1880s, depicts the pow er an eastern banker held over the poor western farmers who are unable to pay their bills.The trusts did have an extremely high degree of control with little to no opposition, so the farmers were right to disapprove of trusts and call for legislation to disband them. The governmentââ¬â¢s actions concerning the inflation of the American dollar were extremely detrimental to the ability of the average farmer to make a living. In president William McKinleyââ¬â¢s acceptance speech in 1896 (Document B), McKinley argues that free silver would decrease the value of money, and ââ¬Å"no one suffers so much from cheap money as the farmers and laborers. The decrease in the value of money caused by inflation would make the farmersââ¬â¢ crops almost worthless. The farmersââ¬â¢ complaints regarding the government were valid due to the failure of the government to stop inflation, which is shown in the table comparing the population to the money in circulation (Document C). The amount o f money in circulation increased constantly from 1880 to 1895. It could be argued from the railroadsââ¬â¢ point of view that if the prices werenââ¬â¢t increased to keep up with inflation, the railroads would be unable to make profit.In a testimony before the Senate Cullom Committee, George W. Parker, vice-president of the Cairo Short Line Railroad, testified that if the railroads kept their prices at constant levels, they would go bankrupt (Document G). However, the main problem with the railroads the farmers had was not necessarily the rising prices, but the fact that the prices rose without warning. It was extremely difficult to plan shipments and end up making profits. J. Lawrence Laughlin wrote that the farmers are wrong to blame the decrease in prices of wheat on the scarcity of gold (Document E).Laughlin claimed that such a decrease was simply a result of global overproduction of wheat. While he made a valid point, it did not change the fact that wheat prices were still extremely low and the government could still have been at fault. The farmers still had reason to be angry at the government due to the governmentââ¬â¢s failure to protect the farmers from such a global overproduction by implementing a tariff on foreign wheat and its failure to regulate railroads and trusts, leaving them free to excavate the pockets of the farmers as deeply as they pleased.It was certainly not easy being a western farmer in the late 19th century to the early 20th century. The farmers were complete slaves to the more powerful industries, especially the railroads. The farmers had valid reasons to be discontent with the circumstances. The railroads and other trusts had complete control of the markets and trade systems, while farmers faced constantly rising shipment prices and constantly decreasing crop prices and sales. The government simply stood idly by and watched the farmers be manipulated and taken advantage of by the titans of industry, forcing the farmers into increasingly severe poverty.
Appriseating Evidence Based Practise
This paper will explore four key pieces of evidence with regards to experiences of people with intellectual disabilities through appreciating evidence for practice. The research cuts across social exclusion in people with intellectual disabilities, substance misuse, personal independence and family involvement. It also looks at the definition for evidence based practice in nursing, evaluating qualitative and quantitative evidence as well as service audit and evaluation in support to Gary Mitchellââ¬â¢s case study.Evidence Based Practice Evidence based practice is an avenue that ensures best care is given to patients and service users, ensuring that the care that suits their needs is administered based on positive result and practice with regards to feedback from patients/ service users that would reflect in an effective nursing practice (Barker, 2013; Pape, 2003). This definition drives across three components which are research evidence, Clinical expertise as well as ââ¬Å"patie nt involvementâ⬠.Barker, 2013 indicated that nurses should base their practice on evidence in order to improve patientââ¬â¢s safety and the quality of care and be able to make clear and reasonable link between theory and practice. Jolley (2009) article shows that evidence may be limited and may contradict each other and as a result, informed decision and judgment must be made. Quantitative research evidence is a method of inquiry that makes use of post positive claims towards acquiring knowledge for practice (Creswell, 2003).It is said to be objective as it is used to gain understanding into underlying thoughts, it is also used to quantify evidential problems by way of numerically generating data or data types that are transformed into useable statistics (Bruce, Pope and Stanistreet, 2008) Qualitative research evidence is said to be focused on the thoughts of people, thereby making it to be subjective (Seidman, 2006). It provides insights into the problem as they focus more on the problem.They often take the form of ââ¬Å"what is what hasâ⬠(Ploeg, 1999). The data collection methods varies as it makes use of unstructured or semi structural methods for data collection. 2. 1 Importance of Evidence Based Practice Evidence based practice in nursing has helped to minimise risk, it has also ensures that patient receive care based on adequate research, eradicating doubts and worries as the evidence would have been tested prior to its publication (Sackett, 2002).Due to the fact that new evidences and technologies keep emerging, there is need to collate old and current evidence together for effective clinical decision making (Gabby & le May, 2004). Department of Health (2004) indicated that evidence based practice in now part of job description and a gateway to advancement. 2. 2 Locating Evidences While locating materials and evidences for this paper, several methods and approaches were applied.Such approach was including wildcard characters (*) which wer e either placed before or after a catch word, like * intellectual disabilities *, *substance misuse *, family involvement and intellectual disabilities*, *social exclusion in people with intellectual disabilities *, *substance misuse & intellectual disabilities, * patient involvement & intellectual disabilities*. An online database such as CINAHL, British Nursing journal was used as it will help to gain access to more resent materials and a bench mark was set with the date so as to get access to most resent materials (Courtney and McCutcheon, 2009) except in cases where thereare no recent materials. Although in some aspect of the search, only limited materials were found that involved intellectual disabilities but disabilities in general. 3 Social Exclusion and People with Intellectual Disabilities (ID) A quantitative systematic report by L. Nicholson & S. A. Cooper, 2013 focused on social exclusion and people with intellectual disabilities, which was a rural ââ¬â urban comparis on.They carried out their research using a quantitative methodology with their study aimed at comparing indicators of social exclusion of adults with ID living in rural areas compared with urban areas to test if there is a double disadvantage. Their research cut across several journals, research materials and books to support their work. Their participants were recruited from a range of settings, both in the urban and rural with people with ID, not considering a particular age, gender or level of disabilities and their consent was obtained, which is in line with NMC regulation (NMC, 2012).Both results were statically analysed using statistical package for the social sciences and outliners removed to ascertain their result. It was concluded that social exclusion was more in the urban area than the rural area. The research by L. Nicholson & S. A. Cooper is quite a resent evidence and it can be used to represent to settings, which are urban and rural settings and people with Intellectu al disabilities do reside in both type of settings and reaction for different settings on people does differ from one another.Kenyon et al, 2002 saw social exclusion as ââ¬ËThe unique interplay of a number of factors, whose consequence is the denial of access, to an individual or group, to the opportunity to participate in the social and political life of the community, resulting not only in diminished material and non-material quality of life, but also in tempered life chances, choices and reduced citizenshipââ¬â¢ (Kenyon et al, 2002). World Health Organisation defined intellectual disabilities as ââ¬Ëa significantly reduced ability to understand new or complex information and to learn and apply new skills (impaired intelligence).This results in a reduced ability to cope independently (impaired social functioning), and begins before adulthood, with a lasting effect on developmentââ¬â¢ (WHO, 2012). Social exclusion was also noted in the aspect were employers attitude may also affect the likelihood of a person with intellectual disability to obtain and retain employment, it was also noted that people with disabilities are more likely to have restricted social networks, looser ties with their local community, experience bulling and being victim of crime (NCB, 2007, ILCDP, 2004).These definitions does emphasise on most major aspect of social exclusion on Intellectual disabilities as they have been excluded from some aspect of activities because people thought that they lack the ability to make informed decision. 3. 1 Substance Use and Misuse Research has shown that most people with Intellectual disabilities or disabilities, sometime result to substance use / misuse in the community by trying to engage in similar life style with other non-disable persons and that substances could also be used as a coping mechanism from stress encountered during their day to day living in the community (Sturmey et al., 2003, Stavrakaki, 2002). They could also use substa nces as a means to fit into the community, whereby socialising and making new friends in the community (Degenhardt, 2000). Research has shown that substance use does not equate to misuse but in some cases, it has lead to abuse / misuse of substances. Slayter (2010), quantitative review of Medicaid healthcare billing claims, it was concluded that 2. 6% of all people with ID had a diagnosable substance abuse disorder. Sturmey et al., (2003) also indicated that the use of illicit substances in people with ID can be associated to their local community, its availability and the individual themselves. 3. 2 Independence / Choice Most people with Intellectual disabilities complain of not being given the choice in decision making over some certain issues. In a research carried out on choices by Growing older with an intellectual disability in Ireland, (2011), it was indicated that three quarters 75. 4% reported having no choice in relation to where they lived and 85.5% regarding where they l ived and whom they lived with. Just as the position of Gary Mitchell in his case study where he indicated that he would have loved to live close to his sister if given the choice. The research by IDS-TILDA, 2011, only based their research on 240 participants. It did not base its research on gender which made it acceptable for generality of people with Intellectual disabilities. McClimens & Hyde, (2012), in the issue of choice noted that if choice does not give optimal result for non-intellectual disable people thenits sufficiency as a vehicle for optimising the rights of people with ID is highly questionable. In another development, it was noted that some people with Intellectual disabilities can not tae or make informed decision in the area of choice that would improve their quality of life (Schelly, 2008). 4 Family Involvement in Care Most people with ID find family support in their care very handy, in a research by IDS-TILDA (2011), it was noted that people with ID living with fa mily indicated that that they had fewer difficulties as family members helped to manage some area of their life that they had difficulty.Families also play fundamental roles in development and inclusion in the society (Council of Europe 2006). Another research indicated that all disable children should live with their own family, which is seen as the natural development for growth and wellbeing of a child (people with disability), unless there are circumstances that prevent it (Council of Europe 2006). Most people with ID would have loved to be quite close to or live with a family member that they felt happy together so as to get some support and assistance from them to make their life happy as was discussed in a case study by Gary Mitchell.AHRQ (2012) quantitative research indicated that family involvement and participation in patients care could lead to better patient experiences and outcomes as the best and appropriate care with improved safety and support would be given to the p atient. The research also noted that family involvement in patientââ¬â¢s care can improve communication and help to facilitate a better understanding between the patient and its care. 5 Conclusion It is obvious that without evidence based practice in nursing, quality care would not be provided to service users because of the lack of qualitative and quantitative research to make reference to.Several researches show that people with intellectual disabilities have been socially excluded in the community in one way or the other by people with no disabilities, community and government in some cases. According to Sturmey et al (2003) and Stavrakaki (2002), victims of ID tend to get involved in substance use / misuse due to their experiences and pressure from the community which eventually lead to substance addiction and or abuse in some cases. However, there is positive impact on ID victims when they interact with people with no disabilities as they cope easier and manage stress more e ffectively (Hartman, 2004).The research in this article has shown that everyone would like to have some choice and control over their lives and activities as it does help to add some quality over daily living. However, would everyone with ID be able to make informed decision for their day to day living? That is a question that should be addressed for autonomous power of choice to be handed out. The impact of family members is of great importance in the rehabilitation of ID victims and helps in reducing the risk of substance use / misuse (AHRQ, 2012) thereby creating room for quick recovery.It can be recommended to base our care on the most recent, up to date evidence based practice with the evaluation of evidences for its weaknesses and strengths. Research has also found that there could be some setback to evidence based practice due to a lack of understanding of the material, lack of adequate time to spend reviewing the materials and unable to effect a change and peoples attitude t owards accepting a change or skills (Glazious and Haynes, 2005).
Sunday, September 29, 2019
College Expectations Essay
Every January 1st brings around another opportunity for people to set goals and have new hopes to accomplish in the year that follows. Some people make these hopes and dreams in the way of resolutions that they will attempt to start or stop doing something in their lives. For some people another new year means another 52 weeks of being scared. Some people are scared of financial situations, some of family situations, and some of the unknownââ¬â¢s that lie ahead. At the present time in my life I am one year away from graduating high school. That means that I am only one year away from going to college as well. That brings up many different hopes and fears. The next year will dictate much of what happens to me during the four years that follow; my hope is to take all the necessary steps to be able to enter the college of my choice. Sometimes I get jealous of those students that have more money than my family and I do. Not that this means that I live in a bad situation, but it does mean I will have to work harder during high school to get as much grant and scholarship money as I can for my college education. Much of my time in the next year will be spend preparing for college. That includes applications, campus visits, financial aid and scholarship forms, and eventually leaving home. My college experience will most likely dictate how I will spend the rest of my life. At this point in my life I must concentrate and stay focused. Even when I feel that I do not want to continue the applications and essayââ¬â¢s I must remember what this point in life holds for the rest of my life.
English Language Advertisement Essay
Plan: 1. Advertising is one of the most prominent and powerful uses of language. 2. The Features of Advertising. 3. Is advertising language normal language? Does advertising language sometimes break the rules of normal language? 4. References. 1. Advertising is one of the most prominent and powerful uses of language. Advertising is one of the most prominent, powerful, and ubiquitous contemporary uses of language. Its seductive and controversial quality has attracted consistent and intense attention across a range of academic disciplines including linguistics, media studies, politics, semiotics, and sociology. The reasons for this academic interest are far from superficial. The study of advertising brings together many of the key social and political issues of our time: the new capitalism; globalization; overconsumption and the environment; cultural and individual identities; and the communications revolution. It provides insight into the ideologies and values of contemporary societies. Advertisingââ¬â¢s creative use of language makes it a particularly rich site for language and discourse analysis. Operating in all media and exploiting the interaction between word, sound, and image, it provides a key location for studies of multimodal communication. Simultaneously poetic and commercial, it raises questions about the nature of creativity and art. Ever since the intensification of advertising in the 1950s, leading scholars have analyzed its use of language. This new four-volume Routledge Major Work brings together for the first time the most seminal and controversial works, allowing users to obtain a wide and inclusive view of this rewarding topic. It will be welcomed by scholars and other researchers in the field as an invaluable ââ¬Ëmini libraryââ¬â¢ on the language of advertising. 2. The Features of Advertising Advertising Language is characterized by the following features. In any given advertisement these features may appear or be largely absent, such is the great variety of advertising copy found on promo products such as promotional tote bags and T-shirts. However these features may be said to be typical of advertising in general. Even advertisements which do not use the traditional features to attract inform and persuade may be described as being incontrast to the traditional features. Some modern advertisements appear to be almost dissuading consumers from their product ââ¬â but this is a technique used as a determined way of not conforming to tradition. See Benetton, Marmite. Hyperbole ââ¬â exaggeration, often by use of adjectives and adverbs. Frequent use of adjectives and adverbs. A limited range of evaluative adjectives includes new, clean, white, real, fresh, right, natural, big, great, slim, soft, wholesome, improvedâ⬠¦ Neologisms may have novelty impact, e.g. Beanz, Meanz Heinz, Cookability, Schweppervescence, Tangoed, Wonderfuelâ⬠¦ Long noun phrases, frequent use of pre and post modifiers for descriptions. Short sentences for impact on the reader. This impact is especially clear at the beginning of a text, often using bold or large type for the ââ¬Å"Headlineâ⬠or ââ¬Å"sloganâ⬠to capture the attention of the reader. Ambiguity is common. This may make a phrase memorable and re-readable. Ambiguity may be syntactic (the grammatical structure) or semantic (puns for example). Weasel words are often used. These are words which suggest a meaning without actually being specific. One type is the open comparative: ââ¬Å"Brownââ¬â¢s Boots Are Betterâ⬠(posing the question ââ¬Å"better than what?â⬠); another type is the bogus superlative: ââ¬Å"Brownââ¬â¢s Boots are Bestâ⬠(posing the question ââ¬Å"rated alongside what?â⬠) Euphemisms :â⬠Clean Round the Bendâ⬠for a toilet cleaner avoids comment on ââ¬Å"unpleasantâ⬠things. The classic exampe is ââ¬Å"B.Oâ⬠for ââ¬Å"body odourâ⬠(in itself a euphemism for ââ¬Å"smelly personâ⬠). Avoidance of negatives (advertising normally emphasises the positive side of a product ââ¬â though see Marmite, Tango, Benetton, for whom it seems that all publicity is good). Simple and Colloquial language: ââ¬Å"It ainââ¬â¢t half goodâ⬠to appeal to ordinary people, though it is in fact often complex and deliberately ambiguous. Familiar language: use of second person pronouns to address an audience and suggest a friendly attitude. Present tense is used most commonly, though nostalgia is summoned by the simple past Simple vocabulary is most common, my mate Marmite, with the exception of technical vocabulary to emphasise the scientific aspects of a product (computers medicines and cars but also hair and cleaning products) which often comes as a complex noun phrase, the new four wheel servo-assisted disc brakes. Repetition of the brand name and the slogan, both of which are usually memorable by virtue of alliteration (the best four by four by far); rhyme (the cleanest clean itââ¬â¢s ever been); rhythm (drinka pinta milka day); syntactic parallelism (stay dry, stay happy); association (fresh as a mountain stream). Humour. This can be verbal or visual, but aims to show the product positively. Verbal Puns wonderfuel and graphic positions are common. Glamorisation is probably the most common technique of all. ââ¬Å"Oldâ⬠houses become charming, characterful, olde, worlde or unique. ââ¬Å"Smallâ⬠houses become compact, bijou, snug or manageable. Houses on a busy road become convenient for transport. A cafà © with a pavement table becomes a trattoria, moving up market aspires to be a restaurant, too cramped it becomes a bistro. Not enough room to serve it becomes a fast food servery. If the menu is English food it is likely to be traditional, home-baked or home made; if the menu is French the cake will be gateau, the potted meat patà ©, bits of toast in your soup will be croutons. The decor will be probably chic, possibly Provenà §al. Finally, potency. Vance Packard (1960) memorably said: ââ¬Å"The cosmetic manufacturers are not selling lanolin, they are selling hope â⬠¦ we no longer buy oranges, and we buy vitality. We do not just buy an auto, we buy prestige.â⬠3. Is advertising language normal language? Does advertising language sometimes break the rules of normal language? These questions relate to the place of advertising language in the context of the readersââ¬â¢ general knowledge of language (we will presume that the language is English). In order to answer them, we must have some conception of what is meant by ââ¬Å"normal languageâ⬠. The English language has evolved to have many different kinds of functionality, each of which correspond to different situations and styles of use. From an analytic point of view, it seems to make most sense to understand ââ¬Å"normal languageâ⬠to include the variety of styles of English that mature speakers and readers control. This will form the backdrop of everyday language in its many functions, against which we can view advertising language. If one looks around in literature on advertising, or searches on the WWW, it is not uncommon to find claims to the effect that advertising breaks the rules of normal language and language use. However, from the perspective of a professional linguist, few of these claims really seem to be supportable. Now, with the exception of linguists, few people have any reason to pay close attention to the way that language is actually used in its speech community, for a wide range of communicative functions. Like many aspects of human being and human behavior, our unconscious knowledge of language is much greater than our conscious knowledge of it, so the facts about language that are immediately accessible to the average person only cover part of what the language is and how it is used. Collect some text from advertisements that you have found. Can you find any examples of words, phrases or constructions that are truly different from the various varieties that you encounter on a regular basis? These varieties may include informal spoken language between close friends to technical and scientific descriptions (more likely to be written), and everything in between. Doubtless, not all of the text you find will be standard English, but is any of it not English at all? In doing this exercise, it may be that you will learn more about what creative possibilities your language allows, rather than how much advertising goes beyond the boundaries of that language. In a recent short article in the journal Nature, Pullum and Scholz (2001) point out that, at every level, language has a level of creativity that allows it to be ever-expanding, ever-changing. Even the idea that there is a stock of words which constitute the English language cannot be upheld, because it is always possible to invent new words, and new names in particular. Thus, ââ¬Å"Here is my new invention; I call it ââ¬Å"Xâ⬠â⬠is a strategy in everyday English which advertisers can take advantage of, when the y state ââ¬Å"Introducing the all-new ââ¬Å"Yâ⬠ââ¬Å". In an interesting coincidence which illustrates the point very clearly, the Dreamweaverà ® program which we have used to construct this website has the command ââ¬Å"Indentâ⬠to indent a paragraph, and we used it to format the quote below from McQuarrie and Micks. In the command menu, the command after this one is ââ¬Å"Outdentâ⬠, which makes a paragraph wider. Neither of us had seen this word before, yet we understood its meaning, and certainly did not reject it as ââ¬Å"non-Englishâ⬠. This is not to say that any random new word can be generated for the authorââ¬â¢s purposes in any context. The ââ¬Å"Outdentâ⬠example above is presented in a very clear context, which makes apprehending its usage and meaning quite clear. We generally find that novel words presented in an advertisement have the same supporting context; they may be new, but they are not ââ¬Å"out of the blueâ⬠. The work of McQuarrie and Mick (1996) is highly relevant in this context. They place advertising language in the context of the study of rhetoric, and observe: ââ¬Å"A rhetorical figure has traditionally been defined as an artful deviation (Corbett 1990). More formally, a rhetorical figure occurs when an expression deviates from expectation, the expression is not rejected as nonsensical or faulty, the deviation occurs at the level of form rather than content, and the deviation conforms to a template that is invariant across a variety of content and contexts. This definition supplies the standard against which deviation is to be measured (i.e., expectations), sets a limit on the amount and kind of deviation (i.e., short of a mistake), locates the deviation at the level of the formal structure of a text, and imposes a grouping requirement (i.e., there are a limited number of templates, each with distinct characteristics).â⬠The unusual aspects of language that we sometimes find in advertising can be fruitfully considered to be examples of ââ¬Å"artful deviationsâ⬠. 36.3 VW ad (Rolling Stone, May 23, 2002): Heck, itââ¬â¢s been re-everything-ed. This new verb is coined on the basis of a very robust feature of English, which allows nouns to be used as verbs (see Clark and Clark (1979)). In this case, the new verb is also prefixed and suffixed. Out of the blue, ââ¬Å"to re-everythingâ⬠would be hard to interpret, but in the context provided by the advertisement, its meaning is clear. In the summer of 2002 the pop group No Doubt had a hit song called ââ¬Å"Hella Goodâ⬠; some of the lyrics are shown here: Hella Good (G. Stefani/ T. Dumont/ P. Williams/ C. Hugo/ T. Kanal) You got me feeling hella good So letââ¬â¢s just keep on dancing You hold me like you should So Iââ¬â¢m gonna keep on dancing (Keep on dancing) ââ¬Å"Hella goodâ⬠is not advertising language, and it is not standard English, but it is certainly ââ¬Å"pop music Englishâ⬠, and it is the kind of phrase that anyone could produce in conversation. In 48 Cointreau (InStyle, August 2002) we find an example of a blend, ââ¬Å"Be Cointreauversialâ⬠.
Saturday, September 28, 2019
Letters
For the longest time I have felt abandoned and deserted in this world. I see the world move fastà around, feeling dizzy of the haste and hurry of each day and yet in spite of the all the color and life of the world I still felt like Iââ¬â¢m in a desert, alone and far from anything alive. Reading this book has opened my eyes and has led me to see God in my everyday life. In my life where I have felt alone and deserted for the longest time, it seems like a miracle that when you try and open your eyes and arms to embrace Godââ¬â¢s presence you realize that he is indeed here with us. This book has taught me to open my heart to God and keep him welcome to stay and guide me. I believe that I felt that way for the longest time because I failed to recognize that everyday God is with me. That every achievement is a gift from God even the down times are gifts from God. You emphasized in your book that god is always with us, in the flesh of our brethren as Jesus has said in the bible that whatever we have done unto our brothers we have done unto him. Everyday God touches our lives through our fellowmen. I remember last Christmas, as I was walking home from the sweetshop, lonesome as I was, a young boy gave me a lollipop and it brightened my day. But back then I failed to recognize that it was God telling me that he is always with me, watching me and intending for me to be happy always. As I look back now I see that the emptiness that I felt is because I failed to recognize Godââ¬â¢s presence in my life and my failure to offer back to his glory everything that I do in my life. It is more fulfilling to offer back to God everything that we do and to return to him all the praise and glory that we can give. There is no meaning in working for ourselves alone, but there is meaning in working for God and his people. Finally, I learned about forgiveness. I learned to forgive myself and other people as well by recognizing how forgiving God is with our trespasses. That no matter what we do, how much we have sinned, He always welcomes us with open arms and with his eternal love. This book is a call to return to Godââ¬â¢s embrace. The Lord has used Elephant to call back his flock to return unto him. One chapter captures the great message of returning to God, the one which deals with Jesus, and who Jesus is. Indeed Jesus is the greatest love of all, he is Godââ¬â¢s love for us all. He gave us Jesus his only son to save us from eternal damnation. As it is said in the Bible in John 3:16, ââ¬Å"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever shall believe in Him, will not perish, but will receive eternal life.â⬠All the discussion about life,Who is God, Godââ¬â¢s presence, Marriage, who the devil is, and others are all to me suppletory to the renewal of our faith in God. Elephant has aptly summed in a single chapter the greatest reason to believe and return to God and his embrace. To know the sacrifice that God has made in order to save us and give us the eternal life which he intended for us in the beginning as can be seen in Exodus 20:3-7ââ¬Å"I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, where you were slaves. Worship no other god but me. Do not make for yourselves images of anything in heaven or on earth or in the water under the earth. Do not bow down to any idol or worship it, because I am the Lord your God and tolerate no rivals. I bring punishment on those who hate me and on their descendants down to the third and fourth generation. But I show my love to thousands of generations of those who love me and obey my laws.â⬠à Is enough reason for us to believe and believe firmly in Godââ¬â¢s presence in our life. The small manifestations of his presence through our brethren should serve only to strengthen what he has proven when he gave us Jesus for our salvation. His greatest message of all, which God has conveyed through you, is that he, is here with us, he has always been here, and will always be here for us. There is no room for our faith to flicker because he is real and each of us is a living proof. I have angered God. In a lot of ways I have failed God. I have failed to render help to those who needed my help. I have failed to receive God when he needed shelter. I have failed to live a life that is pleasing to him. I have failed to be the child of God. I recognize all my failures but now I realize that I am wrong, I may have done all these but I have never angered God. God who has eternal love and a fountain of mercy and forgiveness. God who has given his son to save me from the fires of hell. I may be a sinner, but God has not given up on sinners like me. All throughout the bible, sinners are always given the chance to repent for their sins and God has always made a way for them to return back to him. I have realized, by reading this book that no matter how much you have sinned, if you receive God in your heart he will forgive you and receive you. If man comes with sincerity and bow before God, then Godââ¬â¢s grace will forgive, and ultimately, save him Because God is love and love flows from him. I have long kept a fear that God hates me because I have angered him greatly through all my sins and wrongdoings but you have proven me wrong. I now know that His grace is eternal and unending. And I am no longer afraid of the end of my days because I know that God is with me and will always be with me, forgiving and loving until the end of time.
Racism In Football (Soccer) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words
Racism In Football (Soccer) - Essay Example Such an understanding is not only important for those who love or those who are a part of the game but also for those who are students of sociology, popular culture, and even human resource management. The literature on the topic is quite varied and ranges from academic studies made of the salaries given to various players along with their race and individual performance to reports of racism given by players who have been in the field for many years. For example, Moran (2000) presents an article which discusses the presence of racism in football despite the prevalence of anti-racist initiatives within the game. He does this by presenting evidence in relation to himself and others who have faced racism. He also gives the various challenges which black players have to face due to the presence of racist behaviour and suggests that there are different forms of racism against players (Moran, 2000). His ideas of economic and salary based discrimination is supported by the study done by Szymanski (2000) who is an economist at Imperial College. This study came to the result that football clubs have discriminated against black players in more ways than one. The comparison of the salaries of black players with white players is certainly an indicator of that. Clubs are also shown to undervalue their black players even though the performance of black players is better than what their wages get them. Clubs such as Scunthorpe United and Preston North End are two of the main culprits in this regard (Szymanski, 2000). Of course the problem is not only limited to black players since British Asian footballers also face the issue of discrimination against them at the professional level. Burdsey (2004) examines the ways in which British Asian footballers perceive racism as a factor which influences their under-representation in the professional leagues. He argues that problems of
Friday, September 27, 2019
Career Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words
Career Management - Essay Example The present scenario has been defined as a ââ¬Å"do-it-yourself career managementâ⬠(Patton & McMahon, p.26) where the individuals are faced with the challenge of constructing their career in the changing environment. It is seen that the choice of occupation is not a onetime decision. Rather it can be considered to a process of development which occurs through a number of stages and sub stages. Young children start believing that they can do almost everything. While the adultsââ¬â¢ decision or the career choice is based on factors like skill sets, economic factors or their education and training requirements. John Holland (1960) was one of the major contributors in the field of career development. His contribution to the field was the creation of a hexagonal model that is based on the perspectives put forward by Parsons. According to Holland, the workplace was divided into six work environments and the populace was comprised of six types of personalities, namely ââ¬Å"reali stic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising and conventionalâ⬠(Virtual Habitats, p.1). The hexagon has been presented in the figure below. Figure 1: Holland's six environment/personalities (Source: Virtual Habitats, p.2) The ideas which are included in the theory are as follow: Most of the people can be assigned one of the categories of the six types of personalities. The work environments are also of six types, namely ââ¬Å"realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising and conventionalâ⬠(Virtual Habitats, p.2). The work environments that people search for depends on their skills and abilities, expression of values and attitudes, and their views on different roles and problems. The behaviour of an individual is an outcome of the interaction of his personality with the environmental characteristics (Virtual Habitats, p.2). The more close a person comes towards a work environment that he finds compatible to his abilities, the greater will be his satisfa ction. The recent scholars have been increasingly focusing on the process of decision making and its relationship with career development. The cognitive information process (CIP) as put forward by ââ¬Å"Peterson, Sampson, Reardon and Lenzâ⬠(Virtual Habitats, p.4) are the three domains based on which the choice of career is made. The decision making skills domain comprises of the five information processing skills which are communication, analysis, synthesis, valuing and executing (Virtual Habitats, p.4). The CIP model is illustrated the figure below. Figure 2: The CIP model (Source: Virtual Habitats, p.2) The base comprises of self knowledge and knowledge of the occupations. The nature of information with people regarding themselves and the work usually differs from one another. Scholars claim that this self knowledge is more based on the perceptions than in facts. It involves analyzing ones interests, abilities and skills. The individualsââ¬â¢ needs require thorough analy sis though the decision making phase which should be suited for his unique personality (Wasylow, Mellott & Martin, p.1). It also involves analysis of the occupation itself like places where the occupation exist, the payments they make or their outlook. It requires thorough analysis of the labour market. Answer to Question No: 2 Primary Research The primary research was conducted on three
Changing Criminal Behaviour Case Study Bert Essay
Changing Criminal Behaviour Case Study Bert - Essay Example In order to fulfil the study's first aim, recall and recognition will be tested in 100 to 150 adult participants. Eyewitness identification accuracy will be observed during this process. Participants will be required to watch a brief video, following this video participants will be required to answer a series of questions pertaining to that video. Another data collection will involve participants completing an online questionnaire which assesses accuracy of recognition and recall. The experiment aims at identifying the misidentification rates of adults and how recognition and recall can lead to false eyewitness testimony and subsequent false identification. In order to fulfil the study's second aim, the literature on the factors which promote and those which inhibit eyewitness accuracy will be reviewed. A list of inhibitors and promotors will be generated and subsequently employed to inform a set of recommendations for the enhancement of eyewitness accuracy. The researcher will organise and maintain a web based questionnaire and online video through Surveymonkey. The researcher will send the website a participants' inclusion and exclusion criteria and specify that all respondents are to be from Australia. A 100-150 participant figure will be requested. Surveymonkey will then inform its relevant participant database of the survey. 3.2. Research plan 3.2.1 Describe the theoretical, empirical and/or conceptual basis, and background evidence, for the research proposal, eg. previous studies, anecdotal evidence, review of literature, prior observation, laboratory or animal studies. NS 1.13 The goal of the proposed research is to examine conditions that may influence eyewitness memory. Wells and Loftus (2003) used a 'memory as trace' (p. 149) metaphor to compare physical evidence and memory. That is, memory for an event can leave a trace in the brain just like physical evidence (e.g., fingerprints, blood, and semen) can in the outside world. As will be discussed at length later, eyewitness identification procedures can be employed to minimize any bias or suggestion that can contaminate a witness memory. In the present studies the effects of certain estimator variables on eyewitness identification will be examined. More specifically, the issue of whether knowledge that one is viewing a crime suspect, compared to learning that one had seen a suspect after-the-fact, and the seriousness of the crime for which the suspect is wanted, will be investigated for their influence on identification accuracy in line-ups in which the suspect is either absent or present. An additional question is whether crime severity enhances memory for an individual, or whether attention needs to be directed towards the individual to influence memory. There is equivocal evidence that crimes of a more serious nature increase motivation to attend to the criminal scenario (Leippe, Wells, & Ostrom, 1978), while others do not support this finding. As eyewitness investigation is relevant to psychologists, the legal system, witnesses, the accused, and society at large, it is
Thursday, September 26, 2019
Smoking in work place Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words
Smoking in work place - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that in the United States, the negative effects of cigarette smoke were first mentioned in the 1960s, by the first Surgeon General. This report initiated the gradual disenchantment with cigarettes among the members of the American public. Today, advertisements, as well as cigarette packets, are required by law to contain warning labels. In many developed nations, advertisements of cigarettes are also banned on television. There are also messages against smoking that are carried across many media channels which speak of the detrimental effects of smoking on the human body. Ã According to Kim, Kamyab, Zhu, Volpp, Kim, and Kamyab, public health organizations in America spend millions of dollars on an annual basis in efforts to help addicted smokers to leave their destructive habits. Smoking is very addictive and many smokers try, unsuccessfully, every year, to stop their habits. They use books, group therapy, skin patches and even nicotine g um to try and stop their smoking habits. For those who cannot stop this habit, there is the very real possibility of having to contend with carcinogenic effects of ingesting the poisonous compounds that are found in the process of smoking cigarettes. Many medical authorities have also conducted a multitude of studies that have established that second-hand smoke can also affect the individuals who work around smokers.
Critically discuss the value of social representations theory to the Essay
Critically discuss the value of social representations theory to the social sciences in particulary to the science of history - Essay Example The use of social representation theory by social and political scientists is also studied to understand the limitations of such theories and I discuss how this could be used constructively in different social contexts and situations. Social representation is important in communication as communication helps people to interact and social representation provides the common ground of understanding of concepts or ideas. Ideas outside the common understanding or which don't have particular meaning may be difficult to grasp and social representations theory actually provide the meaning of concepts within particular social groups. It aids in understanding of concepts and thus facilitates communication. Social representation has been described as a system of values, ideas and practices that enables individuals to orient themselves in a material and social world and also enable communication among members of a particular community as social representation provides a code for social exchange and classifies various aspects of the world and individual group history (Moscovici, 1973). The meanings of words are concepts that have been established through social and the interpretations of meanings and ideas tend to depend on negotiation largely as related to the social environment. Although these meanings of concepts become fixed and definite, social representation is largely contextual and depends on a social background or environment. Thus certain concepts tend to have cultural connotations so some concepts understood by certain individuals of a community may not be clear to people of other communities. The development of social representations could be psychological and also social as along with provide social context to ideas, social representation theory helps individuals in terms of psychological growth. Howarth (2006) discusses Moscovici (1972) to answer what is the aim of social research and the social representation perspective and whether these theories support or criticize social order and how social theories consolidate or transform social order. The influence of social representation theory on social order or reality or the relation between social representation theory and social order is thus obvious in this discussion. Howarth provides an overview of social representations perspective and suggests that there may be certain underdeveloped issues within the social representation theory and its application that will need addressing. There are certain issues within the analysis of social representation theory for example that which deals with the relationship between psychological processes and social practices, legitimization of different knowledge systems, and resistance or change in construction of self identity (Howarth, 2006) that may not have been discussed in detail by so cial theorists. The role of representations in reality and idealization is also equally important in deconstruction or analysis of social theories. Thus social theories seem to be dependent on several factors related to representation and construction, knowledge systems and psychological aspects of identity. Several social theorists have given the wider applications of
Maternity Leave and Family Pregnancy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words
Maternity Leave and Family Pregnancy - Essay Example The essay "Maternity Leave and Family Pregnancy" talks about the maternity leave which refers to the period of time that a new mother takes off from work following the birth of her baby. It is similar to paternity leave being offered by many companies. And planning a maternity leave is very important for the mother-to-be because it saves them from unexpected financial pressures and burden of family responsibilities. Maternity leave can be started just before the expected date of delivery so that mothers can spend most of their leave with the baby. However, it is important, according to FMLA to provide a notice to the manager, 30 days prior to the delivery. This will be unpaid leave. The maximum leave that a mother can get is a leave of 12 months in a year. The FMLA leave applies both to the mother and the father, who can utilize this leave in the same period like overlapping each otherââ¬â¢s leaves, or in consecutive periods so that one of the two parents is available to the child and the rest of the family. Pregnancy and parenting bring new joys to the whole family. A new addition is very exciting for all members of the family. Although the 9-month pregnancy demands much patience and care from the mother-to-be, the rest of the family must play their role in comforting the mother and preparing for the newcomer. For example, the dad-to-be should try to spend extra time with his wife to soothe her and should take care of her if she is in pain or any sort of discomfort that may come with pregnancy.
Wednesday, September 25, 2019
Beer Garden International Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words
Beer Garden International - Essay Example However, as the globalisation has emerged as a favourite concept in both the academia as well as business, it came as an apprehensive thought to expand the business further to Australia. Australia got the taste of beer at the beginning of Western Colonisation. In the year 2004, in per capita beer consumption, the country was ranked as fourth. The most popular beer style in this country is Legar. However, the Australians love to taste all the beer styles with same enthusiasm. It has been noticed that the people in Australia like to enjoy themselves and they would prefer to mix nice cold beer with this enjoyment. So, it does not seem to be bad idea to open one hefeweizen beer outlet in there. The beer outlet is supposed to be designed taking inspiration from Australian culture and their beer consumption styles. This would be to done to satisfy the consumer requirements in Australia. This report will consider the macro as well as micro environments of the business to frame a set of tact ical recommendations for the beet store. Types of stores operating in the industry in the city In Australia, the consumption of alcohol (especially beer) is quite high. Beer was introduced in Australia during the colonial history and soon it turns out to be one of the favorite drinks among the people. With passage of time, high consumption of beer turns out a major problem in the country. In 1979, consumption per capita was almost 6.4 liters per year. However, due to stringent action taken by the government to control the situation, consumption of beer in Australia started declining. As per the data published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2009, per capita consumption declined to 4.49 liter per person per year. The past analysis of alcohol consumption pattern among Australian indicates a unique change; now people are shifting from quantity to quality. Consumption of low strength beer has declined by 25 percent, consumption of middle strength beer is almost unchanged and t he conception of full strength beer increased constantly. In 2009, 63 million liter of alcohol consumed in Australia was in form of wine whereas 79 million liter of alcohol was as beer. Almost ten years back the consumer in Australia were consuming three brands on regular basis but today it is almost seven different brands that comprises of both premium as well as traditional brands. This is good news for the international brands (Williams, 2010). This change in consumption habit of Australian people has influenced the type of stores and outlet where beer is sold. In Australia the state government is responsible for formulating rules and regulation for alcoholic beverage sales. Beer, wine and other spirit are sold at the bottle store, locally called bottle-o. Such stores can be as separate section in a super market or it may be as an individual store. The well known brands have their own bottle shops franchises near to the super markets. In these stores, apart from purchasing the co nsumers can sit and have their drinks. Apart from the bottle shops the driving establishments also have the legal permission to sell alcohol products to the customers but it is for off-site consumption. Considering the increasing pace of life, concept of drive through alcohol retail is also gaining popularity. In the drive through retiles shops customers can escape the tedious
The Experiment That Use Heat Loss plus Heat Gain of a Given Substance Lab Report
The Experiment That Use Heat Loss plus Heat Gain of a Given Substance and Also the Given Phenomenon of Specific Heat in the Laboratory - Lab Report Example The paper tells that a mass of a given metal block got weighed then a piece of twine like 30 cm long became attached to it. Then the block became lowered into a steam boiler. The boiler then had half filled water.Ã As the water got heated to boil, the mass of an empty calorimeter got measured. The calorimeter got filled two-thirds with water that was several degrees colder compared to room temperature. Then the mass of both water and calorimeter became measured. In the experiment, an outer cap became placed around the calorimeter to prevent heat loss from it when it becomes warmer than room temperature. In the experiment, the two metals used became copper and Iron. The mass of copper and iron became 269.53g and 230.80g respectively upon weighing. The mass of calorimeter used became 46.13g. The mass of calorimeter added water for Iron was slightly more than that of copper. In starting with an original temperature for the calorimeter plus water at 21.9 degrees, in dipping the blocks of metal, the final temperature dipped with copper became 30.4 degrees while for iron became 30.1 degrees. In calculating the specific heat of solid for the two experiments, an error of 0.006cal/g-degrees became found for copper while an error of 0.003cal/g-degrees became recorded for Iron. Therefore, iron recorded a percentage error of 2.86% from the accepted value while copper recorded a percentage error of 6.45%.
Tuesday, September 24, 2019
High School Violence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words
High School Violence - Essay Example Using the research questions and assumptions used in Chapter I, the researcher developed a research survey questionnaire that was presented in Chapter III. For Chapter V, the researcher will come up with a conclusion based on the quantitative and qualitative data analysis and the research findings presented in Chapter IV. Right after discussing the study conclusion, the student will discuss about the implications for teaching practices including some implications for future research. The research questions in the study were answered using a combination of quantitative and qualitative research questionnaires that was distributed to randomly selected participants between the age brackets of 14 ââ¬â 18 years old at (name of US high school) and (name of US high school). Eventually, the research survey results was compared to the research findings that was reported by the National School Safety Center: Review of School Safety Research (2006) including the Childhood experience and the personal relationship of each individual with the parents significantly affect the behavior of each individual. Since the development of a childââ¬â¢s attitude starts at home, parents are considered to be responsible in the psychological, mental, and behavioral development of their children. Likewise, the school teachers also have a role to play in terms of disciplining the students whereas students in general could easily track down possible causes of school violence more than the school teachers or parents since these young individuals are more closely involved with other children who are capable of committing violent acts. Since parents, teachers, and students are among the three most important groups that actively participate in school activities, the research study concluded that it is important for these groups to be given a special role to play in the prevention of school violence. Encouraging these people to
Should the Outside World Intervene to Help the Victims of Violence In Research Paper
Should the Outside World Intervene to Help the Victims of Violence In Syria - Research Paper Example This report declsres that in Assadââ¬â¢s absence the major players who can decide Syriaââ¬â¢s fate will be divided along sectarian lines. Iran with the Shiite majority and the rebels with a Sunni majority are already at clashes over the deep sectarian divide. But the overall opinion is that Assad has to go because his regime will not be able to hang in for very long. This paper makes a conclusion that the international discourse regarding whether or whether not outside intervention will actually be beneficial for Syria is an ongoing debate that has garnered varying opinions of people who are against it and people who propagate the move. Based upon the secondary research on the topic it seems that for Syria, the better option is to go with outside intervention. This is because the internal situation in Syria is worsening regardless and internal measures to resolve the situation have already failed. The cost that the Syrian people have borne in the wake of this civil war is catastrophic in its sheer degree and as time passes, this only gets worse. Outside intervention represents to Syria a way out of this mess, a resolution of sorts and eventual freedom from Assadââ¬â¢s regime. While many analysts are of the opinion that outside intervention will make things worse, it seems that this will only be the case initially if so. In the longer run, outs ide intervention will be beneficial for Syria and its people.
Monday, September 23, 2019
Marketing is a market dynamic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words
Marketing is a market dynamic - Essay Example Keeping an eye on the individual objectives, today the entire philosophy of business has changed. What is followed is not the selling concept but the marketing concept. Once a product is marketed properly, sales automatically happen. Hence all efforts are to market the product. Marketing requires understanding the consumer behaviour and purchasing decisions. The marketing concept seeks on focusing what the consumer wants, even if it means coming out with new products. The study of Consumer Behaviour is defined by Schiffman & Kanuk (Liesel Schwerdtfeger) as the study of how individuals make decisions to spend their available resources (time, money, effort) on consumption related items (what they buy, why they buy, when they buy, where they buy, how often they buy and use a product or service). Study of consumer behaviour has become the rule of the day. This is a very important aspect of marketing and all decisions depend upon this study. A study of consumer psychology helps firms to understand how consumers react. It gives an idea of how the consumer thinks, feels, reasons and selects between different alternatives available in the market, how the consumer is influenced by the society, culture and the media. Different products have a different level of significance for different consumers and hence the motivation for each differs. Knowledge of these helps the firm to understand the needs, wants of the consumer, and adapt marketing strategy accordingly.
Proposal designs Seminar Unit 8 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words
Proposal designs Seminar Unit 8 - Research Paper Example Submitting an inaccurate budget in your proposal packet may mean that the organisation has poor financial management practices or there were inaccuracies when writing the budget. The two main consequences that may result due to these inaccuracies are that the whole proposal may be reviewed negatively and thus the grant denied or the proposal may be sent back to the grantee for corrections on the budget. The consequence here will depend on the materiality of the inaccuracies (Karsh & Fox, 2009). Funders like to imagine that they are funding a proposal that will be able to carry on its activities into the future with or without their help. It is therefore important to show how the program will sustain itself after the grant as this shows the funder that their grant will be of future benefit. A sustainable project will show the funder the need for initial funding and this will influence their decision in a positive way (Karsh & Fox,
Sunday, September 22, 2019
Geography is no longer relevant in the context of a homogenising world Essay
Geography is no longer relevant in the context of a homogenising world Discuss - Essay Example However, Dicken (2011: p41) notes that nation-state borders continue to dominate global relations with nations continuing to enforce state-boundaries, sometimes using violence to do so. Moreover, challenges in overcoming economic and technological barriers continue to shape how different populations separated by geographical location access healthcare and education for example. Therefore, although the relevance of geography seems to have been greatly diminished as a result of a homogenising world, this paper will argue that how people live is still significantly influenced by geographical factors. Aiello and Pauwels (2014: p280) support the concept of an increasingly homogenised world, noting that global flows and exchanges of capitals, services, goods, transfer of technology and human movements have resulted in a more unique and standardized world culture as acculturation leads to a universal culture. In this case, increased interconnectivity between cultures and countries contributes to the formation of a more homogenous culture with the adoption of a more Euro-American lifestyle and social organization model. Modern communications have played a fundamental role in homogenisation as the internet enables people to read about information on foreign nations as they would about their own locality. People all over the world are now exposed to the same news every day, leading to a homogenisation of ideas and perspectives. Increased international travel has greatly influenced homogenisation as well, with people from South East Asia, for example, travelling to Europe and North Amer ica to find jobs. Moreover, increased tourist flows, specifically from developed countries, have encouraged hospitality industries across the world to provide typical Euro-American services, contributing to a more homogenous global community (Aiello & Pauwels, 2014: p281). Popular culture has also
Purely Competitive Vs Monopoly in two industries Essay Example for Free
Purely Competitive Vs Monopoly in two industries Essay There are two types of industry wherein a businessman could put his cash on: the monopoly and the purely competitive one. This paper explains the case if a worker in a purely competitive industry and a worker in a monopoly industry returns the same or different marginal revenues on the case that the labor market is purely competitive if they have exactly the same marginal product and their product price is the same. Citing the difference between the types of industry will give us an idea to decide with the case given: Differences between Monopoly and Competition (Hartcourt, 2001) Monopoly à The only producer of the goods The demand curve has a downward slope. ââ¬Å" price makerâ⬠à Lowers the price to increase sales Competition Competes with companies producing the same products The demand curve is horizontal ââ¬Å"price takerâ⬠Sells as much or as little at same price. Marginal revenue is described as the extra revenue that an excess product unit will bring to the industry (Schenk, 2002). Whether a worker is in either a purely competitive or a monopoly, and considering the case stated on the previous paragraph, both workers will return the same marginal product return since their marginal products, as well as the product price are the same. MPR = total revenue/quantity of units sold ( Hartcourt, 2001) If we think not that critically, the prices introduced by the workers from different industries are the same, and the number of units to be sold is also the same, the MPR will be the same. But from the bulleted descriptions of monopoly and competitive industry, the demands are different. For the monopoly, the demand is sloping downward; but form the competitive, the demand is the same as represented by the horizontal curve. For a competitive industry, the MPR is directly proportional to the price, but in a monopoly industry, the demand is decreasing, so the MPR will decrease also, leaving us the conclusion that the MPRââ¬â¢s for the two are different. References Hartcourt, Inc. (2001). Monopoly. Retrieved April 22, 2008, from http://www.wcc.hawaii.edu/facstaff/briggs-p/Microeconomics/Chap_15.pdf Schenk, Robert. (2002). Cybereconomics. From Elasticity to Marginal Revenue. Retrieved April 22, 2008 from Cybereconomics.
Saturday, September 21, 2019
The Importance of Truth-Telling Essay Example for Free
The Importance of Truth-Telling Essay Telling the truth is something that comes up for the majority of us in childhood. It is considered impolite to lie and when a lie was told, or you were untruthful, it was often considered a reflection of your parentsââ¬â¢ moral attitudes. Unfortunately, we all seem to have been taught differently the exact nature of a truth or lie and the right or wrong way to use that information. In To Lie or Not to Lie? ââ¬â The Doctorââ¬â¢s Dilemma (2007), the topic of truth versus lies by doctors specifically, is discussed. While I believe it is important for doctors to be truthful in their dealings with patients, the 5 Wââ¬â¢s need to be explored: what and to whom is truth, how and when are doctors choices for truth-telling determined and why it is important for them to tell the truth to their patients. Truth: ââ¬Å"conformity to fact or realityâ⬠according to the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, does not appear in society to be that concrete. From childhood we were taught about the importance of truth with the consequences of our actions meted out if we were not truthful. Often our understanding of this subject was not the same as â⬠Johnnyââ¬â¢sâ⬠next door and we were left with this confusing amalgamation, forced to gage for ourselves on a situational basis how much was lie or truth in any given statement. Societyââ¬â¢s opinion on this topic therefore is varied based on our own individual ethics developed over the years. Doctors, held to far higher standards than the rest of us, are forced to play ââ¬ËGodââ¬â¢ with their patients, although the Uncertainty principle ââ¬Å"suggests that there is no certainty in health care, therefore no ââ¬Ëabsolute truthââ¬â¢ to reveal. ââ¬ËTruth-telling can never be achieved. â⬠(Tuckett, 2004, p. 500). In his determinations a doctor ââ¬Å"must be careful to distinguish the notion of ââ¬Ëtruthââ¬â¢ as ââ¬Ëthe way things really areââ¬â¢ (so-called objective truth) from that of ââ¬Ëtruthââ¬â¢ as ââ¬Ëthe way a person believes things to beââ¬â¢. â⬠(Tuckett, 2004, p. 508). TRUTH-TELLING 3 The Importance of Truth-Telling The American College of Physicians Ethics Manual influences decision making by doctors via principles. Although these principles ââ¬Å"do not provide ordered rules, these principles can help doctors and other health care workers to make decisions when reflecting on moral issues that arise at work. â⬠(Gillon, 1994, p. 184). Respect for Autonomy, one of these guiding principles used in most of the decisions with long term disabilities or terminal illnesses, acknowledges a ââ¬Å"persons right to hold views, to make choicesâ⬠and to take actionsâ⬠¦Ã¢â¬ (Shahidi, 2010, p. 590). Medical Ethics are in place to create a balance between all versions of ââ¬Ëtruthââ¬â¢ and provide structure for the relationship between doctor and patient, as well to provide guidance for the doctor and protect the rights of the patient. Because truth is not black and white like we sometimes wish to think the doctor can use this framework to foster an honest and trusting relationship with his patients. The consequences can be long lasting if the truth is not told to patients in a timely fashion or in its entirety. Illness can get away from you quickly with no chance to turn back the clock or simply the chance to make amends to facilitate a peaceful exit. Doctors deceiving patients, whether by omission or by using semi-truths, erodes trust in that relationship (Tuckett, 2004). By not being honest with a patient diagnosis they may cause the patient undue hardship as according to Mitchell, â⬠Patients with false information or no information about their condition may unintentionally mislead other physicians involved in their treatmentâ⬠(Shahidi, 2010, p. 592). Lying also strips ââ¬Å"the patientââ¬â¢s ability to be autonomous and fails to show respect for persons. â⬠While ââ¬Å"truth-telling maintains the competent patientââ¬â¢s status as an adultâ⬠. (Tuckett, 2004, p. 505). TRUTH-TELLING 4 The Importance of Truth-Telling. Maintaining the patients welfare should be the primary goal of a doctor while he is determining exactly just how to address the truth-telling. One of the principles under medical ethics is ââ¬â¢above all do no harmââ¬â¢. The long lasting consequences of choosing which ââ¬Ëtruthââ¬â¢ to tell could call into question this principle. We have determined that truth is not as cut and dried as we would like it to be, but there still needs to be a focus on honesty, truthfulness, and full disclosure with doctors and their patients. Our health is a joint effort, and we need to be able to rely on and trust our medical professionals to let us know what really is happening. I believe that the least amount of harm in the long run would be in telling the complete truth, however I understand that we are all different and our situations are different and it then stands to reason that the solutions will all be different as well. By keeping in mind the who, what, where, when, why and even how, I think the acquisition of this information would give the best answer to each truth-telling situation.
Benefits of a Healthy Body Weight in the Elderly
Benefits of a Healthy Body Weight in the Elderly A Review Of The Benefits Of Nutritional Intervention In Improving Body Weight, BMI, Activities Of Daily Living (ADL), Decrease Functional Limitation and Healthcare Cost Among Elderly. Introduction Malnutrition is a condition in which consumption of insufficient of nutrients that are required by the body to maintain optimal function of the organs and tissues. Secondary to chronic or progressive disease, older people are vulnerable to malnutrition (Klipstein-Grobusch, Reilly, Potter, Edwards, Roberts, 1995; Watson, 1999). So it was believed that as the population of the elderly increases, cases of malnutrition among the elderly will also increase. 5-10% of non- institutionalized elderly are malnourished is shown in epidemiological studies (Posner et al., 1994). Furthermore, studies have shown that 51-61% of nursing home residents are at risk of malnutrition and 12-29% residents are malnourished (Guigoz, 2006; Suominen et al., 2005; Wojszel, 2006). Therefore, it can be concluded that malnutrition affect all the elderly no matter where they stay. The purpose of the review is to determine the effectiveness of nutritional intervention in improving nutritional status among the elder ly and reduce healthcare cost at the same time in order to prevent further increasing of malnutrition among elderly. It is relevant to nursing with the use of nutritional intervention such as oral supplementation because nurses can help the patients to monitor nutritional status and give feedback to the dietician when the patients are not compliance or the supplementations are not suitable for them to consume. Benefits of nutritional intervention Continuous intervention The first study used observational, prospective, longitudinal, cohort study which involved 378 elderly malnourished patients aged over 70 who lived in community, at home or in institutions which selected by general practitioners in France from two groups, group 1 with rare and group 2 with frequent prescription of oral nutritional supplements with contain high energy and protein. The aim of the study is to determine the impact of nutritional support on the cost and related comorbidities among elderly. Each patient was required to complete 12 months follow-up to measure the nutritional status, medical care consumption and identify malnutrition-related comorbidities. Nutritional status was adjusted using a generalized linear modeling approach and medical care costs were adjusted using a propensity score framework. Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) was significantly better in group 2 than 1from the first evaluation until the end of the study (P Another study was done in Amsterdam to determine the effectiveness of oral supplementation in decreasing functional limitation among malnourished elderly patients in hospital which involved 210 Dutch patients who aged 60 years and above using randomized control trial. Patients in intervention group received standardized nutritional support in hospital and continuing until three months after discharge. Telephone counseling by dietician is done to give advice and stimulate compliance to the proposed nutritional intake every other week after discharge. Patients in control group received the usual care and did not receive post-discharge nutritional support. Cost data were collected from societal perspective and measures using two cost diaries. The degree of difficulties patient experience with 6 activities such as climbing stairs, dress themselves, getting up and sitting down in a chair (score 0-6) measured by Functional Limitation Questionnaire (Kriegsman, Deej, van Eijk, Penninx Boeke , 1997). After three months follow-up, patients in control group had longer mean length of hospital stay and often admitted to other inpatient institutions compared to patients in intervention group. Patients in intervention groups were able to do more physical activities and costs spent were lower than in control group. The probability of the cost-effective for the intervention lies around 0.5 compared with the usual care which was 0.6 at maximum. After oral nutritional support was given, significant improvements in functional limitations was confirmed by the study done by Woo, Ho, Mak, Law, Cheung (1994). Need-based intervention A group of 92 elderly who aged 65 years and above in nursing home at Taiwan participated in a randomized, double blind, controlled trial which included one year follow-up to observe mortality. This study done to examine the effectiveness of need-based strategy in improving the nutritional status among elderly in nursing home. Elderly in intervention group were given routine monitoring and a warm soup which contained nutrient supplement while elderly in control group were given routine care and normal warm soup. The content in the soup and detail about the study was not told to the resident involved. The participantsââ¬â¢ nutritional status was evaluated using MNA and the height, weight, mid-arm circumference, calf circumference, BMI was measured and calculated. The elderly in intervention group who give supplement would be suspended once either one of the ââ¬Å"at riskâ⬠condition was corrected. Over-nutrition can be prevented and saved cost by giving supplements when it is needed. There was significantly improved body weight, BMI, mid-arm circumference, calf circumference and others in intervention group (all p Conclusion From this review, it concluded that nutritional intervention such as oral supplementation is effective in preventing malnutrition among elderly. Oral supplementation can be taken with warm soup that is easily prepared, saved costs and with no associated digestive problems. Even though overall studies used different methods implementing oral supplementations, the results clearly showed that there was improvement in patientsââ¬â¢ body weight, BMI, ADL and nutrition status after nutritional intervention used. It is also effective using oral supplementation with routine screening such as MNA which enables early identification of those who are at risk so that an appropriate intervention can be taken. We as nurses are able to assess the patientsââ¬â¢ nutritional status frequently using MNA by reporting any changes to the dietician and able to administer the oral supplementation ordered for the patients. Limitations for all the studies were small sample sizes used and health condition of the patients participated may change during the study which will cause the ineffective of the oral supplementation. Future research should be done in various hospitals, community hospitals and nursing homes so that results obtained will be more accurate. The study should be done with a longer follow-up to give more opportunities for the patients to improve and a more accurate cost spent can be obtained. A longer follow-up can determine the effectiveness of nutritional intervention on quality of life and physical activities accurately. 1 | Page
Friday, September 20, 2019
Finnis Theory Of Natural Law
Finnis Theory Of Natural Law Critically assess the success of Finnis attempt to construct a theory of natural law based on practical reason and not on a universal view of morality as traditionally contended. The Natural Law Introduction. It is possible to trace Natural Law thinking from primitive stages of simple societies where there was very little distinction between the religious and the secular the spiritual and the physical. For many of these early communities the spiritual world of gods and spirits was seen as being in control of the physical world including human society. Such communities had a variety of gods and spirits resulting in a spiritual entity associated with numerous aspects of the physical world. This gave rise to a belief that there was some higher power in control of human existence and this power was governed by a set of rules or principles which mankind could utilise in furtherance of a perfect existence. The kernel of the theory of Natural Law holds that law derives from a higher law, which is contained in certain principles of morality. These principles are sourced in either religion (through scriptures) or reason. According to theologians, these principles are under the control and governance of a God or figure of Deity and which eternally controls all of creation. Furthermore, it is their belief that all human arrangements, including law, must conform as far as possible to these principles. Secular theorists believe that such principles originate from mans conscience a conception of morality, which is inherent to all men, and part of their nature. Such principles or rules are discoverable through the application of human reason and form the genesis of law making, constituting the higher law from which all human laws must conform. St. Thomas of Aquinas 13th Century Theorists who support Natural Law guidance assume that certain facts about humans and their society provide the correct basis for laws that guide human interaction. Regardless of the theological vis-à -vis secular opinions it is agreed between both schools of thought that real laws are those, which meet a moral standard, found by using the right facts and practical reasoning. Historically, one of the most influential natural law jurists was St. Thomas of Aquinas whose teachings form the basis of the Roman Catholic natural law traditions. Aquinas integrates the rationalist and religious approaches to Natural Law. He greatly influenced Western ideals in the area of ethics, political theory but, in particular, his teachings in the field of natural law held him in the highest of esteem within the Catholic Church, prompting Pope Benedict XV to declare The Church has declared Tomas doctrine to be her own. Aquinas believed that the eternal law of divine reason is wholly unknown to man as only God knows its full extent but that it is partially known not only through revelation (the Commandments, the scriptures) but also through the application of reason. He also contends that human law derived from divine law which governed the relationship between all things created by Him. According to Aquinas, God is the highest good and the reason all matter exists and that such creations exist together in a hierarchy known as the Principle of Subordination. Aquinas divided law into four main categories Eternal Law Such law constitutes Gods rational guidance of all created things and is derived from the divine wisdom and based on a divine plan. Man can never understand eternal law in its entirety but shall be guided by it as he moves through life. On the one hand such law resides with God alone, mysterious and inaccessible. En revanche as it is responsible for various complexities throughout nature, mankind can figure out certain aspects of it. Promulgated law, mentioned by Aquinas consists of practical reason emanating from a ruler or a figure of authority in a community. By the same rationale, he contends that God, as a ruler of the universe also has the nature of a law and as He is not subject to time such law is eternal. Divine Law Eternal law which manifests itself in the Christian scriptures the Commandments or the will of God revealed in the Old and New Testaments. Such law, according to Aquinas, was necessary as humans require require guidance on how to perform proper acts. It was also required to keep checks on the uncertainty of human judgement and to provide divine insight on issues they are not competent to judge for themselves. The Natural Law According to Aquinas, It is evident that all things partake somewhat of the eternal law, in so far as, namely, from its being imprinted on them à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¦Wherefore it (humans nature) has a share of the Eternal Reason, whereby it has a natural inclination to its proper act and end: and this participation of the eternal law in the rational creature is called the natural law From this Aquinas contends that Natural Law exists among man in the world and it is as he states à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¦as though the light of natural reason by which we discern good from Evil. From this Aquinas gives us his definition of the Natural Law (participation of humans in Eternal Law) and the first principle of Natural Law (the capacity to differentiate good from evil). Human Law Is derived a combination of both the Divine and Natural Laws and must be directed toward the common good. Such law can vary in accordance with time but its essence must be just as an unjust law is not law (lex injusta non est lex). For Aquinas an unjust human law is one that furthers the interests of the lawgiver solely; or exceeds the power of the lawgiver; or imposes unequal burdens on the society being governed. Under this rationale therefore, Aquinas held the belief that disobedience to an unjust law becomes a duty as if the law is contrary to Divine law, man is released from obedience we should obey God rather than man. However such disobedience should be avoided if it were to lead to social instability, which is a greater evil than the existence of an unjust law in the first instance. Aquinas was concerned with the nature of laws primarily rather than the nature of a legal system or how laws operate. John Finnis, as will be seen later, was concerned with both equally. Law, according to Aquinas, is the use of reason for the common good made by those that care about the community and made known to this community. Aquinas believed that God gave humans characteristics the primary of which was our capability for rationality and reason. Mankind tends to do things naturally thus mirroring God as supremely rational. Using reason and rationale we can deduce what is self-evidently good and worth pursuing or what is self-evidently bad or evil and to be avoided. In this pursuit of good things we make laws for the common good using reason and are, again according to Aquinas, participating in Gods rational world order. Aquinas believed there are numerous ways to solve a problem and acknowledges that different societies or cultures may place different restrictions on behavior following from this there is not only one way to make law. The critical point to acknowledge is that whatever means are used are accepted by rational people. When dealing with positive/mad made laws Aquinas classifies them into real or defective. The former relate to reasonable standards of conduct in the pursuit of the common good while the latter refers to laws that do not meet criteria established in natural law principle or are unjust (do not meet the requirements of justice) and so these laws can be justifiably disobeyed. The Fall and Rise of Natural Law The secularisation of Natural Law began with the advent of the Reformation in Europe and the consequent decline of the Roman Catholic Church. This essentially resulted in Protestant theorists developing their own theories on natural law that were not based on papal teachings. Natural law doctrines faced further decline throughout the 18th century and into the 19th century where emphasis was placed on the notions of State power and State coercion. This era also saw a rise in the positivists approach to jurisprudential theories which were promoted by Jeremy Bentham and John Austin. Such jurists sought to separate the notions of what law is as opposed to what the law ought to be. The concepts of morality and law should be kept apart and the principles of Natural Law should belong more to the former than the latter. The 20th century saw a rebirth of Natural Law approaches to the study of law. To the forefront was the notion that there must be a higher set of principles (as distinct from positive law) which must satisfy natural law theories if law was to be regarded as valid. This revival was the result of a number of historical occurrences Nazism (whose acts were based on Nazi laws); the development of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction; the general decline of social and economic stability worldwide. Professor John Finnis 20th Century Professor John Finnis is a contemporary defender of natural law and a supporter of its resurgence in the last century. Finnis is a strong supporter of a neo-Aquinian natural law philosophy which does not presuppose a divine being. Instead of making reference to the form of good or seeking good, as was proposed by historical jurists he speaks of mans desire to pursue basic goods in life. Finnis focuses on goods rather than a single good in what he refers to as a theory of moral action for our day or in other words he seeks a theory of how to live well. Finnis The Basic Goods of Life This theory is based on the supposition that mankind sets out to obtain things they perceive to be good for themselves. In doing so, man must exercise practical reason to obtain that good at any one time. Finnis isolates eight of these goods which, according to him, cannot be broken down any more and so refers to them as basic goods in life. These are, he says, fundamental and do not derive from other goods analogous to the moral equivalents of chemical elements. They are generally things which for most people make life worthwhile and according to Finnis are self-evident. They list as follows Life life is the first basic value stemming from the drive for self preservation. Knowledge refers to the preference of man for true fact over false belief. Finnis calls it speculative knowledge distinguishing between knowledge sought for personal sake over knowledge sought as a means of achieving power or popularity. Play relates to performance for the sake of it an act or acts done for no point but an attempt to better oneself Aesthetic Experience relates simply to the appreciation of beauty but at all levels Friendship/ Sociability acting for the well being of a friend Practical Reasonableness the main concept which relates to mankind using their own intellect to choose his paths in life Religion relates to the ability of mankind to reflect on universal origins and of human freedom and reason Marriage a recent addition to Finnis list of basic goods. Marriage, per Finnis, is that between a male and a female and any sexual activity between non-married persons that is not procreative is inherently immoral. The first three (a) to (c) above Finnis calls substantive goods, which exist prior to action. The final group of these basic goods he terms reflexive goods which depend on our choices. Finnis The Principles of Practical Reasonableness To achieve these goods Finnis also has nine principles of practical reasonableness that are what might be called methods of operation that are to be utilised in the ordering of human life and the human community and the creation of the optimum conditions to attain these basic goods such conditions equate to the common good. These basic methodological requirements when taken in part or as a whole allow us the capability of figuring out the morally correct way of acting. The first requirement of practical reasonableness is a rational plan of life. Man must have a structured set of purposes which he should commit to and which guide him through life. Despite life, being subject to many changes one should not just live from moment to moment. Any commitment to a rational life plan will require one or some of the basic goods but such commitment will only be rational if it is based on ones capacities, circumstances and tastes. Secondly, I am of no more value than others but my own well being is my concern and interest and by having a preference for my own well being I will do what is reasonable. Do unto others as you would have them done unto you; put yourself in the other mans shoes; do not condemn others for what your are willing to do yourself these are all requirements of reason and ignoring them is being arbitrary between individuals. Good is to be done and evil is to be avoided a principle taken directly from Aquinian teachings and also Aquinas basic principle of moral action. In doing so one ought to choose and will only those possibilities where willing and action are compatible with integral human fulfillment. This principle gives Finnis (as we shall see further in this essay) and others committed to global human rights the most ammunition i.e. all actions that work against such fulfillment are basically wrong. The forth and fifth principles are related to each other and that of adopting a coherent life plan. One must have a certain detachment from all specific projects that are undertakes. If failure occurs in any of these commitments or projects we must not develop an apathetic attitude thereafter to life. A healthy balance must exist between fanaticism, apathy or refusal to participate. Thus if any commitment fails or appears to be heading that direction then one must look for a more creative or rewarding way to perform same. A further principle relates to the requirement to bring good to the community by actions that are efficient for their purpose. Over a wide range of preferences, it is reasonable for such a community to seek the maximum satisfaction of these preferences. Related to this is the need to favour the common good of ones community or society on a macro scale. Penultimately, no man should choose an act that would damage or negatively affect the participation of any one or more of the basic human goods it is always necessary to weigh up ones actions. Finally the ninth requirement outlines that one should not do what one does not feel like doing so man must act in accordance with his conscience a reiteration of a belief proposed by Aquinas. The Concept of Law Focal vis-à -vis Penumbral As discussed, Finnis outlines that the human basic goods must be utilised in a community or society, as only then will the conditions to achieve these exist in the pursuit of a common good. This common good requires a legal system but such systems can sometimes work against the common good Finnis acknowledges this and states that a ruler has the authority to act for the common good. If he acts in a way that appears to go against the common good or any of the principles of practical reasonableness such actions lack the authority that they should have had. Just as Aquinas believed, Finnis says such laws lack moral authority, they do not bind the conscience of man and one is neither morally obliged to conform nor not to conform. Or put more simply unjust laws are a perversion of law and do not bind mans moral conscience. Finnis distinguishes here the difference between the focal or core meaning of the law from the penumbral meaning. The latter relates to difficult cases and unclear meanings of law. In such cases an argument is needed to demonstrate that it is appropriate to interpret the rule of law in a particular fashion. The former relates to laws that are aimed at the realisation of the common good for a community if such are unjust they will not be regarded as laws in the focal sense. It is in the focal sense of the concept of law that we must identify as it is in this meaning that we find a direct link between the law and moral order. Finnis Distributive Justice In his book Finnis links practical reasonableness and law when discussing justice and rights. He states that the whole object of distributive justice is the common good. With regard to the basic goods, Finnis maintains that the main criteria are need followed by function and capacity. Such terms relate to roles in communal enterprise together with opportunities for advancement of the individual in society. Finis also makes mention of desert based principles which relate to claims that people deserve certain economic benefits in light of their actions making people responsible for their actions and creative in their environments. The different desert-based principles of distribution differ primarily according to what they identify as the basis for deserving. These principles can be broadly categorised as follows 1. Contribution people should be rewarded for their work activity according to the value of their contribution to the social product 2. Effort people should be rewarded according to the effort they expend in their work activity 3. Compensation people should be rewarded according to the costs they incur in their work activity Finnis further suggests a requirement for private ownership as a requirement of justice when he mentions personal autonomy in the community bolstering this by adding that rule of human experience indicates that resources are more productively exploited by private enterprise but then diluting it by referring to the fact that common ownership and enterprise would be beneficial for all. Finnis Commutative Justice Commutative justice relates to a fundamental fairness in agreements and exchanges between social groups. It demands respect for the equal human dignity of all persons in economic transactions, contracts, or promises e.g. workers owe their employers diligent work in exchange for their wages while employers are obligated to treat their employees as persons, paying them fair wages in exchange for the work done together with establishing conditions and patterns of work that are fair and equitable. The central or characteristic act of commutative justice, according to Aquinas, was Xs act of restitution for Y for losses incurred by Y. This is based on the presupposition that X has already wronged Y. Aquinas teachings did not allow for X to do wrong to Y post restitutio so in many cases the primary focus of Aquinas discussions on commutative justice is not the duty of recompense but the primary question of whether Xs act is or is not a wronging of Y. The term commutative justice for Aquinas therefore is a wide one focusing on rights and wrongs in any interaction between individuals or neighbours. Finnis contends that Aquinas classification of the types of justice as opposed to general justice is fragile. General justice, according to him, is ones orientation to act for the common good or toward a common rule according to all relevant laws, either divine or human. Following from this, all laws (that are adhered to) are made for the common good and everything required for such good of a particular grouping in society should conform to a rational standard. Aquinas however, according to Finnis, clarifies that acting for the common good [according to reasonableness] can sometimes not mean acting according to a common rule. Finnis further makes reference to occasions where it is difficult to distinguish between rules that are intended to secure either distributive justice or commutative justice. He makes reference to the classical period in the law of torts, from mid 19th century to modern day, where such rules may be interpreted either way. Where at one stage the issue was what standard of conduct is owed to a person [neighbour] is increasingly moving toward being phrased in terms of the apportionment of risk. Finnis Human Rights According to Finnis, human rights must be maintained as a fundamental component of the common good. Such rights are subject to or limited to each other and by other aspects of the common good these aspectscan be linked to issues concerning public morality, public health or public order. Finnis believes in some absolute human rights i.e. the right not to have a life taken directly as a means to further end; the right not to be deprived or to be required to deprive oneself from pro-creative activity. Finnis turns to an explicit treatment of rights but then observes that his whole book has been about human rights, which he takes to be synonymous with natural rights The modern grammar of rights provides a way of expressing virtually all the requirements of practical reasonableness, the latter phrase, as discussed above, being equivalent for Finnis to the tradition of natural law. Finnis beliefs on human rights enable him to give an alternative expression of the version of natural law he has developed in conjunction with other modern day philosophers such as Grisez and Hohfeld. In answer to the philosophical question as to what it is to have a right Finnis identifies two theories, the benefit theory and the choice theory. The choice theory arises because it regards the benefit theory as seeing rights simply as the reflex of rules which impose duties. H.L.A. Hart taught that possession of a right was to have control over other peoples freedom or, what amounts to the same thing, control over other peoples duties. (duties being limits on freedom, meaning moral freedom or what a person is morally permitted to do). He emphasised this criticising a different answer to the question what does it mean to have a right? that having a right consists in being the beneficiary of someone elses duties. Hart argued that there are some examples where a person is the beneficia ry of a duty but does not have a right. He further came to see that the choice theory was inadequate, writing that the core of the notion of rights is neither individual choice nor individual benefit but basic or fundamental individual needs. Finnis also sees this as identical with his own notion of basic aspects of human flourishing. Rights exist wherever a basic principle or requirement of practical reasonableness, or a rule derived there from, gives to X, and to each and every member of a class to which X belongs, the benefit of a positive or negative requirement or obligation imposed upon Y, or the ability to bring it about that Y is subject to such a requirement, or the immunity from being himself subject by Y to any such requirement In brief, Finnis is able to recast his whole theory into rights parlance. The benefit theory of rights has been shown by Hart to be only a special case of the choice theory, so we are prepared for Finnis steady correlation of rights and duties. His treatment of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 provides not only a keen analysis but a general acceptance of it. His attention is drawn to the specification of what can legitimately limit the exercise of a right. To say that the exercise of human rights is subject to the common good serves no useful purpose, for the maintenance of human rights is a fundamental component of the common good. Finnis, in essence, extends his contention that natural law and natural rights can be regarded as two sides of a coin as duty on one side and the flipside as a right. The modern use of right to mean something someone has turns out to be simply a restatement of the requirements of justice from the side of the recipient. According to McIne rney, it is not simply that the old talk can be translated into the new, Finnis shows a preference for the new and praises it on occasion. Finnis A Critique of Practical Reasonableness Practical reasonableness is the key to Finniss theory of Natural Law. It is the means through which people grasp what is good and what is to be pursued, as well as being a good in itself. As discussed earlier, Finnis recognises basic forms of good, and asserts that this is an exhaustive list, suggesting that everyone who is practically reasonable will agree with it but if true must not practical reasonableness be an objective concept. Otherwise, people could discover completely different forms of good using their own subjective practical reasonableness. Finnis, however, does not agree and in his book expresses an aspect of practical reasonableness as the requirement that one should not do what one judges or thinks or feels all-in-all should not be done. This, he feels, expresses that practical reasonableness is not simply a mechanism for producing correct judgments, but an aspect of personal full-being, to be respected (like all the other aspects) in every act as well as over-all whatever the consequences How so is it possible to have a self-evident, indemonstrable good of practical reasonableness, through which all other forms of good are recognised, if it is acceptable to follow a mistaken conscience, whatever the consequences? Hitler, for example, may have genuinely felt he was doing a great service to the common good by ridding society of the curse of the Jews; and under Finniss theory, he cannot be criticised for this, because he was following his conscience, and because all of the requirements are of equal value. Ironically the prosecution of these war crimes were a principal factor that led to the Natural Law revival in which Finnis took part. Finnis regards practical reasonableness as an end in itself. He considers just that about all of the basic goods (of which practical reasonableness is just one) as being an end pre-eminently endish Reference is made however of a double duty whereby such reasonableness is a means of pursuing the ends of the other basic goods. So reasonableness is both a basic aspect of human well being and concerns ones participation in all other aspects of human well being. Can such a double-duty be performed? Is it actually a good, an end in itself or is it merely a method of attaining the other goods? Unlike knowledge for example, practical reasonableness cannot be pursued just for its own sake. Such a pursuit is necessarily contingent upon another end. When participating in it, the ultimate goal is not the attainment of practical reasonableness, but the participation in and realisation of another goal. Finnis would appear to place a higher value on the good of practical reasonableness than on the rest of the basic goods contrary to his belief that they are all equal. If it is accepted that it is both a means and an end that it does in fact do double-duty where none of the other basic goods do this would lend creedence to the suggestion that it sits atop a hierarchy à ¡ la Finnis. He suggests as much by stating that despite being free to choose which good we choose to pursue and which to ignore, we have no good reason to leave practical reasonableness out of our plan to live well. This would further introduce an Orwellian concept that the basic goods are all equal but some are more equal than others. If such a hierarchy exists should the basic good of life not outrank all others without which one could not partake in the rest of the basic goods. This, the author contends, unlike much of Finnis assertions, actually is self-evident. Next in line should then be practical reasonabl eness for reasons set out above followed by knowledge which bridges a gap between self-interest and a concern for the common good. Religion and all curiosity relating to cosmic order could come next although it could be linked to knowledge or a sub-category of it. Play is linked to sociability and friendship with aesthetic friendship linked to it as a sub-category. Finnis rates this as least important as it would appear to have the least interaction with the rest. Finnis natural law theory asserts that the values of his self-evident basic goods are the impossible to measure. Fundamental problems are created when morality is divorced from values. Finnis, as discussed above, requires a life plan based on these goods placed in a hierarchical format but does not outline how one should go about this. This places the morally right candidate in a unsure position as he may try to do what Finnis suggests but may never be able to achieve the required result as Finnis expects. Conclusion Essentially Finnis lays claim that the law is a social institution whose purpose is to regulate the affairs of people and so contribute to the creation of a community in which all people can live harmoniously while realising the fruits of the basic value system he proposes. In effect the law is a moral project where one must take the position of the person who examines the law with this person in mind. This is the practical reasonable person who grasps the basic values together with the laws purpose in helping others realise them. Whether or not a persons description of law is correct or not will depend significantly upon whether ones moral views are correct as it is these that will inform the way in which one conceives the project of law. Word Count 4,974 Footnotes 36
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