Dostoyevskys The Underground Man Essay Example for Free

Dostoyevskys The Underground Man Essay In Notes from Underground, Dostoyevsky describes a character burdened with significant inner conflict over love which interferes with his ability to think rationally, prevents him from developing lasting friendships, and cause him to believe he has found true love following a sexual encounter. After being bumped by an officer in a tavern, the Underground Man became obsessed with â€Å"revenge† against the officer and planned a subsequent encounter where he could â€Å"bump him with [his] shoulder† and not ‘yield an inch,† (133, 135). The Underground Man wants the officer to treat him with dignity and respect and as his equal. However, the Underground Man’s inability to develop an actual relationship with the officer or even engage in a conversation with him is indicative of the Underground Man’s inability to think rationally. This passage shows that the Underground Man’s desperate desire for human interaction irrationally causes him to seek a negative human encounter. Instead of confronting the officer directly, the Underground Man spends months obsessing about the officer before he finally engages in pitiful revenge that leaves him feeling like a failure. The Underground Man learns he is an unwanted guest when one of his former college acquaintances tells him that he has only been invited to a dinner party because he â€Å"insisted on joining† them and the Underground Man feels â€Å"crushed and humiliated† that his supposed friends don’t really want him at the party (153). This is another example of the Underground Man seeking friendship but his base and rude nature interferes with his objective. He becomes so concerned that his college friends are ridiculing him that he insults one of them. As a result, his friends are disgusted with him and clearly wish he would leave. Although the Underground Man believes he has fallen in love with Liza and wishes to save her from a life of prostitution, he concludes â€Å"loving means bullying and dominating† which causes him to insult Liza by paying her for sex thereby treating her like a lowly prostitute (199). The Underground Man’s attempt to save Liza is misguided. He does not have a better life to offer Liza. He may have additional monetary security but he lives in misery without any close human connections and his life experience is less fulfilling than most prostitutes. The Underground Man has lofty goals of saving Liza from a life of prostitution but he ends up insulting her by thrusting money into her hand as he leaves his apartment. Dostoyevsky’s created a desperate and lonely man torn apart by inner turmoil and conflict. The Underground Man sought love and friendship but ended up with tragedy, hate and loneliness because he was unable to think rationally, he allowed his ego to interfere with his ability to create and maintain friendships and he insulted and alienated a woman who may have loved him.

SWOT Analysis of Chile: Business and economic trends

SWOT Analysis of Chile: Business and economic trends Country Profile – Chile 2014 2014 LATIN AMERICAN BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT REPORT INTRODUCTION In 2014 the business environment in Latin America did not live up to expectations, and seems that it will not deliver significant results for 2014.Growth rate dropped again, down in 13 of the 18 countries covered in the LABER analysis. Lower commodity prices and financial market volatility in Latin America Governments struggled to cope with growing economic imbalances and rising social discontent. The 14 countries adhering to the centrist social-market paradigm, in spite of these pressures, did not deviate from its more business-friendly policies. Should the economic slump deepen in 2014, it was not unreasonable to expect pressures for change to deepen. Country Profile –Chile Political Factors: SWOT Analysis of Chile: Strengths Chile experiences open economy and the bilateral, regional and multilateral trade agreements led to a increase in foreign trade International competitiveness has faced an increased growth rate due to the trade agreements Chile offers foreign investors some of the world’s most competitive business costs Privatization and deregulation have created public utility and telecommunications industries Corporate taxes and labor costs are relatively low No evidence of active terrorism in Chile Occurrence of serious offences remains relatively low, despite reports of increased crime levels Chile capital, Santiago is considered one of the safest countries in Latin America Enjoys a stable democratic political system, with strong institutions Comprehensive legal framework and independent judiciary Weaknesses Binomial electoral system is ripe for reform Chile is vulnerable to external shocks due to overdependence on primary export industries Supply shortages and potential power stoppages due to heavy dependence on imported sources of energy Reforms of Chile’s institutions and labor market remain unlikely. Absence of reform exacerbate structural imbalances in the economy Absence drags on economic growth Opportunities Foreign investors are supported by the Government through three investment mechanisms The mechanisms offer the rights of both the state and the investor throughout the implementation of project Significant opportunities for inbound investment in areas of power generation and transportation, as well as copper production Since 1990, Chile has enjoyed an uninterrupted period of stable democracy Voting is compulsory for all voters older than 18. Government took important measures to increase efficiency of public administration by 2003 and ensuring a transparent government Congress also approved a law to regulate the financing of political parties and election campaigns Threats Growing public protests among the poorer sections of society High levels of income inequality and discontent with the cost of education Weakening government’s popularity Chile’s major ports and industrial mines suffer growing labour unrest Business environment in the country: BMI Business Environment Risk Ratings Chile ranks 28th out of 191 countries in business environment rankings and scoring around 64.0. This makes Chile the outperformer of the neighboring countries by some distance and places it higher than several developed industrial economies. In terms of ‘market orientation’, it ranks well ahead of many developed states including the US and the UK. Nonetheless, causes for concern remain. The country has a sizeable infrastructure deficit, reflected in our relatively weak score for Chile’s business infrastructure, a category in which Chile ranks just 55th globally. Chile is an open economy and practices bilateral, regional and multilateral trade agreements. This has led to a steady increase in foreign trade and the country’s international competitiveness. Chile offers foreign investors some of the world’s most competitive business costs. Privatization and deregulation have created sophisticated telecommunications, healthcare and public utility industries. Chile at the same time has maintained a moderately low corporate taxes and labor costs. Environmental factors: Chile is a highly Election dominated environment. It possesses the following features with regard to the environment: Solid economic performance Throughout the region of Latin America growth softened, but the drop was not steep in Chile and the outlook was encouraging with average annual growth rates for the period 2004-12. The causes of slower economic growth were lower export earnings, weaker investment and slower growth in the domestic demand. The local stock market has downgraded by 15% in dollar terms for the year, making it the worst performing of the major exchanges. This fall in the exchange rates made the economic scenario quite unfavorable for the foreign investment. The depreciating peso was accounted for the major fall in the economic performance. (upto 521 to the dollar) Exports softened but FDI surged Chile is the world’s largest producers of copper. Being in its maximum height of production, the decline in world copper prices affected Chile’s market negatively. Copper accounts for 60% of exports and 20% of GDP. Chile drew its attention away from copper due to the long-term need to diversify the economy and such heavy dependence on a single commodity. As the Chinese economy relaxed, copper prices fell down by 12% in November affecting Chile’s trade and exports, resulting in a fall in 2012. The CAD (current account deficit) and debt increased due to the exports slump. Chile has favorable access to bond markets and foreign investors due to its best managed economy and the highest credit rating in Latin America, and hence its environment remains very investor friendly. Resulting in a Net FDI tripled in 2012. Public protests broke out again Chile was recognized as a world leader in the implementation of the market reforms that was responsible for the generation of growth and rising standards of living. Chile has proven unemployment rate that fell to a historical low of 5.7% in October. Despite the growth, Chile was the first country to face rising citizen discontent in the form of the street demonstrations, which are now common throughout Latin America. Chile experienced for the first time in 2013 students, unions and Mapuche Indians all conducted disruptive demonstrations. Election returned center-left coalition to power As expected, former President Michelle Bachelet easily defeated Alianza por Chile, the candidate of the governing party, and her New Majority coalition won a majority in Congress. In many respects, the outcome was disappointing for Bachelet and her supporters. The disappointing fact was the low turnout , with voting was no longer mandatory, especially among first-time voters who were expected to deliver an easy first-round victory. Central Bank lowered interest rates to stimulate growth In order to stimulate the growth in the face of weak domestic demand, the Central Bank cut interest rates. This will further enhance the growth of the economy and productivity. National strategies and public policies: Chile follows the strategies to raise taxes, reform education and providing free tuition for university students. These reforms were mainly targeted in reducing inequality, thereby reducing the protests. Keys: Progress on reform agenda; price of copper Industry structure and competitive dynamics in terms of Infrastructure Labor: Infrastructure: Chile has a well developed and efficient infrastructure network, which contributes to the governments export-driven development strategy. Since the adoption of build-operate transfer concessions the countrys physical infrastructure has improved substantially. Though considerable damage was done to the existing countrys infrastructure network by the devastating 2010 earthquake, the ongoing focus of government attention ensure the rebuilding of Chiles infrastructure. The Pan-American Highway is considered to be high international standards and backbone of Chiles road system. Chile also has world-class airport and seaport infrastructure. Chile is working to develop a network of transport corridors across the region, using rail and road infrastructure. This will uplift the Chiles exports to Argentina and Brazil, and also facilitate the use of Chilean ports for exports to Asia. Energy: Energy supply in Chile is considered the Achilles heel. With its limited domestic energy supply, the country heavily relies on the bulk of its energy resources on Imports. It has to maintain sound relations with its neighbors to realize the valuable energy supply. The reliance on energy imports, particularly on natural gas from Argentina (where 80% of gas imports originate), is a growing problem. The Chilean government has prioritized addressing the electricity issue. Intellectual Property Rights In the International Property Rights Index of 2013, Chile comes in 28th place out of 130 countries. This places Chile the highest ranked of all emerging markets. Chile approved legislation to bring the country into compliance with the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) signatory obligations .As per the TRIPS signatory, Chile must meet the agreed standards pertaining to copyrights, including producer rights, industrial designs, patents and trademarks. The area in which Chile was most scrutinized is IPR in pharmaceutical products. This is due to the fact that Chile lacks a transparent system for protecting pharmaceutical patents. In 2005, the MOP established a system in protecting data related to pharmaceutical products. Business-government relations: Chile is positioned with a stable political outlook and sound economic fundamentals for steady, albeit slower, economic progress. Due to its high reliance on copper exports and oil imports, Chile is posed to a high risk to economic progress. Diversification of the countrys economic drivers will be essential to ensuring sustainable growth to remove the high dependence on the copper exports and oil imports. But this diversification may drag the GDP of the country leading to a more consumer-driven economy. Moreover, the GDP per capita is envisioned to nearly double between 2013 and 2022, in line with President Sebastià ¡n Pià ±eras goal of at least US$25,000 GDP per capita by 2020. This would give Chile de facto developed country status. Nevertheless, we will face two obstacles that would hamper Chiles economic growth over the upcoming years: Despite the countrys vast reserves of hydroelectric power, periods of drought have exposed Chiles dependence on energy imports; modernizing power generation and transmission will be highly essential to continued growth. Potentials Risks and bottlenecks faced by Chile Government: Chile faces few terrorist activity and regional security threats in comparison with neighboring countries. Other Potential risks are in the field of labor, education, healthcare, communication and transportation facilities. Strikes and public protests present a significant risk to business in Chile. In recent years these events have been concentrated in the areas of health, education, transportation, communication and civil service sectors. The real wages are slowly increasing in a less alarming way and high corporate profits have led to greater worker resentment. Strike action is becoming more widespread. It is not totally uncommon for labor tensions to develop into full-blown conflict. These labor conflicts largely affect the copper mines functioning. This leads to a significant amount of delays in certain large mining and energy projects. Mapuche political activists pose a growing threat to the foreign investments due to hindrances in the domestic security and the countrys business climate. These conflicts lead to a significant drag on the Chilean business environment if left unresolved. According to government statistics, crime rates are falling. Chile OUTLOOK in the face of Attractive Business Environments In the business environment analysis conducted by Business Monitor, only 9 nine countries emerged with the most business attractive environments in the Latin America region. Although there are differences among them, they all share significant positive strengths: Sustained growth with moderate inflation Favorable external profiles Declining poverty and growing middle classes; Stable, multiparty, centrist politics; Social-market economic policies; Slowly improving legal systems Seven of the nine ranked highest of the 18 LABER environments on the 2013 World Economic Forum’s global competitiveness score as given below. Chile government supports business and related investments with its strong and efficient legal framework Most accommodative in the region Government continues to place attracting foreign investment high on its priority list Infrastructure network is a major asset to the Chilean business climate Open foreign trade regime, helps to maintain the countrys reputation as an attractive foreign direct investment (FDI) destination Corruption and criminal activity remains a nuisance Pià ±era government has struggled to produce results on these fronts

The History of the English Language Essay -- Papers History Historical

The History of the English Language In this paper I will discuss where and how the English language originated and how it has spread to become one of the most spoken languages in the world. Before I started my research on my topic of choice, my original hypothesis was that the English language was started by a whole assortment of Germanic tribes invading England thousands of years ago. This ultimately became the goal of my paper, to see if Germanic tribes started the English language, or if it was started from some other tribes that I was not aware of. The history of the English language is of significance because English is spoken more frequently than any other language except Chinese, (Bright, 1992). A Germanic language, English is spoken by an estimated 1,500,000,000 people, and that number is ever increasing, (Crystal, 1992). English is the chief language of world publishing, science and technology, conferencing, and computer storage as well as the language of international air traffic control (Crystal, 1992). English is also used for purposes of international communications, and international politics, business communications, and academic communities (Crystal, 1992). The history of English can be traced to the colonization of people from a family of languages, which spread throughout Europe and southern Asia in the fourth millennium BC, (Crystal, 1992). It is thought that a semi nomadic population living in the region to north of the Black Sea moved west to Europe and east to Iran and India, spreading their culture and languages (Crystal, 1992). The European languages and Sanskrit, the oldest language of the Indian sub-continent, were tied to a common source. When a systematic resemblance was discovered in bot... ...New York: Oxford University Press, 1992. 410-415. 3. Craig, Albert M., et al., Eds. et The Heritage of World Civilizations. 2 Vols. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1986. 446-447. 4. Crystal, David, The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language. 2nd Ed. New York: The Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge, 1997. 298-299. 5. Crystal, David. An Encyclopedia Dictionary of Language and Languages. USA: Blackwell Publishers, 1992. 121-122, 134, 185-186. 6. Dalby, Andrew. Dictionary of Languages: The Definitive Reference to more than 400 Languages. London: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, 1998.166-179. 7. OGrady, William, Michael Dobrovolsky and Mark Aronoff. Contemporary Linguistics. 3rd Ed. New York: St. Martins Press, Inc., 1992. 332. 8. Van Doren, Charles. A History of Knowledge Past, Present, and Future. New York: Ballantine Books, 1992. 154.

Helping Young Students Achieve Success Essays -- Teaching, education,

I believe that all children should have an opportunity to be educated within a diverse setting and individualized teaching. Each student should be treated as an individual and using positive interaction with each individual. The importance of education was a part of my family culture. My personal experience of promoting child development began in Head Start, Las Vegas, Nevada, while attending school. Implementing what I was learning in my classroom curriculum was a learning experience for me and my students. I learned that the more knowledge I imparted on my students, their learning process became easier. I believe in children having hands-on experiences. I learned to build relationships with family and communities to understand the dynamics of individualize teaching. Enculturation is learned at home as well as the school. As an educator, I believe student need to have exposed to the community and different aspects of jobs to acquire into working adults. The younger a child begins bu ilding knowledge it will grow exponentially. There are sensitive periods that are critical for a child’s learning. I understand the significance of evaluation where the children are at on an individual bases. From my observance, when students have difficulty, it is harder for them to catch up with their peers. I believe all students can learn, not all at the same rate. The teacher environment should be inviting and students encouraged communicating through verbal, pictures, artwork or play. Students come in with different experiences and values. The classroom should offer various teaching style to individualize as much as possible for the students. The teacher should foster security and self-worth to their students, setting them up for success. Teac... ...nce area for children to explore and learn about plant life. I feel that material selected for the science area should actually give the children a concept of what science defines. The science will build knowledge and vocabulary. Most teachers are intimidated by science because of a lack of knowledge. As an educator, I will prepare my materials for any and all activities for my students to experience. On the other hand not all knowledge needs to be detailed. This is a learning experience for the students to record and predict. The reading and writing center is important for students to being their writing and reading skills. Optimal discovery and learning in the early years of students. The vast material that helps a student engage is important I believe in assessing students in a variety of ways, with pictures, written observances, running records and portfolios.

Marcus Tullius Cicero :: Ancient Rome Roman History

Marcus Tullius Cicero "We are in bondage to the law in order that we may be set free" Marcus Tullius Cicero came into philosophical fame during the Roman Republic era. At a very young age, Cicero, who came from a modest home, made it his ambition to hold a high political position in Rome. Unfortunately, his middle class ancestry restricted his ability in achieving his goals. As a result he sought a military position to gain authority. Cicero proved to be an ineffective soldier, which gradually lead him to select a career in law. In 63 B.C. he moved up in the Roman oligarchy by acquainting himself with many politicians who aided him in obtaining the title of "consul", the highest Roman office. In three years an effective rebel occurred against the Republic from the First Triumvirate of Julius Caesar, Pompey and Crassus. They seized control of the Senate and enforced the ideals of the Roman Empire. Cicero was meant to be included because of his influence, but he clung to the old Republic ideals, which lead to his exile, and he was forbidden to take part in politics. Dur ing his exile, Cicero furthered his studies in philosophy for a year. Cicero still dreamed of the reincarnation of the old Republic, and wrote about the republic and on laws. During this time, it is most likely that the above quote was uttered. Philosophy and jurisprudence were directly related in Cicero's studies. His studies included his despise of the Roman lifestyle, which consisted of low morals and disrespect for life. This lifestyle built the foundation for the laws that were set to keep Rome in order. Cicero's quote that in order to be truly content and limitless to the world, citizens must abide by the laws made by the Senate. "We are in bondage to the law..." suggests that as a group, the citizens of Rome were slaves to a greater influence, the laws that made Rome an exceptional kingdom. The laws made by the Senate were made to respect and protect the foundation of Rome and the interests of its people, "...in order that we may be set free." Cicero implies that, if the citizens of Rome follow the laws, they will be able to live their lives without being looked down upon by the rest of the citizens who follow the laws. In Cicero's political career, he held an important position in the Senate and was greatly respecte d.

Presocratic Philosophy Essay

Although Aristotle’s statement is too slight to serve as a sure foundation for judgment, it seems more likely that Thales was arguing for the broader presence of life forces in the world than most people imagined, rather than that the real in its totality is alive. Anaximander Thales’ younger contemporary from Miletus, Anaximander, born toward the end of the seventh century B. C. E. , found the explanatory principle of things in what he called ‘‘the apeiron,’’ a word that might be translated as ‘‘the indefinite,’’ ‘‘the boundless,’’ or both. This opens up the possibility that the apeiron is both immeasurably large in its temporal and physical extent and also qualitatively indefinite in that it is without measurable inner boundaries. The apeiron is further described, according to Aristotle, as being ‘‘without beginning,’’ ‘‘surrounding all things,’’ ‘‘steering all things,’’ ‘‘divine,’’ ‘‘immortal,’’ and ‘‘indestructible. ’’Some have inferred that Anaximander’s barely concealed purpose was Western philosophy’s first attempt at demythologization. Equally striking is Anaximander’s description of the universe as a closed, concentric system, the outer spheres of which, by their everlasting motion, account for the stability of our earth, a drum-shaped body held everlastingly in a state of equipoise at the center. Whatever the inadequacy in certain details (the stars are placed nearer to the earth than the moon), with Anaximander the science of cosmological speculation took a giant step forward. As far as life on earth is concerned, Anaximander offered another striking hypothesis. The first living things, according to him, were ‘‘born in moisture, enclosed in thorny barks’’ (like sea urchins), and ‘‘as their age increased, they came forth onto the drier part’’ (as phrased by Aetius [first to second century C. E. ]). Pythagoras Although we know that Pythagoras was a historical figure, it is difficult to determine exactly what Pythagoras himself taught. He wrote nothing, and the ideas of other members of the community were attributed to him as a sign of respect and as a way of lending weight to the ideas. Plato and Aristotle rarely assign ideas to Pythagoras himself, although Pythagorean ideas seem to have influenced Plato’s philosophy. Pythagoreans asserted that number is the first principle of all things. They were the first systematic developers of mathematics in the West and discovered that natural events could be described in mathematical terms, especially as ratios. To the Pythagoreans, the â€Å"principle of number† accounted for everything. Number was a real thing. Somehow, numbers existed in space, not just as mental constructs. According to Pythagorean doctrine, the entire universe is an ordered whole consisting of harmonies of contrasting elements. The Greek for â€Å"ordered whole† is cosmos. The Pythagoreans were the first philosophers to use the term cosmos to refer to the universe in this way. The â€Å"celestial music of the spheres† is the hauntingly beautiful phrase the Pythagoreans coined to describe the sound of the heavens as they rotate according to cosmic number and harmony. Xenophanes A fourth Ionian philosopher, Xenophanes of Colophon, born around 580 B. C. E. , s the first we know of to overtly attack the anthropomorphism of popular religious belief, in a series of brilliant reductio ad absurdum arguments. His own view has been understood, ever since Aristotle, as pantheistic. Xenophanes was also the first philosopher we know of to ask what degree of knowledge is attainable. In B34 we read: ‘‘the clear and certain truth no man has seen, nor will there be anyone who knows about the gods and what I say about all things. ’’ Several ancient critics took this to be an indication of Xenophanes’ total scepticism. On this basis of moderate empiricism and scepticism, Xenophanes offered a number of opinions of varying plausibility about the natural world, one of which—a strong, evolutionary interpretation of the discovery on various islands of fossils of marine animals—is enough to constitute a major claim to fame in natural philosophy and ranks with his other significant steps in epistemology (the theory of knowledge dealing with what we know, how we know it, and how reliable our knowledge is), logic (the study of rational inquiry and argumentation), and natural theology (the attempt to understand God from natural knowledge). Heraclitus One of the most important and enigmatic of the Presocratics, Heraclitus (fl . 500 b. c. e. , d. 510–480 b. c. e. ), said that ignorance is bound to result when we try to understand the cosmos when we do not even comprehend the basic structure of the human psyche (soul) and its relationship to the Logos. The complex Greek word logos is intriguing. It could and at times did mean all of the following: â€Å"intelligence,† â€Å"speech,† â€Å"discourse,† â€Å"thought,† â€Å"reason,† â€Å"word,† â€Å"meaning,† â€Å"study of,† â€Å"the record of,† â€Å"the science of,† â€Å"the fundamental principles of,† â€Å"the basic principles and procedures of a particular discipline,† â€Å"those features of a thing that make it intelligible to us,† and â€Å"the rationale for a thing. † The Heraclitean capital L Logos is like God, only without the anthropomorphizing (humanizing) of the earlier philosophers and poets who attributed human qualities to the gods. According to Heraclitus’s impersonal view of God, the Logos is a process, not an entity. As such, the Logos is unconcerned with individuals and human affairs, in much the same way that gravity affects us but is unconcerned with us. More radically yet, Heraclitus asserted that even though things appear to remain the same, â€Å"Change alone is unchanging. † Traditionally, it has been held that Heraclitus went so far as to claim that everything is always changing all the time. But whether he really meant that everything is always changing, or that individual things are held together by energy (change), remains unclear. Anaximenes Anaximander’s younger contemporary, Anaximenes, who lived during the sixth century B. C. E. appears to revert to a prior and less sophisticated vision in claiming that the earth, far from being a drum-shaped body held in equipoise at the center, is flat and ‘‘rides on,’’ supported by air. The same might be said of his contention that the basic, ‘‘divine’’ principle of things was not some indefinite entity but something very much part of our experience; namely, air. Anaximenes’ view would also no doubt have seemed to be corroborated by the fact that the universe, commonly understood as a living thing and hence needing a soul to vivify it, possessed in air that very ‘‘breath’’ that for most Greeks constituted the essence of such a soul. Parmenides Parmenides of Elea (fift h century b. c. e. ) radically transformed the early philosophers’ interest in cosmology, the study of the universe as a rationally ordered system (cosmos), into ontology, the study of being. By common agreement he was the giant among the pre-Socratics. According to Parmenides, none of his predecessors adequately accounted for the process by which the one basic stuff of the cosmos changes into the many individual things we experience every day. In his search for a solution to the problem of â€Å"the one and the many,† Parmenides turned to a reasoned analysis of the process of change itself. According to Parmenides, all sensations occur in the realm of appearance. This means that reality cannot be apprehended by the senses. Change and variety (the many) are only appearances; they are not real. If this is true, then our most commonly held beliefs about reality are mere opinions. The senses cannot recognize â€Å"what is,† much less can they discover—observe—it, ever. In other words, whatever we see, touch, taste, hear, or smell is not real, does not exist. Perhaps most unsettling of all, Parmenides â€Å"solved† the problem of the appearance of change by concluding—in direct opposition to Heraclitus’s insistence that everything is always changing—that the very concept of change is self-contradictory. What we think of as change is merely an illusion. The logic runs as follows: â€Å"Change† equals transformation into something else. When a thing becomes â€Å"something else,† it becomes what it is not. But since it is impossible for â€Å"nothing† (what is not) to exist, there is no â€Å"nothing† into which the old thing can disappear. (There is no â€Å"no place† for the thing to go into. ) Therefore, change cannot occur. Empedocles posited, against Parmenides, change and plurality as features of reality, but affirmed the eternality of anything that is real; the sphere-like nature of the real when looked at as a totality and the fact that the real is a plenum, containing no ‘‘nothingness’’ or ‘‘emptiness’’. Anaxagoras likewise posited change, plurality, and divisibility as features of reality, yet also affirmed the eternality of the real (understood by him as an eternally existent ‘‘mixture’’ of the ‘‘seeds’’ of the things currently constituting the world, rather than the eternal combinings and recombinings, according to certain ratios of admixture, of four eternally existent ‘‘roots’’ or elemental masses). Leucippus Leucippus of Miletus (c. fi ft h century b. c. e. ) and Democritus of Abdera (c. 460–370 b. . e. ) argued that reality consists entirely of empty space and ultimately simple entities that combine to form objects. T is materialistic view is known as atomism. Leucippus is credited with being the originator of atomism and Democritus with developing it. Rather than reject Parmenides’ assertion that change is an illusion, Leucippus argued that reality consists of many discrete â€Å"ones ,† or beings. Zeno Zeno, who was born early in the fifth century B. C. E. , was a friend and pupil of Parmenides. In his famous paradoxes he attempted to show by a series of reductio ad absurdum arguments, of which the best known is perhaps that of Achilles and the tortoise, the self-contradictory consequences of maintaining that there is a real plurality of things or that motion or place are real. The prima facie brilliance of many of the arguments continues to impress people, though it soon becomes clear that the paradoxes turn largely on the failure or unwillingness of Zeno, like so many Pythagoreans of the day, to distinguish between the concepts of physical and geometrical space. Zeno’s way of constructing the problem makes it seem that his primary object is to defame pluralists by attacking the logical possibility of explaining how there can be motion in the world. Gorgias Gorgias has achieved fame for the stress he laid upon the art of persuasion (‘‘rhetoric’’), although whether he wrote the baffling On What Is Not as a serious piece of persuasive reasoning or as some sort of spoof of the Eleatic philosophy of Parmenides and others remains disputed. Its basic, and remarkable, claim is prima facie, that nothing in fact is (exists /is the case [esti] or is knowable or conceivable. Any exiguous plausibility that the arguments supporting this claim possess turns on our overlooking Gorgias’s failure, witting or unwitting, to distinguish carefully between knowing and thinking, along with his various uses of the verb ‘‘to be. ’’ If the failure was witting, the document can be seen as a skillful device for the spotting of fallacies as part of training in rhetoric and basic reasoning. If it was unwitting, Gorgias still emerges as what he was claimed to be—a deft rhetorical wordsmith on any topic proposed to him. Protagoras Perhaps the greatest of the Sophists was Protagoras of Abdera (481– 411 b. c. e. ). Protagoras was an archetypal Sophist: an active traveler and first-rate observer of other cultures who noted that although there are a variety of customs and beliefs, each culture believes unquestioningly that its own ways are right—and roundly condemns (or at least criticizes) views that differ from its own. Based on his observations and travels, Protagoras concluded that morals are nothing more than the social traditions, or mores, of a society or group. The details of Protagoras’s beliefs remain disputed. When he said, for example, that ‘‘anthropos [humanity] is a/the measure for all things, of things that are, that they are, and of things that are not, that they are not,’’ it is unclear whether he is talking about one person or the sum total of persons; about ‘‘a’’ measure or ‘‘the’’ measure (there is no definite article in Greek); or about existence or states of affairs or both. The Platonic reading in the Theaetetus, which takes ‘‘anthropos’’ as generic and ‘‘measure’’ as exclusive, led to the assertion that the logical consequence was total (and absurd) relativism. ______________________________ References: The Columbia History of Western Philosophy. Richard H. Popkin. Columbia University Press. 1999. Archetypes of Wisdom: An Introduction to Philosophy. 7th ed. Douglas J. Soccio. Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. 2010.

Scenario of the Internal Community:

A leadership marked by both personal integrity and value-driven vision, it is needless to argue, belongs to one of the most fundamental aspects of a truly effective organization. And as the new principal of a K-6 elementary school, whose composition consists in 450 students, 24 teachers, 15 office personnel and 1 custodian, I would do my best to build a legacy of strong leadership, vision and integrity. To my view, the challenges which the school currently faces all take cue from effective leadership, or its unfortunate lack thereof. If I may correctly surmise, teachers resort to â€Å"power cliques† only when circumstances make room for it; i. e. , when they feel that they can fill up the power vacuum stemming from a system’s the lack of able headship. Just the same, an educational institution begins to suffer from unfriendly atmosphere when a sensible lack of checks and balances within the system is tolerated. Change is therefore a key benchmark at the onset of my assumption of duties. But before making any administrative decision, I shall first circumscribe the nature and scope of the problems at hand, by paying close attention to the concerns of parents, teachers and other members of the community. Come August 1, I shall waste no time in gathering as much pertinent information as possible to figure what is wrong. After briefly introducing myself to the teachers and community, I shall initiate a campus-wide survey that would enable all stakeholders to vent their take on the current school system. The results shall become objects of inquiry during the brainstorming and deliberation of the school’s working vision – an activity which shall be participated in by the entire school’s staff, and shall be held a week before the school year formally commences. During the meeting, I shall be employing a â€Å"non-directive† or â€Å"democratic† approach to the affairs of the deliberation periods. I would empower my staff to brainstorm and deliberate among themselves – under my guidance – the practices that need serious alteration, if only we can work for the greater good of the struggling school community. In this approach, I am borrowing the idea propounded by Jonathan Rix and Kathy Simmons: effective learning institutions, they contend, needs â€Å"to alter† prevalent cultures so as to realign its vision towards maximal learning (2004, p. 67). By August 25, my mission is to communicate the new vision of the institution – collectively discerned, as they were, by the entire school administration and staff – to the parents and custodians concerned and, surely, to the students. On top of such vision, I would also propose the idea of frequent classroom visitations, as well as thorough reviews of all extant instructional objects and learning materials. And since I find inclusivity and involvement as necessary factors for effective learning communities, I shall propose to set convenient but â€Å"non-compromise-able† dates for regular updating, participated in by administrators, parents, students, as well as by some representatives from community organizations. Furthermore, I shall communicate to them the telling importance of mid-year evaluations, by way of school surveys, so as to rectify the seeming lack of checks and balances which the school once suffered from. The rest of the year shall be dedicated to a relentless effort in bringing about concrete fruition to the goals of the institution which has been set for the year. Goal-redefinition, if necessitated, can be accommodated during the mid-year. Critical to this continuing effort is my goal to meet all teachers and staff individually during the year. Personally, I would like to work on concepts that find their concrete correlation with reality. The effort is, obviously, onerous on my part. But I am a firm believe that no great things can be achieved overnight. If I want my educational organization to succeed, I have to undergo the painstaking process of brainstorming and implementing goals, as well as leveling honest reviews in respect its relative success, or lack of it. Running a school entails the continued appreciation of the systems that work, a courage to change what does not work, and the wisdom to know the difference between them.