The Free Will in Meditations on First Philosophy by Descartes Essay

The Free Will in Meditations on First Philosophy by Descartes I In Meditations on First Philosophy, Descartes takes the reader through a methodological exercise in philosophical enquiry. After stripping the intellect of all doubtful and false beliefs, he re-examines the nature and structure of being in an attempt to secure a universally valid epistemology free from skepticism. Hoping for the successful reconciliation of science and theology, Descartes works to reconstruct a new foundation of absolute and certain truth to act as a catalyst for future scientific research by â€Å"showing that a mathematical [rational-objective] physics of the world is attainable by creatures with our intellectual capacities and faculties† (Shand 1994, p. 84). Descartes’ conception of absolute and limitless â€Å"freedom,† which he ascribed to humanity, is every bit as unique and radical as the existential notion of freedom present to the philosophy of Jean-Paul Sartre. However, the claim of boundless freedom within the writings of Descartes seems even more remarkable in light of the fact that he proposed the philosophical method within the theological strictures of Catholicism. With Cartesian study primarily focused on the significance of human consciousness and the sum res cogitans, rarely does one find exclusive attention devoted to the paramount importance of the free will in Descartes’ overall project. This essay investigates the theory of the free will as expressed in the Fourth Meditation and analyzes Descartes’ contention that we are â€Å"infinitely† free and ultimately responsible for the choices we make. In arguing that the use of the free will is essential in determining the veracity of all ideas one comes upon, clear and distinct or othe... ...ilosophy is somewhat problematic and often referred to as the Cartesian Circle. â€Å"We cannot, without certainty,† declares John Shand, â€Å"prove God’s existence by means of propositions and arguments whose truth and validity depend upon assuming God’s existence† (Shand :1994, p 87). 4 Although Descartes states explicitly in the Synopsis of the Six Meditations that he is not concerned with judging things which pertain to faith or the conduct of life, and is instead focused exclusively on errors that occur when judging the true and the false; he is nonetheless doing theodicy. Descartes is asking in essence: â€Å"How could God, who is in possession of all perfection, including omni-benevolence, allow humans to fall into error (do evil) so readily?† Descartes’ reply: â€Å"Error (evil) has nothing to do with God and everything to do with us.†

A Plan for the Resolution of the Argentine Debt Crisis Essay -- Essays

A Plan for the Resolution of the Argentine Debt Crisis INTRODUCTION: Over the past five years Argentina has suffered from one of the worst economic crises of its history. Mired by currency devaluation, diminished business confidence, contracting GDP, and a large current accounts deficit, the Argentine economy is, at very best, weak. Of its problems, Argentina’s international debt is of greatest concern. Servicing the debt has created a large financial burden for the Argentine government limiting the steps it has been able to take to stimulate economic growth. Since temporarily stopping payment on US$132 billion of debt in 2001 , Argentina has experienced some economic expansion, but this growth has come with large costs. Foreign banks’ condemnation of the default has made Argentina a pariah in the international investment community. Meanwhile, the interest on the outstanding loans is compounding at an astronomical rate increasing Argentina’s debt burden significantly. Unfortunately for Argentina, encouraging international investment and reducing its debt are both essential for a sustained economic recovery. These goals will not be achieved through default, even if it is temporary, as banks are the self-imposed moral authorities on debt and investment and are likely to make Argentina pay a high price. Instead, Argentina must cleverly implement debt reduction mechanisms involving third-party purchase of its discounted debt. It will be the primary responsibility of Argentina’s newly elected president, Mr. Kirchner, and his administration, to stimulate the country’s feeble economy by reducing the public debt. Downsizing its debt will help Argentina to reestablish itself as a creditworthy nation and spur economic... ... and Business, . â€Å"How the debt should be canceled,† Debt & Development Coalition: Ireland, . Krueger, Anne O., â€Å"Crisis Prevention and Resolution: Lessons from Argentina,† International Monetary Fund, 17 July 2002, . MERCOSUR, 6 March 2003, . Moye, Melissa, â€Å"Overview of Debt Conversion,† London: Debt Relief International Ltd., 2001. Powell, James E., â€Å"Time Value of Money,† 1 June 2002, . Rhoter, Larry, â€Å"Argentina Struggles to Meet Debt-Relief Terms.† New York Times, 11 February 2003, . A Plan for the Resolution of the Argentine Debt Crisis Essay -- Essays A Plan for the Resolution of the Argentine Debt Crisis INTRODUCTION: Over the past five years Argentina has suffered from one of the worst economic crises of its history. Mired by currency devaluation, diminished business confidence, contracting GDP, and a large current accounts deficit, the Argentine economy is, at very best, weak. Of its problems, Argentina’s international debt is of greatest concern. Servicing the debt has created a large financial burden for the Argentine government limiting the steps it has been able to take to stimulate economic growth. Since temporarily stopping payment on US$132 billion of debt in 2001 , Argentina has experienced some economic expansion, but this growth has come with large costs. Foreign banks’ condemnation of the default has made Argentina a pariah in the international investment community. Meanwhile, the interest on the outstanding loans is compounding at an astronomical rate increasing Argentina’s debt burden significantly. Unfortunately for Argentina, encouraging international investment and reducing its debt are both essential for a sustained economic recovery. These goals will not be achieved through default, even if it is temporary, as banks are the self-imposed moral authorities on debt and investment and are likely to make Argentina pay a high price. Instead, Argentina must cleverly implement debt reduction mechanisms involving third-party purchase of its discounted debt. It will be the primary responsibility of Argentina’s newly elected president, Mr. Kirchner, and his administration, to stimulate the country’s feeble economy by reducing the public debt. Downsizing its debt will help Argentina to reestablish itself as a creditworthy nation and spur economic... ... and Business, . â€Å"How the debt should be canceled,† Debt & Development Coalition: Ireland, . Krueger, Anne O., â€Å"Crisis Prevention and Resolution: Lessons from Argentina,† International Monetary Fund, 17 July 2002, . MERCOSUR, 6 March 2003, . Moye, Melissa, â€Å"Overview of Debt Conversion,† London: Debt Relief International Ltd., 2001. Powell, James E., â€Å"Time Value of Money,† 1 June 2002, . Rhoter, Larry, â€Å"Argentina Struggles to Meet Debt-Relief Terms.† New York Times, 11 February 2003, .

Reaching Your Potential

After I read this article I fond out that managing yourself is a good way to be successful. There are some strategies of how to achieve higher levels of success, such as knowing yourself, excelling at critical tasks and demonstrating character and leadership. The purpose is to clear understand who you are and what your dream is. There is one strategies really touched me is that knowing your self from strengths and weakness can help you to achieve your dream or goal. First, knowing yourself is telling you to understand what are your strengths and weaknesses when you start your career. Some people can easily tell what are their strengths, but hard to defined the weakness. Talking to other people who knows you is a good way to get the answer. After finding the weakness and strength, the next thing is to ask yourself about what is your dream work and what do you enjoy doing? Then keep your strength and face your weakness in order to reach your full potential. I do agree this strategy and it helps a lot, I still remember when I started working, I wasn’t good at communication at first. However, my job required me to communicate with different manufactures, so I need to negotiate with different departments and sometimes I am asked to go to the factory to see the quality of samples. It requires a certain level of communication skills. In order to practice my communication skill, I try to write down my points before conversations. After a lot of time practice, I can clearly state my point of view. I faced my weakness in order to do well with my job. I think those practices not only improve my working ability but also having a good effect even up to now. Secondly, Excelling at critical tasks is to know how to develop your skills and how to distribute times after a critical business meeting. In order to reach your potential, it requires introspection and certain proactive behaviors. This strategy reminds me of my previews manager when I working in a French fashion company. She is good at using spare time to find useful information. In my memory, she always came to office half hour earlier and collected some latest news from fashion newspaper and websites, and prepared work to each designer. This is a good way to distribute times and practice the skill of colleting useful information. Last but not least is demonstrating character and leadership, a leader is a good decision maker and benefits the organization’s overall performance, and also they need to speak up and make better choices. I think leadership is a major element in management field, and better leadership can make company better organized. In conclusion, the advice for you to reaching your potential is to identify your dream, develop the skills after finding your weakness, and exhibit character and leadership.

Literary Analysis in the Scarlet Letter

Raven 1 In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s book, The Scarlet Letter, the phrase â€Å"Opposites Attract† does not always ring true. Such is the case between a young beauty and an aging scholar. Through Hawthorne’s use of figurative language and imagery, he creates a winter-spring relationship between the two characters Roger Chillingworth and Hester Prynne, which ultimately leads to Hester’s downfall. The character Hester Prynne’s unparalleled youthful beauty and passionate nature makes her the perfect embodiment of spring.Early on in the text, Hawthorne says â€Å"She had dark and abundant hair, so glossy that it threw off the sunshine with a gleam, and a face which, besides being beautiful from regularity of feature and richness of complexion, . . . †(50) This picturesque description of Hester is used to not only to show her beauty, but also how her beauty is so fresh and vibrant. Her hair being described as â€Å"glossy and abundant† alludes to her spring-like qualities because in spring, all plants and creatures are new and plentiful in number. Hester’s position as being a new mother also makes her symbolic of spring, because both represent fertility and new life.Hawthorne even goes as far as saying â€Å"†¦with the infant at her bosom, an object to remind him of the image if Divine Maternity†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (53) Hawthorne using this comparison portrays Hester as being a perfect representation of fertility, almost to a god-like degree. It is Raven 2 unquestionable that spring is the most benign and gentle season. Hawthorne almost directly states that Hester is spring when he says, â€Å"†¦Hester’s nature showed itself warm and rich; a well-spring of human tenderness, un-failing to every real demand, and inexhaustible by the largest. (146) This is why Hester’s demeanor and character also contributes to her embodying spring. Even by saying that her nature was warm, Hawthorne adds to Hesterà ¢â‚¬â„¢s symbolism, because spring is the first season where warmth is introduced; the warm quality it possesses is also why spring is considered â€Å"friendly†, because it is the savior after a cold, hard winter. Roger Chillingworth represents winter in every possible aspect. His demeanor and appearance both are strong evidence of how he symbolizes the season of cold.When he is examining Hester’s health in the jail, he had â€Å"†¦a gaze that made her heart shrink and shudder, †¦and yet so strange and so cold,.. † (67) His cold demeanor directly relates to how winter is the coldest of all the seasons. Even something as simple as his gaze made Hester’s heart, which is the warmth of spring, shudder and get smaller. This parallels how a winter frost can kill off the warmth and vibrancy of spring. Chillingworth’s appearance also contributes to him symbolizing winter.He is described as a â€Å"†¦man well-stricken in years, a pale, thin , scholar-like visage† (55) Winter is the season where things get old, barren, and start decaying. So Hawthorne purposely describes Chillingworth as old, pale, and thin to make the most obvious statement of how the man and season are so closely related. Chillingworth is anything but a thriving individual: being thin and pale, he possesses the attributes that a sickly, perhaps dying, would have. Chillingworth’s insatiable appetite for revenge against Dimmesdale also lends to him being seen as a representation of winter.Winter, by itself, is a symbol for wrath and revenge. So when Hawthorne says that â€Å"This unhappy man had made the very principle of his life to†¦revenge. †(232), he is showing the uncanny similarities between Chillingworth and winter. Raven 3 Finally, Chillingworth’s own name alludes to how he embodies winter. The first eight letters of his name spell out â€Å"chilling†, which can only be associated with the cold temperatures in winter. The vast difference between the two characters Hester Prynne and Roger Chillingworth leads to the rapid decline and incompatibility of their relationship and to Hester’s downfall.Chillingworth is quick to admit how unrealistic his expectations of their relationship are when he says â€Å"I, †¦- a man already in decay,†¦ what had I to do with youth and beauty like thine own! †(69) Chillingworth, describing himself as â€Å"a man already in decay† re-instills how he represents winter, which is the season where all things decay and die. He also says that â€Å"Mine was the first wrong, when I betrayed thy budding youth into a false and unnatural relation with my decay. (70) Hawthorne’s use of figurative language is ingenious when he describes Hester’s age as a â€Å"budding youth†. Flowers begin to bud at the beginning of spring, so by describing Hester’s youth as budding, Hawthorne gives Hester spring-like qualiti es. The combination of the two previous quotes explains why a relationship between winter and spring could never exist in harmony. Chillingworth and Hester are two completely different individuals; Chillingworth’s cold frost halted any hope of the seedling of love to grow within Hester’s heart.Chillingworth acknowledges this fact when he says â€Å"My heart was a habitation large enough for many guests, but lonely and chill, and without a household fire. †(69) In the end, a relationship between this pair could never work. Hester’s lack of love for Chillingworth led her to commit the sin of adultery, her ultimate downfall. When Chillingworth says â€Å"†¦ from the moment when we came down the old church steps together, a married pair, I might have beheld the bale-fire of that scarlet letter blazing at the end of our path! (69) it’s as if he knew that Hester would cheat on him all along. Hester’s downfall was inevitable because Chillingw orth could not make her love him due to them coming from two entirely different places: winter and spring. Raven 4 The character Hester Prynne experiences a downfall due to the winter-spring relationship established between her and Roger Chillingworth, which Hawthorne illustrates by using the literary devices of figurative language and imagery.By using the characters as symbols for seasons, the meaning of why a relationship between the two characters cannot work is intensified and given depth. Through this particular analysis of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, readers can perhaps see that when two people are so completely different from one another, a happy relationship cannot exist: love is never going to grow in spring when it is halted by a winter frost. Raven 5 Works Cited Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. 1850. New York: Bantam Dell, 2003. Print.

How Effective Is Cooling Down

?How effective is sweating at cooling you down? DC The temperature of each test tube that contains water which had different conditions that was measured each minute Temperature (Â ±0. 05 Â °C) Minute Dry Dry/Windy Wet Wet/Windy 1 77 82 70 76 2 75 80 64 70 3 72 76 59 65 4 69 73 55 60 5 67 71 53 57 6 65 68 50 53 7 64 66 48 51 8 63 64 46 48 9 61 61 44 46 10 59 60 42 44 11 58 58 41 43 12 56 56 40 41 13 55 55 39 40 14 54 53 38 38 15 53 52 37 37 (All number is put into one whole number) DCP The percentage change of the temperature of each test tube that contains water which had different conditions that was measured each minute + average percentage change Percentage change in temperature (Â ±0. 5 %) Trials Dry Dry/Windy Wet Wet/Windy 1 27 34 31 67 2 31 37 47 51 3 29 60 4 34 32 61 75 5 37 42 52 62 6 31 53 7 35 41 57 63 8 29 39 53 60 9 35 38 61 70 10 37 43 57 54 11 30 36 52 60 Average 32 38 53 62 (All number is put into one whole number) Calculations: Percentage Change in temperature: (Final-Initial)/Final x 100 = % change Initial Data chosen: Dry; Final=53, initial=79. 9-53/79 x 100 = 33% Average percent change in temperature: The sum of all percent changes in temperature for dry / the number of percentages 27 + 31 + 29 + 34 + 37 + 31 + 35 + 29 + 35 + 37 + 30/11 = -32% average percent change in temperature Conclusion The experiment was designed to investigate how sweating is effective on cooling you down. Four test tubes containing water that was all in different condit ions of one being a normal test tube covered in newspaper, the same but was blown with a fan, a wet test tube covered in newspaper and the same one that was blown with a fan. For fifteen minutes, the temperature of the water in the test tube is measured every minute. The results above have shown that the test tube that was covered with dry newspaper’s percentage change is not that great from the original to the final temperature, as it is only 32%. As wind is blown to the same dry newspaper test tube, the percentage change of the temperature increase, being 38%. When it comes to the test tube covered with the wet newspaper the percentage change increase much more with a 53 % change. The highest percentage change, with 62% is the test tube that was covered with wet newspaper and blown by the wind. In theory, as our body heats up over the normal temperature, our body senses that there is an increase in heat, therefore it releases heat as sweat to cool us down. This is monitored by a part of our brain called the hypothalamus which monitors the temperature of blood in our body. The hypothalamus sends signals when our blood temperature increases or decreases. It sends signals because there is a change in levels, this called negative feedback. The signals sent is then carried by neurons to other parts of the body, this process happens by the arterials being widen, which then will make the blood flow through our skin. Consequently, our shunt vessels will close; the blood will then transfer heat from our body core to the skin. Thus the temperature of our skin will increase, which then eventually cause our body to sweat. Based on the results that were obtained from the data were similar to the theory, when our body is wet, the temperature changes and decreases more. Similar from the data above, the wet newspaper had a 53% changed compared to 32% dry newspaper. This indicates that when our body is wet, there is a higher chance of a larger percentage change than being dry. Same, when the wind blows to the newspaper, it made it faster for the temperature to return normal. Furthermore, the Standard Deviation error bars are not too far apart to the column thus it shows that my data is fairly accurate. Evaluation Limitations Why? Suggestion The different initial temperature of water Because the water that was poured into the test tube had different temperatures at the start, the change in temperature of each test tube aren’t constant By boiling the water in a specific temperature, so that when it is poured the temperature will be the same The layering of newspaper for each test tube When the layering of the newspaper is thick, it will keep the test tube slow down the rate of changing temperature, with a thin newspaper, it will be faster Keep the newspaper layering at the same thickness, make sure each test tube is covered in the same amount of layers Difficult to tell the temperature through the test tube/newspaper Because we can’t raise the thermometer up, there was a difficulty in reading it, as it was covered by the newspaper, so then we had to guess sometimes By layering it with something more translucent, so that it will be easier to see The different distance of the fan As there was no standards for the length of distance of the fan to the test tube, the percentage change will not be precise By making the distance from the fan to the test tube a control, thus having the same distance for each

Personal Narrative on Morals

As I was walking down church avenue, all I could think about was my Iphoneless pocket. â€Å"Freaking black people,† I mumbled under my breath as to not let the crowds of black people around me hear, â€Å"you can never trust them. † The sight of them just burned my eyes. Them and their sagged pants that looked like they had 100 pound weights in their pockets, disgusting. As I walked on, the only thing that was roaming around my mind was a memory I was trying so hard to forget. It wasn't a full memory though just, bits and pieces. It was of a black kid.I don't remember any of his features, I didn't want to. â€Å"Hey can I make a call,† he said. I wasn't the type of person to judge anyone, I mean why should a person's skin be a factor in anyone's decision to do something. This teenager could have been the nicest person in the world. So I gave him my phone. The memory then cuts to me standing there gasping for air saying, â€Å" Nicest guy in the world my butt. à ¢â‚¬  That was all I remembered, but it was enough. Enough to drive my anger towards black people, which for me, meant my entire neighborhood.How could I have been such an IDIOT, I said in my head as I walked down the block. I should have seen this coming. I mean he was bla-, I was in mid-thought, when suddenly a black woman, who looked like she could lose a few pounds, bumped into me as she was going the direction opposite of me. â€Å"Watch where you're going,† she said. I could hear the anger and annoyance in her voice. My blood started to boil, my heart raced, I was ready to punch someone. I turned towards her â€Å"ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME.Maybe you should lay off the fried chicken † is what I wished to say, but I held my breath. I just stared at her back as she walked away. As I treaded along Church avenue, I spared no black person who came within my line of sight of my racist comments. I didn't care if it was wrong. I mean did that black kid care if it was w rong to steal my phone. Obviously not, because then I wouldn't be walking home phone-less. Did that black lady even bother to care to, oh, I don't know move to the side or say excuse me. NO, she didn't.I mean why shouldn't I judge, I bet black people judge me all the time. I bet that kid who stole my phone had one or two judgments about me. Freaking black people, I said in my head. I finally reached the front of my apartment building. As I entered I noticed this small black kid coming out of the building. When he saw me, he stopped. I recognized him. I didn't know his name, but I knew a thing or two about him. I saw him everyday. Once when I left for school, and once when I came back. Each time I saw him he would say the most random of things about his life.Like how he was in the first grade, or how he thought this one kid named Devon was just the meanest person in the world for throwing a pencil at him. I didn't particularly care much for these facts. Most times he would say someth ing that he thought was funny. Although the things he said weren't funny at all, I went along and smiled anyway. As I looked as this kid, I could find no such fault. You could say he was, in a way, â€Å"stereotypically clean†. â€Å"You know, you look like a person from the wolf people,† he said with a straight face.I don't know if I smiled or not, I may have given a half smile, but I know I replied â€Å"You mean, from Twilight? † â€Å"Yea, from Twilight, the movie about vampires and werewolves. † â€Å"Heh, yea, except I don't have any abs,† I said. This time I knew I was smiling, and I could tell, as he started to smile as well. â€Å"Well, see ya,† he said and walked away. I turned around and watched as he walked down the block and around the corner. That's why Ervin, that's why you shouldn't judge, a voice in my head said. I turned around, walked up the steps to the front door of my building and said, â€Å"yea. †

Corporate Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Corporate Strategy - Essay Example Strategy is the direction and scope of an organization over the long term, which achieves advantage for the organization through its configuration of resources within a changing environment and to fulfill stakeholders’ expectations. So strategic decisions are likely to be complex in nature and may be made in situation of uncertainty i.e. they may involve taking decisions with views of the future. It demands an integrated approach to managing the organization. Strategic decisions will very often involves change in organization, which may prove difficult because of heritage of resources and culture. They have to manage perhaps change relationship and network outside of the organization. So strategic decision-making requires special qualities of skills and knowledge. i) Corporate level strategy is concerned with the over all-purpose and scope of an organization. This could include issues of geographical coverage, diversity of products/services or business units and how resources are to be allocated between different parts of the organization. ii) Business unit strategy is about how to compete successfully in particular markets. The concerns are therefore about how advantage over competitors can be achieved; what new opportunities can be identified or created in the markets; which products or services should be developed in which markets; and the extent to which these meet customer needs in such a way as to achieve the objectives of the organization perhaps long term profitability or market share growth. So, whereas corporate strategy involves decisions about the organization as a whole, strategic decisions here need to be related to a strategic business unit (SBU). iii) Operational strategies is at the operating end of an organization, which are concerned with how the component parts of an organization deliver effectively the corporate and business level strategies in terms of resources, processes and people. Strategic management is the management of the