Rene Descartes an Example of the Topic Arts Essays by

Rene Descartes I. Introduction Rene Descartes was a French philosopher, scientist, and mathematician. At a time when the intellectual movements of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance had become moribund, he conceived fresh programs for philosophy and science and elaborated and defended them with great originality and brilliance. Descartes founded modern philosophical rationalism and had a profound and pervasive influence on subsequent philosophers of all schools. He was among the first to construe philosophy as providing a necessary foundation for science and rejecting the traditional contemplative ideal, to regard science as a means of acquiring mastery over nature for the benefit of mankind. In addition to being an innovator in philosophy, he was one of the creators of mathematical physics, the inventor of analytic geometry, and an important figure in the histories of optics, physiology, and other branches of science (Cottingham, 2002). Need essay sample on "Rene Descartes" topic? We will write a custom essay sample specifically for you Proceed II. Background A. Early life Rene Descartes was born on March 31, 1596, in La Haye, a small town in the Tonraine district, now called La Haye-Descartes in his honor. He claimed, mistakenly, that his mother died while giving birth to him: in fact, she died while giving birth to another child about a year later. He was raised first by one of his grandmothers and then by the other until, at the age of 10, he entered the Jesuit school at La Fleche, near Le Mans, in 1614 he graduated from this school: two years later, perhaps to satisfy his father (who was an official of the Parlement of Britanny) he obtained a degree in law from University of Poitiers. Descartes family was well-to-do, and he received an income that enabled him to live in moderate comfort throughout his life. He appears to have had considerable difficulty, as a young man, in finding himself. Until he was about 30 his devotion to the philosophical and scientific interests he had developed at La Fleche was somewhat intermittent and unsystematic. Periods in which his intellectual activity was remarkably intense and productive alternated with periods in which he led a more or less dilettantish life (Cottingham, 2002). Descartes spent several years as a soldier, a customary occupation for younger sons of his social class. In 1617, he went to the Netherlands and joined the army of Maurice of Nassau. He found garrison life boring in the extreme until he met Isaac Beeckman, a mathematician and physicist who recognized Descartes talent and whom Descartes credited with having aroused him from his intellectual torpor. After serving briefly in Germany with the Duke of Bavaria in 1619, Descartes ended his military career. There is no evidence that he was ever in combat. Several years later, however, while living in Paris, he disarmed a man in swordplay over an insult to a lady (Moyal, 2001). B. First Creative Period During his stay in Germany, Descartes had maintained and intensified the intellectual momentum previously generated in him by his discussions with Beeckman. Not long after leaving the Netherlands, he made some important mathematical discoveries, and this success inspired him with ambition. His efforts to extend his achievement reached their climax in the fall of 1619, when he conceived the plan of a universal science, in which all problems susceptible to human reason could be solved and in which all philosophical and scientific truth could be unified as a single system (Kenny, 2004). The exaltation induced in him during this sustained period of strikingly creative work was followed shortly by exhaustion and self-doubt, and he suffered a brief emotional crisis. On the night of Nov. 10-11, 1619, he had three dreams that impressed him deeply. He understood the dreams as reflecting his conflicts concerning the value of his ideas and the risks involved in committing his life to them. His anxieties were apparently resolved when he interpreted the dreams to mean that his conceptions were sound and that it was his mission to create the system of thought whose possibility he believed he had discovered. Between 1619 and 1627, Descartes lived in Paris for several years and spent the rest of time traveling. He lived in Italy for about 18 months, during which period he made a pilgrimage to the shrine of the Virgin Mary at Loreto, fulfilling a vow he made following his three dreams in November 1619. For a while he joined the whirl of Parisian social life, but the role of a cavalier did not satisfy him, and he sloughed it off neatly by changing his residence without notice to his friends. He wrote very little during this period, but his reputation was growing, and he had access to the most advanced intellectual circles (Cottingham, 2002). Part of Descartes vision of universal science was a notion of the method of inquiry by which progress in philosophy and in the sciences might most reliably be made. Episodes of distracted idleness apart, he devoted himself largely to practicing the use of this method and to refining his conception of it. He was especially fascinated by the telescope, which had recently become known in France, and he worked successfully on various problems in optics that arose in the course of his efforts to design more effective telescopic lenses. Late in 1627, Descartes had a long conversation about his philosophical and scientific program with Pierre Cardinal de Berulle, a leading figure in the Roman Catholic renaissance in France. He convinced Berulle that the enterprise he had conceived might lead to progress in medicine and in the useful arts generally, and therefore would be of enormous practical benefit to mankind. Berulle strongly counseled him to devote all his energies to the enterprise and to make it possible for others to join him in his work (Moyal, 2001). The conversation evidently had a decisive impact on Descartes. Imbued with a vivid sense of the urgency of his responsibility, he resolved to improve his conditions of work and to commit himself wholeheartedly to achieving the results that he believed his method made possible. It was at about this time that he decided to leave France for the Netherlands, where the climate was cooler and where he would not be subject to the distractions of French life. C. Move to the Netherlands Descartes settled in the Netherlands in 1628 and, except for a few rather brief visits of France, remained there until 1649. By 1633, he had completed a major work, entitled The World (Le Monde), in which presented parts of his system of physics and the results of his research in physiology and in embryology. The book was about to be published when he learned that the Roman Catholic Church had just condemned Galileo for espousing the Copernican theory of the solar system. Because the astronomical theory developed in The World was also Copernican, Descartes suppressed the book, and it did not appear until many years after his death (Kenny, 2004). In 1637, Descartes published anonymously three essays (Essais) reporting the results of his work in geometry, in optics, and in meteorology, prefaced by a lengthy Discourse on Method (Discours de la methode). Although most learned writing at that time was in Latin, Descartes wrote the Discourse and the essays in French. He hoped they would be read not only by scholars but by intelligent men generally and even by women; his intention was to go over the heads of the scholarly community to people who had no vested interest in the traditional doctrines he was eager to supplant. The Discourse is written for the most part with great lucidity and charm, and it is widely regarded as one of the classics of French literature. It contains an intellectual autobiography, sketches of Descartes method and metaphysics, examinations of certain scientific questions (including an account of Harveys discovery of the circulation of the blood, which Descartes was among the first to appreciate and to publicize), and a discussion of the conditions and prospects of further progress in the sciences. Despite its title, it does not provide a detailed account of his method. In 1628, before he left France, Descartes has begun to write, in Latin, a treatise on method called Rules for the Direction of the Mind (Regulae ad directionem ingenii). It was his only substantial work on methodology, but he did not complete it and his manuscript was not published until 1701, more than 50 years after his death (Dicker, 1993). In 1641, Descartes published in Latin his most important book on metaphysics, Meditations Concerning Primary Philosophy (Meditationes de prima philosophia), in which he attempted to establish the framework of concepts and the basic assumptions that he believed the progress of science required. He dedicated the meditations to the theological authorities in France. III. Discussion A. Doctrines By the end of the 16th century, the coherence and authority of the primarily Aristotelian intellectual culture of the late Middle Ages (not to mention its social, political, and religious institutions) had been decisively undermined. But no equally comprehensive alternative view of the world, and of mans place and role in it, had yet been satisfactorily established. For many of the most sensitive and conscientious intellectuals of the period the result was a deep sense of uncertainty (most notably expressed by Montaigne) to abandon active life and to withdraw into oneself (Dicker, 1993). Descartes reinvigorated the philosophical thought of his time by transforming its skepticism and emphasis on self from expressions of despair into creative instruments contributing to intellectual progress. a.) Method Descartes regarded the syllogisms of Aristotelian logic as worthless for the purposes of inquiry. He found them suitable for displaying in a convincing manner the evidence for conclusions that had already been established, but of no value whatever in the effort to make fresh discoveries. On the other hand, he believed that his own method was a powerful means of acquiring new truths. This method was essentially rationalistic. It involved, first, identifying by conceptual analysis the simple elements to which all more complex objects of thought may be reduced, and second, synthesizing an understanding of the structure of reality by perceiving the necessary relationships in which these elements must stand to one another (Dicker, 1993). His initial moves in applying this method were to press uncertainty to its ultimate limit by subjecting to the most uncompromising criticism the evidence on which his accustomed beliefs rested, and to suspend every opinion, however plausible, in which he found even the slightest rational basis for doubt (Kenny, 2004). This ruthless gambit had a double purpose. First, Descartes intended to regain complete control over his own mind by eliminating the preconceptions and prejudices he had acquired during the time when he was not yet capable of exercising his critical faculties autonomously. And, second, he hoped to uncover some preposition that would prove itself immune to even the most relentless skepticism and that could thus provide a firm foundation for the reconstruction of his system of beliefs (Kenny, 2004). His plan was to proceed from this proposition, once he had found it, by steps so cautious and well-defined that there would be no risk of error or of misunderstanding. In pursuing this strategy, Descartes consciously imitated what he took to be the method of mathematics, whose peculiar lucidity and certainty he wished to introduce into the other branches of learning with which he was concerned. b.) Senses and Reason Descartes methodological skepticism led him first to a suspension of all beliefs based on the evidence of the senses. Sensory evidence is never in itself conclusive, he argued, since it is always possible (so far as can be determined by the senses) that a person is dreaming or that a supernatural power has arranged for him to be deceived. But while Descartes therefore provisionally regarded the existence and character of physical objects (including his own body) as uncertain, like Montaigne he found the reality of his mind uniquely secure against all doubts (Cottingham, 2002). However determined his skepticism, he could not doubt that he was doubting; this preposition was confirmed by the very effort to refute it. In what is surely the most famous statement in philosophical literatureI think; therefore I am (cogito ergo sum)he expressed the unimpeachable certainty of his own existence as a thinking being and identified the point from which his efforts to reconstruct his beliefs could confidently proceed (Moyal, 2001). IV. Conclusion In conclusion, Descartes last book was Treatise on the passions (Les passions de lame, 1649), in which he dealt mainly with psychology, ethics, and the relation between mind and body. IN 1649, he went to Stockholm at the invitation of Queen Christina of Sweden, who wished him to teach her philosophy and to establish an institute for the advancement of science. When his friend Chanut, the French ambassador in Stockholm, became ill with pneumonia, Descartes helped to care for him and contracted the disease himself (Cottingham, 2002). Descartes died in Stockholm on February 11, 1650, and was buried in Sweden. In 1666, his remains were taken to Paris and buried in the Church of Ste. Genevieve du Mont; in 1819, they were moved to the Church of ST. Germain des Pres, except for his skull, which is in the Musee de lHomme. Reference: Cottingham, John, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Descartes. Cambridge University Press, 2002. Standard handbook, with good guide to further reading. Dicker, Georges. Descartes: an Analytical and Historical Introduction. Oxford University Press, 1993. Rather more substantial than title suggests. Kenny, Anthony. Descartes, a Study of his Philosophy. 2004. New York: Random House; New York; London: Garland, 1999. Another classic study, by a leading British philosopher. Moyal, George D., ed. Ren Descartes: Critical Assessments. 7 v. London: Routledge, 2001. Comprehensive collection.

Free Essays on Descartes Examination Of A Thinking Soul

so as to give appropriate, meaningful answer to questions and whether it can engage in a rage of appropriate, rational activities (CR, pp.34-35). Here, however, Descartes goes a step further as he devic... Free Essays on Descartes Examination Of A Thinking Soul Free Essays on Descartes Examination Of A Thinking Soul Descartes’ Examination of a Thinking Soul In order to truly understand the nature of the human mind as asked in the course syllabus one must be able to define a thinking individual, something that Descartes attempts and succeeds in achieving. In his Letter to the Marquess of Newcastle, Descartes rejects others’ belief that animals have reasoning or thoughts and devices a sort of test based on a defining characteristic of a thinking mind that he believes can successfully separate the thinking from the non-thinking. Descartes thoroughly seeks for a distinguishing feature that separates an animal mind from a human mind and comes to the conclusion that an â€Å"external action†, more specifically the capacity for linguistic activity is the difference. According to Descartes, defining a thinking creature is ultimately decided by the â€Å"external action† of linguistic capability; however, Descartes makes certain that actions that are inane, for example, are not included. In this passage, Descartes’ idea of â€Å"external actions† is not simply the ability to eat, talk or walk (explained further later) but rather a more complex action that incurs more complex thoughts: the capacity for linguistic activity. However, Descartes does not simply define linguistic activity as talking but as â€Å"†¦words, or other signs that are relevant to particular topics without expressing any passion† (â€Å"Letter to the Marquess of Newcastle,† CR, p. 36). In Descartes’ Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conducting One’s Reason and Seeking the Truth n the Sciences, he first suggests a test to see if there is a separation of body and mind which includes such things as if the candidate is able to respond verbally, produce different arrangements of words so as to give appropriate, meaningful answer to questions and whether it can engage in a rage of appropriate, rational activities (CR, pp.34-35). Here, however, Descartes goes a step further as he devic...

Deal Gases Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Deal Gases - Coursework Example There are different gas laws that exist and are summarized by the equation of state (Meyer, 2011). These gas laws include Boyle’s law, Charles law, Gay – Lussac’s law and other gas law. The Boyle’s law was derived, finalized and published in 1662. The law states that when gas is at constant temperature, the product obtained from the volume, and the pressure of a certain mass of gas that is confined in a closed system is always a constant. The pressure gauge can be used to verify this statement together with a variable container capacity. The law can also be derived from the kinetic theory of ideal gases. For instance, if a gas container has a fixed number of molecules in it and its volume is reduced more molecules will collide per unit time per given area. This aspect results in a higher pressure in the container (Wang, 2013). 2. Select the light species of the box on the right-hand corner. You can notice that the pump turns red. At that time, the pump is given a press. Again, wait for the values to stabilize and observe the results. When the pump is pressed it some while to come to the stable state. When the pump gives a substantial push the volume of the gas reduced. For this experiment volume in an independent variable, since it does depend on the other parameter to change. The pressure is the dependent variable as it depends on the volume change for it to vary. The graph was plotted for the values of the pressure, and the volume showed that the pressure of the gas varies inversely proportionally to the volume of the gas. The relationship between the pressure and the volume of gas under constant temperature is summarized by the Boyles Law. This law states the under constant conditions of temperature, gas will have its pressure vary inversely proportional to the volume. Charles’ Law is also referred to as the law of

Criminal Justice for Mentally Sick Offenders Coursework

Criminal Justice for Mentally Sick Offenders - Coursework Example The review examines these problems and presents recommendations for preventing such problems and alleviating it further. In this connection Mental Health Act 1984 was taken into study including all pertinent references, results and conclusions. After research of clinical studies it came into light that 6 to 15 percent persons are in city and county jails and 10 to 15 percent persons in the state prisons are suffering from severe mental illness and poor functioning. A considerable numbers from them are homeless, it seems that a majority of mentally sick person are arrested compare to general population of the society. One of the causes evaluated during research in criminal justice system is deinstitutionalization. Adopt more rigid criteria for civil necessities, lack of complete community treatment and the harsh attitude of police and society with this neglected segment of society. This segment is hardly access to community treatment and basic amenities of life. Recommendations includ e reforms in the act through which careful necessary treatment and after care treatment may be provided to such people. Jail detainees should go through a careful screening process and as per their past history and family support, as well as, police officers should be trained formally in this regard. In order to create a positivism segment in our society, offenders having mental disorders may get mental health training, when a minor offence have been committed by them. CONTENTS S. # Name of Chapter Page # 1. 1.1 Chapter 1 Mental Health Act 1984 . 5 1.2 Who is Patient under the Law. 5 2. Chapter 2 Criminal Justice System Related To Mentally Disordered Offenders 6 2.1 Definition of Mental Disorder .. 6 2.2 Health, Social Work and Related Services for Mentally Disordered Offenders 6 2.3 Current Health and Social Work Services Health Services 7 2.4 Local General and Forensic Psychiatric Services. 7 2.5 Out Patient and Community Service. 8 2.6 In Patient Care 8 2.7 Intensive Psychiatric Care Units 9 2.8 Forensic Psychiatric Service 9 2.9 Secure Provision 9 2.10 Admissibility of Confessions.. 10 2.11 Diversions and Public Interest Considerations .. 10 3. Chapter 3 The Standard For Information Required For Establishing A Mental Disorder. 11 4. Chapter 4 Some important figures / Tables / Graphs regarding mentally sick criminals/patients. 13 5. Chapter 5 Primary Care Criteria for Mentally Disordered Patient. 15 5.1 Medical Reports 15 5.2 Criteria for Adults.. 16 5.3 Referral Letter for Adults... 17 5.4 Criteria for Children Adolescents ... 17 5.5 Referral Letter for Children... 18 6. Chapter 6 Use of Mental Health Act 1984. 21 6.1 Before the Assessment.. 22 6.2 During the Assessment.. 23 6.3 Section 24.. 23 6.4 Section 18.. 24 6.5 Arranging Admission. 25 6.6 If the patient is not admitted . 26 6.7 Responsibilities of the Police (Home Office Circular No. 12/95) 26 6.8 Hospital Directions 27 7. Chapter 7 Rehabilitation of Mentally Disordered Offenders 28 8. Chapter 8 Proposals to Reform Mental Health... 32 9. Chapter 9 Editorial by Jill Peay and Nigel Eastman 35 10. Chapter 10 Editorial by Professor Jill Peay "An indefensible gap in mental health law" ... 37 11. Chapter 11 Book Review of Professor Jill Peay Book.. 38 12. Chapter 12 Results and Discussions 42 13. Chapter

Why should we study military history?

Why should we study military history? What is it about the question, why should we study military history that raises such a storm of conversation? In a society that expects education to serve a useful purpose, the functions of history can appear more difficult to define than those of medicine or nuclear physics. History, specifically the study of military history is very useful. In an age of intercontinental ballistic missiles, the old subjects of strategy and tactics can seem obsolete. The importance of the battles of Little Big Horn during the Plains Indian Wars or Kasserine Pass during World War II in North Africa might not be evident if you are thinking only in terms of pushing big red buttons. It is imperative for civilian leaders to understand the military issues before them and the lessons that Soldiers of the past fought so hard to learn in order to prevent new generations of Soldiers from learning them all over again. Its no surprise that American civilians tend to lack a basic understanding for military matters, not to mention military history. In a society that expects education to serve a useful purpose, the functions of history can appear more difficult to define than those of medicine or nuclear physics. History, specifically the study of military history is very useful. Today, universities are even less receptive to the subject. This should be profoundly troubling to our society. A democratic nation should fully understand war, especially in an age of weapons of mass destruction and religious radicals attempting to spread their ideals by using terrorism. Neither most of our citizens nor many of our politicians seem to recall the incompetence and terrible decisions that, in June 1876 and February 1943, led to massive American casualties as well as much public despair. Its no surprise that many Americans think the violence in Iraq is unprecedented in U.S. history. Nearly 4,000 combat dead in Iraq in four and one-half years of fighting is a terrible thing. The American people still bicker about total withdrawal, defeat, up-armored HMMWVs and proper troop levels. But a previous generation considered Okinawa an overwhelming American victory, despite losing, in a little over two months, four times as many Americans as we have lost in Iraq (Hansen, V. (2007). Why Study War?). It has been stated in many news articles that the current rate of U.S. casualties in Iraq would take 75 years to total the same amount of casualties that we experienced in 10 years of fighting in Vietnam. One American casually is too many, but war is an ugly beast, peo ple die. That is why it is so important that our politicians and public understand what war is really about. Military history is not a bunch of cookie-cutter answers to each and every problem facing a young military leader or our nation today. Germanys victory during World War I over Russia in under three years and their failure to take France in four years apparently misled Adolph Hitler into thinking that he could defeat the Soviets with little problem. After all, Germany defeated the historically tougher France in just six months (Thompson, F. (2007). Remember the Past.). The battle at Little Big Horn in Montana is studied to this day by military leaders. What could possibly be learned from a battle that took place over 130 years ago? The tactics and weapons are antiquated by todays standards. The Indian wars are the stuff of legends and a few B-grade movies, or are they? What exactly can we learn from Custers defeat? One thing for sure about Custer was that he was arrogant. Custer was a successful commander from his days in the Civil War up until his death on a hot and dusty hilltop in Montana in 1876. The defeat at Little Big Horn, as are most defeats in hindsight, was avoidable. Custer had the best Soldiers and the best equipment of the time period. The initial plan to force the Indians back to the reservations appeared to be sound if executed properly by the three large columns of Soldiers involved. Communication became a large factor for the participating commanders. Custer, Gibbon, and Crook all had key parts to play for the execution of the plan to work. Timing was a key in order to ensure everything went according to the initial plan. However, General Crooks column of about 1300 Soldiers was attacked at Rose Bud Creek by almost the same number of Sioux only nine days prior and 30 miles away from the sight of Custers defeat at Little Big Horn. General Crooks men were so badly mauled that they were forced to return to the South for supplies and to treat their wounded (Hardy, S. (2004). Custers Last Stand.). Crooks column was a key element in the hammer and anvil plan that was to be executed. Custer had no idea that Crook had been defeated by such a large number of Indians or that his column would not make the scheduled rendez vous time and location. After locating the main Indian encampment, Custer was told repeatedly by his scouts that the Indian camp was the largest that they had ever seen and there would be at least 1800 to 2000 warriors in the camp, probably more. Custer ignored this advice. Custer initially made a plan to bed down his command and attack at dawn the next morning. Not only thinking his men would be fresh for the fight but that Crooks column would be arriving at any time. Custers scouts reported that Indian scouts had seen the command and were reporting back to the Indian camp. Actually, the Indian scouts were leaving the camp to return to the reservation and they had not seen Custers command at all. Custers orders were to locate the Indian camp on the Little Big Horn River and not let them escape. With these orders, the lack of knowledge of Crooks situation and the then common knowledge that the Plains Indians would not stand and fight but disengage after a short fight, Custer decided to attack. The fact that Custer split his command into three separate battalions is a constant source of debate. This also was a standard practice when fighting the Plains Indians at that time. What lessons can we learn from Custers tragic defeat? Sound intelligence of the enemy situation is a must. Custer had solid, eyes-on intelligence from reliable sources but ignored it. The lack of communication was also a huge factor. Many leaders and historians believe that Custer would not have attacked the Indian village that day if he would have known of Crooks defeat and the number of Indians that attacked Crooks column. The Indian tactics had changed. Custer not only did not know this, he completely underestimated the Indians ability and will to fight as well as over estimating the ability of his own men. The chances are pretty good that Custers own arrogance very well may have overridden all of the hindsight knowledge that we now have. One of the main lessons to take from Custer is this; it is only a matter of time before an arrogant leader will fail. Arrogance and underestimating the enemy you face is a lesson that seems to be learned over and over again. In Tunisia during 1943 the American forces were inexperienced and poorly equipped, at least compared to the German forces that they faced. The Kasserine Pass is gap in the Grand Dorsal Mountain chain in central Tunisia. The German Afrika Korps were veteran Nazi forces commanded by the brilliant Erwin Rommel. Rommel was retreating from advancing allied (British) forces. Rommels counter attack was aimed directly at the inexperienced American forces and backed them into defensive position in the Dorsal Mountains (M. Haze, (2002). Battle of Kasserine Pass). The American equipment was of no match to the superior German tanks and firepower. The American tanks were riveted together. When hit, the tanks rivets broke loose and killed and wounded as many men as the German shell that hit the tank. The American tanks and thin armor and the tanks cannon could not be aimed as effectively as t he Germans or penetrate the German armor even if the Americans were lucky enough to hit a German tank. The battle at Kasserine Pass was a defeat for the green Americans. The Americans learned many valuable and expensive lessons from the Kasserine Pass debacle. Leadership and tactics were changed. Equipment was immediately updated. The Germans learned some lessons from Kasserine Pass also. For the rest of the war, the Nazi high command relied on reports sent from Rommels men regarding the Americans inferior equipment. They apparently never grasped the idea that the U.S. weapons constantly improved throughout the rest of the war. After the battle Rommel was contemptuous of both the U.S. equipment and fighting ability. He basically considered them a non-threat. Based on the knowledge gained at Kasserine Pass the Germans greatly underestimated the skill and resolve of the American Soldier. War is about killing, pain, and fear, and any attempt to disguise this or portray it otherwise is not only wrong but immoral. War is not only killing, pain and fear. It is the purposeful use of force to achieve political goals. Anyone who thinks that this statement is less than black and white has not spoken with the troops on the ground during one of our wars that was blessed by political approval. Many Americans today believe that anyone who studies war must approve of war as though anyone who drives a car must naturally approve of car wrecks. How much farther from the truth could these people be? There are many reasons to study military history in our schools and colleges. America is once again at war and this time there is really no end in sight. We are fighting for our basic way of life. The study of military history for our civilian wartime leadership is critical. Politicians start wars and politicians lose wars. Todays young people are tomorrows leaders, both in politics and the military. If for no other reason than we want to avoid war whenever possible, universities and public schools should at least offer the option of studying military history.

Hong Kongindia Command and Market Economies :: essays papers

Hong Kongindia Command and Market Economies The world is run with economic systems. Two of these economic systems are the market economy and the command economy. These economic systems both greatly differ and are similar in there ways of controling the factors of production, ownership, and their incentives for efficient production. An area of the world that has a command economy is India. The government controls and makes decisions with the factors of production. The factors of production are the resources used to produce goods and services, such as lonad, labor and capital. Within these socialist areas, there is no presence of motivation, a very important factor in an economy. This is because no matter what they do for their economy, everyboyd will recieve the same pay. For example, a doctor would get paid the same amount as a dishwasher.This creates unmotivation because there is nowhere to progress to. People don’t want to work hard for the same pay as someone who doesn’t. Also, since the government controls the factors of production, and not the individual consumers themselves, it is impossible for the few in power to know the many needs, and conditions of resource availability, within the whole economy. Therefore, many things of importance are not recognized, or over looked and the economy and people suffer from the loss. It is present in these areas of socialism that many of the people suffer from poverty because of this economic system. Hong Kong used to be a command economy. Hong Kong was very poor. This poor area quickly changed over the years into a very prosporous place. This is due to it’s change to the market economy. Hong Kong is also the freest of economies. The United states of america also has a market economy. In a market economy, or free enterprise economy, the individuals own the factors of productin, and make the decisions with them. This is unlike the command econly becaues their government controls the factors of production. The market economy is more effiecent because the individuals decide for themselves how to answer economic questions, looking out for their own personal best interest. This creates motivation, in which the command economy lacks. Entreprenurs also play a large roll in the economy. In Hong Kong, it is extremely easy to start your own business.

Othello and Racism Essay

In conjunction with Hamlet, King Lear, and Macbeth, Othello is said to be one of the four great tragedies written by Shakespeare and consequently a mainstay of what is said by most critics to be the peak of Shakespeare’s theatrical talent. Othello is exceptional in the midst of Shakespeare’s grand catastrophes. Not like Hamlet, King Lear, and Macbeth, which are put up in opposition to a setting of political affairs and which resound with propositions of widespread individual apprehension, Othello is situated in a clandestine world and centers on the infatuations and private lives of its chief figures. Othello basically is the central character as well as the hero of the play under consideration. Being a Christian Moor and general of the armies of Venice, Othello is a well-expressed and actually controlling figure, who everyone around him respects a lot. In the face of his prominent status, he is all the same easy victim to insecurities due to his age, his existence as a soldier, and his race. Analysis The chief character of this play goes by the name of Othello, and he seems to be a person who has an unconventional and open personality, which is used by his ensign Iago to dispose of his love for his partner, Desdemona, into an authoritative and reproachful cupidity, which turns him into an assassin. Insensible of Iago’s manipulative and the lucent incorruptibility of his wife and lieutenant, Othello is sooner or later a victim of his own credulity and unyielding unawareness. But the most prominent theme is that whatever was faced by Othello was due to the fact that he did not belong to the Elizabethan civilization and was a â€Å"black moor†. As we know, Othello is presented as a Black Moor who is the furthermost General of the Army in Venice. He is intellectual, audacious, and praiseworthy. The wedding that takes place between him and the fine-looking Desdemona, who is the daughter of a well-known Venetian, aggravates racial affront in opposition to him. In the Elizabethan times, there was much racial discrimination against blacks and moors. But even though the vain hero of this play faced racial prejudice, he keeps on living with courteousness and sense of worth as he shows the way to an army in opposition to Turks on Cyprus. His perseverance to sense of duty is obscured only by his commitment to Desdemona, who makes her way to Cyprus with him. The love Othello has for his wife is so deep and passionate that he cannot bear even the contemplation of a different man even looking at her. And in that lies his weak point, which is resentment. Othello’s consideration to the theme turns out to be apparent when Iago makes use of it as confirmation that Desdemona could never be truthful to a person who does not even belong to their society and is a person who is so â€Å"unnatural†. The self-assurance felt by Othello that was once so strong is with ease tattered by Iago’s propensity to persuade him that he is second-rate in comparison to the men of Venice. The vain hero of the drama Othello is a Moor who prevails the compassion of Desdemona with his vigorous tales of encounter and escapade, adding to the disappointment of her father and the Venetian court of which they are a component. Othello is happily married with his wife. After certain happenings take place, the stratagem takes place rather speedily when Iago, a subsidiary of Othello, sets his mind for taking revenge after he does not get the promotion that he really wanted. He figures out plans to set Othello against his own wife. What takes place after this is a succession of maneuverings in which Iago gradually persuades Othello of Desdemona’s faithlessness and that she has something going on with Cassio, the lieutenant who gets raised to the position that was sought after by Iago. The basic point here is that Othello was used by Iago in a way this his own race was used against him. Othello was made to realize that his chances of being loved by Desdemona were low for the fact that he did not even belong to their civilization. Readily in Othello, the central character, Othello, can be made out as an archetypal tragic hero who is conflicted by the brawny force of his instinctive gullibility and over-trust as defects in his otherwise honorable character. All the way through the speedy expansion of the play, we see Othello’s character fall to pieces as a consequence of his increasing resentment and are at last incapacitated by a commanding catharsis where in spite of his bad behavior; the person who reads feels compassion for Othello and his calamity. In this catastrophe of character, the prevalent bereavement and dread can be undoubtedly accredited to the foreseeable fault in the personality of Othello, the heartrending hero. Straight away the wicked character of Iago is set up and discovers the hero’s disastrous flaw; eventually that of simplicity. He hath a person and a smooth dispose, to be suspected, framed to make women false. The Moor is of a free and open nature, that thinks men honest, but that seem to be so, and will as tenderly be led by th’ nose, As asses are†. (Shakespeare, lines 440-445). Even though no time is wasted by Shakespeare in converting the honorable central character almost unbelievably into a thoughtless and cruel murdered of his wife who does not have any faith what so ever in her, one must bear in mind the fact that he is up in opposition to, moderately convincingly, the most resourceful archvillian in literature. Being the malevolent, but shrewd human being that he is, Iago does every single thing that he can think of so as to intensify the effects of the hero’s heartbreaking flaw and make such attempts that it would work against him. The most manipulative characteristic of Iago’s stratagem are persistently seen all the way through the play, when he delicately makes his own image better than all others while harming the other people’s image. The expansion of Othello is basically focused in the order of the mounting covetousness of the adversary as the medium with which his disastrous imperfection gets hold of his breakdown. As a consequence of Othello’s unquestioning personality, Iago’s monstrous thoughts are permissible to break through into his more often than not unsuspicious mind and in that distort his judgment and actions all the way through the course of the play. As an outcome of the wholesomeness and certainty in the love amid Othello and Desdemona, Othello is incapacitated with heartache when it is recommended that Desdemona has been disloyal to him. At first he does not wish to believe it, but handing over deceitful Iago to the charge of discovering the truth without doubt buries him deeper in dishonesty. Poor Desdemona is killed over a crime she had never even thought of. But here the play shows that Othello’s mind has been taken over completely by Iago’s conniving nature. Eventually when Othello realizes his mistake, he commits suicide, saying, â€Å"I kissed thee ere I killed thee, no way but this, Killing myself, to die upon a kiss† (Shakespeare, line 420-421). Perhaps it would not have been easy for Iago’s scheme to work had there not been the elementary setting of ethnic discrimination in Elizabethan civilization, a prejudice that was felt and sensed by both Desdemona and Othello. Shakespeare’s Desdemona puts up with intolerance by disproving it right of entry to her own life. Her relationship that is shared between her and Othello is that of love, and she is intentionally faithful to that relationship. On the other hand, Othello does not have any knowledge what so ever about how intensely chauvinism has broke in into his own character. This immersed bigotry weakens him with opinions similar to thoughts like he is not good-looking and does not deserve Desdemona. He starts believing that Desdemona does not really love him and even if she does then there has to be something erroneous with her. These feelings, reddened by Iago’s intimations and fabrications, put off Othello from conferring his apprehension and qualms honestly with Desdemona, and in this regard he acts on alarmed supposition. So as to live on the collective ambush of internalized chauvinism and the aimed at malice of Iago, Othello would require to be close to faultless in potency and self-knowledge, and this just is not a reasonable requirement. Racial Discrimination in Othello The basic issue that has been presented in the play is that of prejudice and racial discrimination. Every single human being at some point in his or her life goes through a feeling of complete alienation. This can come up in the form of a new child at school, or those who form a part of a cultural or religious marginal, or as someone who clutches an ostracized estimation. In order go make this problem known to the general public, Shakespeare has made his hero out to be an outsider, a person who does not fairly fit in, in the culture in which he lives nor is he of their ethnic background. Since the very beginning of the play, when the hero is detained in suspicion by a gentleman who impeaches him of seducing his daughter with incomprehensible charms, Othello has been made apart from all of the other characters of the play who belong to the same cultural background. Considering that he has been made out as a person who belongs to an exclusively dissimilar country, much of the discrepancy he puts up with is because of the scheming conviction that he does not fit in with this civilization. In the Elizabethan times, as can clearly be seen from Othello, race was a subject of great dispute and argument. Even in the current times, the dispute keeps hold of its disagreement and enthusiasm. On the other hand, approaches towards ethnicity have taken a spectacular turn at some point in the last century (Racism and Othello). In the current times, people have come to live in a gradually more multi-ethnic society, who would unquestionably be more open-minded and would refuse or even be affronted by racial unfairness to any individual or segments of the society. People have cleanly been labeled as â€Å"racists† in the current times and have also been started to be considered as outcasts. This puts up the questions of what type of meaning Shakespeare wanted to convey to his spectators and was Othello the moor represented as a disastrous hero or did his personality sooner or later come to bear a resemblance to the discrimination of which he was a sufferer. Shakespeare also talks about the question of race with additional characters for instance the detestable Iago and the discrimination concealed deep in Brabantio (Racism and Sexism in Othello, p. , Othello – A Racist Play? , p. 1). The proceedings of Brabantio commence the awareness in the race subject in Act 1 Scene 1 far more than Iago’s tainted abuses for the reason that the kind of concealed racism is in point of fact present in contemporary society. Brabantio criticizes of his daughter even thinking of getting married to Roderigo considering that Roderigo did not have a very good reputation in society but subsequent to listening to Iago inform him that his daughter is going out with a moor he wishes that Roderigo would have married Desdemona. Therefore Brabantio recommends that he would rather have his daughter married to a man who has a bad reputation in the entire society and believes that he is better than a moor who is an appreciated noble and gentleman in the army. As Brabantio believes the only problem that lies with Othello is that he is black and does not belong to their society (Twyman, p. 1). There is a little proof that Shakespeare was using Othello to endorse ethnically discriminatory views as suggested by certain critics. Shakespeare has presented Othello to be a dignified person and a Christian. As an alternative, Iago is represented as the most iniquity bad character and also the terrible racist. Iago considers Othello’ lips as â€Å"thick-lips† (Shakespeare, p. 66) and calls him as â€Å"an old black ram† (Shakespeare, lines 88-89). Even though there might be a few reasons behind the deceitful actions taken by Iago. Even though he does undergo suspicion about whom his wife would be going out with behind his back and he dislikes Othello because of the promotion he gained which was desired by Iago, but from all of his speeches, the thing which is most obvious is the fact that he dislikes Othello because of the color of his skin. By putting forward to us the scoundrel of the play to have such deep-seated bigotry; Shakespeare is disapproving all of the people who attack others purely because of the color of their skin or their ethnic group or religion. A contemporary spectator would consequently perceive that in their visualization, correctly, Shakespeare has made an attempt to send out an anti-racist point (The Racism in Othello, p. 1). Considering the fact that there was no real reason for Iago to hate Othello, he starts inventing novel reasons to disgust Othello. He comes up with the idea in his own brain that his wife is cheating on him with Othello. Even as this is perceptibly fallacious, it makes it easier for Iago to have a reason to loathe Othello for reasons other than his skin. His annoyance is fairly understandable when he comes out with the declaration â€Å"hell and night / must bring this monstrous birth to the world’s light† (Shakespeare, lines 397-98). This outburst does not only demonstrate Iago’s disdain for Othello, it obviously illustrates the satirical switching of issues to the matter of color once again (Racism in Othello, p. 1). Conclusion In the light of the above discussion we can hereby culminate that Othello is a play written by Shakespeare in which we see how a man full of courage and bravery is tricked upon by the villain of the play. Racial discrimination is a theme that is very prevalent in the play and tells us of how outsiders in the Elizabethan times were treated.