In what ways can ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ be seen as a modern tragedy? Essay

The ways in which ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ by Tennessee Williams can be seen as a modern tragedy, or indeed as any tragedy is a subject of much contention. The answer lies in one’s interpretation of the characters in the context of the genre; the tragedy is made or discarded depending on whether the audience’s sympathy lies with Blanche or Stanley. In order to explore these interpretations one must define the features of modern tragedy as opposed to the ancient Aristotelian definition. The two share some features, such as the violation of the ‘natural order’ of social or personal relationships (i.e. Oedipus’ incestuous relationship with his mother), and the focus on a tragic hero’s fall from status, respect, and in classical tragedies from power and wealth. However, there are also stark differences in modern tragedy where (especially in Williams’ plays) the hero is more likely to be feminine. Although this is not exclusive to modern tragedies – in Sophocles’ ‘Antigone’ the protagonist is female – it is certainly a feature. Social issues are also treated more personally as the epic scale of civil unrest present in most Aristotelian tragedies is discarded in favor of a focus on a single family unit as a microcosm of social behaviour. As a result, the characters themselves become far more complex – a far cry from Aristotle’s theory that characters should merely serve to advance the tragic plot. Broadly speaking then, ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ certainly fits the prescriptions of a modern tragedy, not least as it contains several complex themes such as alienation, entrapment and the struggle between fantasy and reality. Written in 1947 soon after the Great Depression and a period of prohibition when the borders between social classes were becoming more blurred, these play on the very real threats of alcoholism and social decline. Blanche’s constant drinking becomes a symptom of her alienation from society, which was in turn caused by her estrangement from her late husband, Allen Grey. Stella asserts that Blanche â€Å"didn’t just love him but worshipped the ground he walked on† – a religious phrase that contrasts deeply with her later disgust of Grey’s homosexuality. For Williams, living as he did in the often deeply religious, homophobic south, Allen Grey’s suicide would have constituted a tragedy even when separated from the rest of the play. It certainly illustrates the close links that Williams draws between love, alienation and death; Grey’s separation from Blanche causes his death, which in turn leads to her own isolation. This isolation is further illustrated by the metaphor of light; Blanche constantly insists that the lights be dimmed â€Å"turn that over-light off!†, and even directly likens her love for Allen Grey to a â€Å"blinding light† – it is clear that the darkness is Blanche’s alienation, her punishment for driving him to suicide. Yet light also reveals Blanche’s struggle between fantasy and reality. She cannot bear to see herself in the harsh light of day – even â€Å"screams† during the final scene when Stanley rips the covering off the lamp, completely destroying Blanche’s already splintering fantasy world. This hysterical reaction demonstrates her dependence on the delusions of grandeur and romance that she only half-believes. Blanche is trapped by her own volition; a state echoed in many other of Williams’ tragedies including ‘The Glass Menagerie’, where the character of Amanda is similarly ensnared in a more glamorous past. The play also ascribes to another feature of modern tragedy; the focus on a very small, ordinary family unit as opposed to the monarchs in plays such as ‘Macbeth’ or ‘Hamlet’. It is clear that the clash of Stanley and Blanche is representative of a much bigger division between the old and the new America, and yet their placement in a tiny family setting emphasises their effect on the ‘ordinary American’ – Stella – who is caught in the crossfire of social differences. However merely dealing with these issues, as compelling as they are, only comprises a single aspect of the ways in which ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ can be seen as a modern tragedy. Indeed, for the play to be called a tragedy at all a defining feature must be covered, and that is the existence of a ‘tragic hero’ whose presence drives the action forward. Therefore, our understanding of ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ as a modern tragedy must to a large extent rely on whether we can interpret Blanche as Williams’ tragic heroine. She certainly bears a striking surface resemblance to the ancient tragic heroes in her evident fall from high to low, from Belle Reve to the Elysian Fields. This is made evident in her first entrance; her appearance is described as ‘incongruous’ and techniques such as the repetition of â€Å"Stella, oh Stella, Stella!† stress her hysterical inability to cope with her new surroundings. However even this is punctuated in the stage directions with â€Å"feverish vivacity† – suggesting a desperate or false behaviour at odds with the ancient definition of the tragic hero as an essentially noble character. This is emphasised later in the scene by the first suggestion of Blanche’s alcoholism as she â€Å"rushes† to the liquor closet â€Å"panting for breath†, and corroborated as evidence of her sordid affairs at the Hotel Flamingo is revealed. Indeed Blanche herself talks about the â€Å"rattle-trap streetcar† called Desire that â€Å"brought me here†, indicating that her downfall was caused by her own â€Å"brutal desire†. Yet if we do accept that Blanche has already completely fallen into poverty and alcoholism, then the play itself becomes the mere aftermath of a tragedy; the effect of a destroyed character upon her surroundings. Some critics would agree completely with this standpoint – indeed the director of the stage debut, Elia Kazan, portrayed Blanche as a â€Å"phony, corrupt, sick, destructive woman†Ãƒ ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ wrecking Stanley’s home who deserved – indeed needed – to be driven out. However, this view utterly destroys any tragic perception of ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ by necessitating a total support of Stanley’s actions (â€Å"This makes Stanley right!†)1 – leading to a ‘happy ending’ wherein the Kowalski’s can proceed happily with their lives. While this may have been a suitable presentation for the still largely patriarchal 1940’s, in modern productions a new outlook must be considered. It cannot be ignored that Stanley (however justifiably) incapacitates Blanche both mentally and emotionally as he destroys her refined persona – â€Å"There isn’t a goddam thing but imagination!† – until she is reduced to â€Å"inhuman cries†, constituting Blanche’s fall from sanity as the basis for a tragic fall from high to low, as opposed to any material loss. Although it is true that Blanche is less of a hero possessing a tragic flaw than an anti-hero with a single redeeming feature – in this case her doomed relationship with Allen Grey that has fuelled her desires ever since – practically all of Blanche’s flaws can be explained (if not excused) by her tragic experiences. Her deception of Mitch is the desperation of a woman alone in a patriarchal society whose only chance of security is to attract a husband. Her alcoholism is merely a further coping mechanism, and her constant bathing an attempt to cleanse herself of her sordid affairs. This is consolidated by her wish to be buried â€Å"into an ocean as blue as my first lover’s eyes†, the reference to water again suggesting her desire to be purified and return to the happier days of her youth. Blanche’s tragedy is therefore not merely her fall from status, but her inability to move on from her past. As Dale Carnegie said: â€Å"One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon, instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today.†2 Yet despite all this evidence providing sympathy with Blanche, Williams seems determined to keep the balance of right and wrong utterly ambiguous. For example in Scene Eight, soon after Blanche’s extremely poignant line â€Å"candles burn out in little boys’ and girls’ eyes† – a clear reference to her past with Grey – she calls Stanley a â€Å"healthy Polack†. This ignorant, racist comment distances Blanche again, and Stanley’s reply â€Å"what I am is a one hundred percent American†, would have immediately re-endeared him to the audience, especially at a time of such social integration. It is this uncertainty as to who we should support – Blanche or Stanley – that really questions the existence of a tragic hero in ‘A Streetcar named Desire’. Even the alternative, as stated by C.W.E. Bigsby, that â€Å"the real hero of the play, therefore, is Stella, for she alone is prepared to offer the necessary comfort†3 is a flawed argument. Although Stella is the most sympathetic character, this is not synonymous with heroic as she is ultimately subdued by Stanley into forcing Blanche away; a far cry from offering her ‘the necessary comfort’. Unlike in Shakespearian tragedies such as ‘Othello’ where the enemy is clearly portrayed, Williams blurs the distinctions between right and wrong until the play more resembles the tragedies of Sophocles, which are essentially concerned with the crisis of right versus right leading to an outcome in which no-one wins. So, although critics such as Joseph Wood Krutch state that â€Å"Tragedy must have a hero if it is not to be merely an accusation against, instead of a justification of the world in which it occurs†4 this is not necessarily true. ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’, along with many other Tennessee Williams’ plays such as ‘The Glass Menagerie’ is tragic not because it details the fall of a hero, but precisely because it contains no hero at all. Modern tragedy is itself an accusation against a grey, mundane world of ordinary people, for whom the only escape is through self-delusion, alcohol, sex or madness. In this respect ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ becomes the ultimate example of modern tragedy as, after Blanche’s entire existence is shattered, the others merely resume their poker game. The entire play is built around this tragic indifference, both with the detached ending â€Å"This game is seven-card stud† and the very preface, where Williams foreshadows Blanche’s inevitable destruction with the words of Hart Crane, â€Å"And so it was that I entered the broken world.† Bibliography Williams, Tennessee. ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’, Pearson Education Limited 1995 (copyright Estate of the late Tennessee Williams 1947) Bigsby, Christopher W. E. ‘Tennessee Williams: Streetcar to Glory’, Harold Bloom Krutch, Joseph Wood. ‘The Tragic Fallacy’ 1929, in Tragedy: Vision and Form, Ed. Robert W. Corrigan, New York: Harper, 1981 Kazan, Elia. ‘Kazan on Directing’, Knopf Publishing Group, 2009 (copyright Frances Kazan) Carnegie, Dale. ‘How to Stop Worrying and Start Living’, Pocket Books; Revised edition, 1990 Aristotle. ‘Poetics’, Penguin Books Ltd, 1996 1 Kazan, Elia. ‘Kazan on Directing’, Knopf Publishing Group, 2009 (copyright Frances Kazan) 2 Carnegie, Dale. ‘How to Stop Worrying and Start Living’, Pocket Books; Revised edition, 1990 3 Bigsby, Christopher W. E. ‘Tennessee Williams: Streetcar to Glory’, Harold Bloom 4 Krutch, Joseph Wood. ‘The Tragic Fallacy’ 1929 in Tragedy: Vision and Form, Ed. Robert W. Corrigan, New York: Harper, 1981

The Hunters: Moonsong Chapter Eight

â€Å"Ugh, I don't think there's a single thing on the hot-lunch bar I'd ever consider eating,† Elena said to Stefan. â€Å"Half the stuff I can't even identify.† Stefan watched patiently as she passed on to the salad bar. â€Å"This isn't much better,† she said, lifting a watery spoonful of cottage cheese and letting it slop back into the container for emphasis. â€Å"I thought the food at col ege would be more edible than in our high school cafeteria, but apparently I was wrong.† Stefan made a vague sound of agreement and looked around for a place for them to sit. He wasn't eating. Human food didn't have much taste for him now, and he'd used his Power to cal down a dove to his balcony that morning. That had provided enough blood to hold him until the evening, when he would need to hunt again. Once Elena final y made herself a salad, he led her to the empty table he'd spotted. She kissed him before she sat down and a shiver of delight ran through him as their minds touched. The familiar link between them slid into place, and he felt Elena's joy, her contentment at being with him and at their new, nearly normal, lives. Below this, a touch of excitement fizzed through her, and Stefan sent a questioning thought between them, wondering what had happened since they'd seen each other that morning. Elena broke the kiss and answered his unspoken question. â€Å"Professor Campbel , my history professor, knew my parents when they were in col ege,† she said. Her voice was calm, but her eyes were bright, and Stefan could sense how big this was for her. â€Å"He was a real y good friend of theirs. He can tel me stories about them, parts of their lives I never knew before.† â€Å"That's great,† Stefan said, pleased for her. â€Å"How was the class?† â€Å"It was al right,† Elena said, beginning to eat her salad. â€Å"We're talking about the colonial days for the first couple of weeks.† She looked up, her fork poised in midair. â€Å"How about you? What was your philosophy class like?† â€Å"Fine.† Stefan paused. Fine wasn't real y what he meant. It had been strange to be sitting in a col ege classroom again. He'd attended col ege a few times during his long history, seen the changing fads in education. At first, his classmates had been a select number of wealthy young men, and now there was a more diverse mix of boys and girls. But there was an essential sameness to al those experiences. The professor lecturing, the students either bored or eager. A certain shal owness of thought, a shy ducking away from exposing deeper feelings. Damon was right. Stefan didn't belong here; he was just playing a role, again. Kil ing some of his limitless time. But Elena – he looked at her, her shining blue eyes fixed on him – she did belong here. She deserved the chance at a normal life, and he knew she wouldn't have come to col ege without him. Could he say any of this to her? He didn't want to dim the excitement in those lapis lazuli eyes, but he had sworn to himself that he would always be honest with her, would treat her as an equal. He opened his mouth, hoping to explain some of what he felt. â€Å"Did you hear about Daniel Greenwater?† a girl asked nearby, her voice high with curiosity as she and her friends slid into the empty chairs on the other end of the table. Stefan closed his mouth and turned his head to listen. â€Å"Who's Daniel Greenwater?† someone else asked. â€Å"Look,† the first girl said, unfolding a newspaper she held. Glancing over, Stefan saw it was the campus paper. â€Å"He's a freshman, and he just vanished. He left the student center when it closed last night, and his roommate says he never came back to the room. It's real y creepy.† Stefan's eyes met Elena's across the table, and she raised an eyebrow thoughtful y. Could this be something they should look into? Another girl at the other end of the table shrugged. â€Å"He probably just got stressed out and went home. Or maybe his roommate kil ed him. You know you get automatic As if your roommate dies.† â€Å"That's a myth,† Stefan said absently, and the girls looked up at him in surprise. â€Å"Could I see the paper for a moment, please?† They passed it over, and Stefan studied the picture on the front. A high school yearbook photo smiled up at him, a skinny floppy-haired guy with a slight overbite and friendly eyes. A face he recognized. He had thought the name sounded familiar. â€Å"He lives in our dorm,† he said softly to Elena. â€Å"Remember him from orientation? He seemed happy to be here. I don't think he would have left, not of his own free wil .† Elena stared at him, her wide eyes apprehensive now. â€Å"Do you think something bad happened to him? There was something weird going on in the quad the first night we were here.† She swal owed. â€Å"They said a girl had gotten into some trouble, but the cops wouldn't real y tel us anything. Do you think it might be related to Daniel Greenwater's disappearance?† â€Å"I don't know,† Stefan said tightly, â€Å"but I'm worried. I don't like anything out of the ordinary.† He stood up. â€Å"Are you ready to go?† Elena nodded, although half her lunch was stil on her tray. Stefan handed the paper politely back to the girls and fol owed Elena outside. â€Å"Maybe we're paranoid because we're used to terrible things happening,† Elena said, once they were on the path heading back up the hil toward their dorm. â€Å"But people disappear al the time. Girls get harassed or attacked sometimes. It's unfortunate, but it doesn't mean there's a sinister plot behind it al .† Stefan paused, staring at a flyer stuck to a tree by the cafeteria. Missing Student, the caption said, with a picture of a girl beneath it. â€Å"Promise me you'l be careful, Elena,† he said. â€Å"Tel Meredith and Bonnie, too. And Matt. None of you should be wandering around campus by yourselves. Not at night, anyway.† Elena nodded, her face pale, staring at the picture on the flyer. Stefan felt a sharp pang of regret even through his anxiety. She had been so excited when they met for lunch, and now that enthusiasm had drained away. He wrapped his arm around her waist, wanting to hold her, to keep her safe. â€Å"Why don't we go out tonight?† he said. â€Å"I've got a study group to go to, but it shouldn't last too long. We could go off campus for dinner. Maybe you could stay over tonight? I'd feel better if I knew you were safe.† Elena looked at him, her eyes suddenly sparkling with laughter. â€Å"Oh, as long as that's the only reason you'd want me in your room,† she said, smiling. â€Å"I'd hate to think you had designs on my virtue.† Stefan thought of Elena's creamy skin and silky golden hair, of her warmth, the rich wine of her blood. The idea of her in his arms again, without her aunt Judith or his landlady, Mrs. Flowers, down the hal , was intoxicating. â€Å"Of course not,† he murmured, bowing his head toward hers. â€Å"I have no designs. I live only to serve you.† He kissed Elena again, sending al his love and longing to her. Above their heads, Stefan heard a strident cawing and the flapping of wings, and, his lips stil against Elena's, he frowned. Elena seemed to sense his sudden tension and pul ed away from him, fol owing his gaze toward the black crow wheeling above them. Damon. Watching them, watching Elena, as always. â€Å"Excel ence.† Ethan's voice rang out across the outdoor basketbal court where the pledges were gathered. Dawn was breaking, and there was no one around except for Ethan and the sleepy-faced pledges. â€Å"As you know from our first meeting, each of you here exemplifies the peak of one or more types of achievement. But that's not enough.† He paused, looking from face to face. â€Å"It's not enough for each of you to have a piece of the best. You can encompass al these attributes in yourself. Over the course of the pledge period, you wil discover worlds inside yourselves that you've never imagined.† Matt shuffled his sneakers against the asphalt and tried to keep the skeptical expression off his face. Expecting him to achieve the heights of academic or artistic success, he knew, was a long shot. He wasn't particularly modest, but he was realistic, and he could list his best qualities: athlete, good friend, honorable guy. He wasn't stupid, either, but if excel ing in intel ect and creativity were prerequisites for being part of the Vitale Society, he might as Wellgive up now. Rubbing the back of his neck, he glanced around at his fel ow pledges. It was reassuring to see that most of them were wearing expressions of barely restrained panic: apparently â€Å"encompassing al these attributes† wasn't something they'd reckoned on either. Chloe, the cute round-faced girl he'd noticed at the first gathering, caught his eye and winked, just a quick brush of her lashes, and he smiled back, feeling oddly happy. â€Å"Today,† Ethan announced, â€Å"we wil work on athleticism.† Matt sighed with relief. Athleticism he could do. Al around him, he saw faces fal . The intel ectuals, the leaders, the budding creative geniuses – they weren't looking forward to testing their athletic prowess. A low rebel ious murmur sWelled among them. â€Å"Don't sulk,† said Ethan, laughing. â€Å"I promise you, by the time you become ful members of the society, each of you wil have reached your peak of physical perfection. For the first time, you wil feel what it is to be truly alive.† His eyes glittered with possibility. Ethan went on to outline the pledges' task. They were about to embark on a fifteen-mile run, with several obstacles along the way. â€Å"Be prepared to get dirty,† he said cheerful y. â€Å"But it wil be wonderful. When you finish, you'l have achieved something new. You are welcome to assist one another. But be aware: if you do not complete the run in three hours, you wil not be invited to continue to the next step in the pledging process.† He smiled. â€Å"Only the best can become members of the Vitale Society.† Matt looked around and saw that the pledges, even those who looked like they had never left the science lab or the library, were retying their sneakers and stretching, wearing determined expressions. â€Å"Holy cow,† a voice beside him said. It was a nice voice, with a real twang to it, a voice that came from somewhere deeper in the South than Virginia, and Matt was smiling even before he looked around and saw that it was Chloe. â€Å"I figure you're about the only person here who isn't going to have a lot of trouble with this,† she said. She was so cute. Little dimples showed in her cheeks when she smiled, and her short dark hair fel in curls behind her ears. â€Å"Hey, I'm Matt,† Matt said, grinning back at her. â€Å"I knew that,† she said cheerful y. â€Å"You're our footbal star.† â€Å"And you're Chloe, the amazing artist,† he said. â€Å"Oh.† She blushed. â€Å"I don't know about that.† â€Å"I'd love to see your work sometime,† he told her, and her smile widened. â€Å"Any tips for today?† she asked. â€Å"I never run unless I'm about to miss the bus, and I think I'm about to regret that.† Her face was so appealing that Matt momentarily felt like hugging her. Instead, he frowned thoughtful y up at the sky. â€Å"Under these kinds of conditions,† he said, â€Å"the best thing to do is incline your arms at a fifty-degree angle to the ground and run with a light bounding step.† Chloe stared at him for a minute and then giggled. â€Å"You're teasing me,† she said. â€Å"That's not fair. I have no idea about this stuff.† â€Å"I'l help you,† Matt said, feeling good. â€Å"We can do it together.†

Blindness in Samson Agonistes

Blindness in Samson Agonistes In John Milton’s play Samson Agonistes, eyesight is a recurring motif and blindness used frequently as a metaphor to define the status of a character’s journey. Milton uses the presence or lack of clarity in vision, both physically and spiritually, to indicate characters’ direction. Although several characters experience blindness to differing degrees, Samson epitomizes the dynamic states and stages of blindness. All of these are necessary components of his pilgrimage of personal redemption, where his loss of physical eyesight becomes essential to mitigate the more serious condition of internal, spiritual blindness. Manoah’s paternal connection to his son hinders his ability to see that the blindness Samson must endure as a result of his failures is actually necessary to restore Samson’s inner eyes. Manoah attempts to convince Samson that his predicament can be reversed and that there is a way out: â€Å"But God who caus’d a fountain at thy prayer From the dry ground to spring, thy thirst to allay After the brunt of battel, can as easie Cause light again within thy eies to spring.† (581-84) Manoah’s eyes are indeed veiled from reality, for he is unable to analyze the situation apart from his disposition and concepts which persuade him to believe that Samson is, in fact, ascetical. Manoah has the full assurance that the retrieval and homeward return of his son would cause the present problems to dissipate. However, Samson realizes that his escaping will not assist him along his destined path and will not accomplish the purpose of his existence. Surely God did not intend for Samson to single-handedly liberate Israel, but as the tribe’s sole recipient of the divine instruction, Samson is regarded as the man who will free Israel and her people from captivity. The awe and wonder that his strength elicits became an obstruction in the eyes of the Hebrews and of their faith. It does not occur to them that perhaps they too, as a people, have a role in fulfilling God’s plan. Their eyes are so fixed on the idea that Samson will be their savior that in a sense their faith in God is lessened. Samson’s strength is a mere manifestation of God’s strengthening him from within; the Israelites, however, regard his gift of strength as his sole qualification for the mission’s assignment. By so doing, they deny any accountability themselves. The Israelites should have learned from Solomon’s mistakes after his fall and taken the initiative to fulfill the promise. Instead, like Samson, his people lose sight of their faith and its source. It becomes apparent that Samson has become an idol to his people, and they have lost God as their focus by fixing their collective sight upon Samson’s God-like figure, which his strength and pride afford. Therefore, Samson is not the only one who has lost sight of his calling, but the Hebrews have fallen to the point where they â€Å"love bondage more than liberty, / Bondage with ease than strenuous liberty† (270-1). Samson, as well as his people, initially fail to see that his strength lies not within the seven locks of unshaven hair, but that his hair is a mere symbol of his heritage and of his vow to God. A footnote in Numbers, explaining the significance of the Nazarite vow, says, â€Å"Not shaving the head signifies not rejecting but being absolutely subject to the headship of the Lord as well as to all deputy authorities appointed by God.† The Nazarite vow was not developed solely for Samson, but it was a voluntary time of consecration where the Israelites declared their separation unto God: â€Å"All the days of his vow of separation no razor shall pass over his head. He shall be holy until the days are fulfilled for which he separated himself from Jehovah; he shall let the locks on his head grow long.† (Numbers 6:5) This general custom proves that, contrary to the belief of Samson and Dalila, that his hair is not the source of his super natural strength. Samson’s â€Å"heav’n- gifted strength† (36) is accompanied by a mission whose accomplishment relies entirely on his faithfulness to the vow. Gradually Samson becomes distracted by the fame and admiration that his strength elicits. A purpose that initially originated from a divinely assigned mission slowly digresses into a self-glorifying talent which makes Samson â€Å"fearless of danger, like made a petty God, walk’d about admir’d of all† (529-30). Samson himself admits that he had reached a point where he was â€Å"swollen with pride† and fell â€Å"into the snare† (532). As this egotistical outlook begins to take precedence in Samson’s life, he simultaneously begins to lose sight of the goals in and purpose of his life, leaving him inwardly blind, prior to the dramatic gouging out of his eyes. During the first three temptations of Dalila, Samson’s faith still remains true as he maintains his loyalty and covenant with God, just as he sustains the portion of his vow which requires him to abstain from â€Å"all delicious drinks†¦ [to] repress† (541-43). However, upon Dalila’s fourth attempt to trick her husband, â€Å"this high gift of strength†¦how easily [bereaves] [him], / Under the seal of Silence could not keep, / But weakly to a woman [does] reveal it† (47-50). Once Samson recognizes his weakness, despite his outward strength, he begins the journey of ascent towards self- reconstruction, where Samson comes to realize how he came to be in such a predicament: â€Å"God sent her to debase me, And aggravate my folly who committed To such a viper his most sacred trust Of secresie, my safety, and my life† (999-1002) Samson realizes too late that he was â€Å"impoten[t] of mind, in body strong!† (52). Before his upward journey, Samson is required to be completely broken, blinded and chained, â€Å"inferior to†¦ worm† (73-74). The man that was once admired and worshipped is now â€Å"dark in light expos’d / to daily fraud, contempt, abuse and wrong† (75-76), made powerless, in order for him to begin the long, dark journey into his self and back to his calling. Milton repeatedly utilizes the metaphor of blindness to take his characters on a progression from a point of darkness into light, to illustrate the growth and dynamic development of each character on their own, specific path to destiny. Milton’s entire tragedy depicts the treacherous journey of the hero whose â€Å"breeding [is] ordered and prescrib’d / As of a person separated to God† (30-31). In order for Samson’s purpose to be fulfilled and for God’s plan to be carried out, Samson’s physical strength has to be reduced to nothing. It is only possible in this moment of desperation following complete failure that the hero is able to prove his true strength, as he re-climbs from the heap of collapse. Not only does this journey entail the reconstruction of his strength, but Samson is forced to endure this journey in complete darkness in order to redefine his view of the world and to relinquish his confidence in his own ability, and to ultimatel y refine and strengthen his faith in God. The Hebrews, like Samson, are also in need of restoration of sight to see again who their God is. Their faith falters simultaneously with the breaking of Samson’s vow; not one of them takes any form of action in attempt to accomplish God’s plan. Their sole concern is the preservation of Samson’s sight and strength, for this is where their faith resides. Manoah also fails to see that the restoration of Samson’s sight is not of utmost importance, but that much more, his inward eyes would be reopened to realize his purpose, to see why God twice appeared to his parents to announce the importance of his birth. Samson is both weakened and inwardly blinded by his wife’s beauty and temptations, but it is not until his eyes are gouged out that he acknowledges that he has been â€Å"entangled with a poysnous bosom snake.† When Samson’s faith is lost, he is in â€Å"double darkness†, both outwardl y and inwardly blind. It is not until his final moments that his inward eyes are opened; he regains his lost faith, and truly realizes and accomplishes his purpose in his very last breath.

Global teamwork and management through network technologies are now Research Paper

Global teamwork and management through network technologies are now available to all companies, large or small - Research Paper Example t virtual teams are, there characteristics, their merits and demerits and finally how to ensure that one succeeds in using them now and in the future. From literature there is no unified definition of what virtual teams are. However from the numerous definitions the recurring descriptions are that they are teams working across boundaries of space and time – here referring to geographic or temporal dispersion – with coordination of work done predominantly through the use of electronic information and communication technologies (Ebrahim, Ahmed, and Taha 2654; Ganguli and Mostashari 3). That said the most widely accepted definition of virtual teams is that they are â€Å"a group of geographically, organizationally and time dispersed workers brought together by information technologies to accomplish one or more objectives of the organization (Powell, Piccoli, and Ives 10).† From these definitions we identify three predominant characteristics of virtual teams. The first is that at least a member of the team has to be located in a different location, time zone or organization. Secondly, communication within the team is done mainly through the use of Internet and electronic media. Lastly, most of the virtual teams are created to do projects. This implies that virtual teams get disbanded on project completion. So if these teams often get disbanded at the end of a project the question is why should an organization choose to go through the trouble of establishing virtual teams? To begin with virtual teams provide organizations with unprecedented levels of flexibility and responsiveness (Powell, Piccoli, and Ives 15). In today’s rapidly changing business environments due to disruptive innovations organizations cannot afford to be laggards. It is quicker to set up a virtual team to strategize on short-term response measures to mitigate the effects of a competitor while the company devises a long-term strategy. This is because with virtual teams the company can

H.W Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

H.W - Essay Example In addition, the Chief Elected Official shall chair and over-see the planning committee in charge of making plans associated with emergency hazard management. The director shall be responsible for making arrangements to coordinate the Municipal’s Emergency Response Plan for Hazardous materials as well as necessary hazardous emergency services with the Hazardous management Committee, the Local Hazardous Management Team i.e. Fire Department, Local Police et cetera. He/she shall hold annual meetings with the Emergency Hazardous Response Team in an annual basis in order to facilitate determination of challenges faced by the team, thus formulating effective solutions for the identified challenges. In addition the Emergency Management Director shall facilitate the establishment of a mass notification channel in the case that an unexpected Hazardous incident occurs. On the other hand, he/she shall coordinate emergency preparedness sessions for refresher training for the Emergency Response Team as well as the Municipal Employees as required by the department. The Management Director shall also oversee or coordinate frequent exercises geared towards testing the efficacy of emergency management plans, equipment and making necessary improvements. Moreover, the Management Director shall be responsible for conducting an annual hazard threat as well as vulnerability assessments in order to facilitate emergency funding procurement and other aspects of budgeting. In collaboration with other Emergency Response Team members, the Emergency Director shall conduct public awareness programs and educations in order to prepare the locals for emergency cases. In the case that there is state, local or even federal meetings organized by the government to discuss issues ascribed to response towards emergency hazards and public safety, the Emergency Management Director shall attend to facilitate

Literature Review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 9

Literature Review - Essay Example We as a society are innovating greater technology and great modern convenience. This continuing dependence on social technology has contributed to a lessening of dependence, desire for, or trust in human interactions. In fact, many experts feel strongly that the inception and popularity of social media is contributing to a deterioration of interpersonal relationships and how people communicate in those relationships (Christofides et. al, 2012). If individuals continue to depend and substitute their personal interactions for social media influenced relationships it will lead to a shallow and superficial future for between human beings. 200 years ago if people wanted to communicate they had to wait long periods of time to receive even a single letter. 150 years ago the telegraph allowed faster and immediate communication over longer distances to be achieved, and finally the telephone changed everything. People could directly talk to people who are very far away. However, despite all of these technological innovations people still interacted with other people regularly and on a continuous basis. There was still a value in having eye to eye contact in a conversation and shaking a man’s hand when making a deal. Technology did not impede that interaction and communication negatively. However, today’s technology has made in completely possible for a person to become a complete shut-in and never speak to another person in person again. It is possible to pay all of your bills online, people can work exclusively from home, and even have their groceries delivered. This is extreme, but people today are slowly b ut surely losing their desire and limiting their opportunity to interact and communicate with others. It has become a part of daily life, getting on the computer, sending text messages, and responding to messages that others send. It is hard to imagine a time when phones

Behavioural Studies, Attitudes Explain the purpose of the use of Essay

Behavioural Studies, Attitudes Explain the purpose of the use of shocking images in campaigns to attempt change an individual's attitude. Use examples as illustrations - Essay Example People are also affected by advertisements though emotional responses, and this is another important factor in the use of shocking advertising. Understanding psychological and social bases for attitudes may be the key to using shocking advertising to influence individual behavior. Individuality is a key component of many walks of social life, from home to work. Indeed, Mullins suggests that committed staff with valuable individuality are one of the keys to organizational health and success (Mullins, 2007). Psychologists have developed a number of different ways of defining the individual; Eysenck defined them through two key personality differences: introversion/extroversion and stability/instability (or neuroticism). Others, such as Cattell, divided the individual personality into surface traits, which are consistent and form the basis of behavior, and source traits, which underlie and inform the surface traits. These two ideas rely upon the notion of a 'fixed' individuality, which implies that the individual would not be affected by shocking advertising in the long-term.

Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 24

Summary - Essay Example Lake opposes this misperception, as he asserts that Herring did not cut Jordan to underestimate him and to choose a taller player only, but because he and his staff knew that Jordan needs further preparation. Instead of being an unfair coach, Lake shows Herring as a real person with real contributions to, not only Jordan’s growth as a basketball player, but as a person, and a real person with his own challenges, and not just someone who consciously failed to see Jordan’s greatness. Lake introduces the hardships of choosing who gets to be varsity players and how Herring follows objective criteria in the selection process, contrary to what Jordan and many others believe. Lake goes back a little more than three decades ago to the place where the infamous cutting occurred. He describes the anxiety that grips adolescents who merely want to prove their basketball worth and to hone themselves better as varsity players. After that, he illustrates the kind of man that Pop is. He is called Pop because he is more than a basketball coach. He acted more like a father in how he trains his players every day and how he welcomes them to his house like family. Lake zooms into the actual tryout date, emphasizing the difference between Mike, Michael Jordan’s high school nickname, then and now in terms of height and basketball skills. He underlines that Mike is as competitive as he is now as he was in his youth, but he was an average shooter during the tryouts. Lake also ex plains that the selection process is objective, where a group of coaches compares notes before everything is finalized. He emphasizes that Jordan was a sophomore then and sophomores rarely get chosen for the senior varsity list, and that, in opposite to what many people, including Jordan himself, believed, Mike did get to the jayvee (junior) roster list. Lake proves that Pop

An arguement for the use of Natural Gas as a replacement for Fossil Essay

An arguement for the use of Natural Gas as a replacement for Fossil Fuels - Essay Example One of the reasons why natural gas should replace fossil fuels is that the former is relatively cheaper. In fact, according to a report by OilPrice.com, the cost of oil today is over $14 to get a million BTU [or British Thermal Unit]†¦but only $2.30 if you were willing to use natural gas as an alternative† (Hamilton, 2012). That means savings of $11.70 per million BTU, which translates to an astronomical value in reality. Although petroleum once had the same cost as crude oil, from 1997 to 2007, the trend has now changed in favor of the former (Hamilton, 2012). The cheap cost of natural gas is attributed to the fact that America produces â€Å"three billion more cubic feet [or 85M cubic meters] of natural gas a day out of the ground than it can consume† (â€Å"Natural Gas Difference Engine,† 2012). Moreover, when compared to coal, it would cost 12 cents or more per kilowatt-hour to produce electricity from dirty coal compared to 6 cents only from clean natura l gas (â€Å"Natural Gas Difference Engine,† 2012). ... Without responsible stewardship, one would not seek ways to use the most efficient means of producing electricity and just be content with what is expensive. Another reason why natural gas should replace fossil fuels is that the former is cleaner compared to the latter. According to a report in the New York Times concerning energy sources, natural gas has become more popular as a major international commodity because â€Å"it burns cleaner than oil and coal and produces less greenhouse gases† (Krauss, 2012). These greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide, unburned hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides. Moreover, natural gas does not leave any carbon deposits in the engine, thus reducing the natural wear of the engine and so there are fewer oil changes (â€Å"Natural Gas Difference Engine,† 2012). Natural gas is actually only methane, or CH4, which is merely a one-carbon compound with four hydrocarbons, thus it is relatively less harmful than chemicals with long carbon chains. Besides, the use of natural gas would hypothetically reduce â€Å"sulfur dioxide emissions by 55% and mercury emissions by 30% and greenhouse gas emissions by 15%† because natural gas emits virtually no sulfur dioxide and mercury, and only 22% less greenhouse gases compared to diesel (â€Å"Environmental Benefits,† 2012). In fact, natural gas is 28% cleaner than petroleum and 40%-100% cleaner than coal (Stevens, 2012). Another reason for the proposal that the United States should replace fossil fuels with natural gas is the added benefit of boosting the country’s economy especially if the United States sells natural gas to other countries. Several energy companies in the country announced the

CFC's and Ozone depletion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

CFC's and Ozone depletion - Essay Example Therefore, appropriate action especially targeted against CFCs should be taken to reduce or stop the many negative effects of ozone depletion (Callan and Thomas  238; Miller 384). The ozone layer is basically ozone present in the stratosphere which protects the earth from ultraviolet radiation from the sun. In the early 1980s, scientists discovered that the ozone layer seemed to become thinner and thinner, till an â€Å"ozone hole† the size of North America was revealed over Antarctica. The theory largely accepted by scientists for this â€Å"ozone hole† is the presence of CFCs in the atmosphere. CFCs are a family of odorless chemical compounds which are normally used in air conditioning, refrigeration, insulation, packaging, and as aerosol propellants. Chemists found out that CFCs stay behind in the troposphere because they are chemically unreactive and thus not soluble in water. Although they are heavier than air itself, CFCs can levitate into the stratosphere mostl y through convection currents, random drifting, and the violent mixing of air in the troposphere. Once they enter the stratosphere, the CFC molecules separate under the impact of the high-energy ultraviolet radiation, releasing chlorine, fluorine, bromine, and iodine atoms. These atoms are highly reactive, and so hasten the breakdown of the ozone layer in a repeated chain of chemical reactions. ... The thinning of the ozone layer allows more harmful ultraviolet radiation to reach the earth’s surface. Research has proved that exposure of human skin to a certain type of ultraviolet radiation in sunlight is the main cause of basal cell and squamous cell skin cancers. Together, these two forms of cancers make up for ninety five percent of all skin cancers, and are responsible for about 2300 deaths in the United States each year. Moreover, these ultraviolet radiations increase the intensity of sunburns and cause immune system suppression. Besides this, ozone depletion reduces forest productivity for UV-sensitive tree species, decreases the population of certain aquatic species and surface phytoplankton (and as a result disrupts aquatic food webs), increases eye cataracts in particular species, and cuts down the yield of certain types of crops. What is more, the lessening of the ozone affects air pollution by increasing acid deposition and photochemical smog. CFCs, on the othe r hand, act as greenhouse gases and make the earth warmer, thus contributing to global warming (Miller 384, 385). As a result, it is extremely important to keep the level of ozone depletion and the amount of CFCs present in the atmosphere under control. One approach towards the emission of pollutants such as CFCs can be to replace them with other cleaner substances. For example, HFCs and HCFCs can be used in air conditioning equipment and refrigeration instead of CFCs because they have a lower potential of ozone depletion. The pathways by which these substances are emitted can also be altered to prevent them from entering the atmosphere. Old vehicles mostly use CFCs in air conditioning. Therefore, it is necessary to make sure that such vehicles are serviced by qualified technicians in

Article analysis for an Economics class Essay Example for Free

Article analysis for an Economics class Essay If someone earns a sum of money, and saves it rather than spends it, then, in no way can a person be losing wealth if not for inflation, which prompts the prices of all goods and services to rise. One may see this as a trend among businesses to maximize their profits. In reality, the root cause of the problem is not with businesspeople, but the Federal Reserve System continuously adding more money into the economy. The article I have chosen to summarize examines the U. S. economy of today mainly the food and energy prices that have rose sharply since March 2003, which has prompted the Fed to concern itself with the onset of inflation. In reality, what triggers the rise in prices is an increase of money in circulation, which is a result of the actions performed by the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve, being the government agency responsible for printing the nation money supply, determines how many dollar bills are put into circulation. The dilemma arises because, when more money is added into the economy and an individual has not spent any of it, the person is now poorer in relation to everyone else than they once were. Adding more money into the economy dilutes the value of each individual dollar, thereby decreasing its purchasing power. The article states that the price index gained larger than expected .3 percent, which adds to the inflation anxiety on Wall Street (Freilich). Inflation, however, tends to hurt the poor far more than it does the rich. For example, if a woman retires with four thousand dollars saved up, and the cost of a decent living is five thousand, then she only has eighty percent of what she needs to survive. Then, a year later, if there is one hundred percent inflation, then the necessary cost of living becomes ten thousand dollars. Even if that woman still had four thousand dollars, she would now have only forty percent of what she needed. Though they often have been blamed for inflation, businesses themselves are victims of inflation, as each company sees the costs of all of its resources rising. Retailers pay rising costs to distributors, who pay a rising cost to suppliers, who pay a rising cost for their resources. If a businessperson does not raise the prices of the merchandise, while the prices of resources  are rising, then he or she will have to reduce profits or cut back on much-needed supplies and services to maintain the company, which, in the end, could mean less business and still result in less revenue. Thus, inflation necessitates that businesses raise prices and employees demand higher wages, which often takes place in a random fashion. The article further states that prices received by farms, factories and refiners gained sharply to 0.8 percent last month, the largest jump since March 2003. Additionally, the Labor Department said first-time filings for state jobless aid fell 15,000 to 336,000 in the week ended June 12, their lowest level since early May. Increase in prices and an improved job market suggests that the U.S. economys momentum is likely to build in the coming months. The article adds stating that in addition to the growing economy, the dollar first rose against the euro and prices for U.S. government bonds fell, pushing yields up. Investors are worried about inflation pressure because stocks slipped, in part because of inflation concerns, but also due to news of more deadly bloodshed in Iraq. Inflation is understood that when governments print plenty of money and spend considerably, watch out for rising prices to continue. However, the volatile stock market and with elections coming soon, I believe to expect the unexpected. References Freilich, Ellen. Data Puts Inflation in Focus. Retrieved online Jun 17, 2004 Website: http://www.reuters.com/financeNewsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=0RS0105W2AE4ECRBAEKSFEY?type=businessNewsstoryID=5450085

Belonging Essay Essay Example for Free

Belonging Essay Essay As human individuals, we search for a niche to which we belong. It is ingrained within human nature to want for acceptance, for inclusion. This primal instinct drives our actions, often altering the perceptions we form of both others and ourselves. Barriers to belonging can negatively affect us psychologically and personally. Our individuality may be questioned due to social, cultural or historical influences. However, the effects of external pressures will be minimal if an individual is already confident in themselves. A study of the collection of poems, ‘Immigrant Chronicles’ by Peter Skrzynecki and the book ‘The Island’ by composer Amir Greer explore the multiple facets involved in the dynamic process of belonging or not belonging. If we are able to have a place in which we belong, our sense of self can be sustained. The heritage and experiences which an individual has within a culture cannot be forgotten; instead they may even become stronger. When placed in a new and confronting environment we can draw on past routine to provide comfort and security. The poem, ‘Felicks Skrzynecki’ written by composer, Peter Skrzynecki, uses poetic devices to explore how an individual can maintain a sense of belonging due to a strong cultural identity. Multiple descriptions throughout the poem display how Felicks is not affected by his lack of belonging to Australia, ‘Did your father ever try to learn English?’ instead he remains confident in his sense of self and is able to develop a distinct identity as shown through the metaphor â€Å"kept pace only with the Joneses/of his own mind’s making†. The commitment which he has for his garden, ‘walked it’s paths ten times around the world’, highlight how he has been successful in creating an environment to which he belongs and is happy and content. Felicks remains unaffected by the way he is judged by a society, for example his ability to draw upon past memories and experiences with his polish friends. Belonging to a place and culture remains ingrained within us, even when in a foreign environment. By establishing a strong connection to place an individual can maintain a sense of self; a strong bond will continue to enrich an individual’s lifestyle. Lacking a place to belong to has adverse effects on a sense of individuality. The poem ‘Felicks Skrzynecki’ explores difficulty of integrating into a contemporary Australian society. The persona within the poem is unable to form a connection to his past heritage displayed with the repetitive use of the exclusive pronoun ‘his’; ‘his garden’, ‘his polish friends’ and ‘his house’. The disconnection between father and son is highlighted through emotive simile, ‘loved his garden like an only child’. The strong juxtaposition between the two emphasises their differences and the struggle which the main person has. He is caught between two cultures, his Polish Heritage and the Australian society, and is unsure of which he belongs to; ‘words he taught me, remnants of a language I inherited unknowingly’. The main persona in the poem, ‘Felicks Skrzynecki’ suffers psychologically because he is unable to discover who he is or find a place to which he belongs. The sense of dislocation in Australia stems from conflict of a polish heritage he cannot remember. Lacking a sense of belonging to place inhibits the ability to form a sense of self; furthermore these negative experiences can accumulate and be detrimental to individuality. The choice of whether to belong, or not, is complex. Instinct drives us to crave for the acceptance of others; and to integrate into a society. The traits which make us unique and interesting individuals can be alienating and preventing belonging. Composer, Peter Skrzyneckis poem ‘St Patricks College’ is a personal recount of his experiences as a migrant undergoing education in Australia. The persona in the poem experiences a disconnection to the place and culture, which negatively affects his wellbeing. The mothers desire for her son to be seen as equal to others, through a common ‘uniform’, compels her to enrol him in an upper class school. Symbolism throughout the poem establishes the mothers need for her son belong as she is, ‘impressed by the uniforms of her employers sons’ The persona is clearly uncomfortable in his school, due to differences between he and the other students. Repetition of his mothers words, ‘What was best’ j uxtaposes with the personas opinion, ‘the darkness that surrounded me wasn’t â€Å"for the best† ’. As demonstrated in ‘St Patricks College’ not belonging will have adverse effects on an individual’s sense of self. Similarly in Amir Greders Picture Book, ‘The Island’ the alienation of an individual due to physical differences is  explored. The first impression which we form of others is based on how we see them and these physical differences can create barriers to belonging. Greder has incorporated a range of visual techniques to explore this flaw in humanity. The islanders are portrayed through illustrations as brutish, with stout legs, broad foreheads, blunted noses and large hands. The distortion of their features contrasts strongly to the newcomer who is naked, thin and small. Highlighting his vulnerability; in comparison to the fully clothed and pitchfork wielding islanders, ‘he wasn’t like them’. The islanders fear of the newcomer, who ‘haunted their days and often their dreams’, is enhanced by emotive exagge ration of their facial expressions. Gossip about his dissimilarity is made into a story to scare children, for example the school teacher who gives lectures ‘about savages and their strange ways’. The text aims to be didactic whilst displaying flaws in human nature. It forces the audience to question the moral values of those ‘monstrous’ figures. The islanders isolate him completely from their community ‘locking him in the stables’. Distrust of those who look or sound different causes groups of people to act in a harsh and inhumane manner. Individuals who are unable to conform whether it is due to physical differences or choice may be isolated or discriminated against by the society. When trying to belong it is integral that we first are able to define ourselves. This occurs through connections and experiences with places, people and cultures. Both Peter Skrzynecki and Amir Greder have explored the multiple aspects which are involved in the formation of an individual’s identity and various barriers to belonging, which prevent inclusion and acceptance. All three texts explore the issue involved in the migrant experience, issues of dislocation and lacking identity. The human experience is constantly being challenged by external pressures. Nevertheless when an individual is able to establish who they are, without relying on others, they become an independent individual. These individuals do not require a place or group to feel as if they belong, and instead belong to themselves.

How Hiv Aids Affect The Mining Industry Commerce Essay

How Hiv Aids Affect The Mining Industry Commerce Essay The purpose of this paper is to examine the affects that HIV/AIDS can have on the mining industry in South Africa. I aim to look at how does HIV/AIDS affects to the mining industry. My goal is to show that HIV/AIDS has its direct and indirect impact on the business and that it plays a major role in the business environment today. I looked at individual mine companies, one that I focussed on throughout the paper was Anglo American, I also looked at the bigger picture and researched on how it would affect the country and the mining industry. The first phase of this project was to look at how HIV/AIDS affects the labour supply, and how it affects your profitability, than I moved onto more indirect affect which were what other impacts it has and then finally its impact on the economy. I found out that most of South Africas mine workers are HIV positive and this has a negative effect on the industry as they experience high expenditure due to providing health care, benefits and training and that the mining industry is experiencing a decline in revenue as efficiency and productivity is reduced due to workers being ill and weak. This paper shows that the education and support of the workers is vital to prevent the HIV/AIDS rate from increasing and threatening their workforce. If companies have strong policies in place they could lessen the impact HIV/AIDS has on their company. Word count: 244 Contents Page Introduction For a company to be successful they must demonstrate a competitive advantage, for African companies, most of them already have a competitive advantage as there is a profuse supply of inexpensive, and productive labour. Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome most commonly know to us as HIV and AIDS are one of the main causes of deaths in Africa. The percentage of infected people has steadily increased throughout the years and this infection rate does not seem to be stopping. The infection rate of South Africans is approximately 28% of the people that go into the clinics  [1]  . This statistic is not including the whole population so the total percentage of South Africans is unknown to us. I decided to focus on the Mining Industry in South Africa has it has recently had a spotlight shone upon it from having a high HIV workforce, to unemployed workers going into abandoned mines in the hope of generating an income for their family. There is an abundance of mining companies in South Africa, it holds nearly 90% of the platinum metals of the Earth, 80% of the Manganese 73% of the Chrome, 45% of the Vanadium, and 41% of the Earths Gold.  [2]  Miners are usually migrant workers who are away from their family. They are housed in same-sex hostels. These miners are often visit prostitutes to escape from their tough jobs. These visits to prostitutes make the mine workers vulnerable to HIV. I shall be concentrating for the purpose of this essay mainly the effect of the financial, economical and motivational effect HIV has on the workplace. By only focusing on one industry it helps me narrow done the research area and therefore I can focus much more deeply into each of the factors I shall be exploring in this essay. I will respond to my research question How does HIV/AIDS Affect the Mining Industry? by looking at the specific components that may be affected and see how these components are affected or how some components are not affected at all. Why I choose this topic I choose this topic as it is something that is relevant to me. I am living in South Africa and am confronted every day with new articles, new figures about HIV/AIDS. This interested me and I began to think about what impact this has to a business, I was interested to know more, know the deeper consequences and benefits that this HIV epidemic has on and business, on an industry. I then decided that choosing the mining industry would be great, there is this highlight on the mining industry and it is also an industry that requires you to have a strong workforce that can take the severe conditions. With these two very prominent things in South Africa, I can up with my research question. How is the Labour Supply Affected For a business to be successful they would need a constant supply of trained workers that are capable to do the job to the best of their ability. Companies that require a workforce that is fully trained, they seem HIV as a problem. It requires a huge amount of time to train a new employee and the costs to the company are great to so this. The highest prevalence of HIV is for the age group of 30-34 years of age, with the age groups 25-29 and 35-39 not too far behind  [3]  . These age groups are the groups that are entering the workforce or are already working. This is not a good thing for a business as this suggests that their workforce and their future supply of workforce are most likely going to be affected by HIV. The mining sector is very labour intensive, mechanisation is difficult in mining which results in mining having to have a big labour force. Most mine workers tend to be young males, which is the main age category that has been affected by HIV. These young males have to engage in physically demanding and dangerous work for up to 12 hours a day in hot, dusty conditions and are breaks are not very frequent, theses workers need to be physically capable and up to full health to cope with this. Workers living with HIV may find these working conditions straining and they physically do not have the strength to cope in these difficult conditions. Mines require a work force of semi-skilled workers and also require highly-skilled workers such as geologists and engineers, of one of these highly skilled workers were to be affected or be lost to the illness, their departure could disrupt operations greatly until a replacement is found for them. HIV also has an impact on the labour force of mining by having an increase in mortality, for example around 60% of the mining workforce is aged between 30 and 44 years; in 15 years this is predicted to fall to 10%  [4]  . This shows that the labour force for mining is being affected due to deaths related to AIDS. How Profitability is Affected HIV can affect a company is possibly to ways; to either increase its expenditures or it can decrease revenues. In the early stages of the HIV a company may experience the worker having an unexplained increase in absenteeism and the said worker and his or her family may have and increase in their health care costs. Some companies may choose to reimburse the worker for these costs or pay for a percentage of them. The productivity of the worker may decrease especially when infections that are well known to effect HIV positive people start to attack the body such as tuberculosis. With that said, the companies may observe an increase in diseases within their workforce as the contagious diseases are spread between the workforce. This would lead to workers having to take off more sick days and an increase in health care costs. Employees that have been identified as HIV positive may be kept on working in the same position, moved to a less demanding position or might even be fired, this all depends on the companys policy to HIV positive workers. A loss of revenue is due to workers having to take leave due to illness or having to take leave due to family members being HIV positive or needing to attend a funeral. For example in north central Namibia it has been estimated that extension staff spend at least 10 percent of their time attending funerals.  [5]  Productivity is also affected as workers in poor health are no longer able to produce at the same levels to when they were good health. Approximately 45% of South Africas mineworkers are HIV positive; this has already decreased productivity in mines by 15%.  [6]  This means that in the years to come mines would have to employ more workers, to keep up with the productivity level that they usually operate at to keep up their output levels. The extent to employees living with HIV being kept on at a company depends on the type of work they do and the companies policy that are in place regarding this. For some companies the government or trade unions require that they supply benefit to HIV positive workers but some companies are able to not do this, and therefore the government of the workers family are made to provide the benefits. There are a number of ways in which a companys expenditures may increase due to having employees suffering from HIV. They could experience an increase in health care costs, which indicates that the company is being affected by HIV epidemic. Companies that have invested in private health insurance policies could have an increase in their premiums. Companies that have in-house health services such as clinics may have an increase in the need for their services. According to the Chairman of Gold Fields, Christopher Thompson the HIV epidemic will cause the production of gold to increase by R100 per ounce in the next six years.  [7]  Anglo American has made anti-retroviral therapy available to all of their employees that are HIV positive at the companys expense. This decision could greatly increase costs to the company and affect the profitability of the company. As more workers die of AIDS, businesses can have an increase in costs in terms of death benefits. Larger companies often offer death benefits to the family of the deceased worker. With the increase in HIV related deaths companies have increased a big increase in costs and have had to find ways lessen the impact of these benefit costs. Some companies have lessened their financial contribution to the funeral, and some have required that funerals are only to take place on the weekend, to minimize the amount of time taken off of work. With such a high infection rate in mine workers together with the related incidence of illness and death means that mines loose between 5% and 10% of their workforce each year.  [8]   The cost of recruiting and training new employees may be high. The cost of replacing an unskilled worker is usually very same, and these types of workers can usually be replaced within a week and the cost of replacing them is very small, especially when the area the company is located experiences a very high unemployment rate. But many companies require skilled experienced employees, these are much harder to recruit. Most of Africa has a shortage of skilled labour which makes recruiting a suitable an appropriate candidate very difficult and positions can be left unfilled for weeks or even months. The training of the unskilled workers often doesnt cost the company much, can be done in-house and only takes a couple of days. However training of the skilled workers such as director of financing, marketing is of a much higher cost to the company, they usually get trained outside of the company, and many go overseas for the training. One company says they face costs of $100  000 to recru it and train a replacement for the managing director role.  [9]  It is estimated that in South Africa that every 100 natural deaths that occur in a year 88 are highly skilled workers and 176 skilled workers will die of AIDS in the same year, it is also estimated that in the same year 308 semi-skilled and unskilled workers will die of AIDS.  [10]   What Other Impacts Occur Another impact that HIV/AIDS has on a company is that is can lower the morale of its employees, employees may feel de-motivated and not willing to work as efficiently. They see their colleagues and friends at work die before their eyes and they soon start to have a negative, defeatist attitude towards their work as they see themselves in the same position as the deceased one. One indirect effect of all the leave that has been taken by employees is that the healthy workers have to work harder than usual to make up for the people on sick leave. In many companies workers are said to be working extra hours to make up for the time lost by the sick colleagues, however these healthy employees usually do not get paid over time and often feel overworked and exhausted. This could then reduce the quantity and quality of the final product as employees are stressed and de-motivated. The spread of HIV could lead to poor work relationships, they may not feel they are being supported by their company and their colleagues, that there are not enough care and prevention methods in place. Some workers may demand that employees that have been infected should be dismissed when they learn about their status. There often a negative attitude and behavioural responses towards an HIV positive person when other workers learn the status of that person. A way for managers to address the indirect effects HIV has on their company is to generate a workplace policy that addresses the needs of an HIV positive person; this policy promotes healthy relationships between all workers and levels of the hierarchy. Anglo American is one of the mining companies that is leading in the fight against HIV/AIDS, they have community outreach and strong policies to go on, Cynthia Carroll, Chief Executive of Anglo American said: Anglo Americans aim, as the Employer and Partner of Choice, is to effectively manage the impact of HIV/AIDS on our employees and to make a positive contribution towards minimising the social, economic and developmental consequences of this epidemic. Anglo Americans response reaches beyond its workforce, through community outreach HIV/AIDS programmes, to spread the application of good practice in a way which helps to strengthen community health systems.  [11]  By having strong aims like this the company is able to address some of the indirect effects that HIV has on their company and helps strengthen the moral of the workers as they feel like they are being taken care of and that they are an assets to the company. The Anglo American policy towards HIV/AIDS focuses on the some main things such as: Confidentiality- the employee who has HIV has the right to confidentiality and privacy. They are under no obligation to tell management about their HIV status. Non- Discrimination- Anglo American does not tolerate unfair discrimination towards a person with HIV and take all the steps to respects their dignity and ensure human rights. All employees that are part of the company, who know (or think they know) a workers HIV status are told of the requirements and responsibilities of disclosing this information to a third party, and the consequences that could happen if they were to do this. Gender equality- Anglo American aims towards having equal gender relations. They recognise that the empowerment of women is vital to successfully prevent the spread of HIV infection and enable women to cope with HIV/AIDS. Social Dialogue- Anglo American aims to build partnerships and alliances with their stakeholders so that they can develop a common vision and shared strategy with them. This policy they have is constantly updated with the ever changing environment that we live in. This strong policy as said before strengthens the employee relations as the company is seen to care for their employees and cares about their well being. Another effect HIV/AIDS can have on a business is that it can cause a decline in some products. Products known as luxury products could no longer be bought as much as previously, this is because with the employee getting sicker with HIV they no longer bring in that much income as previously, they are also experiencing an increase in their medical costs. This leaves them with no having enough money to buy those nonessential goods. This could not necessarily affect the mining industry, but it does affect their workers and their families. It means that they can no longer buy as many good as they previously could have. It also affects the businesses where the mine workers buy their goods from as they are no longer getting as much business from them as they would have before the worker had been infected. How HIV/AIDS is Affecting South African Economies HIV/AIDS can not only affect a company, but it can also affect the economy. This could lead to people not wanting to invest in the country as they are seen to have a declining economy. The decline in the economy impacts two things: investment and trade. The investment is impacted by the uncertainty over the impact of HIV/AIDS causes reluctance from the investor. Investors are not sure how the ever growing HIV epidemic is going to affect the business and they start to become reluctant to invest as they are not sure if the company will succeed or not. Another thing is there had been a decrease in the amount and variety of entrepreneurs; people are not going out as much and starting their own company, this means that there is not as many projects to be invested in as there is not the variety and range that investors want in that country, so they then move to the next country looking for the next best thing to invest in. Also the general economic picture is impacting on investment; some countries do not seem to be doing well and seem unstable this therefore would not be a wise country to invest in as the country could fall at any moment, think Zimbabwe, all people who invested in Zimbabwe mustve lost tonnes of money due to the country falling economically. This could affect the mining industry greatly, if no one is willing to invest in them then they lose vital financing. Mines are the ones being hardest hit by the HIV/AIDS epidemic; investors are able to see this and predict the high labour turnover rate and the overall costs and losses the company experiences due to this. Investors would then be discouraged to invest in the company as the percentage of staff with HIV would only increase. They would also see the general economic picture of South Africa, and with the recession they could see that overall investing in mines in South Africa as an unwise decision due to all the factors. The trade in South Africa is impacted by the reduced production due to increased costs. With HIV epidemic growing companies are having greater costs than they have had in the past, they have to deal with factors like death benefits, providing health care and anti retroviral therapy and the recruitment and training of staff, this means that there is not as money available to buy the raw materials or employ as many staff as they have before, which leads to there being a decrease in the production levels. Another thing that impacts the trade is the decrease in workers with experience in the export markets. Skilled labour is much harder to recruit than unskilled labour positions can be left empty for ages. This means that it is difficult to find labour that has experience in export markets due to there being a lack of qualified labour. For the mining industry this means that its trade is being impacted by HIV, they are experiencing an increase in their costs due to all the factors above and because the work is demanding, they are also experiencing a decrease in efficiency which leads to the company not producing as much. They also loose lots of workers due to the demanding work and often have positions left unfilled as they cannot find someone with the right experience. There has been much debate on whether or not the HIV/AIDS epidemic would affect the economy. A Kenyan analysis indicated that the HIV/AIDS epidemic would cause a significant impact, which predictions that HIV/AIDS would leave the Kenyan economy one sixth smaller than it would have been in the absence of HIV/AIDS.  [12]  A South African study suggest that by the 2010, the level of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) could be lower than 17 percent due to the HIV/AIDS epidemic while the level of per capita GDP could be lower than 7 percent. About half the decline is due to an increase in the amount government is spending on health care to do with HIV/AIDS and one third is due to the lower productivity levels.  [13]   Conclusion South African mining companies have the potential to have a great competitive advantage against all the other companies around the world. Businesses need to protect the workers that have not been infected by HIV and educate their workforce to ensure the number of HIV positive people does not increase much more. For the ones that have been infected the mining companies need to use the services they have on them and that they support the workers through this difficult time. The companies need to ensure that the impact of this is as less as possible. As we have seen HIV mainly affects those that are at the prime working age, this means that the companies are greatly affected by this especially when skilled workers are needed or workers undergo an intensive training process. Therefore the loss of one of the workers can cause a business to lose some of its competitive edge. The increase in the HIV epidemic has lead companies to experience a loss in their profitability. This is due to an increase in their expenditures, such as sick leave, health care, funeral benefits, recruiting and training new employee and even providing anti retroviral therapy. Also their revenues have declined due to a decrease in efficiency and productivity as workers become ill and weak. Due to mining being such a demanding job, this has been one of the main problems they have experienced. There have also been more indirect ways in which the mining industry has been affected, such as de-motivation, poor work relationships. This great HIV epidemic may be slowly down investors wanting to invest new money into the mining industry. Also HIV/AIDS is said to be slowly down economic growth with is also turning investors away and limiting the number of people willing to invest in South Africa. Overall, with still more than half the population not being affected by HIV, there is still a chance that we can turn this situation around and lessen the impact of this epidemic to the mining industry and to our country. With continuing education, handing out condoms mining companies can hopefully limit the spread of HIV or even reduce it. If they keep addressing the issue and commit to the cause, we can limit the affects of HIV/AIDS to the mining industry.

Usage of the Outsider Theme in Claude McKays Poetry Essay examples --

Usage of the Outsider Theme in Claude McKay's Poetry Claude McKay was an important figure during the 1920's in the Harlem Rennaisance. Primarily a poet, McKay used the point of view of the outsider as a prevalent theme in his works. This is best observed in such poems as "Outcast," "America," and "The White House." In these poems, McKay portrays the African-American as the outsiderof western society and its politics and laws and at times, the very land that he is native to. McKays's poem, "Outcast," is the most obvious example of this outsider theme. From the title to the last line there are many references to a feeling of alienation and neglect. The voice in the poem longs for "the dim regions whence my fathers came." The voice also longs for "forgotten jungle songs" and yearns to "go back to darkness and to peace." This is the voice of the African-American removed from his native country and made an outsider of his own home. Alienation is also voiced as "I may never hope for full release while to its alien gods I bend my knee." This line illustrates that the...

Roman Times :: essays research papers

MOM IN THE JACUZZI It was not until I read my first erotic story about mothers and sons, that my Mom became my object of desire. I cannot describe my Mother as a sex goddess. She is the typical forty-something, with brown hair and eyes, about five foot and two inches tall, and weights 130 lbs. Mom just oozes motherhood. Her one enduring physical quality is her big breast. They're not large. They're just really nice. So now every son's dilemma, how do you seduce your mother? I kept a small collection of magazines about family encounters to fuel my imagination and to help plan the ultimate seduction. I fantasized about many scenarios with my Mom, but one of my biggest fears was that my Mom or Dad would find the magazines. Fortunately, as an only child, I was spoiled with a large bedroom and bath in the full-basement of my parent's ranch style home. I had plenty of privacy, which is important to a college student living at home. The only draw back was that the laundry room was located between my room and the bath, and about three times a week, I had to endure my Mom doing laundry, while I tried to sleep. After four years of fantasizing, opportunity knocked. I was standing in the middle of our living room, massaging Mom's shoulders, while talking with both my parents. Nothing erotic about the massage, it was just a chance for me to touch my Mother. I mentioned that Mom should get in the Jacuzzi. I said, that I had not been in the tub for months, and I asked Dad if the water was ready. He replied that the tub was clean and ready for use. My Mom then said, that she got into the tub every day. I responded by questioning when, and stated, that I haven't seen any bathing suites hanging up to dry. She replied, every morning when your Dad leaves for work, and that she doesn't wear a bathing suite. My mind started racing with images of my Mom skinny dipping in the hot tub, and me sleeping through the whole thing. As luck would have it the next two days were Saturday and Sunday, and my dad was home. Monday morning I was standing at my bedroom door listening to my Dad drive off to work. A few minutes later, I heard my Mom walk out side heading for the Jacuzzi.

Climate Change Essay -- Essays Papers

â€Å"The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change projects that, if unchecked, atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations by 2100 will range from 650 to 970 parts per million. As a result, the panel estimates, average global temperature would probably rise by 2.7 to 10.4 degrees between 1990 and 2100 †. Climate change Earth changing climate is attracting more serious attention of environmentalists and politicians in last the years due to heavy concern over the future of our earth. Human heavy dependence on the use of fossil fuels, 90% of commercial energy, is responsible for the 22 % of industrial emissions of gases. According to Michael Toman, â€Å"humans are greatly adding the presence of the gases, commonly referred to as greenhouse gases (GHG’s), by burning fossil fuels and through other industrial activities as well as various kinds of land use, such as deforestation. Such activities are significantly changing the level of gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere which in return can â€Å"work against us when they trap too much sunlight and block outward radiation †. In order to avoid global catastrophe associated with threat of global warming we need to act by reducing global emissions of greenhouse gas concentrations into atmosphere. Global climate change will affect everybody in the world. The negative impacts of global arming will include severe weather change, hobbled ecosystems, with less diversity, with less safe drinking water; inundation of coastal areas from rising sea levels; and greater spread of deceases. As an illustration author, have depicted the growing issue of cancer which can be the leading diseased caused by the erosion of ozone layer that protects people from ultraviolet radiation from the su... ...ler cumulative contribution to the problem and their need for economic growth. Notwithstanding this reality , these nations must be bound by some commitment in the future. 3. A mechanism to encourage transnational investment in technologies that reduce emissions- the creation of a market in emissions reductions will spur the development of the necessary technology and allow reductions to be achieved in the cheapest way possible with allocation of costs consistent with responsibility. In order to protect the earth’s climate we would need to find proper economically suitable and ecologically efficient method that will stop accelerating excess of GHGs. Thus, international cooperation with a organized method should be found for prevention of further damage to our eco system with little economic damage.

Jollibee Foods Corporation Essay

What were the strategy and competitive advantages of Jollibee in the Philippines? JFC observed that the fast food market in Philippines had a high growth potential. They were the first movers in the market and therefore able to build up brand recognition. JFC’s success could be attributed to its differentiation strategy that created and sustained a competitive advantage especially against McDonalds. The McDonalds was a global giant strictly following the philosophy of standardization especially with its hamburger line. JFC realized that it could attract customers with superior tasting products for more affordable prices due to their tight control over operations management. JFC was also aware that the founders of Jollibee (Tan family) had a family tradition (a capability) of making delicious food tailored for the needs (local tastes) of Filipino customer. In conclusion, JFC offered a more tailored menu with a sweeter hamburger, an innovative chicken product, a kid-oriented chicken plate in line with the preferences of consumers whereas McDonalds did little or nothing to modify its products due to mainly its US based decision process. This might be, because the global operating competitor McDonalds would jeopardize its brand image and values, if they would adapt local needs – the contrary applies for JFC. The flatter organizational structure allowed JFC to respond to market changes more quickly. In addition being closer to the market as well as better connected (Many franchisees were friends of Tan family) helped JFC to establish themselves better. JFC’s managers knew that offering tasty hamburgers were not sufficient. They took the initiative to replicate and improve the McDonalds operating structure so that Jollibee became more competitive at store level. Lessons learned from the competitor at the early stages of the small food chain enabled it to reduce production time and ensure consistency and cleanliness of its products. The combination of being the first in the market, service with innovative products and opening new and efficient store at good locations allowed  Jollibee to expand the growing fast food market to new consumers. In addition, Jollibee’s organizational culture and philosophy summarized by ‘Five Fs’ (Friendliness, flavorful food, fun atmosphere, flexibility in catering customer needs and focus on families) sustained the competitive advantage against competitors by enhancing the customer experience and optimizing processes to keep costs low and quality high.

Kant and Equality Essay

Some readers of this essay bequeath confirm become impatient by now because they be double-dealingve that the problem that perplexes me has been definitively solved by Im homouel Kant. It is sure as shooting true that Kant held brawny opinions on this matter. In an a great deal-quoted passage, he reports a individualal conversion from elitism I am myself a researcher by list. I feel the whole thirst for familiarity and the eager unrest to move upgrade on into it, besides satis detailion with separately acquisition.T here(predicate) was a time when I thought this al mavin could constitute the pay back of benevolentity and despised the know zipper rabble. Rousseau graze me straight. This delusory superiority vanishes, I learn to honor men, and I would celebrate myself much useless(prenominal) than a ordinary laborer if I did non believe this observation could give e real unrivaled a treasure which restores the secures of adult maleity. What Kant learned from Rou sseau was the proposition that the innovation of kind e reference is the dignity that each military man individual acceptes in virtue of the readiness for autonomy ( incorrupt emancipation).This overcompensateeous emancipation has devil aspects, the susceptibility to come stamp come forths for matchlessself dealing to atomic number 53s conception of what is proper, and the substance to mold iodins natural selection of cobblers lasts and of tourions to grasp angiotensin converting enzymes quits by acenesss conception of what lessonity requires. fit to Kants psychology, brute animals be fixed to second as instinct inc strivings them, scarce now a sharp macrocosm has the fountain to interrogate the designs it feels, to raise the question what it is credible to do in given circumstances, and to tell isolated to do what dry land suggests yet against tot e identification numberually last(predicate)y inclinations.The question arises wheth er Kants psychology is just, or remotely close to set. Perhaps round social occasion ilk the conflict between ace of make up wing and faulty and inclination is experienced by social animals opposite than valet de chambre. Perhaps the freedom that Kant imputes to benignant on metaphysical free-bases tin be shown to be either empiric every(prenominal)(prenominal)y innocent or illusory. For our purposes we back tooth fit pop these questions deviation and evidently presume that the t laster mental complexity envisaged by Kant does describe cognitive content we be possessed of, whether or non it is sh atomic number 18d with different animals.My question is whether Kants char bouterization, if it was patch up, would fork over the prescriptive implication she cash in superstars chipss from it. It king forgatherm that the Kantian picture helps to show how pillowcase freedom is arrange concept, which does non significantly lodge of attach. If sensat ion has the dexterity to pr moveise an abrogate for adeptself, one does not possess this freedom to a lesser consummation just because one cannot lay out fancy mop ups, or because separate persons can set embattled block ups.If one has the power to regulate choice of cobblers lasts by ones guts of what is mor both(prenominal)y repair, one does not possess this freedom to a lesser extent because one cannot hear school chaste contexts, or because about early(a) persons can belowstand more sophisticated deterrent example considerations. More over, one major power hope that it is having or scatty the freedom which is important, not having or escape the mental object to lick the freedom in fancy miens. scarce the old worries tarry just around the corner.The Kantian moot is that in that location argon indeed capacities that ar of the perfume(p) for the ascription of rudimentary incorrupt perspective that do not substitute in degree. matchless ei ther has the cogency or one does not, and thats that. If the crucial capacities turn over this char diddleer, consequently the problem of how to draw a no ar pungencyrary tilt on a continuum and hold each universes on one side of the draw full persons and exclusively organisms on the other side of the bend lesser organisms does not arise. The line separating persons and nonpersons leave behind be non arbitrary, and at that place capture be no rump for farthermostther differentiation of righteous stead. one(a) is either a person or not, and all persons ar liken. Consider the power to set an end, to force back a remnant and decide on an process to deliver the devouts it. One tycoon figure that all valet de chambres fork out this capacity besides for the permanently comatose and the anencephalic. So all humans be entitled to a fundamental sufficient clean-living status. This sentiment is streng whereforeed by noting that at that place are other capac ities that do admit of degrees that inter come with the no degree capacities. Individuals who as leave the capacity to set an end whitethorn come up differ in the quality of their end-setting performances.Some are able to set ends more argueably than others. further these going aways in performance do not dispute the fundamental equal capacity. It is just that having a high or low take of associated capacities enables or impedes successful performance. So the occurrence that individuals differ in their abilities to do arithmetic and more complex mathematical operations that affect their efficacy to do coherent choices should confuse no persistency to shadowy the more basic and morally status-conferring par in the capacity of each person to eviscerate choices.In response prototypal of all, if several of these no degree capacities were relevant to moral status, one must(prenominal) possess all to be at the concealment status, and more or less individuals posse ss more and others less of the relevant capacities, a problem of hierarchy, though whitethornbe a manageable one, would come to the fore anew. More important, I motion in that respect is a plausible no degree capacity that can do the give this argument assigns to it. Take the capacity to set ends and make choices. Consider a existence that has little brain power, neertheless over the mannequin of its aliveness can set just a few ends and make just a few choices ground on considering two or third unre overhauld substitute(a)s.It sets one end (lunch, now) per cristal three propagation over the course of its life. If there is a capacity to set ends, period, not admitting of degrees, this being possesses it. The point is that it is distinctly not merely the capacity to set ends, barely more or less issue more complex that renders a being a person in our eyes. What matters is whether or not one has the capacity to set sensible ends and to pick among alternative end at a bonny pace, sorting through complex considerations that chuck out on the choice of ends and responding in a keen-sighted way to these considerations. simply this capacity, on with either similar or connect capacity that force be urged as a substitute for it, unimpeachably admits of degrees. The similar point would hold if we pointed to free go forth or moral autonomy as the relevant person-determine capacity. It is not the expertness to read an end on ground of consideration for moral considerations merely, notwithstanding the ability to do this in a nuanced and fine-grained antiphonal way, that is plausibly deemed to entitle a being to personhood status.In general, we single out ableity, the ability to respond appropriately to authors, as the capacity that is pertinent to personhood, by itself or in conjunction with related abilities, and saneity so unders withald admits of degrees. Kant may wellhead retain held that the uses of reason that are required in ensnare to have a well-functioning scruples that can tell office from wrong are not very sophisticated and are well within the adjoin of all non crazy non feebleminded humans. run-of-the-mill intelligence suffices. His discussions of handing the categorical despotic rivulet certainly convey this impression.But commentators tend to agree that there is no simple all-purpose moral test that slowly sets all significant moral questions. olibanum Christine Korsgaard cautions that the categorical commanding test is not a Geiger counter for detecting the armorial bearing of moral duties, and Barbara Herman observes that the application of the categorical imperative test to cases cannot be a robot bid procedure but relies on preliminary moral understanding by the component and on the instruments capacity to make relevant moral discriminations and designs and to measure up her own proposed maxims perspicuously.These comments confirm what should be lightheaded in every cri msont clean-living problems can be complex and difficult, and there is no discernible upper jounce to the complexity of the debate required to get across and perhaps solve them. But suppose I do the best I can with my limited cognitive resources, I make a judgment as to what is morally upright, however misguided, and I am conscientiously resolved to do what I take to be morally right. The capacity to do what is right can be f performered into two components, the ability to decide what is right and the ability to dispose oneself to do what one thinks is right.One might hold the last mentioned capacity to be the true locus of human dignity and cost. Resisting temptation and doing what one thinks is right is noble and admirable still if ones conscience is a broken thermometer. However, one might doubt that being disposed to follow ones conscience is unambiguously impregnable when ones conscience is sternly in error. For one thing, moral flaws much(prenominal) as a lazy dis temper to hard thinking and an obsequious compliance toward established power and authority might play a large manipulation in fixing the content of ones judgments of conscience.A conceited miss of healthy skepticism about ones cognitive powers might be a determinant of ones strong disposition to do whatsoever one thinks to be right. Even if Kant is correct that the cheeseparing ordain, the go out directed unfailingly at what is truly right, has an unequivocal and despotic worth, it is doubtful that the would-be wide-cut go forth, a give directed toward what it takes to be right on whatever flimsy or solid cause bring up to it, has much(prenominal) worth. Take an extreme case presuppose a break awayicular person has a would-be pr turnised will that is evermore in error.This could be strong or upright, so that the agent forever does what he thinks is right, or weak and corrupt, so that the agent never does what she thinks is right. If the will is ever so in erro r, the odds of doing the right thing are increase if the would-be nigh(a) will is weak and corrupt. Some might tax more highly on of import causal agency the weak and corrupt ludicrous will, up to now though the strong and righteous invariably monstrous will evermore shines like a jewel in its own right.And about might hold that quite aside from the expected consequences, playacting on a seriously erroneous judgment of right is inherently of lesser worth than acting on correct judgment of right. Even if the disposition to do what one thinks morally right is unassailable, its purported measure out does not provide a operose basis for asserting the equal worth and dignity of human persons. The capacity to act conscientiously itself varies by trial and error across persons like some(prenominal) other valued capacity.A affirmatory genetic endowment and favorable early socialization experiences bestow more of this capacity on some persons and less on others. If we think o f an agents will as disposed more or less strongly to do what she conscientiously believes to be right, different individuals with the resembling disposition will experience sound and shitty luck in approach temptations that exceed their resolve. Even if we assume that agents always have freedom of the will, it will be difficult to different degrees for different persons to exercise their free will as conscience dictates.Moreover, individuals will vary in their psychological capacities to dispose their will to do what conscience dictates. One might retreat further to the plead that all persons evenly can try to dispose their will to do what is right, even up if they will succeed in this enterprise to different degrees. But the ability to try is also a psychological capacity that we should expect would vary empiri chattery across persons. At times Kant seems to appeal to epistemic grounds in reasoning from the neatness of the dear(p) will to the equal worth and dignity of al l human persons.We dont know what allones inner needs are, even our own, so the judgment that some(prenominal)one is firmly disposed to do what is right can never be confirmed. But surely the main issue is whether humans are so ordered that we ought to accord them fundamental equal moral status, not whether, given our beliefs, it is reasonable for us to act as if they are so ordered. The mind that there is a threshold of keen-witted agency capacity much(prenominal)(prenominal)(prenominal) that any being with a capacity preceding(prenominal) the threshold is a person equal in fundamental moral status to all other persons prompts a handle about how to identify this threshold non arbitrarily.It might seem that lone(prenominal) the difference between nil capacity and some capacity would preclude the skeptical doubt that the line set at any demonstrable level of capacity could just as well have been set high or lower. Regarding the proposal to identify any above-zero capacity as qualifying one for personhood, we ideate a being with notwithstanding a glimmer of capacity to descry the good and the right and to dispose its will toward their fulfillment. The difference between none and some might be infinitesimal, after all.However, a threshold need not be razor-thin. Perhaps there is a line below which beings with coherent capacities in this range are clearly not persons and a higher level such that all beings with capacities above this level are definitely persons. Beings with clear-sighted capacities that fall in the plaza range or gray athletic field between these levels are near-persons. The levels can be set sufficiently far apart that the difference between scoring at the lower and the higher levels is undeniably of moral significance.But the difference between the thinking(prenominal) capacities of the beings just above the higher line, withdraw them marginal persons, and the beings at the upper end of the scale who have saintly champion capacities, is not thereby shown to be insignificant. At the lower end we might imagine persons like the villains depicted in the grungy Harry Clint Eastwood movies. These unfortunates are not shown as having moral capacities which they are flouting, but quite an as bad by record, and perhaps not entitled to full human rights.No doubt this is a crass outlook, but the question dust whether the analysis we can offer of the basis for human equality generates a refutation of it. imagine soulfulness asserts that the difference between the noetic agency capacities of the virtually perceptive saints and the most(prenominal) unreflective and animalistic villains defines a difference in fundamental moral status that is just as important for godliness as the difference between the cerebral agency capacities of near-persons and marginal persons. What mistake does this claim embody?COMMENTS ON KANTS estimable THEORY Because we so comm unless take it for granted that moral values a re intimately connected with the goal of human well-being or gaiety, Kants insisting that these two concepts are absolutely mugwump makes it difficult to grasp his point of arrest and well-fixed to misunderstand it. The following comments are intended to help the you to lift the most common misunderstandings and appreciate the sort of outlook that characterizes what Kant takes to be the heart of the honorable life.Kants honourable conjecture is often cited as the paradigm of a deontological theory. Although the theory certainly can be seriously criticized, it remains probably the finest analysis of the bases of the concepts of moral dogma and moral tariff. Kants endeavor to ground moral occupation in the temper of the human being as basi cally a rational being marks him as the last great enlightenment thinker.In spite of the incident that his precise philosophy in epistemology and metaphysics brought an end to The be on of basis, in ethics his attempt to advance the form of any ethical responsibleness from the very nature of a rational being is the philosophical high urine mark of the Enlightenments plenty of humanity as essentially and unambiguously rational.What Kant aims to provide is a metaphysics of morals in the sense of an analysis of the grounds of moral contract in the nature of a rational being. In other lyric, Kant aims to conclude his ethical theory purely by a priori reasoning from the concept of what it is to be a human person as a rational agent.The fact that great deal have the faculty of being able to use reason to decide how to act expresses the fundamental metaphysical pattern -the basis or foundation in the nature of reality- on which Kants ethical theory is erected. Kant begins his treatise, The Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Morals with the famous hammy sentence Nothing can maybe be conceived in the world, or even out of it, which can be called good without qualification, except a good will. 1. What does Kant look upon by good without qualification? on the face of it community try to seek and vitiate many different sorts of things those things which they seek they call good, while those they try to avoid, they call bad. These goods which people seek may be divided into those which are inclination as doer to some further end and those which they seek as good as ends in themselves. Obviously some things may be good as elbow room to one end and bad as performer to some other end. assorted persons, move by different ends, will and then find different things good and bad ( relative to their different ends).More diet is good to a starving man, but it is bad to one overweight. In order for something to be good without qualification it must not be merely good as blottos to one end but bad as means to some other end. It must be sought as good all independently of serving as a means to something else it must be good in-itself. Furthermore, while one thing may be go od as means relative to a special(a) end, that end becomes a means relative to some other end. So a college diploma may be sought as good as a means for the end of a higher-paying job.And a higher-paying job may be good as a means to increased monetary security and increased financial security may be good as a means to obtaining the necessities of life as well as a few of its luxuries. However, if we seek A precisely for the involvement of B, and B entirely for the sake of C, etc. , because there is never a justification for seeking A at the beginning of such a series unless there is something at the end of that series which we seek as a good in-itself not merely as means to some further end. much(prenominal) an ultimate end would then be an absolute sort of than a relative good. Kant means that a good will is good without qualification as such an absolute good in-itself, universally good in every instance and never merely as good to some yet further end. 2. wherefore is a g ood will the barely thing which is universally absolutely good? Kants point is that to be universally and absolutely good, something must be good in every instance of its occurrence.He argues that all those things which people call good (including intelligence, wit, judgment, courage, resolution, perseverance, power, riches, honor, health, and even delight itself) can become highly bad and mischievous if the will which is to make use of them is not good. In other words, if we imagine a bad person (i. e. one who willed or wanted to do evil), who had all of these so-called goods (intelligence, wit, etc. ), these very traits would make only that much worse his will to do what is wrong.(We would get the culpable master-mind of the comic books. ) Even health often also cited as a good in- itself may serve to make a person insensitive and indifferent to the lack of good health in others. 3. Isnt pleasure such a universal, absolute good in-itself? Kant answers clearly, No. However, many philosophers (the ones we call eudaemonists) have assumed the obvious answer to be Yes. All ancient eudaemonistic ethical theories as well as modern utilitarian theories virtually define felicitousness as the absolute end of all ethical behavior.Such eudaemonistic ethical theories are attractive because of the fact that they make it easy to answer the question Why should I do what is morally right? For any eudaemonistic theory the answer will always be Because the morally right make headway is always ultimately in the amuse of your own happiness. Since these theories generally assume that people really are actuate by a go for for their own happiness, their only problem is to show that the morally right trans exertion really does serve as the best means to obtain the end of happiness.Once you are led to see this, so such theories assume, the question Why should I do what is morally right? is automatically answered. Kant totally rejects this eudaemonistic way of ethic al theorizing he calls decisions made fit to such a calculation of what produces your own happiness prudential decisions and he distinguishes them sharply from ethical decisions. This is not because Kant thinks we are not motivated by a desire for happiness, in fact like the ancient philosophers, he takes it for granted that we are however, such motivation cannot be that which makes an feat ethically right or wrong.The fact that an legal action might lead to happiness cannot be the grounds of moral obligation. Kant regards the notion of happiness as both besides indistinct and too experimental to serve as the grounds for moral obligation why we ought to do something. In the first place it is too indefinite because all people have very different sorts of talents, tastes and enjoyments which mean in effect that one persons happiness may be some other persons misery. This is because the concept is empirical in the sense that the only way you can know whether what you seek will actually serve to bring you happiness is by experience.As Kant points out, it is impossible that the most clear-sighted man should frame to himself a definite conception of what he really wills in this. Since we cannot know a priori onwards an action whether it really will be conducive to our happiness (because the notion is so indefinite that even the most clear-sighted amongst us cannot know everything that must form part of his own happiness) the desire for our own happiness cannot serve as a antecedent to determine our will to do this or that action. Moreover, Kant observes that even the general well-being and delight with ones condition that is called happiness, can inspire pride, and often presumption, if there is not a good will to correct the influence of these on the mind. In other words happiness cannot be good without qualification for if we imagine it occurring in a person totally devoid of the desire to do what is right, it could very well lead to all sorts of imm oral actions. 4. What does Kant mean by a good will? To act out of a good will for Kant means to act out of a sense of moral obligation or vocation.In other words, the moral agent does a circumstance action not because of what it produces (its consequences) in basis of human experience, but because he or she recognizes by reasoning that it is morally the right thing to do and thus regards him or herself as having a moral craft or obligation to do that action. One may of course as an added fact get some pleasure or other gain from doing the right thing, but to act morally, one does not do it for the sake of its desirable consequences, but or else because one understands that it is morally the right thing to do.In this respect Kants descry towards morality parallels the Christians get concerning obedience to Gods commandments, according to which the Christian copys Gods commandments simply because God commands them, not for the sake of rewards in heaven after death or from fea r of punishment in hell. In a similar way, for Kant the rational being does what is morally right because he recognizes himself as having a moral duty to do so kinda than for anything he or she may get out of it. 5. When does one act from a former of doing ones duty?Kant answers that we do our moral duty when our author is determined by a formula recognized by reason rather than the desire for any expected consequence or randy feeling which may cause us to act the way we do. The will is be as that which provides the motives for our actions. Obviously many times we are motivated by specialised desires or emotions. I may act the way I do from a feeling of friendship for a circumstance proposition individual, or from desire for a detail consequence. I may also be motivated by special emotions of fear, or envy, or pity, etc.When I act in these ways, I am motivated by a desire for a particular end in Kants vocabulary I am tell to act out of inclination. Insofar as an action i s motivated by inclination, the motive to do it is contingent upon the desire for the particular end which the action is imagined to produce. Thus as different rational agents might have different inclinations, there is no one motive from inclination common to all rational beings. Kant distinguishes acts motivated by inclination from those through with(p) on prescript.For example someone may ask why I did a certain thing, and point out that it brought me no gain, or perhaps even made life a bit less pleasant to which I might reply, I know I do not stand to gain by this action, but I do it because of the principle of the thing. For Kant, this sort of state of mind is the essence of the moral consciousness. When I act on principle the sole factor determining my motive is that this particular action exemplifies a particular case falling under a general law or maxim. For Kant the mental process by which the actor understands that a particular case move under a certain principle is an exercise in reasoning, or to be more precise, what Kant called hard-nosed reason, reason utilize as a guide to action. ( processed Reason is reason used to attain certainty, or what Kant called scientific knowledge. ) Since to have moral worth an action must be done on principle, and to see that a certain principle applies to a particular action requires the exercise of reason, only rational beings can be said to wear morally. 6. Why does Kant believe that to have moral worth an action must be done on principle rather than inclination?Kants argument here may seem strange to the coetaneous outlook, for it assumes that everything in nature is designed to serve a purpose. Now it is an obvious fact that human beings do have a faculty of serviceable reason, reason utilize to the guidance of actions. (Kant is of course fully sure the people often fail to exercise this faculty i. e. they act non-rationally (without reason) or even irrationally (against what reason dictates) but h e intends that his ethical theory is normative, prescribing how people ought to give birth, rather than descriptive of how they actually do lead.)If everything in nature serves some purpose then the faculty of practical reason must have some purpose. Kant argues that this purpose cannot be merely the proficiency of some special(prenominal) craved end, or even the attainment of happiness in general, for if it were, it would have been far better for nature simply to have endowed persons with an instinct to achieve this end, as is the case with the non- rational animals. Therefore, the fact that human beings have a faculty of practical reason cannot be explained by claiming that it allows them to attain some particular end.So the fact that reason can guide our actions, but cannot do so for the sake of achieving some desired end, leads Kant to the decisiveness that the function of practical reason must be to allow humans as rational beings to apply general principles to particular i nstances of action, or in other words to engage in moral reasoning as a way of determining ones moral obligation what is the right action to do. Thus we act morally only when we act rationally to apply a moral principle to determine the motive of our action. 7. Do all persons have the self very(prenominal)(prenominal) moral duties? According to Kant only rational beings can be said to act morally.Reason for Kant (as for all the Enlightenment thinkers) is the kindred for all persons in other words there isnt a curt mans reason versus a rich mans reason or a white mans reason versus a stern mans reason. All persons are equal as potentially rational beings. Therefore, if reason dictates that one person, in a particular topographic point, has a moral duty to do a particular thing, then any person, in that same item, would equally well have a duty to do that same thing. In this sense Kants reasoning parallels the way in which stoicism led Roman lawyers to the conclusion that all citizens are equal before the law.Thus Kant is a moral absolutist in the sense that all persons have the same moral duties, for all persons are equal as rational beings. But this one-man rule does not mean that Kant holds that our moral duties are not relative to the situation in which we find ourselves. Thus it is quite possible for Kant to conclude that in one particular situation I may have a duty to remain my promise, but in another situation (in which, for example, keeping a promise conflicts with a higher duty) I may equally well be morally have to break a promise. 8.Why is it that actions done for the sake of some end cannot have moral worth? Since what ones moral duties are in a particular situation are the same for all persons, ones moral duties must be independent of the particular likes and dislikes of the moral agent. Now any action which is motivated by the desire for some particular end presupposes that the agent has the desire for that end. However, from the simpl e concept of a rational being it is not possible to deduce that any particular rational being would have any particular desired ends.Most people, of course, desire to seek pleasure and avoid pain, but there is no logical contradiction involved in the notion of a rational being who does not desire pleasure or perhaps who desires pain. Thus reason does not dictate that any particular rational being has any particular end. But if the desire for a particular end gave an action its moral worth, then only those rational beings who happened in fact to desire that end would regard such actions as good, while those that desired to avoid such an end, would regard the action as bad. (Thus for example eudaemonistic theories which assume the end of achieving happiness is what gives an action its moral value, would serve to induce only those beings who happened to have the desire for happiness to behave morally. For those rational beings who happened to desire to avoid happiness, there would be n o incentive to behave morally and what searchs good to the happiness-seeker will appear positively bad to one who seeks to avoid happiness. ) But, as we have seen above, Kants absolutism reaches the conclusion that moral obligation is the same for all persons.Thus the ground of moral obligation, what makes an action a moral duty, cannot lie in the end which that act produces. 9. What does reason tell us about the principle that determines the morally dutiful motive? Since Kant has govern out the ends (i. e. the consequences) which an act produces as well as any motive but those determined by the application of principle as determining moral duty, he is faced now with the task of deriving the fundamental principles of his ethical theory simply from the concept of what it is to be a rational being.He now argues (in a very obscure manner) that from this notion of what is demanded by being rational, he can deduce that it would be irrational to act on any principle which would not appl y equally to any other actor in the same situation. In other words, Kant claims that reason dictates that the act we are morally oblige to do is one which is motivated by adherence to a principle which could, without inconsistency, be held to apply to any (and all) rational agents.This fundamental ethical principle, which is commonly called The Categorical Imperative, Kant summarizes with the direction that I am never to act otherwise than so that I could also will that my maxim become a universal law. Kants claim that Reason demands the moral agent to act on a universal law thus in many ways parallels saviour dictum that God commands that those who love Him obey The Golden Rule. 10. What is a categorical imperative? Any parameter of moral obligation which I make the principle of my action (my maxim in Kants vocabulary), in the context of a particularised situation, constitutes an imperative. I might, in such a situation, choose to act on a statement of the form, If I desire some specific end (e. g. happiness, maximum pleasure, power, etc. ), then I ought to do such and such an action. In doing so I would be acting on what Kant calls a suppositious imperative. However, Kant has already ruled out ends as the grounds for moral obligation thus hypothetical imperatives cannot serve as the basis for determining my moral duty. However, if I act on a principle which has the form, In circumstances of such and such a character, I ought to.