Code of Ethics Paper Essay Example for Free

Code of ethics Paper EssayThe National Institutes of Health (NIH) is a well-known government based prep aredness that presents a web site that keeps its customer base well set forthed on a wide variety of topics. Providing and gathering knowledge for doctors and patients, this facility and website give ear as an investigator. This ranges from heath issues to the medicine used to treat. The NIH has been a crash of history ranging from advances in penicillin to machines used such as the MRI. Also, NIH has funded and researched thousands of drugs and physicians to find cures and treatment. As a team up we believe that the NIH has social, respectable issues, as well as stopping points that are met every day as a part of their social responsibility. NIHs mission is to examine fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and the application of that knowledge to enhance wellness, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability. (USA.Gov, 2013)NIHs goa ls and their honest principlesIf everyone were timid about un honest research, nobody will participate or volunteer. Without the research subjects, developing new medicine and treatments would be impossible. Because millions of egoless and generous research volunteers, the demesne has benefited from an array of medical advances in used today. Further more than, Effective chemformer(a)apy and radiation treatments have cured millions of people with cancer, such as breast, thyroid, pancreatic, and cervical cancer to name a few. Additionally, we have also benefited from numerous vaccines that protect from deadly disease, for instance, polio, measles, chicken pox, and the seasonal flu. Moreover, these medical advances have made it possible to increase awareness about feeding and health lifestyles (NIH, 2013). The National Health Institutes goals are to cultivate and promote fundamental creative discoveries, innovative research strategies and their application as a basis for ultimat ely protecting and improving health (NIH, 2013, para. 1). In addition, their goals are also for helping support, and renew scientific human and physical resources that will apology the Nation competency to prevent disease (NIH, 2013, para. 1) Furthermore, they work tirelessly toexpand the knowledge base in medical and sciences to enhance the Nations scotch welfare and guarantee a proceed high return on the public investment in research (NIH, 2013, para. 1). According to the Journal of the American medical examination Association (JAMA), before any research is started there are seven ethical principles the researchers must(prenominal)iness comply with. These principles help to clarify meticulously a coherent framework for assessing the ethics of any clinical research studies (1) social value- the research or study must define how are peoples health or well-being will improve (2) scientific validity- the research must have a hypothesis to be tested, and controlled (3) fair subj ect selection- an abroad group of people must be selected , including age (over 18), gender, and race, not vulnerable or privileged (4)favorable risk-benefit ratio- the research shows that the riskier the study the more ethical it is considered (5) independent look into- an external group must review the research and will approve it or denied it. This practice makes people believe the study is more ethical and unbiased. Also, this will minimize potential conflicts of interest (6) inform consent- the subject must be mentally capable to understand the full disclosure of the research, the decision must be voluntary (7) respect for the enrolled subject- the volunteers privacy must be protected, withdrawal from the study cannot be denied, and their health must al modes be monitored. The researchers have the obligation to treat everyone who volunteers in an experiment ethically and respectfully (Emanuel, Wendler, Grady, 2000 NIH Clinical Center Department of Bioethics, 2012).NIHs cultur e and ethical decision makingThe National Institutes of Health (NIH) is one of the largest organizations in the world with regard to researching advancements in medicine and the improvement in delivery of health care. Culturally speaking, the NIH is as diverse as the population it endures services to. Therefore, the NIH encourages health care declare oneselfrs to become more culturally competent in order to assist them in improving the quality of services they provide. According to the NIH, (2013) Cultural competency is critical to reducing health disparities and improving access to high-quality health care health care that is respectful of and responsive to the needs of diverse patients (par. 3). Possessing a better knowledge of the culturesa health care provider delivers services to will allow him or her the ability to provide a higher quality of care and enable him or her to tarry ethical when critical decisions need to be made. Currently, the NIH is collaboration with other g roups and organizations to help health care providers become more aware of the cultures they serve, which in turn, will provide better quality of care to all Americans (NIH, 2013). End of life is an area of health care the NIH suggests is especially critical with regard to culture and making ethical decisions (NIH, 2013). There are many different cultures in the United States that do not share the same read of view when it comes to a family members last wishes. An expression called Diverse decisions. How culture affects ethical decision making, written by Wright, Cohen, and Caroselli explains the importance of cultural competence and ethical decision making at the point of a patients end of life. This crucial aspect of health care can be especially challenging to health care providers if they are not known with their patients cultural preferences. If not treated with the sensitivity a family requires culturally, the health care provider will alike(p)ly encounter problems in assi sting the family in arriving at an ethical decision that best helps the patient. As stated by Wright, Cohen, and Caroselli, (1997) When these difficulties are coupled with ineffective communication related to cultural insensitivity or unawareness, the effects can be devastating (par. 1). Few moments in life present as many challenges as the end of a family members life. Therefore, the NIH not completely challenges its organization to become more culturally competent, it also encourages and assists health care providers to do the same, especially when assisting patients and their families in making the appropriate ethical decision.NIHs ethical values supporting our ethical valuesThe NIH has clearly stated that turning discovery into health is part of their mission statement. Supporting this ethical decision in the United States alone there are many individuals with chronic diseases or health issues. Therefore, it is safe to say that because the mission of the NIH is to find cures an d treatments to better our nation is in correspondence with most. According to the NIH, (2013) Nearly half of all Americans have a chronic medical condition. NIH research makes significant strides towardtreating and preventing these enormous-term illnesses. Along with promoting wellness, the NIH develops new technological tools to treat any or most ailments in the USA. They are always looking for bright and positive new recruits to help research and enlighten the NIH to provide answers to thousands of individuals who have questions. The NIH has conducted research and found that cancer, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, and cardiovascular disease is on the decline because of the research they have contributed to society. Because of their code of ethics they are helping babies that are born today live to a common age of 79, a vast improvement from the last 100 years. NIH believes it invests over $30.9* billion annually in medical research for the American people. (USA.Gov, 2013) and posted under NIH budget they write Research for the People, a clear message that this company is high in ethical values. They plan on widening the research capacity of our country and foster exploration. For any individual finding treatment for loved ones or ones self goes hand in hand with the ethical beliefs of the NIH.Social responsibility for NIH in the residential districtNIH has proven itself to be socially responsible for not only the community but the entire population. They have done research and contributed a vast amount of information that physicians, staff, and patients alike use on a perfunctory basis for personal or practice knowledge. For example, the NIH has provided hundreds of thousands of jobs to research new technology and to find cures ever the past years. In addition, to directly supporting research, NIH funding spurs an expansive amount of spin-off economic growth in our communities, ranging from scientific equipment suppliers to biotech firms to businesses offering foo d and lodging. (USA.Gov, 2013) So not only has it contributed to health of the population, but is has proved financial contributions to the population. It has contributed more than $62 billion in revenue. Because of NIHs research it will have not only short term effects but long term ones as well. Employing over one million employees to do research and development, the NIH has made a vast contribution for jobs to those who do not have one. Providing tours and other means to understand what they do to the public, they encourage public awareness. Providing funds for over 130 Nobel prize winners that have created such instruments like the MRI, NIH scientists have paved the way for many and future scientists. TheNIH expects to expand the knowledge base in medical and associated sciences in order to enhance the Nations economic well-being and ensure a continued high return on the public investment in research. (USA.Gov, 2013) Providing leadership for this frontier in medical research, N IH is constantly making new advancements. Keeping record of all research done in the past 100 years, the NIH keeps these records so future generations can learn. In conclusion, the goals of the NIH are to provide medical research, for the population of the USA. Their goal is to find cure and increase the wellness of the surrounding population. Also, the NIH is made up of a culturally diverse population making it successful in finding, hardening or preventing most or all ailments. Encouraging physicians to be more culturally diverse, is one of the NIHs main goals because of the background in genetics and their diseases. Their ethical values support ours because we are all in the same country. Where thousands if not hundreds of thousands diseases are present every day, and as part of the population most would like to see research and treatments available. Our practical wisdom must balance the shifting demands and possibilities that our changing circumstances present. (Fremgan, 2009) Knowing our past is important as knowing our future. And the NIH has provided a sanctuary for both. As a team we believe that the NIH has social, ethical issues, as well as goals that are met every day as a part of their social responsibility.ReferencesNational Institutes of Health, (2013). Frequently asked questions. Retrieved from http//www.nih.gov/about/FAQ.htmUSA.Gov. (2013). National Institutes of Health. Retrieved from http//www.nih.gov/ Wright, F., Cohen, S., Caroselli, C., (1997). Diverse decisions. How culture affects ethical Decision making. Division of Nursing, New York University, New York. Retrieved from http//www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9136346Fremgan, B. (2009). Medical Law and Ethics (3rd ed.). Retrieved from The University of Phoenix eBook Collection database

Philosophy Paper Essay Example for Free

Philosophy Paper EssayOne of the almost heated debates that troubled the church service in the Middle Ages was the interrogative of universals. This question goes back as far as Platos Forms. It has to do with the congressship betwixt the abstr bite and general concepts that we keep back in our estimations (what is the relationship between Ch publicise with a capitol C and chair with a sm every last(predicate) in only c? ). And from this, two radical viewpoints emerged, realists and the nominalists. The realists followed Plato in insisting that each universal is an entity in its take right, and lasts independently of the individual things that happen to p stratagemicipate in it. An extreme form of realism flourished in the church from the ninth to the twelfth centuries. Among its advocates were John Scotus, Erigena, Anselm and William of Champeaux. On the diametrical status were the nominalists and they held that universals were just names, and therefore, have no obj ective status apart from that which is fabricated in the mind. Nominalists, such as Gabriel Biel and William of Occam (see O section), said that the individual is the however existing midpoint. Unfortunately, their treatment of nominalism removed religion almost entirely from the ara of reason and made it a matter of faith beyond the comprehension of reason.1 And here lies the significance of the French theologian Peter Abelard (1079-1142). Between the two extremes, Peter Abelard proposed a more moderate form of nominalism. though critical of the judgment of the separate existence of universals, he nevertheless believed that resemblances among particular things justified the use of universals for establishing retireledge. More specifically, Abelard proposed that we ground the similarities among individual things without reifying their universal features, by predicating general terms in conformity with concepts abstracted from experience.This resolution (which would later come t o be known as conceptualism) of the traditional problem of universals gained wide acceptance for several centuries, until doubts about the objectiveness and reality of such mental entities as concepts came under serious question. Thomas doubting Thomas favored a moderate realism which rejected the view that universals exist apart from individual entities in favor of the view that they do indeed exist, except just now in actual entities. 2 Anaximander (Milesian School) Anaximander (610-547/6 B. C.) was one of the collar key figures that comp rhytidectomyd the Milesian School (the three prominent figures associated with the Milesian School is Thales, Anaximander, and Anaximenes). Together, they worked on problems concerning the nature of matter and the nature of change, and they each proposed a different material as the particular principal. 3 Anaximander seemed to be quite advanced(a) in his view of reality. He believed that the population was cylindrical like a drum, and that the earth rested on cypher. He to a fault invented an undefined non-substance, called the apeiron, a neutral, indeterminate stuff that was infinite in amount.Anaximenes (Milesian School) Anaximenes (546 B. C. ), the other(a) member of the Milesian School, returned back to the idea that everything derives from a single substance, even suggested that substance was air. Though it is likely his choice was motivated by wanting to maintain a balance between the two views of his predecessors, Anaximenes did provide solid grounds for his choosing first, air, has the vantage of not universe restricted to a specific and defined nature as water, and therefore more capable of transforming itself into the great variety of objects around us.Second, air is a more likely source of this variety than Anaximanders apeiron which seems too empty and vacuous a stuff to be capable of give rise to such a variety and profusion. 4 Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury In (452 A. D. ), twenty-two years afte r Augustines death, Rome fell, bringing on a period of conquest and chaos, and degree of order was ultimately realized through the emergence of feudalism. The church, which had managed to survive the social and political upheaval, gradually assumed responsibilities that previously had been relegated to the civil government.This involvement in government led in turn to the sacrilegiousization of the church. Bishops became ministers of the state, and church dignitaries became warriors. In the tenth and eleventh centuries, m either within the church were so involved with the secular valet that a movement led to the emergence of the monastic life story as a force within the church. Those who wanted to escape the temptations of the secular founding and pursue holiness were naturally drawn to the monasteries and among those who followed was Anselm (1033-1109), the archbishop of Canterbury. The greatest Christian thinker between Augustine and Thomas doubting Thomas was Anselm (1033-11 09).He was born to a wealthy family in northern Italy, whom, to their disappointment, left home in (1056) to fully dedicate his life to theology. Following a period of travel, he arrived at the Norman Abbey at Bec, where he took his monastic vows in (1060). Within a few years, he became prior of the abbey, abbot in (1078), and then archbishop in (1093), which he held until his death. His writings range from treatises on logic to an explanation of the divine inner logic of the atonement in Cur deus homo. Anselm stood in the tradition of Augustine and Platonic realism. 5Following the tradition of Augustine, he held that faith precedes and leads to understanding, and, like many other medieval thinkers he drew no sharp distinction between school of thought and theology. In his famous ontological argument for the existence of God, Anselm presents a defense based on the fact that it is self-contradictory to deny that there exists a greatest possible being. 6 He claims that the more univ ersality, the more reality. And from here it follows that if God is the most universal being, he is to a fault the most real if He is the absolutely universal being, he is in addition the absolutely real being, ens realissimum.He has, therefore, according to the conception of Him, not totally the comparatively greatest reality, but also the absolute reality. A reality in which no greater can be thought. 7 Aquinas, Thomas By common consent the greatest philosophical theologian of the Middle Ages was Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274). Everything about him was big. In his later years his voluminous writings, massive in scope, won him the title of the Angelic Doctor. His life was dedicated to the intellectual defense and denotation of the faith, as he understood it.It was during his teaching career (1252) in Paris that Aquinas, being drawn into the critical debates of his day, started battling the objections posed against peripateticism and its place in the university. By this time, Plato w as known solo through the imperfect translations of the Timaeus, the Phaedo, and the Meno. Islamic Jewish thinkers were much better acquainted with Aristotle, and for nearly two centuries they had been wrestling with questions posed by Aristotelianism to religious faith. For Aquinas and his Christian contemporaries the issue was doubly acute. On the one hand, there were questions posed by Aristotles way of thinking.On the other hand, there were the answers already given by Islamic and Jewish scholars which were hardly acceptable to a Christian thinker. Aquinas decided to face the problem subject on. He made his own study of Aristotle, on whom he wrote extensively. He also made his own study of non-Christian thinkers. He subjected all ideas to rigorous scrutiny, giving due recognition to the truth of ideas, wherever they came from, but giving his own evaluation of every issue, point by point. In all, Aquinas produced about a hundred different writings. His work ranged from philosop hical commentaries to hymns.8 Aquinas main works are two massive Summae or compends of theology and philosophy. The Summa contra Gentiles was designed as a textbook for missionaries, and the Summa Theologiae has been described as the highest achievement of medieval theological systematization and is still the accepted basis of modern Reformed theology. In Aquinas proofs (what later came to be known as the Cosmological and Teleological arguments), certain facts about nature are compelling evidences of Gods existence. He argues, accordingly, that nothing can adequately account for the fact of motion or change.Rejecting the idea that change or motion is simply an ultimate, mysterious fact of nature incomplete requiring nor permitting any explanation except God, its Unmoved Prime Mover. Furthermore, in his five arguments, Aquinas suggests that the Christian belief in God is completely consistent with the world as we know it. Aquinas arguments, known also as the Five Ways are nightimes referred to as the proofs of the existence of God. nevertheless this is not ineluctably correct because Aquinas did not try to prove the existence of God by rational argument, but to provide a rational defense for an already existing faith in God.His primary reason for believe in the existence in God is Gods revelation of Himself. Aquinas expects his readers to parting the same faith. He does not expect that he will have to prove anything to them first. This point is all important(p) because many critics accuse believers of grounding their faith in outdated arguments, such as Thomas Aquinas. It is proper, therefore, to respond to such criticisms by pointing out that they are based on a superficial reading and on a serious misunderstanding of how individuals come to faith.9 The basic principal guiding Aquinas throughout the Five Proofs is the principal of analogy, which holds the world as we know it mirrors God, its creator. The structure of each of Aquinas proofs is quite simil ar. Each depends on tracing a casual sequence back to its ultimate rakehell and identifying this ultimate origin with God. The first begins with the observation that things in the world are in motion or change. Second is the concept of causation. The third concerns the existence of contingent beings.The fourth deals with valet de chambre values, and lastly, is the teleological argument, in which Aquinas explains how the world shows clear traces of intelligent design. Natural processes and objects seem to be adapted with certain definite objectives in mind. They seem to have purpose. They seem to have been designed. Arguing from this observation, Aquinas concludes that it is rational to believe in God. 10 Aristotle Aristotles thought, like his mentor Plato, embodied the concept of arete, which taught that merciful faithfulness in all things was an important goal that should direct benignant purposes.For Aristotle, that excellence ideally exemplified the defining quality of human nature, the pursuit of reason. Attracted by science and believing that the universe could be explained, Aristotle greatly valued the work of Thales of Miletus, and accepted his concept that the physical universe operated rationally and in a way that was knowable to human beings. From Anaximander, Aristotle took the view that a balance of force existed in nature that made things what they were. Aristotle was also knowledgeable about the atomic theory of Parmenides andwas intrigued by the question of what was durable and what was changing. Indeed, these Greek scientists had a significant influence on Aristotles intellectual search to examine and explain reality. 11 For Aristotle, the world in which we live is the world that we experience through our sense impressions. Unlike those who followed Plato, Aristotle believed that we live in an objective order of reality, a world of objects that exist external to us and our sagacious of them. Through our senses and our reason, human bein gs can come to know these objects and develop generalizations about their structure and function.Truth is a correspondence between the persons mind and external reality. abstractive knowledge based on human observation is the best guide to human behavior. And, while human beings have various careers, they all share the most important factor, the exercise of rationality. Reason gives human beings the potentiality of leading lives that are self-determined. Congruent with his metaphysical and epistemological perspective, Aristotles ethical theory portrays the good life as that of contentment (eudaimonia).He believed that the ultimate good for the human being was happiness, drill in accordance to virtue. The virtuous life is one in which actions are part of a consciously formulated plan that takes a mean, a middle ground course, avoiding extremes. 12 For example, true courage would be the choice that avoids the extremes of cowardice and rashness. And what decides the right course t o take is the virtue of prudence (phronesis). Good is the aim of every action but, given the fact that goods can be ordered in relation to one another, there must be a highest good to which practical wisdom directs us.And if the obstinacy of any good is what makes us happy to some extent, the possession of the highest good is the highest happiness, the ultimate goal of all our actions. 13 At this point, it is difficult to resist the thought that Aristotles notion of the intellectual life being the gateway to happiness and virtue is not an shallow one. But, though there are some elements in his presentation that are unclear, this much is clear that this happiness, which is the possession of the good, is ultimately an act of manifestation, or ofbeholding, the good. But to contemplate the good is to enter into union with it.Therefore, if contemplating on god nub entering into union with the life of the gods, this is the highest activity of man and his ultimate happiness. The conclus ion of the Ethics is one with the Metaphysics, in which the divine element in a man coincides with the possession of god by an act of thought, called contemplation, which is the most pleasant and best we can perform.In Eudemian Ethics, Aristotle says, What choice, then, or possession of the natural goods whether bodily goods, wealth, friends, or other things will most produce the contemplation of God, that choice or possession is best this is the noblest standard, but any that through deficiency or excess hinders one from the contemplation and service of God is big(p) this man possess in his soul, and this is the best standard for the soul. 14 With statements like this one cant help but wonder what Aristotles response would have been if he would have had the opportunity to serve the one true God, who is worthy of such adoration and praise.Whats more, Aristotle categorized virtues as either clean or intellectual. Moral virtue, though not easy to define, is a habit by which the i ndividual exercises a prudent choice, one that a rational person would make. Moral virtues tend to moderation, falling between excess and inhibition. They focus on the concrete actions a person performs and the metrical sense he has regarding them to feel them at the right times, with reference to the right objects, towards the right people, with the right motive, and in the right way. A good action thus exhibits due proportion, neither excessive nor defective, but midway between them. This is Aristotles doctrine of the mean. Peculiarly, a virtuous action is one that lies between too much and too little. To give another example, in regard to the feeling of shame, modesty is the mean between bashfulness and shamelessness. Not every virtue, however, is a mean, and so not every action is to be measured in this way. Nonetheless, every action should and can at least be measured in its rightness by the virtue of prudence or, in a larger sense, by practical wisdom. 15.Furthermore, one of Aristotles most significant contributions to the Western world is his Poetics. His earlier works, Physics and Metaphysics contain important statements about art and nature, and Rhetoric, written after Poetics, distinguishes rhetoric as a practical art and has had a strong influence on literary criticism. His Poetics, nonetheless, is particularly important because Aristotle is addressing Platos doctrines on ideas and forms he came to disagree with. In Poetics, it was Aristotles intention to classify and categorize systematically the kinds of literary art, beginning with epic and tragic drama.Unfortunately, not all of the poetics survived, and it breaks off before the discussion of comedy. Nonetheless, our sense of Aristotles method is established. He is the first critic to attempt a systematic discourse of literary genres. 16 Augustine (Saint), of Hippo One of the greatest thinkers of not only the early church, but of all time is Augustine of Hippo (354-430 A. D. ). His writings laid the foundation not only for Western theology but for later philosophy as well.His three books On Free Will (388-395), set out a doctrine of creation, repulsiveness and the human will which was a superior alternative to the type of thinking that had attracted so many to Gnosticism and Manichaean dualism. His response to the Donatist schism in the church set the pattern for the Western doctrine of the church. His writings on the subject of Pelagianism clarified, as no one before him and few after him, the crucial issues in the question of grace and dethaw will. His major theological writings include On the Trinity (399-419), which presented better regulates for thinking about the Trinity than those of the Greek fathers.Augustines book On the City of God (413-416) was a reply to those who blame the church for the fall of Rome, in which it gave both a panoramic view of muniment and a theology of history in terms of the basic conflict between the divine society and the earthly socie ty. 17 Interestingly, Augustine put forth a theory of time that Bertrand Russell would later pronounce superior to earlier views and much better than the subjective theory of Kant. Augustines account of how we can learn phrase provided Wittgensteins starting point for his Philosophical Investigations.In answering skepticism Augustine put forth an argument which anticipated Descartes cognito ergo sum without falling into the pitfalls ordinarily associated with the argument. Furthermore, Augustine believed that philosophical reflection may correct mistaken notions, lead to a grasp of truth, and serve to clarify belief. But rational reflection is not a substitute for the beatific vision of God. For it is the apprehension of God alone which transforms human life and alone satisfies our deepest needs. Though Augustine was deeply influenced by Platonism and Neoplatonism, he never was simply a Platonist.His view of the soul stands in the Platonic tradition, but he repudiated the doctrine s of pre-existence and transmigration. Augustines view of the transcendent spiritual reality might also be said to have affinities with Plato, but Augustines approach was not an attempt to erect an edifice of Christian theology on either Platonic or Neoplatonic foundations. Rather, it was to state the Christian worldview in a theological and philosophical system that cohered as a unified whole. 18 (B) (back to top) Bentham, Jeremy In nineteenth century blue(a) England two contrasting systems were developed by Jeremy Bentham and Herbert Spencer.Utilitarians Bentham and John Stuart Mill applied naturalistic presuppositions in their worldview. Herbert Spencer applied the concept of evolution. And Ernest Mach prepared the way for logical incontrovertibility in his strongly anti-metaphysical scientific approach. The antithesis of the Kantian ideal is utilitarianism, an ethical theory founded by Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832). Bentham was a hedonist. Taking the good to be pleasure, Bentham proposed a new model for morality in his principal of utility, which holds that Actions are right in proportion to the amount of happiness it brings wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness.19 Utilitarianism is a form of consequentialism. The ends justify the means since actions are judged on the results they bring, not on the persons intentions or motives. For Kant, the end result was not important in determining the rightness of an action, rather, it was motive. 20 In its simplest form utilitarianism teaches that the right action is the one that promotes the greatest happiness. Modern utilitarianism dates from Thomas Hobbes in the seventeenth century, but its antecedents date as far back as (341-270 B. C. ) to the philosophy of Epicurus of Samos.The theory of utilitarianism actually held little influence until John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) who popularized the term and produced the classical prissy exposition of the doctrine. Mill apply the principal of utility to cr itique all social, political, and religious institutions. Anything that did not promote the greatest happiness of the greatest number was to be challenged and reformed. For this reason social and religious institutions that curtail individual liberty should be reformed. This is necessary, argued Mill, in order for freedom of belief, association and expression to be safeguarded. 21.Different conceptions of happiness separated Mills version Better a Socrates dissatisfied than a pig satisfied, which recognized qualitative differences between different kinds of pleasure, from Benthams straight-from-the-shoulder attempt to reduce all questions of happiness to the mere presence of pleasure or pain. Benthams version aims to render the basic concepts of ethics susceptible of likeness and measurement, but this was not the goal in Mills presentation of the system. 22 A hedonistic utilitarian like Bentham would say that the sole consideration is the quantity of pleasure that an action produ ces.A problem with this approach, however, (as if it wasnt obvious) is that it draws no distinction in principal between an evening spent at the parallel bars or one spent having quality time with your spouse. It all depends upon the tastes of the person. Berkley, George George Berkeley (Irish, 1685-1753) was one of the three greatest British empiricists of the eighteenth century (Locke and Hume being the other two). Though his father was an Englishman, Berkley always considered himself Irish. He was an early subjectivist idealist philosopher, who argued that all qualities of objects exist only in the mind of the perceiver.His famous theory is often summarized, esse est percipi, to be is to be perceived, and is still important to modern apologetics (due to the method he used in demonstrating the necessity of an eternal Perceiver). Berkleys argument was that the phenomena of visual sensation can all be explained without presupposing the reality of the external material substances. In terestingly, Berkley was also a bishop of an Anglican church, and was the only important philosopher to visit America before 1900. He came hoping to start a missionary training college for evangelizing to the Indian tribes of New England.23 Berkley disagreed with Locke in that there is a material substance lying behind and supporting perceptions. He also disagreed with his treatment of the representative theory of perception, that material objects are perceived mediately by means of ideas, and the mind does not perceive the material object directly, but only through the medium of the ideas formed by the senses and reflection on them. If we know only our ideas, reasoned Berkeley then we can never be sure whether any of them are really like the material qualities of objects, since we can never compare the ideas with them. For that reason, he denied the ultimate existence of material substance believing that the Spirit is the only metaphysical reality. 24 (D) (back to top) Derrida, Jac ques Jacques Derrida (1930-2004) was a French literary critic and founder of the school called deconstructionism. His (1966) lecture Structure, Sign, and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences delivered at Johns Hopkins University, play a significant role in ushering American critics into the era of poststructuralism. Particular influences on his thought include Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Freud.He wrote prolifically, and had a great influence on not only literary criticism but in sociology, linguistics, and psychology as well. Derrida regarded philosophical and literary texts as already containing the seeds of their own deconstruction. This means that in any work the author unwittingly includes contradictions, blind spots, and unjustified assumptions. The main purpose and task of the deconstructionist, according to Derrida, is to simply bring these contradictions to the surface. 25 Beginning in the Victorian Age, a paradigm shift slowly spread throughout Europe that set the grou ndwork for modern theory.Unlike the revolutionary movements of the Renaissance and Romanticism, which were in part reactionary, this paradigm shift that marked a radical break from the past had little precedent. Nonetheless, it marked a rejection of long-held metaphysical and aesthetic beliefs that most theorists from Plato to Coleridge took for granted. Until the modern period, most of the great Western philosophers have been logocentric in their thinking, and Derrida is one of the ones responsible for this definite break from the past, bringing forth the notion that meaning is never fixed.Dr. Louis Markos, a Christian Professor at Houston Baptist University, made some interesting comments on Derrida in one of his lectures on deconstructionism. He said that Derrida reads the history of Western metaphysics as a continual search for a logos or original presence. This logos is sought because it promises to give meaning and purpose to all things, to act as a universal core group. Behi nd this search is a desire for a higher reality (or full presence).Western philosophy since Plato has simply renamed this presence and shifted this center without breaking from its centering impulse. Even Saussures structuralism sought a center, and though he broke from the old metaphysic, he still used its terminology and binaries. Furthermore, Derrida deconstructs all attempts to posit a center or to establish a system of binaries. Instead, he puts in their place a full free play of meaning. 26 Democritus (see Leucippus) Descartes, Rene The first great continental rationalist27 was Rene Descartes (Frenchman, 1596-1650).For it was he who defined the terms and laid down the agenda for the continental rationalist school of thought. But in a sense, the world that Descartes produced, by the exercise of pure reason, was a fairly straight forward affair Descartes does preserve the self in a recognizable form, as well as both God (even though it is not a terribly human sort of God) and t he material world in a broadly speaking recognizable form (even though it might be a material world deprived of some of its more splendid and colorful attributes).Nevertheless, the worlds created by the application of the procedure of rationalism start from some self-evident propositions (like Euclids geometry) and then carry out processes of absolute, straight forward evidence from these self-evident propositions and what that led to in the case of Spinoza and Leibniz is something very far removed in both of them from the ordinary understanding of the world. To some extant, Descartes, by coincidence with them, is in the business of saving the appearances. Whereas both Spinoza and Leibniz say that what the world is really like is very different from what it appears to the ordinary person to be.Nonetheless, there is still in both cases (Descartes and Spinoza and Leibniz) an underlying reality that philosophy can tell us something about reality even if common observation cannot. 28 His two chief philosophical works were Discourse on Method (1637) and his Meditations (1641). His ideal and method were modeled on mathematics. He is sometimes portrayed as the first modern philosopher due to his break with the traditional Scholastic-Aristotelian philosophy and for introducing a new mechanistic science. 29 In refurbishing the medieval proofs for the existence of God he was drawing upon the legacy of the Middle Ages.Like the Medieval philosophers, he was interested in metaphysics, and to the end of his life, Descartes remained a nominal Catholic. But there is a sense in which Descartes represents a new departure. Descartes (so it seems) was interested in God not for his own sake, but the worlds. God is invoked as a kind of dues ex machine to guarantee the validity of our thoughts about the world. 30 Nonetheless, Descartes takes his place as a Christian thinker by resting cognitive truth on the individualised truth of God, and laying the blame for error not on God b ut on the exercise of the human will.Descartes successors finally lost their reliance for truth. George Berkeley retains it by tracing directly to God all the ideas we receive from outside the mind and Leibniz by making each mind mirror eternal truths in the mind of God. But many Enlightenment thinkers, and many empiricists today who share some of Descartes rational ideals or the correspondence theory of truth, talk to truth independently of God as if it were a self-sustaining ideal and as if human reason were a purely objective and impersonal activity.Descartes failure was not in the relation he saw of truth to God, but in the lack of relation he saw between mans rational capacity for knowing truth and his personality as a whole. 31 (F) (back to top) Fibonacci His real name was Leonardo Pisano (Italian, 1170-1250) but he is better known by his nickname Fibonacci (filius Bonacci), which means son of Bonacci. A striking example of Fibonaccis genius is his observation that the class ification of irrationals given by Euclid in Book X of the Elements did not include all irrationals. Fibonacci is probably best known for his rabbit problem. Leonardo Fibonacci began the study of this sequence by posing the following problem in his book, Liber Abaci, How many twins of rabbits will be produced in a year, beginning with a single pair? 32 The analogy that starts with one pair of rabbits who give birth to a new pair from the first month on, and every succeeding pair gives birth to a new pair in the second month after their birth. Fibonacci shows that this leads to the sequences 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, and so on. As one can see, each term is the sum of the two previous terms.For example, 2 + 3 = 5 and 3 + 5 = 8, and the farther and farther you go to the right of this sequence, the ratio of a term to the one before it will get closer and closer to the princely Ratio. Additionally, this same principal also applies to that of the Golden rectangl e. The connection between the Golden Ratio and the Fibonacci series is fascinating, and is very simple to understand. If you take a Golden Rectangle, and cut off a square with side lengths equal to the length shorter to the rectangle side, then what remains is another Golden Rectangle. This could go on forever.You can just keep cutting off these big squares and acquiring smaller and smaller Golden Rectangles. Consequently, the idea with the Fibonacci series is to do the same thing in reverse. You start with a square (1 by 1), find the longish side, and then add a square of that size to the whole thing to form a new rectangle. Therefore, when we start with a (1 by 1) square the longstanding side is one, so we add another square to it. As a result, we have accumulated a (2 by 1) rectangle. Then the longest side is 2, so we connect a (2 by 2) square to our (2 by 1) rectangle to get a (3 by 2) rectangle.As this continues, the sides of the rectangle will always be a successive Fibonacc i number, and eventually the rectangle will be very close to a Golden Rectangle. To translate in more illustrative terms, the ratio of two successive numbers in the Fibonacci series, as aforementioned, if divided by each number before it, will result in the following series of numbers 1/1 = 1, 2/1 = 2, 3/2 = 1. 5, 5/3 = 1. 666, 8/5 = 1. 6, 13/8 = 1. 625, 21/13 = 1. 61538. The ratio that is settling down to a particular value is the golden ratio or the golden number, which has a value of approximately 1.618034. 33 Fichte, Johann Gottlieb Johann Gottlieb Fichte (German, 1762-1814) was one of the major figures in German philosophy in between Kant and Hegel. He was regarded as one of Kants most talented philosophers, but later developed a system of his own incomprehensible philosophy called the Wissenschaftslehre. Fichte had immense influence on his contemporaries, especially during his professorship at the University of Jenna, a position he held for five years (1794-1799) before takin g up a profes.

Assess the contribution made by the Jesuits Essay Example for Free

Assess the contribution made by the Jesuits EssayThe Jesuits are not exactly indicative of the developments in Catholic faith and godliness but they also made a significant contribution in the Counter Reformation movement. On a theological level, the Jesuits helped the Catholics to express their faith- a critical ingredient to Catholic revival. The Jesuits made the Church infinitely stronger and better weaponed to face the future in 1600 than it had been half a century earlier. Spain, Italy and Portugal remained firmly Catholic while ground was recovered all over southern Germany and the Habsburg lands and eventually Poland and Rome were won pricker to Rome. Seeing as the Reformation was on a theological plane, the Catholic response also existed along a theological plane. The Jesuits were part of a all-embracing movement in the Church that had existed since the fifteenth century where a high level of interest was place in meditative prayer and charitable works. When these t wo concepts overlapped, the notion emerged whereby spiritual satisfaction could be expressed in a methodical way of life. The Jesuits were a vehicle through which this could happen.After the Council of Trent the Catholic Church, fortify with its Tridentine decrees, pose renewed emphasis on continuous prayer, self-control and improvement, and particularly charity. The Church was looking for a more practical religion where people could be actively involved, as argued by John Bossy. An organisation that was a manifestation of these developments were the Jesuits. By joining the Jesuits ones sense of spirituality was enhanced and such theological challenges that were craved would be provided.Norvegus was one such Jesuit who undertook the spiritual challenge were he did the challenging task successfully of persuading Scandinavian theology students in the 1580s to be Catholic. The Jesuits had gravid security in their faith, shown, for instance, by their willingness at one point to do ch aritable works in Hamburg only to be lynched. The Jesuits had such devout members for their methods of the quad main stages of training, or weeks as they were knows, were totally unique.The Jesuit would take the individual and train them up to moral standard whereby they could be presented to the church at the shutting of the process as someone who was spiritually and ethically strong. The members of the Jesuits were thus indifferent to the world and its pleasures yet were equipped to work within it. The Church, to its great advantage, was thus equipped with members who were certain of their faith and in their knowledge of God.The Jesuits were important in a spiritual sense for through their spiritual exercises they emphasised the important theological answer derived from an Aristotelian idea where the mind is employed to contemplate suffering of Christ and God. Loyola takes this a stage further when he proposes that the mind can be utilise to motivate us into good and charitabl e apostolic action. From Loyolas contemplation for achieving love he outlines how you can meditate to understand, as suggested when he said, Take my freedom, my memory, my understanding and use me as you wish. The ultimate outcome is that individuals had increased understanding of God that it was possible to become totally servile. With such members, it was inevitable that the Catholic faith strengthened. The Jesuit theology was important in justifying Papal dominance. A great manifestation of the developments towards a more practical faith was the spiritual exercises. In theological terms, the spiritual exercises placed a great emphasis on Papal hierarchy.Hierarchy within the Church could now be justified by theology and this validation of this untold disputed factor to Catholicism enabled the Church to produce a strong front. Such comments of Loyola as I will believe that the white object I see is black if that be the will of the hierarchal Church suggests the importance of obed ience and hierarchy which the Jesuits so promoted. The Jesuits were part of the move towards Catholic revival not only through realising the importance of the Churchs abuses and poor administration but also through challenging the Lutherans.An essential role of the Jesuits to aiding the Catholic faith was the recovering of befogged souls in Lutheran territory as well as persuading people out of Europe to convert to Catholicism. A fine example was set by Francis Xavier who became the best know Christian missionary of modern time. He tried to educate the people of the East, particularly in Japan and India on the values of Christianity. The transformation of non-Christians was Loyolas initial motivation in founding his Society and he realised its importance right back in the 1540s when the Jesuits were established.The Papacy also viewed the order as one where their principle function was converting individuals to Catholicism, but particularly those who were Lutheran. As shown by the title given by the Papacy, Regimi militantis ecclesiae, when the order was founded in 1542, they were viewed as an almost militant organisation who could counter the Lutherans with their total obedience to the Pope. The Jesuits would not have received the Papal Bull and this particular title if the Catholics did not realise there would be a spiritual armed struggle between the Jesuits and Luther.

Comparison Of Learning Theories

Comparison Of Learning TheoriesThere ar three main categories of tuition theories, demeanourism, cognitivism, and constructivism. Behaviourism is forebodinged with observable behaviour it classified learning as acquiring new behaviour based on environment. Cognitivism basically is concern with person ideateing process. On the hand congnitivism philosophy of learning based it laying claim that as person reflect on past experiences they construct their own meaning of experiences and recogniseledge. These three theories will be discussed with both(prenominal) focus on their color and differences. Since, they all have implication to t individuallying and learning. Such as, keeping students thinking process in mind looking at students responses and the consequences of those responses.IntroductionThere is non single set of learning surmisal that if devotedly equaled guarantee educators perfect results in the classroom. withal, the study of learning has generated much discussi on for many divisions. It has been at the message of educational psychology. Although the importance of learning as a topic of study is agreed by psychologists they often disagreed on the mechanics of how learning process occurred. (Wittrock, 1977) cited by (Good and Brophy 1995) defined learning as the process of acquiring relative permanent change in understanding, attitude, k nowledge, data, ability and skill through experience. This paper seeks to explain congnitivism, behavioural and constructivist theorists of learning, examining the similarities and differences between the theories, gives faces of how theses theories could employ in the classroom.Cognitive theories foc development on how people process nurture and learn. They discuss concept such as memory, job answer and decision making. David Ausubels (1963) cognitive theory distinguishes reception learning from rote and disc everyplacey learning. It is concern with how students or persons learn large amount of mea ningful material thinking a verbal expository teaching method (Woolfolk1990 P. 292). He suggested that learning is based on presenting schooling in a hierarchical sequential, organized, manner to learners. This assistant and encourage meaningful learning, connection and retention of new information. Since, information presented is usually related to previous learned subsumer. A subsumer is a concept or fancy that includes others concept (Woolfolk, 1990). Simple put, for learning to become meaningful there mustiness be a possible fit or incorporation between learners existent cognitive structure and the information to be learned. To do this Ausubel postulates that educator should always start with advance organizer. Advance organizers are simple statement used to predate higher- level concepts to be learn. They fork out a structure for new information in a general manner and covers the concepts to be learnt (Slavin, 2003). To illustrate, as a instructor I at times uses the KW L chart to teach certain topics, such as the continents. First I gave the students a KWL chart I encourage them to dream up what they already knows to the highest degree the continents, then want they wants to know about continents and finally what new information they learned.Therefore with association of advance organizers in mind educators should be cognisant of students prior knowledge and pre-requisite capabilities should be determined before giving any instruction. When teaching new concepts teachers should incorporate and commence with advance organizers. Instructions or concepts should be integrated which will encourage integrative review, links and transfer of information. Moreover, to facilitate transfer of knowledge teachers should present information in a advanced way starting with lower- level skills before moving up to higher-level skills. Additionally, a much as possible learning material taught in wizard overthrow area should facilitate learning in another sub ject area. For example, students muckle be encouraged to make links between some English speech communication and Spanish words or Latin words. besides, in the classroom, instructions should include both discovery and receptive teaching. To facilitate this, after given instructions teachers should follow up with questions and assessments which will provide opportunities for students to encode material in their own way and apply the concept learn. Furthermore, provide instructions in simple steps, organizing information in sequential and logical ways which will be easy to follow. This will also aid and facilitate mastery of information at each stage. This hierarchical format of giving instruction was supported by Gagnes theory.Robert Gagne (1979) has proposed a theory of instructions (Woolfolk, 1990). Gagne postulate several types of learning which needs opposite types of instructions. consort to (Good Brophy, 1995) Gagne identified five major types of learning. They are attitud es which are internal state that influence personal choices, for example how student feel after reading a poem. Motor skills involve using your reflexes such as tying your shoes. Information entails facts and knowledge stored in the memory, for example addition and subtraction facts. Using intellectual skills that ply learners to discriminate between concrete, define concepts, and solve problems using rules. Finally, use personal ways to guide learning, acting and develop solutions to problems.Additionally, (Woolfolk, 1990) said Gagne was more careed in the quality, permanence and usefulness of students learning. To achieve this, he postulated that teacher used nine instructional events. First teachers must gain students attention. This grass and should be done using a variety of arisees and methods. For example, to get my Kindergartens attention I sometimes incorporate music, drama, nursery rhymes, or poems to introduce my lessons. These are expected to grab students attention and interest since barbarianren generally like these activates.After students attention is gain, Gagne proposed that teachers communicate to learners of the objectivities of the lesson. This stinker be done by reviewing prerequisites, oral unbelieving or quizzes. Teachers can also provide demonstrations of learning products or outcomes (Slavin, 2003). For example, when teaching students how to use different shapes to build a house I will present then with a model of what they can finally make themselves. When attention is gain educators must stimulate students recall of prior learning. This involves getting students to retrieved information they have learned. Then, present the stimulus that is presenting the material to be learnt, followed by providing learning guidelines. This could be anything from guided discovery activities, explanations or demonstrations, however, information presented should be in a logical and understanding way. After doing this (Woolfolk ,1990) said learn ing does not stop there. Since, teachers has to insure learner demonstrate understanding of taught information. Gagne proposed this is done by his next step which involves providing guidance to learners. Gagnes sixth instructional event involves questioning students for understanding, their responses allow teachers to evaluate learners comprehension this also provides reinforcement, feedback and assess performance, which Gagne posited as his seventh and eight instructional level. His theory indicates that after each topic is taught teachers should assess pupils performance, this can be done via formal or informal evaluation. Finally, educators must enhance retention and facilitate transfer of knowledge to other top and subject areas and rattling life agencys.With this information in mind, educators must be mindful that different instructions are required for different learning outcomes. For example in my classroom when I want my class to identify letter a I do not focus on the let ters sound but on its formation or differentiating it from others. Furthermore teachers must be purposeful in selecting instruction strategies, understanding the limitations and advantages of the strategies they choice. Additionally, strategies choice should be based on the students, content and situation of it used, for individual differences are to be considered. Likewise, lessons should commence with declaration of what and why students are required to learn the information. Additionally,Pavlovs and Skinners theory were behaviourist. Behaviourism is concern with observable and measurable aspects of kind behaviour (Good Brophy, 1995). This means that their theories focused on observable, measurable behaviour. Classic conditioning is a term used to describe learning which has been acquired through experience. According to Legge Harari, 2000). Pavlov used animals mainly dogs in his experiments to demonstrated classical conditioning, he arranged for the study of salivary condition ing. The dogs he used showed a salivation response when they where offered food (unconditional stimulus). The food was offered a number of times with the sound of a buzzer (conditional stimulus). After this, the sound of the buzzer alone could produce the salivation response. This theory has some links to classroom situations. For instance, a bell ringing is used in schools to indicate the end of instruction time, recess time, or use a whistle to get students attention during fleshly education exercises.Like Pavlovs theory B. F. Skinner agreed that some human reflexive behaviour is clearly encouraged by specific stimuli. However, Skinner proposed that reflexive behaviour accounts for only a small proportion of all actions (Slavin, 2003). He proposed the use of pleasant and unpleasant consequences. He work focused on placing subjects in controlled situations and observing their behaviour. Operant conditioning is sometimes referred to as instrumental conditioning is a method of learn ing involving reenforce and punishment of behaviour (Legge Harari, 2000). Skinners theory has has some principal(prenominal) principles, is that, behaviour changes according to its immediate consequences. Pleasant consequences strengthen behaviour, unpleasant consequences weakens it (Slavin 2003). Simple put a person will repeat a behaviour if the consequences of that behaviour is pleasing or pleasant. Slavin also, posit that pleasant consequences are call reinforcer, unpleasant consequences are called punishers. Reinforcers are any consequence that strengthens or increase behaviour. Reinforcers can be positive or negative and both are used to strengthen behaviour. Positive reinforces which are favorable events that are presented after the behaviour, such as, praise, grades and stickers. ostracize reinforcers are unfaviourable Negative reinforcers involve the removal of an unfavorable events to strengthen a behaviour.( ww.psychology.about .com)Obviously, teacher can apply Skinne rs and Pavlovs theories. They can decide what behaviours they want students to emulate, and reinforce these behaviours when they occur. For example in my class when I want my students to practice raising their hand to indicate they desired to give an answer, I praise them when they do so and over time I get the desired behaviour I want. However, as teacher we must be careful not to praise or reward work that do not deserve praise. Since, students may not strive to work to their fullest capabilities. Also, after determining of the objectives teachers must analyze the task into prerequisite skills and sub-skills.Additionally, rewards for schoolman effort should be meaningfully, such as extra recess time, opportunities to work on the computer or extra credit on key projects. Furthermore, students should know what behaviour you desire and when students exhibit the desired behaviour and they are reinforce, you tell them why. Additionally, as educators we must ensure reinforcement is tru ly reinforced. For example, when presenting class rules, set up both negative and positive consequences for breaking or following the rules. Also, use cues to help establish new behaviours. Sometimes at the beginning of the school year I Call students attention to the notice board, which usually has list of material they should have or will need when official class begins. Moreover, teachers must remember to reinforce appropriate behaviour as soon as possible. For delayed reinforcement are usually less effective than immediately reinforcement. In addition, one must keep in mind anything children like can be use as an effective reinforcer, although all can not be utilize in the classroom. However, as a teacher I sometimes use what whatever practical reinforcement to motivate my students.Constructivism is a philosophy of learning founded on the premise that, by reflecting on our experiences, we construct our own understanding of the world we live in. According to Slavin (2003) it dra ws many of it philosophy on the work of Piaget and Vygotsky, they emphasis the well-disposed nature of learning, and both suggested the use of different abilities themeing to promote conceptual change.Jean Piaget (1896-1980), is one of the most influential child psychologies. He proposed a theory of cognitive development which has many implications on teaching and learning.In Piagets theory he viewed cognitive development on two biological tendencies organization, and adaption( Legge Harari 2004). Organization as Piaget saw it involved organising experiences and observation into cohesive systems. Adaption involves adjusting to the environment. It is a process by which individual create matches between their pervious learnt information and new information that king not exactly fit together. This is where individuals demonstrate patterns of behaviour or thinking described by Piaget as schema (Slavin 2003 P.30). This involves using two techniques assimilation and accommodation. as similation involved trying to understand something new by fitting it into what one already knows. For example, the first time many children see the moon they call it a ball. They are assimilating the information into their current view of the world. If the child observation does not fit into their existing schemas they accommodate or change schema. When the individual has collision a balance between assimilation and accommodation that person has achieved equilibrium because existing intents and change schemas now fits.Therefore, with the above information in mind teachers or educators should facilitate assimilation process by matching new learning experiences with learners existing thinking patterns. However, the match between new experiences and existing thinking scheme of learners should not be too exact, for no or little accommodation will occur. When planning teachers should create opportunities of experiences that generate novel ideas and divergence views this will require so me reconstructing of thinking and belief. Also, when presenting new information to learners it is essential that this is done in a sequential and meaningful way this will facilitate organization of information and encourage learners to organize their thought into main ides, concepts and generalisation this helps students to consider past learning in a divisive and integrated way which can becomes problem solving tools.According to (Woolfolk 1990) Piaget also postulates a stage theory. He suggested that all children regardless of factors such as race and gender go though different stages of development, and that at each stage they think qualitatively different to the stage before. In the first stage sensorimortor, (birth to 2 years) is the time when infants gain knowledge about the world though manipulating objects and innate reflexes. They learn that an object will continue to exit even if it is out of sight Woolfolk (2003). The preoperational stage (2 to 7 years) children can now u se imagery based on his or her memory of previous behaviour in the same situation (Good Brophy, 2008). Preschoolers language develops at an incredible rate. However their thinking remains egocentric and central. Therefore, teachers should use visual aids whenever possible. When given instructions to preschoolers, educators can allow them to act it out as well as give them oral information and do not expect students in the preoperational stage constantly see the world from others perceptive. Moreover opportunities must be provided for group word, this facilitates co-operation, and reduce subjectivity.The next stage is the concrete operational (age 7 to 12) Children at this age are in schools they are able to solve concrete (hands on) problems (Slavin 2003). They to a great extent depend on concrete experiences to facilitate his or her thinking. Therefore, teacher must provide opportunities for learner in this stage to meaningfully manipulate objects. For example, when I am teaching topics such as addition or time I give student models of clocks or counter to aid their understanding. . Also, importantly students must have occasions to interact with the physical and social environmentThe final stage (age 12 and beyond) of cognitive development is defined by the childs ability to think abstractly and use logical hypothesis testing to solve problems. Teachers must therefore integrate new examples and illustration from previously taught lesson to extend old learning. Also provide higher level problems to engage student in critical abstract thinking. In my teaching my questions and problems are set at different levels such as requires knowledge to answer, others required comprehension skills while other may need analysis skills.Vygotsky (1896-1934) is a Russian psychologist who made significant contributions to developmental and constructivism theory. He proposes a theory of development in which he presented several key concepts Legge Harari 2004). He viewed cogni tive developments as a result of a dialectical process, where a child learns through shared problem solving experiences with someone else. It is primarily through their speech that adults are assumed to transmit to children the rich body of knowledge that exists in their culture. As learning progresses, the childs own language comes to help as his or her primary tool of intellectual transformation (Slavin 2003).Another concept is his supposed construct of the zone of proximal development (ZPD) which provides an explanation of how a child develops with the help of others (Woolfolk 2003). It is the gap between what children are already able to do and what they are not quite ready to accomplish by themselves (Slavin 2004). He explains how children develop through contact with others such as parents, teacher, siblings or a peer.The person interacting with the child undertakes most of the responsibility for guiding the problem solving, but gradually this responsibility transfers to the child.Vygotsky also posited scaffolding. It is similar to scaffolding around a building. In that, it can be removed after the need for it ends. For instance, when a child is shown how to something and has mastered the idea he or she can now complete this assignment on his or her own.Vygotskys theory can be applied to the classroom, he suggests the teachersIs important in the process of the transmission of knowledge .This means teacher must ensure information given are accurate and useful to learners. Moreover, they must provide opportunities for peer tutoring, cooperative learning arrangements among student with mix-abilities. Personally I can attest that this onward motion works. Since, I have successful use this in many of my lessons. Allow students to gradually take on more independent responsibilities, removing the scaffold.Teachers responsibilities are to facilitate learning, what teachers do in the classroom are important to the overall effect of students learning. Therefore, teachers endeavour to making learning occur must be his or her best efforts. In so doing teachers can draw of all of the theories discussed in the essay. However, one must be mindful that these theories ha some thins in common and differences.Behaviourism is concern about behaviour that can be observed while cognitive psychology assumes that humans have the capacity to process and organise information in their mind. It is concerned less with observable behaviour and more with the thought processes behind it. Constructivism like congnitivism focuses on thinking processes and problem solving but also considered students reactions which is an important feature of the behaviourist theory. All three discussed theories attempt to explain and describe how learning occurs and viewed education and the instructional process as a whole. However, behaviourism create the basis for all learning theories.Cognitivism and constructivism both stressed the importance of forging relation between prev ious learnt information to new information. In other words, learners are expected to relate new information to prior knowledge and experiences.As stated before there is no ideal educational theory. However the approach teachers used in their daily instructions are important. The approaches they use should be based on a variety of issues, such as the age of the students, their cognitive processing level, the subject matter and difficulty of the required task in order to successfully achieve all the objectives.

Henri Cartier-Bresson Photography Analysis

Henri Cartier-Bresson Photography AnalysisCritical commentary on the picture-Henri Cartier-Bresson Michel Gabriel, Rue Mouffetard, 1952The photo that I am going to analyse is taken by the famous French photographer, Henri Cartier-Bresson, in 1952. He was famous for his dejectiondid photography, which was later developed as a nonher soft of art Street photography. His contribution towards photography art finally helped him own the name of the father of modern photojournalism.The photo mainly captures a male child, Michel Gabriel, who is holding 2 magnums with his arms, and his face is actually exuding a kind of happiness and confidence which could supposedly be seen on a mature mans face. There be also cardinal little girls captured in the photo, but their presence is a bit blurred since the boy holding the wine bottles is the main character.As mentioned in the previous paragraph, the boy was portrayed as a man who was proud to be a drinker. In fact, the kind between the boy , Michel Gabriel, and the photographer, Henri Cartier-Bresson, was very subtle because actually the boy and the photographer did not know each other the photographer just shot the boy in a atomic number 50did way. Therefore, it can be utter that the relationship between them is very subtle, which is the photographer vs. the model, or the man with a camera vs. a boy with wine bottles.In this photo, the theory, Affective fallacy, suggested by W.K. Wimsatt and Monroe Beardsley can be applied. Affective fallacy is supposedly defined as a confusion between the poem and its results, but later this theory is also generally utilize to apply to collecting photographs, meaning that readers interpret the photographs by means of his/her personal emotion or affectionateness. The boy is holding two wine bottles with satisfied facial verbal ex holeion readers like me whitethorn view this photo on the basis of intuition that the boy is happy because he could drink alcohol like an adult. Howev er, this interpretation may be wrong since we do not know the intention of the photographer. To be more objective, the boy may just run across something which was intriguing on the thoroughfare, and the photographer just captured the moment.Another interpretation would be the boy is just carrying two wine bottles filled with water (or empty) around for fun, which can be inferred from the land of the photo. First, the apartment and street implies that the place where the boy walks is a working class distract. Therefore, wine is possibly not affordable for a child like him he may just play what popular within the working class area at that quantify. Second, the ambience of black and white of the photo, the clothing style of the boy, the affect girls behind him, and the date can also help convince the readers that the boy is playing at the moment.However, if readers refer to the statement of Cartier-Bresson, the interpretations will be different. As Henri Cartier-Bresson said photog raphy is a way of shouting, freeing oneself, not of proving and asserting ones originality, so photography is a mean of telling the story or truth in which it captures the conversation, facial expression, gestures and presents them in a visual way which can be for later reflections. The meanings that are being shouted or freed by the photographer would be the concern about the boy drinking alcohol, about the drinking habits of his parents, and even about the way that the boy lives under the influence of his parents. The statement of Cartier-Bresson is thus in line with the viewpoint of Benjamin stressing that photograph can release meaning that was not perceived at the time.There is no doubt that photography can capture an object it can also capture time in which the moment will last forever. Therefore, the viewpoint from Kracauer is true because he stress that photography captures time- memory outlast time, meaning that the type together with the meaning would become memory which can be recalled. Taking this photo as an example, it does document the time when people were living in Rue Mouffetard, and also the aura of surrounding area. Therefore, it is a good documentation recording the community life during that period.Yet, drill an image sometimes goes problematic as the photographer (creator) does not always provide a lucid explanation or his/her interpretation for the photos therefore, different interpretation can be resulted. Using this photo as an example again, whatever the photographer, the boy, his parents, or even the girls behind the boy, they may dupe their own interpretations towards this photo. That is why sometimes reading images goes problematic. But I have to say that this problematic reading can, to a certain extent, stimulate the imagination of readers, from the surface to the underneath of photos.With no doubt, the prevalence of street photographs or candid photographs can be attributable to Cartier-Bressons contributions. However, nowad ays, this kind of art seems to be abused because you can see a lot of candid photographs through different social networking websites, blogs, etc. However, it has somehow become a flood because most of the photos taken, especially in my hometown Hong Kong, have no meanings the photographers themselves even do not know what meanings they want to express or deliver to the readers, thus, it is a bit sad because what the readera can access may be just the superficial meanings.The reader, as well, should also view a photograph in a deeper way in which he or she can access to different dimensions of the photographs. Nowadays, people are inclined to glimpse photographs instead of reading them. He or she may only get the very superficial meanings of the photographs. That is why sometimes we need to view a photograph with theories.For me, the photographic theories do help me to view a photograph in a deeper and more complex way. I am strike by what Cartier-Bresson said taking photographs is a means of understanding which cannot be separated from other means of visual expression it is true because once you press the shutter of your camera, the relationship between the object and you has been set up. However, you cannot deeply understand the object by just glimpsing it. A good photographer captures time a good reader captures the meanings behind.Benjamins theory on photograph said photograph can confirm ideological thinking, I absolutely agree to the statement as I think a photograph itself can establish discourse and semantics in its own world that is why a photo can decode the culture, values whatever of an object or of a particular place. Therefore, I think that reading a photograph is quite similar to reading a text in which readers need to undergo the process of decoding. In a text, readers have to decode the words into image while in a photograph, they have to decipher the hidden meanings (images) into words. It can be said that readers can fully understand the p hotographs unless they immerse themselves in the hidden dimensions of the photographs. If a reader only views the photo through a glimpse, what he/she can get is superficial.Referencehttp//www.biographybase.com/biography/Cartier_Bresson_Henri.html

Gertrude: The Tragic Heroine of Shakespeares Hamlet Essay example -- G

Gertrude The Tragic Heroine of Hamlet Hamlet is perhaps English literatures most storied play a masterwork by the greatest of all masters, Shakespeare, from its very appearance Hamlet has not ceased to delight audiences and confound spectators. The complexity of the main character, prince Hamlet, is so great that all who have attempted to decipher his character fulsomely have failed. Amidst his own grandeur, Hamlet makes the some other characters pale. As they blur into literary oblivion overdue to the magnetism of the central character, other characters are often disregarded as one-dimensional and are not done sufficient justice. Gertrude, victim of Hamlets virulent oral abuse, is often seen through the bitter eyes of her son and thus her align character is seldom recognized. However, Shakespeare, incapable of mediocrity, instilled in Gertrude more complexity than simple abstract might yield. He bestowed her the appearance of an unscrupulous woman, one for whom shame is a st ranger and who acts guided solely by her carnal desires furthermore, she gives signs of being a frivolous queen, one who occupies her mind in simple contemplations, and for whom profound matters are inaccessible. Finally, he made her seem an insensitive mother incapable of empathy for her sons grief and oblivious to true sensibility. Nonetheless, it is Gertrudes desire for reconcilement and her need to avoid conflict that make her appear an unscrupulous woman, a frivolous Queen and an insensitive mother. Certainly the most widespread horizon regarding Gertrude is that she is an unscrupulous woman however, it is her desire for reconcilement and her need to avoid conflict that make her appear unscrupulous. With all the force of his first soliloquy... ... tragic flaw was no other than the innocent desire for reconcilement and her too human need to avoid conflict. In Hamlets own words, this seems the very essence of veracity, what a piece of work is man how courtly in reason, how in finite in faculties and yet, how solitary and uncomprehended how quick to condemn, how reluctant to forgive and in doing so how like a Greek God, and how, so attractively and fallibly human. Bibliography 1. Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Folger Library. Edited by Louis B. Wright and Virginia A. LaMar Washington, Washington Square Press Publication, 1958. 2. Gertrude in Hamlet http//academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/cs6/critical.htmlmichelle_g Date accessed 02/25/2003) 3. Mabillard, Amanda. Shakespeares Gertrude. Shakespeare Online. 2000. http//www.shakespeare-online.com/gertrudechar.html (03/25/2003)

Four Critics’ Perspective of Theodore Roethkes Elegy for Jane Essay

Four Critics Perspective of Theodore Roethkes Elegy for JaneMore than forty years after her untimely shoemakers last, Jane Bannick breathes again--or so it seems while reading about her. Janes unfortunate dying in an equestrian accident prompted one of her professors, the poet Theodore Roethke, to write a moving poem, Elegy for Jane, recalling his young student and his feelings of grief at her loss. Opinions appeared close as shortly as Roethkes tribute to Jane, and passages about the poem continue to appear in articles and books. Recent writings by Parini, Ross-Bryant, Kalaidjian, and Stiffler disclose current assessments. According to Parini, Janes death is not the subject of the poem rather, her death presents an occasion for calling up a certain emotional state in which Roethkes feelings of grief and pity transcend the occasion. quest the standard of elegiac celebration of the vegetation god Adonis reaching back to Bions Lament for Adonis and Moschuss Lament for Bion, Ro ethke associates the deceased with elemental nerves of nature--the plant tendrils, the pickerel, the wren--to defuse the pathos of her death. A Romantic poet, Roethke views death as a stage the plants point to rebirth (138-39). The subject of Roethkes most famous poem (45) becomes the response to Janes death and his ambivalent emotions at her graveside. Without the associations of earlier elegies, the emotion would surpass the occasion. Roethke mourns not only Jane, whom he knew only slightly, but also the deaths of us all (138-39). Jane presents one aspect of woman in The Waking collection (1953) Ross-Bryant views Jane as a young girl who is dead. The poem expresses concern with the coming of death. This poignant elegy is presen... ...ini and Ross-Bryant appear almost polarized in their opinion of the nature of Roethkes feelings for Jane Parini contends that Roethke mourns for us all Ross-Bryant feels that Roethkes grief is intensely personal. Other than the nature of than Roethkes feelings for Jane, these four critics find little to disagree about in Elegy for Jane. Works CitedKalaidjian, Walter B. Understanding Theodore Roethke. Columbia U of South Carolina P, 1987. Parini, Jay. Theodore Roethke An American Romantic. Amherst U of Massachusetts P, 1979. Roethke, Theodore. The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke. New York Anchor-Doubleday, 1975. Ross-Bryant, Lynn. Theodore Roethke Poetry of the Earth . . . Poet of the Spirit. Port Washington, N.Y. Kennikat, 1981. Stiffler, Randall. Theodore Roethke The Poet and His Critics. lucre ALA, 1986.