Frankenstein and Blade Runner †Texts in Time Analysis Essay

Many themes and ideas continue to reoccur among different texts in time. However studying two texts in conjunction allows one to observe how composers manipulate ideas in order to more accurately connect to their context, and reflect the concerns and values of the time. Through the comparative study of Mary Shelley’s 1818 gothic novel Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus and Ridley Scott’s 1981 neo-noir cyberpunk film Blade Runner (Director’s Cut), one can observe how in these two didactic and prescient tales, ideas of the dangers of unrestrained scientific progress and the Promethean overreaching of man are explored, with differences in values presented reflecting the different contexts between the texts. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein was created in an era of rapid technological change. By 1818, the Industrial Revolution had deeply influenced the fundamental nature of society, while Enlightenment inspired ideals of logic and autonomy of reason were prominent in society. Her text accordingly reflects this, as seen in the protagonist Victor Frankenstein; â€Å"I am imbued with a fervent longing to penetrate the secrets of nature. † This metaphor alludes to his passionate and desperate urge to uncover the secrets to the creation of life. Shelley however critiques his intrusive scientific pursuit and horrid creation by juxtaposing it with the beauty of nature. This is seen in the bucolic descriptions of nature’s sublime; â€Å"Mighty alps, whose white and shining pyramids and domes towered above all. † Nature calms and dehumanises Victor throughout the text, but Victor pursues science to the extent that nature loses its consoling ability, and thereafter the Arctic becomes a pathetic fallacy to mock Victor’s psychological and mental isolation. This criticism is further emphasised through the epistolary narrative framework, which allows the text to begin in medias res. The first introduction to Victor is him in a state of complete ruin, and so the text is a forewarning of the ramifications of amoral scientific advancement. In a similar manner, Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner was created in a time of rapid technological progress through the 1970s and 80s. The emergence of the computer and communication age meant that the world became more centralised, with a growing concern that technology was destroying the environment. Set in Los Angeles in 2019, the opening establishing shot of the expansive city immediately demonstrates the negative consequences of untamed scientific advancement. The fire belching into the sky, the artificial city lights sparkling under a looming red-grey sky and the haunting synthetic pulses from the Vangelis soundtrack allude to Hades, making the city a vision of hell. The camera then zooms into the reflection of an eye, which depicts the artificiality of the world and introduces dystopian themes of paranoia and surveillance. Hence we can see that Blade Runner is representative of a grim future that Shelley’s scientific hubris warned us of nearly two centuries ago. However there are alterations in the ideas shown to befit the differing contexts of the texts. Mary Shelley argues that an excessive pursuit of science can lead to the ruin of an individual man, seen in Victor Frankenstein. She also argues that nature is larger than man, evident in her highly Romantic descriptions of nature’s sublime. Ridley Scott however argues that man is overpowering nature, owing to the global concerns of pollution and deforestation in the 1980s. Hence Scott implies amoral scientific advancement will lead to the detriment of society as a whole, and not just at an individual level. Unequivocally, both texts explore the idea of the promethean overreaching of man and his tendency to usurp the role of God, through the characters of Victor Frankenstein and Tyrell. The subtitle of Mary Shelley’s novel, The Modern Prometheus, refers to Victor Frankenstein, and his creation of the monster. A new species would bless me as its creator and source† His creation however leads him to transcend the boundaries of man and elevate him into a god-like status, and this leads to Victor’s complete societal and mental isolation, where he loses sight of his responsibilities and the consequences of his actions. Victor compares himself to God, while the monster says to Victor â€Å"I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel†, referring to himself as Lucifer. This means the text is given added complexity in that there is a duality between both characters, where neither Victor or the monster are innately good or bad, rather they containing capacity for both, as they become two sides of a single entity, forming a doppelganger relationship. Finally, the literary allusion by Victor; â€Å"how could I enter into a festival with this deadly weight hanging round my neck? † is a reference to the albatross in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, and shows the eternal punishment and guilt Victor faces from outstretching the boundaries of man and playing the role of God. Therefore it is apparent that in her text, Shelley attempts to warn of the dire consequences of man’s promethean overreaching of the role of God. Correspondingly, the idea of man overstepping of the natural order is heavily explored in Blade Runner. The film is the epitome of a dystopian world dominated by commerce. The initial low angle shot of the Tyrell Corporation’s grand ziggurat-like monolith reflects the rampant commercialisation and commodification of the world, while the blue light shining into the sky pertains to the usurpation of God’s role, and the diminishment of nature in modern society. The Tyrell Corporation’s dominance criticises the â€Å"greed is good† attitude of the 1980s, typified through the antagonist Eldon Tyrell; â€Å"Commerce is our goal here at Tyrell, ‘More Human than Human’ is our motto. † His thick glasses symbolise his failure to see the future consequences of his actions, much like Victor, and this adds to the eye motif of the film, where eyes are windows to the soul and measures of humanity – something which Tyrell clearly lacks. Roy Batty, the film’s role-reversed protagonist, is portrayed initially as a Satanic figure; â€Å"I’ve done questionable things†, akin to the monster being labelled â€Å"daemon† and â€Å"devil† in Frankenstein. However Scott makes a biblical allusion when Batty crucifies his own hand, and this relates him to Christ. Thus one can see how in both texts the composers warn of the dangers of usurping the role of god, showing the complexity and duality of man on Earth. Mary Shelley’s romantic values however mean that through the character of Victor, she aims to criticise the overreaching aspect of Enlightenment, warning that those who do will be eternally punished. Ridley Scott however aims to condemn the overcommercialisation and increasing greed in society, using Tyrell as a figure to represent man’s obsession for power, and in such he criticises the society that we live in. In these ways it can be seen how the overreaching of god in both texts is used differently to resonate with different contextual values. Therefore, through a comparative study of both Frankenstein and Blade Runner, we can see how the common issues of rampant scientific and technological progress and the usurpation of the natural order is explored in both texts, however these ideas are varied slightly in order to suit the differing contexts. Frankenstein aims at questioning Enlightenment values, while Blade Runner condemns materialism, unhinged genetic engineering and corporal greed, essentially critiquing society and presenting a dystopian vision of the future.

A Reflection on Chasing Zero Essay

Chasing Zero, I believe, is a documentary that will never completely leave my mind as long as I work in the field of healthcare. Chasing Zero presents the topic of medical errors: it portrays the disastrous effects they can have on their recipients and how they can ruin the lives of the healthcare providers at fault. However, beyond bringing forth awareness about the harm that medical errors can cause, Chasing Zero also presents a goal. This goal is to decrease the amount of medical errors that occur, by such a significant amount, that the resulting number is zero. Zero is not an easy objective, and many people may think it is impossible. However, no matter the difficulty, it is the responsibility of every healthcare worker to do his or her part to reduce the general number of medical errors occurring as much as possible. As a nursing student, I am particularly glad that I was exposed to the concept of medical errors this early on in my training so I can actively define my role in preventing them. The documentary reminded me that I am entering a profession where my actions have real and significant consequences. A sloppy or incomplete performance in medicine is unacceptable and I must find the best way to become as competent as possible. I was immediately encouraged to become a better student in the classroom, to work harder and retain necessary knowledge that I know may be of great consequence one day. Additionally, since my skills have not yet been fully established, I can take certain measures to ensure that bad and perhaps dangerous habits which can lead to errors, do not develop. I further believe that Chasing Zero will reduce errors simply because it brought awareness of the subject to the public. Now, when people visit a healthcare facility for any reason, they will understand that the professionals working with them are human, and can therefore make mistakes. Through the documentary, people can learn to be their own advocates and to question anything that their healthcare provider is doing which is unclear to them. Chasing Zero presented many concepts to think about and a goal that, if worked for, can be achieved, at least on a personal level. As technology advances and awareness increases, this process might slowly become easier. Instruments such as bar code scanners for drug distribution are constantly being created or improved and new policies are continuously  being instituted in hospitals. I am grateful that I had the opportunity to watch Chasing Zero and I hope to be a part of the movement that strives, every day, to successfully remove the concept of medical errors from our lives.

High School Experience Essay

High school is always a terrifying experience for a lot of kids. It’s the point in their life when they become adults and realize who they want to be. It also indicates where they will be heading in life and what they will be doing in the future. Most high schools have the common social groups such as the jocks, the preps, the popular kids, and the norms, and people often find themselves making drastic changes to their personality or appearance to be accepted into at least one of these groups. School has always been difficult for me as far as fitting in with the crowd, so in high school, it was important to me to figure out which group I felt the most comfortable with and could be myself in without being judged or rejected. Every once in a while, different groups become intertwined with each other and get along quite well. Whether it’s the jocks and the popular kids, or the norms and the nerds, they all find a way to connect and make sure everyone feels at home. In my high school experience, that is exactly what happened. As one jock, named Allison went through her days living her dreams as a cheerleader, a prep named Madison went through hers imagining she owned the school. These two girls who had joined completely different groups, found a connection and became close friends with one of the popular kids, named Lauren, who never seemed to have a hard time making friends, and myself, who never cared too much about anything besides getting through each day with the best education possible, a common norm trait. As the years went on, so did our high school experience, and our bond became stronger and stronger until the day came we all had to go our separate ways. On May 23, 2014, I had one of the most memorable experiences with these three girls. As we closed one chapter in our lives and opened up for a new one to begin, we placed our caps on our heads and took our diplomas in our hands. Taking our last glance at an old place, and saying goodbye to old friends, we embrace our last moments and prepare for the first moments at a new place with new friends.

A Direct Marketing Campaign for a Consumer Product Essay

A Direct Marketing Campaign for a Consumer Product - Essay Example   The marketing plan ¨ will target audiences from the ages of twelve years old to twenty-one years old. Only the students from high schoolsïÆ'’, colleges and university of this age group will be chosen in the first marketing phase within the Los Angeles Area. The private high schools are Loyola High School, Immaculate Heart High School, Rose and Alex Pilibos Armenian School, Windward School, Sheenway School, Daniel Murphy High School, Marymount High School, Shalhevet High School and Green Pastures Academy. The public high schools will be John Marshall High School, Los Angeles High School, Dorsey High School, Eagle Rock High School, and Belmont High School. The Colleges included in our school visits are Academy Pacific Travel College, Agape Christian   The Lipton Green Tea (LGT) will be portrayed as having the beneficial health ingredients such as the much-needed vitamins and minerals and its natural product with no preservatives, additives, and food coloring thereby eliminating the possibility of having harmful side effects will be the main theme of the marketing plan. This marketing strategy to attract a particular target audience will be implemented from January 2006 to June 2006. Free one bottle samples will be given to the prospective youngster.   They will then fill up a survey questionnaire to determine their taste comments and other comments and suggestions. Colorful expensive brochures and flyers will be given to each free sampling student advertising the many health benefits taking the Lipton Green Tea to make them familiar with the products. The LGT will have the same selling price as a Coke product. This means the LGT will have a very optimistic projection of its marketing strategy to corner a big portion of the beverage consuming market.

The Mythical Democratic- Republican National Convention (DRNC) Essay

The Mythical Democratic- Republican National Convention (DRNC) - Essay Example This essay stresses that the recommendations based on the risk analysis include that high security personnel should be deployed in the Bicentennial Park since it will be hosting over 20, 000 protestors who may be targets for a terrorist or bombing attack as well as to prevent them from becoming too violent and disrupting the meeting. The same security personnel with assistance from the security cameras should monitor the Hotel Row which will be housing the dignitaries and media personnel. Majority of the security parameters from the air surveillance to concrete barriers, bomb screening and experts to CCTV cameras and anti-terrorism forces should be present in the arena. There should also be set aside corridors and areas for mass evacuation and mass casualty treatment in case of any attack. The fire department should also be on the forefront with their evacuation skills to lend a hand in case of any risk. During the planning and resource allocation process, the planning committee and sub-committee should make considerations of the number of security forces need with different expertise from ground to air surveillance. This paper makes a conclusion that the combination of the threats, the vulnerabilities and the consequence of the threats happening have led to the identification and ranking of the risk factors and infrastructural assets that need to be considered during planning. The recommendations made are specific enough for the planning committee to consider in their budgetary allocations if curbing of the risks is to not only be effective but efficient as well.

Certificate 4 assessment and Training Assignment

Certificate 4 assessment and Training - Assignment Example units to be addressed include; approaches to risk management, challenges in risk management, administration of risk management, and countering challenges in risk management. In order to ensure success and efficiency in the learning process, one should be keen in addressing all key issues. The need for adopting the best performance criteria cannot be emphasized. In executing the learning processes, the delivery units should be efficiently sequenced, to ensure that learning is relevant, effective and logical. This should be efficiently administered in collaboration with the clients, so as to ensure match between the learning needs and the content being delivered. In order to ensure success in delivery of the units, the instructor is bound to keep in touch with the learner, so as to ensure relevance, effectiveness and logic of the units being delivered (Chan, 2009). Important to note is that the characteristics of the target group should be identified and considered in the delivery process, which will facilitate identification of the language, numeracy and literacy requirements of the program. By so doing, consistency and sequence will be maintained in the learning process, thus enhancing effectiveness. There will be every need to agree and clarify the purpose of the program, in order for the training program to meet the need of the different stakeholders. The key stakeholders of concern include the mentors/coaches, learners, work organizations, and facilitators/trainers. Consistency and logic in delivering the units will be attained by developing the appropriate skills for each specific group of learners. The mentors or facilitators will have to improve the numeracy and literacy skills of the learners (Chan, 2009). A key issue of concern in delivery of the units includes the breakdown of the learners’ needs. It will be mandatory to breakdown the jobs and roles into manageable component parts. Intensive job analysis will be undertaken, so as to identify the

A Letter to God by Gregorio Lopez Y Fuentes Essay

A Letter to God by Gregorio Lopez Y Fuentes - Essay Example However, the expected rain turned to hail and soon destroyed all his crops which placed his family in an anticipated hunger throughout the year. Thinking about his God whom he knows would provide for their needs, the farmer then writes a letter to him which he sent through the mail. In the amusement of the postman and the postmaster, the former tried to correspond with the farmer but found the task to be challenging when he opened the letter and found out that the farmer was asking for a hundred pesos in order to re-sow the fields and to live by while they wait until harvest time. The postmaster then made his best to raise the money but was able to just send seventy pesos. When the farmer received his mail, he was disappointed when he opened it seeing it was not the full amount he asked for. So he made another letter telling God he just received seventy pesos and asking him to send the full amount of a hundred pesos because he badly needs it. Moreover, he asked the money not to be se nt through the mail because the post office employees are crooks, thinking the thirty peso deficit was taken by them.

Motivation in the Workplace Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Motivation in the Workplace - Research Paper Example   The focus would be on the two categories of motivational theories; content and process. There has been no single definition of motivation universally adopted in the context of the workplace. But Teck-Hong and Waheed (2011) define it as conditions in an individual or the environment which influence persistence, direction, and strength of relevant organizational behavior, holding organizational constraints and individual abilities constant. This thus encompasses the decisions on why, how and when efforts would be allocated to an activity. While reviewing the similarity and distinction in constructs between personality and values, Parks and Guay simply adopt the definition of motivation as â€Å"an energizing force that induces action† (2009, p.679). These researchers appreciate motivation as a psychological process that involves arousal, intensity, direction, and persistence involuntary action for specific goals. A similar postulation by Lee and Tan (2012) appreciates that psychological empowerment would affect the intrinsic motivation of an employee. Of the three components that make up individual creativity (motivation, creative thinking skills and expertise), Lee and Tan (2012) singled out motivation as being the easiest and fastest to achieve. In their study to determine the factors that affect creativity and performance of an employee at the workplace, these researchers noted that intrinsic motivation would trigger stimulation of high-level creative effort and persistence at work. Extrinsic rewards complement intrinsic motivation to realize achievements of organizational goals and build efficiency among employees. In human resource management, a complex set of factors interrelated to each other have been noted to motivate humans and include the need for affiliation, money, and desire for meaningful work.  

Developing a Lens Claim Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Developing a Lens Claim - Essay Example 410), a venue where the Chinese people can integrate their culture to a language fundamentally foreign to theirs, but nevertheless necessary for survival in a very dynamic world, and global village. Like that of soccer hating (Foer, p. 412), Chinglish hating is also triggered by specific and special events. Though the Chinese government has been promoting for the eradication of Chinglish from everyday conversation, its effort during the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai was its biggest and most comprehensive effort. Lastly, just like in soccer, globalization will continually provide the "subtext" (Foer, p. 413) for the Chinese cultural split. However, if it appears that Chinglish can lessen the negative impact of such cultural divide, then letting it be could be the best course of action. Jacobs, A. (2010, May 2). Shanghai Is Trying to Untangle the Mangled English of Chinglish. New York Times. Accessed on October 5, 2010, Available at http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2010/05/03/world/asia/20100503_CHINGLISH.html.

Strategic management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 7

Strategic management - Essay Example Strategic planning helps in formulating the business approach to a context. As shown in figures 1 and 2, it is seen that the strategy stems out of the context which influences the strategy and the actions that lead to a solution on the strategy and finally, provides the results which in turn leads to altering the context. The strategy should get altered based on the change in the context thus altered. Strategies are worked out using various tools. One of the oldest methods involved using the SWOT analysis for bringing out the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and the Threats perceived by the company and the business2. The strategy would primarily enhance and capitalise on the strengths of the company for tapping the opportunities and to counter the threats perceived while at the same time would offset the weaknesses perceived. This would help the company to realise its objectives of enhancing the profitability of the company. Porter’s Five Forces helped the strategists to model the environment and the business is positioned in it to understand the effect of the environment. This was perceived to have been made up of the five forces that Porter projected. He further qualifies some of the approaches to strategy as generic. There are three types of generic strategies that are used by companies, employing the common economic forces that are in play in the market. These are: Cost Leadership by providing the best cost for a product or a service, product differentiation and thereby commanding higher prices and finally, identifying its own niche products for a specific product-segment thereby monopolising the entire business for that product or at least dominating it. While these strategies help the company to move forward, without a basic strategy the company stutters. As can be seen from the figure 2, the markets are created by companies which fall under any one of the strategies depicted in it, either consciously or otherwise. The perfect competition would

Bullying Essay Example for Free

Bullying Essay According to cyberbullying. org, cyber bullying can be defined as the harassment, humiliation, torment, embarrassment a child, preteen, or teen faces from another child, preteen, or teen. The perpetrator uses the Internet, interchangeable technologies, or even their cellular phones to carry out the illegal act. Those who are faced with such an issue should reach out and make their voices heard. Bullying by any means, is undoubtedly wrong and painful for those who are victimized by it the effects cyber bullying can have on a child or teen can be utterly dangerous or in some extreme cases, deadly. Quite recently, in the news, was a story about Rutgers University student, Tyler Clementi, committing suicide allegedly due to two students streaming a video of him and another male being intimate. The two students who live streamed and recorded Clementi were charged with two counts each of invasion of privacy. It is reported that 9 out of 10 gay children are harassed or bullied and are four times more likely to commit suicide than heterosexual children. In my high school, a dear friend of mine felled prey to cyber bullying. A group of classmates discovered a video online of a girl, who looked somewhat similar to my friend, in a sexual act. These classmates then went around the entire school, showed everyone the video, and attempted to convince students that the girl recorded was in fact my friend. However, the girl in the video and my friend had significant differences about them that made it clear to me that these bullies were simply targeting her based on their personal vendetta against her. As a result, unfortunately, my friend started missing many school days and later I discovered she was cutting not only her arms but her legs as well. Any type of bullying can lead to emotional distress, lack of self confidence, and thoughts of suicide; these effects could last a lifetime. According to bullyingstatistics. org and statistics from the I-safe  foundation, over half of adolescents and teens have been bullied online, and about the same number have engaged in cyber bullying. Countless amount of teens are unaware of the fact that the many things they post online, whether it be good or bad, can eventually come back and haunt them in the future, especially when applying for a job or college. What can truly be done about cyber bullying? Sadly, most incidents of cyber bullying go unreported; possibly because a great number of people don’t find the issue that big of a deal. In my opinion, cyber bullying can be averted by educating students on the matter, not only in schools but at home as well. Schools should set up programs and seminars educating students about bullying and its effects. The College of Mount Saint Vincent has taken the initiative of creating the counseling center where students can walk in and discuss any issues that their having with counselors who are more than willing to listen and offer their support. Parents should monitor their children and their actions. They should be conscious of who their children are talking to and who their friends are. For many like my friend and Tyler Clementi, cyber bullying has already taken a dramatic toll on their lives, but if more students come forth and speak on their experiences on the issue it is without a question that this horrific trend can  end.

Assessing Corporate Culture Essay Example for Free

Assessing Corporate Culture Essay 1. Scheins approach to assessing organizational culture a. Strengths of scheins approach to assessing organizational culture Schein defines and describes culture as any one of many elements of organizational culture. The culture of an organization can be viewed and treated like other structures within an organization. Certain organizations such as by-laws, committees, and chain of command flow charts, may serve to answer basic questions such as â€Å"how do we interact with the external environment?† and â€Å"how do we order ourselves internally?† As an organization responds to these questions, the responses become core assumptions. These core assumptions become the frames through which the organization interprets the world round it. In place of questionnaire or instrument that utilizes typologies, Schein prefers clinical research model of assessing organizational culture. In this model of organizational culture investigation, the researcher gets much more directly involved within the organization by acting as participant observer or ethnographer. He suggests that members of the organization will more openly respond to the researcher and the investigation because the members of the organization think they have something to gain by collaborating with the researcher. Schein believes that valid data on the culture of the organization will only be collected when the researcher is perceived as the consultant who is seeking to help the organization and has the best interest of the organization in mind. Schein admits that the clinical model of evaluating organizational culture assumes that the researcher intervenes in the culture of the organization. If the organization perceives that the researcher is helping to make changes that will benefit the organization, then the research will accurately yield the cultural dynamics of the organization. b. Weaknesses of Schein approach to assessing organizational culture The results gained from qualitative result are limited to specific cases under investigation. Direct comparison cannot be made between the results from other studies unless the research is specifically designed in that manner. Furthermore, results cannot be generalized to other settings and links to organization’s performance are rarely explored. One significant weakness to Schein’s approach (qualitative method) is the time needed for data collection and analysis which makes the research more costly and time consuming 2. Cameron and Quinn approach a. Strengths of Cameron and Quinn approach to assessing organizational culture Cameron and Quinn provide an evaluation tool called the organizational culture assessment inventory (OCAL). The OCAI is a survey instrument established on a theoretical model called the competing value framework. This framework is valuable for organizing and interpreting various phenomena within an organization. The competing values framework refers to whether an organization strives for flexibility and individuality or stability and control, whether or not an organization is focused externally or internally. The purpose of the OCAI is to discern the relative strengths of these culture types within a given organization. Used over time, the OCAI can measure culture changes within the organization. Cameron and Quinn observe many cases in the business world where culture change is the key to increasing organizational effectiveness. The four major culture types proposed by Cameron and Quinn embody these competing values: clan-internal/control; adhocracy-external/flexible; market-external/control; hierarchy-internal/control. In fact pure control (hierarchy), compete (market), collaborate (clan), or create (adhocracy) are extremely rare. Most of the company cultures that have been diagnosed using Cameron and Quinn’s organization culture instrument indeed have a strong secondary component. Cameron and Quinn identify the cultural and organizational competencies that give rise to value creation. It explains how cultural and leadership competencies can be profiled which, in turn, can lead to a diagnosis of culture gaps, cultural congruency and cultural strength. 3. London first united church Cameron and Quinn’s model is appropriate for this church. This approach is built around clan, adhocracy, market and hierarchy. These four maps themes were also used in the analysis of how organizational culture of London first united Methodist church chances with structural inventions. The church is both an organization and an organism. As such, the church has a lifecycle development built into it: birth, growth, reproduction, decline, and death. The church itself historically has through several changes. Change as renewal is a major aspect of the Methodist movement. Much of the rise and fall of the Methodism can be traced to how the church was willing, or not, to change. Oftentimes, organizations experience growth and/or renewal because of structural changes within the organization. The four maps themes therefore fit this church.

Strengths and Weaknesses of Utilitarianism

Strengths and Weaknesses of Utilitarianism The origins of utilitarianism are often traced as far back as the Greek philosopher Epicurus but the main idea is thought to come from Jeremy Bentham who said that Utilitarian argument worked by nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure. There are two main different types of utilitarianism. Act utilitarianism states that, when faced with a choice, we must first consider the likely consequences of potential actions and, from that, choose to do what we believe will generate the most pleasure. The rule utilitarian, on the other hand, begins by looking at potential rules of action. To determine whether a rule should be followed, he looks at what would happen if it were constantly followed. Utilitarianism is a very solid and stable argument, I personally think that without knowing about it a lot of people use it to decide what to do, my example is what happened when I go home, I have two younger brothers and we always seem to fight over something, usually food, like the last bit of cake, or the last of the coca-cola. What my mum does without realising is a very Utilitarian idea, she says Oliver, you take three glasses and pour the coke out equally, then Giles and Theo, you choose. This way I try to pour all the glasses equally otherwise I get stuck with a really small glass of coke, because my greedy brothers would drink the glass with more in. Utilitarianism uses a lot of separate principles. Someone who accepts some of the principals but not others may be seen as a utilitarian. This mainly includes the whole of the human race. The Utilitarian argument has the strange ability to seem really obvious to who ever it benefits and completely wrong to the minority that it doesnà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢t benefit. e.g. rapists. There is another problem that there are no ethical arguments which are agreed by everyone, for example in certain eastern countries, people believe that woman who cheat on there husbands should be stoned to death, where as the general western society believe that this is completely wrong. However there are some points most people agree on. Rape, theft and lying are seen as bad where as, giving, helping and healing are seen as good things One obvious thing that these things have in common is that most of the things agreed to be good are things which make people happy, and most of the things agreed to be bad are things which make most people miserable. Bentham realised that there should be some sort of scale on which happiness can be judged. Bentham did this by proposing the hedonic calculus. The hedonic calculus lists seven features of pleasure to which attention must be paid in order to assess how great it is: intensity, duration, certainty, propinquity, fecundity, purity, and extent. This scale allows us to find the act which leads to the greatest pleasure. However there was a Philosopher after Bentham called John Mill, John Mill was a child prodigy who was able to read several languages at an early age, and the son of a follower of Jeremy Bentham. Perhaps the greatest British philosopher of the nineteenth century, Mill maintained that the well being of the individual was of greatest importance and that happiness is most effectively gained when individuals are free to pursue their own ends so long as they keep with the rules that protect the common good of all. While mill accepted the utility principle of the greatest good for t he greatest number he was concerned about the difficulty raised when for example there is the story of the bridge operator. The bridge operator took his son to work with him. He delighted in telling his little boy how everything worked and how important his job was, since hundreds of people relied on him to raise and lower this bridge so they could travel safely from place to place. The little boy beamed with pride as his father explained his job. He also greatly admired all of the switches that controlled the huge gears. But after a couple of hours of observing his father work, the boy grew bored, so his father sent him out to play. A short while later, the bridge operator realized that it was almost time for him to lower the bridge so the 5 p.m. commuter train could cross. But, as he was about to pull the switch that would lower the bridge, he glanced out the window to see that his son had apparently been climbing on the gears; and his foot was stuck. In fact, he was wedged betwee n the huge gears; alive, but trapped;and unable to free himself. The engineer was about to hurry to help his son when he heard the train whistle in the distance. Suddenly he realized that he did not have sufficient time to free his son, return to the control box, and lower the bridge in time for the passenger train to cross safely. But if he pulled the switch to lower the bridge, his little boy would be crushed in the massive turning gears in which he was entangled. He was forced to make a horrible choice: either his son would be killed, or a trainload of passengers would plunge to their deaths in the river below. Mill thought if the greatest good for the greatest number was purely quantities based on the quantities of pleasure and pain caused what would stop one persons pleasure from that act. To address this difficulty Mill focused on qualities pleasures. He developed a system of higher and lower pleasures preferring the higher pleasures to the lower ones. Mill said It is better t o be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied: better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied Benthams theory has a number of clear benefits. It seems reasonable to link morality with the pursuit of happiness and the avoidance of pain and misery and this connection would receive popular support. It also seems natural to consider the consequences of our actions when deciding what to do, utilitarianism offers a balanced democratic morality that promotes the general happiness. However there are a number of difficulties with utilitarianism the first difficulty concerns all theorys that rely on the consequences for deciding which actions are good. Need to be sure that what I think will come about as a result of particular action will actually come about. Utilitarianism depends upon accurate predictions.

Tar Baby Essay -- Essays Papers

Tar Baby It is often said that it is better to follow your heart instead of your mind because it will never lie to you. However, when you follow your heart you are not always prepared for what the outcome may be. This is proven in Toni Morisson's novel Tar Baby . Tar Baby is Morrison's fourth novel and it took three and a half years to write . The story was based on an old African American folk tale about Brer Rabbit and Tar Baby. This book is said by some to be an excess of what made Morrison's other books good but despite the criticism the book still made it to the best seller's list. The story takes place on an isolated island of L'Arbe de la Croix. this was purposely done by Morrison so that the characters would have no way to escape. There were no immediate policemen to call and no neighbors to interfere in the story . The characters were placed in a cage and left to see what would happen. L' Arbe de la Croix is the vacation home of Valerian Street a retired candy maker and his wife Margaret Street. The house is also occupied by a black couple, Sydney and Odine, who have been the long time servants of the Street's. During the time of the story the house is also occupied by Jadine, who is Sydney's and Odine's niece. Jadine was took in by the Streets and they paid for her to go to school and become a model. Jadine came down from Paris to contemplate a marriage proposal from a Frenchman and to spend Christmas with her aunt and uncle. Jadine can be considered the tar baby in this story. She was taken in by the Street's and opened up to the world that they lived in. She got a wonderful education and traveled all over. She had a sense of security and knew that anything she needed would be given to her by the streets. The streets get another unexpected guest during Christmas. One night when Margaret is up in her room she opens her closet and sees a strange black man sitting there. She becomes hysterical and runs down the stairs in a panic. Sydney goes upstairs and brings down the intruder everyone in the house is startled by his appearance and ready to call the police. Everyone except Valerian. He invites the intruder to sit down for a drink and this makes Margaret crazy. She runs up to her room and locks herself in her bedroom. We later find out that the intruder is the same man that we encounter in the beginning of the novel on ... ...sland but Gideon says that it is to late. Gideon's wife on the other hand offers to take Son. Gideon's wife is partly blind but she claims to know the sea well and Son takes her up on the offer. Gideon's wife takes Son to a part of the island that Son never ventured to. It is dark and Son does not know where to go. Gideon's wife says to trust her and just get out the boat and follow the path. The story ends there and we do not find out what becomes of Jadine or Son. Jadine and Son are a prime example of listening to your heart and not your mind. They rushed into their relationship and did not know enough about each other to make a reasonable decision. Jadine was trying to run from something and Son was not in love he was in lust. If they had taken the time to know each other better they might have realized that they were two different people. Just as in the folk tail of Brer Rabbit and Tar Baby, Son (the rabbit ) was attracted to Jadine (Tar Baby ) and got caught in a trap. Jadine and Son were from two different worlds that could not come together. In the end Jadine realized that she made a mistake but Son still held on to the past and ended up right where he started. Lost.

A Tale Of Two Cities: Dr. Alexandre Manette :: Tale Two Cities Essays

A Tale Of Two Cities: Dr. Alexandre Manette Dr. Alexandre Manette the great survivor of the Bastille and father to Lucie Manette. Dr.Manette is the most important character in the book. Throughout the book he is the stories backbone. Few subplots ignore Manette. Dr. Manette loves his daughter. She is the world to him, without her he would still be a crazed old man. Dr. Manette's love for his daughter is clear throughout the story he expresses his thought verbally. When his daughter Lucie is married he tells her "Consider how natural and how plain it is, my dear, that it should be so. You, devoted and young, cannot fully appreciate the anxiety I have felt that your life should not be wasted."1 Dr.Manette is a very caring man. Caring, that is the one adjective I would use to describe Dr.Manette. As I said before Dr.Manette loves his daughter. Lucie Manette is his driving force. Dr.Manette wants little except for his daughter to live a full and happy life and himself to be a part of it. His desire to be a part of Lucie life makes it hard for him to give her up to Charles Darnay. After the wedding Dr.Manette says "Take her, Charles. She is yours."2 He does so with a quite sadness. A huge portion of the story revolves about Dr.Manette's past suffering in the Bastille. The Doctors Bastille time is pure hell. Ever after being freed he still mumbles crazy things such as "It is a lady's shoe. It is a young lady's walking-shoe. It is in the present mode. I have had a pattern in my hand."3 Outbursts such as that show that he is not nor may he ever heal his scars. Though the book starts after his imprisonment, his Bastille time contains his actions that effects the stories plot the most. The action that truly stands out is his writing and hiding of the letter that later convicts Charles Darnay. The exposure of the letter during the trail is in my opinion the most interesting twist in A Tale Of Two Cities. Dr.Manette has few contacts with the Defarges however in my opinion the

What´s Rituximab Therapy? Essay -- Alternate Treatment, Biology, Antib

A relatively newer biologic, rituximab provides an alternative strategy for treating the presenting patient. A genetically engineered chimeric anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody, rituximab exerts it therapeutic action by selectively targeting CD-20 positive B-cells1212, 18. As CD-20 is expressed exclusively on pre-B and mature B lymphocytes; stem cells and plasma cells are not implicated in rituximab therapy. The over expression of B-cells expressing the CD-20 surface antigen in the synovium of RA-affected joints has been well established18. The potential mechanisms by which these B-cells contribute to the immunopathogenesis of RA are as follows: they can act as antigen presenting cells, secrete pro-inflammatory cytokines (including tumour necrosis factor-alpha), and generate rheumatoid factor (RF) and other auto-antibodies whilst also activating T cells12. Hence, the rituximab mediated depletion of B-cells is thought to prevent these potential mechanisms from occurring thus controlling the progression of the disease18. Rituximab therapy consists of two 1000mg infusions, given two weeks apart at intervals of no less than 2 weeks. The projected cost of a single course of rituximab therapy is around  £349211 and if clinically efficient would offer the patient a more convenient dosing schedule compared to Anti-TNF therapy. The annual cost does however depend on how often the patient is required to undergo a course of rituximab therapy11. An RCT aimed at investigating different rituximab dosing regimens in methotrexate resistant patients referred to as the DANCER trial, provides significant evidence conveying the potential benefit of rituximab therapy19. As part of the trial, patients received rituximab 500MG, rituximab 1000mg or placeb... ...50 (7): 754--766. 27. Kaneko A. Tocilizumab in rheumatoid arthritis: efficacy, safety and its place in therapy.Therapeutic advances in chronic disease. 2013; 4 (1): 15--21. 28. An M, Zou Z, Shen H, Zhang J, Cao Y, Jiang Y. The addition of tocilizumab to DMARD therapy for rheumatoid arthritis: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. European journal of clinical pharmacology. 2010; 66 (1): 49--59. 29. Schmitt C, Kuhn B, Zhang X, Kivitz A, Grange S. Disease--drug--drug interaction involving tocilizumab and simvastatin in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics. 2011; 89 (5): 735--740. 30. Ding T, Ledingham J, Luqmani R, Westlake S, Hyrich K, Lunt M, Kiely P, Bukhari M, Abernethy R, Bosworth A, Others. BSR and BHPR rheumatoid arthritis guidelines on safety of anti-TNF therapies.Rheumatology. 2010; 49 (11): 2217--2219.

Nelson Mandela a Most Admired Hero Essay

Nelson Mandela is one of the best examples of heroes in contemporary times. He devoted his life to end the apartheid in South Africa. His struggle and devotion to this cause was so important that we could say that the international movement of solidarity with the struggle for freedom in South Africa was arguably the biggest social movement the world has seen. Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born on the 18th of July 1918 is a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary and politician who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the first black South African to hold the office, and the first elected in a fully representative, multiracial election. His government focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid through tackling institutionalized racism, poverty and inequality, and fostering racial reconciliation. A Xhosa born to the Thembu royal family, Mandela attended Fort Hare University and the University of Witwatersrand, where he studied law. Living in Johannesburg, he became involved in anti-colonial politics, joining the African National Congress and becoming a founding member of its Youth League. After the Afrikaner nationalists of the National Party came to power in 1948 and began implementing the policy of apartheid, he rose to prominence in the ANC’s 1952Defiance Campaign, was elected President of the Transvaal ANC Branch and oversaw the 1955 Congress of the People. Working as a lawyer, he was repeatedly arrested for seditious activities and, with the ANC leadership, was prosecuted in the Treason Trial from 1956 to 1961 but was found not guilty. Read more: The person I admire essay example Although initially committed to non-violent protest, in association with the South African Communist Party he co-founded the militant Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) in 1961, leading a bombing campaign against government targets. In 1962 he was arrested, convicted of sabotage and conspiracy to overthrow the government, and sentenced to life imprisonment in the Rivonia Trial. On 11 February 1990, Nelson Mandela is released from Victor Verster Prison after 27 years spent in jail. Four years later, Mandela is elected the first black President of South Africa. His presidency faces enormous challenges in the post-Apartheid era, including rampantnpoverty and crime. Mandela is particularly concerned about racial divisions between black and white South Africans, which could lead to violence. The ill will which both groups hold towards each other is seen even in his own security detail where relations between the established white officers, who had guarded Mandela’s predecessors, and the black ANC additions to the security detail, are frosty and marked by mutual distrust. While attending a game of the Springboks, the country’s rugby union team, Mandela recognizes that the blacks in the stadium cheer against their â€Å"home† squad, as the mostly-white Springboks represent prejudice and apartheid in their minds. He remarks that he did the same while imprisoned on Robben Island. Knowing that South Africa is set to host the 1995 Rugby World Cup in one year’s time, Mandela persuades a meeting of the newly black-dominated South African Sports Committee to support the Springboks. He then meets with the captain of the Springboks rugby team, Franà §ois Pienaar, and implies that a Springboks victory in the World Cup will unite and inspire the nation. Mandela also shares with Franà §ois a British poem, â€Å"Invictus, which had inspired him during his time in prison. Franà §ois and his teammates train. Many South Africans, both black and white, doubt that rugby will unite a nation torn apart by some 50 years of racial tensions. For many blacks, especially the radicals, the Springboks symbolize white supremacy. Both Mandela and Pienaar, however, stand firmly behind their theory that the game can successfully unite the South African country. Things begin to change as the players interact with the fans and begin a friendship with them. During the opening games, support for the Springboks begins to grow among the black population. By the second game, the whole country comes together to support the Springboks and Mandela’s efforts. Mandela’s security team also grows closer as the various officers come to respect their comrades’ professionalism and dedication. The Springboks surpass all expectations and qualify for the final against The All Blacks—South Africa’s arch-rivals. New Zealand and South Africa were universally regarded as the two greatest rugby nations, with the Springboks being the only side to have a winning record against the All Blacks up to this point. The first test series between the two countries in 1921 was the beginning of an intense rivalry, with emotions running high whenever the two nations met on the rugby field. Before the game, the Springbok team visits Robben Island, where Mandela spent the first 18 of 27 years in jail. Franà §ois Pienaar mentions his amazement that Mandela â€Å"could spend thirty years in a tiny cell, and come out ready to forgive the people who put him there†. Supported by a large home crowd of both races, Pienaar motivates his team. Mandela’s security detail receives a scare when, just before the match, a South African Airways Boeing 747 jetliner flies in low over the stadium. It is not an assassination attempt though, but a demonstration of patriotism, with the message â€Å"Good Luck, Bokke† — the Springboks’ Afrikaans nickname — painted on the undersides of the plane’s wings. The Springboks win the match with a score of 15–12. Mandela and Pienaar meet on the field together to celebrate the improbable and unexpected victory. Mandela’s car then drives away in the traffic-jammed streets leaving the stadium. As Mandela watches the South Africans celebrating together from the car, his voice is heard reciting â€Å"Invictus†. Mandela has been a controversial figure for much of his life. Right-wing critics denounced him as a terrorist and communist sympathizer. He nevertheless gained international acclaim for his anti-colonial and anti-apartheid stance, having received more than 250 honors, including the 1993Nobel Peace Prize, the US Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Soviet Order of Lenin. He is held in deep respect within South Africa, where he is often referred to by his Xhosa clan name, Madiba, or as Tata (â€Å"Father†); he is often described as â€Å"the father of the nation†.

Nuclear power stations and national parks Essay

Who are the interest groups: *Local unemployed *Locals *National power grid *Workers *CND (campaign for nuclear disarmourment) *Green peace *Friends of the earth *Ministry of defence *The government *National parks *BNFL (British nuclear fuels) *Environment agency *CORE (Cambrians opposed to radioactive environment) *ICRP (international commission on radiological protection) *The world Conflicts with the national parks and nuclear power: *Pylons and power lines *Nuclear waste storage *Environmental pollution *High potential health hazard *National park tourism *Livelihood *Nuclear transportation through national parks *Increased leukaemia in area surrounding nuclear power stations See more of the above below; Pylons and power lines: There is considerable controversy not just over the sitting to the national park but also because of the associated high voltage transmission lines needed To connect the stations to the National Grid. Indeed to many observers the construction of these power lines has caused a greater visual impact on the landscape than the construction of the stations themselves. High potential health hazard: There is a high potential health hazard for nuclear power stations if there is a fire or explosion. In Chernobyl there was a meltdown, which they thought would go down into the earths mantle and start a volcanic eruption, but thankfully it didn’t. Environmental pollution: Between 1952 and 1995, Sellafield dumped 182 kilograms of plutonium down a pipeline into the Irish Sea. This amounts to 717 terabecquerels (TBq) of radioactivity–about half the fallout of plutonium in the entire North Atlantic from 520 atmospheric bomb tests in the 1960s. Nuclear waste storage: Tonnes of intermediate (liquid and solid) nuclear waste was being produced in sellafield before there was any known way of storing it safely. So it remained in the station until a ditch was dug for temporary storage. Nuclear waste can be stored safely by turning it into glass ingots by adding borosilicate to the waste, which allows waste to be stored for 50,000 years and not radioactive, and also able to be ground to fine powder sill be harmless. National park tourism: The tourism in the national park would go if there were an accident or proved high radiation levels in the national park, like in Snowdonia N.P or The Lake District N.P. There does not have to be an accident or proof of radiation to stop tourists though, If the plant is despised so much there will be no tourism in the park, then no Maintenance or conservation to keep it a national park unless funded by government. Livelihood: The locals livelihood would be affected by a nuclear power station, E.g. where once was a local green or park is know a towering power station and would be to imposing. Nuclear transportation through national parks: There is great opposition on the transportation of nuclear fuel or waste travelling through anywhere, but especially in national parks. If there were an accident or spill the area/park would be devastated for years if not centuries. There is proof that there is increased numbers of people with leukaemia around nuclear power stations: Here is a story of three girls that died from the radiation and acute leukaemia in sellafield. â€Å"A couple who say radiation killed three of their daughters have pledged to re-open the investigation into the deaths following a damming report into safety at British Nuclear Fuels. Joe and Stella McMaster of Fulwood, Preson, believe radiation from the nuclear industry is to blame for the deaths of their children, Judith, Jill and Lynn. The couple claim BNFL bosses have never explained the tragedies that have devastated their family and they say the revelations about safety at the nuclear giant’s Sellafield plant come as no surprise. Joe, 77, worked as a research chemist at British Nuclear Fuel’s Springfield plant near Preston for 30 years. He said an incident at the Springfields plant in the 1950’s which caused him to inhale Uranium UF6 gas sparked off a catalogue of health problems. Joe claimed his urine samples after the accident showed his uranium content to be 18 times above the normal level. Just months later he lost all of his teeth after they became so loose he could twist them around. But nothing prepared the family for the tragedies that were to follow. After already celebrating the birth of two daughters they were delighted when Stella became pregnant with twins. After a problem-free pregnancy the babies were born six weeks premature but one of the twins, Judith, died at just three days old.It was a hard loss to bear, but the couple consoled themselves with the knowledge that they had three remaining lovely daughters. But in 1973 their second eldest daughter Jill was taken ill. She started a nosebleed that would not stop and she was admitted to hospital for tests. The family were horrified when she was diagnosed as having acute leukaemia. She was moved to a hospital in Manchester where she died two weeks later. It was then that Stella began to question whether their deaths could be linked to Joe’s work with the nuclear industry. In 1988 the family suffered an other devastating blow when their eldest daughter Lynn, a mother of one, was diagnosed with a rare blood disease and died. When I worked at BNFL I was sworn for life to the Official Secrets Act, but now I could not care less. Now I just want to find out the truth,† said Joe. (Lancashire Evening Post 19/2/00) Stella and Joe strongly believe that the reactor fire at Windscale (now named Sellafield) in October 1957 played a vital part. At that time they were on a family holiday a few miles from the plant and the children were playing on the beach, drinking the milk and eating locally grown fresh vegetables. When they returned home they found out that the area had been badly contaminated – milk was being thrown down the drains and vegetables were unfit for human consumption. By then the damage was done. â€Å"We have been assured by medical experts that the timescale between exposure and deaths from leukaemia were correct, but oh no, BNFL still say it is unfortunate but really sheer coincidence†, says Stella. She maintains that when Joe retired at 60, his radiation body count showed 300 Becquerels, although it should only have been around 5. A private blood test confirmed chromosome defects due to radiation exposure. Neither his high body count, dismissed by BNFL as being due to a faulty machine, nor his chromosome damage were ever explained by the company. The couple have been trying to get to the truth for 10 years and will continue to do so. They are sure there are other families worldwide, either employed by or living around nuclear installations who are trying to get justice and they wish them luck. They believe the industry is one big cover-up and condemn the cavalier attitude of the 50’s and 60’s when employees, who were initially selected for being 100% fit, were deliberately exposed to unknown, but now considered unacceptable, risks to their health. They are appalled by the industry’s denials over Joe’s and their children’s health problems. He was never offered compensation for his accident much less any sympathy. â€Å"Never in our wildest dreams did we consider the far reaching consequences and the terrible tragedies. You don’t expect to outlive even one of your children, much less three. If BNFL had to sit at a bedsite and watch each child die, they might be a bit more compassionate† said Stella, â€Å"BNFL just do not want to know – they just brush it all under the carpet and hope we will give up our campaign for truth and justice, but we are sorry to disappoint them.† MP Nigel Evans, who has supported them, urged the couple to carry on fighting until they find out the truth. A BNFL spokesman said: We have had a meeting with Mr. McMaster to try and reassure him that his daughters’ deaths were not related to working at Springfield’s.† Sellafield nuclear power station: Sellafield, formally Windscale and home of the 1957 reactor fire, lies on the Irish Sea coast and alongside England’s famous Lake District. In an area of just one mile by one mile and a half, the site hosts the lethal legacies of nuclear weapons material production, decades of commercial reprocessing residues – and the reputation to go with them. With faltering nuclear prospects at home BNFL are turning to other countries for expansion with claims of expertise. Their failure to first put their own Sellafield house in order is a mark of their lack of credibility, as are the unsolved and long-term problems they leave behind in England. Calder Hall, opened by the Queen in 1956, and it generates enough electricity to supply a city the size of Leeds. Sellafield also has a host of other plants, including two reprocessing plants – one to reprocess the waste from the old so-called Magnox nuclear power stations and one, Thorp, to reprocess spent fuel from the newer privatised plants at home and abroad. Why is nuclear power so unpopular here? Originally because of its close connection with nuclear weapons. The original stations were built not to produce electricity but to make plutonium for nuclear weapons. But the public weren’t told that straight away – in fact not until the 1980s. The industry’s early habit of lying made people sceptical and suspicious. Add to that the sometimes-irrational fear of radioactivity and the appalling results of the Chernobyl accident and the dislike expand into a wish the industry would just go away. The UK Environment Agency regulates discharges of radioactive waste from the notorious Sellafield nuclear site into the sea and air. Sellafield discharges some 8 million litres of nuclear waste into the sea every day. These discharges have made the Irish Sea the most radioactively contaminated in the world, and the contamination has spread along the shores of Wales, Scotland, Ireland, the Isle of Man, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and as far north as the Arctic. There is no safe dose of radiation – any level may cause cancers and genetic damage. The Environment Agency is currently holding a public consultation on Sellafield’s discharges of one particularly controversial radioactive substance, known as technetium-99 (Tc-99). Tc-99 has a â€Å"half-life† of 213,000 years, which means it remains dangerous to countless future generations. It also builds up to high levels in marine life including lobsters, mussels, limpets, winkles and seaweed. In 1997 levels of Tc-99 in lobsters near Sellafield reached up to 42 times the European intervention level for food after a nuclear accident. High levels were also found in seaweed in Ireland and Nordic countries and, following international protest, the UK Government promised to act to stop these discharges. Although BNFL reduced its discharges of Tc-99 somewhat between 1995 and 1998, the discharges have since increased again. Discharges of many other radioactive substances have increased too, and there are plans to increase them further. Greenpeace believes that the Environment Agency and the Government are backtracking under pressure from BNFL, the publicly-owned company that operates the Sellafield site. The Government and the Environment Agency could and should act to stop the discharges now. Greenpeace claims that the ground that sellafield is as radioactive as the ground in Chernobyl. A reactor in sellafield Trawsfynydd nuclear power station in Snowdonia national park: The Trawsfynydd nuclear plant is situated on the shores of the Trawsfynydd Lake in North Wales. It was the first nuclear power plant in Britain to be built on a site inland. Its surroundings offer spectacular scenery and interesting wildlife. The plant is one of several Magnox reactors that belong to an earlier design generation which employs steel pressure vessels. The name â€Å"Magnox † reflects that the nuclear fuel is contained within a cladding made out of a magnesium alloy. Magnox stations pioneered the commercial use of nuclear power in the 1960’s and still supply much of Britain’s need for base-load electricity. Their image as the â€Å"workhorses† of the nuclear industry is derived from a reputation for high availability and safe performance. Trawsfynydd is currently being decommissioned. The reasons for shutting this plant down reflected some concerns that the steel pressure vessel was gradually becoming embrittled. Since the site is located within the beautiful Snowdonia National Park, it was considered important that the decommissioning should be made in such a manner that would leave the smallest possible impact on the environment. So they use the safe store construction. Safe store construction Diminishing the visual impact of the plant was one of the demands that the local public viewed as the most important. This is accomplished by reducing the height of the reactor buildings from 55 meter to 32 meters. That requires lowering the height of the tall structures inside the buildings, such as parts of the boilers and the refuelling machines. Safe-store structures of reduced height can then be constructed. 1993- 2004 Trawsfynydd Power Station lies within the boundaries of a National Park of considerable beauty and is located on the northern bank of Llyn Trawsfynydd. Following the decommissioning of the plant, the existing building structure is to be reduced in height and encased in a new ‘Safestore’ envelope. The objective is to reduce and in some cases eliminate the buildings impact within the National Park. The Safestore structure is to provide an aesthetically acceptable, cost effective means of long term, secure storage for specific radioactive materials and structures. As well as minimising the visual impact of the site the structure is based on the following criteria: The design life shall be 135 years. During the majority of this period it is proposed that the site will be unmanned. The structures shall be intruder resistant with a 9m wall also gives an improved visual balance between the lower and upper levels of the external elevations. The landscape within the site boundary will reflect the character of the natural surrounding landscape so the there are no visible boundaries and the landscape flows naturally through the site.

What Are the Qualities That an Ideal Person Should Cultivate?

What are the qualities that an ideal person should cultivate, possess, and practice according to Confucius? 1. Introduction In this paper, I will discuss what qualities should be cultivated, possessed, and practiced for an ideal person according to Confucius. Although Confucius regards humanness, wisdom, and courage as the basic threefold towards being a junzi (superior man/ideal person, ), there has been an ongoing disagreement among scholars regarding the qualities that are needed to become an ideal person or a junzi.I shall accomplish my purpose by first providing a basic background of information on the topic, then identifying two conflicting interpretations of the qualities that are required by Hosung Ahn and Ha Poong Kim, adding my own critical response, and lastly offering my resolution using Antonio S. Cua’s interpretation on the topic. I will use Confucian Analects (1895) by James Legge as my primary source, along with â€Å"Junzi as a Tragic Person: A Self Psycholo gical Interpretation of the Analects† (Ahn, 2008), â€Å"Confucius’s Aesthetic Concept of Noble Man: Beyond Moralism† (Ha, 2006), and â€Å"Virtues of Junzi† (Cua, 2007) as my secondary sources. . Background Information According to Chinese tradition, Confucius is one of the most outstanding thinker, political figure, educator, philosopher, and the founder of the Ru (? ) School of Chinese thought. Our textbook â€Å"The Eastern Paths to Philosophic Self-Enlightenment: An introduction to Eastern Philosophies† (2002) written by Professor Phan points out that Confucius’s thoughts are preserved in the Lunyu ( ) or the Analects, which is one of the Four Books. It is worth noting that the Analects was not written by Master Kong Zi (Confucius, himself, but complied by his close disciples when they recollected his â€Å"sayings† after Confucius’s death. Defined by Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Confucius’s teachings create the foundation on most of subsequent Chinese speculation on the education and comportment of the junzi ( ), and how such an individual should live his life, interact with others, and the types of society and government in which he should participate. On one hand, in 14:20, the Master said, â€Å"The way of the superior man is threefold, but I am not equal to it.Virtuous, he is free from anxieties; wise, he is free from perplexities; bold; he is free from fear. † While on the other hand, scholars have attempted to interpret the qualities of junzi differently. In the next section, I shall examine the conflicting interpretations of Ahn and Kim. 3. First Interpretation by Hosung Ahn A. Background on Confucianism and Psychological Connotations of Junzi In Ahn’s article, he provides historical background information on Confucianism being the most efficient ideological means of medieval and modern authoritarian governments in China and Korea (Ahn, 2008).Yet, Ahn argues that in the course of quoting Weber (1968), Confucianism and Daoism could not be introduced into modern capitalism due to their â€Å"thisworldliness. † Ahn depicts Confucianism as one of the major hindrances in the road toward modernization and industrialization and considers Confucius as a stubborn and conservative moralist whose ethical codes were oppressive. By introducing Heinz Kohut, an Austrian-born American psychoanalyst, Ahn compares Kohutian psychoanalysis such as self-psychology with Confucianism’s ideal person in the Analects.Ahn provides the basic background information in the purpose of identifying Confucianism as being neither sophisticated nor systematized; yet, Ahn suggests that the Analects could be interpreted as a pre-psychoanalytic self-psychology owing to the abundant self psychological insights in the Analects. Ahn then defines junzi as â€Å"a prince literally and a gentleman ordinarily,† and that in Confucianism, â€Å"a junzi is a noble per son who attempts to actualize Confucian cardinal virtues in concrete human relationships at any cost.A junzi has often been considered a conformist or a conservative† (Ahn, 2008). Furthermore, Ahn states that Confucianism being established as an ethical and political orthodoxy in Korea was a rigid and authoritarian formalistic, and of which courtesy, rituals, and humanity were the fundamental standards of being a junzi (see Shun 2002). B. Ahn’s Thesis In this article, Ahn (2008) specifically points out that â€Å"a junzi is a tragic person in the Kohutian sense. Like a tragic person, a junzi follows his or her ideals with values deeply anchored in oneself even at the expense of one’s death. Ahn thinks the most important standards of being a junzi are courtesy and rituals; he states that, â€Å"Confucius himself severely criticizes the externalized beauty and grandeur without the internalized quality of character† (Ahn, 2008). Most importantly, Ahn address es that the core characteristic of the Kohutian tragic person is almost identically expressed in the Analects: humanity (ren, ? ), which is the ultimate virtue of Confucianism and that a junzi would rather die than giving up his or her ideals and values; which Ahn refers to as strikingly similar to Kohut’s definition of a tragic person.In terms of Ahn’s arguments for supporting his claim, he brings out the topic of xiaoren (small man, ) and defines it as â€Å"those whose ideals and values are superficially situated on the psyche as compared to junzi in the Analects† (Ahn, 2008). Ahn then identifies the difference between a xiaoren and a junzi employing Confucius’s saying, â€Å"The gentleman (junzi) is conversant with righteousness; the small man (xiaoren) is conversant with profit† (Analects, 4. 16). Ahn points out that because a xiaoren focus on what is beneficial to him or her only, he or she cannot but be vulnerable to the external vicissitud es.Similarly, according to Kohut, a xiaoren would â€Å"quickly and opportunistically adjust his or her convictions under the influence of external pressures† (cited in Ahn, 2008); whereas a junzi is determined to â€Å"adhere to the good (Way) until death† (Analects, 8. 13). Ahn then considers this determination as courage, and he quotes Kohut (1985) that â€Å"The culminate peace (in his death) achieved by the hero is†¦the ultimate ascendancy of a firm and life-affirming self† (p. 27).Ahn further proves that Confucius has expressed the same idea through: â€Å"If a man in the morning hears the right way, he may die in the evening without regret† (Analects, 4. 8). Thus, Hosung Ahn summarizes that a junzi, according to Confucius, is a person who searches for â€Å"the achievement of a psychological synthesis at all costs† (Ahn, 2008). In other words, Hosung Ahn interprets that Confucius thinks the quality an ideal person should cultivate, poss ess, and practice is the spirit of achieving a psychological synthesis or preserving his or her ideals and values at all costs. 4.Second Interpretation by Ha Poong Kim A. Background on Aesthetic Concept of a Noble Man In Kim’s article, he provides historical background information of the Analects being narrowly and moralistically interpreted. Kim points out that Confucius’s remarks such as from â€Å"the Book of Songs and Music† are commonly given an ethical meaning owing to the tradition of Confucius’s key term ren (humanness, ? ) as being an ethical term. Through offering a historical basis as a foundation, Kim attempts to broaden Confucius’s humanistic interpretation of ren as humanness or the human spirit.In details, Kim (2006) addresses that â€Å"while the word ren only rarely occurs in the pre-Confucian literature, it is used in works such as the Songs and the (Book of) History, essentially as a synonym of ren. † To demonstrate that C onfucius’s teaching ren for the first time as the supreme principle of human existence and that Confucius is the discoverer of the human spirit in Chinese civilization, Kim introduces and explains other meanings and definitions of ren used in other Confucius or Mencius materials.Also, Ha Poong Kim offers the background information of â€Å"one-dimensional image of the Confucian junzi as a rigid moralist, a man whose distinguishing mark is just a fastidious observance of li (rites, ? )† (Kim, 2006). With all the background information and explanation provided by Kim, he expresses the fact that some of Confucius’s sayings in the Analects are purely aesthetic and any attempt to moralistically interpret them distorts their meanings. B. Kim’s Thesis Kim (2006) agrees with the normativity of Confucius’s concept of ren, yet he argues that the ground of its normativity is fundamentally aesthetic.In supporting his claim, Kim applies Confucius’s teach ing: â€Å"Recognize beauty in abiding in ren. If one chooses not to stay in ren, how can one be considered to have attained wisdom? † (Analects, 4:1) Kim interprets this saying as Confucius stressing the recognition of the beauty of ren as a necessary condition of human wisdom, which is equivalent to the awareness of the human spirit. Kim defines this recognition as an aesthetic awareness. Then, through applying Confucius’s saying: â€Å"To become a junzi Ru (noble scholar, ), not a xiaoren Ru (common scholar, † (Analects, 6:11); Kim points out the difference between a junzi and a xiaoren ultimately comes from the noble man’s awareness of the beauty of ren, which the small man (xiaoren) lacks. Kim explains that since a junzi has this aesthetic sensibility of humanness, he naturally desires, loves, and delights in ren and every manifestation of it. For the purpose of backing up Kim’s claim, he states Confucius believes that by studying the Songs, one would be best awakened, which then explains why Confucius repeatedly urges his pupils to study the Songs.Kim argues that Confucius’s teaching is to help the students become a junzi, who is a lover of ren, through arousing humanness that is obtained through the study of music. In this particular main argument, Kim (2006) summarizes that â€Å"for Confucius’s spiritual awakening, specifically the aesthetic awakening to ren, is the presupposition of the education of junzi. Without this wakening, the learner or scholar will remain a xiaoren Ru, no matter how well versed he may be in ritual subjects, and regardless of how blameless he may be in his ethical conduct. Next, Kim offers another important argument that during Confucius’s years of wandering from state to state in search of a good ruler, he rarely parted with his lute. Sima Qian, an Ancient Chinese historian, revealed that once, surrounded by two hostile armies, Confucius and his disciples ran out of p rovisions in the wilderness between the states of Chen and Cai. With some of his disciples falling ill and being unable to get up, Confucius calmly continued singing songs and plucking his lute.Kim regards Confucius’s act as a man capable of forgetting everything else while enjoying music. Thus, in Kim’s point of view, what fundamentally separates Confucius’s junzi from the rest of humanity is the junzi’s aesthetic sensibility to ren. In other words, Kim believes that according to Confucius, the quality a junzi should cultivate, possess, and practice is the aesthetic awareness. Nevertheless, Kim mentions that through stressing the junzi as an aesthetic man, he is not denying a junzi’s many-sidedness. 5. CritiqueI agree with Hosung Ahn’s claim regarding junzi as a noble person who attempts to actualize Confucian cardinal virtues, and that courtesy, rituals, humanness, and courage are important criterions of becoming a junzi. Moreover, I agree with Ahn’s claim that a junzi would follow his or her ideals and values deeply anchored in oneself even at the expensed of death. However, I strongly disagree with Ahn’s opinion of Confucius’s teaching or his classification of a junzi as a tragic person. In my point of view, Ahn has made an inaccurate interpretation of one Confucius’s saying from the Analects.In 4:8, Confucius teaches that â€Å"If a man in the morning hear(s) the right way, he may die in the evening without regret. † Ahn interprets this saying as Confucius’s advocating of a junzi who must search for â€Å"achievements of a psychological synthesis at all costs† (Ahn, 2008), and this remarkably resembles a tragic person. As the exercise we conducted in our philosophy class on textual hermeneutics of the Confucian Dao in the Analects, this Confucius’s saying represents the importance of the Dao (way, ? ; which according to Confucius, with the experience of heari ng the Dao, one could die without regrets afterwards. Thus, this person or this junzi would be a happy person since he contains the very important factor â€Å"Dao†, and that he is absolutely not a tragic person as Hosung Ahn considers as. In terms of Ha Poong Kim’s interpretation of a junzi, I agree with Kim regarding the fact that Confucius repeatedly urges his disciples to study the Songs and Music because it would indeed help his pupils awaken and broaden their minds, enjoy the six arts, and commit to the Dao.I also agree with Kim that a junzi is many-sidedness. What I do not agree with Kim is his differentiation of a junzi and a xiaoren through aesthetic awareness. As I mentioned above, Kim (2006) summarizes in this particular main argument that â€Å"†¦without this wakening, the learning or scholar will remain a xiaoren Ru, no matter how well versed he may be in ritual subjects, and no matter how blameless he may be in his ethical conduct. † In my opi nion, apart from pointing out Confucius advocates his pupils to study the Songs and Music, Kim has not given sufficient evidence to support this claim.He has not shown any Confucius’s teaching that could demonstrate the fundamental difference between a xiaoren’s and a junzi’s aesthetic awareness, but rather Kim provides claims simply from his own exploration of Confucius’s thoughts. To further prove that Kim’s interpretation is inaccurate, there are numerous examples of junzi lacking of musical talents and xiaoren being extremely talented in aesthetic. In my opinion, Confucius does believe that music could change one’s mind, adjust one’s mood, smooth one’s qi (energy) and etc. , but Confucius certainly does not identify a junzi from a xiaoren based on aesthetics. . Resolution: Interdependent and Dependent Virtues of Junzi According to Antonio S. Cua, junzi is a paradigmatic individual who sets the tone and quality of the life o f ordinary moral agents, and a junzi is a person who embodies ren (humanness, ? ), yi (righteousness, ? ), li (rites, ?). In addition, unlike Ahn or Kim, Cua recognizes that except the basic, interdependent, and cardinal virtues of ren, yi, and li, a junzi also involves particular dependent virtues such as filiality (xiao, ? ), magnanimity (kuan, ? ), trustworthiness (xin, ? ), and courage (yong, ? ).Cua regards these as dependent virtues in the sense that their ethical significance depends on connection with the basic, interdependent, and cardinal virtues; and Antonio S. Cua further stresses that dependent virtues are not subordinate or logical derivatives of the basic virtues. In 14:30, the Master said, â€Å"The way of the superior man is threefold, but I am not equal to it. Virtuous, he is free from anxieties; wise, he is free from perplexities; bold, he is free from fear. † As we interpreted in class that according to Confucius, to become a junzi, one must be morally goo d, intellectually wise, and psychologically brave.In my point of view, I highly agree with Cua’s claim and I think although Confucius identifies humanness, wisdom, and courage as the superior man’s three core virtues, interdependent virtues and dependent virtues work together to form the junzi. To clarify, Antonio S. Cua borrows Xunzi’s distinction, a Chinese Confucian philosopher who lived during the Warring States Period and contributed to one of the Hundred Schools of Thought, the cardinal virtues ren, yi, and li are generic terms, and dependent virtues such as xiao, kuan, xin, yong are specified terms.In other words, â€Å"specified terms are terms that specify the concrete significance of the cardinal virtues in particular contexts of discourse† (Cua, 2007). To demonstrate further, in the Analects, we could find fragments of Confucius’s remarks that mention both cardinal virtues and dependent virtues in the same contexts. For example, â€Å"T here were four things which the Master taught: letters (wen, ? ), ethics (xing, ? ), devotion of soul (zhong, ? ), and truthfulness (xin, ? ). † —Confucius, The Analects, 7. 25And in 14:28 we could find Confucius’s teaching of ren, zhi (wisdom, ? ), and yong (courage, ? ); in 3:19 li and zhong; in 13:4 li, yi, and xin and so on. For heuristic purposes, Cua regards dependent virtues as two different groups: supportive and constitutive virtues. Cua explains that the distinction between are that the former are â€Å"genial or helpful, though not necessary, to the development of the cardinal virtues such as ren, yi, and li;† whereas the latter, are those that are â€Å"both supportive and constitutive of the quality of the cardinal virtues actualized† (Cua, 2007).Also, depending on the character and temperament, a constitutive and supportive virtue varies, that is, what is merely a constitutive attribute in one person may be a supportive merit for anoth er. Thus, Cua believes that Confucius’s idea of the junzi is flexible or adaptable, and I highly agree with him. To sum up, in my point of view, according to Confucius, what qualities a junzi should cultivate, possess, and practice is the unity of virtues that consists of ren, yi, and li as the basic cardinal virtues, and combining with other qualities such as xiao, yong, zhong, xin, kuan, etc.Depending on each different person and situation, the mapping of the virtues of junzi is in the distinction between basic, cardinal, interdependent and dependent, supportive and constitutive virtues, which may be referred to â€Å"the way of the superior man is unityfold. † 7. Conclusion On this paper, I provided background information of the topic; I discussed and dissected two interpretations made by Hosung Ahn and Ha Poong Kim. In response to Ahn’s and Kim’s argument, I have made a personal critique that a junzi is not a tragic person and that a junzi is not requ ired to possess aesthetic awareness.I then offered my resolution along with employing Antonio S. Cua’s interpretation of this topic. In short, by presenting a map of junzi’s virtues that consists of both interdependent and dependent virtues; it reveals that the Confucius’s conception of junzi is a unity of virtues with flexibility. Works Cited Ahn,  Hosung. â€Å"Junzi as a Tragic Person: A Self Psychological Interpretation of the Analects. â€Å"Pastoral Psychology, 57. 1/2 (2008): 101. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 1 Apr. 2012 Confucius (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). †Ã‚  Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Metaphysics Research Lab, CSLI, Stanford University, 3 July 2002. Web. 1 May 2012. Cua,  Antonio. â€Å"Virtues of Junzi. â€Å"Journal of Chinese Philosophy, 34 (2007): 125. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 28 Mar. 2012 Kim,  Ha Poong. â€Å"Confucius's Aesthetic Concept of Noble Man: Beyond Moralism. †Ã‚  Asian P hilosophy, 16. 2 (2006): 111. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 28 Mar. 2012 Kohut, H (1985). Self psychology and the science of man.In Humanities and self psychology: Reflections on a new psychoanalytic approach (pp. 73-94). New York: Norton. Legge, James. Confucian Analects. In Vol. I of Chinese Classics. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1895. Print. Phan, Cha? nh Co? ng. The Eastern paths to philosophic self-enlightenment: an introduction to Eastern philosophies. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Pub. Co. , 2002. Print. Shun, K. -L. (2002). Ren ? and li ? in the Analects. In B. W. Van Norden (Ed. ), Confucius and the Analects: New essays (pp. 3-72). New York: Oxford University Press. Weber, M. (1968). The religion of China (H. Gerth, Trans. ). New York: Free Press. ——————————————– [ 2 ]. The numbering of the book/chapter of a passage from the Analects follows James Legge’s in his translation of the text (1895). [ 3 ]. The cited phrase comes from The religion of China by Weber, M. [ 4 ]. Ren ? and li ? in the Analect. Confucius and the Analects written by K. Shun, as cited in Hosung Ahn’s article.

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