British Airways Essay

I remember going to parties in the late 1970s, and, if you wanted to have a civilized conversation, you didn’t actually say that you worked for British Airways, because it got you talking about people’s last travel experience, which was usually an unpleasant one. It’s staggering how much the airline’s image has changed since then, and, in comparison, how proud staff are of working for BA today. British Airways employee, Spring 1990 I recently flew business class on British Airways for the first time in about 10 years. What has happened over that time is amazing. I can’t tell you how my memory of British Airways as a company and the experience I had 10 years ago contrasts with today. The improvement in service is truly remarkable. British Airways customer, Fall 1989 In June of 1990, British Airways reported its third consecutive year of record profits,  £345 million before taxes, firmly establishing the rejuvenated carrier as one of the world’s most profitable airlines. The impressive financial results were one indication that BA had convincingly shed its historic â€Å"bloody awful† image. In October of 1989, one respected American publication referred to them as â€Å"bloody awesome,† a description most would not have thought possible after pre-tax losses totalling more than  £240 million in the years 1981 and 1982. Productivity had risen more than 67 percent over the course of the 1980s. Passengers reacted highly favorably to the changes. After suffering through years of poor market perception during the 1970s and before, BA garnered four Airline of the Year awards during the 1980s, as voted by the readers of First Executive Travel. In 1990, the leading American aviation magazine, Air Transport World, selected BA as the winner of its Passenger Service award. In the span of a decade, British Airways had radically improved its financial strength, convinced its work force of the paramount importance of customer service, and dramatically improved its perception in the market. Culminating in the privatization of 1987, the carrier had undergone fundamental change through a series of important messages and events. With unprecedented success under its belt, management faced an increasingly perplexing problem: how to maintain momentum and recapture the focus that would allow them to meet new challenges. Crisis of 1981 Record profits must have seemed distant in 1981. On September 10 of that year, then chief executive Roy Watts issued a special bulletin to British Airways staff: British Airways is facing the worst crisis in its history . . . unless we take swift and remedial action we are heading for a loss of at least  £100 million in the present financial year. We face the prospect that by next April we shall have piled up losses of close to  £250 million in two years. Even as I write to you, our money is draining at the rate of nearly  £200 a minute. No business can survive losses on this scale. Unless we take decisive action now, there is a real possibility that British Airways will go out of business for lack of money. We have to cut our costs sharply, and we have to cut them fast. We have no more choice, and no more time . Just two years earlier, an optimistic British government had announced its plan to privatize British Airways through a sale of shares to the investing public. Although airline management recognized that the 58,000 staff was too large, they expected increased passenger volumes and improved staff productivity to help them avoid complicated and costly employee reductions. While the 1978-79 plan forecasted passenger traffic growth at 8 to 10 percent, an unexpected recession left BA struggling to survive on volumes, which, instead, decreased by more that 4 percent. A diverse and aging fleet, increased fuel costs, and the high staffing costs forced the government and BA to put privatization on hold indefinitely. With the airline technically bankrupt, BA management and the government would have to wait before the public would be ready to embrace the ailing airline. The BA Culture, 1960-1980 British Airways stumbled into its 1979 state of inefficiency in large part because of its history and culture. In August 1971, the Civil Aviation Act became law, setting the stage for the British Airways Board to assume control of two state-run airlines, British European Airways (BEA) and British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC), under the name British Airways. In theory, the board was to control policy over British Airways; but, in practice, BEA and BOAC remained autonomous, each with its own chairman, board, and chief executive. In 1974, BOAC and BEA finally issued one consolidated financial report. In 1976, Sir Frank (later Lord) McFadzean replaced the group division with a structure based on functional divisions to officially integrate the divisions into one airline. Still, a distinct split within British Airways persisted throughout the 1970s and into the mid-1980s. After the Second World War, BEA helped pioneer European civil aviation. As a pioneer, it concerned itself more with building an airline infrastructure than it did with profit. As a 20-year veteran and company director noted: â€Å"The BEA culture was very much driven by building something that did not exist. They had built that in 15 years, up until 1960. Almost single-handedly they opened up air transport in Europe after the war. That had been about getting the thing established. The marketplace was taking care of itself. They wanted to get the network to work, to get stations opened up.† BOAC had also done its share of pioneering, making history on May 2, 1952, by sending its first jet airliner on a trip from London to Johannesburg, officially initiating jet passenger service. Such innovation was not without cost, however, and BOAC found itself mired in financial woes throughout the two decades following the war. As chairman Sir Matthew Slattery explained in 1962: â€Å"The Corporation has had to pay a heavy price for pioneering advanced technologies.† Success to most involved with BEA and BOAC in the 1950s and 1960s had less to do with net income and more to do with â€Å"flying the British flag.† Having inherited numerous war veterans, both airlines had been injected with a military mentality. These values combined with the years BEA and BOAC existed as government agencies to shape the way British Airways would view profit through the 1970s. As former director of human resources Nick Georgiades said of the military and civil service history: â€Å"Put those two together and you had an organization that believed its job was simply to get an aircraft into the air on time and to get it down on time.† While government support reinforced the operational culture, a deceiving string of profitable years in the 1970s made it even easier for British Airways to neglect its increasing inefficiencies. Between 1972 and 1980, BA earned a profit before interest and tax in each year except for one. â€Å"This was significant, not least because as long as the airline was returning profits, it was not easy to persuade the workforce, or the management for that matter, the fundamental changes were vital. Minimizing cost to the state became the standard by which BA measured itself. As one senior manager noted: â€Å"Productivity was not an issue. People were operating effectively, not necessarily efficiently. There were a lot of people doing other people’s jobs, and there were a lot of people checking on people doing other people’s jobs† . . . As a civil service agency, the airline was allowed to become inefficient because the thinking in state-run operations was, â€Å"If yo u’re providing service at no cost to the taxpayer, then you’re doing quite well.† A lack of economies of scale and strong residual loyalties upon the merger further complicated the historical disregard for efficiency by BEA and BOAC. Until Sir Frank McFadzean’s reorganization in 1976, British Airways had labored under several separate organizations (BOAC; BEA European, Regional, Scottish, and Channel) so the desired benefits of consolidation had been squandered. Despite operating under the same banner, the organization consisted more or less of separate airlines carrying the associated costs of such a structure. Even after the reorganization, divisional loyalties prevented the carrier from attaining a common focus. â€Å"The 1974 amalgamation of BOAC with the domestic and European divisions of BEA had produced a hybrid racked with management demarcation squabbles. The competitive advantages sought through the merger had been hopelessly defeated by the lack of a unifying corporate culture.† A BA director summed up how distracting the merger proved: â€Å"There wasn’t enough management time devoted to managing the changing environment because it was all focused inwardly on resolving industrial relations problems, on resolving organizational conflicts. How do you bring these very, very different cultures together?† Productivity at BA in the 1970s was strikingly bad, especially in contrast to other leading foreign airlines. BA’s productivity for the three years ending March 31, 1974, 1975, and 1976 had never exceeded 59 percent of that of the average of the other eight foreign airline leaders. Service suffered as well. One human resources senior manager recalled the â€Å"awful† service during her early years in passenger services: â€Å"I remember 10 years ago standing at the gate handing out boxes of food to people as they got on the aircraft. That’s how we dealt with service.† With increasing competition and rising costs of labor in Britain in the late 1970s, the lack of productivity and poor service was becoming increasingly harmful. By the summer of 1979, the number of employees had climbed to a peak of 58,000. The problems became dangerous when Britain’s worst recession in 50 years reduced passenger numbers and raised fuel costs substantially. Lord King Takes the Reins Sir John (later Lord) King was appointed chairman in February of 1981, just a half-year before Roy Watts’s unambiguously grim assessment of BA’s financial state. King brought to British Airways a successful history of business ventures and strong ties to both the government and business communities. Despite having no formal engineering qualifications, King formed Ferrybridge Industries in 1945, a company which found an unexploited niche in the ball-bearing industry. Later renamed the Pollard Ball and Roller Bearing Company, Ltd., King’s company was highly successful until he sold it in 1969. In 1970, he joined Babcock International and as chairman led it through a successful restructuring during the 1970s. King’s connections were legendary. Hand-picked by Margaret Thatcher to run BA, King’s close friends included Lord Hanson of Hanson Trust and the Princess of Wales’s family. He also knew personally Presidents Reagan and Carter. King’s respect and connections proved helpful both in recruiting and in his dealings with the British government. One director spoke of the significance of King’s appointment: â€Å"British Airways needed a chairman who didn’t need a job. We needed someone who could see that the only way to do this sort of thing was radically, and who would be aware enough of how you bring that about.† In his first annual report, King predicted hard times for the troubled carrier. â€Å"I would have been comforted by the thought that the worst was behind us. There is no certainty that this is so.† Upon Watts’s announcement in September of 1981, he and King launched their Survival plan— â€Å"tough, unpalatable and immediate measures† to stem the spiraling losses and save the airline from bankruptcy. The radical steps included reducing staff numbers from 52,000 to 43,000, or 20 percent, in just nine months; freezing pay increases for a year; and closing 16 routes, eight on-line stations, and two engineering bases. It also dictated halting cargo-only services and selling the fleet, and inflicting massive cuts upon offices, administrative services, and staff clubs. In June of 1982, BA management appended the Survival plan to accommodate the reduction of another 7,000 staff, which would eventually bring the total employees down from about 42,000 to nearly 35,000. BA accomplished its reductions through voluntary measures, offering such generous severance that they ended up with more volunteers than necessary. In total, the airline dished out some  £150 million in severance pay. Between 1981 and 1983, BA reduced its staff by about a quarter. About the time of the Survival plan revision, King brought in Gordon Dunlop, a Scottish accountant described by one journalist as â€Å"imaginative, dynamic, and extremely hardworking,† euphemistically known on Fleet Street as â€Å"forceful,† and considered by King as simply â€Å"outstanding.† As CFO, Dunlop’s contribution to the recovery years was significant. When the results for the year ending March 31, 1982, were announced in October, he and the board ensured 1982 would be a watershed year in BA’s turnaround. Using creative financing, Dunlop wrote down  £100 million for redundancy costs,  £208 million for the value of the fleet (which would ease depreciation in future years), even an additional  £98 million for the 7,000 redundancies which had yet to be effected. For the year, the loss before taxes amounted to  £114 million. After taxes and extraordinary items, it totalled a staggering  £545 million. Even King might have admitted that the worst was behind them after such a report. The chairman immediately turned his attention to changing the airline’s image and further building his turnaround team. On September 13, 1982, King relieved Foote, Cone & Belding of its 36-year-old advertising account with BA, replacing it with Saatchi & Saatchi. One of the biggest account changes in British history, it was King’s way of making a clear statement that the BA direction had changed. In April of 1983, British Airways launched its â€Å"Manhattan Landing† campaign. King and his staff sent BA management personal invitations to gather employees and tune in to the inaugural six-minute commercial. Overseas, each BA office was sent a copy of the commercial on videocassette, and many held cocktail parties to celebrate the new thrust. â€Å"Manhattan Landing† dramatically portrayed the whole island of Manhattan being lifted from North America and whirled over the Atlantic before awestruck witnesses in the U.K. After the initial airing, a massive campaign was run with a 90-second version of the commercial. The ad marked the beginning of a broader campaign, â€Å"The World’s Favourite Airline,† reflective of BA’s status as carrier of the most passengers internationally. With the financial picture finally brightening, BA raised its advertising budget for 1983-84 to  £31 million, compared with  £19 million the previous year, signalling a clear commitment to changing the corporate image. Colin Marshall Becomes Chief Executive In the midst of the Saatchi & Saatchi launch, King recruited Mr. (later Sir) Colin Marshall, who proved to be perhaps the single most important person in the changes at British Airways. Appointed chief executive in February 1983, Marshall brought to he airline a unique resume. He began his career as a management trainee with Hertz in the United States. After working his way up the Hertz hierarchy in North America, Marshall accepted a job in 1964 to run rival Avis’s operations in Europe. By 1976, the British-born businessman had risen to chief executive of Avis. In 1981, he returned to the U.K. as deputy chief and board member of Sears Holdings. Fulfilling one of his ultimate career ambitions, he took over as chief executive of British Airways in early 1983. Although having no direct experience in airline management, Marshall brought with him two tremendous advantages. First, he understood customer service, and second, he had worked with a set of customers quite similar to the airline travel segment during his car rental days. Marshall made customer service a personal crusade from the day he entered BA. One executive reported: â€Å"It was really Marshall focusing on nothing else. The one thing that had overriding attention the first three years he was here was customer service, customer service, customer service—nothing else. That was the only thing he was interested in, and it’s not an exaggeration to say that was his exclusive focus.† Another senior manager added: â€Å"He has certainly put an enabling culture in place to allow customer service to come out, where, rather than people waiting to be told what to do to do things better, it’s an environment where people feel they can actually come out with ideas, that they will be listened to, and feel they are much more a part of the success of the company.† Not just a strong verbal communicator, Marshall became an active role model in the terminals, spending time with staff during morning and evenings. He combined these a ctions with a number of important events to drive home the customer service message. Corporate Celebrations, 1983-1987 If Marshall was the most important player in emphasizing customer service, then the Putting People First (PPF) program was the most important event. BA introduced PPF to the front-line staff in December of 1983 and continued it through June of 1984. Run by the Danish firm Time Manager International, each program cycle lasted two days and included 150 participants. The program was so warmly received that the non-front-line employees eventually asked to be included, and a one-day â€Å"PPF II† program facilitated the participation of all BA employees through June 1985. Approximately 40,000 BA employees went through the PPF programs. The program urged participants to examine their interactions with other people, including family, friends, and, by association, customers. Its acceptance and impact was extraordinary, due primarily to the honesty of its message, the excellence of its delivery, and the strong support of management. Employees agreed almost unanimously that the program’s message was sincere and free from manipulation, due in some measure to the fact that BA separated itself from the program’s design. The program emphasized positive relations with people in general, focusing in large part on non-work-related relationships. Implied in the positive relationship message was an emphasis on customer service, but the program was careful to aim for the benefit of employees as individuals first. Employees expressed their pleasure on being treated with respect and relief that change was on the horizon. As one frontline ticket agent veteran said: â€Å"I found it fascinating, very, very enjoyable. I thought it was very good for British Airways. It made people aware. I don’t think people give enough thought to people’s reaction to each other. . . . It was hardhitting. It was made something really special. When you were there, you were treated extremely well. You were treated as a VIP, and people really enjoyed that. It was reverse roles, really, to the job we do.† A senior manager spoke of the confidence it promoted in the changes: â€Å"It was quite a revelation, and I thought it was absolutely wonderful. I couldn’t believe BA had finally woken and realized where its bread was buttered. There were a lot of cynics at the time, but for people like myself it was really great to suddenly realize you were working for an airline that had the guts to chan ge, and that it’s probably somewhere where you want to stay.† Although occasionally an employee felt uncomfortable with the â€Å"rah-rah† nature of the program, feeling it perhaps â€Å"too American,† in general, PPF managed to eliminate cynicism. The excellence in presentation helped signify a sincerity to the message. One senior manager expressed the consistency. â€Å"There was a match between the message and the delivery. You can’t get away with saying putting people first is important, if in the process of delivering that message you don’t put people first.† Employees were sent personal invitations, thousands were flown in from around the world, and a strong effort was made to prepare tasteful meals and treat everyone with respect. Just as important, BA released every employee for the program, and expected everyone to attend. Grade differences became irrelevant during PPF, as managers and staff members were treated equally and interacted freely. Moreover, a senior director came to conclude every single PPF session with a question and answer session. Colin Marshall himself frequently attended these closing sessions, answering employee concerns in a manner most felt to be extraordinarily frank. The commitment shown by management helped BA avoid the fate suffered by British Rail in its subsequent attempt at a similar program. The British Railway program suffered a limited budget, a lack of commitment by management and interest by staff, and a high degree of cynicism. Reports surfaced that employees felt the program was a public relations exercise for the outside world, rather than a learning experience for staff. About the time PPF concluded, in 1985, BA launched a program for managers only called, appropriately, Managing People First (MPF). A five-day residential program for 25 managers at a time, MPF stressed the importance of, among other topics, trust, leadership, vision, and feedback. On a smaller scale, MPF stirred up issues long neglected at BA. One senior manager of engineering summarized his experience: â€Å"It was almost as if I were touched on the head. . . . I don’t think I even considered culture before MPF. Afterwards I began to think about what makes people tick. Why do people do what they do? Why do people come to work? Why do people do things for some people that they won’t do for others?† Some participants claimed the course led them to put more emphasis on feedback. One reported initiating regular meetings with staff every two weeks, in contrast to before the program when he met with staff members only as problems arose. As Marshall and his team challenged the way people thought at BA, they also encouraged changes in more visible ways. In December 1984, BA unveiled its new fleet livery at Heathrow airport. Preparations for the show were carefully planned and elaborate. The plane was delivered to the hangar-turned-theater under secrecy of night, after which hired audio and video technicians put together a dramatic presentation. On the first night of the show, a darkened coach brought guests from an off-site hotel to an undisclosed part of the city and through a tunnel. The guests, including dignitaries, high-ranking travel executives, and trade union representatives, were left uninformed of their whereabouts. To their surprise, as the show began an aircraft moved through the fog and laser lights decorating the stage and turned, revealing the new look of the British Airways fleet. A similar presentation continued four times a day for eight weeks for all staff to see. On its heels, in May of 1985, British Airways unveiled its new uniforms, designed by Roland Klein. With new leadership, strong communication from the top, increased acceptance by the public, and a new physical image, few on the BA staff could deny in 1985 that his or her working life had turned a new leaf from its condition in 1980. Management attempted to maintain the momentum of its successful programs. Following PPF and MPF, it put on a fairly successful corporatewide program in 1985 called â€Å"A Day in the Life† and another less significant program in 1987 called â€Å"To Be the Best.† Inevitably, interest diminished and cynicism grew with successive programs. BA also implemented an â€Å"Awards for Excellence† program to encourage employee input. Colin Marshall regularly communicated to staff through video. While the programs enjoyed some success, not many employees felt â€Å"touched on the head† by any successor program to PPF and MPF.

Mental health and illness

The nature of `mental health` and `mental illness` has been described as `contested`. Who are the contestants and what is the contest about? The Mental Illness has always been considered as a contested issue, because this is the only suffering of unfortunate human beings, which is being highly misunderstood. There are different types of mental illnesses that are suffered by human beings, and in each mental illness there are number of complexities involved like social problems, defect in any part of the brain etc.Psychologists, psychiatrists, doctors and sociologists, who so ever are dealing with the issue of Mental illness are contestants to this issue and advocates their own perceptions like Psychiatrists consider mental illness as a physical state of debilitation and look at it from the social angle, whereas doctors dictates it as a faulty or malfunctioning parts of the brain, such as infections, genetic defects and chemical imbalances within the individual, and neglects the wider social picture which is an ingredient part of illness.How well does the idea of labeling explain what happens to someone who is diagnosed as mentally ill?When a person is diagnosed mentally ill, he or she is labeled., a doctor or practitioner can understand the intensity of his problem and can prescribe the best treatment for him. Thus labeling can be a boon in disguise. Naturally if doctor labeled a person as â€Å"mentally disable†, that means he is considering the symptoms that a person is showing which is typical of mental disorder and can delve upon the problem and chart out the solutions.Critically review the evidence that there is an association between mental health and socio-economic inequality.No doubt there is a deep association between Mental Health and socio economic inequality. Socio economic inequalities lead to high psychiatric morbidity, disability, depression, Schizophrenia.   Studies by the World Psychologist, 2005 October; 4(3): 181–185 on 10,108 adults aged 16-65 resident in private households in the UK reveal that people who had no access to a car had an odds ratio for neurotic disorder of 1.4 (95% CI 1.1-1.7), compared with those who had access to two or more cars. People who rented their homes were also at increased risk of depression (1.3 [1.1-1.5]). These Income inequalities in the western market economies last 20 years had adverse consequences on the mental health of the people. Basically, the inferiority complex is a basic root and cause of this severe problem.Discuss how a family might affect and be affected by one of its members having a psychiatric diagnosis mental illness.Families of the patients suffering from severe psychotic symptoms often suffer from heavy emotional and social strains.   Many households may accept the patients, but the social rejections that are followed can cause serious consequences on the whole family. They can lead to strains of mental illness on a marriage life may also be very devasta ting. The divource rate is high among people who have depression or bipolar disorder.How might consultation be used to improve the sensitivity of mental health services to different needs?Consultation is a very important means of service delivery for mentally ill child and adolescents.   Consultation can be provided in number of ways: group or individual; fixed session or on demand; clinical-based or area office-based. For psychiatrists, the consultancy service is a very valuable experience. Trainees develop an awareness of the difficulties facing social work staff in difficult cases. The social work team also gains considerable benefit from an informal consultation service, which can improve their skills in further understanding the patient problems.   Through consultation, social workers can go into the depth of the causes of the problems of mentally ill within the family setting.Many people who have mental health problems are socially isolate. What can be done to provide them with informal support and friendship if they want this?The stigma that is attached to the mentally ill patients leads them to be isolated from the Society. Lot can be done for mentally ill patients. They can be, as suggested by World Health Organization (WHO), http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs218/en/ï‚ ·Ã‚  Ã‚   Openly discussing about the problem of mental illness in the community.ï‚ ·Ã‚  Ã‚   Providing accurate information on the causes, prevalence, course and effects of mental illnessï‚ ·Ã‚   Countering the negative stereotypes and misconceptions surrounding mental illness;ï‚ ·Ã‚   Providing support and treatment services that enable persons suffering from a mental illness to participate fully in all aspects of community life.ï‚ ·Ã‚   Ensuring the existence of legislation to reduce discrimination in the workplace.What are the particular challenges of resettling long-stay mental patients in the community, and what kinds of resource are needed to support them there?1. Hard to place psychiatric patient due to behavioral/management problems.2. Difficulty placing patient into the community due to lack of financial resources.3. How do we take care of the geriatric patient with a psychiatric disorder who becomes combative/disruptive that he is not allowed to remain in secure environments due to the high risk of harm to other patients?RESOURCES NEEDED TO SUPPORT THEM1. First fix the behavioral problems and poor compliance.2. The Training centers, employment programs, volunteer options and local clubs should all be part of the life plan of these people.3. Encourage realistic consideration of work and practical steps in preparation for reintegration, such as enrolment at a day programme.4. Involve them in any Meaningful occupation such as volunteer work etc.What are the rewards and stresses of work in mental health services? What measures might employing organisations take to reduce the effects of stress on staff and improve their job satis faction? The biggest reward for the people who are engaged in the mental health services is naturally the one when patient is recovered from mental illness. Besides getting mental satisfaction, they are also reward by the government for their meticulous services like â€Å"Award for Excellence in Community Mental Health Services†, 2006 Public Citizen of the Year award. Thus Government does appreciate these noble souls who are engaged in community welfare programs.HOW THE EMPLOYING ORGANIZATIONS REDUCE THE STRESS OF STAFF:They can reduce the stress of staff by:Effective management structureClear purpose & goals Functionally defined roles Team support Making appropriate plans for stress management Proper management of workload Balanced lifestyle Discuss the view that madness can be a valuable experience if only its value is recognized.Never consider the person who is mad as incompetent, as what he can provide to the Society, no able person can provide. For eg. If a person is di sillusioned with the society apathetic attitude, so in his madness he will keep on reflecting and mentioning about what’s wrong in the Society but we ignore his talks, but if we clearly ponder on his talks,   we will realize what role he is playing in giving the best to the Society which no body will ever intend to give.

Ashes Ashes We All Fall Down Essay

Ashs, Ashes, We All Fall Down Essay, Research Paper Bubonic Plague I buried with my ain custodies five of my kids in a individual grave. No bells. No cryings. This is the terminal of the universe. ( Deaux, 1969 ) These are the words of Italian writer Agniol di Tura, but they reflect the emotions of an full state in the 1300 s. It was at that clip that Europe was struck by the hardest blow that a pestilence would of all time swing. The Bubonic Plague hit Europe with a fierceness that could neer hold been predicted. Spread of the Plague Through Europe The spread of the Bubonic Plague in the 14th century happened rapidly as a consequence of hapless life conditions, trade paths and ignorance of the disease. The first reported instance of the pestilence was in 543 when it hit Constantinople. ( Hecker, 1992 ) This was a minor eruption and there were others similar to it, but since no one knew where it came from and so few were deceasing from it, no 1 took the clip to happen out. But so in 1334, an epidemic struck the northeasterly Chinese state of Hopei that people couldn t ignore. It killed up to 90 % of the population- around 5,000,000 people. ( Armstrong, 1981 ) This caught people s attending, but by so it was excessively tardily. Sadly, some of the events that aided the rapid spread of the Plague could hold been avoided. In 1347, in the southern Ukraine near the Black Sea, the native people began deceasing of a cryptic disease. They suffered from concerns, failing, and many staggered when they tried to walk. But most evidently, each carried a common hallmark of the plague- they all began to develop big puffinesss of the lymph nodes in the inguen and underhand countries. Fear and choler at the disease gave manner to accusal. The indigens of the country pointed the incrimination for their expletive at the Italian bargainers who traveled in and out of their ports. Convinced that they were the ground for their agony, the indigens attacked the ports. After a hebdomad of combat, the indigens found their soldiers deceasing of the disease. Hoping to infect the Italians, the indigens used slingshots that where usually reserved for big bowlders or dead animate beings to throw dead or deceasing organic structures of those infected with the pestilence over the barrier. They succeeded. When the bargainers fled to Sicily, they carried the pestilence with them. ( Strayer, 1972 ) The pestilence foremost arrived in Messina, Sicily in October 1347, but it would non halt at that place. Aware of the rate at which the pestilence would distribute, the Sicilian functionaries tried to incorporate the disease by coercing the 12 work forces on board who were left alive to remain on the ship. But black rats, which carried fleas that where contaminated with the pestilence, managed to acquire off the ship and come in the metropolis. Within eight months, the pestilence had spread throughout the island and the rats which carried the pestilence had boarded ships that were headed for mainland Italy and the remainder of Europe. ( Strayer, 1972 ) Despite the attempts of metropolis functionaries, the pestilence continued to distribute. They had ignored it excessively long, now it was out of their custodies. The pestilence spread through port metropoliss rapidly because it is transmitted by rat fleas. The fleas, which spread the pestilence, would catch the bacteriums from a rat who had already acquired the disease. The bacteriums would so wholly fills the tummy of the flea, doing it so the flea could no longer digest any blood. It would so be so hungry that it would sucks blood into its already full tummy, coercing it to regurgitate, therefore distributing the bacterium. ( Walker, 1992 ) A disease that is spread by rats would likely non present a large job to most topographic points in the 21st century, but in the fourteenth century there were many rats aboard most ships and few people took notice to them, as they were such a common fixture in the dirty life wonts. Because people were so accustomed to them, these gnawers carried the pestilence from port to port with no 1 recognizing that they were the confederate to the disease which was doing the decease of 1000000s. Myths As a consequence of the multitudes that were deceasing, people would readily accept any account of the cause of the pestilence as truth. A physician by the name of Galen had one of the most widely recognized theories. He said that the pestilence was spread by miasmas, or toxicant bluess coming from the swamps which corrupted the air. Peoples were urged to go forth low, boggy countries or at least remain inside their places, covering their Windowss. Because people believed that foul smelling air caused the pestilence, many walked around transporting corsages of flowers to their olfactory organs, believing that this would salvage them from decease. ( Strayer, 1972 ) Some thought that the pestilence could acquire into the organic structure through the pores in their tegument. As a consequence of this, many people refused to bath during the clip of the pestilence, as they felt that rinsing their organic structures would open the pores further, giving the pestilence even more chance to infect them. Though many people chose to accept these theories for their surface value and take the safeguards suggested, few found consolation in them as they watched those around them die. Some people felt that the pestilence had come as a signifier of penalty from God. A group of persons known as the flagellants insisted that it was the wickednesss of adult male that had compelled God to penalize them. Flagellants could be identified by the flagellum that they carried with them. This was a wooden stick with three or four leather pieces attached, each with an inch long spike of Fe at the terminal. The flagellants would run into in the centre of a town and impulse others to fall in them in their rites. Each member would deprive from the waist up and so would get down to flog himself with his flagellum. They did this as a signifier of repentance and believed that God would forgive them and maintain the pestilence from them every bit long as they showed their compunction. This ritual would happen at least one time a twenty-four hours for three yearss before the group would travel on to the following small town where they would being once more, hopefully increasing their Numberss ( Biel, 1989 ) . Some who were seeking for replies joined the flagellants, but they shortly found that they faced the same fate as the remainder. Symptoms The pestilence had many hallmark symptoms, but at first the victim could look to hold a figure of morbid. The first symptoms of the pestilence include concern, sickness, iciness, emesis, and hurting articulations. ( Strayer, 1972 ) These traits are besides common to other diseases, but in a pestilence septic metropolis, anyone who possessed these traits was considered doomed. However, shortly after undertaking the disease, the symptoms would go more obvious. Within a twenty-four hours or two, the puffinesss appeared. They were hard, painful, firing balls on the cervix, under the arm, and besides the interior thighs. Soon they turned black, disconnected unfastened, and began to seep cunt and blood. These puffinesss, called buboes, gave the disease its name and may hold grown to the size of an orange. ( Garrett, 1994 ) The puffinesss appeared because one time a individual became infected, the B, Yersina plague, made its manner into the lymph nodes. There, it would infect and destruct cells of the immune system, and in the procedure, it would besides trip a concatenation of chemical reactions in which the organic structure would try to throw out the encroachers through pustules and furuncles that emerge on the tegument. ( Garrett, 1994 ) Once the bobues appeared, the victim would get down to shed blood internally. Blood vass would interrupt, go forthing the blood underneath the tegument to run free. Once dried, the blood would turn black and leave black blotchs on the victim s tegument. Thus giving the disease it s most popular moniker, Black Death. In most terrible instances, decease would normally occur within two yearss after the bobues had appeared. This, frequently times, was non shortly plenty for the victim. Effectss The Bubonic Plague had a great consequence on households, the church, and besides the outlook of society during the in-between ages. The decease of an estimated 1/3 of the civilised universe in the mid-14th century ( Armstrong, 1981 ) was certain to alter every facet of life for the people populating at that clip. During the pestilence, there was a general diminution in morality, which finally led to the church losing most of it s authorization. In portion, people didn t listen to the church because they didn Ts privation to hear Torahs that they knew wouldn T be carried out. But the chief ground was that many lost religion after watching their friends and household dices such atrocious deceases. The lost religion of the people can be seen through their art. In many plants, alternatively of celestial existences naming the dead to heaven, decease was represented as an aged adult female in a black cloak and wild, snake-like hair.. and a scythe to roll up her victims. ( Strayer, 1983 ) The regulations of the church itself besides changed during the pestilence. Rome announced an exigency relaxation of canonical jurisprudence, allowing the deceasing to squeal aloud to God or to any individual who would listen, even a adult female. ( Deaux, 1969 ) This was announced because functionaries of the church were deceasing off at the same rate as the remainder of the community and people were deceasing without the Sacrament of Penance. In the clip of the pestilence, non merely was faith flips aside, but besides morality as a whole. Italian writer, Boccaccia, wrote about the mortality of the society in the fourteenth century. With so much affliction and wretchedness, all fear for the Torahs, both of God and of adult male, fell apart and dissolved, because the curates and executed of the Torahs were either dead of ailment like everyone else, or were left with so few functionaries that they were unable to make their responsibilities ; as a consequence, everyone was free to make whatever they pleased. ( Biel, 1989 ) Many people felt that decease was inevitable and hence decided to pass nevertheless many yearss they may hold left alive the manner that would most delight them. Many found comfort in traveling from tavern from tavern, imbibing and much as they wished and listening to and speaking merely about pleasant things. Others threw eternal parties in their places and welcomes all who would come. ( Armstrong, 1981 ) These parties were easy to happen because everyone behaved as if they were traveling to decease shortly, so they cared nil about themselves nor their properties. As a consequence, people lost all sense of duty as they felt that all of their properties and finally their lives, every bit good as the lives of those they cared about, would be taken off from them. Despair filled the people with the loss of so many that they loved and many of them went into a province of denial. Such was the hurt that an order was base on ballss that would non let public proclamations of decease because the sick could hear them, and the healthy took fear every bit good as the sick. ( Garret, 1994 ) In fact, in Florence, it was prohibited to even print the figure of the dead for fright that the life would lose hope. ( Biel, 1989 ) Even with these safeguards, the decease of 1000000s could non be hidden from those that survived it. The odor of the dead fill the air and there were few people who could non assist but give up. Most people failed to see value in anything but their life. Peoples were so positive that they would shortly be faced with decease, that ownerships ment nil to them. Many times, fright of the pestilence would be much greater than the desire for ownerships and the houses of the dead, or sometimes those who were merely really ill, would be burned to the land to forestall the spread of the disease. ( Garret, 1994 ) Boccaccia said that such was the figure of houses full of goods that had no proprietor, that it was astonishing. Then the inheritors to this wealth began to turn up. And person who had antecedently had nil all of a sudden found himself rich. ( Biel, 1989 ) Many houses were left vacant after the proprietors died because people thought that everything interior was contaminated with the pestilence. Peoples felt that their wellness was of much more importance than anything that person could posses. As a consequence of the great fright that people had of the pestilence, many households fell apart. Boccaccia talk about this in the debut to his book, The Decameron: The ordeal had so withered the Black Marias of work forces and adult females that brother abandoned brother, and the uncle abandoned his nephew and the sister her brother and many times, married womans abandoned their hubbies, and, what is even more unbelievable and barbarous, female parent and male parents abandoned their kids and would decline to see them. ( Biel, 1989 ) The state of affairss that Boccaccia radius of were non uncommon. Writer Francisco Patriarch said that may people died of hungriness, for when person took ailment to his bed, the other residents in panic told him: I m traveling for the physician ; and softly locked the door from the outside and didn T come back. ( Deaux, 1969 ) The precedences of everyone became rearranged as they all feared for their lives. Peoples cared nil of other people, they merely wanted to populate and they did what they had to make to maintain their lives. One Italian author said that things had reached such a point, that people cared no more for the decease of other people than they did for the decease of a caprine animal. ( Armstrong, 1981 ) Future With all the progresss that the universe has made in the past seven centuries, it is unthinkable that such a catastrophe could take topographic point once more. Rarely in the US do you happen a topographic point where rat and adult male live so harmoniously with one another. But other parts of the universe are non so fortunate. The most recent eruption of Bubonic Plague was in India and it didn t go on a few hundred old ages ago. It happened in 1994. The job with solved with a $ 30 million loan from the World Bank which they used to relocated 52 small towns which the authorities saw as job countries. Research workers think that the eruption was caused by an temblor that stirred up the B which can put hibernating in the dirt for two or three decennaries, but they say that the conditions of the small town favorite invasion. Relatively few people died in this recent outbreak thanks to what one small town leaders calls beautiful antibiotics. With five yearss of unwritten antibiotic therapy utilizing a inexpensive, readily available drug called Achromycin, bubonic pestilence is 100 % curable ( Garret, 1994 ) . Thankss to medical scientific discipline, the muss in India was cleared up with really few deceases and the universe can be grateful that they will neer hold to see life as 1000000s in the fourteenth century did. Mentions Armstrong, K ( 1981 ) . The coming of the pestilence to Italy. New York: Weber Printing Biel, T ( 1989 ) . The black decease. San Diego: Aglow Books. Deaux, G. ( 1969 ) . The black decease. New York: Weybright and Talley Ellis, E. A ; Esler, A. ( 1997 ) . World history. Upper Saddle River: Prentic-Hall, Inc. Garrett, L. ( 1994 ) . Anatomy of a pestilence. New York: Webb Publishing. Hecker, J. ( 1992 ) . Black decease depredations Europe. Babington: Bureau of Electronic Publishing, Inc. Strayer, J. ( 1972 ) . Dictionary of the in-between ages. New York: Charles Scribner and Sons Walker, J. ( 1992 ) . Famine, drouth, and pestilences. New York: Glaucestu Press.

Political Philosophies of Socrates, Plato and Confucius Essay

Political Philosophies of Socrates, Plato and Confucius - Essay Example The lives of the three philosophers are summarized by Plato when he said that "man must seek the truth; and once the truth is discovered in the purely speculative field, it must serve to find the solution of practical problems: rendering man morally better". To the untrained mind, the three philosophers may seem to differ on their political philosophies. Socrates purports that the political expression of government was the common good of all citizens, not the triumph of the individual over society's rules. Socrates opposed the Sophists, the teachers of philosophy in ancient Greece, on many fine points; one of the most important of which is their concern for the quality of life, in living ethically and believing that happiness is the ultimate purpose of life. The Sophists advocated that happiness is best achieved when materials things such as material possessions and wealth are acquired. Socrates argued that happiness was the ethical knowledge of how people are supposed to live. Moreover, governments, rather than being merely powerful organizational entities, should embody the ethical principles that will promote moral well-being. As a result of Socrates' political convictions, he was charged with corrupting the youth- because his studen ts were inspired by Socrates' idea to question authority, think for themselves and reject the establishment. According to Plato's account, Socrates was not subtle about his particular beliefs on government. He objected to any form of government that did not conform to his ideal of a perfect republic led by philosophers. However, this argument is often denied because of the fact that he refused to enter into politics or participate in government of any sort, stating that he could not look into other matters or tell people how to live when he himself did not yet understand. Nevertheless, history supports that Socrates thought that the rule of the Thirty Tyrants (Junta that overthrew democracy) was as objectionable as democracy. Plato advocates that the best form of government as seen in the Republic, is a government that reconciles different people's interests and includes aristocratic, oligarchic, and democratic elements. He further argues that politics needs expert rulers, who must be carefully selected and prepared in the course of extensive training. Since making political decisions require good judgment, government need competent rulers and these virtues can be found in philosophers. For Plato, government should exist for the benefit of all citizens and all social classes. Likewise, government should be responsible in mediating between potentially conflicting interests which may arise in the state. He then suggests in the Republic that this mediating force can be exercised ideally by philosopher-rulers. They will serve as the guarantors of the political order that is encapsulated in the norm that regulates just relations of persons and classes within the city. However, the great paradox of The Republic is that philosophers are not interested in ruling and have only desire in the pursuit of more knowledge. As Plato states in The Republic, "the society we have described can never grow into a reality or see the light of day, and there will be no end to the troubles of states, or indeed, my dear Glaucon, of humanity itself, till philosophers are kings in this world, or till those we now call kings and rulers really and truly become philosophers, and

Analyse the business environment of Japan Essay

Analyse the business environment of Japan - Essay Example In order to drive this growth, National Innovation System (NIS) plays a very important role. Innovation is one of the key drives that have led Japanese business corporations to this state of success. This paper presents a detailed study of the activities of NIS which helps to evaluate its impact on the business environment of the country. Business environment in Japan The Japanese business environment has been reflecting huge success during the late 1980s. The success of Japanese business enterprises is affected by the formation of the enterprise to a large extent. Three main types of companies can be recognized in Japan under Japan’s commercial code and another form of company is separately recognized under the Yugen Gaisha Law. Therefore, four different forms of a business company exist in Japan. These are Go-mei Gaisha (or commercial partnership), Go-shi Gaisha (or limited partnership), Kabushiki Kaisha (or general corporation) and finally Yugen Gaisha (or limited liability corporation) (Japanlaw, n.d.). ... Cheap exports made by Japan include particularly electronic devices, cars and computers (Japan-guide, 2013). This characteristic of Japanese business corporations is imparted by the human resource of these organizations. Human resource is considered a very important aspect in Japan. Hence, companies dedicate attention towards maintaining good human resource management system and employees provide the commitment of sustaining a long-term relationship with their respective corporations. Strong industrial relationship is one of the main factors that affect the performance of Japanese business firms in international context (Asetuc, 2003). This leads to improvement in the skills and employees might utilize their potential to the fullest extent for the growth of their organization. With globalization, Japan has been increasingly participating in the global business scenario. Japan is known on the global platform for its cheap exports. Japan mainly imports agricultural or intermediate good s, such as, culinary materials, wood, oil and other raw materials. Since the manufactured goods (imported) yield higher price than the raw materials imported by Japan (that requires lesser payments), Japan has a trade surplus. However, globalization makes the manufacturing units all around the world more cost efficient (Gu?jonsson, 2009). Thus, Japanese firms are currently facing intense competition in the global front. National Innovation System (NIS) Government component of the NIS The National Innovation System (or NIS) refers to the system of flow of information as well as the rapid transfer of technological knowhow amongst people residing in different parts of a country. It has been recognized by the Japanese government

No topic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 65

No topic - Essay Example Again Susan urgently needs to acquire the property to expand the university. The best alternative (BATNA) that he has is to sell it to the property to the private developer. His reserved price (RP) is approximately $19.7 million. This figure is arrived at by considering the cost of rebuilding property with same features, in the same location. Susan is mainly interested in acquiring a property to expand the university. As such, the property that Fr. John is selling is appropriate for the expansion due to its vicinity. Her main source of power is that she is aware that Fr. John is selling the property and that the school is suffering financial predicaments. Her best alternative would be to build her own premises should Fr. John sell the premises at the price equal to putting a new structure. Her recommended price is below $19.7 million as the amount would be enough to put up a new structure with similar features. Her target would basically to acquire the property at a lower price than that of putting a new

The Achievement of Success in an Individuals Life Personal Statement - 5

The Achievement of Success in an Individuals Life - Personal Statement Example I chose the difficult path because I understood that education and knowledge serve to be important in the life of a person. I put in all my strength to cope up with the educational requirements of the university and I was assisted by my faculty members, who understood my problem and were highly supportive. English is not my first language and I did not hold much expertise in the language. I got enrolled in an English University where English was the medium of education. The lectures were delivered in English and English was the language used for communication with the teachers as well as the other students. The books were in English as well. My English language skills were not very good and it was a very difficult phase for me. This was because my writing, reading as well as communication skills were not up to the mark and I had to put in much hard work to cope with my studies. I found it difficult to take down notes during the lectures. This was because I had to pay full attention t owards listening to the teacher to understand the lecture and if I started taking notes, I used to lag behind in the lecture. Note taking was also an issue as I could not spell words properly and my writing speed was not up to the mark as well. I could not understand the normally used abbreviations as I was not familiar with them and had not used them before. The text was also difficult for me to comprehend with and I could not analyze the meanings of the readings assigned to me properly. Therefore, it was a very difficult situation for me and I needed a lot of guidance and help to overcome this problem. I did not know if I would ever be able to complete my education and achieve my degree from the university. But after thinking about my problem, I became determined that a person had to sacrifice and learn for becoming successful in his life. I decreased my leisure time and devoted my time to my education and learning. I organized myself and managed my time so that I could give the m aximum time to my studies. I bought a pocket dictionary for myself so that I could look up for words and understand them instantly. I installed English learning software in my laptop as well so that I could learn the proper pronunciation of words as well and so that I could learn proper sentences and their meanings. I asked my friends to communicate with me in English and correct me where I got wrong. I kept a fixed time for reading a newspaper article every day and to understand all the words in the article. I also worked towards the improvement of my writing skills by copying newspaper articles every day for up to one hour. I implemented these strategies as a part of my schedule and I made sure that I did not skip any of these activities. These were my personal steps to achieve success in my education. Teachers serve to be as true guides in the life of a person. This was proved by the assistance that was provided to me by my teachers to overcome my problem.  

Animals as Friends, not Scientific Experiments Essay

Animals as Friends, not Scientific Experiments - Essay Example As argued by philosopher David DeGrazia (1996), â€Å"The path to the ethical treatment of animals runs through their minds† (p. 76). His argument stress the value of taking into consideration animals’ mental being, such as their self-consciousness, intelligence, recognition, and ability to feel pleasure and pain, in evaluating the ethical implications of animal experimentation. If the wellbeing of animals rests in his/her emotions, and if such emotions are the mechanism of the mind, then all genuine moral debate over animal welfare should one way or another consider what is in the minds of these animals. DeGrazia (1996) argues, â€Å"What sorts of mental capacities we attribute to animals have a great deal to do with how we think they should be treated† (p.1). The argument of DeGrazia is compelling because it poses crucial and interconnected issues. First, is there truly a difference between the physical and the mental in animal welfare? Are hunger and pain, whi ch are primary concerns of animal welfare, truly associated with the minds of animals? Or are these welfare concerns physical, or a union of the mental and the physical? This paper begins with Albert Schweitzer’s perspective of animal welfare that does not depend on evaluating the mental capabilities of animals, to identify his contribution to the resolution of certain cases of animal experimentation. Albert Schweitzer suggested respect for life as a guideline for interacting with and relating to our environment. According to Schweitzer, an ethical man â€Å"does not ask how far this or that life deserves sympathy as valuable in itself, nor how far it is capable of feeling. To him life as such is sacred. He shatters no ice crystals that sparkles in the sun, tears no leaf from its tress, breaks off no flower, and is careful not to crush any insect as he walks† (Carbone 2004, 48). This statement is inspiring, but does it contribute to the resolution of the issue on how a nd when to research or test on animals? Could the ‘ethical man’ ethically inflict pain on animals for scientific research? Evidently, Schweitzer says yes to the latter question because he is not a critic of animal experimentation. He argues (Carbone 2004, 48): Those who experiment upon animals by surgery and drugs, or inoculate them with diseases in order to be able to help mankind by the results obtained, should never quiet their consciences with the conviction that their cruel action may in general have a worthy purpose. In every single instance they must consider whether it is really necessary to demand of an animal this sacrifice for men. And they must take anxious care that the pain be mitigated as much as possible. He proposed that life should be respected and valued, irrespective of its position on any human hierarchy. However, he acknowledged the special need to draw a line between when to save a life and give up another, but gave practically no instruction for these decisions. By placing his entire focus on the ethical man’s attributes instead on those to whom this ‘ethical man’ should pay moral attention to Schweitzer contributes insignificantly to the cases of animal welfare. Science and technology have their limitations and cannot resolve the ethical issues entrenched in nearly all animal welfare discussions. For example, not every suffering or pain can be presently cured with medicines. What degree of pain requires stopping a scientific resear

Monetary Policy and the Behavior of the MPC Essay

Monetary Policy and the Behavior of the MPC - Essay Example The present policy mandate of the Bank of England, the UK’s central bank is dictated by the twin economic objectives of maintaining a high level of employment or low involuntary employment with promoting a high level of production of goods and services with rapid growth. Meanwhile, the latest available Inflation Report dated February 2011 shows that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose between 4 to 5 percent as against a target inflation rate of 2 percent. The main reasons for this were the increase in VAT since December 2010, an unprecedented rise of 15 percent in energy prices and 20 percent in food prices, and a fall of 25 percent in the value of UK Sterling. Meanwhile, unemployment remains at 8 percent and even the unexpected cold wave we have seen last winter has negatively affected productivity and the rate of output in the UK. The most realistic estimates by the Bank of England are that inflation will continue to remain at the 4 percent level till the end of 2011 and the n come back to the target of 2 percent being more realistic in the long run. In the process it is expected that exports will grow to the level that it supports monetary policy and exchange rates, bringing the economy back on track and at least out of the present crisis, which by the Governor of the Bank of England’s own admission is the worst we have faced since the Great Depression of the 1930s. (BOE, Q&A). The Importance of Central Bank Credibility The central bank of any nation has a key role in setting and controlling the money supply and controlling the rate of inflation in the country (Rosen,2004). The role of Mervyn King, the Governor of the Bank of England is just that and he does it with the help of a nine member Monetary Policy Committee. Of course, the estimates made by the MPC are hardly ever on target explicitly, but at least they give a sense of direction in which the economy is going. The inflation rate is not known to change rapidly- there is a lag between pri ce and output changes and the inflation rate, but at least we have an indication of whether it is going to be higher or lower than previously. What is worrying at present is how to stimulate the economy without raising the rate of inflation. At the same time, the rate of inflation is largely in control in Germany and USA, to name two of the UK’s best trading partners. It has been fortunate for them that their exchange rates have stabilized and had not been so adversely affected as in the UK. The Bank of England and the MPC wait and evaluate the events in the economy before making a decision on increase in Bank Rates, for example. They have to wait for shocks to be absorbed by the economy and allow for these in their estimates (McConnell & Brue, 2005). Being consistently wrong and off the target for key estimates

Discussion of the history of cosmetics Essay Example for Free

Discussion of the history of cosmetics Essay The dawn of modern cosmetics began divided into the following categories: Grolier (2005: 188-191). a. Powders face powder usually contains talk, chalk, kaolin, and mixtures of zinc oxide, titanium oxide and various powdered pigments. Properly prepared, this mixture spreads easily, adheres to the skin, and absorbs some moisture. b. Emulsions these are fine particles of oil dispersed in water. Vanishing creams and cold creams are examples of emulsions. Thinner emulsions, which contain more water relative to the oil content, are used as cleansing lotions and hand creams. c. Lipsticks this is made up of oils, such as castor oil, mixed with waxes and pigments or dyes, and hardened into molds. Since the materials used in manufacturing lipsticks are actually taken into the body, the choice of ingredients is limited to those which are known or assumed to be non-toxic. d. Eye Makeup these are eyebrow pencils, eye shadow, and mascara are, like lipstick, compounds of oil, wax and pigments. They, too, must be made of non-toxic or non-injurious materials. Cosmetics have come a long way in modern history and played a significant role in adorning both men and women for various occasions. It has been so widely-used that its functions have traversed into extremes for beautification purposes – it can either conceal or flaunt an asset of a person. It can serve as mask or a highlighter. This just means that it has the ability to change the appearance of the person according to the manner it was used. At the end of the day, personal psyche dictates that every person intends or strives to become pleasant to the eyes of the millions of people around him or her. What is beautiful has also changed over the years. The definition of what is beautiful goes across regions, beliefs, religion and societal perceptions. Burke (2003:75-77): According to the twentieth century philosopher Charles Hartshorne, â€Å"Beauty is the centerpiece of this classical trinity and that nothing in our experience is exempt from the touch of the beautiful†. Beyond aesthetics, what is beautiful is how one perceives it to be, in that if he or she can find beauty in there. Therefore, the quality of what is beautiful has emerged from mere prettiness or elaborate ornamentation into an instrument of life towards survival in the continuous evolution of life in this planet. It can be found that the link between biology and beauty has dictated the development of humans and other species. Scientific studies strengthens the debate that the beautiful will emerge as the survivors given that their counterparts find them more attractive than the rest and that they are perceived to produce the most beautiful offsprings. In this biological quest for a successful and healthy reproduction process, the preference is indeed given to those mates who appear healthy. A healthy individual is visually manifested in their skin and hair, by the movement of their body, by a proportioned and toned body. These are the people judged to be beautiful. If the experts are correct in these assumptions or scientific observations, men usually look for women who appear young and fertile. This is where cosmetics leverage onto. Burke (2003:75-77): The cosmetic industry tries to address this so-called â€Å"need† that women continue to appear young despite already going beyond their fertile or child-bearing years. Nevertheless, beyond the need to reproduce our genes, the core of beauty still delves on the ability of a person to identify and bring out the beauty in their lives. We need not generate only life in this world, but also generate beauty that will make life even more worthwhile. It is the appreciation of beauty in our surroundings even without the use of any form of artificial adornment such as cosmetics that will enable one to realize the beauty of life, that it is worth-knowing and worth living after all. Given how important the nation for beauty is perceived across nations, and beyond borders, how cosmetics value this perception and its effects to the human well-being is crucial. Dermatological diseases have sprung in the recent years that come in a range from minor cosmetic problems to even life-threatening problems, as displayed in some disorders commonly due to skin differentiation processes. Zeeuwen (2004:176). With this statement, one should also be vigilant and be a knowledgeable end-user of these products that attempt to change certain elements of your natural state of appearance or being to some extent. The law of economics reminds us that with in every level of quality increased, price is directly affected as it is directly correlated.

Your Mind And Body Are Clearly Distinct Philosophy Essay

Your Mind And Body Are Clearly Distinct Philosophy Essay During his meditations, Descartes starts by doubting everything unless it can be indubitably known to be true. After much questioning and scepticism, Descartes comes to the conclusion: I am, I exist.  [2]  This seems to state that the I Descartes describes (usually defined as the conscious mind) must exist for an individual to exist. Because for every time the I makes the above proposition, the mind or conscious self is engaged in thought and therefore demonstrates its own existence. After conclusively grounding his existence, Descartes inquires as to what makes up a person. He eventually deduces that I am not more than a thing that thinks  [3]  . Because to assume that his body exists is to rely on his senses that could be deceived. Therefore through intellect alone, Descartes concludes that he must be essentially a thing that thinks. When returning to the contemplation of the mind and body in his Sixth Meditation, Descartes then asserts that I [that is to say, my soul by which I am what I am], is entirely and absolutely distinct from my body, and can exist without it.  [4]  How and why he goes from a thinking thing, to a mind distinct from body is a perplexing problem both for Descartes and for his critics. In both the Second meditation, but more clearly in part four of his Discourse on the Method Descartes presents what is commonly known as the argument from doubt: I saw that I could conceive that I had no body, and that there was no world nor place wh ere I might be; but yet I could not for all that conceive that I was not. On the contrary, I saw from the very fact that I thought of doubting the truth of other things, it very evidently and certainly followed that I was; on the other hand if I had only ceased from thinking, even if all the rest of what I had ever imagined had really existed, I should have no reason for thinking that I had existed. From that I knew that I was a substance the whole essence or nature of which is to think, and that for its existence there is no need of any place, nor does it depend on any material things; so that this me, that is to say, the soul by which I am what I am, is entirely distinct from body, and is even more easy to know than is the latter; and even if body were not, the soul would not cease to be what it is.  [5]  This argument can be displayed as such  [6]  : I can doubt that I have a body. I cannot doubt that I exist. Ergo, I am not a body.  [7]   There have been many famous refutations of this argument from doubt. One problem with the argument, forwarded by Norman Malcolm, is that arguments using the same logic can be formed that lead to ridiculous results. For example: I can doubt that the author of the pamphlet Why I Am Not a Christian exists I cannot doubt that Bertrand Russell exists Ergo, Bertrand Russell is not the author of that pamphlet.  [8]   However as Malcolm himself points out, this counter-example is based on contingent propositions, whereas Descartes argument is intended to be based on a priori propositions. But whether the subject of the proof is a posteriori or a priori, the reasoning behind the proof can still be called into question. Descartes can think of his mind without his body, but this does not necessarily mean that this is the case, that without his body his mind can still exist. In this form of reasoning, Descartes is attempting to use Leibnizs law of the indiscernibility of identicals. However Leibnizs law states that no two objects have exactly the same properties.  [9]  Therefore, if it is true that two things (the body and the self) have different properties, then they cannot be the one same thing and there must be different objects. But it is mistaken to say that if one believes that two things have different properties then they cannot be identical. This is because what people know or think they know about an object, is not a property of that object. Therefore when Descartes claims that he doubts his body exists, this does not mean that the body has a different property than if he did not doubt its existence. He also claims he cannot doubt that his mind exists, but if his mind is a part of his b ody then we can doubt that his mind, apart from the body could exist. For the doubt argument to work, Descartes needs a provable reason for us to think that the mind and the body are truly distinct. The second argument Descartes employs is often referred to as the argument from conceivability. It is also presented in the sixth meditation and through it Descartes sets out to prove that one can exist as a thinking thing distinct from the physical body it goes as follows: I know that all things which I apprehend clearly and distinctly can be created by God as I apprehend them, it suffices that I am able to apprehend one thing apart from another clearly and distinctly in order to be certain that the one is different from the other, since they may be made to exist in seperation at least by the omnipotence of GodI rightly conclude that my essence consists solely in the fact that I am a thinking thing (or a substance whose whole essence or nature is to think). And although possibly (or rather certainly, as I shall say in a moment) I possess a body with which I am very intimately conjoined, yet because, on the one side, I have a clear and distinct idea of myself inasmuch as I am only a thinking and unextended thing, and as, on the other, I possess a distinct idea of body, inasmuch as it is only an extended and unthinking thing, it is certain that this I (that is to say my soul by which I am what I am), is entirely and absolutly distinct from my body, and can exist without it.  [10]  This argument can also be split into three parts: I can clearly and distinctly conceive of myself existing (as a thinking thing) apart from my physical body. Anything I perceive clearly and distinctly is logically possible. If I can clearly and distinctly perceive of myself as an unextended thinking thing, and my body as an extended unthinking thing, then it is logically possible that my body and my mind can exist apart. One obvious objection to this argument is that just because one can perceive of themselves as existing without physical properties, does not mean that they do exist without physical properties.  [11]  Another problem is that the second premise seems to be rather weak. To perceive something clearly and distinctly is not necessarily the same as it being logically possible. Descartes may be able to clearly and distinctly conceive of himself as an unextended thinking thing, and his body as an extended unthinking thing, but that does not mean he can conclude that my essence consists solely in the fact that I am a thinking thing.  [12]  He may only have an incomplete understanding of his mind and his body (with the scientific advancements of the past 300 years this seems very plausible). He has not shown that thought is the sole property of the mind, other properties could still be essential for the mind to exist (such as extension). In order for Descartes to prove the minds distin ct separation from the extended body he must prove that it is impossible for the mind to be extended or to have extension as another essential property. Therefore Descartess argument from conceivability only stands up if one agrees that clear and distinct perception is all we need to have a complete knowledge of the world, and this seem a very weak conclusion to draw. Another argument posed by Descartes is the argument from divisibility. This argument tries to prove that the mind and body are clearly distinct due to their difference in divisibility. It is set out, in the Sixth Meditation, as follows: I here say, in the first place, that there is a great difference between mind and body, inasmuch as body is by nature always divisible and the mind is entirely indivisible.  [13]  He then describes this assertion: when I consider the mind, that is to say, myself inasmuch as I am only a thinking thing, I cannot distinguish in myself any parts, but apprehend myself to be clearly one and entireyet if a foot, or an arm, or some other part, is separated from my body, I am aware that nothing has been taken away from my mind.  [14]  Here Descartes is offering the following reasoning: all extended matter is divisible, the mind is not divisible, therefore the mind is not made of extended matter. It is clear here that the second premise of the divisibility argument: the mind is not divisible is problematic. There are many objections here that can be raised against the second premise, an obvious objection is the scientific evidence has shown convincing evidence that different areas of the physical brain are responsible for different mental states (memory, rational thought, language, emotions etc). Therefore if one removed parts of the physical brain, that persons mind would most definitely be altered. This does not mean that one must reject the idea that thoughts cannot be spatially mapped, merely that the brain in which they are contained and processed can be spatially and physically altered, and that this alteration would have a direct effect on the state of the mind. The only way that the divisibility argument can plausible is if one believes the second premise, that the mind is an immaterial substance distinct from both the body and the brain. This is highly improbable and would oppose everything that has been discovered by scientifically studying the brain. This conclusion leads on to the biggest objection to the Cartesian claim that the mind and body are clearly distinct. How can an immaterial mind, distinct and separate from all other matter, interact with the physical body? This is the brick wall that Cartesian dualism runs up against. And there has been no convincing answer, from Descartes to the present. It is more common now for philosophers to talk of the mental and the physical as two aspects of one reality. Indeed, one could go a step further and argue why have a single entity? The mind or self is not a single thing, a unified identity that travels from cradle to grave, but merely a catch all label for our swirling fragmentary perceptions of the world and reactions to it. The reason we create this self, an inner puppeteer directing our behaviour, is due to our ability to view ourselves from the outside. After all isnt this what consciousness is, to be self aware? Personally I find R.A. Brooks description of robot behaviour much more plausible, when thinking about the immaterial self so elusive to Descartes  [15]  : It is only the observer of the creature who imputes a central representation or central control. The creature itself has none: it is a collection of competing behaviours. Out of the local chaos of their interactions there emerges, in the eye of the observer, a coherent pattern of behaviour.  [16]