The nature of Darwin's Contributions to the study of evolution Essay

The nature of Darwin's Contributions to the study of evolution - Essay Example Most f these masses said nothing, however, some vocally supported such persons as Charles Hodge, a Princeton theologian who preached that Darwinism was atheism. John William Dawson and Arnold Guyot, two f the last reputable nineteenth-century creationists attempted to oblige science by interpreting the days f Genesis "as ages and by correlating them with successive epochs in the natural history f the world" (Ruse, 229). Dawson and Guyot cited several supernatural interventions, particularly in their theories f the first humans; however, they attempted to keep such paranormal citations to a minimum, thus focusing on a maximizing f operations f natural law. Between 1910 and 1915, The Fundamentals was published to rejuvenate and reform Christianity throughout the world. These booklets were mass-produced, and, at the time, posed a bigger threat to orthodox faith than did evolution. According to Numbers, "Although one contributor [to The Fundamentals] identified evolution as the principal cause f disbelief in the Scriptures and another traced the roots f higher criticism to Darwin, the collection as a whole lacked the strident anti-evolution that would characterize the fundamentalist movement f the 1920s" (249). William Jennings Bryan soon became the ideal spokesman for an anti-evolution crusade. He was politically involved and, although lost the bid for presidency three times, had a national reputation, vast prestige, and a strong following. Bryan often preached f the silliness f humans having a biological connection to apes. After the outbreak f World War I, Bryan began to trace the source f trouble to the influence f Darwinism. From the information printed in two published books, one by Vernon Kellogg and one by Benjamin Kidd, Bryan blamed the deterioration f Christianity and democracy on the support f theories f evolution. Each f the two books cited conversations among German officers revealing that Darwin's biology had played a major role in convincing the Germans to declare war. Bryan furthered his crusade by noting that beliefs in evolution were the main cause f students to lose faith in the Bible. In class we learned that "creation science" has, indeed, not been proven as a science, thus should not be taught in schools. However, it is that same claim that was used by many creationists when referring to theories f evolution-- that it is not scientific. The crusade against evolution was given a significant boost in 1921 when British biologist William Bateson declared that scientists had not discovered "the actual mode and process f evolution" (Bateson, 56). Even though Bateson urged creationists not to misinterpret his statement as a rejection f evolution, they ignored him and accepted the statement as a minor triumph. Nonetheless, when it came down to a scientific debate, the creationists had only a handful f legitimate scientists-- including one or two physicians and a few teachers. In 1925 came the famous Scopes trial, where a high school teacher, John Thomas

Life-Based Leadership Principles from Jack Welch Essay Example for Free

Life-Based Leadership Principles from Jack Welch Essay During the hundreds of millions of years of natural evolution on this planet, survival has always been a continuous challenge for living creatures. It has recently to come into light that in the past four million years, there have been scores of human species on the earth, besides us homo sapiens. However, all of these various human-like beings including the Neanderthal man perished in the course of evolution; we humans have outlived all of them. We have emerged as the true survivors. We are the last â€Å"man† standing. However, in the whole history of the world, survival could have never been as tough as it is in today’s world of big business. It is an ever-changing, dizzingly fast-paced, intensely competitive and danger-saturated environment out there. There are many survivors and many winners in this arena, of course. Of all such exceptional people in the recent decades, there is one man who stands out as a celebrated icon of leadership and business success. And it is none other than Jack Welch of GE, arguably the finest CEO in the latter half of the twentieth century. Speaking from a broad perspective, he is not just an exemplary business leader, but a hero, a survivor, a symbol of the triumph of man. Jack Welch is a man who believed that each individual should control his or her own destiny. Welch sums up his conviction thus: â€Å"Today, I see winning as people defining their objectives and fulfilling them, not being a victim. You define where you want to go, and then you go for it ([emailprotected]) And from the depth of this belief perhaps sprang the secret of his greatness. Starting from the early Eighties, Jack Welch, CEO of the General Electric Corporation, has led his company through one of the most revolutionary and far-reaching changes ever witnessed in modern business history. Having taken GE with a market capitalization of about $12 billion, Jack Welch turned it into one of the largest and most admired companies in the world, with a market value of about $500 billion, when he stepped down as its CEO 20 years later, in 2000. Although Jack Welch was the legendary leader of a global manufacturing giant noted for its technological might and superiority, he has utilized a very human process to drive change through GEs vast organization. He honoured the individual above all, and the humanity of the individual. To him, the individual was the pivotal force in bringing about organizational change. And for the major part of his immensely successful career at the helm of GE he relentlessly embraced change. It was change that made GE businesses leaders in their markets, added profitable, productive businesses to GEs family, and tapped the brains of knowledgeable employees. Welch worked for change, and change worked for him. Jack Welch of course knew how difficult change could be. Nevertheless he viewed change as his only real chance to transform GE into the kind of top-notch competitive enterprise that he wanted it to be. Only through continuously undergoing massive changes, GE could win, and Jack Welch firmly believed in winning. He wanted to be a winner. And winners were not afraid to make changes. However, pursuit of change, empowerment of individuals, and such principles are only part of a broder human-centric principles of successful leadership in which Jack Welch passionately believed in. Welch’s original approach to management and leadership, which proved so successful in transforming GE could be summed up unders six heads: Control your destiny, or someone else will. Welchs first maxim became the title of a semi-autobiographic bestseller that described the revolution at GE. The basic approach that Welch followed to carry out a dramatic revolution at GE was to trust the individual and let him or her believe in their own desitiny. Welsh believed in delegating authority freely, fairly and responsibly, within the company. In a general context, however, while no mere human being can have absolute control over his or her destiny, the point is to take total personal responsibility for one’s own life and actions, and assume intelligent control of the course of things. 2. Face reality as it is, not as it was or as you wish it were. Facing reality is tough. Facing reality means looking directly into suffering, failure, inadequacy of ourselves, others, and the world, something which we human beings are programmed to avoid. When corporations do not face simple realities, however, such as their products costing more to produce and being worthless than those of their competitors, market share and profits drop, the company and its employees suffer. Welch saw all these things happening at GE. Only when we are ready to honestly examine ourselves and acknowledge our shortcomings, will we be able to do anything about them. Acceptance can lead to transformation. 3. Be candid with everyone. Traditional wisdom says that honesty is the best policy. This home-spun truth has great relevance in today’s hyper-modern corporate settings. Welch strove to create an atmosphere at GE where people could effortlessly speak up to somebody in authority, who could then do something about their problems. It is an atmosphere, it is in the air of GE. Welch himself regularly spoke with front-line employees on the plant floor. Welch was equally open to hear both the good and bad things about GE. Honesty, sincerity and candor: they have their own rewards. In a bureaucracy, people are afraid to speak out. This type of environment slows you down, and it doesnt improve the workplace, says Jack Welch. He therefore calls for promoting a corporate culture that appreciates and rewards honest feedback. You reinforce the behaviors that you reward. If you reward candor, youll get it. 4. Dont manage, lead. Welch abhorred a strictly hierarchical type of management built on the concept of control. To Welch, managers should become leaders who show the way to other people by inpsiring and motivating them. Instead of controlling and exploiting workers, leaders should liberate and empower them. Do not push and pull your employees at every opportunity, gently guide them towards greater possibility. Welch’s leadership philosophy continues to be very simple: empower others, ask questions, tap into the potential of all of your associates, choose integrity and candor over charts, graphs, and politics, and spend more time in action instead of planning and posturing budgets. 5. Change before you have to. That is to say, proactivity. One has to be able to look ahead and predict changes that future is going to necessitate. In the context of a business organization, it is far better to change early those things in a company that need to be changed to stay competitive, when there is still plenty of time, rather than forcibly having to change them later when an adverse reality in form of failure and loss thrusts itself in the face of the organization. Welch was fond of yelling across the table at meetings, Change, before its too late! 6. If you dont have a competitive advantage, dont compete. Welch often quoted his business maxim that every division at GE had to be number one or number two or get out of that specific business. In the 1980s, Welch was convinced that inflation would soon become rampant thereby slowing down economic growth. The elimination of the old-line businesses was not going to be an easy job in terms of loss of jobs and lowering of morale that it implied. But Welch had to do what he had to do. The Number 1 or number 2 philosophy – as ruthless as it sounds – had been critical for GE to grow and survive in the modern world.

Analysing The Compatibility Of Islam And Democracy Politics Essay

Analysing The Compatibility Of Islam And Democracy Politics Essay This chapter presents the arguments for and against the compatibility of Islam and democracy, not to Islamic states specifically per se but more to Muslim-majority states as a whole. By doing so, it encompasses the wide range of arguments that scholars have made on the issue and shows clearly what makes it possible for Islam and democracy to be compatible and what does not. Taking these arguments into consideration, this chapter then puts it into context for Islamic states and analyzes if it is possible for them to be democratic without essentially loosing what makes it an Islamic state. The relationship between Islam and democracy, its compatibility and the issue of the democratic deficit in the Muslim world is one that has been put in the spotlight especially after the catastrophe and repercussions of September 11 (Hasan 2007: 10) as well as the sustained potency of Islamic revivalism and the rise in involvement of Islamic movements in electoral politics (Esposito Piscatori 1991: 428). Although not all hope is lost for the Muslim world as there are Muslim-majority states such as Indonesia and Turkey that are recognized as democracies, there is still the problem of the non-existence of democratic Islamic states and that the majority of the Muslim world remains undemocratic. The relationship that Islam and democracy have in the contemporary world and modern-day politics is one that is rather complicated (Esposito Voll 2001). There are many perspectives regarding the coexistence of Islam and democracy. On the one hand, many prominent Islamic intellectuals and groups argue that Islam and democracy are compatible (Esposito Voll 2001). On the other hand, there are others who see the democratization of Islam as a threat, that it may promote an even more virulent anti-Westernism view or others who see the two as inherently antithetical due to the different beliefs that the two promote (Espositio Piscatori 1991: 428). Esposito and Voll present the idea that the Muslim world is not ideological monolithic and therefore presents a broad spectrum of perspectives ranging from the extremes of those who deny a connection between Islam and democracy to those who argue that Islam requires a democratic system (2001). In addition to this, they argue that there are pers pectives that lie in between the two extremes that consist of Muslims in Muslim-majority states who believe that Islam is a support for democracy despite the fact that their political system and governance is not overtly recognized as democratic (Esposito Voll 2001). Having laid out the range of different opinions and stances on the compatibility of Islam and democracy, it is important to note that this chapter will not deal with every single argument present in the ongoing debate of the relationship between Islam and democracy but rather focus on the main substantial points. Khan, in his book Islamic Democratic Discourse, identifies two main schools of thought of Islamic political theory. First there are the political Islamists who advocate the establishment of an Islamic state, an authoritarian and ideological entity whose central concepts are al-Hakimiyyah (the sovereignty of God) and Sharia (the law of God) (Khan 2006: 160). The second school of thought is that of liberal Muslims who advocate an Islamic democracy whose central themes are Shura (consultation) and Sahifat al Madinah (Constitutionalism a la the Compact of Medina) (Khan 2006: 160). It is significant to note that political Islamists do conceive the concept of Shura as a vital comp onent of their Islamic state, but for them consultative governance is not necessary for legitimacy, since legitimacy comes from the enforcement of the Sharia, regardless of the will of the people (Khan 2006: 160). For liberal Muslim scholars, on the other hand, Shura is a paramount and Sharia too must be arrived at through consultative processes and not taken as given (Khan 2006: 160). Therefore, it can be seen that political Islamists, according to Khan, do not see the need for democracy as the legitimacy democracy is meant to give to a states governance and politics is done through the implementation of the Sharia laws. El Fadl argues that for democracy to work inside the framework of Islam and its ideals, it must understand the centrality of Gods sovereignty in Islam and cannot eliminate the element of the Sharia laws as a whole but rather show how it respects and compliments it. However, El Fadls argument is not feasible as it is not possible to enforce Sharia without taking into consideration the will of the people because that already is considered undemocratic. Khan argues that the only way El Fadls Islamic state can be democratic is if the authority of those who interpret the Sharia are dismantled and interpreted by the people themselves (2006: 161). This in turn may jeopardize the quality of Islamic democracy within the state but according to Khan, it is a risk that should be taken for the sake of implementing democracy (2006: 161). Moving on to the second school of thought, liberal Muslims, who believe in an Islamic democracy centred on the ideals of Shura and the Constitution of Medina. Esposito and Picastori argue that Muslim interpretations of democracy build on the well-established concept of Shura (consultation), but place varying emphases on the extent to which the people are able to exercise this duty (1991: 434). They identify a perspective that claims that it is not only the notion of consultation that makes Islam intrinsically democratic, but it is also due to the concepts of ijthihad (independent reasoning) and ijma (consensus) (Esposito Picastori 1991: 434). The Constitution of Medina establishes the importance of consent and cooperation for governance and according to this compact Muslims and non-Muslims are equal citizens of the Islamic state, with identical rights and duties (Khan 2001). Khan argues that according to this constitution, which was the interpretation of the Quran by Prophet Muhamma d, the principles of equality, consensual governance and pluralism are integrated into the Islamic state (2001). He then goes on to point out the difference between Muhammads democratic and tolerant Islamic state to contemporary Muslims such as the Taliban, who interpret the Quran in a completely different and radical way (Khan 2001). Choudry backs up the liberal Muslim perspective by asserting that the fundamentals of democracy are present in Islam: Islam recognizes popular sovereignty, government is based on rule of law, political leaders are elected and accountable to the people and equality of citizens is ensure in the Quran itself (Choudry in Ehteshami 2004: 96). But if this were the case in all Muslim-majority countries, why are there so few democracies in the Muslim world? The answer is simple. Using Khans argument regarding the interpretation of the Quran, it can be argued that the compatibility of Islam and democracy depends on the interpretation of Islamic spiritual scriptures of the Quran by Muslims themselves. Khan argues along identical lines stating that all arguments that advocate Islamic democracies or the compatibility of Islam and democracy take the Quran as a revealed document, whose text is absolute but meanings are open to interpretations (2006: 158). This is a very important piece of informat ion as it highlights the fact that when the Quran is interpreted differently by different Muslims it would result in different understandings of what the Quran encompasses. This would explain why not all Muslim-majority states, Islamic states in particular, are similar in the extent to which Sharia law is implemented in aspects of governance, economics and everyday life. Additionally, Khan uses the theologian perspective to back up liberal Muslim scholars as theologians go to Islamic roots and identify and exemplify those elements that correspond to liberal democratic principles (2006: 158) thus specifically looking for democratic ideals present in Islam. In his book, The Islamic Roots of Democratic Pluralism, theologian Sachedina relies solely on Quranic sources and eschewing other socially constructed discourses, how Islam strongly advocates pluralism (Khan 2006: 158). However, just because Islam promotes pluralism, does not instantly make it democratic. Liberal Muslims and theologians make the mistake of being complacent with the fact that just one or two aspects of democracy are found in Islam, namely Shura and aspects of pluralism, hence automatically making Islam and democracy compatible. If this were the case, democracy would be more prevalent in the Muslim world. Maududi uses the theologian perspective when studying Islam as he also argues that whatever aspect of the Islamic ideology one may like to study, he must, first of all, go to the roots and look at the fundamental principles (1977: 119-120) emphasizing the importance of having to study Islam from the inside out and not just take it at face value. However, Maududi takes a step further than theologians and coins the idea of a theo-democracy, the mixture of theocracy and democracy in Islamic states (1977: 133). According to theo-democracy, God is equally sovereign as the people represented by an elected assembly that is controlled by religious leaders (Maududi in Lane Redissi 2004: 171). Nevertheless, this concept of theo-democracy, as argued by Lane and Redissi, does not fulfil the essential requirement of democracy as the legitimacy of the Mullahs is not derived from the people but from their insight into the Quran (2004: 171). Maududi himself points out that a democratic Islamic stat e would be a fallacy as the sovereignty of God and sovereignty of the people are mutually exclusive and that an Islamic democracy would be the antithesis of secular Western democracy (Maududi in Bukay 2007). The issue of sovereignty of God and the people is what distinguishes Islam and democracy. The two are completely different sets of ideals that cannot be combined together as only one can take precedence over the other, and when this is done, a country either is a democracy or an Islamic state. Going back to the concept of Shura, many scholars use this concept to show that Islam has similar values to those of democracy. Shura can be defined as the obligation for Muslims in managing their political affairs to engage in mutual consultation (Esposito Voll 2001). Lane and Redissi argue that the effort to find the missing link between Islam and modern democracy is focused upon the possibility of finding a link between the concept of consultation Shura and the key institutions of modern democracy the vote and the participation of the people in relation to the religious elite including the caliph (2004: 170). Ahmad uses the Islamist perspective to argue that the Quran allows Muslims to use Shura and the opportunity of Gods vicegerency to select a Muslim ruler based on the free will of the Muslim masses (2002) pointing out the democratic aspects of the Quran when it comes to choosing a ruler. However, it seems that despite the fact that Shura is the so-called democratic compone nt of Islam, majority of the Muslim world are not democratic thus proving that it is easy to correlate the two (Shura and democracy) as similar entities in theory but in practice, it is not enough to ensure a democratic Muslim-majority state, let alone an Islamic state. As Khan puts it: a democratic theory cannot just emerge by itself from a part of a verse (2006: 158). Apart from Khans two main schools of thought, there is another perspective where in which scholars believe that Islam and democracy are intrinsically incompatible. Sivan suggests that Islam has very little to offer in the realm of politics as after Muhammads death, political history was shaped by circumstances Islamic law had little to no say on constitutional matters (Sivan in Ehteshami 2004: 96). According to Sivan, Sharia does not stand a chance of being the superior law of the land when democracy is implemented thus implying that Islamic fundamentals of politics and democracy cannot coexist without one being more superior to the other thus determining whether a state is either Islamic or democratic, they cannot be both. Furthermore, Maududis argument supports that of Sivans as he claims that an Islamic democracy would be the antithesis of secular Western democracy (Maududi in Bukay 2007). Despite the fact that numerous Muslim activists have rejected the concept of democracy as a western import designed to destroy Islam and the Sharia, there are Muslim and non-Muslim scholars alike that strongly argue that there is no contradiction between Islam and democracy (Ehteshami 2004: 94). Ehteshami claims that Muslim teachings and practices of collective debate, consensus, accountability and transparency, if followed properly, will produce Muslim versions of democratic rule (2004: 94). Nevertheless, he argues that if Islam and democracy were to be seen as two different systems, one of the main differences between an Islamic state and a democracy is the sphere of sovereignty, where in a democratic society sovereignty lies with the people, and in an Islamic state it resides in God (2004: 94). Ahmad argues along the same lines as Ehteshami but uses the Islamist approach claiming that a fundamental difference between the Western and Islamist concept of democracy: the sovereignty o f the people vs. the sovereignty of God or the Shariah (2002). That being said, it is not possible to remove the sovereignty of God and the Sharia and move them to the sidelines of politics within an Islamic state with democracy at the top, because when that happens, an Islamic state is no longer an Islamic state for the reason that the core essence of it has been removed and replaced. When put in this context, it is not feasible for an Islamic state to be democratic. Bukay brings up an interesting argument in relation to the compatibility of Islam and democracy. He claims that some Western scholars maintain the Islamist argument that not only are parliamentary democracy and representative elections congruent with Sharia, but that Islam actually encourages democracy (Bukay 2007). Bukay identifies two ways in which these scholars maintain the above claims: either they twist definitions to make them fit the apparatuses of Islamic government terms such as democracy become relative or they bend the reality in Muslim countries to fit their theories (2007). He points out the phrases used by Esposito and his different co-authors such as democracy has many and varied meanings; every culture will mold an independent model of democratic government; and there can develop a religious democracy (Bukay 2007) proving his above statement true. Having exhausted all the prominent arguments in the general sphere of democracy and Muslim-majority countries, this chapter will now put these arguments into the context of Islamic states specifically. The arguments of political Islamists is one of the few realistic argument that keeps what essentially makes Islamic states Islamic as it does not disregard Sharia as unimportant or unnecessary when it comes to the governance of a Muslim country. Rather it argues the point that for democracy to work within an Islamic state, it is the responsibility of democracy to show that it encompasses Islamic ideals rather than the other way around. The liberal Muslim school of thought is also useful in finding the possibility of Islamic states being democratic as they argue from the point of view that the interpretation of the Quran is what is essential. However, no matter how evident it is in theory that there are possibilities of Islamic states becoming democratic, there is no denying that in pra ctice, not a single Islamic state exists. The non-existence of democratic Islamic states raises a number of important questions: Why are there no democratic Islamic states? Why is it possible for Indonesia and Turkey to be democratic but not Pakistan, Iran or Bahrain? Is Islam the sole, main reason why there are no democratic Islamic states? These questions will be answered in the next two chapters as the next chapter focus primarily on specific case studies of Islamic states, namely Pakistan, Iran, Yemen and Bahrain, where as the fourth chapter deals with democratic and semi-democratic Muslim-majority states, such as Indonesia, Turkey, Malaysia and Bangladesh.

Christian Mission to Muslims :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Since September 11, the Muslim communities have been under siege by the media and the entire world. We have seen how the miss conceptions of Muslims have spread all over the media. As a Christian I begin to think that they should be treated as normal people. â€Å"When a radical fundamentalist, start a sect with ideas that differ from what the Muslim religion stands for, we begin to stereotype all the Muslims as the same. But when a Christian begins a killing spree a cross the nation, know one stereotypes all the Christians as one.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As a Seventh Day Adventists Christian, I believe that we as a church body, we have to reach this people with compassion and understanding, because not all of them are evil like they are shown to be. I believe that ignorance is the root of hatred, an as Christians, we should be like Jesus, understand them, and cater to their needs.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To be able to understand the Muslim mind we have to learn their background and how their religion was develop. Is hard to learn when you already have preconceived prejudices about Muslims, but that’s when we have to pray to God for wisdom, understanding, and an open mind.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Islam originated in the seventh century A.D. During this time, Islamic scholars were very fluent in the areas of physics, mathematics, chemistry, astronomy, geography and medicine. Muhammed (570-632 A.D.) was the founder of Islam. He became an orphaned at the age of six, when he became a teenager he decided to join the merchants who traded goods from town to town along the caravan routes. He became a master trader for a businesswoman, then married the woman who was a widow.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Muhammed was a man with a lot of spiritual insight, but he became depressed by the commercial greed and the excess of polytheism around him, he spent most of the time in seclusion and meditation. Muslims believe that while Muhammed was meditating in a cave, the archangel Gabriel appeared to him. The vision came to him first in 610 A.D. and thereafter at intervals over the next 22 years, revealing the word of Allah. Muhammed is believed to have been illiterate, for that reasons he dictated the visions to his companions who wrote them down. Then 30n years later the writings were compiled in the Koran. The Koran is the Muslims most holy book. Christian Mission to Muslims :: essays research papers   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Since September 11, the Muslim communities have been under siege by the media and the entire world. We have seen how the miss conceptions of Muslims have spread all over the media. As a Christian I begin to think that they should be treated as normal people. â€Å"When a radical fundamentalist, start a sect with ideas that differ from what the Muslim religion stands for, we begin to stereotype all the Muslims as the same. But when a Christian begins a killing spree a cross the nation, know one stereotypes all the Christians as one.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As a Seventh Day Adventists Christian, I believe that we as a church body, we have to reach this people with compassion and understanding, because not all of them are evil like they are shown to be. I believe that ignorance is the root of hatred, an as Christians, we should be like Jesus, understand them, and cater to their needs.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To be able to understand the Muslim mind we have to learn their background and how their religion was develop. Is hard to learn when you already have preconceived prejudices about Muslims, but that’s when we have to pray to God for wisdom, understanding, and an open mind.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Islam originated in the seventh century A.D. During this time, Islamic scholars were very fluent in the areas of physics, mathematics, chemistry, astronomy, geography and medicine. Muhammed (570-632 A.D.) was the founder of Islam. He became an orphaned at the age of six, when he became a teenager he decided to join the merchants who traded goods from town to town along the caravan routes. He became a master trader for a businesswoman, then married the woman who was a widow.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Muhammed was a man with a lot of spiritual insight, but he became depressed by the commercial greed and the excess of polytheism around him, he spent most of the time in seclusion and meditation. Muslims believe that while Muhammed was meditating in a cave, the archangel Gabriel appeared to him. The vision came to him first in 610 A.D. and thereafter at intervals over the next 22 years, revealing the word of Allah. Muhammed is believed to have been illiterate, for that reasons he dictated the visions to his companions who wrote them down. Then 30n years later the writings were compiled in the Koran. The Koran is the Muslims most holy book.

Postcolonial Novel Essay

To fully understand Chinua Achebe’s book Things Fall Apart, one must not fall for the idea that there is one main purpose for the novel. Simply stated the story is much too rich and complex for that. The themes of Okonkwo’s life, and the Ibo culture, are twofold: it is the relation of the conflict between an individual and society, and also the description of the conflict between the larger forces of cultures clashing. Support for this dual thesis is overwhelming. To begin with the text itself demands that interpretation. Things Fall Apart clearly begins with a focus directly aimed upon the main character of Okonkwo. It is going to revolve around his life. However, at the very same time, the protagonist is not mentioned even one time early on without being connected simultaneously with thoughts of both his home village and the larger culture of the Ibo people. This cannot be ignored. One could argue that rather than being a larger purpose book Things Fall Apart is just a novel of the life and growth of one man, but this is rather silly and simple. The title of the book puts one right on the path to refuting this, giving context to a larger meaning. It is clearly encouraging one to look at larger ‘things’ as opposed to a person. This is coupled with the basis for the title itself, quoted on the flyleaf: The Yeats’ poem The Second Coming: Turning and turning in a widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the center cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world. (Quoted in Things Fall Apart). Therefore given the context of a large chaotic world it would be more than naive to assume a different interpretation, that of a more concentrated work based upon an individual. To best prove the ambivalent statement of purpose about Achebe’s novel it is vital to review critical and popular commentary. This book has struck a highly resonant chord with readers in the fifty years since its first publication. It unabashedly describes an African culture in such a way that the power of the society is shown, and the power of the African individual is also demonstrated. Naturally, all minority groups and oppressed people can find inspiration within the pages. As a result, as may be expected, strong opinions have been catalogued as analysis over time. This paper reviews two such supports for each purpose stated in the thesis. The first part deals with the conflict between individuals and society. The primary source naturally is the book itself. Briefly paraphrased Okonkwo is a well known warrior. He is extremely self centered and important at the beginning of the novel. This has as its roots a severe cynicism regarding the life and experiences of his father Unoka. In a world where the society of Ibo is stronger than the individuals, this lack of respect seeps into Okonkwo’s world. The foible is too much and eventually pits him at odds with his society. Charles H. Rowell held a conversation regarding this aspect of Things Fall Apart with the author himself. What resulted was a fine understanding and awareness of this thesis through the words of Achebe. One example of his thought process and the workings of the story of Okonkwo on a personal level is this answer. â€Å"People are expecting from literature serious comment on their lives. They are not expecting frivolity† (250). Or as Rowell comments, the creation of Achebe’s stories such as Okonkwo’s are not made just to entertain. They are to connect with readers about their own experiences and then instruct them from there. Rowell’s interview shows an awareness of the importance of the social story. His questions aim to reveal this oft overlooked aspect of writings such as Things Fall Apart. It is tempting, he relates to merely dismiss (if this is even fair wording) the book as commenting only on the larger theme of Ibo society and what happens when an established social realm is invaded by foreigners. Instead he and Achebe through the discussion point to the power of a narrative surrounding the conflict that one can have on a smaller, more concentrated level: the conflict that occurs when one runs counter to their own society’s expectations. When Okonkwo becomes too heavily involved on a personal level with the sacrifice of the neighboring Mbaino culture, he runs into direct opposition to the world directly around him. That and his character traits create early conflict and show to the world a story based upon that – an important revelation to readers across the spectrum that may find themselves sometimes in this predicament. The biography of Achebe by Ezenwa-Ohaeto reveals this purpose to be true as well. And this comes from a treatment of just where Achebe was in his own personal life and the moods and hopes that he possessed while writing the book. He was working as a controller at the time in Eastern Region when he first began attempting to introduce Things Fall Apart to the publishing world. At this time, he ran into the sort of direct conflict with his own society, ironically, that he would develop in the story of Okonkwo. There was great objection to a book about Africans by Africans at the time. The 1950s were not exactly a compassionate moment for the words of Africans. Independence was on the horizon for many countries, but there was also a great deal of fear. This desire of many to not rock the boat, so to speak, put those who would speak out in a path of intersection with their own society (65). This only encouraged Achebe to produce a vision of that for his protagonist. There must be the strong character trait in one that wishes to change his social culture for the better, he reflects in his novel. The experience of Okonkwo is the experience of an individual in conflict with his society and the results that may come, unexpected or not, from that. The second section concerns itself with the conflict inherent when two cultures clash. This is the broader perspective, necessarily, compared to the experience of the individual. This also is the more basic and popular understanding of the novel. It is very easy to see all of the reasons why. Again, a look at the primary source of the novel is the starting point for any discussion. Commentary on the book will never quite serve the reader as well as the book itself. And what does it indicate? Most of the second section of the story is examining what happened to the Ibo people and their culture when the white culture insidiously worked their way into it. It broke the home culture into pieces. Things did, indeed fall apart. Consider this quote directly from the book: If we fight the stranger we shall hit our brothers and perhaps shed the book of a clansman. But we must do it. Our fathers never dreamed of such a thing, they never killed their brothers. But a white man never came to them. So we must do what our fathers would never have done. (Achebe 203). There is no better analysis of this second theme of Achebe’s work. Two cultures clash. Chaos results. And yet that is only the superficial layer of the problem, as this quote clearly shows. The problem that occurs when cultures come into contact and then conflict with each other is the assimilation effect. There will always be faction that fall prey to the invaders and their attractive ideas. Sometimes that is enough for them to forget the values of their peoples. This conflict then with their own home society can cause open resentment and actual warfare. Then the culture falls into shambles even worse as shared societal values are discarded. In the end there are not only two social cultures left: the home and the invaders. There are three: the home culture, the invaders, and the home culture that is infected by the invaders. None of them are true allies and only further conflict can be expected. Chapter three of John Ball’s book Satire and the Postcolonial Novel (79-114) examines this issue and the breakdown that results from it. He takes the even larger view that is used often as well when looking at the clashing of the Ibo with the whites that have come into their world. He reviews this setting of Things Fall Apart to be a criticism and revelation of the greater issues of colonialism in Africa (and other parts of the world, for that matter) as seen through one African author’s eyes. Rather than look too thoroughly at the early parts of the novel, he focuses rather on the part of the book in which the two cultures come into contact. This is the point of departure for this second theme. It is accurate to say that most of the pages from that spot and onward deal with this cultural clashing issue. I think, too, that it is accurate that this does work as a satire. That is to say that I fully believe that Achebe is trying to achieve this effect. Only too well did he personally understand what happens when two completely variant cultures meet. His hope and the hope of the Africans around him was that if treated peacefully, the foreign culture would come in and only benefit them, but he also saw the harsher side of the realities. This is how Things Fall Apart deals with the situation. Ball is not the only one who could see this expression in the novel and in other works by Achebe. It is a strong defense of the idea that one of the two main themes of the book is that of what happens when two cultures clash. A final proof would use is Isidore Okpewho’s commentary on Achebe in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart: A Casebook. She sees too this problem with assimilation, cultural conflict and resultant expectations. These are all the values and stories of Things Fall Apart. Seen from the outside she has several comments and thoughts about how these topics are addressed by connecting them to the outside world at the time of the writing. She describes the authorship of this book as being a â€Å"succession of forces controlling his [Achebe’s] development as a writer† (5). This is a great assessment. It sets the stage for understanding the direction of his landmark work Things Fall Apart. It is indeed this stage that the book concerns itself with. There is a succession of forces, to use Okpewho’s words, that are acting upon the Ibo culture. These control the development of the world of that African region and create mass conflict between the two cultures. The assimilation effects, she continues, were strongest in the Ibo part of the world. This is accurately reflected, too, in the sinister ways in which the foreigners crept in with their influences. That is the warning cry of Okonkwo with the text. He sees that the policy of indirect rule is only designed to place one group of people into opposition with another group of their own people. This splinters and fragments the strength of the initial cultures. It created enemies where there weren’t any other, as reflected in the quote concerning the killing of brethren, used above. This was the white way. It is no surprise then, that this theme would find its way so strongly into Things Fall Apart. The topic is addressed as a cautionary tale. Achebe had already seen this happen in his own world. He saw the sad results. He knew how destructive the penetration of home cultures could be. All of these can be found in Part Three of the book. â€Å"It is already too late,† said Obierika sadly. â€Å"Our own men and our sons have joined the ranks of the stranger. They have joined his religion and they help to uphold his government† (176). It is the despondent tone of the theme describing the clash of cultures. All of the above commentary from several sources, combined with a close and analytical reading of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart reveals the thesis to be strongly supported. Of the novel’s purpose, two things then are true: it aim to relate an expression of conflict between an individual and society, while concurrently exploring the description of conflicts resulting from the larger forces of cultures clashing. References Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. New York: Anchor Books, 1994. Print. Ball, John C. Satire & the Postcolonial Novel: V. S. Naipaul, Chinua Achebe, Salman Rushdie. New York: Routledge, 2003. 79-114. Print. Ohaeto, Ezenwa. Chinua Achebe: A Biography. Oxford: James Currey, 1997. Print. Okpewho, Isidore, Ed. Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart: A Casebook. Oxford: UP, 2003. Print. Rowell, Charles H. â€Å"An Interview with Chinua Achebe. † Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart: A Casebook. Ed. Isidore Okpewho. Oxford: UP, 2003. 249-272. Print. Conversations with Chinua Achebe. Ed. Bernth Lindfors. Jackson, MS: UP, 1997. Print.

Free Essays on Fatherhood

The roles of the father in these days are no different than in any age. The child should find in parents support, love, understanding, freedom to grow, develop and unfold according to an inner need and an inner guidance. . Today, however, men are beginning to take a bigger part in raising their children. This change in the role of the father may be observed in a number of ways. The most important change, however, is in the strong relationships many men now have with their children. Fathers who have spent more time with their children know them better and can help them to mature. Men are different from women: more physical, louder, and bigger. We throw our little kids into the air, play wrestling games with our sons, yell when our kid scores a run. And, as a result of the time we have spent together, we can talk with our kids, too. When a father is around more with his children, he has a chance to answer the important questions that they will often ask. The stronger relationships that result are important to all members of a family, not only to the children, but also to the wife who now has a bit more time to explore other roles in work and play. The changing roles of the father has benefited the family in many ways. Dads have discovered that they can cook, direct children in the kitchen, and even that this can be fun. We go on outings together; we have fun in the park and playground. And when there are problems, sometimes the children come to dad and talk. Twenty years ago, psychologists doubted that fathers were influential in shaping the experiences and development of their children. But that thinking has changed.... Free Essays on Fatherhood Free Essays on Fatherhood The roles of the father in these days are no different than in any age. The child should find in parents support, love, understanding, freedom to grow, develop and unfold according to an inner need and an inner guidance. . Today, however, men are beginning to take a bigger part in raising their children. This change in the role of the father may be observed in a number of ways. The most important change, however, is in the strong relationships many men now have with their children. Fathers who have spent more time with their children know them better and can help them to mature. Men are different from women: more physical, louder, and bigger. We throw our little kids into the air, play wrestling games with our sons, yell when our kid scores a run. And, as a result of the time we have spent together, we can talk with our kids, too. When a father is around more with his children, he has a chance to answer the important questions that they will often ask. The stronger relationships that result are important to all members of a family, not only to the children, but also to the wife who now has a bit more time to explore other roles in work and play. The changing roles of the father has benefited the family in many ways. Dads have discovered that they can cook, direct children in the kitchen, and even that this can be fun. We go on outings together; we have fun in the park and playground. And when there are problems, sometimes the children come to dad and talk. Twenty years ago, psychologists doubted that fathers were influential in shaping the experiences and development of their children. But that thinking has changed....

Amazing Strategies for Building Confidence in Teachers

Amazing Strategies for Building Confidence in Teachers Having confidence will only improve a teacher’s value as it naturally boosts their overall effectiveness. It is a key component of being successful. Students in particular quickly pick up on a lack of self-confidence and use that to tear a teacher down even further. Lacking self-confidence will eventually force a teacher to find another career. Confidence is something that cannot be faked, but it is something that can be built. Building confidence is another component of a principal’s duties. It can make all the difference in the world in how effective a teacher is. There is no perfect formula because every person has their own unique level of natural confidence. Some teachers do not require their confidence to be boosted at all while others require lots of extra attention in this area. A principal should develop and implement a strategic plan for building confidence in teachers.   The remainder of this article will highlight seven steps that can be included in such a plan. Each of these steps is simple and straightforward, but a principal must always be cognizant of implementing them on a regular basis. Express Gratitude Teachers often feel under appreciated, so showing them that you truly appreciate them can go a long ways in building confidence. Expressing gratitude is quick and easy. Make a habit of telling your teachers thank you, send a personal appreciation email, or give them something like a candy bar or other snack on occasion. These simple things will improve morale and confidence. Give them Leadership Opportunities Putting teachers who lack self-confidence in charge of something may sound disastrous, but when given the chance they will surprise you more times than they let you down. They shouldn’t be put in charge of large overwhelming tasks, but there are plenty of smaller type duties that anyone should be able to handle. These opportunities build confidence because it forces them to step outside their comfort zone and gives them a chance to be successful. Focus on the Strengths Every teacher has strengths, and every teacher has weaknesses. It is essential that you spend time praising their strengths. However, it is necessary to remember that strengths need honed and improved just as much as weaknesses. One way to build confidence is to allow them to share strategies that highlight their strengths with their colleagues in a faculty or team meeting. Another strategy is to allow them to mentor teachers who struggle in areas where they have strengths. Share Positive Parent/Student Feedback Principals should not be afraid to solicit student and parent feedback about a teacher. It will be beneficial regardless of the type of feedback you receive. Sharing the positive feedback with a teacher can truly be a confidence booster. Teachers who believe they are well respected by parents and students gain a lot of confidence. It naturally means a lot of those two groups to believe in a teacher’s abilities. Provide Suggestions for Improvement All teachers should be given a comprehensive Personal Development Plan that serves as a guide for improvement in areas of weaknesses. Most teachers want to be good at all facets of their job. Many of them are aware of their weaknesses but do not know how to fix them. This leads to a lack of self-confidence. An integral part of a principal’s job is to evaluate teachers. If there isn’t a growth and improvement component to your evaluation model, then it won’t be an effective evaluation system, and it certainly will not help build confidence. Provide Young Teachers a Mentor Everyone needs a mentor that they can model themselves after, seek advice or feedback from, and share best practices. This is especially true for young teachers. Veteran teachers make excellent mentors because they have been through the fire and seen it all. As a mentor, they can share both successes and failures. A mentor can build confidence through encouragement over a long period of time. The impact a mentor has on a teacher can span the length of several careers as the young teacher transitions into becoming a mentor themselves. Give Them Time Most teacher preparation programs do not prepare a teacher for life in a real classroom. This is where the lack of self-confidence often begins. Most teachers come in excited and fully confident only to realize that the real world is much tougher than the picture they had painted in their mind. This forces them to adjust on the fly, which can be overwhelming, and where confidence is often lost. Slowly over the course of time with assistance such as the suggestions above, most teachers will regain their confidence and begin to make the climb towards maximizing their overall effectiveness.

Style-shifting Definition and Examples

Styles In sociolinguistics, the use of more than one style of speech during the course of a single conversation or written text. Two common theories that account for style-shifting are the accommodation model and the ​audience design model, both of which are discussed below. Examples and Observations [H]e struck a few chords, then, to impress her, he awkwardly played a short passage. . . .Schuberts Quartet number fourteen. Right? she asked. Also known as Death and the Maiden.Astonished, he slowly pulled back. I dont believe it! How did you know that? he asked.She got up and straightened her jumpsuit. Black magic. What else? she said, pointing at the fetishes.It occurred to him that she could have heard the passage played by the Julliard student. He started to play another piece.Debussy. Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, she said, and he stopped. You play it well, boy!He stood up and closed the piano, suddenly glad that throughout the evening he had spoken to her only in his altered voice, for her musical ear might have unmasked him.Where did you learn music? he asked.Speaking in a Southern drawl again, she replied, Why? Aint it right for a little ol black girl to know what the white folks play?You told me you wereI told you the pianist who lives here is out on a date with a str anger, she said in a firm voice. Well, youre the stranger. And this is where I play. She sat down at the piano and began to play . . ..(Jerzy Kosinski, Pinball. Arcade, 1983) [S]tyle-shifting cannot be defined as shifting from one dialect of English or level of formality to another, but rather as the selective production of certain features of a dialect and the exclusion of others. The focus of attention is on creating a projected linguistic identity.(Catherine Evans Davies, Language and Identity in Discourse in the American South: Sociolinguistic Repertoire as Expressive Resource in the Presentation of Self. Selves and Identities in Narrative and Discourse, ed. by Michael Bamberg, Anna De Fina, and Deborah Schiffrin. John Benjamins, 2007)Successful style-shifting is possible if speakers know what the forms of the vernacular spoken in their area are and can use them in appropriate contexts. Style-shifting (downwards) is not normally stigmatized as long as ones interlocutors know the vernacular is not ones only mode of speech. The term can also be used in a more general sense to refer to shifting from any one style to another, and not just to a vernacular mode.(Raymond Hickey, A Dictionary of Varieties of English. Wiley, 2014) Downward and Upward Style-Shifting The concept of style-shifting is generally used to refer to a change in language varieties which involves only the code-markers, i.e. variable features associated with social and cultural dimensions, such as age, sex, social class, and the relationship between speakers. [Muriel] Saville-Troike (1989) makes a further sub-classification between downward and upward style-shifting to indicate shifts to a lower or higher level, respectively. In addition, Saville-Troike (1989: 67) introduces the notion of intra-sentential style-shifting, which is said to occur when the variety of language used changes within a sentence, for example, as when an informal greeting is followed by a formal address, or even more extreme when there is a shift in formality involving grammar and lexicon. She observes that this sort of style-shifting should only be used intentionally for humorous purposes in English, as behavior of this kind is likely to be frowned upon by teachers, especially in writing.However, Sm ith (1986: 108-109) noted that textbook instruction clearly differs from actual practice.(Katja Lochtman and Jenny Kappel, The World a Global Village: Intercultural Competence in English Foreign Language Teaching. VUB Press, 2008) Style-Shifting and the Speech Accommodation Model The accommodation model ascribes style shifts to the speakers evaluation of the addressees social identity. A positive evaluation results in convergence, where a speaker begins to sound more like the addressee (conversely, a negative evaluation results in divergence, where the speaker marks social distance by sounding less like the addressee).(Michael Pearce, The Routledge Dictionary of English Language Studies. Routledge, 2007) Style-Shifting and Audience Design Theory [Allan] Bells (1977, 1984) Audience Design Theory (AD) states that people engage in style-shifting normally in response to audience members rather than to shifts of attention paid to speech. In this way, intra-speaker [within speaker] variation is a response to interspeaker [between speakers] variation, chiefly as manifested in ones interlocutors (Bell 1984:158). In fact, intra-speaker variation derives from the variability that differentiates social groups (inter-speaker variation) and, therefore, its range of variation will never be greater than that of the latter. This theory is based on the socio psychological model developed by Howard Giles (speech accommodation theory: SAT; see Giles Powesland 1975, Giles Smith 1979, or Giles Coupland 1991) to explain the causes of styling, especially in the consideration of the effects of addressees as audience members in terms of accent convergence or divergence (see also Auer Hinskens 2005).The Audience Design Model provides a fuller acc ount of stylistic variation than the Attention to Speech one because (i) it goes beyond speech styles in the sociolinguistic interview by trying to be applicable to natural conversational interaction; (ii) it aims at explaining the interrelation of intra-speaker and inter-speaker variation and its quantitative patterning; and (iii) it introduces an element of speaker agency into stylistic variation, i.e. it includes responsive as well as initiative dimensions to account for the fact that (a) speakers respond to audience members in shaping their speech and (b) they sometimes engage in style shifts that do not correspond with the sociolinguistic characteristics of the present audience . . .. [V]ariationists are now becoming more increasingly interested in incorporating social constructionist (creative) approaches into style-shifting that view speakers actively taking part in shaping and re-shaping interactional norms and social structures, rather than simply accommodating to them.(J.M. Hernndez Campoy and J.A. Cutillas-Espinosa, Introduction: Style-Shifting Revisited. Style-Shifting in Public: New Perspectives on Stylistic Variation, ed. by Juan Manuel Hernndez Campoy and Juan Antonio Cutillas-Espinosa. John Benjamins, 2012) Audience design applies to all codes and levels of a language repertoire, monolingual and multilingual. Audience design does not refer only to style-shift. Within a language, it involves features such as choice of personal pronouns or address terms (Brown and Gilman 1960, Ervin-Tripp 1972), politeness strategies (Brown and Levinson 1987), use of pragmatic particles (Holmes 1995), as well as quantitative style-shift (Coupland 1980, 1984).Audience design applies to all codes and repertoires within a speech community, including the switch from one language to another in bilingual situations (Gal 1979, Dorian 1981). It has long been recognized that the processes which make a monolingual shift styles are the same as those that which make bilingual switch languages (e.g. Gumperz 1967). Any theory of style needs to encompass both monolingual and multilingual repertoiresthat is, all the shifts a speaker may make within her linguistic repertoire.​(Allan Bell, Back in Style: Reworking Audience Design. Style and Sociolinguistic Variation, ed. by Penelope Eckert and John R. Rickford. Cambri dge University Press, 2001)

Organizations growth Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Organizations growth - Research Paper Example If the firm can maintain an adequate level of cash and other resources, it can swiftly move to acquire undervalued firms to actually create an opportunity to deliver more value to the shareholders of the firm. (Damoiseau, Black, & Raggio, 2011) In order to expand globally, firms therefore have to manage whether they want to grow organically or through expansion. In either way firm has to manage certain issues which will be discussed below in order to be successful at global level. Cultural Profile Culture plays important role in the overall success of the organization at the local as well as the international level. The management of change within an organization clearly demonstrated the need for having a clear analysis of how the culture of the organization will be changed and reshaped in a manner which is more suitable for the firm. In order to successfully operate in countries like India, it is therefore important that the cultural assessment must be done. The overall cultural pro file of India would suggest that India is a developing country with established historical and cultural roots. The same has been transferred into the management style of the firms operating in the environment too. Over the period of time, India however, is making a transition towards a global corporate culture which is required for fostering of the global management culture within the organization. India is a country which is dominated by masculine culture which is based upon traditions and family businesses. The Tata Group started as a family business and is still is a family business despite the fact that it is now an international conglomerated. Indian culture therefore is focused upon family businesses where bosses and managers are considered like father figures. Communication Issues Another important role of the leader in managing change is to communicate across a shared vision for the change and the future of the firm. Providing a clear and vivid communication across the whole firm therefore makes it clear for each one of the employee and other stakeholders to basically know what their roles and responsibilities are and what the firm actually expects from them. Such an approach therefore ensures that the leaders inculcate the vision across the whole organization through effective communication across all the channels. One of the ways through which leaders manage change is to ensure the stability during the change process as change is not being viewed by every person in same manner. Like Tata Group which remained an organization where culture was not so conducive and employees worked as if they were working in a public sector organization. In such situation, the productivity was relatively low and as such complacency developed across all the companies working under the banner of Tata Group. As a leader, Ratan Tata therefore has to ensure that the painful transition of the organization takes place as quickly as possible in order to take advantage of the re lative opening of Indian economy to the international world. One of the key requirements therefore first is to initiate that change required to make the firm to advance and meet the future requirements of the market. (Ahn, Adamson, & Dornbusch, 2004). This was only achieved through effective communication because change at the global level requires effective communication of the changes. Communication within a particular cultural group can however, become

Risk-managemnt policy Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Risk-managemnt policy - Case Study Example Another breach that the organization endured during the course of its operations was an inside job where personal data was stolen. This was achieved through the weak access-control policies that are utilized within the organization which allowed unauthorized individual access to valuable data (Case Study). This paper dwells on ascertaining whether the policy implemented will be effective in ensuring that the customer and organization’s information is adequately secured from future security breaches. This policy will be important because it will help in restoring the customers confidence in the organization’s handling of their confidential data and financial assets. It is also vital since it provides authority and accountability to specific people concerning the authority of disclosing or sharing the information in the organization. According to Calder, Watkins & Watkins, the organizations governing body has to give powers along with the necessary authority to a system administrator who will be the only person who can access the organization’s data. The security on the organization’s customer’s confidential information will be enforced through the use of passwords which will remain known only to their systems administrator (2010). In addition, the systems administrator within the organization will be solely responsible for disclosing any information to any authorized personnel who may require it. To enhance the data’s security further, the syst em administrator will be required to utilize several data encryption techniques. This will include encryption techniques like the creation of block ciphers, feistel cipher structures and the utilization of other advanced encryption standards. These techniques will help in ensuring that unauthorized people within the organization cannot interpret the meaning of the data. This will further prevent them from

Demand assessment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Demand assessment - Essay Example There are various options for controlling diffuse pollution which are listed and discussed in the following sections. Soil and water pollution is a common feature of population growth which is brought about by industrialization, development in agriculture, and exploitation of natural resources. Man-made chemicals, pest control, discharge from agricultural activities; and chemical waste products from industries all contribute towards pollution. Diffuse pollution is a form of pollution which results from long term contamination from urban or rural human activities. Diffuse pollution originates from different sources. In rural areas diffuse pollution has a different context when compared to urban diffuse pollution. Rural diffuse pollution problems arise from poaching livestock, spraying of chemicals, the use of fertilisers in farming, soil erosion due to extensive forestry etc. These problems can be controlled by using the following options: Nitrogen and phosphorus are harmful chemicals which lost from the soil seep into groundwater and surface waters, and pollute them. Agro chemicals impact the ecology of river waters and drinking water through mere 0.1ÃŽ ¼g/1 (Defra 2009) Experts (DArcy 2004; Halm and Grathwohl 2005) are of the view that diffuse pollution control strategies should either reduce or restrict polluting substances. These can be achieved by adopting combination strategies to improve the environment. Intervention should be based on the following hierarchy of preferred control measures: The most preferred control option(s) for diffuse pollution should fall into the three broad categories of drainage infrastructure, containment or behavioural change. From the above listed diffuse pollution control options, the author recommends the following for each problem: i. Pollution from livestock - fencing of livestock is a viable option as it would help contain cattle heads

College application - please read the order instructions its all on it Essay

College application - please read the order instructions its all on it - Essay Example Critical thinking also requires approaching a problem rationally. This implies analyzing all that is known about a particular problem and making a judgment based on the evidence received after analysis rather than relying on non-factual opinions or emotions. In addition, critical thinking requires recognizing and avoiding unfairness in order to have a fresh and goal-oriented approach to a problem. Finally, critical thinking requires an individual to view the external environment as a whole and not focusing on the self. This requires empathy in which one puts himself or herself in another’s situation (Arp and Watson 2). Personally, I have encountered a number of situations in life that called for critical thinking. Firstly, critical thinking was demanded when I was choosing the right college to attend. In this case, I found myself in a dilemma on which college to attend since I had a number of options to choose from. However, since colleges differ in terms of quality and other aspects, I had to weigh all the advantages and disadvantages of each before settling on one. In this case, I used my critical thinking ability to analyze all the aspects I was looking for in each of the schools such as quality of education, distance from my place of residence, the tuition fees, scholarships available, my programs of interest, extra-curricular activities and ethical standards. It is after evaluating all these aspects that I arrived at a college that best suits what I was looking for.

Discussion board 5 - international law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Discussion board 5 - international law - Essay Example There is evidence, however, that the KP has done very little in solving the world’s climate problems. Even though the treaty was negotiated in 1997, energy-related emissions had grown 24%, and that only limited financial resources had been provided by developing countries to assist them in reducing their emissions. Another criticism of the KP is based upon what Liverman (2008) calls â€Å"climate justice† (n.p.). The emissions created by developing countries make up the bulk of the total number of emissions and are more vulnerable in these countries compared to the high emissions in the developed world, especially by the U.S. and by major multinational corporations. Critics of the KP have stated that it unfairly puts the burden on the west to financially rectify global warming, when developing countries are often more to blame. Therefore, the argument that the KP would have been more effective if the U.S. and China would have signed it is weak because even if they had r atified it, there is no evidence that global emissions would have been significantly reduced. Perhaps other protocols should be used, ones that do not penalize the west so heavily and that are more effective in what they seek to accomplish. 2. Laws of war Regardless of one’s opinion regarding the Bush administration’s compliance (or lack of compliance) with the international provisions governing the use of force with respect to retaliation, the use of certain weapons, the treatment of POWs and civilians, and the use of torture, any state that has signed agreements and treaties prohibiting them should adhere to them. If the United States or any other country that is a member of the UN that has signed these treaties violate them in any way, they should be held responsible. Of course, the controversy is if the Bush administration actually did that. Members of the U.S. government, especially in the Bush years, insist that they did not. That is beyond the purview of this as signment. It depends upon one’s perspective and political viewpoints, and it depends on who you ask. The U.S. Supreme Court, in its 2006 Hamdan vs. Rumsfeld ruling, declared that military commissions for trying terrorist suspects violated both U.S. military law and the Geneva Convention (Brooks, 2006). The Bush administration held that Common Article 3 of the Geneva Convention did not apply to Al Qaeda combatants because its protections applied only to conflicts between states. They reasoned that since Al Qaeda was not a state, the Geneva Convention did not apply to them. The Supreme Court disagreed, which potentially made high-ranking Bush administration officials subject to prosecution under the federal War Crimes Act, something that did not materialize. 3. International Convention on the Prevention of the Sea by Oil This convention, also called OILPOL (http://www.internationallawhelp.com/convention_prevention_pollution_sea_oil.htm) and ratified in 1954, was the first of it s kind to prevent the pollution of the sea by oil by tankers. It prohibited the discharge of oil or oil mixture by tankers within prohibited zones. In 1969, amendments were made to OILPOL that created even more stringent requirements for operational discharges. This was done because the design of oil tankers had changed since 1954 to a â€Å"load-on-top system† (Global instruments, n.d.) OILPOL was further amended in 1971 that imposed new standards on the construction of oil tankers. It was superseded by the 1973/78 MARPOL

Forces Initiating or Inhibiting Change in Organizations Essay

Forces Initiating or Inhibiting Change in Organizations - Essay Example The coming of new technology, Robins said, affects the jobs and the organization. There was a time when pagers were in vogue. It was a necessary communication tool for sales and field personnel, but cellular phones took them out of the picture. Computer knowledge is an added requirement for new employees, a necessity in almost all business outfits. Technology, likewise, affects a company or industry, especially the music industry with online downloads and sharing. He commented that genetic technology allows pharmaceutical corporations to produce drugs for particular individuals, which in turn produces a dilemma for insurance companies on who would be insured or not. With competition no longer confined within a geographic territory but globally, new products and services should be introduced for survival. With business deals being transacted and concluded online, technical and support units became part of the structure.

College application - please read the order instructions its all on it Essay

College application - please read the order instructions its all on it - Essay Example Critical thinking also requires approaching a problem rationally. This implies analyzing all that is known about a particular problem and making a judgment based on the evidence received after analysis rather than relying on non-factual opinions or emotions. In addition, critical thinking requires recognizing and avoiding unfairness in order to have a fresh and goal-oriented approach to a problem. Finally, critical thinking requires an individual to view the external environment as a whole and not focusing on the self. This requires empathy in which one puts himself or herself in another’s situation (Arp and Watson 2). Personally, I have encountered a number of situations in life that called for critical thinking. Firstly, critical thinking was demanded when I was choosing the right college to attend. In this case, I found myself in a dilemma on which college to attend since I had a number of options to choose from. However, since colleges differ in terms of quality and other aspects, I had to weigh all the advantages and disadvantages of each before settling on one. In this case, I used my critical thinking ability to analyze all the aspects I was looking for in each of the schools such as quality of education, distance from my place of residence, the tuition fees, scholarships available, my programs of interest, extra-curricular activities and ethical standards. It is after evaluating all these aspects that I arrived at a college that best suits what I was looking for.

Forces Initiating or Inhibiting Change in Organizations Essay

Forces Initiating or Inhibiting Change in Organizations - Essay Example The coming of new technology, Robins said, affects the jobs and the organization. There was a time when pagers were in vogue. It was a necessary communication tool for sales and field personnel, but cellular phones took them out of the picture. Computer knowledge is an added requirement for new employees, a necessity in almost all business outfits. Technology, likewise, affects a company or industry, especially the music industry with online downloads and sharing. He commented that genetic technology allows pharmaceutical corporations to produce drugs for particular individuals, which in turn produces a dilemma for insurance companies on who would be insured or not. With competition no longer confined within a geographic territory but globally, new products and services should be introduced for survival. With business deals being transacted and concluded online, technical and support units became part of the structure.

Calvetta Essay Example for Free

Calvetta Essay 4. How, if at all, should Calveta’s organization structure and practices be changed to accommodate growth and effective communication, while maintaining the company’s culture? This is a very sticky issue. Growth, along with other factors, seems to have diminishing effects on company culture, popularly referred to as â€Å"Antonio’s way†. Two forms of growth present themselves to the company. They can either expand into the hospital segment (which falls in line with core competencies); or they could buy up GSD consequently growing their SLF customer base. Given the issues listed, I don’t believe purchasing GSD would be profitable, as debt financing would have to be undertaken thus, going against Antonio’s way. However, Frank believes they must grow in order to stay competitive within the industry so the former opportunity should be undertaken. The turnover, and promotion rate for Calveta is too rapid. It’s one of the major issues dissatisfied customers had with the SLF. Frank should consider slowing this down, and perhaps placing new staff members in proper training programs administered by current staff to ensure smooth staff changes. Whilst flexibility and ease of advancement may make the employees happier, the customers will suffer from the constant interrupted changes. Calveta should maintain a degree of normalcy in the workplace, and make it harder to advance (could have positive affects on employees motivation). Another structural issue is the current staff organization. If Frank is worried about the loss of emphasis on his father’s ideals he must communicate this effectively with the staff. Discussion groups, incentive packages, and achievable goals should be established for all staff members, especially new ones, so that company culture is maintained and reinforced. If Calveta are to grow, they will need a larger amount of regional employees. This will most likely lead to the hiring of persons outside of the company. Calveta need not hire them right out of college though. They may obtain them from similar companies with similar values and ideals. As GSD is about to be taken over, perhaps the better staff members may wish to come to Calveta  instead of staying on with a new owner. To ensure continuation of company culture pointed questions in the interview and recruitment process pertaining to it should be asked. Similarly, constant feedback for current employees would reinforce challenge 4, of Antonio’s way.

Comparing a play to two poems

Comparing a play to two poems A play, a lyric poetry and an epic poetry are some of the kinds of literary works. A play is normally written by a person known as a playwright, it usually consist of scripted conversation among characters who aims at performance rather than reading. Hence, play can be used to refer to both playwrights written work as well as to their whole theoretical performance. A play can either be a comedy (Designed to be humorous), farce (Generally nonsensical form of a play), a satire (Generally meant to poke fun at current situations, issues, places and people), tragedy (These generally involve death or tragic events meant to make people feel sad) and historical (Focus on actual historical events and may include all other play types.) A poem is simply a composition in verse form. Poems depend strongly on precise word choice, metaphors, and symbolism. One cannot readily characterize poetry precisely. Typically though, poetry as a kind of literature makes significant use of the real properties of the words it uses All these literary works make use of different elements which include; plot, setting, theme, character and style. These elements therefore become the basis by which these literary works are differentiated from one another. Analyzing the element of character in these three categories of genres will show how similar they can be and to the extent they differ. A play has three major categories of characters i.e. the protagonist, the antagonist, and the foil characters. The protagonist is the main character in a play. The word protagonist means the one who plays the first part, the chief actor. The terms leading role, major character and hero are differently and sometimes not so well defined and, depending on the origin, the theme, the setting and the style may denote different concepts of a story, for example, in fiction protagonist story might be narrated from the viewpoint of a various character. This character may be but not necessarily the narrator. An example would be a narrator who relates the fate of a protagonist, perhaps as a famous figure recalled in a historical perspective. The chief rival of the leading role is a character known as the antagonist, who represents and creates barriers that must be overcome by the protagonist. As with a protagonist, there might be more than one antagonist in a story. Sometimes, a play may take a particular character as a protagonist in the early stages of a play only to dispose off that character in the later development of the play as a dramatic device to make the play interesting. Such a character is known as a false protagonist. Where a play contains sub plots, these sub plots may contain different antagonists from the main plot. In some plays, characters might not be easy to identify, since multiple plots in the plays do not allow clear identification of one as the major plot. Such characters are illustrated in Alexander Solzhenitsyns The First Circle, showing a variety or different characters imprisoned and live in a gulag camp, or in Leo Tolstoys War and Peace depicting 15 major characters involved or affected by a war. The antagonist in a play is the opponent, competitor or the rival of the protagonist character. This character presentments the opposition in the play for which the protagonist must fight to overcome. In other words, a person or a group of individuals opposing the protagonist i.e. the protagonist is or are the antagonist or the antagonists. In the storys classic style whereby the in the action involves a hero fighting a villain, the two parties can be considered respectively as protagonist and antagonist. The antagonist is not constantly the bad character, but simply those who oppose the major character unlike popular belief. The antagonist is in no way in any play the good guy. Play writers have as well formed more complex situations. In some situations, a story is told from the wicked persons point of view, and any protagonist trying to stop the wickedness can be considered as antagonist. In the story K-19: The Widowmaker an American movie of the Soviet Cold War submarine group, United States enemies as portrayed as protagonists, creating a paradox, as always the American film industry tries to portray the forces of the America as the people fighting for good and justice, which is contrary to Russia (particularly the former Soviet Union) being as the antagonists who always have maniacal intentions (like world control). Characters of that kind are typically police officers or other law enforcement bureaucrats. Antagonists and protagonists can overlap at a time, in regard to what their final objectives are considered to be. A foil is a character that contradicts another character (in most cases the protagonist) so as to bring out the different features of the chief characters personality and to throw the trait of the main character into sharper relief. A halt always posses some significant personality in common with the other character, frequently, superficial traits or personal history. A corresponding task of the foil might be accentuated by physical differences. For instance Don Quixote the dreamy and impractical in Cervantes is thin in comparison to his cohort, the practical and realistic Sanco Pansa who is fat. Sherlock Holmes is tall and lean thus becoming additional popular illusory character; Dr. Watson is always described as middle-sized, strongly built. However, the straight man in a comedy pair is a comic foil. The other illustrates a humorous, dumb, or just unconventional one while the straight man presents a practical and serious character. The funniness in these affiliations results from t he relations among these drastically different personalities. In some other cases, a subplot can always be used as a halt to the major plot. This is particularly true in the case of Meta-fiction together with the story within a story motif. The style with which poetry is written by the poet depends on the various elements of literary works including the purpose and the message it is meant to deliver. Poetry also has characters as a play(Alexander, 1988). This is one major similarity between a poem and a play, however, while the characters in a play are categorized into three major ways depending on the role taken by each of the characters, a poet is one major character in a poem who principally centers the theme of the poem to another character which includes both the living and non -living things. In a play the characters are majorly human beings or living things associated with supernatural being. In a poem, the characters various greatly from places, people, objects, super naturals, etc. As we are aware, both the play and poems are of various categories. A play focuses on love, praise, politics, gods and ancestors and so on. Poetry is also categorized into the following depending on the topics as highlighted above. It is therefore only imperative that the kind of characters in both the play and a poem therefore depends on the category within which these literary works belong. Poems in some cases can be categorized into more than one category and therefore one need not to focus on this classification too much. In analyzing characters in a poem, lyric poetry is a form of poems that expresses personal feelings of the poet. For example, romantic lyric poetry consists of first-person accounts of the opinions and approaches of a definite moment; feelings are tremendous, but personal. As opposed to a play Wright, the poet becomes the central attention in a lyric poem because of these personal feelings and not the characters themselves as seen in a play. The character in such a poem for example becomes the lovers, the moments shared by the duo, the features of a place or the feeling of one lover to another. One of the lovers might be the poet in which case expresses a personal feeling. This is similar to a play in the sense that both have characters but totally different from the viewpoint that in a play, the characters has particular roles such as overcoming the obstacles presented by the other character while in a poem the characters becomes the centre from which the theme and the message of the poem is derived. As noted, a play has stages where the conflict is developed, where it is at its maximum and fully developed and where finally a solution as a result of such a conflict is reached (Alexander, 1988). The role of characters in a play is therefore one of bringing out such conflicts, developing the conflicts and finally availing a way of solving the conflict. This is different from the poem where majorly the poet praises, or generally gives a particular description of one character to emphasize his personal feelings towards such a character. In general, the poem may be regarded as a mere prose however, in deeper form it quiet intensely and appealingly brings o ut and expresses the personal feelings of the character (usually the poet) towards the other character (e.g. love). In the poem Wedding Eve by Dr. Everett Standa, Should I Or should I not Take the oath to love For ever this person I know little about? To love without hope? The poet here is in conversation with himself. In this poem, the poet introduces dialogue and achieves a conversational tone with himself. He is expressing his fears about marriage and the uncertainty with which man and woman take each other to the altar for matrimony. But Standa is doing it in an enquiring or questioning way. In other words, he is posing rhetorical questions which do not necessarily require immediate answers but which gives the reader an opportunity to reflect upon the issues the poet is raising including his feelings. The characters in this poem are the poet and the woman who is to take him to the altar (Everett, 1999). The poet expresses his feelings and doubts towards this marriage. The woman is brought out as the centre of analysis. She is the reason the poem is composed because the poet keeps on wondering whether the woman is truly and sincerely in love with him or his riches. An epic poetry is a long narrative poem. It is mostly concerned with a serious subject with details of the heroic actions and happenings important to a culture or a country. However, the first epics were the products of pre literate communities and traditions. In these times, the epics were transmitted to the viewers and from the actor to actor purely by oral means.epics try to be constructed in the short episodes, all of equal status, interest and significance. This facilitates easy memorization as the poet recalls every episode in turn as well as using the whole episodes in recreating the complete epic to be performed. Epics present characters of high position in adventures creating a natural whole via their interactions to a major heroic figure and also through their episodes development that is important to the history of a country. The main character is the hero. The hero takes part generally in a repeated journey or mission, encounters opponents that try to defeat him and retu rns home considerably reformed by the journey. The epic hero shows characteristics, actions and exemplifying some morals that are greatly valued by the community from which the subject comes. Most heroes are repeating characters in their native cultures legends. An epic poetry is different from the lyric poetry in the sense that while the former is a long narrative poem concerned majorly with legends, the latter is a poem expressing the individual attitude of a poet. The character in an epic poem is usually a person, object, or a thing associated with some supernatural power which forms cultural and beliefs of a community. The poets articulate a peoples collective experience; it must enrich the precious safe in which the sinews of the collective group are preserved (Everett, 1999). The character therefore, offers an opportunity for shared experiences since it consists of spontaneous recollections which stir the emotions of the community. While a play might also convey the same legends, the protagonist character is helped by other characters to attain the appraisal status which the community sees as being of supernaturalism and hence contains some cultural associations. This therefore brings out clearly the difference in terms of characters b etween a play and an epic poem. The poem Nyalgunga by A. D. Amateshe, .. you led selfless life Now you return home, a hero, Crowned in silent casket Your speech and sight embalmed. You will need a guide, our son,.. This poem talks about a hero who died fighting for the freedom and liberty of a community known as the Luo in Kenya. It brings out the ways and the styles of the community on burying a hero and the warm send off the Hero receives during burial (Amateshe, 2004). He becomes a memory and a mentor of the young boys in the community who holds his name high and usually strives to be like him. The poet showers the character with praises bringing out in details the characters personality and journey that makes the members of the community view him as a hero. In conclusion therefore, the character as brought out in these three literary works shows some similarities and differences. All the three literary works makes use of characters in building and bringing out their story. In a play the characters convey the message to the audience in the same way the character in a lyric poem conveys the feelings of the poet to the audience. In an epic poem, the character usually a hero associated with supernaturalism conveys either a moral lesion or a strong warning by which the ways of a particular community lives and is shaped forming a major basis of their culture and beliefs. Of the three, however, the various characters depend on the style, the setting, the message or theme of the literary work. The number of characters varies in a play with its length and the message while in the other two literary works, the character is usually one. This one character becomes the centre of analysis by the poet. In a play, the main character is helped to fight against the obstacles presented by the antagonist to solve the conflict as brought out in the play. In the other two literary works the character becomes the only attraction and the centre from which the story is developed. References Alexander S. (1988). The First Circle. New York: Harvill P Amateshe D. (2004). Nyalgunga. Franklin Watts: American Library Association Everett S. (1999). Wedding Eve. Oxford University: Oxford University Press

The Charismatic Age: First-Century Galilee Essays -- Research Papers C

The Charismatic Age: First-Century Galilee The long-awaited death in 4 BCE of Herod, the ruthless architect of an oppressive Judean police state, sparked a series of spontaneous revolts by the Jewish peasantry. Once these rebellions were subdued, the Jews continued to chafe under a series of tyrannical Roman governors until the massive revolt of 66-70. This period was marked by "widespread discontent and periodic turbulence." Direct Roman rule, along with the burdensome tribute that accompanied it, was highly offensive to the Jews, who considered themselves subjects only to God. Many, in fact, considered their conditions tantamount to slavery (Horsley and Hanson 34-5). This highly-charged atmosphere reached a fever pitch in Galilee, which produced a host of eccentric figures – many of whom amassed sizable followings. As the peasantry anticipated the arrival of the promised Messiah to deliver them from Roman oppression, a number of social bandits were inspired to pretend to this mantle of "king of the Jews." Others assumed the role of prophet, attempting to recreate the miracles of Joshua or predicting an impending judgment. Also circulating in the area were various Jewish holy men revered as miracle-workers, allegedly capable of influencing natural phenomena. It is in this milieu that the figure of Jesus Christ emerged. Prophetic Movements Among Jewish peasantry at the time of Jesus were two distinct types of prophets: the action prophets, who "led sizable movements of peasants from the villages of Judea in anticipation of God's new, eschatological act of liberation," and the oracular prophets, who delivered oracles of either judgment or deliverance (185). The former, as illustrated by the case of Theudas, appea... ... Hanina disobeyed the rabbinic code of conduct by walking alone at night; he also owned goats despite a Mishnaic prohibition against doing so in Palestine, and even went so far as to carry the unclean carcass of a snake. Another Hasid was found ignorant of the existence of a biblical law concerning ritual uncleanness, while still another scoffed at a rule forbidding the use of liquids kept in an uncovered vessel at night (Vermes 77-8). Jesus of Nazareth, presumably, would have been extremely comfortable in such company! Works Cited The Holy Bible: Revised Standard Edition. New York: Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1952. Horsley, Richard and Hanson, John. Bandits, Prophets and Messiahs: Popular Movements in the Time of Jesus. Minneapolis: Winston Press, 1985. Vermes, Geza. Jesus the Jew: A Historian's Reading of the Gospels. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1973.

Ethical Principles Notes :: Ethics Philosophy PHI Notes

Ethical Principles Notes There are many ethical principles. e.g. a woman has a right to control what happens to her body we should respect life we should do no harm to others we should help others there should be justice in the distribution of resources Some principles are more general than others. So some principles are special cases of more general ones. For instance, the right to control what happens to one's body is a special case of the principle of autonomy, the right to control one's own life. HÃ ©bert identifies 3 main general principles: Autonomy, Beneficence, and Justice. There may be other principles which are not special cases of these, e.g. respecting life. We can generally all agree to general principles, such as autonomy and beneficence. The disagreement comes over cases where the principles conflict, e.g., in abortion right, autonomy conflicts with beneficence. If a principle covers a case, it creates a duty. For example, it a person wishes to do something you disagree with, you have a duty to respect her autonomy. However, duties can be divided into two kinds: "Prima facie" and "Absolute" A prima facie duty is something you should do if there are no stronger reasons for doing something different. Prima facie duties can be trumped by other moral considerations. An absolute duty is something you should do no matter what. Nothing can trump an absolute duty. (There is some dispute about whether any absolute duties exist.) Rights and Duties If a person has a right to X, then she must get X (other things being equal.) If a person has a duty to do Y, then she must do Y (other things being equal). Not all right and wrong can be expressed in terms of rights or duties. But some good actions are not duties. Someone can go above and beyond the call of duty. I can be kind to someone I don't like even though I may have no moral duty to do so. The fact that a person has a right to do Y does not mean that Y is good. Ethical Principles Notes :: Ethics Philosophy PHI Notes Ethical Principles Notes There are many ethical principles. e.g. a woman has a right to control what happens to her body we should respect life we should do no harm to others we should help others there should be justice in the distribution of resources Some principles are more general than others. So some principles are special cases of more general ones. For instance, the right to control what happens to one's body is a special case of the principle of autonomy, the right to control one's own life. HÃ ©bert identifies 3 main general principles: Autonomy, Beneficence, and Justice. There may be other principles which are not special cases of these, e.g. respecting life. We can generally all agree to general principles, such as autonomy and beneficence. The disagreement comes over cases where the principles conflict, e.g., in abortion right, autonomy conflicts with beneficence. If a principle covers a case, it creates a duty. For example, it a person wishes to do something you disagree with, you have a duty to respect her autonomy. However, duties can be divided into two kinds: "Prima facie" and "Absolute" A prima facie duty is something you should do if there are no stronger reasons for doing something different. Prima facie duties can be trumped by other moral considerations. An absolute duty is something you should do no matter what. Nothing can trump an absolute duty. (There is some dispute about whether any absolute duties exist.) Rights and Duties If a person has a right to X, then she must get X (other things being equal.) If a person has a duty to do Y, then she must do Y (other things being equal). Not all right and wrong can be expressed in terms of rights or duties. But some good actions are not duties. Someone can go above and beyond the call of duty. I can be kind to someone I don't like even though I may have no moral duty to do so. The fact that a person has a right to do Y does not mean that Y is good.