Analysis Of Bill O Reilly - 1688 Words

Bill O’Reilly is the author of Killing Kennedy, and he wrote the book in 2012. O’Reilly was born in 1949 in New York City and later graduated from Marist College with a degree in history in the 1970s. Bill then taught high school for many years before going back to college to get a masters degree in journalism. Starting in the 1980s, O’Reilly began working in television becoming a correspondent for many different news stations. In the 1990s, Bill went back to school this time at Harvard to get a degree in public administration. Shortly after this O’Reilly began his own show on Fox News and years later began his own radio talk show. In the past few years Bill has written a number of books that were about different parts of history including Killing Lincoln and Killing Kennedy. Since Bill O’Reilly has a background in history and even a degree in history so that makes him even more qualified to write a book on John F. Kennedy and his presidency . 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The Patriot Act A Condensed Version Of The Framework

Abstract The purpose of this research paper is to give those not aware of the Patriot Act a condensed version of the framework of the Act. According to the architects of the Patriot Act, the goal of the Act was to deal a crippling blow to the infrastructure of domestic terrorism in the United States. However, if not properly utilized, there will be, and should be a strong public reaction against the Act due to its extensive range of authority. Many provisions in the Act apply to American citizens, and we will be affected. A Violation of American Freedoms: The Patriot Act Introduction The U.S.A. Patriot Act creates significant expanded powers to federal and state law enforcement agencies to fight against terrorism in the United States and abroad. The Act enabled law enforcement agencies to circumvent the Bill of Rights in the fight against terrorism. Law enforcement was now able to; search and seize without probable cause, to detain individuals without a trial, monitor religious and political events without suspecting criminal activity, listen to conversations between lawyers and their clients or deny legal representation to individuals accused of crimes. Although the intent of the Patriot Act was to combat terrorism in the United States and abroad, it is presently being utilized against the citizens of America. Therefore, the Constitutional rights of every American citizen are being violated. The Genesis of the USA Patriot Act The official nameShow MoreRelatedProject on Risk Management46558 Words   |  187 Pagesconcluded multilateral arrangements with other banks, taking the total number of authorized ATM outlets to 15,000. All the branches as well as ATMs of IndusInd Bank are connected to its central database, via a satellite that operates on the latest version IBM’sAS400 720 hardware amp; Midas Kapiti (now Micys) software. Businesses IndusInd Bank operates in a diverse range of businesses, which include Corporate Banking, Retail Banking, Treasury and Foreign Exchange, Investment Banking, CapitalRead MoreManaging Information Technology (7th Edition)239873 Words   |  960 PagesSarbanes-Oxley (SOX) 567 Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 (GBLA) 569 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) The PATRIOT Act 569 Organizational Polices for Information Security Planning for Business Continuity 571 Electronic Records Management (ERM) 571 569 Review Questions 573 †¢ Discussion Questions 574 †¢ Bibliography 574 Chapter 15 Social, Ethical, and Legal Issues 575 The Legal Environment 575 Ethics Frameworks 576 Identifying Ethical Problems AnalyzingRead MoreFundamentals of Hrm263904 Words   |  1056 Pagespublication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, website www.copyright.com. Requests to the

The Spanish Empire in the Americas free essay sample

Chapter 1 Study Guide The Spanish Empire in the Americas 1. Three arguments’ that Juan Gines de Sepulveda used to justify enslaving the Native Americans were for gold, ore deposits, and for God’s sake and man’s faith in him. 2. Three arguments that Bartolome de las Casas gave in attacking Spanish clonial policies in the New World were the Indians eating human flesh, worshiping false gods, and also, he believed that the Indians were cowardly and timid. 3. For comparisons that Sepulveda used, in lines 1-7, to express the inferiority of the Indians was their prudence, skill virtues, and humanity were inferior to the Spanish as children to adults, or even apes to men. Comparisons he used to dismiss the significance of the Indians â€Å"Ingenuity for various works of artisanship† were the animals, birds, and spiders that could make things humans could not replicate. In either situation, there was no appropriateness. 4. Las Casas may have weekened his case by requiring that the Spanish must restore what had been taken unjustly from the Indians because the Spanish ultimately modernized them and if they were given back what had been taken, they would again become ‘retro’. We will write a custom essay sample on The Spanish Empire in the Americas or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page If the Indians had been given back their bow and arrows, then they would have no use for them because they have guns. 5. The bias that Las Casas expressed in the last paragraph in his book was that Muslims are savages. The Encounter 1. What  kind of existence did the first people who came to North America live? The kind of existence that the first people who came to North America to live was very icy, cold and rugged. They were hunters and gatherers so they were a nomadic people. This means hay regularly picked up and moved making life even harder. 2. What is the dominant theory as to how the  first people came to North America? The Dominant theory known as to how the first people came to North America was that they crossed on a land bridge formed by the ice age over the bearing strait. Also well argued is that the nomads came by boat and hugged the coast on their way. 3. What was significant about farming groups when compared to nomadic groups? Farming groups were able to stay in one place and this enabled them to do a lot of things more than the nomads. They were able to harvest crops, have more babies, build cities, build populations, and create better housing. 4. What were the  three great empires according to the article? What were the dominant features of each? The three great empires were the Maya, Aztec, and Incas. The dominant features of the Maya were the advanced intellectual aspects  of the cities as well as the water system that they made. The dominant features of the Aztec were their means to live off the land, which in their case proved the desert, and also able to build a large city with mass trade and a great army. The dominant features of the Inca were their ability to stretch their empire more than any other and to harvest 100’s 1000’s of different potatoes and corn. 5. What is a common belief among many of the groups in North America? A common belief among many of the groups in North America is that there is a creator and also the bond between humans and nature. 6. Why were Europeans looking for new trade routes to the Indies?

The Downfall Of Young Goodman Brown Essays (2392 words)

The Downfall of Young Goodman Brown "Young Goodman Brown", by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a story that is thick with allegory. "Young Goodman Brown" is a moral story which is told through the perversion of a religious leader. In "Young Goodman Brown", Goodman Brown is a Puritan minister who lets his excessive pride in himself interfere with his relations with the community after he meets with the devil, and causes him to live the life of an exile in his own community. "Young Goodman Brown" begins when Faith, Brown's wife, asks him not to go on an"errand". Goodman Brown says to his "love and (my) Faith" that "this one night I must tarry away from thee." When he says his "love" and his "Faith", he is talking to his wife, but he is also talking to his "faith" to God. He is venturing into the woods to meet with the Devil, and by doing so, he leaves his unquestionable faith in God with his wife. He resolves that he will "cling to her skirts and follow her to Heaven." This is an example of the excessive pride because he feels that he can sin and meet with the Devil because of this promise that he made to himself. There is a tremendous irony to this promise because when Goodman Brown comes back at dawn; he can no longer look at his wife with the same faith he had before. When Goodman Brown finally meets with the Devil, he declares that the reason he was late was because "Faith kept me back awhile." This statement has a double meaning because his wife physically prevented him from being on time for his meeting with the devil, but his faith to God psychologically delayed his meeting with the devil. The Devil had with him a staff that "bore the likeness of a great black snake". The staff which looked like a snake is a reference to the snake in the story of Adam and Eve. The snake led Adam and Eve to their destruction by leading them to the Tree of Knowledge. The Adam and Eve story is similar to Goodman Brown in that they are both seeking unfathomable amounts of knowledge. Once Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge they were expelled from their paradise. The Devil's staff eventually leads Goodman Brown to the Devil's ceremony which destroys Goodman Brown's faith in his fellow man, therefore expelling him from his utopia. Goodman Brown almost immediately declares that he kept his meeting with the Devil and no longer wishes to continue on his errand with the Devil. He says that he comes from a "race of honest men and good Christians" and that his father had never gone on this errand and nor will he. The Devil is quick to point out however that he was with his father and grandfather when they were flogging a woman or burning an Indian village, respectively. These acts are ironic in that they were bad deeds done in the name of good, and it shows that he does not come from "good Christians." When Goodman Brown's first excuse not to carry on with the errand proves to be unconvincing, he says he can't go because of his wife, "Faith". And because of her, he can not carry out the errand any further. At this point the Devil agrees with him and tells him to turn back to prevent that "Faith should come to any harm" like the old woman in front of them on the path. Ironically, Goodman Brown's faith is harmed because the woman on the path is the woman who"taught him his catechism in youth, and was still his moral and spiritual adviser." The Devil and the woman talk and afterward, Brown continues to walk on with the Devil in the disbelief of what he had just witnessed. Ironically, he blames the woman for consorting with the Devil but his own pride stops him from realizing that his faults are the same as the woman's. Brown again decides that he will no longer to continue on his errand and rationalizes that just because his teacher was not going to heaven, why should he "quit my dear Faith, and go after her". At this, the Devil tosses Goodman Brown his staff (which will lead him out of

Acid Rain Essays (3433 words) - Chemistry, Inorganic Solvents

Acid Rain What is acid rain? Acid rain is the term for pollution caused when sulfur and nitrogen dioxides combine with atmospheric moisture. The term 'acid rain' is slightly misleading, and would be more accurate if deemed 'enhanced acid rain', as rain occurs acidic naturally. Acidity is measured on what is know as the pH scale. Fourteen is the most basic, seven is the most neutral, and zero is the most acidic. Pure rain has a pH level of 7, which is exactly neutral. The acidity of rain is determined by the pH of pure water in reaction with atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, resulting in carbonic acid. These particles partly dissociate to produce hydrogen ions and bicarbonate ions. A bicarbonate atom is an ion formed by one hydrogen atom, one carbon at atom, and three oxygen atoms, and is very effective in natural waters at neutralizing hydrogen ions and reducing acidity. The dissociation results in the natural acidity of pure rain, which is moderately acidic at a pH of 5.7. Rain less than 5.7 is considered 'acid rain', meaning it has reacted with acidic atmospheric gases other than carbon dioxide, such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide. Sulfur dioxide is produced by electric utilities, industrial, commercial and residential heating, smelters, diesel engines and marine and rail transport, which creates sulfuric acid in rain. Nitrogen dioxide will also react with the rain, caused largely by transportation (cars, trucks, planes, etc.) and electric utilities, producing nitric acid. There is a certain degree of naturally occurring acidity in rain water. This acid is from reaction with alkaline chemicals, found in soils, lakes and stream, and can occasionally occur when a volcano erupts as well. Bacterial action in soils and degasing from oceanic plankton also contribute to the acidity found in rain. More than 90% of the sulfur and 95% of the nitrogen emissions which occur in North America are due to the pollution created by humans.1 How Is Acid Rain Formed? Acid rain consists mainly of acids formed in the atmosphere. It consists of the oxides of sulfur, SO2 and SO3, and of nitrogen NO and NO2. Let us examine the major contributor to acid rain, sulfur oxides. Natural sources which emit sulfur dioxide include volcanoes, sea spray, plankton and rotting vegetation. Despite these natural occurrences, the burning of fossil fuels (such as coal and oil) can be largely blamed for the emissions. The chemical reactions begin as energy from sunlight, in the form of photons, hit ozone molecules (O3) to form free oxygen (O2), as well as single reactive oxygen atoms (O). The oxygen atoms react with water molecules (H2O), producing electrically charged, negative hydroxyl radicals (HO). These hydroxyl radicals are responsible for oxidizing sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide, which produces sulfuric acid and nitric acid. Some particles will settle to the ground (in the form of acid deposition) or vegetation can absorb some of the SO2 gas directly from the atmosphere. When sulfur dioxide comes in contact with the atmosphere, it oxidizes and forms a sulfate ion. It becomes sulfuric acid as it joins with hydrogen atoms in the air and falls down to earth. Oxidation occurs most in clouds, especially in heavily polluted air, where other compounds such as ammonia and ozone help to catalyze the reaction, increasing the amount of sulfur dioxide changing to sulfuric acid. Not all of the sulfur dioxide is converted to sulfuric acid, and it is not uncommon for a substantial amount to float up into the atmosphere, move to another area, and return to earth as sulfur dioxide, unconverted. S (in fossil fuels) + O2 =* SO2 2 SO2 + O2 =* 2 SO3 Much of the sulfur dioxide is converted to sulfur trioxide in the atmosphere SO3 + H2O =* H2SO4 The sulfur trioxide can then dissolve within water to form sulfuric acid Nitric oxide and nitric dioxide are mainly from power plants and exhaust fumes. Similar to sulfur dioxide, reactions are heavily catalyzed in heavily polluted clouds where iron, manganese, ammonia and hydrogen peroxide are present. Also, the formation of nitric acid can trigger further reactions which release new hydroxyl radicals to generate more sulfuric acid. The following is a typical reaction, which is direct combination of nitrogen and oxygen at the high temperature inside a car engine. N2 + O2 + heat =* 2NO 2NO + O2 =* 2NO2 This nitrogen monoxide immediately reacts with oxygen and forms nitrogen dioxide in the following reaction 3NO2 + H2O =* 2HNO3 (aq) + NO The nitrogen will then dissolve in water in

Legal Reasoning to the Grudge Informer Dilemma Essay Example

Legal Reasoning to the Grudge Informer Dilemma Essay Example Legal Reasoning to the Grudge Informer Dilemma Paper Legal Reasoning to the Grudge Informer Dilemma Paper Essay Topic: Emma The Problem of the Grudge Informer describes a situation that two major philosophical theories of law-Legal Positivism and Natural Law Theory-greatly disagree on. It provides a legitimate question for Natural Law theorists about the objective moral order of justice systems, which is accessed by reason and more specifically, the extent of which morality can play in criminalizing an apparent regime of terror. On the other hand, Legal Positivists challenge that whether a law has an integral moral aspect makes no difference to the prosecution of an otherwise anarchist government. For them, law is a system of orders or commands enforced by power. It is a pure human product. Herein lies the debate of the Grudge Informer. The Legal Positivist position holds that the informers were acting out of obligatory concern for the laws of that time and are therefore, legally guarded by those laws for any legitimate criminal offense. The Naturalist would respond indignantly towards the rigid legal position of the Positivists and would consequently punish every Grudge Informer for acts of willful harm and perhaps murder. For them, the acts of the informers were immoral and should not go unpunished, which the Positivists simply dont care about. Thus, as the newly appointed Minister of Justice, I adopt the third deputys suggested plan as the most logical and appropriate ruling because of the fact that an objective moral order, among other things, must be an integral part of all legal institutions and that the grudge informers shall not go unpunished for their wrongdoings. First, I urge that an additional and better plan could be implemented combining a couple of the steps each of these deputies has to offer. However, I conclude that if one recommendation were chosen then the third deputy presents the most satisfying plan for all parts of the justice system. Each of the other recommendations contains slight defects of which I will examine. According to the first deputys recommendation, we shouldnt and cant prosecute any of the grudge informers. Their acts of what a Purple Shirtist might call patriotism were protected by the law of the land (Fuller 160). The first deputy goes on to say that, like our newfound democratic justice system, the Purple Shirts operated under the law even though those laws might be wrong. He says, The cardinal point of our creed is that when an objective has been duly incorporated into a law or judicial decree it must be provisionally accepted even by those who hate it (Fuller 161). However, although their acts might seem lawful and obligatory, they were clearly wrong. The law itself was defected. In any sort of government, the protection of its citizens is its ultimate concern. That is not to say a lawful protection always occurs. The first deputy fails to recognize that although lawful, the acts of Purple Shirtism were wrong and could diminish the duty of protection if future terrorist regimes were to take control. The first deputy contains yet another logical error. Rather than admitting the Purple Shirts were wrong, he simply acknowledges the difference in their ideology so as to say whatever they believed and whatever their objectives were, they were still lawful. He even admits that they disregarded any laws that didnt fit their ideology. This is ultimately where his recommendation fails. It is contradictory and rather relativistic that he suggests each ideology is correct in its own right when he admits some acts of the Purple Shirts were what we consider detestable (Fuller 160). In essence, to disregard any wrong actions the grudge informers made simply because they were lawful at that time is exactly what Purple Shirtists did when they disregarded laws not pertaining to their ideology. Essentially, he admits this was wrong and therefore, immoral. Like Fuller, if we acknowledge the virtue of right and wrong rules then we acknowledge morality pertaining to law. To accept the first deputys recommendation would take on a strict positivist role, which is insufficient to the misconduct performed by the informers. In the second deputys recommendation the same resolution is reached, but by the conclusion that there were no laws at all during that time. He says, What they did do was neither lawful nor contrary to the law, for they lived, not under a regime of law, but under one of anarchy and terror (Fuller 161). He admits that it was a war of all against all and that the so-called grudge informers were just one phase of that war (Fuller 161). Logically, this cannot be a significant reason to overlook the atrocities that the informers intended to commit. The second deputy is essentially sweeping the entire period of the Purple Shirt regime under the rug, including the grudge informers. It occurs to me, as in the first deputys recommendation, that an apathetic attitude is suggested toward the wrong actions of the grudge informers. Something must be done simply to avoid another reign of terror. To not act would be the most harmful act. As Martin Luther King Jr. once said, Justice too long delayed is justice denied, let alone any step towards justice taken at all (MLK 79). Although the fourth deputys recommendation demands some action against the grudge informers, I disagree with enacting a special statute. He argues that the third deputy would perpetuate the abuses of the Purple Shirt party even though enacting a statute would seemingly do the same. The fourth deputy contradicts his own reasoning. He asserts that the Purple Shirtists used the law to their advantage by using the ones they liked and nullifying the ones they didnt, but doesnt realize his own recommendation uses the same logical sequence. Even if we were to apply existing laws to the actions of the grudge informers it would be historically unfair, let alone enacting a new law. This exemplifies the debate of the legitimacy of post facto laws, which is a delicate route. The argument of developing a new statute is dangerous and unforeseen. Furthermore, the fourth deputys recommendation relies upon the contingency that the special statute would be sufficient. And after his flawed reasoning of enacting a special statute, it would be irresponsible to believe we could approve of one that could separate the grudge informers from all the other criminal activities of that time. Finally, the fifth deputy, like the first and the second, recommends that nothing should be done and that, instead, we should allow that instinct [of revenge] to express itself directly without the intervention of forms of law (Fuller 163). I strongly disagree with this proposal. A just society should hold the highest values of law, and to accept that revenge is one of these values is to accept this type of behavior from those that are subject to the set of laws. This type of unlawful behavior reminds me of the Wild West, which is infamous for its outlaws and lack of justice administration. In addition, the fifth deputy acknowledges with his recommendation that a few innocent heads will be broken (Fuller 163). It is unacceptable that any innocent people should be afflicted under a justice system that holds the highest of values, especially one that chooses to do nothing about serious offenses. St. Thomas Aquinas would support my position when he defined Law as nothing else than an ordinance of reason for the common good, promulgated by him who has the care of the community (Aquinas 77). Clearly, the fifth deputy breaks the most basic concepts of law by ironically doing nothing. After reviewing the deputys recommendations, I conclude that the third deputy presents the best alternative to the Grudge Informer dilemma. He recognizes that we cannot deem the entire Purple Shirt regime as outside the realm of law, or, on the other, that all of its doings are entitled to full credence as the acts of a lawful government (Fuller 161). Somewhere in between those two extremes lies the problem of the Grudge Informer, which is why the third deputy offers punishment on a case-by-case basis. This particular group of people within the Purple Shirt regime knowingly used the legal system to the benefit of themselves and not of the entire society. In this case, the grudge informers were operating under unjust laws even though they were following their laws. Saint Thomas Aquinas would agree with me when he declared, An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal and natural law (MLK 80). This brings us back to the debate between Naturalists and Positivists in which I am inclined, as is the case for Fuller, to believe that there is some internal morality within law; that Law is not merely order, but good order (Adams 44). The informers themselves exemplified the positivist tradition in that they didnt hesitate at the possible morality of the situation, but followed the law with tunnel vision and consequently should be punished accordingly. Like Fuller, my perspective of the Grudge Informer is not strictly from the naturalists but, rather, one that doesnt agree with the positivists. As a result, neither Fuller nor I would agree with any deputy but the third.

Managing Change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Managing Change - Essay Example This move would have resulted in the loss of 600 jobs in its combined workforce of approximately 4,200 employees from the two plants. For that year, annual production targets were also reduce from 70,000 units to merely 40,000. Global overproduction and a 17% slump in domestic sales for the second half of 1999 were the reasons cited by Mitsubishi for the downsizing. Mitsubishi officials also claimed that the decline in the value of the Australian dollar had made it too costly to import Mitsubishi components. The decision to downsize in 2000 followed the downsizing of already 300 production jobs for the company yet despite these decisions, profits for the company did not improve. As of December 1999, the company reported a $A 130-million loss, its worse in twenty years in Australia (Cook, 2000). In 1997, the Howard government suspended plans to end tariff protection for the car industry until 2010 due to pressure from car manufacturers and threats by Mitsubishi that it will wind-up production in Australia. This was initially regarded as guaranteeing job security for worker, but despite the existence of tariff protection, major restructuring and downsizing still continued in Mitsubishi. The reason is that downsizing is attributed not to the company's national performance but to a major global restructuring program announced by Mitsubishi in October 2000 to cut costs by $US 3 billion by 2001. The plan involved cutting 9,900 jobs from the company's international workforce of 88,800 over a span of four years. Of the 9,900 jobs to be cut, 1,400 of these are production and clerical jobs in Japan (Cook, 2000). Another factor that compounds to the company's problems is its debt of 1.75 trillion yen or $A 27 billion. Mitsubishi continues to be under pressure from Daimler-Chrysler, who has a one-third holding in the company, and the power of veto over Mitsubishi's board. Daimler-Chrysler is demanding Mitsubishi to take drastic steps to reduce its huge debt and that the company focuses its future investment in more efficient production plants in Malaysia and Thailand (rather than Australia) where there is cheaper labour and favourable local investment incentives (Cook, 2000). In addition to these problems, Mitsubishi is also burdened by a failed vehicle financing scheme in the U.S. and losses amounting to approximately $US 2.8 billion in 2003. Daimler-Chrysler, the majority shareholder for the company, also refused to give Mitsubishi a $US 6.5 billion restructuring package (Spoehr, 2004). In 2004, Mitsubishi released a restructuring plan and formally announced its decision to close down its Lonsdale Plant resulting in the loss of 650 jobs, including the reduction of 350 workers in their Tonsley Park assembly plant workforce (Spoehr, 2004). The

Financial Accounting has become increasingly standardised and Essay

Financial Accounting has become increasingly standardised and harmonized across organizations in different industries, while Management Accounting continues to - Essay Example Each corporation that is registered under the Companies Act faces a requisite to prepare a set of accounts that would present an accurate as well as reasonable view of its profit otherwise loss for the specific year along with that of its conditions almost by the end of each year . It is noticeable that the Annual accounts for Companies Act rationales by and large consist of the following elements: But the as long as the conglomerate is a "parent company", in other words, the company that furthermore owns additional companies - auxiliary then "merged accounts" have got to also be primed. Yet again there are certain prevailing exceptions to this prerequisite. The proportional figures ought to also be specified for more or less each and every one of the substance as well as scrutiny specified within a year end of financial statements. There are certain exceptions to this rule which are shown specifically. For illustration, there is no prerequisite to offer proportional figures for the notes detailing the arrangements during the year upon fixed positive characteristic otherwise reserves balances. (Melissa Bushman)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Posing that query of an accountant is similar to enquiring a cultivator what possible need would rainfall fulfill? There is no doubt that accounting element is required in order to assess and support the progressive development of any specific business. And thus it would not be wrong to deem it as the actual supportive wall the actual backbone of the financial accounting structure. The country of Italy has come out after years of research as the foremost recorded resource for accounting entries, in addition to being the initial published accounting toil during 1494 was through a Venetian monk.   So it is not too hard to perceive this conceptual element of accounting as a well thought-out method for

A report on Agile and OOAD Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

A report on Agile and OOAD - Research Paper Example Guidelines for Combining Agile with other approaches 9 VIII. Case Study 10 IX. Recommendations and Challenges 10 X. Bibliography 11 I. Introduction In the past few years, there have emerged a large number of software development practices and processes. In this scenario, agile software development methodologies have become a trend in quickly changing software industry. In the past, only the traditional software development methodology was the only method to develop software products. However, it was not supportive for late changes and iterations. In order to deal with the issues presented in traditional software development approaches there emerged a very attractive software development approach, known as agile software development. Soon it became a standard software development approach which received a great deal of support of all kinds of experts from the software industry. At the present, the majority of software development firms and software developers are aware of agile softwa re development methodologies. They use it all the way through the software development lifecycle. Basically, agile software development approach is based on some principles which can be tailored according to varying requirements of software projects. This report will present a detailed analysis of agile software development. ... In this scenario, the term â€Å"agile† is used to reveal number of meanings like that implement changes rapidly, deliver the completed product rapidly and accommodate change frequently. In view of the fact that there are a large number of software development approaches (for instance Scrum, XP and many more) which come under the umbrella of agile software development paradigm and they differ in emphasis and practices, however they all follow the same principles which come under agile agenda. In this scenario, many researchers present the common description of the agile manifesto. According to researchers agile methodology and its family members are based on the following principles (Kavitha & Thomas, 2011; Lucia & Qusef, 2010; Paetsch, 2003): Working software application or a product should be delivered as rapidly and regularly as possible (it should be delivered in days in place of weeks and in weeks in place of months) Working software application should give an insight int o the progress of the overall project Improving the customer satisfaction by providing them rapid and regular release of implemented software application. Agile software development methodologies are aimed at supporting and accommodating late changes all the way through the software development lifecycle. In fact, late changes in requirements are effectively accommodated without having serious effects on the overall development or project. Agile software methodologies are designed to support effective collaboration, communication and close on a daily basis cooperation between business people and developers in fact among all the stakeholders Agile software development methodologies are highly based on

The Human Resource Planning Of Asda Management Essay

The Human Resource Planning Of Asda Management Essay The human resource planning is a persistent process by which it looks to assurance flexible re-sourcing connected to internal and external environmental pressures. An effective Human Resource planning can facilitate those two companies anticipating possible usual problems. Forward planning will allow the two companies developing and implementing successful approaches in relation with: à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢Recruitment à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢Selection à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢Induction à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢Training à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢Retraining à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢Career progression à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢Development ASDA and Tesco both are the leading supermarket in UK. As I left ASDA and join in Tesco. Therefore I know the aim and objective of the both company. Both companies strategies are to ensure good customer service and increase the sales for business development. A good plan will help both companies following activity: ASDA: Evaluate future recruitment needed because ASDA needs staff that know the products that the company is selling and know how to put those products and make great offers in order to catch the customers attention and interest so they can buy them despite the actual economic situation Creating training programs for the employees as for example the store staff needs to have good communication skills, they need to put the products in the right place and always be updated Building up promotion and careers development to motivate the staff and offer them a better place to work so they can perform well. Avoid redundancy as it can have a bad effect on the other employees Evaluating future needed equipments, technology and premises. Controlling the staff wages and salaries while keeping the competitiveness of the salaries TESCO: Evaluate future recruitments needed as Tesco is increasingly expanding businesses and actually have more than 2482 Tesco Extra, superstores, Metro, Express etc. in more than 14 countries across the world. Creating training programs for the staff as the staff for example in the till needs to serve customer fast, also they need to have a good customer service. And they also have self-scanned tills for customer that make customer happier. Build up promotion and career development strategies which will benefit both the staff and the organization Avoid redundancy as this can affect the other workers they will be de-motivated and it will give a bad image to the organization Build a flexible workforce to meet up with the changing requirement and environment. Controlling the staff wages and salaries while in the mean times guaranteeing the competitiveness of the salaries Evaluating future necessities from equipments, knowledge, technology and premises. HRM MODEL USED IN BOTH COMPANIES: According to Truss et al. (1997) the development of human resource management from personnel management has produced a number of models and theories. There are two models most widely used in human resource management are the hard and soft forms which are based on different analyses and thoughts of management control plans and human nature. Soft and Hard models are used in ASDA and Tesco organisations as human resources planning which are most important in the organisational development. Hard and Soft models of HRM are discusses as follows: HARD HRM: Hard HRM pushes the resource characteristic of human resource management; Legge cited in Gill (1999) refers to this as Practical Instrumentalism. This hard model pushes HRMs give attention on the vital consequence of the close combination of human resource strategies, systems and performance with business strategy. Besides this viewpoint human resources are mainly an issue of production, cost of doing business more willingly than the only resource capable of turning inorganic factors of production in to wealth. Human Resources are analyses as passive, to be provided and organized as numbers and skills at the correct price, rather than the foundation of original force (Legge, 1995, cited in Gill, 1999). Hard HRM is as calculative and tough minded as any other branch of management, communicating through the tough language of business and economics. This emphasis on the quantitative, calculative and business-strategic aspects of managing the headcount has been termed human asset accounting (Storey, 1987). The hard HRM approach has some kinship with scientific management as people are reduced to passive objects that are not cherished as a whole people but assessed on whether they posses the skills/attributes the organisation requires (Legge, 1995; Vaughan, 1994; Storey, 1987; Drucker et al, 1996; Keenoy, 1990 cited in Gill, 1999). A different view of HRM is associated with the Michigan Business School (Fombrun, Tichy and Devanna, 1984). There are many similarities with the Harvard map but the Michigan model has a harder, less humanistic edge, holding that employees are resources in the same way as any other business resource. People have to be managed in a similar manner to equipment and raw materials. They must be obtained as cheaply as possible, used sparingly, and developed and exploited as much as possible (www.hrmguide.co.uk). SOFT HRM: Storey (1989) cited in Price (2011) describes that Soft form of human resource management characterised by Harvard model. Soft HRM put pressures on the human aspects of HRM. It is giving more attention with communication and motivation in the organisation. This model distinguished that people should guide properly rather than managed. They are more involved in influential and realizing planning objectives in the organisation (www.hrmguide.co.uk). However, Soft HRM places an importance on human and is linked with the human relations school of Herzberg and McGregor (Storey, 1987 cited in Gill, 1999). Legge (1995) cited in Gill (1999) refers to this as Developmental Humanism. at the same time as emphasising the significance of integrating HR strategies with Business objectives, the soft model emphasises on taking care of employees as valued resources and a source of competitive benefit through their promise, flexibility and excellent skill and performance. Employees are positive rather than inactive inputs into dynamic processes, competent of development, worthy of confidence and teamwork which is accomplished through contribution (Legge, 1995, pp 66-67 cited in Gill, 1999). The soft version is seen as a method of releasing untapped reserves of human resourcefulness by increasing employee commitment, participation and involvement. Employee commitment is sought with the expectation that effectiveness will follow as second-order consequences. Walton (1985, p. 79) suggests that a model that assumes low employee commitment and that is designed to produce reliable if not outstanding performance simply cannot match the standards of excellence set by 5 world-class competitors and discusses the choice that managers have between a strategy based on imposing control and a strategy based on eliciting commitment (Gill, 1999). The soft model of HRM is based on viewing the individual as a human being utilising human talent and capability and generating commitment from employees (linked with the Human relations movement-see work of Maslow, Mayo, McGregor and Herzberg). Other features of the soft approach include: Generating a motivated, skilled and harmonious workforce. Generating commitment to the organisation and its goals objectives, Strategies and organisational culture Winning individuals hearts and minds Treating human being as humans and not a resource or commodity Generating two-way communication between management and the workforce to promote commitment and harmony. HRM PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT METHODS USED IN TESCO AND ASDA: Recruitment and selection process within ASDA. The recruitment processes within ASDA consist of 2 steps: Online application by which the applicant needs to fill in the information required in the application which may include some verbal, numerical and personality tests, which will enable the company gathering all the information that it need. And this will let ASDA decide whether the candidate is suitable or not. If the candidate succeed, the next step will depend on the role that the candidate applied for, the applicant will may be asked to attend interviews, or to a group assessment centre which the applicants will be asked to perform tasks designed to highlights the skills. Recruitment and selection process within Tesco The recruitment process of Tesco for example team members consist of two steps application. Online application which consist of filling in the information that the candidate is asked to do online which contain personal details, previous work experiences, qualifications, and additionally a questionnaire that put the candidate in real life situation for example if the customer service, dealing with complex situation with customer etc. Is the candidate have effectively passed the first application step, he or she will be called to the store for an OJE (On Job Evaluation) and a face to face interview. With the OJE which only last 15 minutes the manager will give the applicants tasks to do so he or she can see how the candidate perform in real life situation and the manager evaluate the candidate customer service and skills and then he or she reflected against what they are looking for in a candidate. And then after that the candidate will have an interview with the business managers. Finally he will asses the candidate meet their requirement or not. In comparing the two processes we can see that Tesco spend much more on recruiting and selecting than ASDA by using on job evaluation (OJE) system but despite it is taking more time, it is very effective as it shows and indicates if the candidate is the right person for the right job. STAFF TURNOVER: Marchington, M. Wilkinson, A (2007) in a study of CIPD (2004) finds that labour turnover rates vary considerably between industry sector and occupational group, at the same time as do the costs of recruitment. Most employers are more concern about collect statistics on labour turnover, but they also facing problem with lack of data or software issues (IRS Employment review 2004). Many employers also performs exit interviews, and both of these tasks are usually carried out by HR department where no involvement of line manager. The information is used to improve HR practices and policies such as communication, induction, learning and development and selection in an effort to reduce turnover (CIPD 2004b, p31). Perhaps the issue is the most difficult due to all cases of labour turnover are treated in the similar way, without giving any allowances for the performance levels and latent of the employees who quit from organization doing comparison with available employee. It is pointed that, manager is comparatively happy if an unskilled or poor performer were to leave, and there are suggestions from the researchers that if the future of the company is uncertain then employers in reality encourage turnover for not to carrying staff (Smith et al 2004 cited on Marchington, M. Wilkinson, A., 2007). On the other hand, if turnover was determined along with high-flyers or high skilled or highly experience and those who remained were unskilled or poor performers or lacked of ambitions, in that case this could have serious penalty for the organization. However, a high rate of labour turnover could be benefited for the company if the organizations aim is to trim back the workplace or reduce costs of production (Sadhev et al 1999 cited on Marchington, M. Wilkinson, A., 2007). Alternatively, Rubery et al (2004); Smith et al (2004) cited on Marchington, M. Wilkinson, A., (2007) argued that employers may come to a decision to use temporary employment agencies for recruiting staff so that they pass the problem to somewhere else. Glebbeek and Bax 2004 cited on Marchington, M. Wilkinson, A., 2007 point out that company should decide whether an optimum level of labour turnover with the mix of internal labour market and keep new recruits coming in, or whether the cost of turnover make most cases costly and unnecessary. According to Linda Maund (2001) some internal causes of an increasing labour turnover: The recruitment and selection procedure is not enough and imperfectly matches individuals to jobs. Employees are not well motivated and dont feel the organization from the core. S/he will consider better opportunities outside the organization and employee does not feel any interest to do better for the organization. Not equality in wages and salaries with competitors. THE EXIT PROCEDURES Tesco and ASDA both company paying attention of staff turnover percentages. They both are dedicated to find the way to reduce staff turnover in their company. For that reason they follow exit procedures who are leaving the job. Concerning Tesco and ASDA the exit procedures that this company follow is similar to other companies as it undertake an exit interview with the person who is leaving the job, so the staff will have the opportunity to give explanation their reasons for leaving the job, or in the case of the staff choosing another employer, or to air their grievance, all this helped Tesco to what it is now as those criticism helped the company to take decisions to change their policies, especially if this employee is leaving for a competitor. What Tesco and ASDA do is that despite the interview that make the manager listen to the staff and know the reason of leaving such as challenging work environment, salary, discrimination, promotion. If the employee is a good performer they try to keep him or she in the organization, as he or she is beneficial to the company and the organization doesnt want to loose of their staff because he may give more with the competitors and they can use the staff knowledge and what this staff has gained of knowledge against the previous company. And this is including the resignation of the staff. RETAIN EMPLOYEE: In the case of redundancy Tescos transfer staff to other superstores that are in need of workforce because as we know that Tesco in one of the fastest growing companies in the world, so in redundancy situation the company offers alternative job and all this is with discussion with the worker. The same thing applies to ASDA because this outplacement can keep this employees working and performing in the same level and improve confidence of the other employees and also it gives a good image about the two companies. However, Tesco and ASDA both companies are giving employee discount to motivate employee which is more effective to retain employees. By following those procedures the two companies can get better in the domain knowing if it comes to keeping good employees working for them, and those solution that were mentioned above are measured as the best and the commonly used by professional and leading organizations around the world. TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT: One major area of the human resource functions of particular relevance to the effective use of human resource training and development. A number of academic people would argue against the significance of training as a main influence on the success of an organisation. Training works outside-in; education works inside-out. Therefore training is benefited for the organisation if they learn to be wise in how to use of an individuals capability and it helps to achieved business goals. Training has four main levels such as output training, task training, performance training and strategic training. However, these four main levels of need for any organisation for improve the skills. Different levels of training will required different time period based of staff capabilities. Training for change is important for the long-term survival of an organisation. Increasing importance is being placed both on the necessary for continual training to maintain change and on training as a very important investment for the future. THE BENEFITS OF TRAINING: The main reason of training is to develop knowledge and skills, and to change approach is one of the important motivational factors. This helps to many potential benefits for not only individuals but also organisation. The key benefits of training are as follows: Boost the self-confidence, motivation and loyalty of employee. Give recognition, increased responsibility, and the opportunity of employee promotion. Give a feeling of personal satisfaction and achievement, and broaden opportunity for career development and Assist to improve the availability and quality of employees. Finally it can say that Training is the main factors of organisational performance development. Tesco and ASDA both company giving more attention of the employee training as they know that it is the major issues for the employee developments which lead to the increase organisational performance achieved the goals. HR PERFORMANCE IS CURRENTLY INDICATED AND MONITORED: The organisational performance fully depends on human resource management activities (Ulrich 1997a) in the organisation. Employees are the key resource of the organisation. Therefore, HR will make a significant impact on company performance when a suitable HR strategies and procedures are developed and implemented effectively. Apparently Tesco and ASDA both companies focus on the HR activities which leads to increase the organisational performance. The HRM-performance model (Phillips, 1996b) is discussed as follows: Human resource measurement, demonstrating the link between HRM strategy and organisational performance needs the examination of some set of variables. The methodology for make sure high central strength would preferably allow a calculation of how different human resource management strategies or individual activities affect economic performance of the company at the same time as controlling other issues that might pressure those performance results. High internal validity indicates to the level to which the outcomes can be indiscriminate to conclude the impacts of human resource management practices (Bratton and Gold, 2007). Phillips (1996) model (see appendix I) is showing the relationship between HRM practices and organisational performance. Tesco and ASDA both companies HR performance is currently indicated and monitored by Phillips (1996) HRM-organisational performance. The human resource management added-value model is indicates the total relationship between three major elements. Human resource management Human resource performance measures, at both individual staff and work team levels. Organisational performance measures. HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT: The human resource management element consists of HR strategy, policies, programmes, practices and system (see appendix I) which be present in work organisations and that impacts on staff and team performance, and cause effects individual and organisational performance (Bratton Gold, 2007). STAFF PERFORMANCE MEASURES: The second element of Phillips (1996) model (see appendix I) indicates the performance effects of human resource management, approximately in part by staff performance measures. Academicians have a few options to measuring individual employees and groups. Saks (2000) cited in Bratton Gold (2007) draws three measurements they are discussed as follows: Traits: Evaluating the individuals personal traits is more important, and it is one of the significant tasks of HRM. It may find out the employees loyalty or commitment to the organisation. Behaviours: It is focus on what employee does and does not do in the organisation such as absent from work, poor time-keeping and resigning from service. Outcomes: It focuses on the employee outcome in workplace during the time of workplace that helps to measure employee performance such as number of unit completed, accident level or customer complaints etc. Moreover, at present team work became more common in the organisation. According to Saks (2000) cited in Bratton Gold (2007) team performance is strongly influenced by four input variables for example team structure, team norms, team composition and team leadership; and process variables such as team working and team learnings which impacts on the team performance outcomes. ORGANISATIONAL PERFORMANCE MEASURES: Organisational performance depends on the individual employee and team work measurements (see the appendix I). According to the researchers cited in Bratton Gold (2007) discussed several organisational performance measures techniques such as labour productivity ratios, product and service quality, unit cost ratios, revenue productivity and return on investment (ROI). However, researchers also design organisation performance measures techniques on the basis of goal achievement. This technique is relying on four specific indicators such as profit-related directories, productivity, quality and perceptual measures of goal achievement. Bratton and Gold (2007) also states three important reasons for organisational outcomes measures: Employee-related outcomes as they are directly influenced by HR practices. Different rewards and training programmes are to influence on the employee outcomes. These outcomes such as productivity, quality and employee unit cost which can manipulate the organisations financial operational goals. The outcomes can manipulate the individual psychological contact as well as behaviour which involves with the outputs. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION: Human resource management is a planned technique to managing employment relations which highlight that influencing peoples potentiality is critical to getting competitive advantage, this being achieve throughout a distinguishing set of incorporated employment policies, programmes and practices (Bratton 2007). Employees are the key driven force in any organisation. Organisational success depends on the employee performance. Discrimination in workplace plays psychological impact on the employees mind which may lead to negative impact on employee performance. Therefore, HR main duty is to most effective uses of human resources in organisation. They need to employ right person for the organisation and build up employee based on the current requirement by the training and development process. UK is a multi-cultural country. Different cultural people lives and come to shopping in the superstores. Consequently HR should be fair for all employees and keep in eye on the employees to make sure equal opportunity ground in workplace for each employee. To get potential benefit from the employee motivation is significant for the organisation. HR required to ensure reward systems to motivate employees. Tesco and ASDA both HRM is works for the business development. For that reason both company is continuously developing their system on the basis of current business trends. I recommend ASDA to follow the on job evaluation (OJE) system to recruit best person for the organisation. And both company need to focus on the skills development process and evaluation process which are linked to employee motivation. Finally it can say that human resource management has thought new prominence as concerns persevere about international competition, the development of technology and the productivity of employee (Bratton 2007) in both companies to increase business efficiency.

Free Essay on Ecology of a Cracker Childhood :: Cracker

Free Essay on Ecology of a Cracker Childhood      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   By reading Ecology of a Cracker Childhood, it is safe to assume that Janisse Ray, the main character, author, is one who doesn't conform and has a stubborn nature. For instance, when Ray wants to play football with the boys in her class at recess she gets angered when they tell her no she can not play with them; so instead of accepting their reply she jumps in the game anyway and tackles the boy with the football.   The boys angry with the fact that their friend, a guy, got tackled by a girl went chasing after her. Why did Ray feel the need to make a statement by taking down the boy with the football? Perhaps it was her feminist nature, driving her to show the boys that just because she was a female didn't mean that she was not able to do as they did. Whether or not it was feminism, Ray, still has the heart of a revolutionary.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Ray suspected that the boys' rejection was due to the fact that she was a girl, but her suspicions were repudiated when she saw a girl playing with them. The only difference between Janisse and the other girl was that the other girl was not wearing a dress.   The Ray family's religious convictions required the females of the family to wear a dress, providing for the boys uneasiness when it came down to allowing her to play with them. Janisse, dress or not, felt capable of partaking in the sport. It is women like Ray, who will not take no for an answer, that has brought equal rights to their gender in sports, jobs and even around the house.    America was founded, and has been very successful because of people like Ray, who want to leave their backgrounds or use them to learn from them in order to better their lives in the future; the kind of people that will do anything, whether it is leaving their homeland for a foreign soil in search of a new life and freedom, or tackling the boy with the football. Things have been changed, invented, and made better by people that will not take no for an answer. Free Essay on Ecology of a Cracker Childhood :: Cracker Free Essay on Ecology of a Cracker Childhood      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   By reading Ecology of a Cracker Childhood, it is safe to assume that Janisse Ray, the main character, author, is one who doesn't conform and has a stubborn nature. For instance, when Ray wants to play football with the boys in her class at recess she gets angered when they tell her no she can not play with them; so instead of accepting their reply she jumps in the game anyway and tackles the boy with the football.   The boys angry with the fact that their friend, a guy, got tackled by a girl went chasing after her. Why did Ray feel the need to make a statement by taking down the boy with the football? Perhaps it was her feminist nature, driving her to show the boys that just because she was a female didn't mean that she was not able to do as they did. Whether or not it was feminism, Ray, still has the heart of a revolutionary.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Ray suspected that the boys' rejection was due to the fact that she was a girl, but her suspicions were repudiated when she saw a girl playing with them. The only difference between Janisse and the other girl was that the other girl was not wearing a dress.   The Ray family's religious convictions required the females of the family to wear a dress, providing for the boys uneasiness when it came down to allowing her to play with them. Janisse, dress or not, felt capable of partaking in the sport. It is women like Ray, who will not take no for an answer, that has brought equal rights to their gender in sports, jobs and even around the house.    America was founded, and has been very successful because of people like Ray, who want to leave their backgrounds or use them to learn from them in order to better their lives in the future; the kind of people that will do anything, whether it is leaving their homeland for a foreign soil in search of a new life and freedom, or tackling the boy with the football. Things have been changed, invented, and made better by people that will not take no for an answer.

Epistemology †Empiricism Essay

Principles like those Parmenides assumed are said in contemporary jargon to be a priori principles, or principles of reason, which just means that they are known prior to experience. It is not that we learn these principles first chronologically but rather that our knowledge of them does not depend on our senses. For example, consider the principle â€Å"You can’t make something out of nothing. † If you wished to defend this principle, would you proceed by conducting an experiment in which you tried to make something out of nothing? In fact, you would not. You would base your defense on our inability to conceive of ever making  something out of nothing Everything we know originates from four sources. The first, our senses, can be thought of as our primary source of information. Two other sources, reason and intuition, are derivative in the sense that they produce new facts from data already supplied to our minds. The fourth source, authority (or â€Å"hearsay,† or â€Å"testimony† of others), is by nature secondary, and secondhand fact-claims are always more wiggly and difficult to validate. Other sources of knowledge are commonly claimed, and it is not inconceivable that there might exist other sources; but if they do exist,  knowledge derived from them is problematic, and careful analysis usually finds that they can be subsumed under one or more of the four known sources and must be seriously questioned as legitimate, separate sources of reliable information. In summary, what is the nature of our knowledge about the real world of objects/events? Our knowledge of reality is composed of ideas our minds have created on the basis of our sensory experience. It is a fabric of knowledge woven by the mind. Knowledge is not given to the mind; nothing is â€Å"poured† into it. Rather, the mind manufactures perceptions, concepts, ideas, beliefs, and so forth and holds  them as working hypotheses about external reality. Every idea is a (subjective) working model that enables us to handle real objects/events with some degree of pragmatic efficiency. However persuasive our thoughts and images may be, they are only remote representations of reality; they are tools that enable us to deal with reality. It is as though we draw nondimensional maps to help us understand four-dimensional territory. The semanticists have long reminded us to beware of confusing any sort of map with the real landscape. â€Å"The map,† they say, â€Å"is not the territory. † An abstraction, by definition, is an idea created by the mind to refer to all objects which, possessing certain characteristics in common, are thought of in the same class. The number of objects in the class can range from two to infinity. We can refer to all men, all hurricanes, all books, all energy-forms—all everything. While abstraction-building is an inescapable mental process—in fact it is the first step in the organization of our knowledge of objects/events—a serious problem is inherent in the process. At high levels of abstraction we tend to group together objects that have but a few qualities in common, and our abstractions  may be almost meaningless, without our knowing it. We fall into the habit of using familiar abstractions and fail to realize how empty they are. For example, what do the objects in the following abstractions have in common? All atheists, all Western imperialists, all blacks or all whites (and if you think it’s skin color, think twice), all conservatives, all trees, all French people, all Christians. When we think in such high-level abstractions, it is often the case that we are communicating nothing meaningful at all. â€Å"The individual object or event we are naming, of course, has no name and belongs  to no class until we put it in one. † Going as far back as Plato, philosophers have traditionally defined knowledge as true justified belief. A priori knowledge is knowledge that is justified independently of (or prior to) experience. What kinds of knowledge could be justified without any appeal to experience? Certainly, we can know the truth of definitions and logical truths apart from experience. Hence, definitions and logically necessary truths are examples of a priori knowledge. For example, â€Å"All unicorns are one-horned creatures† is true by definition. Similarly, the following  statement is a sure bet: â€Å"Either my university’s football team will win their next game or they won’t. † Even if they tie or the game is canceled, this would fulfill the â€Å"they won’t win† part of the prediction. Hence, this statement expresses a logically necessary truth about the football team. These two statements are cases of a priori knowledge. Notice that in the particular examples of a priori knowledge I have chosen, they do not give us any real, factual information about the world. Even though the statement about unicorns is true, it does not tell us whether there are any unicorns in the world. Similarly, the football prediction does not tell us the actual outcome of the game. Experience of the world is required to know these things. The second kind of knowledge is a posteriori knowledge, or knowledge that is based on (or posterior to) experience. Similarly, the adjective empirical refers to anything that is based on experience. Any claims based on experience purport to add new information to the subject. Hence, â€Å"Water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit† and â€Å"Tadpoles become frogs† would be examples of a posteriori knowledge. We know the freezing point of water and the life cycle of tadpoles through experience. Thus far, most philosophers would agree on these points. The difficult question now arises: Is there any a priori knowledge that does give us knowledge about the real world? What would that be like? It would be knowledge expressible in a statement such that (a) its truth is not determined solely by the meaning of its terms and (b) it does provide information about the way the world is. Furthermore, since it is a priori, it would be knowledge that we could justify through reason, independently of experience. The question, then, is whether or not reason alone can tell us about the ultimate nature of reality. 1. Is it possible to have knowledge at all? 2. Does reason provide us with knowledge of the world independently of experience? 3. Does our knowledge represent reality as it really is? Rationalism claims that reason or the intellect is the primary source of our fundamental knowledge about reality. Nonrationalists agree that we can use reason to draw conclusions from the information provided by sense experience. However, what distinguishes the rationalists is that they claim that reason can give us knowledge apart from experience. For example, the rationalists point out that we can arrive at mathematical truths about circles  or triangles without having to measure, experiment with, or experience circular or triangular objects. We do so by constructing rational, deductive proofs that lead to absolutely indubitable conclusions that are always universally true of the world outside our minds (a priori knowledge about the world). Obviously, the rationalists think the second question should be answered affirmatively. Empiricism is the claim that sense experience is the sole source of our knowledge about the world. Empiricists insist that when we start life, the original equipment of our intellect is a tabula rasa, or blank tablet. Only through experience does that empty mind become filled with content. Various empiricists give different explanations of the nature of logical and mathematical truths. They are all agreed, however, that these truths are not already latent in the mind before we discover them and that there is no genuine a priori knowledge about the nature of reality. The empiricists would respond â€Å"No! † to the second epistemological question. With respect to question 3, both the rationalists and the empiricists think that our knowledge does represent reality as it really is. Constructivism is used in this discussion to refer to the claim that knowledge is neither already in the mind nor passively received from experience, but that the mind constructs knowledge out of the materials of experience. Immanuel Kant, an 18th-century German philosopher, introduced this view. He was influenced by both the rationalists and the empiricists and attempted to reach a compromise between them. While Kant did not agree with the rationalists on everything, he did believe we can have a priori knowledge of the world as we experience it. Although Kant did not use this label, I call his position constructivism  to capture his distinctive account of knowledge. One troubling consequence of his view was that because the mind imposes its own order on experience, we can never know reality as it is in itself. We can only know reality as it appears to us after it has been filtered and processed by our minds. Hence, Kant answers question 3 negatively. Nevertheless, because Kant thought our minds all have the same cognitive structure, he thought we are able to arrive at universal and objective knowledge within the boundaries of the human situation. Before reading further, look at the highway picture for an example of a classic  experiment in perception. Did you get the right answer, or were your eyes fooled? One way that skeptics attack knowledge claims is to point to all the ways in which we have been deceived by illusions. Our experience with perceptual illusions shows that in the past we have been mistaken about what we thought we knew. These mistakes lead, the skeptic claims, to the conclusion that we can never be certain about our beliefs, from which it follows that our beliefs are not justified. Another, similar strategy of the skeptic is to point to the possibility that our apprehension of reality could be systematically flawed in some way. The story of Ludwig, the brain in the vat who experienced a false virtual reality, would be an example of this strategy. Another strategy is to suppose that there is an inherent flaw in human psychology such that our beliefs never correspond to reality. I call these possible scenarios universal belief falsifiers. The characteristics of a universal belief falsifier are (1) it is a theoretically possible state of affairs, (2) we have no way of knowing if this state of affairs is actual or not, and (3) if this state of affairs is actual, we would never be able to distinguish beliefs that are true  from beliefs that seem to be true but are actually false. Note that the skeptic does not need to prove that these possibilities are actual. For example, the skeptic does not have to establish that we really are brains in a vat, but merely that this condition is possible. Furthermore, the skeptic need not claim that all our beliefs are false. The skeptic’s point is simply that we have no fail-safe method for determining when our beliefs are true or false. Given this circumstance, the skeptic will argue that we cannot distinguish the situation of having evidence that leads to true beliefs from the situation of having the same sort of evidence  plus a universal belief falsifier, which leads to false beliefs. Obviously, the skeptic believes that nothing is beyond doubt. For any one of our beliefs, we can imagine a set of circumstances in which it would be false. For example, I believe I was born in Rahway, New Jersey. However, my birth certificate could be inaccurate. Furthermore, for whatever reasons, my parents may have wished to keep the truth from me. I will never know for sure. I also believe that there is overwhelming evidence that Adolf Hitler committed suicide at the close of World War II. However, it could be true (as conspiracy theorists maintain) that his death was faked and that he lived a long life in South America after the war. The theme of the skeptic is that certainty is necessary for there to be knowledge, and if doubt is possible, then we do not have certainty. We now have the considerations in place that the skeptic uses to make his or her case. There are many varieties of skeptical arguments, each one exploiting some possible flaw in either human cognition or the alleged evidence we use to justify our beliefs. Instead of presenting various specific arguments, we can consider a â€Å"generic skeptical argument. † Generic Skeptical Argument 1. We can find reasons for doubting any one of our beliefs. 2. It follows that we can doubt all our beliefs. 3. If we can doubt all our beliefs, then we cannot be certain of any of them. 4. If we do not have certainty about any of our beliefs, then we do not have knowledge. 5. Therefore, we do not have knowledge. Pyrrho of Elis (360–270 B. C. ), a philosopher in ancient Greece, inspired a skeptical movement that bore his name (Pyrrhonian skepticism). Pyrrho was skeptical concerning sense experience. He argued that for experience to be a source of knowledge, our sense data  must agree with reality. But it is impossible to jump outside our experience to see how it compares with the external world. So, we can never know whether our experience is giving us accurate information about reality. Furthermore, rational argument cannot give us knowledge either, Pyrrho said, because for every argument supporting one side of an issue, another argument can be constructed to prove the opposing case. Hence, the two arguments cancel each other out and they are equally ineffective in leading us to the truth. The followers of Pyrrho stressed that we can make claims only about how things appear to us. You can say, â€Å"The honey appears to me to be sweet† but not, â€Å"The honey is sweet. † The best approach, according to these skeptics, was to suspend judgment whenever possible and make no assumptions at all. They believed that skeptical detachment would lead to serenity. â€Å"Don’t worry about what you cannot know,† they advised. Some skeptics distilled these arguments down into two simple theses. First, nothing is self-evident, for any axiom we start with can be doubted. Second, nothing can be proven, for either we will have an infinite regress of reasons that support our previous  reasons or we will end up assuming what we are trying to prove. Descartes began his quest for knowledge with the assumption that if he had rational certainty concerning his beliefs, he necessarily had knowledge, and if he did not have certainty, he did not have knowledge. The skeptics who came after Descartes agreed with this assumption. However, as we will see in the next section, Descartes argues that there are a number of things of which we can be certain and, hence, we do have knowledge. On the other hand, the skeptics doubt whether Descartes or anyone can achieve such certainty. Lacking any grounds for certainty, the skeptics claim we cannot have knowledge about the real world. Thus, the skeptics think that Descartes’s arguments for skepticism are stronger than his proposed answers. Such a philosopher was David Hume, whom we will encounter later when we examine empir EXAMINING THE STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF SKEPTICISM Positive Evaluation 1. Weeding a garden is not sufficient to make flowers grow, but it does do something valuable. In what way could the skeptics be viewed as providing a â€Å"philosophical weeding service† by undercutting beliefs that are naively taken for granted? 2. The skeptics are unsettling because they force us to reexamine our most fundamental beliefs. Is it better to live in naive innocence, never questioning anything, or is it sometimes worthwhile to have your beliefs challenged? Negative Evaluation 1. The skeptics make the following claim: â€Å"Knowledge is impossible. † But isn’t this claim itself a knowledge claim that they declare is true? Is the skeptic being inconsistent? 2. The skeptics use the argument from illusion to show that we cannot trust our senses. But could we ever know that there are illusions or that sometimes our senses are deceived  unless there were occasions when our senses weren’t deceived? 3. Some skeptics would have us believe that it is possible that all our beliefs are false. But would the human race have survived if there was never a correspondence between some of our beliefs and the way reality is constituted? We believe that fire burns, water quenches thirst, vegetables nourish us, and eating sand doesn’t. If we didn’t have some sort of built-in mechanism orienting us toward true beliefs, how could we be as successful as we are in dealing with reality? 4. Is skepticism liveable? Try yelling to someone who claims to be a skeptic, â€Å"Watch out  for that falling tree limb! † Why is it that a skeptic will always look up? Think of other ways in which skeptics might demonstrate that they do believe they can find out what is true or false about the world. 5. Is Descartes’s demand for absolute certainty unreasonable? Can’t we have justified beliefs based on inferences to the best explanation, probability, or practical certainty? Does certainty have to be either 100 percent or 0 percent? The answer is that our reason tells us that â€Å"something cannot come from nothing† and â€Å"material objects do not vanish into thin air. † We will distrust our senses before  we will abandon these beliefs. Hence, our reason seems to have veto power over our sense experience. We often trust our reason even in the face of apparently solid, experiential evidence. The rationalists raise this trust in reason into a full-fledged theory of knowledge. Rationalism is a very influential theory about the source and nature of knowledge. This position may be summarized in terms of the three anchor points of rationalism. These three points are responses to the second question of epistemology, Does reason provide us with knowledge of the world independently of experience? Reason Is the Primary or Most Superior Source of Knowledge about Reality According to the rationalist, it is through reason that we truly understand the fundamental truths about reality. For example, most rationalists would say the truths in the following lists are some very basic truths about the world that will never change. Although our experience certainly does illustrate most of these beliefs, our experiences always consist of par-ticular, concrete events. Hence, no experiences of seeing, feeling, hearing, tasting, or touching specific objects can tell us that these statements will always be true for every  future event we encounter. The rationalist claims that the following statements represent a priori truths about the world. They are a priori because they can be known apart from experience, yet they tell us what the world is like. LOGICAL TRUTHS A and not-A cannot both be true at the same time (where A represents some proposition or claim). This truth is called the law of noncontradiction. (For example, the statement â€Å"John is married and John is not married† is necessarily false. ) If the statement X is true and the statement â€Å"If X, then Y† is true, then it necessarily follows that the statement Y is true. MATHEMATICAL TRUTHS The area of a triangle will always be one-half the length of the base times its height. If X is larger than Y and Y is larger than Z, then X is larger than Z. METAPHYSICAL TRUTHS Every event has a cause. An object with contradictory properties cannot exist. (No matter how long we search, we will never find a round square. ) ETHICAL PRINCIPLES Some basic moral obligations are not optional. It is morally wrong to maliciously torture someone for the fun of it. Sense Experience Is an Unreliable and Inadequate Route to Knowledge Rationalists typically emphasize the fact that sense experience is relative, changing, and often illusory. An object will look one way in artificial light and will look different in sunlight. Our eyes seem to see water on the road on a hot day, but the image is merely an optical illusion. The rationalist claims that we need our reason to sort out what is appearance from what is reality. Although it is obvious that a rationalist could not get through life without some reliance on sense experience, the rationalist denies that sense experience is the only source of knowledge about reality. Furthermore, experience can tell us only about particular things in the world. However, it cannot give us universal, foundational truths  about reality. Sensory experience can tell me about the properties of this ball, but it cannot tell me about the properties of spheres in general. Experience can tell me that when I combine these two oranges with those two oranges, they add up to four oranges. However, only reason can tell me that two plus two will always equal four and that this result will be true not only for these oranges, or all oranges, but for anything whatsoever. The Fundamental Truths about the World Can Be Known A Priori: They Are Either Innate or Self-Evident to Our Minds Innate ideas are ideas that are inborn. They are ideas or principles that the mind already contains prior to experience. The notion of innate ideas is commonly found in rationalistic philosophies, but it is rejected by the empiricists. The theory of innate ideas views the mind like a computer that comes from the factory with numerous programs already loaded on its disk, waiting to be activated. Hence, rationalists say that such ideas as the laws of logic, the concept of justice, or the idea of God are already contained deep within the mind and only need to be brought to the level of conscious awareness. Innate ideas should not be confused with instinct. Instinct is a noncognitive set of mechanical behaviors, such as blinking the eyes when an object approaches them. The theory of innate ideas is one account of how we can have a priori knowledge. Other rationalists believe that if the mind does not already contain these ideas, they are, at least, either self-evident or natural to the mind and the mind has a natural predisposition to recognize them. For example, Gottfried Leibniz (1646–1716), a German rationalist, compared the mind to a block of marble that contains veins or natural splitting points that allow only one sort of shape to be formed within it. Thus, the mind, like the marble, has an innate structure that results in â€Å"inclinations, dispositions, habits, or natural capacities† to think in certain ways. In contrast to this view, John Locke (a British empiricist) said: â€Å"There is nothing in the intellect that was not first in the senses. † In response, Leibniz tagged the following rationalistic qualification at the end of Locke’s formula, â€Å"except for the intellect itself. † Obviously, in saying that the mind contains rational ideas or dispositions, the rationalists do not believe a baby is thinking about the theorems of geometry. Instead, they claim  that when a person achieves a certain level of cognitive development, he or she will be capable of realizing the self-evident truth of certain ideas. Leibniz pointed out that there is a difference between the mind containing rational principles and being aware of them. Rationalists give different accounts of how the mind acquired innate ideas in the first place. Socrates and Plato believed that our souls preexisted our current life and received knowledge from a previous form of existence. Theistic rationalists, such as Descartes, tend to believe that God implanted these ideas within us. Others simply claim that these principles or ideas naturally accompany rational minds such as ours. THE RATIONALISTS’ ANSWERS TO THE THREE EPISTEMOLOGICAL QUESTIONS Section 2. 0 contained three questions concerning knowledge: (1) Is knowledge possible? (2) Does reason provide us with knowledge of the world independently of experience? and (3) Does our knowledge represent reality as it really is? While differing on the details, all the rationalists give the same answers to these three questions. First, they all believe that knowledge is possible. Generally, we are able to discern that some opinions are better than others. For example, in the discipline of mathematics some answers are true and some are false. We could not know this fact if obtaining knowledge was impossible. Second, the rationalists agree that only through reason can we find an adequate basis for knowledge. For example, in mathematics and logic we are able through reason alone to arrive at truths that are absolutely certain and necessarily true. Third, rationalists agree that beliefs that are based on reason do represent reality as it truly is. In the following sections, I examine three classical rationalists to see how they illustrate the three anchor points of rationalism and  answer the three epistemological questions. Socrates’ answers to the three epistemological questions should be clear. (1) We are able to distinguish true opinions from false ones, so we must know the standards for making this distinction. (2) These standards could not be derived from experience so they must be unpacked through a rational investigation of the reservoir of all truth—the soul. (3) Since our rational knowledge provides us with information that enables us to deal successfully with the world and our own lives, it must be giving us an accurate picture of reality. However, according to Plato, since the  physical world is constantly changing, sense perception gives us only relative and temporary information about changing, particular things. Being a typical rationalist, Plato thought that ultimate knowledge must be objective, unchanging, and universal. Furthermore, he argued that there is a difference between true opinions and knowledge, for our beliefs must be rationally justified to qualify as knowledge. Finally, Plato believed that the object of knowledge must be something that really exists. Plato and the Role of Reason Do mathematical truths, such as those in the multiplication tables, exist within the mind  or do they exist outside the mind? Plato would say both. If mathematical truths exist only in the mind, then why does physical reality conform to these truths? If mathematical truths are only mind-dependent ideas, then why can’t we make the truths about triangles be anything we decide them to be? The world of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was created in the mind of Lewis Carroll. He could have made the world’s properties be anything he decided. But obviously, we can’t make up such rules for the properties of numbers. We don’t create these truths; we discover them. Thus, Plato would argue, these truths are objective and independent of our minds. But if they are independent of our minds, then they must refer to something that exists in reality. Although the number seven, for example, has objective properties that we discover, these properties are not physical. We do not learn the truths about numbers by seeing, tasting, hearing, smelling, or touching them. From this concept, Plato concludes that the world of mathematics consists of a set of objective, mindindependent truths and a domain of nonphysical reality that we know only through reason. What about justice? What color is it? How tall is it? How much does it weigh? Clearly, these questions can apply to physical things, but it is meaningless to describe justice in terms of observable properties. Furthermore, no society is perfectly just. Hence, we have never seen an example of perfect justice in human history, only frail, human attempts to approximate it. Because reason can contemplate Justice Itself,* we can evaluate the deficient, limited degrees of justice found in particular societies. Particular nations come and go and the degree of justice they manifest can rise or fall. But the objects of genuine knowledge  Ã‚  such as true Justice or true Circularity are eternal and unchanging standards and objects of knowledge. Plato on Universals and the Knowledge of Reality Thus far, Plato has argued that there are some things that we could not know about (Justice, Goodness, Equality) if experience was our only source of knowledge. The soul must have somehow acquired knowledge independently of the senses. But what, exactly, are the objects of this special sort of knowledge? In answering this question, Plato builds on the distinction he has made between the here-and-now realm of sense experience and the unchanging realm of rational knowledge. He says that in the world of sense experience we find that particulars fall into a number of stable, universal categories. Without these categories, we could not identify anything or talk about particulars at all. For example, Tom, Andre, Maria, and Lakatria are all distinct individuals, yet we can use the universal term human being to refer to each of them. In spite of their differences, something about them is the same. Corresponding to each common name (such as â€Å"human,† â€Å"dog,† â€Å"justice†) is a Universal that consists of the essential, common properties of anything within that category. Circular objects (coins, rings, wreathes, planetary orbits) all have the Universal of Circularity in common. Particular objects that are beautiful (roses, seashells, persons, sunsets, paintings) all share the Universal of Beauty. Particulars come into being, change, and pass away but Universals reside in an eternal, unchanging world. The rose grows from a bud, becomes a beautiful flower, and then turns brown and ugly and fades away. Yet the Universal of Beauty (or Beauty Itself ) remains eternally the same. Plato believes that Universals are more than concepts, they are actually the constituents  of reality. Hence, in answer to the third epistemological question, Plato believes that knowledge of Universals provides us with knowledge of the fundamental features of reality, which are nonphysical, eternal, and unchanging. Plato also refers to these Universals as â€Å"Forms. † The following thought experiment will help you appreciate Plato’s emphasis on Universals and universal truth. Descartes on the Possibility of Knowledge Although Descartes was certain he could not be deceived about his own existence, the possibility of a Great Deceiver cast a shadow over all his other beliefs. Unless he could find something external to his mind that would guarantee that the contents of his mind represented reality, there was little hope for having any knowledge other than that of his own existence. Descartes sought this guarantee in an all-powerful, good God. Hence, Descartes says, â€Å"As soon as the opportunity arises I must examine whether there is a God, and, if there is, whether he can be a deceiver. For if I do not know this, it seems that I can never be quite certain about anything else. †12 If Descartes could prove that such a God exists, then he could know that knowledge is possible. But notice how limited are the materials Descartes has at his disposal for proving God’s existence. He cannot employ an empirical argument based on the nature of the external world, for that is an issue that is still in doubt. So, he must construct a rationalistic argument that reasons only from the contents of his own mind. STOP AND THINK Descartes on the Role of Reason In the following passage from Meditation III, Descartes says the â€Å"natural light of reason† shows him that (1) something cannot arise from nothing and (2) there must be at least as much reality in the cause as there is in the effect. †¢ What examples does he use to illustrate each of these principles? †¢ How does he apply these two principles to the existence of his own ideas? The argument that Descartes has given us in the previous passages can be summarized in this way: 1. Something cannot be derived from nothing. (In other words, all effects, including ideas, are caused by something. ) 2. There must be at least as much reality in the cause as there is in the effect. 3. I have an idea of God (as an infinite and perfect being). 4. The idea of God in my mind is an effect that was caused by something. 5. I am finite and imperfect, and thus I could not be the cause of the idea of an infinite and perfect God. 6. Only an infinite and perfect being could be the cause of such an idea. 7. Therefore, God (an infinite and perfect being) exists. THE THREE ANCHOR POINTS OF EMPIRICISM The Only Source of Genuine Knowledge Is Sense Experience The empiricists compare the mind to a blank tablet upon which experience makes its marks. Without experience, they claim, we would lack not only knowledge of the specific features of the world, but also the ability even to con.