An essay about the supply and demand Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

An about the supply and demand - Essay Example In order to maximize profit, suppliers have to sell their goods and services at high prices but this has to consider the purchasing power of the intended market. This paper is a critical evaluation of supply and demand as principles of economics. Concepts of Supply and Demand The Law of Demand The law of demand states that the higher the price of a commodity, the lower the quantity demanded cateris paribus, while the lower the prices the higher the demand (Fisher 36). Cateris paribus in this case implies that all other factors that influence demand are held at a constant. These are for example weather, taste and preferences, income among others. This is due to the fact that the law of demand is basically dependent on two variables i.e. quantity demanded and price. The following diagram is a demand curve, which is a graphical depiction of the law of demand. Fig 1 From the diagram, it can be noted that the quantity demanded was highest, (Q3), at the lowest price, P1, while it was lowes t at price P3, which was highest. However, it is important to note that not all goods abide by the law of demand. These are for example giffen goods and products that act as status symbols. Giffen goods are defined as inferior commodities whose demand goes up with rising prices while the vice versa is also true (Baye 42). Inferior, in this context, does not necessarily imply that the goods are of poor quality. For example, if the staple food in a family is rice, products such as meat may be perceived as superior. If the price of rice goes up, it would be normal to find people buying more rice and less of meat and when the prices go down, more meat is bought in comparison to rice. The two goods are not substitutes and in this case, it is assumed that the consumer can afford both items therefore eliminating opportunity cost. On the other hand, status symbols are goods whose value creates a perceivable higher social standing in the society (Gorman 29). For example, if the price of a Me rcedes Benz makes it unaffordable for the common market as opposed to that of a Toyota sedan, then, any person owning a Mercedes would be perceived as having an economic advantage over the owner of a sedan. It therefore goes without saying that a reduction in the price of a Mercedes would make it lose its value as a status symbol and that would definitely make it lose its demand to other more expensive and luxurious vehicles. On the other hand, an increase in its price would increase its value as a status symbol thus increasing its demand thereby defying the law of demand. Movements along a Demand Curve versus Shifts in Demand Curve A movement along a demand curve is dependent on one variable only which is price. From the diagram below, DD1and DD2 represents the demand for a commodity, with prices plotted on the Y axis while quantity demanded on the X axis. DD1 will be used to illustrate movement along a demand curve while DD2 illustrates a shift in a demand curve. Fig. 2 On the DD1 curve, it is notable that when the price was at p1, the quantity demanded was highest at Q3. However, after the prices increased to p2 and p3, the quantity demanded moved to the lower side i.e. from Q3 to Q2 and Q1 respectively. However, the demand curve shifted entirely to the right as a result of an increase in income. Notice that prices p1 to p3 remained static but still, the quantity

Napoleons Quest to Egypt Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Napoleons Quest to Egypt - Essay Example One of the greatest military commanders and a risk taking gambler; a workaholic genius and an impatient short term planner; a vicious skeptic who forgave his closest betrayers; a misogynist who could captivate men; Napoleon Bonaparte was all of these and more, the twice-emperor of France whose military endeavors and sheer personality ruled Europe in person for a decade, and in thought for a century. Napoleon was born in Ajaccio, Corsica, on August 15th 1769 to Carlo Buonaparte, a lawyer and political opportunist, and his wife, Marie-Letizia Bonaparte. The Buonaparte's were a rich family from the Corsican nobility, although when compared to the great aristocracies of France Napoleon's kin were poor and pretentious. A combination of Carlo's social climbing, Letizia's adultery with the Comte de Marbeuf - Corsica's French military governor - and Napoleon's own ability enabled him to enter the military academy at Brienne in 1779. He moved to the Parisian cole Royale Militaire in 1784 and graduated a year later as a second lieutenant in the Artillery. Spurred on by his father's death early in February 1785, the future emperor had completed in one year a course that often took three. Despite being posted on the French mainland, Napoleon was able to spend much of the next eight years in Corsica thanks to his ferocious letter writing and rule bending, as well as the effects of the French revolution and sheer good luck. There he played an active part in political and military matters, initially supporting the Corsican rebel Pasquale Paoli, a former patron of Carlo Buonaparte. Military promotion also followed, but Napoleon became opposed to Paoli and when civil war erupted in 1793 the Buonapartes fled to France, where they adopted the French version of their name: Bonaparte. Historians have frequently used the Corsican affair as a microcosm of Napoleon's career. Napoleon became a hero in 1795, defending the government from angry counter-revolutionary forces; Napoleon was promoted to high military office, a position with access to the political spine of France. Bonaparte quickly grew into one of the country's most respected military authorities - largely by never keeping his opinions to himself - and he married Josephine de Beauharnais (Cronin, 2006). After the events in his place, he wants to explore the east and want to conquer Egypt. Many Historians had interpreted Napoleon's quest to Egypt that he wants to follow the footsteps of Alexander the Great. The French attempt to apply influence over Egypt was because of economics, a political need to deteriorate Britain and the personal needs of General Napoleon Bonaparte, who saw the shadow of unemployment - and a loss of influence - threatening as his armies in Italy were nearing the end of their successful struggles against Austria. Having seen the benefits of Britain's profitable colonies, France's Directory listened to Bonaparte's idea to invade Egypt, drive out the ruling Mamelukes and put up a modern style of government friendly towards French ways. Napoleon's swift victory may have been due to the way he adapted to the rigours of warfare in the Near East. He faced a highly developed cavalry with little of his own, but by organizing his infantry into hollow squares which faced four directions, he could repel a charge from any side. This combined with his artillery enabled Napoleon to resist the Mameluke attacks (Brahmrosensweig, 2006). On

Formal Informal Social Support Systems Health And Social Care Essay

Formal Informal Social Support Systems Health And Social Care Essay Realising that it is the natural right that all those who labour should enjoy to the fullest extent the fruits of their labour the Colonial Government of the Gold Coast initiated a package for public service workers who went on retirement after serving in the public service for over 30 years, passed an ordinance as part of the reforms in the colony. That ordinance came to be known as CAP 30. The following category of workers were entitled to enjoy this package, Ghana Armed Forces, Police Service, Fire Service, Ghana Education Service, Ghana Health Service, Civil Service etc. However, by 1972 the law was amended to allow another body, SSNIT to take responsibility of some category of workers contribution towards their retirement. After 1972, employees of the Ghana Education Service, Ghana Health Service, and Judiciary Service amongst others were directly under the SSNIT Pension Scheme with the exception of the Security Services. The Social Security Pension Scheme was established under the PNDC Law 247 of 1991. The Scheme is administered by the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) to cater for Civil and Public Servants, Employees in the private sector, Professionals, Traders, Artisans, Farmers and also the self-employed. The Social Security Scheme is the only basic Social Security Scheme that insures a worker against the following contingencies: Old Age, Invalidity and Death. The worker contributes 5% of his/her basic salary and the employer adds 12.5% of the workers basic salary, making a total of 17.5% which is paid to SSNIT. The rate of Contribution for Self-Employed or Voluntary Contributor is 17.5% of declared income. It would interest you to know that Government Pension or cap 30 attracts a huge sum of money than the SSNIT pension which is relatively lower. This disparity in the pension administration has brought about workers agitation for fairness in their retirement benefits. In the public sector a person qualifies for full pension at the age of 60years and you must have made a minimum contribution of 240 months in aggregate but can voluntarily go on retirement at age 55years for reduced pension and must have made a minimum contribution of 240 months. As a result of ill-health one qualifies for invalidity pension. In that case you must have made contributions for not less than 12months in aggregate within the last 36 months and you must have been declared permanently invalid and incapable of any normal gainful employment by a qualified and recognized medical officer and certified by a Regional Medical Board on which a SSNIT Medical Officer is represented. Since 1957 when the country gained independence expatriate officers in the Ghana Civil Service opted to retire and many vacancies occurred. This created the opportunity for Ghanaians who were on pension to be re-engaged in the Civil Service on contract. These officers enjoyed their pension in addition to their remuneration as contract officers. However, in 1968, the Government of Ghana ordered the cessation of the payment of the pension package in addition to the salaries attached to the contract appointment. This measure obviously did not go down well with the affected pensioners who considered it a stab at the back and a breach of faith. ( Tachie-Menson, 2003). In Accra, a group of pensioners engaged the services of lawyers to fight their cause for them. They succeeded and thus the emergence of the Ghana Government Pensioners Association for Accra which also assumed a national status. The way was then opened for branches in all the regional capitals to register members and make payment of part of their monthly dues to Accra. In Wa the pensions Association was formed in 1986 to cater for retired workers in the municipality. Pensioners under the Government Pensions Association are over six hundred as the number keep dwindling due to death. Pensioner with the SSNIT, as at February, 2010 stood at one hundred thousand four hundred and fifty eight with a retirement rate of 0.65%. It was my doubt that some retired public service workers would live uncomfortable lives after long years of contributing meaningfully to mother Ghana as those kinds of assumptions, suggestions, and my personal experience of my aged parents that prompted me to undertake this proposal in this area. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM There is a general perception out there that retirement from active service in Ghana renders one jobless and with nothing to do which often leads to frustration and early death in life if one does not plan life properly. This is attributed to the fact that people on retirement who do not plan well use their benefits to find shelter for themselves after which they end up living on their meager monthly allowance. It is claimed because most workers are not able to put up shelter during their working lives before they go on retirement. This has been the situation over the last decade and more and has rather impoverished retirees. Such claims are not hard to find in the municipality if one visits these retired workers at their homes. Therefore retired workers whose family members are not there to support them are left to their fate or are forced to put up with neighbours. It is also worrying to find frail looking pensioners go to their banks every fortnight to struggle for their allowance s. In some situations those incapacitated to the extent that they cannot make the journey to the bank would not have access to their money unless they prepare an authority note to be endorsed by the Association and countersigned by the Accountant Generals representative for the bank to effect payment, a process quite laborious. Calculation of retirement benefits of Government Pension which was originally based on the pension constant of 1/960th of ones terminal salary multiplied by the number of years served in months was reviewed in 1946 by the Harragin Salary Commission to 1/600th and has since been increased to 1/480th. The amount arrived at is spilt for 25% to be paid as gratuity and the remaining 75% as pension which is spread over 20 years and is payable monthly. On the death of a pensioner what is due him/her from the remaining period out of the twenty years is paid to his/her beneficiaries as commuted pension. (Tachie-Menson, 2003) For beneficiaries of a deceased pensioner to claim the unexpected portion of the twenty years pension there are three approaches towards that end:- (a)The nomination form filed with his Department while a civil servant in which he indicated his beneficiaries is the first to be used as authority for disbursement. However, the nomination forms can be revised at any time that the person wishes. (b)The will is the next authority to be used for disbursement, if it super cedes the nomination form. (c)In the absence of the two above, Letters of Administration prepared jointly by the head of the pensioners family on one side and the wife and children on the other, must be obtained from the Law Courts with which to claim the commuted pension. As the years roll by for inflation to set in adjustments are made to salaries by the grant of allowances in various forms to the basic salaries of Civil Servants. However, when allowances are added to the basic salaries to mitigate the effect of the rising cost of living, it does not reflect in the pension calculation. This prompts the Ghana Government Pensioners Association to enter into serious negotiations with the Government for pension to be increase. When the consolidated salary was introduced pensioners were left in the lurch. The Associations negotiating machinery was put to the test with the bargaining power of the Public Services Workers Union of which the Association is a Division; Government then consented to the grant of 50%. Therefore to address the issue of social support for the retired public sector workers in the municipality, it is important to know that the enormous concern of this essay is focused on the poor adoption of measures on the part of local authorities and community members to provide additional welfare resources and other social interventions to support the retired. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY: This research would give an in-depth knowledge of the formal and informal social support systems of retired workers and to know the plight of retired workers so as to come out with remedies to assist these aged citizens. It would also contribute to prepare would- be retirees to adequately plan for their future retirement. Furthermore, before a research of this nature is meaningfully carried out in the municipality of Wa, it is imperative to have some knowledge about what the area under study is made up of. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY The objectives of the study are as follows: Specific objective: A. To evaluate the adequacy of available formal and informal support and welfare resources to the retired persons at the community level. The investigation will be directed toward the identification of social support systems that would meet the growing and changing needs of the retired. GENERAL OBJECTIVES: 1. To determine, in some Ghanaian communities, social support systems for elderly persons. 2. To study both support providers and the beneficiaries comprehensively in order to understand how poverty and the needs of the retired are distributed, and how they are dealt with in practice. 3. To determine the degree of success of formal interventions of support provision to the elderly. 4. To ascertain the social pattern of relief and support, and to draw the social implications of the existing and changing patterns so that appropriate and adequate social policies may be formulated. RESEARCH QUESTIONS: These specific objectives above will be framed around the following specific and general questions: How adequate are the formal and informal social support and welfare resources of retired public sector workers? GENERAL QUESTIONS: 1. What are the general cultural expectations about the retired person in the community and how are these changing? 2. What resources are available to them? 3. To what extent do retired persons avail themselves of the community resources and at what cost? 4. What factors encourage or discourage utilization of such resources? 5. To what extent do the resources available complement one another to meet the needs of the retired and what needs are left unmet? 6. What are the principles of reciprocity involved in these various support arrangements in the family and the community? LITERATURE REVIEW: In reviewing literature, the study will triangulate conceptual and theoretical frame work of the topic understudy. The operational definition of key concepts include the terms formal, informal, social support systems and public sector workers. I am interested in defining formal as the official government situation in the line of events. Informal means private and unofficial initiative. Social support system means social interventions to the vulnerable. My construct of these concepts is similar to other concepts that are in use. However, in the past Social welfare protection, in the form of insurance and assistance programmes, emerged in Europe in the 1800s in order to provide citizens with an economic safety net during periods of illness, economic hardship, and other shocks as discussed (Palacios Sluchynsky, 2006). Today, nearly every country has some form of social protection developed to provide economic support in times of need (International Social Security Association, 2005). Assistance comes in the form of old-age pensions, survivor benefits, family allowances or other supports. In Africa, the author suggests that social welfare programmes were originally developed in the 1950s and 1960s as a safety net for white workers (Dixon, 1987). Employer-based contributory pensions were the dominant model. Still today, these pensions primarily serve the wealthiest workers who live in urban areas and have secure careers in the public sector (Palacios Sluchynsky, 2006). Those who are excluded from these benefits are left to rely upon the traditional safety net of family aid, mutual support, and communal living. For example, in Kenya, the clan system has operated as a labour union world, pooling resources and providing extra support during vulnerable periods (Dixon, 1987). This informal system has eroded. However, as countries have developed and urbanized, sources of livelihoods have diversified, family sizes shrunk, and the population aged. Moreover, throughout sub-Saharan Africa, poverty has further destabilized households, changed demographic patterns and orphaned enormous numbers of children (UNICEF, 2006). Vulnerable populations face a social protection vacuum when both formal programmes and informal practices fail to provide the safety nets that families need to survive, even though social protection is a proven component in fighting poverty and responding to families overwhelmed by disease or other shocks (Barrientos DeJong, 2004; Bourguignon, Ferreira, Leite, 2002; Chronic Poverty Research Centre, 2005; Skoufias di Maro, 2006). Throughout Africa, social protection programmes could well be mechanisms that enable families to economically survive and help children reach their potential. The reality that social welfare schemes in Africa exclude more people than they cover, has been established (Dixon, 1987; Fultz Pieris, 1999; Taylor, 2001) and yet there are important reasons to revisit this topic. He argues that in the last decade, a growing number of countries have expanded or developed new programmes in an effort to reduce poverty as well as to invest in human and economic development. Evidence of the growing momentum around social protection schemes include the Livingstone Call For Action (2006) where thirteen Eastern and Southern African governments pledged to draft costed national social transfer plans within two to three years. In a related situation, the African Union is driving and supporting efforts to promote the development of better social welfare systems; while heads of states throughout the world, have committed to building, where needed, and supporting the social security systems that protects the aged (United Nations General Assembly, 2006). The purpose of this paper is to investigate the characteristics of existing social welfare policies in Ghana and countries throughout Africa. These policies are described and the characteristics of existing social welfare schemes are analyzed in order to facilitate dialogue on how governments, supported by the international community, can improve current welfare schemes and build new systems that are better aligned with the needs of vulnerable populations, in order to provide a meaningful social safety net. METHODOLOGY: In order to examine the characteristics of government and employer provided social support schemes to retired workers, the research must conduct an enquiry aimed at increasing knowledge based on facts. Therefore to achieve this, a systematic method and instruments of collating and collecting data should be used since the appropriateness of these methods and instruments to a large extent determine the validity and reliability of the data. Also the sample used should be a true representation of the population as well as the instrument utilized in the research. STUDY AREA The Wa Municipality is one of the oldest districts in the region, and the biggest of the nine districts. It is the capital town of the region. The estimated population of Wa Municipality for 2008 is 124,476 as against 105,065 in 2000, an increase of about19%. The population density of the area is 38 persons per square kilometers. It has about 32 communities. Because Wa doubles as the Municipal and Regional capital, it has a high population growth rate of 4% per annum with a greater proportion of the total population of the Municipality and the Region concentrated in it. Wa Municipality covers the Southwestern parts of the region. It stretches from longitude 1Ù’Â °40N to 2Â ° 45N and from latitude 9Â ° 32W to 10Â ° 20W. It covers an area of approximately 5899.30 square kilometers, which is about 32% and 2.56%of the region and the nation respectively. To the South, Southwest and Southeast, Wa Municipality shares common boundaries with Wa West/Wa East, Wa West and Wa East Districts respectively. To the north, Wa Municipality is bordered by Nadwoli District. It has more retired civil and public servants and also suitable in terms of providing sufficient sample sizes of retired persons. TARGET POPULATION The target population for this research is the retired civil and public sector workers in the municipality and their families. Retired civil and public sector workers are of two categories. The first category is made up of pensioners under Government Pension scheme and the second category is made up of pensioners under SSNIT Pension scheme. SAMPLE A number of samples will be drawn for the study. Unlike Census, where the entire population is covered by the study, sampling enables a researcher to study a relatively small part of the target population and yet obtain accurate and detailed data that are representative of the whole at a lower cost (Sarantakos, 2005). . The first sample of respondents will be made up of community members who are 60 years and above. The second respondents will be made up of family members, kin relationship and local authorities. SAMPLING PROCEDURE A snowball sampling procedure will be used. By this method a retired public sector worker is identified within the community and interviewed. This first respondent then leads the researcher to the next respondent who also falls with the target group. The process is continued until the required number of respondents is interviewed. CHOICE OF RESEARCH METHOD Considerable interest is shown in the choice of research methods to use in this research proposal. There is the quantitative data and method approach which often is associated with positivism, the prevailing paradigm in recent times. Under this approach scientific methods can more or less readily represent and measure concepts which seek to predict and explain causal relations among key variables. However, some critics are of the view that positivistic methods reduce the contextual meanings in the process of developing quantified measures of phenomena. Though the issue of empirical approach to research has been justified by its success in measuring quantitative research, in more recent years, scientists have been challenged to explain phenomena that defy measurement and their inability to quantitatively measure some phenomena, and the dissatisfaction with which the results of measurement of other phenomena have led to an intense search for other approaches to study human phenomena. A modern approach, which came to be known as post positivism, is a recent evolution of positivism which focus has been on qualitative methods, and is modeled on positivistic methods and experimental designs (Miles and Huberman, 1993). This approach has led to the acceptance of qualitative research approach which does not need empirical data to discover knowledge. However, one cannot help but to stuck by the success of qualitative research methods in the market place of academic ideas (Atkinson, 1995, p. 117). The tradition of using qualitative methods to study human phenomena is grounded in the social sciences. The tradition came about because aspects of human values, culture, and relationships were unable to be described fully using quantitative research methods. More recently, the practice of qualitative research has expanded to clinical settings because empirical approaches have proven to be of limited service in answering some of the challenges and pressing clinical questions, especially where human subjectivity and interpretation are involved (Thorne, 1997, p. 28). However, the use of qualitative research has its own flaws as well. It is unable to study relationships between variables with the degree of accuracy that is required to establish social trends. For the purpose of this proposal a triangulation of qualitative and quantitative methodology would be used to analyse data. However qualitative method has a more flexible approach in pr ocedure to construction of research design in the sampling, data collection and processing and reporting. DATA COLLECTION Data will be collected from a variety of sources within the selected community, from families, kin, neighbours, educationists, legal and health practitioners, from neighbourhood and community associations, religious groups, welfare agencies, specialised groups such as trade unions, from local councils and other organised groups. Further information gathered will come from retired persons themselves, from their families/kin, extra familial networks, neighbourhood, their community and from state agencies. The material gathered from these levels will be in a complementary relationship to one another in order to approximate a high degree of reliability and validity. The principal data that will be gathered include the followings: (a) Community profile: geographic, demographic, historical, political-social and economic conditions of the community, placed within the national context. (b) Prevailing cultural norms and the expectations concerning the retired persons and their care, conceptions about reciprocity and exchange, family and kinship relationship etc. (c) Inventory and detailed descriptions of indigenous informal support systems and of formal support systems available within the community. Another source of data collection will be a historical review of formal and informal support systems available in the community and local levels. At the formal level, data will include the public services and programmes instituted by the government at different levels. At the informal level, data will include information on the traditional supporting roles played by family, kin, patrons and others. Data collection will proceed by means of primary sources of data such as interviews, questionnaire, and focus group discussions. Secondary data through existing literature will be used by the researcher. In terms of priorities, it is expected that questionnaires will be constructed and pretested. INTERVIEWS The interview is a face to face meeting between a questioner and a respondent, or an oral presentation of an opinion or attitude scale (Zikmund, 1994). Structured interview will be used for meeting the respondents. It will however be inter space with unstructured interviews when interacting with non pensioners. QUESTIONNAIRES A questionnaire is a written instrument that contains a series of questions or statements called items that attempts to collect information on a particular topic. It is useful for large scale surveys that involve collection of data from literate respondents. Questionnaire will be administered to pensioners as well. FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION Another source of data collection will be focus group discussions. This third phase about 9-12 pensioners will be grouped for discussions about their personal experience before and after active service. The selection of participant will be balance in terms of sex to give it a fair representation. DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION In recording the information or data gathered, I will employ both quantitative and qualitative analysis. Data will be described and in other cases subjected to quantitative analysis regarding trends in each dimension of the topic. Correlations between aspects of the topic and a series of other variables to establish more detailed results will be conducted. Beyond this, the researcher is expected to explain behaviours more extensively and more accurately. Where data needs empirical analysis quantitative model will be used and where it needs description and collection and analysis occur simultaneously, qualitative model will be suitable. INTENDED BENEFITS The Government under the Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare is seriously considering the development of a national policy for the aged. Local authorities should compliment government effort by initiating social and community activities to engage the elderly in the community as well as supplement government efforts of finding welfare resources for them. The results of this study should identify and address gaps in existing interventions. My contribution to the study is to draw to attention that every worker dreams of going on retirement one day. Therefore adequate preparations should be made for the aged who have live most of their life working to develop the country so that they dont retire and still wallow in poverty. My motivation stern from the very experience of having to handle my aged parents who were once public servants and are now on retirement and in addition to relations and friends who are affected in one way or another of their aged relatives. The intention of spending time and money on this exercise is to bring about an improvement of the status quo. TIME PLAN PHASE 1 PHASE 2 PHASE 3 FROM TO FROM TO FROM TO DATA GATHERING METHOD 1 use of questions 2 interviews 3Focus grp Dis. June-July. Pre test Decem.-Jan. Retired workers. June-July Cap 30 Retired Workers Oct. Nov. August-September Commty. profile Feb-Mar. Families Kin. Commty mmb August Sept. SSNIT Retired Workers Octob.- Novem. Prevailng cul. Norm April.-May edu, Leg., Health workrs ANALYSIS METHODS 1 Qualitative Mainly descriptive analysis of data. Often collection and analysis will occur simultaneously. METHODS 2Quantitative Mainly statistical analysis of data. Correlation between aspects of the topic and a series of variables will be established. BUDGET. Activity Quantity/number Frequency Unit Cost Total Cost GHÂ ¢ Internet Browsing Browsing and printing 20.00 Documents acquired 40.00 Travel expenses Fuel for local movement 20.00 Feeding accommodation Rent for two years and food GHÂ ¢ 120.00 240.00 Printing and photo copying questionnaires 15 pages 100 respondents 100.00 Printing 80 pages 8 copies 60GP 384.00 Binding of books 8 copies GHÂ ¢10.00 80.00 Grant Total GHÂ ¢884.00

Liberalism and Social Contract Essay -- essays research papers fc

Liberalism and Social Contract   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Charles Larmore speaks of moral complexity as it exists in a pluralistic sense. The idea of pluralism says that each and every person has their own separate conception of the good as it appears to them. It is I virtually impossible to have to separate entities come up with the same exact concept of the â€Å"Good Life† and what it holds for them. As there are these conflicts ideals that exist in each of us it is possible for our conception of the good to come under attack from competing concepts that are held by others around us. Some one who is Muslim may have a conception of the good that wants to eradicate me and my notion of the good. There needs to exist some centralized thought controlled by the state to protect each individual concept of the good that exists under the people it resides over. If pluralism is true and evident in society then there needs to exist a liberal state to have a manner of political order to protect the differing conceptions of the good that exists within it to protect the personal ideals.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The main idea that Larmore is trying to set out between the political order and personal ideals is that the Kant’s idea of the right being prior to the good is essential to the protection or cooperation of these two principles. Although this is a theory from Kant it is not a metaphysical like Kant brings up, rather it is a political movement that is necessary for the protection of individual personal ideals. The right of political neutrality must take priority over any individual conception of the good. This justifies political authority as the right of neutrality is more important than the personal good because without any sort of neutrality of the state none of us would be able to keep our own ideals of what the good is and practice it in our lives. This principle of primacy of the right is a political ideal that does not need to extend into all of morality but is necessary in the manner of political order. This primacy is important in the manner that it literally allows for that personal good to exist. For a moment imagine if some one lived in Mooneyville and their conception of the good differs from everyone else around him. It is essential for this mooneyite to give primacy of the right in the political realm so he is able to hold his own conception o... ...king over their own conception of the good. Through this theory I think we have the best chance of holding our individual conception of good without having it attacked for any reason.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This theory of liberalism holds only as far as people in the given society make their own attempts to create and maintain it. The theory engulfing these thoughts are only as good as they are put into practice in society as a whole and by the citizens that live with this inherent pluralism. Most modern societies have made a shift to these liberal states save a few totalitarian states. I am happy to give a way some of my freedoms to shoot another man to allow myself the freedom of worrying about being shot walking down the street. Of course there are always outliers that exist but either they are systematically brought into contract or thrown out of the society by way of prison or in a philosohpy department some where in Ohio. Bibliography Davison & Wolf. The iI dea of a Political Liberalism. Binmore, Ken. Game Theory and the Social Contract, Volume I: Fair Play. Hampton, Jean. Hobbes and The Social Contract Tradition. Larmore, Charles. Patterns of Moral Complexity.

European wars of religion Essay

The 14th century was an era of great crisis for Europe; disorder in the Catholic Church rattled people’s faith in authorities and religion. In this dark period, Europeans desired a new start, or in other words a cultural rebirth. This cultural rebirth was named † The Renaissance† which gives meaning in French â€Å"rebirth† The people who gave this name also thought there was a clear distinction between Dark Ages and their century. They coined the terms â€Å"modern† and â€Å"ancient† and saw Middle Ages as a long break from enlightenment. In addition to that, according to the City University of New York at Brooklyn, â€Å"immense hunger for learning about classical antiquity was reborn† after the Middle Ages.* During the Middle Ages, there was a mentality that individuals should devote their lives to the church above everything. In that time education was exclusively based on religion. Many scholars were fixated on the idea that faith was more important than mind and reasoning. This situation changed when Renaissance thinkers split from medieval tradition and emphasized individual experience and materialistic approach to life instead of religious duties. This philosophy emerged due to Italians exploration and revision of the ancient Roman and Greek texts and scriptures partly because they were surrounded by the remnants of Roman Empire and they have noticed the disastrous place Western culture has landed on. They greatly expanded the ancient works and innovated new ideas. Intellectual people such as writers, sculptors, architects were valued in the society, unlike Middle Age times. There was now a new worldview called humanism which valued human beings and brought attention to the human ma gnificence in both physical and mental areas. Humanism also brought increased enthusiasm in exploring things and quest of knowledge. Renaissance intellectuals at the time were in awe of these fresh ideas. Almost every institution saw great changes and secular arrangements. Education saw improvements. Pupils were now separated by their age and skills. Art now was interested in human proportions and realistic aspects. There was still some religious paintings but Renaissance artist mostly drew from and inspired by real life. With printing press’s invention by Johannes Gutenberg allowed for far-reaching access to important secular books and literature and most importantly Bible. It became normal for common people to read and think in their own language. This meant vernacular-meaning their mother tongue- literature aided with the spread of humanistic ideas beyond intellectuals of the time. Writers like Petrarch and Dante wrote in Italian and believed everyone should be able to read in their languages. Scientists also began to value observation over religious teachings and viewed everything with skepticism. They examined their theories by evidence. Even sometimes some scientists like Galileo Galilei gathered enough courage to speak out against the Church. But Renaissance didn’t exclusively mean separation from religion altogether, rather abandoning old Middle Age values and bringing new insights to the human perception of life, art, and everything. Rhetoric was born as a consequence of this. Renaissance was possible thanks to the recovery of Roman and Greek literature by scholars of that time. Latin was also used that time but it was more academic and monkish. Upon revisiting Latin texts in a more secular view people began to shift their consciousness and appreciate ancient culture. They thought they were alike in a worldly sense. They believed they had the same delicacy over important matters and they both believed in the humanities power to tackle everything. Then they started to study Greek which inspired Romans. The Greek manuscripts were present in Italy because during the fall of Constantinople many Christian scholars fled to Rome. They brought tales of Homer and many other important books. This spur philosophical inquiries. These maniscruptures made people start thinking about virtues of the human soul. They were also interested in the usage of language its effects itself. Historian Bruni once said â€Å"knowledge alone is not enough, we must add the power of exp ression to make effectual use of what we know† implying rhetoric. Ancient writings had the other function too. They offered practical teachings about life. They consisted of not theological but moral grounds with given answers secular in nature. This was at its most basic, a belief in the identity of the human spirit under its all epiphanies. They found that in classical texts there existed an ideal of human life, both moral and intellectual, by which they can profit now. During the Renaissance period, people’s views on mankind changed drastically. Before this era scholars were generally speaking with a single voice praising a similar human type which was frail, poor, withdrawn from life, quiet and needy. With Renaissance, the focus on God and religion as the main character shifted to human himself. During this era, art showed people as god-like creatures who were in their perfect shape. This made people feel graceful and beautiful in a sense that made them proud of themselves. For example, Leonardo Da Vinci’s painting Mona Lisa was done to portray the human beauty and inner mystery in realistic ways. There was also inclination for wealth accumulation and striving for better living conditions. Involvement with everyday life and taking care of themselves was becoming the norm. Public duties for common men were often overlooked and praising of extraordinary men with dreamable qualities was taking place. The goal was the manifestation of hu mans unique powers and showing their ability to steer their circumstances using willpower. Their destiny was not up to some higher being rather people with their own being paving their way to achieving the maximum of everything they get their hands on. Individuality was welcomed and people realized they were different on the inside than everyone else and made sense of themselves in the universe and complicated social structures. This obsession with humans can be even seen in almost every art branch of the time. Instead of focusing on traditional illustrations of religious symbols, artists like Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo painted the human frame in every depth possible. With the help of anatomy, they tried to illustrate perfect detail, scale, and dimension. Also to improve upon their realistic values they relied heavily on depth and texture.* Space in their paintings was used to indicate a moving and vivid world with real human beings living ground. They used earthly, meaning tangible, objects to portray a realistic background. While earlier paintings had been 2d objects against white backgrounds and combined many scenes in one painting, Renaissance paintings focused on one particular scene or moment in time in a 3d realistic view like some scenery was localized and frozen in particular time and place. This enabled viewer to enter that artwork. Painters of the Renaissance researched perspective and cre ating the illusion of a three-dimensional area. Art was objectified so every human looking at it can perceive some unchangeable truths about it. It was solidified for the sake of realistic proportions. Artworks represented human as not symbolic or imitation of one another but with their distinct personalities. Architecture and design of most of the constructions had symmetry and ratio to it now. Buildings were built in regarding their luxury and accessibility to aid human use and show off human greatness. Sculptures were made in 3d scale so humans could see it from every direction* Donatello, for example, carved his statues that were meant to stand alone, and be viewed from every angle.* And David created his most well-known sculpture that has the form of the idealistic human body that draws the focus on the individual. In conclusion with Renaissance, Europe, in general, saw a revival of thought, reshaping and secularising every human activity with the wisdom of ancient civilizations and put everything in a realistic, rationalistic foundation. It established human as the center of the universe and found its wonders in this creature. It would change the course of the world for generations to come.

Family Photo Albums

J Lee Matt Schwisow ENGL 101 16 July 2012 Family Photo Albums Every summer on our family vacation my mother would say â€Å"One, two, three, cheese† and snap a photograph. My brother and I always hated being in the pictures and wondered why she still made us be in the picture. So why did my mother insist on making us be in the picture? She wanted us to be able to remember every place we have traveled together and capture the memory. The fact we take photographs is a sign we want to preserve our memories.Memories with family and friends can be remembered by taking photographs. Photographs aren’t just for the sake of taking but they also have great personal meaning and are essential to how we may view our own lives. Naturally a human’s memory does not have the ability to recall all events from the past. Therefore, photographs are representations we use to capture the past and recollect those days. Family albums have played a significant role as a directory of famil y ideology. It is a remembrance of our family history and it holds sentimental ties within us.Viewing photographs of deceased loved ones enables to document their lives as they happened and to remember all the memories they had made. I believe that family photographs are form of cultural and personal artifacts expressing unity or coherence. The unity of my family’s photo album has so much significance clustered into one book. Despite the fact this album may be insignificant to others, it carries so much meaning to myself personally. It is a visual of my past and present life. It shows a way of communication and indicated how my family interacts within each other and our relationship among us.It highlights the most important days of each one of us' lives such as birthdays, family gathering, graduation, wedding photos, and more. Family photo albums represent times of happiness and sadness, but as a whole they are one item that can inform us of our family history in such a signi ficant way. For instance, one can represent something so happy and excited in my life such as birthday party and other one can bring sadness from looking at a photo of past loved ones I lost. One photo that is particularly special to me is a group family shot that was taken at our yearly family gathering back inKorea. Every year we used to go camping in the woods or at least have a big barbeque party for about twenty people gathered up including my aunts, uncles, and cousins. This particular photo symbolizes my family sticking together as one. Although the moments passed me by, these photographs keep the memory alive. I know that whenever I am feeling sad or depressed, I can just look back and remember the good times I had with my family who lives so far away. Nowadays, most people keep their photographs online such as on their personal webpage or Facebook.However, having the photographs printed and keeping them inside our actual real photo albums seems more meaningful and heart tou ching. I believe photographs represent the record of a time offering eyewitness version of history that reflects relationships among people, objects, and events. For instance, before I was born my paternal grandparents passed away and I was never given the opportunity to get to know them in person. I was pleased to see the photos of them in our family photo album that my dad showed me when I was young. Photographs offer proof of past lives and they sustain their power of a personal expression of a time.Family photographs are signifiers of a collective life and it is a constant reminder of a connectedness like kinship or friendship. For instance, in times of disrupted or disconnected relations among people, including times of war, when isolation and displacement become the regulation. At that time the family photograph provides reassurance or encouragement and it reconnects individuals and addresses the lost balance. Personal images, like family photographs, offer an emotional and ev en ideological foundation for memory to remind us of these differences in order to understand the present.I definitely want to share this pleased experience to my own children later in life because I feel that I truly have benefited from knowing about my youth even those events that I do not remember. Even that one particular photo could bring back the memories and that one particular photo could remind us to never forget that event, person, and place and be in my mind and heart forever. Family photo albums may take time and energy to complete but it is worthy and it presents a reward of a book full of memories of your own family. All the events that took place throughout the history of my life are all kept together collectively.It highlights the most important events that have happened to my life so far. Lastly, I believe family photographs are perishable commodities that need to be preserved. After all, you don’t make memories but you live them. A family album is almost a t reasured heritage or legacy that speaks volume about my cherished times and keeping up the unforgettable and valuable memories of a family reunion, a picnic, birthday, get together or any other family celebrations and good times with a well kept family album. Family memoirs, vintage or new, are priceless and cannot be bartered or exchanged for anything.