Summary Of Kants Life Essays - Enlightenment Philosophy, Kantianism

Summary Of Kant's Life Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) spent all of his life in K?nigsberg, a small German town on the Baltic Sea in East Prussia. (After World War II, Germany's border was pushed west, so K?nigsberg is now called Kaliningrad and is part of Russia.) At the age of fifty-five, Kant appeared to be a washout. He had taught at K?nigsberg University for over twenty years, yet had not published any works of significance. During the last twenty-five years of his life, however, Kant left a mark on the history of philosophy that is rivaled only by such towering giants as Plato and Aristotle. Kant's three major works are often considered to be the starting points for different branches of modern philosophy: the Critique of Pure Reason (1781) for the philosophy of mind; the Critique of Practical Reason (1788) for moral philosophy; and the Critique of Judgment (1790) for aesthetics, the philosophy of art. The Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals was published in 1785, just before the Critique of Practical Reason. It is essentially a short introduction to the argument presented in the second Critique. In order to understand what Kant is up to in this book, it is useful to know something about Kant's other works and about the intellectual climate of his time. Kant lived and wrote during a period in European intellectual history called the Enlightenment. Stretching from the mid-seventeenth century to the early nineteenth, this period produced the ideas about human rights and democracy that inspired the French and American revolutions. (Some other major figures of the Enlightenment were Locke, Hume, Rousseau, and Leibniz.) The characteristic quality of the Enlightenment was an immense confidence in reason--that is, in humanity's ability to solve problems through logical analysis. The central metaphor of the Enlightenment was a notion of the light of reason dispelling the darkness of mythology and misunderstanding. Enlightenment thinkers like Kant felt that history had placed them in the unique position of being able to provide clear reasons and arguments for their beliefs. The ideas of earlier generations, they thought, had been determined by myths and traditions; their own ideas were based on reason. (According to this way of thinking, the French monarchy's claims to power were based on tradition; reason prescribed a republican government like that created by the revolution.) Kant's philosophical goal was to use logical analysis to understand reason itself. Before we go about analyzing our world, Kant argued, we must understand the mental tools we will be using. In the Critique of Pure Reason Kant set about developing a comprehensive picture of how our mind--our reason-- receives and processes information. Kant later said that the great Scottish philosopher David Hume (1711-76) had inspired him to undertake this project. Hume, Kant said, awoke him from an intellectual slumber. The idea that so inspired Kant was Hume's analysis of cause-and-effect relationships. When we talk about events in the world, Hume noted, we say that one thing causes another. But nothing in our perceptions tells us that anything causes anything else. All we know from our perceptions is that certain events regularly occur immediately after certain other events. Causation is a concept that we employ to make sense of why certain events regularly follow certain other events. Kant took Hume's idea and went one step further. Causation, Kant argues, is not just an idea that we employ to make sense of our perceptions. It is a concept that we cannot help but employ. We don't sit around watching events and then develop an idea of causation on the basis of what we see. When we see a baseball break a window, for instance, we don't need to have seen balls break windows before to say that the ball caused the window to break; causation is an idea that we automatically bring to bear on the situation. Kant argued that causation and a number of other basic ideas--time and space, for instance--are hardwired, as it were, into our minds. Anytime we try to understand what we see, we cannot help but think in terms of causes and effects. Kant's argument with Hume may seem like hairsplitting, but it has huge implications. If our picture of the world is structured by concepts that are hardwired into our minds, then we can't know anything about how the world really is. The world we know about is developed by combining sensory data (appearances or phenomena, as Kant called them) with fundamental concepts of reason (causation, etc.). We don't know anything about the things-in- themselves from which sensory data emanates. This recognition that our understanding of the world may

Chief Bromden Essays

Chief Bromden Essays Chief Bromden Paper Chief Bromden Paper Throughout Ken Keseys tremendous novel, One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest, the character of Chief Bromden develops from: a damaged, diminished man to a fully reformed human being. Randle McMurphy, a brawling gambling man enters the terrifying grey world of the institute, but he is there by choice after pleading insanity to escape prison. The arrival of McMurphy contributes to the progression of Bromdens maturity. At the beginning of the novel Chief Bromdens paranoid character is emphasised by the repetition of his fear of the combine and the thick clouds of fog which it emits to control the patients. Chief Bromdens fear of the machinery which makes up the combine is revealed in the description of nurse Ratched when she is first introduced to the novel, Shes got that bag full of a thousand parts she aims to use in her duties today wheels and gears . . . This shows the paranoia of chief Bromden as he believes the nurse is trying to implant machinery into the patients to make them a part of the combine. This word choice helps to emphasise that the Chief is afraid of being combined and his humanity taken away. Chief Bromden believes that when the combine begins to lose its grip on the patients it emits a thick fog to subdue the patients. They start the fog machine again its snowing down cold and white all over me like skimmed milk This effective use of a simile emphasises how Chief Bromden feels that the combine has a grasp on him and he cannot escape from it. Chief Bromdens social retardation is again displayed by him being referred to as an acute, emphasisng the severe state of the patients. When McMurphy first enters; The aides have him sweeping a l-large part of the time. Theres not m-much else he can do, I guess. Hes deaf. This illustrates his disability and his stuttering, shown by alliteration, reinforces the idea that he is mentally ruined. Bromdens speech barrier is shown yet again when he says Hes de-de-deef and dumb, this alliteration is symbolic in that Bromden is trying to come out of his shell, therefore his stutter relates to how he, as a person, does not flow either. It also highlights Chief Bromdens social disability as he spends his day sweeping by himself and also the patients believe him to be deaf and dumb emphasising how he must have had no social interactions with the other patients who are in the combine. As the novel develops Chief Bromdens character begins to transform, this development is helped by the introduction of McMurphy, who, from very early on has an inclination that the Chief is not actually deaf and dumb. Why, you sure did give a jump when I told you that the coon was coming, Chief. I thought someone told me you was deef. This shows how very early on in the novel McMurphy begins to realise that Chief Bromden is not actually deaf and dumb. This is the turning point in the novel for Chief Bromdens character, after this meeting with McMurphy his character begins to change. First time in a long time Im in bed without taking that little red capsule, emphasisng Chief Bromdens change of character. As the novel progresses so does Chief Bromden. I was kind of amazed that Id remembered that. It was the first time in what seemed to me centuries that Id been able to remember, much about my childhood. These memories which Chief Bromden recounts are the memories when he first feels neglected, thus he has found the reason for his sickness and now knows he can be cured.

Leave blank Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Leave blank - Essay Example However, under act utilitarianism, if for instance such a person were known to be a Pol Pot, and Idi Amin or a Hitler, then killing him would be justified in order to spare the many more they would have killed. The declining marginal utility of money refers to the change in total satisfaction derived from the purchase of one additional or incremental unit of a specific good or service, all else being equal (businessdictionary.com, 2010). In other words, as a person has more and more of one thing, his satisfaction with each additional unit of the thing becomes less and less. For instance, a beggar with nothing at all will be immensely joyful at receiving a dollar. A student will frown at the dollar, but will be happy with a hundred dollars. The office worker may be disappointed with a hundred dollar raise, but will welcome ten thousand dollars added to his annual income. Finally, a millionaire will think nothing of ten thousand dollars; he needs to acquire ten million dollars to feel the same satisfaction that the beggar felt with one dollar. (b) A principle of justice in transfer – A person who acquires a holding in accordance with the principle of justice in transfer, from someone else entitled to the holding, is entitled to the holding. (c) A principle of rectification of injustice - No one is entitled to a holding except by (repeated) applications of 1 and 2. Otherwise, holdings that are unjustly acquired or transferred, should be returns, victims duly compensated, past transgressions or injustices done by a government rectified, and so on. An example of the first principle is that a person may legally acquire an asset, such as a car, by purchasing it at good value. If the sale, however, is done under duress and for a price way below its true value so as not to be justified, then the right of ownership does not transfer, as in the case of a man who forces

Discussion Board 3 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Discussion Board 3 - Assignment Example The propaganda was used to persuade the Americans that the war was right, and it should continue. The red scare was the American worry of the stretch of communism. This worry and tension led to a significant desire to remove the communists from America and other parts of the world. According to Propaganda (2011), anyone who was known to take part in the communist movements was placed on a tribunal and sentenced. During this active period of searching the communist groups, the attorneys, farmers and other business people lost their liberty and lines of business as a result of this search process. The red scare led to an increase in the war in Vietnam. According to Annenberg Learner (2015), the Americans were in fear that the Communist North would take over the democratic south. The Sacco and Vanzetti trial echoed the Americans worry of immigration, crimes associated with the immigrants, and lawlessness. Additionally, there was an anti-Italian response in the trial and sentencing perceived by some American citizens all through the nation on account of a planned crime. According to Alfonzo (2009), the origin of the Klan echoed the white USAs worry that marginalized communities may finally invade America. This worry and tension came up as a result of the increase in the number of immigrants and American black communities, tagged with the transformation in American politics which led to the provision of equal rights and employment opportunities to the marginalized

English people versus American people Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

English people versus American people - Essay Example The United States is made up of many sub cultures and values within sub cultures vary from region to region which is not true in the case of Britain. The British hold a more conservative approach to their lifestyles and a common set of values prevails over the entire country making it and its people less receptive to outsiders and alien ideas. Furthermore, the British also have a more conservative immigration policy for outsiders to come to the country either to visit or settle with the natives of the land. On the contrary, America has shown more flexibility to its naturalization process and immigration is actually supported by the system- making it a land of opportunity for all. Moreover, people in Britain are linked with their heritage and location as where they are from and where their ancestors have been linked to. This creates a strong internal discrimination among themselves and has developed a class system within the country. Anywere starting from linkage to the royalty to the lords of the land, people feel pride in their heritage to an extent where hey actually discriminate their values over others living within the country and not belonging to the same level or maybe higher to their lineage (Denning, 1996). Equality among people in Britain has suffered where no two classes are treated equally between the circles and this difference is clearly visible when comparing the labour over different industries. A coal miner does not get the same respect as a restaurant waiter. A manager in a big corporation feels and shows his elevated grace to a manager in a small firm. In the contrast, the American system of the society, though may at times be unjust, but is more liberal in the concept of equality (Christopher, 1999). Human Rights are made into laws and discrimination is discouraged by implementing legislations that enact to support equality and discourage gender or race discrimination. With equality of

An Adolescent Smoking Prevention Health And Social Care Essay

An Adolescent Smoking Prevention Health And Social Care Essay The rate of smoking is increasing in the United States among adolescents and the cause of leading preventable death in the United State (Husten, 2009). Smoking cause many health problems such as cancer of the lung, esophagus, larynx, bladder and oral cavity (Stephenson Allen, 2007). The goal of the Healthy People 2020 Objectives focus is to reduce tobacco use by adolescent, establish laws on smoke-free indoor air that prohibit smoking in public places, worksites and increased adolescents disapproval of smoking( Healthy People, 2020). This will be discussing the factors that predispose adolescent to smoking, the national, state and local prevalence of smoking. The paper will also be discussing the principals of health promotion and disease prevention in primary, secondary and tertiary prevention. This paper will have examples of national, state and local initiatives leading to achieving the Healthy People 2020 objectives. This paper will discuss the roles of the professional registere d nurse in providing care for adolescents who smoke. Many health problems results in smoking and the earlier individuals start smoking the higher risk they have in developing these health problems in later life. To understand the etiology of smoking, one must understand the factors predisposing the adolescent to behave in this manner. These factors are peer pressure, parents who smoke the mass media and movies all influence smoking behavior in adolescent. Other factors that may also contribute this behavior include having a low self-esteem, and having a problem controlling weight (Tingen, Andrews Stevenson, 2009). Adolescents who are starting smoking at the start of early age would most likely to become heavy smoker when they get older (Lewis, 2008). With the proper preventive measures and educating adolescents about the importance of not smoking can aid in reducing smoking rate among adolescents in the United States. Counseling, community programs and state laws prohibited smoking, promote a tobacco free environment. There are five stages of smoking initiatives occurring in adolescents. Precontemplation is the first stage, this is when the adolescent has not even thought about smoking. The second stage is contemplation, in this stage, the adolescent start to learn about smoking and is thinking about smoking. The next stage, preparation is when the adolescent is experiment smoking with other people smokers. The action stage last for about a month and is when the adolescent starting smoking on every day basis. The last stage is maintenance, which last more than more six month. In this stage, the adolescent is already smoking regularly and smoking make smoking as a habit. Nicotine is the chemical in tobacco that cause nicotine dependence, which cause smoking addiction. A study has shown that adolescents who smoke less frequently than adults would both exhibit the same nicotine dependence withdraw symptoms. Study also has shown that the nicotine play a big role in smoking cessation in adolescents. Adolescents who are willing to quit smoking are less likely to succeed as a result of nicotine dependence. Adolescents who smoke at early age would also have less successful smoking cessation ( Heikkinen, Pitkaniemi, Koskenvuo Merman, 2009) Research suggests that nicotine is as addictive as heroin, cocaine or alcohol ( CDC, 2010). Smokers who are experiencing nicotine withdrawal symptoms often have anxiety, increased appetite and difficulty concentrating ( CDC, 2010). Adolescents who smoke are not aware with associated health problems caused by smoking. Some adolescents believed that they would not be addicted to smoking and that they would be able to quit whenever they want. They do not think about how the nicotine in cigarette, which causes addiction, could affect them and make it harder for them to quit. Many adolescents reporting smoke as a way to solve their personal problems. They feel better when they smoking during emotional times, when they are feeling depress and as stress reliever (Fritz, Wider, Hardin Horrocks). It is important to understand what factors predispose adolescents into trying smoking cigarettes. Intrapersonal and interpersonal are some environmental factors that influence smoking behaviors in adolescents. An example of intrapersonal behavior is a smoking behavior that is influence by self-esteem, knowledge and intentions (Tingen at el., 2009). These behaviors are influence by the interactions in the environment, which leads to smoking initiations. Interpersonal behavior is the behavior influence by act of family members and friends. Children portray the behavior of the adults as being normal and act in the same manner. If a member in the family smoke, the adolescent would observe that behavior and start smoking themselves. Childrens exposures to socialization factors in the home that promote risk-taking behaviors are associated with early experimentation with tobacco (Tigen at el., 2009). The behavior in the household has a huge effects on how children behavior outside of the home. Watching the other people in the household smoking would influence the adolescent to experiment smoking. Children also observed the behavior of their friends and model that behavior. Friends also pressure each other to behaving like them. Peer pressure may play strong role in smoking behavior, but Benchmark studies have shown that parent and home influences are stronger than peer influences in the earliest phases of smoking ( Tigen et al,. 2009). National, State and Local Data Every day, about 4,400 youths in the United States smoke their first cigarette. One- third of youths will die prematurely of smoking associated diseases, if this trend continues (krainuwat, 2005). The goal of New York State is to reduce the youths smoking prevalence to 10% by 2010. Smoking prevalence has been reducing dramatically in adolescents. The NY prevalence for smoking in 2000 was 27.1% compared to the smoking prevalence in 2005, which was 23%. The national smoking prevalence in 2000 was 28.4, slightly higher than the NY. In 2005, the national smoking prevalence was 16.2% compared to 2000 (New York State Tobacco Control Program, 2008-2010). In 2009, the smoking prevalence for national increased to 19.5% and 14.8% for NYS (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010). After researching for many hours, could not find the local statistic data on smoking for adolescents. More than 3 million youths are current smoker in the United States. Male smokers have higher smoking rates than female smokers. Smoking accounts for 30% of all cancers deaths and 87% of lung cancer deaths ( Krainuwat, 2005). For the past month, the national average for youths that smoke was 10.1%, 8.2% and range 6.5% to 15.9% across the states. The average exercise tax for national was $ 1.34 per pack and $2.7, but $ 0.07 to $3.46 per pack was the range for states in 2009 (CDC, 2010). According to Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the median funding for smoking in the state was 17.2% and 34.8% in 2007 was more than recommended CDC amount. As a result, the recommended state spending amount ranged from 1.1% to 8.5% for cigarettes. In 2006 through 2007, the United States percentage for homes with no rules in was 77.6% and 75.3% in New York. A health promotion activity is an important part of preventing smoking in adolescents because many health problems are raised from smoking. Health promotion would focus on educating adolescents about smoking cessation. The earlier the adolescent quit smoking, the better the chance they have in reducing the health problems they would encounter in later life. The professional nurse has an important role in preventing smoking in primary, secondary and tertiary prevention strategies. It is important to understand some of the reasons that predispose the adolescents into trying smoke. Intrapersonal and interpersonal are environmental factors that influence smoking behaviors in adolescents. An example of intrapersonal behavior is a smoking behavior that is influence by self-esteem, knowledge and intentions (Tingen at el,. 2009). These behaviors are influence by the interactions in the environment, which would lead to smoking. Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Prevention Primary, secondary and tertiary health promotion is an important part of preventive measures when it comes to educating adolescents about smoking prevention. Primary prevention focuses on the efforts to educate and prevent adolescents from smoking. By making smoke- free laws in every state, the selling of tobacco to minors and tobacco product production could be stopped schools have large number of youth populations and are an important place to educate youths about primary smoking prevention (Tigen at el., 2009). Guess speaker coming to schools to speak to students about the health risks associated with smoking and emphases the importance of not smoking is a preventive initiatives. Other primary preventive initiatives include programs at schools that discourage the initiation of smoking and support group to help students with personal problems. Encourage parents to have talked with their children about not smoking and health problems. Nonsmoking parents living in an area, where smoking is not allowed; will increase the changes of their children not smoking (Tigen at el., 2009). Secondary prevention focuses on screen anyone who may be at risks for certain disease or disorder, but in this case, it will focus on screening adolescents who may be at risk for smoking initiation. Some of the risk factors that may lead the adolescent to smoking initiation are adolescents who have at least one person in the household who smokes, peer pressure, Parent involvement is important is important. Parents having talk to their children about not smoking, especially if they hang with friends who are smokers. Encourage peers at school who may be thinking about smoking to get help (Tigen at el., 2009). Adolescent who live with parents who smoke should be encourage quitting. Adolescents that live with parents who smoke should be encourage to quitting smoking. Adolescents who parents smoke have weaker parenting role in preventing their children from smoking than nonsmoker parents (Tigen at el., 2009). School nurses have an important role in secondary smoking prevention. Tertiary prevention focuses on treating adolescent who already starting smoking and educating them about programs that can help them quit smoking. School and community counseling programs are other helpful preventive strategies to help adolescents in dealing with tobacco withdraw symptoms and providing social support system to help with smoking cessation. Nicotine patches can be useful in helping adolescents stop cigarette cravings. Chewing gum also has been effective with strategies in stopping cravings. A study has shown other effective smoking strategies, included exercising, deep breathing, sucking on a straw, drinking water, meditating, brushing teeth and listening to music( Fritz at el., 2008). The New York State Smokers Quitline has also been effective in smoking cessation (New York State Tobacco Control Program, 2008-2010). Smoking programs have been effective in promoting smoking cessation in adolescent. A study has shown educating adolescent on the effects cigarette have on the health and providing them with information has been effective in quitting smoking (Fritz at el., 2008). Health Behavior Change Models For adolescents to become motivating in participating in smoking cessation program, they must understand their perception of smoking and the reason to stop. They must also understand how serious they putting their health at risk. Barriers play an important role in behavior change models in promoting smoking cessation in adolescents. Many adolescents start smoking for many reasons, which makes quitting difficult for them. Other problems that could affect smoking prevention in adolescent is that they dont think about the health problems that are associated with smoking. Nicotine addiction poses difficulty when trying to quit, which is a barrier to smoking. Being addicting to the nicotine in cigarette can prevent the adolescent from trying to quick smoking. The strong nicotine addiction causes withdraw symptoms and craving, which makes it hard to quit (Lewis, 2008). Some adolescents had reporting using alcohol as barriers to stop smoking. (Fritz at el., 2009). Other barriers include being in denial of the health risks associated with smoking and thinking that it would never happen to them and can quit anytime when they want. The difficulty with preventing adolescents from using tobacco is that often they do not considered the long-term effects of tobacco use (Lewis, 2008). National, State and Local Health Promotion Initiatives As mention earlier, smoking cause many health problems later on in life. It is important to start health promotion initiatives as soon as possible to decrease these health risks by promoting smoking cessation. An example of national and New York State initiative aimed in preventing smoking in adolescent include community action to increase the price of tobacco. Raising the price of cigarette can help in many ways, including individuals stop buy cigarettes because they cannot afford it. The New York State Smokers Quitline was developed to help people who are willing to quit smoking. Anyone that wants to quit smoking can call the number and can be directing to place where they can be help. State and communities have come together to increase the use of the New York State Smokers Quitline (1-800-QUIT NOW). Other initiatives includes encourage Smoking prevalence would also be reduced if people living in homes where smoking is now allowed, which would decrease the smoking prevalence among adolescents (New York State tobacco control program, 2008-2010). Most movies they make today have many smoking scene in them and adolescent are likely to portray this as a normal behavior and might want to try smoking. One other initiative is to making PG movies that does not have smoking scene in them. Other strategies includes increasing the number of tobacco free areas, including parks, recreation areas, building entryways and health care, business and education campuses( New York State Tobacco Control Program, 2008-2010). Other initiative includes using the mass media to promote smoking cessation by focusing on the smoking health risks. Health care organizations are urging health care professionals to screen any patients that is using tobacco and offering them help in quitting. This would be effective in ways that if the nurse is caring for adolescents and they smoke, the nurse can teach them about quitting and providing interventions that would lead to smoking cessation (New York State Tobacco Control Program, 2008-2010). Westchester County have come up with efforts in preventing smoking initiatives in youths and adults and those who are at a higher risk for smoking relating diseases. The Westchester Countys mission is to create a cultural norm to be embraced by every community which clearly and strongly discourages all use of tobacco by all populations (Westchester County, 2010). To make this into effect in preventive smoking cessation, Westchester County provided smoking cessation programs that would be available to all the residents in Westchester County including schools, youth centers and minorities organization communities (Westchester, 2010). The Professional Nurses Role The role of the professional nurse in providing care for the adolescent in smoking cessation includes educating the adolescents about the importance of smoking cessation to reducing smoking relating health problems. It is also important that the professional. This would help the adolescent have trust in the nurse for advising and assistance for quitting (Lewis, 2008). The professional nurse should recognize all attempts as a positive during smoking cessation period. The professional nurse needs to set realistic achievable goals for the individual because this is important part of the quitting process. This gives the client the opportunity to evaluate their own goals and motivates them to work harder in achieving the next goals. Praising the adolescent and giving a positive feedback can motivate them to work harder towards achieving the next goal (Quinlivan, 2008). The professional nurse also need to referral the client to attend programs offered by the hospital or the clinic for helping patients quit smoking, such as a support group or counseling program. During discharge, the nurse should include teachings about smoking cessation and provide information to take home when the client is ready to quit if not now (Lewis, 2008). In conclusion, many health problems are the result of smoking in the United States. Adolescents starting smoking initiations at early age have greater chances acquiring these health problems. Nationals, states and local had come up many smoking initiations to prevent smoking in adolescents and to decrease the health risks. The professional nurse has an important role in smoking prevention. The professional nurse can educate the adolescent about smoking health problems and providing help to quit. Counseling programs and support groups also has been effective in preventing smoking.

Downfall of Puritan Society :: essays research papers

Puritanism was the foundation of seventeenth century New England society. Religion played a key role in all aspects of settler’s lives and was the main factor in law-making. Puritan New England was ruled by theocracy where most of the power was held by full male church members. The settlers were expected to follow an austere Puritan lifestyle and live by its strict moral code. It was a hierarchical society wherein the most successful, well-know people received special privileges and held the most power. The Puritan society of New England was very conventional in its practices. Although women were seen as spiritual equals to men, they did not hold the power in the church. Once women were married they were expected to stay at home and care for their families. Married women were taught to obey their husbands as their husbands obeyed God. Puritans devoted every Sunday entirely to church and scorned their neighbors who did not attend services. They believed that their fate was predestined and one’s success in life is an implication of God’s feelings towards him or her. Seventeenth century New England towns were divided between residential property, which was in the center of each town, land used for farming located in the outskirts of the towns, and commons which were shared among the community. Wealthier and more socially important townspeople had the best property. Each town had a church and a school. The main source of economic wealth for the New Englanders was agriculture. If one came across success in their job, he would like upon as saved by God. The Puritans practiced theocracy. The church was extremely interconnected with political affairs.

Ethnic Unbonding in South Africa Essay

Manuel Castells notion of ‘ethnic unbonding’ refers to: the gradual withdrawal certain African-Americans are undergoing, so that they no longer are a member of their initial ethnic group. ‘Ethnic unbonding’ is a process where individuals remove themselves from their ethnic groups, because they are either ashamed or humiliated to be associated as part of a stigmatized ethnic identity. â€Å"So, race matters a lot. But, at the same time, the class divide among blacks has created such fundamentally different living conditions that there is growing hostility among the poor against those former brothers that left them out. Most middle-class blacks strive to get ahead not only from the reality of the ghetto, but from the stigma that echoes from the dying ghetto project on them through their skin. They do so particularly, by insulating their children from the poor black communities (moving to suburbs, integrating them into white-dominated private schools), while, at the same time, reinventing an African-American identity that revives the themes of the past, African or American, while keeping silent on the plight of the present† Castell, M p.57. Manuel Castell raises cognizance to the fact that black South Africans are gradually disassociating themselves from their original ethnic identities. (‘Black South Africans’ refers to the non-white individuals of South Africa, those who were disadvantaged and traduced in the homelands during the Apartheid regime). These ethnic unbonding patterns were first noticed among African-Americans and now South Africans too are gradually adopting them. Citizens split from their ethnic groups to mainly better their lives, since being a part of a stigmatized ethnic group cannot ensure a successful and pleasant lifestyle. Parents want a better life for the children and they find that to live a better quality lifestyle one needs to firstly get an education. So they get a good education and become a success in life only to put their stigmatized ethnic background behind them, to avoid risking the loss of their achievements. Ethnic performances are rarely practised and individuals lose sight of where they come from. â€Å"In the last two decades, geographers have become extremely interested in the issue of ethnicity. Ethnic groups are found in essentially all societies. Ethnic groups are populations that feel a common bond and have a sense of common origin that distinguishes them from other groups. Religion, language, national origin, and skin colour are all used to various degrees by ethnic groups to distinguish themselves from others. It is estimated that the 200 or so independent countries recognized by the United Nations are made up of about 5000 ethnic groups. Increased migration of people in the last 200 years has produced a complex pattern of ethnic groups. Essentially, ethnicity is a spatial concept. Ethnic groups are associated with clearly recognized territories, either some large homeland district or some smaller urban or rural enclaves in which they are the primary or exclusive occupant. In addition, they have somehow marked these places with certain distinguished cultural signs. † (http://teacherweb. ftl. pinecrest. edu/snyderd/APHG/Unit%203/culturenotes. htm). Ethnicity is socially important. It gives certain individuals a feeling of belonging and prevents one from feeling isolated and alone. It contributes immensely to one’s core identity, focusing mostly on the construction of one’s personal identity, and in turn having an effect on the type of person an individual turns out to be in the future. It forms the basis of an individual’s structure and agency. Ethnicity also promotes national strength which can be built from the diverse cultural resources present in South Africa. It brings together a national identity. ‘Afrikaners historically considered themselves the only true South Africans and, while granting full citizenship to all residents of European descent, denied that status to people of colour until the democratic transition of 1994. British South Africans retain a sense of cultural and social connection to Great Britain without weakening their identity as South Africans. A similar concept of primary local and secondary ancestral identity is prevalent among people of Indian descent. The Bantu-speaking black peoples have long regarded themselves as South African despite the attempts of the white authorities to classify them as less than full citizens or as citizens of ethnic homelands (â€Å"Bantustans†) between 1959 and 1991. Strong cultural loyalties to African languages and local political structures such as the kingdom and the chieftaincy remain an important component of identity. National identity comes first for all black people, but belonging to an ethnic, linguistic, and regional grouping and even to an ancestral clan has an important secondary status. (http://www. everyculture. com/Sa-Th/South-Africa. html). As a result of years of racial separation and discrimination, the majority of South African citizens of which are black, have been severely ill-treated based on the colour of their skin. â€Å"A race is a population that shares visible physical characteristics from inbreeding and that thinks of itself or is thought of by outsiders as distinct. It has been used by societies to justify poor treatment of minority groups† ( http://www. sociologyguide. com/questions/ethnicity. php). For decades black people have been slandered and stereotyped by the white superior citizens, to be uncultured individuals. White people were entirely prejudiced against the black people. ‘Prejudice is a judgment based on group membership or social status. Prejudice may be formed through both individual and group influences including socialization, rationalizing through stereotypes, the scapegoating process, reinforcement of a self-fulfilling prophecy ramification of an authoritarian personality and degree of contact with minority groups.’ http://www. sociologyguide. com/questions/ethnicity. php. How black ethnic groups emerged? Being ethnic is relating to or a characteristic of a sizable group of people sharing a common and distinctive racial, national, religious, linguistic or cultural heritage. (http://www. thefreedictionary. com. ) Just like the trends in America, black citizens of South Africa formed groups based on commonalities. These people shared hardships and sufferings, as a result of being excluded from having any opportunities and privileges, by the white superiorities. The white citizens undermined the black citizens for centuries and thus blacks were forced to form close relationships with one another based on the fact that they had common deprivations. ‘Bantustans’ were formed in South Africa and these areas were wastelands of hardship. Residents of these areas were forced to deal with struggle and poverty thus leading to an increase in crime rate. People did what they could to survive. Stealing, drug dealing etc. all the forms of violence and corruption exploded from these areas. Put a group of homeless and poor people together and what do you get? Chaos. White people were aware of the disorder in the homelands and ever since then stereotypes were given to black people. What provoked ethnic unbonding? Ethnic unbonding is when individuals from an ethnic group break away from their core cultural identity and instead pursue an identity of their own. Individuals mainly do this to improve their standards of living. The stigmas attached to certain ethnic groups are undesirable and individuals are afraid of being part of these unpleasant stereotypes. Certain groups especially ethnic groups have harsh associations linked to them and for these people to improve their quality of life they need to detach themselves from their ethnic groups. The negativity one receives from being part of a stigmatized ethnic group for some is too much to handle. People want to be freed from the harmful judgements of the past, and thus completely detaching themselves from their core ethnic identity is the best way out. ‘’Race and ethnicity are central – to America, as to other societies’ dynamics – their manifestations seem to be deeply altered by current social trends. ’’ (Castells, 1997: 53). Globalisation affects people’s choices on being or not being part of an ethnic group. Westernization transforms certain cultures and moulds them into a more modernized culture, with less practices and more simplicity. Cultural identity is a victim of globalization. Culture is being altered so much by globalization and media effects that soon the culture will transform into something completely different. According to Tomlinson, J. p. 23 states that â€Å"it is fair to say that the impact of globalization in the cultural sphere has, most generally, been viewed in a pessimistic light. Typically, it has been associated with the destruction of cultural identities, victims of the accelerating encroachment of a homogenized, westernized, consumer culture. † Conclusion Ethnic unbonding is inevitable. Every single individual wants a decent lifestyle and a decent life is one with no racial, gender or ethnic inequalities. Ethnic unbonding will continue to take place in South Africa as well as the rest of the world, because the desire for one to have an improved standard of living exceeds the desire to want to belong to an ethnic area. Castells concept of ethnic unbonding is a notion unknowingly practiced amongst the people of South Africa. Castell believes that individuals belonging to certain ethnic groups are developing boundaries within themselves. However, I think that people can still live a better life and yet maintain a part of their ethnicity. Lifestyles can be adjusted so that some form of their religion and culture is integrated into their everyday life and not forgotten. Future generations might be at risk of never knowing exactly where they come from, and being clueless about their ethnic and cultural heritage. 1. Castells, Manuel. 1997. The power of identity. Cambridge, MA. Blackwell, 52-59 2. Tomlinson, John. Globalization and cultural identity http://www. polity. co. uk/global/pdf/gtreader2etomlinson. pdf(12September 2011) 3. Definitions of race, prejudice and discrimination: http://www. sociologyguide. com/questions/ethnicity. php (12September 2011) 4. Countries and their Culture – South Africa http://www. everyculture. com/Sa-Th/South-Africa. html (12September 2011) 5. THE GLOBALIZATION OF CULTURE, AND THE GEOGRAPHY OF INEQUALITY: RACE, ETHNICITY & GENDER http://teacherweb. ftl. pinecrest. edu/snyderd/APHG/Unit%203/culturenotes. htm (12September 2011) 6. Definition of Ethnic: http://www. thefreedictionary. com (12September 2011).

Origin Of Solar System Essays - Planetary Science, Solar System

Origin Of Solar System Essays - Planetary Science, Solar System Origin Of Solar System The Origin of the Solar System One of the most intriguing questions in astronomy today is the how our solar system formed. Not only does the answer add insight to other similarly forming systems, but also helps to satisfy our curiosity about the origin of our species. Although it is highly unlikely that astronomers will ever know with absolute scientific certainty how our system originated, they can construct similar theoretical models with the hopes gaining a better understanding. A basic understand of the current physical aspects of our solar system are helpful when trying to analyzing its origin. Our solar system is made of the Sun, nine major planets, at least sixty planetary satellite, thousands of asteroids and comets that all span an immense distance. Each planet has its own individual characteristics and seven of which have one or more satellites. There are thousands of asteroids, mainly congested in the area between Mars and Jupiter, as well as countless comets that all trav el in a spherical orbit around our Sun. The Sun contains approximately 99 percent of the mass in the solar system, but only 2 percent of the systems angular momentum. It lies in the center of our system while all planets, asteroids and alike rotate in elliptical orbits around it in the same plane. The smaller inner planets have solid surfaces, lack ring systems and have far fewer satellites then the outer planets. Atmospheres of most of the inner planets consist of large quantities of oxidized compounds such as carbon dioxide. While on the other hand, the outer planets are far more massive then the inner terrestrial planets, and have gigantic atmospheres composed mainly of hydrogen and helium. Asteroids and comets make up the smallest portion of the solar systems entities and are composed of the remnants left behind while planets were forming. For over 300 years, there has been a very long history of conjecture on the origin of the solar system. These many theories stem from two gen eral categories. The first category called monistic, involves the evolution of the Sun and planets as an isolated system. The second group of theories called dualistic, suggested that the solar system formed as a result of the interaction between two individual stars. The dualistic formation theory has been almost entirely dropped and monistic formation has become the general consensus on the basic formation of our solar system. Most modern theories of the origin of the solar system hypothesize that all bodies in the solar system, including the sun accreted from the formation and evolution of a single primordial solar nebula. It is believed that our solar system began to form around 4.56 billion years ago from a dense interstellar cloud of gas. Because of the conservation of angular momentum, the cloud of gas formed a rotating flattened disk approximately the size of the planetary system. It was this flattened disk that is referred to as the primitive solar nebula and from which our current solar system evolved. Ordinarily, the internal pressures of the cloud are sufficient to prevent if form collapsing. However, from time to time local increases in pressure of the interstellar medium cause the additional compression of interstellar clouds. These compressions caused the clouds to reach their threshold of gravitational collapse. Once the gravitational attraction of matter is greater then any tendency to expand due to internal pressures the cloud begins to collapse inward. Theoretical models suggest that the presolar nebula continued to collapse until the center of the cloud became so dense that heat started to form. This heat increased the thermal pressure of the cloud until the collapse was eventually halted. The existence of our system of planets is entirely due to the angular momentum of the initial cloud. If there were no angular momentum, then the interstellar cloud would have collapsed to from a single star. While at the same time, if the collapse had occ urred under a system with too much angular momentum then a binary star would have resulted from our system. Our system formed under intermediate conditions allowing the planets to evolve. The fact that the Sun contains 99 percent of the solar systems mass but only 2 percent

Measurement essays

Measurement essays Reliability can be established empirically by means of repeated trials. In other words, the selected measuring procedure is subjected to a number of trials, and if the results are the same for each trial, reliability is established (Kiefer, 1997). This also means that persons other than the initial researcher can replicate the measuring procedure and still produce the same results. There is therefore no doubt that any conclusions, theories or claims emanating from the research are based upon Although reliability can be established in empirical terms, Kiefer (1997) warns that inherent difficulties may still arise with this aspect of measurement. The ideal is to measure exactly the issue at the heart of the experiment. The difficulty arises when such focus becomes challenging with the introduction of elements other than those being measured. This frequently occurs when the study area is situated in a natural or social setting. When the focus of study and measurement is for example something as complex as human behavior, it is unlikely that exactly the same result will be obtained each time. In this case the measuring device is the researcher's observations. Because the researcher is human, such observations are subject not only to flaw, but to multiple interpretations. Thus, although more consistent and more empirical than validity, reliability still offers its own set of challenges to the measuring Validity is a still more difficult concept to pin down. Whereas reliability is concerned with the processes and instruments by which research is conducted, validity is concerned with the finished research. The question here is therefore focused more broadly, and concerns the accuracy with which a study reflects the concept being studied. Validity therefore aims to establish the success of measurement, while reliabili ...

Economics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

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Business Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 13

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