Philosophy as Metaphysics :: Philosophical Papers

Philosophy as Metaphysics (1) ABSTRACT: Philosophy works with special types of objects: the totalities. The basic characteristics of this type of object are their metaphysical, transcendental, and total character. The character of these objects determines the specificity of language and the methods of philosophy. The language of philosophy represents symbolic language; speculation is the basic method of philosophy. On the one hand, objects of this type emphasis homo sapien as essences capable of constructing such objects, which in turn assumes the ability of human consciousness to make synthetic acts. On the basis of philosophy as metaphysics, an original approach is offered which divides the history of philosophy into periods as well as providing analysis of different philosophical systems. Feature of philosophical activity, as against a science, is the work with special, not physical objects — the totalities, which are constituted by the philosopher. One of such objects is the world, and, in this sense, we often say, that philosophy is a wel-tanschauung (world-outlook) . Certainly, the world as some set of things can be studied by physics (sciences in a broad sense), but in this case a researcher can miss the point that the world is a totality, not just a simple set of things. As distinct from scientific study the philosophy takes its objects as the totalities, which the subject of knowledge cannot study as ordinary objects, because the including the learning subject character of these the totalities excludes any standard scientific approach to knowledge in principle. Others examples of the above mentioned objects (the totalities) are Ego and God. Objects of this type (with some reservations) are a lot of human being phenomena, such as love, virtue, conscience, courage, bravery, understanding and so on. All these objects are those, that the precise fixing of objective criteria of their existence is impossible, it is impossible to create the high-grade theory of these phenomena (for example, theory of love or bravery), as they assume not only objective Contemplator (as it occurs in case of objects of scientific knowledge), but also postulate the Actor inside them, that causes essentially twinkling way of them being.(2) Exactly the character of these objects determined essential features of the philosophizing as metaphysical activity. The underlining of metaphysical character of philosophy objects dictates the special procedures of work with them, distinct from of methods of scientific knowledge. Metaphysical objects — constructs cannot be given in frameworks of physical experience; the study — constructing of these objects occurs by a way of thinking means, procedures of speculation.

Educate Yourself Essay

School is the site for learning. Teachers teach. Students learn. However, a problem exists. There are many low-performing schools, such as Parham Elementary in Cincinatti (Bhatt 1). Therefore, some students are not receiving the education they need. However, this can be remedied. It has been proven that these schools can be developed into more productive environments (Bhatt 2). To improve education, class population needs to reduce in size, the emphasis on standardized testing must be lowered, and traditional teaching strategies must change. Currently, students are not receiving the optimum education they need to succeed in life. With this lack of proper education, students are growing up without the fundamental knowledge to be able to strive for success. An abundance of students are failing in school and are not equal with their peers due to traditional teaching techniques and poor school environment Bhatt 1). Changes must be instituted to ensure the success of future generations which lies in the hands of mostly uneducated students. There are many reasons why the education system is slowly dwindling into oblivion. Overpopulation in the classroom has become a rising epidemic (Helfand 2). The overcrowded classes make it hard for a teacher to teach lessons to so many students. Because of this, students do not receive the individual attention from the teacher they  need in order to grasp information. For example, at Carwise Middle School in Palm Harbor, Florida, the average class has 30 students. Teachers, such as Sarah Jaehn, teach to 186 students a day at Palm Harbor Middle. She said, â€Å"If class sizes were smaller I could have fun again† (Helfand 2). Jaehn, and others like her, feel they cannot get much accomplished with such large class sizes. Also, standardized testing is so overly emphasized in schools that it affects the way teachers perform. â€Å"Mary Lee Smith found that teachers gave up reading real books, writing, and long-term projects, and focused instead on word recognition, recognizing spelling errors, language usage, punctuation, and arithmetic operations. (Shepard 2).† With the  emphasis on standardized testing, the teaching methods have changed. Much observation has been completed in order to determine why education is at the level it is. Lorrie Sheprard, the dean of the school of education at the University of Colorado at Boulder and a member of the Naitonal Research Council’s Board on Testing and Assessment, completed involved large scale teacher surveys and field studies. She concluded that, â€Å"The efforts to improve test scores have changed what is taught and how it is taught. For example, teachers in elementary schools eliminate or greatly reduce time on social studies and science to spend more time on tested subjects (Shepard 2).† This has proven that students do not learn as much as they need because they are busy learning information for standardized testing instead. Teachers are â€Å"teaching to the test† rather than teaching the critical thinking type of learning that is used in the real world. This is shown by Linda Darling-Hammond and Arthur Wise, the authors of â€Å"Beyond Standardization: State Standards and School Improvement.† They discovered that  teachers stopped giving essay tests to create more tests like the standardized ones to help prepare the students (Shepard 2). How is this in fact helping students if they are just learning to take a test instead of learning critical thinking which will help them in their work areas in the future? To illustrate how education needs to be altered we should view the results from Steven Adamowski. He was the superintendent in three school districts for 13 years and studied education reform thoroughly. This led to the miracle work he performed at Parham Elementary in the Cincinnati Public School system. From 1995-1998, only six percent of fourth graders there were passing the state’s reading test, compared with the 28 percent of the rest of the district and almost half of the fourth graders statewide. To change this, Adamowski entered in1998. Then, the results started to climb. By 2003, 56.4 percent of fourth graders were passing the state reading test opposed to the six percent from 1995-1998. These results occurred because he removed poorly performing teachers and replaced them with motivated teachers who can  persuade students to learn. He also brought more faculty and staff which enabled the class sizes to reduce so there can be more personalized learning environments. Adamowski’s work proves that education can be improved as long as there is the will to do it. (Bhatt 1-2). Experts in the education field have been researching extensively to target these problems and to find a way to fix them. Steven Adamowski stated that teacher evaluations must come about because they help identify weaknesses. He then discussed that proper training can be individually directed at these weak areas. He also declared that this motivates teachers to learn more, therefore being able to teach more (Bhatt 1-2). The real experts, teachers, say they have more on their plates when delivering lessons to a class with 30 students (Helfand 2). This is because they have to manage with interruptions and cannot specially educate each student individually. Lorrie A. Shepard argues that high-stakes testing is thought to improve education, but on the contrary, this standardized testing does more harm than good. She has found that teachers are forced to â€Å"teach to the test† rather than with methods where students actually learn (Shepard 1). Thus, students are again not receiving the education they need. Vivian Troen, coauthor of â€Å"Who’s Teaching your Children,† discussed that teachers mostly work isolated instead of sharing ideas and learning from one another. She believes that teachers need to work together in order to create an environment in which students desire to learn (Ruark 1-2). Whenever a problem exists, there is not always a solution to it. Luckily, in this case, there are many simple solutions to improve education. Educators should use helpful, but limited test preparation activities within the normal class plans. A variety of original material should be introduced to keep students interested so that no generalized knowledge is taught in preparation for a high-stake test (Shepard 4). This way, there is no specialized â€Å"teaching to the test† but instead real teaching. Teachers should also work as a team instead of as individuals (Ruark 1-2). That way, teachers can learn new teaching methods and think more creatively instead of the usual notes and test format. Teacher evaluations also must be instituted  (Bhatt 2). Then, weaknesses can be identified and proper training can be utilized so teachers are prepared to teach. This will ensure that the students will be receiving the proper education they need. Essay tests should also be used more to challenge students and force them to think critically (Shepard 2). This will  help students be prepared in life when they need to actually think rather than use memorization. Discussions should also take place dealing with what is being taught and on current events as well (Shepard 2). This will urge students to listen more attentively and will help them learn more about what is happening in the world around them. Teachers play one of the most important roles in students’ lives. Teachers mold them into the human beings they will be as adults. Unfortunately, for such a pivotal responsibility, teachers are not permitted to provide students with the valuable education that students will use for the rest of their lives. This can change, and must change. The students now are our future and must be given the essential tools through education.

History Quiz Essay

Religion plays a big role in the life of man. It gives us hope, faith and makes us believe that there is a Supreme Being out there that makes things possible for us. Religion has played a big part in our cultural, social, moral and even political history and is still continuing today. There are several religions being practiced all over the world today. Christianity ranks first having 2. 1 billion believers and followers, Islam is next having around 1. 5 billion Muslims and the third worlds largest is Hinduism. Majority of those who practice Hinduism come from India, as this is because Hinduism originated from this country. Hinduism is more of a way of life, as it has been incorporated in the Indian’s way of living and not just as a religion. The primary text of the Hindus are the collection of Vedas which contain hymns, incantations, and rituals, namely the Rig Veda, the Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and the Atharva Veda (Hinduism). There are several beliefs that encompass all forms of Hinduism. First is their respect for the authority of the Vedas and the Brahmans. The Brahmans are the source of all things and is found in all things hence like a Supreme Being (Hindu beliefs). They also believe in reincarnation and karma. For them, when a person dies, its soul is transferred to another being. This being may or may not be human in form; it may be an animal or an insect, depending on your behavior from your previous life. If you were able to be good and do things the Hindu way, you will have good karma, and your soul maybe transferred to a body of a human with high place in society. If you have bad karma, your soul might become trapped inside an animal or an insect or in the body of a slave. Hindus are also expected to pass through the four stages of their life successfully. First is to pass the brahmacharga, then the grashta, the vanaprastha and finally the sanngasu. In the first stage the individual is supposed to acquire knowledge and develop character and is usually experienced during the school age. The second stage, the grastha, focuses the middle years of your life on finding pleasures such as getting married and having a family and establishing a career. The vanaprastha is the stage to increase time in focusing on spiritual things and finally the sanngasu, the last years of one’s life offered for contemplation (Hindu Rituals and Practices). Buddhism ranks fourth, after Hinduism with 324 million followers. Buddhism is based on the teachings of Siddharta Gautama, the enlightened one. Gautama Buddha, after having several years of privileged living as a prince, he decided to live a solitary life of a hermit in the woods. There he dedicated his life to meditation, which is at the heart of Buddhism (What is Buddhism). Like the Hindus, the Buddhists also believe in reincarnation. The soul will be â€Å"recycled† and after some time, if the soul releases itself from worldly desires it can now achieve Nirvana, a state of freedom from liberation and suffering. Buddhism includes the three trainings or practices, the four noble truths, the five precepts and the eightfold path among its teachings. The three trainings or practices consist of the Sila, the Samadhi and the Prajna. Sila is the morality which is based on two principles, the principle of equality and reciprocity. Samadhi is the mental development which controls and strengthens the mind. And finally the Prajna, which is wisdom. Buddha’s four noble truths are as follows, the Dukkha, Samudaya, Nirodha and the Magga. The Dukkha tells us that there is suffering; the Samudaya says that there is a cause, the Nirodha, that there is an end to the suffering and the Magga, to end the suffering the eightfold path should be followed. Just like the Christian’s Ten Commandments, the Buddhists have 5 precepts, and these are: do not kill, do not steal, do not lie, do not misuse sex and do not consume alcohol or drugs. Finally, the eightfold path consists of the right understanding of the Four Noble Truths, right thinking, right speech, right conduct by following the Five Precepts, right livelihood, right Effort, right Mindfulness and right concentration, which is meditation (Buddhism based on the). Judaism ranks sixth with 14 million followers around the world. Majority of the Jews live in Israel, in the United States and in France. One of the oldest religions in the world, the Jews believe in an all-knowing divinity and that all things within that world were designed to have meaning and purpose as part of a divine order. The Jew’s sacred text is the Torah, and they are preached by a Rabbi. Their symbol is the Star of David and they do not allow the name or the spelling of their deity in full. They that the Ten Commandments are the most important teachings from the Torah: 1. I am the Lord your God 2. You shall not recognize the gods of others in My presence 3. You shall not take the Name of the Lord your God in vain 4. Remember the day of Shabbat to keep it holy 5. Honor your father and your mother 6. You shall not murder 7. You shall not commit adultery 8. You shall not steal 9. Do not give false testimony against your neighbor 10. You shall not covet your fellow’s possessions The Jews do not believe that Jesus Christ is the Messiah. For them, the Messiah will be a human being from King David’s family. The most widely-accepted list of Jewish beliefs is Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon’s thirteen principles of faith. He says that God exists, is one and unique, incorporeal and is eternal. Also, that prayer is to be directed to God alone, the words of the prophets are true, and that Moses was the greatest prophet, and his prophecies are true. The Torah was given to Moses and that there will be no other Torah. In addition to those, he says that God knows the thoughts and deeds of men, God will reward the good and punish the wicked, the Messiah will come, and that the dead will be resurrected (Basic beliefs of Judaism). Indeed, we have come to realize life’s emptiness without having faith. We may not entirely believe in a religion, but it still holds true that as human beings, our lives need direction and guidance. References About, Inc., A part of The New York Times Company. (2007). Basic Beliefs of Judaism. Retrieved January 01, 2007, from http://judaism. about. com/od/abcsofjudaism/a/beliefsbasic. htm About Buddhism. (2007). What is Buddhism. Retrieved January 01, 2007, from http://www. aboutbuddhism. org/what-is-buddhism. htm/ Adherents. (1998). Top 10 Organized Religions in the World. Retrieved January 01, 2007, from http://www. adherents. com/misc/rel_by_adh_CSM. html Religion Facts. (2004-2007). Hindu Beliefs. Retrieved January 01, 2007, from http://www.religionfacts. com/hinduism/beliefs. htm Religion Facts. (2004-2007). HinduRituals and Practices. Retrieved January 01, 2007, from http://www. religionfacts. com/hinduism/practices. htm Religious Tolerance. (2005-AUG-26). Hinduism A General Introduction. Retrieved January 01, 2007, from http://www. religioustolerance. org/hinduism2. htm Religious Tolerance. (2005-AUG-26). Buddhism based on the teachings of Siddharta Gautama. Retrieved January 01, 20 07, from http://www. religioustolerance. org/buddhism. htm

Why were the major cities of Britain bombed by the Germans in 1940-41?

The Blitz (shortened from the German word Blitzkrieg meaning lightning war) was a period of time when Germany carried out air raids on major cities in Britain. The main reason for the Blitz was that Hitler wanted to invade. The Blitz began on the 7th September 1940 with London being the first city attacked. London was bombed for 56 consecutive nights after that. This was because London is a densely populated area & the Germans knew that it would cause destruction & upset on a huge scale. In particular the bombers focused on the East End as it was home to docks and factories. Other places in London were also hit such as Buckingham Palace and St Paul's Cathedral. This would have made some people very distraught as these buildings were part of Britain's history and what had been destroyed of them could not be replaced. As well as London, towns in the south of England such as Southampton, Bristol and Portsmouth were targeted and attacked because of their dockyards. Without docks England would be unable to send or receive anything in ships overseas. This would have caused havoc with the economy, as vital resources would have been restricted. Hitler also set out for infrastructure and factories to be bombed because if roads, railways, buildings and factories had been ruined. Britain's industry would suffer immensely. Materials to make weapons and military vehicles would be scarce and s this would have a knock- on effect on Britain's progress in the war. Although a large number of cities by the coast were hit, the Midlands were also devastated, particularly Coventry in November 1940. In the North West, Manchester was attacked heavily in December 1940, but it was Liverpool that was the victim of the biggest raid on a mainland city. In conjunction with buildings being destroyed, Hitler also wanted the morale of the British to be shattered. In September alone, over 40,000 people a week lost their homes, their heritage and their memories. 4500 people were killed in November and just in London 12,500 people dies in December. Hitler wanted to crush the British drive so much that they would give up entirely and surrender. As an extract from Goebbels diary on the 1st November 1940 reads, ‘The Fuhrer intends to keep hammering the British until they break'. The British civilians lived in fear that their towns would be bombed. At night the blackouts were put in place. Indoor lights, streetlights and headlights had to be off or covered so they could not be seen from above. This would make it more difficult for the planes overhead to locate their target. At the worst, people had to resort to living in the underground railways which were packed and which were filthy. Another place people took shelter was churches as a first aider on the 14th September 1940 said, ‘ People felt that nowhere would be safer than under the protection of the church. Hitler though that if the unemployed, homeless, withered people of Britain lost their spirit and faith in the Government, then they would turn there back on the British war effort and so Germany would win.

Evaluation of Hyundai Motor Company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Evaluation of Hyundai Motor Company - Essay Example For instance, the company registered revenues of $72.3 billion in FY2009, an increase of 14.7% over FY2008. In particular, Hyundai boosted its operating profit margins over the last three financial periods and it elevated from 4.1% in FY2007 to 5.9% in FY2009. Thus, Hyundai has been able to improve the automobile market share in the global market more than other competitors in spite of the recent world economic recession (Datamonitor, 2010). Origins and Key Developments Hyundai was established in 1967 and it did not have proper technology in order to produce automobiles. As a result, although Hyundai released the Pony, the first export car model in South Korea, with technical assistance from Mitsubishi Motor in 1975, the company struggled with the manufacture of cars until the 1980s (Company Website, 2010). However, Hyundai developed core components independently such as gasoline engines and transmissions for the first time in the 1990s (ibid) and the company began to invest signific antly into its car quality, design, and research in the 2000s. As a result, Hyundai has been able to achieve high sales and a powerful brand value in the world automobile market (Datamonitor, 2010). ...   re, Hyundai was awarded â€Å"car maker of the year 2010† by AM, the UK’s auto trade magazine (AM Website, 2010), and automobile experts from nine Middle East countries selected Sonata, the company’s typical car, as the best mid-size car of the year 2010 (Company Website, 2010). Thus, the company is able to gain more customers and to record high sales due to a strong brand image (Datamonitor, 2010). Nevertheless, Kiley (2007) argues that despite earning a good reputation for a strong brand value, the company still does not establish high sales in the luxury car market. Customers who want to buy a car from Hyundai are mainly considering its inexpensive price and this price story is called the company’s image problem â€Å"The Yugo Factor† (BusinessWeek, 2007). When the company entered the US car market in the 1980s, it was generally compared with Yugoslavian automobiles which have quality problems (ibid). For instance, when the Hyundai’s v ehicle was shown without any company’s logo in research with 200 car traders in the US, 71% of people would buy it. However, when the car’s logo was displayed, there were only 52% of people. This is the reason that Hyundai is still struggling in the luxury automobile market (Kiley, 2007). However, Hyundai

SCOTS LAW - commercial law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

SCOTS LAW - commercial law - Essay Example In the development of Scots law roman principles were used. Law of the roman people gave individuals the right to enjoy certain privileges; in return, the people had a variety of obligations to fulfil. These principles find applications to help solve a variety of court cases in modern day Scotland unlike in England where court decisions are based on past rulings by judges in given cases, often known as common law. Some of the laws in Scotland find their origin from various courts. These could be in England, Scotland and from other courts across Europe. Courts are of great importance in the Scottish legal system as they can amend the law. Another source of Scottish law is lawyers who flourished in the seventeen and eighteen centuries. These lawyers wrote books that set out the precedence on which the Scottish law is based. Most of the principles were originally from the roman laws. Various lawyers who practice law today in Scotland follow and apply these principles to modern day law. The legislature in the United Kingdom makes laws through ‘acts of parliament.’ The laws are taken through the process of legislation; here they are first introduced as bills. From bills, they undergo further amendments until they finally signed into by the queen. Scotland established its own parliament. The government of the United Kingdom delegated some power to the Scottish parliament to make laws. The parliament in Scotland is, however, a minor player as the United Kingdom parliament is still supreme when it comes to legislation function. The right of humans are a fundamental part of life and it is important that they be protected by the law. These rights include the right to private life and the right to express oneself freely. The European Commission on Human Rights put these laws to ensure protection of human rights. Human right law is a significant source of law as all laws made must conform to it. The rights of humans

BIOGRAPHY ON MY HUSBAND Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

BIOGRAPHY ON MY HUSBAND - Essay Example However, his first marriage, despite all of his determination to make it work did crumble but this was not due to any fault of his own. He soon found that the marriage had been built on lies with his wife having lied about her age when they married and still being a very young and naà ¯ve girl, she left Fernando holding the dilemma of how to continue to care for the family. They had one child together which his wife left in his care since she seemingly wanted no part in motherhood. This left him with trying to figure out a way to continue to work while at the same time being a good father to the child caught in the middle of the separation and divorce. During this time Fernando was attempting to be a full-time dad and also working full-time with his landscaping company. Times were extremely hard for him as he did not have sufficient resources to depend on nor did he have any family that was near him who could have helped in taking care of his daughter while he worked during that tim e. Somehow this man did manage to make it through this period of time on his own, never once turning away from the responsibilities he had as a father to his daughter. He also did not try and prosecute his first wife for abandonment of their child so he only had his own self to rely on in order to guarantee the necessary sustenance to keep his family running smoothly. He did seek out daycare services for his daughter so that he could continue to work and this bill alone was quite substantial every month. However, his neighbors often helped him out with watching his daughter but he was very careful in this area because he did not want to come to depend on anyone or be considered a burden either so he assumed much of the work on his own. During this period of time Fernando did not seek out other relationships like a percentage of men would do. He dedicated himself to being a father and continued to work because he knew that in