John Stuart Mill: Greatest Happiness Principle Essay

John Stuart Mill’s Utilitarian Philosophy came to be known as the greatest happiness principle. It begs the question; what is happiness? Mill thought that the purpose is life is for the experience of pleasure and freedom from pain and that every action must be measured against this paradigm. Yet just like any other perspectives, Mill’s utilitarianism encounters criticism, one of which focuses on the meaning and realization of happiness. Mill however, conscious of the critique implied in his foundation of morality that humans are higher beings than animals or any other species, therefore have higher faculties and appetites. From this standpoint, the argument that men might choose actions that are irrelevant or offensive to other people in the light of satisfaction is rebuked. The source of pleasure and content of the swine could never be the same as that of a human. There is a given superiority of the mental pleasure over bodily ones among utilitarians, and this he maintains. Any act of men which rightly makes him a lower class of being is assumed to be avoided by the latter, as he would not allow himself to shrink into a lower kind of person or being that he is. He attributes this to a sense of pride, or the love of liberty and independence and dignity which he believes, every man possesses in one form or another. Apart from his notion of human domination over other living things, he nonetheless admits that men are capable of choosing and doing bodily pleasures that may be treated less valuable than another. This is true in instances when men have preferred alcoholism despite the knowledge of its negative repercussions in exchange for men’s bodily pleasures derived from the activity. He contests ergo that such incapacity for the nobler feelings is due to the nature of the latter, like a tender plant that is easily killed by hostile influences especially among the young people when the environment is not favorable to keeping that higher capacity in existence. This idea is perhaps a noble addition to the claims of utilitarianism: â€Å"†¦the happiness which forms the utilitarian standard of what is right in conduct is not the agent’s own happiness but that of all concerned†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This makes the values of utilitarianism compatible to other religious norms which states, â€Å"To do as you would be done by† and â€Å"To love your neighbor as yourself†. Hence, an important policy suggestion emerges in the fulfillment of utilitarian morality code; that laws and social structures must institute ways to make the interest of every individual one and the same as that of the whole; and that the association of one person to the happiness of the others must be realized through the utilization of the power which education and opinion embody. In the end, a few lessons have been learnt from Mill; the notion of the universal happiness; the possibility of harmony of interests; and then necessity of policies for the success of his scheme. The same flow of arguments run in Mill’s speech in 1868 in favor of capital punishment. To him, the punishment by death is most desirable for a person who committed heinous crimes such as murder unless there is a probability that the action was undertaken due to factors outside of the character of the individual. He also looks into the essence of conviction in the community relevant to his, â€Å"practical power depends far less on what it is than on what it seems†. He counters the amendment of capital punishment and the transition to lifetime imprisonment as he believes the former is more effective in the light of preventing the innocent from indulging in similar crimes. What seems to the public a dreadful death accrued in capital punishment is for Mill less important than the implementation of his penal justice which seeks to â€Å"deter by suffering from inflicting suffering†. John Stuart Mill’s principle in the final analysis have contributed much to our understanding of man’s greatest happiness, a justification to existing laws and the value of education. References: Ebenstein, William. â€Å"Utilitarianism. † Great Political Thinkers, 6th Edition. Singapore: Thomson Wadsworth, 2000. Mill, John Stuart. â€Å"Utilitarianism and the 1868 Speech on Capital Punishment†

Explanations for Criminal Behaviour

Compare two explanations for criminal behaviour. Crime is simply the behaviour that breaks the law. However, as Standen points out, â€Å"the understanding of what actually constitutes crime varies according to historical, cultural and power dimensions which may rule different behaviours as criminal at different times†, (n. d, p. 1). The most obvious example of this is when the law changes. For example from viewing the list of criminal offences by the Legal Services Commission, aiding suicide became a crime in 1961, yet causing death by dangerous driving did not become a crime until 1988.Criminal behaviour can then be explained as the violation of the criminal code. Usually to be convicted of a crime, an individual needs to have acted deliberately and without justification of their actions. Understanding why crime occurs is a big problem, yet there are certain explanations that can explain criminal behaviour. Modern theories that attempt to explain criminal behaviour emphasise the nature versus nurture debate; genes set the limits on behaviour while the environment forms developments in the limits (Standen n. d: p. 2).Some of these theories put an emphasis on physical features. Sheldon developed somatypes, suggesting that broad and muscular mesomorphs were more likely to be criminals. His findings support the fact that criminals are more likely to be muscular, yet to date it is still unclear what the link is between mesomorphy and crime (Standen n. d: p. 3). Out of the numerous theories that try to explain criminal behaviour, there are two which can explain it more effectively; sociological and psychological. Sociological criminology examines group variables to crime.Bartol and Bartol suggest these variables include age, gender, race, socioeconomic status, personal relationships and ethnic-cultural affiliation (Bartol and Bartol, 2005: p. 5). These variables have important relationships with categories and patterns of crime. For example sociological crim inology has determined that African American males from disadvantaged backgrounds are more represented as perpetrators of homicide. More black people are excluded from school, leading to the notion that young African American males are disproportionately involved in crime.Social class and poverty are involved in research on crime. Most sociological theories emphasise the lower a person’s social class; the more likely they are to display criminal behaviour. For example, a low class person who is living under poor economic conditions is more likely to commit a criminal offence such as burglary to survive. Schools in deprived areas have low academic achievement, which is a characteristic of many offenders. Schools in these areas can fail to engage with challenging pupils, causing them to truant and becoming involved in criminal behaviour.Standen suggests that challenging pupils will eventually fail to achieve the qualifications needed to escape having a criminal career (Standen, n. d: p. 9). Psychological criminology is the science of behaviour and mental processes of the criminal. Bartol and Bartol state that â€Å"whereas sociological criminology focuses on society and groups as a whole, psychological criminology focuses on individual criminal behaviour† (2005: p6). It centres on how criminal behaviour is acquired, maintained and modified.The â€Å"social and personality influences on criminal behaviour are considered along with the mental processes that mediate that behaviour† (Bartol and Bartol, 2005: p. 6). Eysenck developed a psychological theory of crime that suggests neuroticism and extroversion are linked to antisocial behaviour. Eysenck eventually developed the P variable, which was noticed by aggressive and impersonal behaviour. Individuals who score highly on the p variable scale are more likely to display criminal behaviour, for example if a person is abused as a child.Whether it is physically or mentally, the child will develop impersonal behaviour, detaching themselves from their social setting to cope with what is happening to them. Once the child has become detached, this can progress with them to adulthood and cause them to become violent and display criminal behaviour. William Glasser introduced rational choice theory which is seen as the most common reason why criminals do what they do. The theory suggests the offender is completely rational when they make the decision to commit a crime.Within choice theory there are three representations of criminal behaviour; the rational actor where individuals choose whether to do the crime; the predestined actor where criminals cannot control their urges causing them to commit crime and the victimised actor where the offender has been a victim of society. Choice theory therefore offers numerous explanations why a person could offend. Psychological and sociological theories are well represented and explain why criminal behaviour occurs.As suggested by Bartol and Bartol, crime occurs in a social context, so factors like race, ethnicity, gender and social class will always be involved in explaining criminal behaviour. Explaining criminal behaviour improves the understanding of why people commit crime. In the United Kingdom, the police force has been given more authority to tackle criminal behaviour with seizure measures (Whitehead 2011). This could help determine more in depth explanations as to why criminal behaviour occurs, especially in certain social divisions.

An Argument Against the Use of Hydraulic Fracturing

An Argument Against the Use of Hydraulic Fracturing Against Hydraulic Fracturing Oil and natural gas are crucial to the twenty-first-century. They are used for fuel, tires, household appliances, and even heart valves. Without oil and natural gas, the modern way of life would be almost entirely different. However, the cost of obtaining these products using a process called hydraulic fracturing can be fatal. Hydraulic fracturing is the method by which oil natural gas is extracted from shale rock deep in the earth’s crust. Water pollution, air pollution, and climate change are three of the biggest downfalls of this extraction procedure. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a dangerous operation which negatively affects human and environmental health. Hydraulic fracturing begins with drilling 7,000 to 12,000 feet into the ground. During this step, toxic gases and respirable crystalline silica are released into the air. Crystalline silica is respirable, which means it can easily be inhaled and absorbed by the human body. A hazard warning released by OSHA in 2012 warns, â€Å"Crystalline silica, in the form of sand, can cause silicosis when inhaled by workers. Silicosis is an incurable lung disease. Some of the symptoms of silicosis include fatigue, extreme shortness of breath, cough, respiratory failure, and, in some cases, death. Despite preventative measures such as masks and protective uniforms, workers at fracking sites are commonly exposed to respirable crystalline silica. Benzene, toluene, xylene, and ethylbenzene are just a few of the deadly chemicals released into the air. A study related to the situation where workers are being exposed to crystalline silica, if they are at a drilling site it is impossible to avoid breathi ng in the chemicals. The next step is to inject millions of gallons of a toxic water-sand-chemical mixture into the ground at a very high pressure in order to break up the shale rock. After that, the water is stored in unlined pits in the ground. Sometimes it escapes the pit, contaminating clean water in the area. In December 2016, the Environmental Protection Agency, â€Å"concluded for the first time that the fracking process can contaminate drinking water. This creates a dangerous and potentially life-threatening situation for both humans and wildlife in the area. It is not only affecting above-ground reservoirs, ponds, and lakes, but it also affects groundwater. A study in Colorado found that â€Å"77 fracking wastewater spills that impacted groundwater supplies, of which 90 percent were contaminated with unsafe levels of benzene, a chemical linked to cancer. There are organizations who specialize in cleaning up contaminated sites all over the United States, but the compounds in fracking fluid diff er from site to site and aren’t commonly analyzed in commercial labs. Scientific American revealed that as a result of this, â€Å"conducting a groundwater investigation related to fracking is extremely complicated.†. The inability to analyze these compounds makes it tough for doctors to treat patients who have drank the contaminated water. Despite the fact that hydraulic fracturing has been proven to be the cause of so many health problems, the method by which fracking water has not changed. If a solution is not found before it escalates, the consequences could be devastating for not only humans but also the environment. In addition to harming human health, newer studies are finding that hydraulic fracturing also contributes to climate change. Many studies have found that â€Å"during the fracking process, small amounts of methane are released directly into the atmosphere.† To enumerate, air pollution from fracking affects more than just the nearby area. â€Å"Air pollution from hydraulic fracturing operations can likely travel hundreds of miles, even into states with little or no fracking,† one of the new studies released. This means that even if one area, a country, state, or community bans fracking, they could still be affected by fracking sites hundreds of miles away. Natural gas is believed to be cleaner and safer than previous mass-produced resources. It lessens the worlds dependence on coal, which is thought to be worse for the environment. The Smithsonian stated, â€Å"Burning natural gas, for instance, produces nearly half as much carbon dioxide per unit of energy compared with coal.† Fracking does produce less Carbon Dioxide than coal, but other, more harmful chemicals are released in the process. Natural gas appears to be the better alternative, but it usually is just as equally damaging as coal. The Guardian says, â€Å"shale gas and oil extraction were found to be easily the dominant source giving leak rates of 0.18-2.8% even before the gas was distributed to users.† The leak rate of shale gas, which contains methane, is far more detrimental than the effects of coal production and usage combined. Hydraulic fracturing, the method by which humans obtain oil and natural gas, is dangerous and destructive. Water and air pollution are two major results of fracking, which deteriorate human and environmental health. Despite the fact that fracking has been proven to be damaging to both the planet and its inhabitants, mankind will continue to do it because their dependence on natural gas is too great. As a result, nature will continue to deteriorate until an alternative which humans will utilize, is found.

Religious Congregational Website Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Religious Congregational Website - Essay Example Developing a social networking website for young member of the congregation to develop interest and increase participation requires insights about the target population. The development of such information is critical if the website is to be one that is stay accessible, sustainable and responsive long-term. These consideration hold true though congregations are usually limited geographically: Granqvist and Hagekull (2000) point out that a number of the juvenile respondents of their research expressed their sense of isolation is oftentimes most highlighted by their local community interactions. The implication of the study is that geographical proximity does not ensure a sense of inclusion to social institutions. In a similar study, Oman and associates revealed that one of the primary deterrents from young populations to accessing help and support services is their perception that they will gain notoriety or that their privacy will be compromised (Cooley-Strickland et al, 2009). In al l these cases, what is being highlighted is the importance of self-image and social inclusion. The site that is to be developed should consider these factors very closely. Like any other social networking platform, user interfaces should allow for personalization, socialization and self-expression (Thorn, 2009).

Sociology And Social Worlds Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Sociology And Social Worlds - Essay Example 7 Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 8 References†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦9 Critically discuss the key concepts in Conduct that explain our agency in social worlds and the influences upon it. In doing so, draw upon three sources of material – from academic texts or ‘real life’ situations – external to the course texts. Ideology of a term: CONDUCT Conduct is a word which gives us a simple idea about a human behavior in different aspects of life but when considering under the study of sociology ,it tells us that how deep rooted this issue is. It not only builds a personality of an individual but highly contributes in developing a society. According to the theories of different sociologists, Conduct is something which gives us an argument about gestures, manners, norms, attributes and techniques of a human being according to which one leads his/her life individually or in a community. It not only refers to a manner in which people leads their life but also how ones behavior varies in a particular situations, circumstances, or occasions. For example conduct changes of an agency under extreme influences either happy or sad it depends on the extremity of a situation. Parallel issue of an agency In relevance to the topic of Conduct, there is an issue taken parallel is known as an Agency which is defined as a capacity or capability of an individual according to his/her free will. There are two major strategies of sociology to deal with this issue: Structural Sociology and Action-oriented Sociology. Structural sociology over inner princip le Structural Sociological studies approaches with theories of action and agency nonetheless reproduce the idea of an individual and society as two different separate entities by proposing that social order and human conduct are the product of the interaction of fundamentally free human being without any external constraint or pressure. Here inner principle comes in consideration that how it operates an agency .Inner principle gives a major contribution of one’s conduct which is either polished by religious preaching or personality grooming through different institutions. The basic feature of the inner principle is self directed individual agent and is undoubtedly a real capacity but it is not the foundation of these abilities and it does not provide an explanation for the development of a social network. An example which can help us understand the term an agent influencing a conduct of a person is when a child delivers a message to a parent that your friend is there on the p hone so the parent if unwilling to attend the call instruct a child to go and give an untrue reason, this is from where a parent acting as an agent starts spoiling an innocent mind. Relation between Structure and an Agency Furthermore, Structure and agency inter relates in a manner that when we analyze the teacher occupation to show how the agent influences the structure in society , the structure is both an outcome of agent action and shape agency action , in this case we show how the agent shapes the structure in the society with reference to the teacher role in the society .The agent and the structure :The teacher can be viewed as an agent of change , his role is to

The Development of the Professional Engineer Essay

The Development of the Professional Engineer - Essay Example epartment of Innovation (2009) states that Engineering Council maintains a set of standards that the chartered engineers are expected to follow; these recognized standards are meant for professional outcomes and ethical conduct in the industry. These standards help to ensure the employers that their engineers have confidence in their knowledge areas and have the required expertise. There are a list of member institutions who have been authorized to assess engineers for registration for this recognized title; Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIOB), Institution of Engineering and Technology etc. Finch (2008) stated in her article that according to the ICE website, there were 79,432 members recorded in 2006. A chartered engineer is required to portray a standard of performance and possess a commendable level of expertise in his field. ICE 3005 Development Objectives (2009) states that in order to acquire the title; one should follow a set of development objectives that will serve as a planning tool for learning and acquiring the desired level of expertise. These development objectives are not any assurance of the membership of the institution, but provide a strong base and foundation on the basis of which one can be confident when the level of expertise is to be judged by the professionals [2]. Fig.1 gives the membership process that is followed by ICE: In the above figure, it can be seen that ICE proposes two approaches for membership. One approach is through the individual himself and the other one is ICE approved company scheme. The common thing in both of these approaches is that development objectives are given utmost importance. If an individual comes for the ICE ‘Training under Agreement’ then a supervisor (SCE) will be appointed to him/her to help him and guide him through the process of increasing his knowledge and level of professionalism. On the other hand if the individual is not under any

Component Based Software Engineering Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Component Based Software Engineering - Assignment Example This is because these applications are already deployed originally for an environment or naturally embed assumptions based applications. In addition, the documentation procedure is nil, in these types of assumptions therefore if the component is reclaimed again then it is impossible to carry out test to check whether the assumptions are still valid or not. The implanted environmental assumptions are not invalid if they are reused in a different environment. However, this is possible only if the components are utilized in an operational system (Sommerville 1989). Component Composition The process regarding the Component Composition includes the integration of components with each other and particularly if written â€Å"glue code† in order to generate a system or another component. There are different ways to compose components. The methods include sequential composition, hierarchical composition and additive composition (Sommerville 1989). Sequential Composition Suppose a scena rio in which you are composing two components for instance A and B. Now in order to generate a new component such as Sequential components you generate this by combining the 2 existing components. In other words the sequential component is formed by calling the existing components in sequence (Sommerville 1989). This composition can be addressed as a composition of the â€Å"provides interfaces†.... Therefore, these compositions are used along with the components that include program elements or components that provide services. Hierarchical Composition The hierarchical composition occurs if the one component is called directly on the services offered by another component. These services are actually needed by the calling components. Thus, the â€Å"provide interface† that are offered by the called components must need a compatible â€Å"required interface† of the calling component. Here the component A calls directly the component. If the calling procedure is matched by their provided interfaces than no need of extra code is required for these components (Sommerville 1989). On the other hand, if the â€Å"required interface† between the two components such as A and B occurs than some conversion code is needed to overcome the situation. Moreover, the services do not need any â€Å"required interface† therefore, this type of composition is not utilized during the implementation as a web services. Additive Composition The additive composition happens when two or more components are added together in order to generate a new component that combines with each other functionally. The combination of the parallel interfaces includes the â€Å"provide interface† and the â€Å"required interface†. These interfaces are present in components A and B. However, these components are called separately with the help of their external interface of the composed component. In addition, the components A and B neither depend on each other nor they call each other. (Sommerville 1989) This kind of composition is actually utilized along with the other components that are program units or service components. In fact, all

Paid fulltime firefighters are not compensated enough for the job they Essay - 1

Paid fulltime firefighters are not compensated enough for the job they provide citizens - Essay Example This paper will try to point out that despite the seemingly attractive salary of a firefighter in New York, there is a generally perceived low salary for firefighters that restrain many aspirants from seriously considering it as a career. A firefighter’s sworn duty is protect lives and properties from the threats of fire. But most of the time, they also need to respond to emergency calls for public safety from medical, disaster to terrorist acts. Aside from responding to emergency calls and situations, firefighters also include in their duty to educate the public for fire prevention as well as aid in the investigation process for cases that involve fire or arson (NYFD, 2). The firefighters are expected to be ready to serve, brave enough to bring other people and properties to safety despite threats to their own lives, committed and prepared to perform their duties (NYFD, 3). Prevost et al (42) suggested that firefighters face tremendous occupational accidents and the job requires physical and mental professionalism to be able to perform satisfactorily. They encounter in their job aerobic capacity and significant motor coordination. In one study, it was found that many firefighters do not receive salaries but work on voluntary basis, receive minimal government support, and work only as required and when needed, specifically in emergency situations only (Monares, Ochoa, Pino, Herskovic, Rodriguez-Covili, and Neyem, 36). In responding to emergency situations, the firefighters are expected to be aware of full information about the situation in order to take control. These information includes the dangers of the fire, type of fire, size, evolution; affected areas, building blueprints, emergency exits and access, electric or gas network; surrounding key resources such as schools, elderly care homes, chemical industries; the update of response process such as the number of fire trucks and firefighters in the area and capabilities of

Do you think that Mr. Champlin should have consulted with the Navy Essay

Do you think that Mr. Champlin should have consulted with the Navy before spending his time and money on this project - Essay Example Navy irrespective of whether they were lost or considered abandoned in U.S., foreign or international waters. These guidelines are based on the US Constitutional and international maritime laws and the ownership is consistent with Articles 95 and 96 of the Laws of the Sea Convention. These articles delineate the terms of immunity of warships in international waters. Additionally, the statutes as they stand with regards to federal property dictate that all lost or presumed abandoned ships and aircrafts should not be disturbed or removed without a formal application and approval of said application before the property is moved. Operating under this tenet, the actions of Mr. Champlin proved to be in violation of the law. Essentially, he was ignorant of the law but this does not relive any responsibility for its compliance. I find it presumptuous of Mr. Champlin to ask for a refund when he blatantly violated several statutes with regards to presumably abandoned governmental property. I feel that Mr. Champlin should make it his business to be appraised with regards to the special rules of federal property especially in light of the fact that he intended to gain possession of it.

Pre-contact ways of life, changes during contact, and colonialism Essay

Pre-contact ways of life, changes during contact, and colonialism - Essay Example Plus the veracity that until of late, non-indigenous academics made a substandard work of projecting what the statistics might have been for native peoples before contact. Crucial attempts at identifying these figures were first made in the late 19th and early in the 20th centuries, only as the scientific examination of natives was starting. Across Canada in the early decades of 20th century, government survey numbers for profile Indians put them at just somewhat more than 100,000. This on the other hand seemed logical to the anthropologist and others attempting to compute pre-contact population. Understanding what they did about current levels of population reduction, to project that the figures earlier had been two and three-times what they were in their recent time. The later decades of the 20th century, academics projects have increased progressively, stimulated in specific by an expanding acknowledgement that the figures of deaths as a result of European ill-nesses, specifically in the southern hemisphere, was enormous. Additional proof of originally high native populations has also emanated from the progressive improvement of archaeology, which shows both human occupancy of northern North American took place earlier than once imagined and that pre-contact population were elevated than originally computed. Academics now presume with fair sum of confidence that the transience level of the natives of the western hemisphere between first contacts and the latter 29th century was high as 90% or 95% (Sturm, 2012). At the modern time, projects of sum native populations throughout Canada vary up to 1 million, and there are yet deduces that has placed the figures at as much as 2 million. In this respect, all such projections must be utilized with vigilance; however, what is succinct is that there were large figures of native inhabitant across the western hemisphere, as well as European and European American and Canada. In the pre-contact epoch, native populations w ere scattered unequally throughout the Canadian terrain, population concentration ranging according to the potential of the lands to support human life. Throughout the northern territories, Arctic expanses expanding from Labrador to the Beaufort Sea were a sequence of Inuit natives. These indigenous locals were the most modern migrants from Asia, penetrating into North America from Siberia approximately five-thousand years before and progressively scattering the continent from Greenland to Alaska and Siberia. Inside of Canada, the Labrador Inuit had settled along Labrador cost to Hudson Bay; only a little arrangements on the southern part of Baffin Island were found (Oswalt, 2002). A number of Algonquian cohorts who relied upon chiefly hunting, gathering, fishing, and trading were found within the territories of south of the Labrador Inuit. Beothuk who

Fairy Tale Gone Wrong - Snow White Essay Example for Free

Fairy Tale Gone Wrong Snow White Essay Most parents have, or will, tell their child a bedtime story that they may have heard when they were younger. These stories, otherwise known as fairy tales, are thought to be nothing but a mere story to entertain, but what if these fairy tales had an underlying meaning of their own? Fairy tales have been around for more than thousands of years and are passed on frequently from one person to another. Today, most are seen as harmless stories that were made up to entertain children; however, it seems that these fairy tales may actually hold meanings that are larger than the average child can grasp. Many have heard the well-known story Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs; yet, few have read the gruesome, original version by The Brothers Grimm. Disney’s child-friendly version of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was written with the intention of making a successful animated movie for entertainment purposes, while the Brothers Grimm version tells a story in a more shocking and brutal manner. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a story that, when created by The Brothers Grimm, was actually made to entertain adults. As these stories became more and more popular people began to change the stories so that they were suitable for younger children to hear. One person who was exceptionally superior at changing fairy tales was the notable Walt Disney. He took Snow White and made it into his first full-length, animated motion-picture. But Disney wasn’t focused on portraying the original version but rather a loosely based version that would make a successful film, or in other views make him more money. While the two version are immensely different, the newer version does mimic the original in several ways. The fairy tale is still about Snow White being a beautiful young girl who is envied because of her beauty by her wicked stepmother, the Queen. Snow White’s stepmother orders the huntsman to take Snow White out into the woods and kill her, but he is unable to commit the act and lets her runs away. While Snow White is off in the woods she finds a small cottage that her newly-made animal friends help her clean. Later she find out that this small home belongs to seven dwarfs. Then the Queen finds out that Snow White is still alive in the woods and sets off to kill Snow White herself. The wicked stepmother soon finds Snow White, kills her and later is reawakened from the dead by a handsome prince. Then later, the Queen dies and Snow White â€Å"lives happily ever after†. Therefore, the basic outline is kept the same as the original, but Disney changes what seem like minor details that actually have a larger impact. Although it may not seem like monumental to many, the changes that Disney made in his version actually changed the meaning of The Brothers Grimm version entirely. For example, in the original version Snow White is thought to be around seven years old, with the number seven having a symbolic meaning, â€Å"referring to traditional superstitions about number† (Stringham). Whereas Disney changes her age losing the many different connections and also the foreshadowing that the number has. Snow White’s real mother is never mentioned by Disney, but holds an important part because when her real mother pricks her finger and the three drops of blood fall into the snow, it foreshadows the Queens three attempts at killing Snow White. In Disney’s version, he only shows the Queens last attempt at killing Snow White instead of all three attempts made in the original along with that attempt being simplified. Disney also changes the orders that are given by the Queen to the Hunstman. Originally the Queen ordered him to bring back the liver and lungs, symbolically meaning â€Å"the one containing the most blood, [ the liver ] was regarded as the darkest . . . the liver represented the darkest passions, particularly the bloody, smokey ones of wrath, jealousy, and greed which drive en to action. Thus the liver meant the impulsive attachment to life† (qtd. in Stringham). In the movie version, the Queen simply asks for the Hunstman to bring back her heart. Another aspesct that is greatly changed is how Disney represents the Seven Dwarfs. Walt Disney actually gives the dwarfs names and personalities and makes them seem like they are thankful that Snow White is there to help them when really the dwarfs were originally not helpers at all. They were portrayed as beings that only wanted Snow White there for her work, to clean, cook and do all the house chores. And finally, to make the film acceptable for children, Disney takes away the sexual meanings in almost every aspect of the story. As stated by John M. Ellis, writer of One Fairy Story Too Many: The Brothers Grimm and Their Tales, this is certainly a provocative story, and Disney eliminates it completely (qtd in Writers and Collections of Fairy Tales 85). These are a few examples of how different the film and the original have turned out to be. Disney clearly altered the story for the sole purpose of grabbing children’s attention and inevitably, for the money. It is nothing new that when something is said or written someone in the future will change things from the original and then someone else will continue to change the new version and so on. When stories are changed the meanings and symbolism also changes, inevitably changing the story as a whole. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a fairy tale that was taken by Walt Disney and changed for entertainment and seemingly money purposes, which resulted in losing the original meaning behind the story. Although Disney was successful with his version of Snow White, he has taken a story with hidden meaning and given it barely any.

Race Relations In The UK

Race Relations In The UK The concepts of community cohesion and integration have been at the core of UK social policy over the last decade. This renewed race relations approach requires people from minority ethnic communities to mix with mainstream community which will lead to strong cohesive communities. In order to apply these concepts to critically investigate phenomena in contemporary society there is a requirement to look beyond the stated objectives and public political negotiations and explore the ways in which deeply entrenched processes of discrimination may be resistant to legal and political interventions (Solomos and Keith 1989). This exploration requires a critique of race relations approaches within a historical and wider economic and political context, to fully understand and assess the effectiveness of the renewed race relations approach since the beginning of this century. In this chapter, I will provide an outline of the key events which brought about change in race relations approach in the UK with the view of placing the contemporary social policy in political, social and economic context, these changes can be viewed in phases. The early phase of race relations had assumed a process of assimilation, where coloured/ black migrants would settle in, had not worked and this had led to a change. The second phase in race relations is commonly referred to as the multiculturalist is viewed to have failed due to its divisive nature with result of different ethnic communities becoming inward and not interacting with the wider community. The contemporary phase, community cohesion and integration are at the heart of the very public debate in the UK on how best to integrate immigrants in the post-immigration phase. It is believed this latest approach to race relations will build stronger and cohesive communities. While this is the political rhetoric a deeper exa mination would reveal there are social and political factors which are required to be equally considered to understand the effectiveness of the renewed approach to race relations. Certainly, a view of the discourse on the community cohesion agenda reveals there is much criticism of the concept which may limit its effectiveness. The agenda may not address the problem of unrest and disturbances within communities. Rather than bringing communities together, the policy may have the opposite effect of dividing communities. Assimilation To understand the race relations approach in this period, the political and economic situation requires to be considered. Following the post war II period Britain faced a shortage of labour, and initially the labour of ex POWs, Polish and Italian people was employed. The archival research of parliamentary papers on immigration in the 1940s/1950s by (Joshi and Carter 1984) have revealed the ethnocentrism and racist assumptions by some government officials that the jobs were suitable for white workers as it was alleged the similarities of white cultures would not cause problems of assimilating cultures that were different. However, (Sivanandan 1982) argues that the British government wanted cheap labour, with sensitivity to demand and unnecessary labour contracts. Thus it suited Britain to import the workers it needed from the British colonies and ex-colonies; it was the quickest way of getting the cheapest labour at minimum (infrastructural) costs. Thus coloured people from the West Indies were encouraged to travel to Britain largely to fill the jobs. However, from the first stages of the arrival of black workers to Britain they were perceived, both within and outside the government, as a problem (Sivanandan 1982); (Solomos 1988). Particularly with reference to the social and racial conflicts which were officially connected with their arrival. (Solomos 1988) maintains that the media publicity given to the arrival of 417 Jamaicans on the Empire Windrush in 1948 and the subsequent arrival of groups of West Indian workers helped to focus attention on the number of coloured immigrants and this obscured th e fact that the majority of immigrants came from Ireland, white Commonwealth countries and European countries. The consequence of this attitude was that from the early stages of black migration process there emerged a debate about the implications of the growth of black settlement for the host society, particularly in relation to immigration, housing, employment, cultural differences and the emergence of racial conflict (Solomos 1988 p31). No such concerns were raised about white immigrants. Having set the precedent that black migrants were alien and cultural differences would lead to racial conflict, future government policies were largely based on such assumptions (Solomos 1988). (Solomos and Back 1996) contend that from the 1950s onwards political processes and institutions have played a key role in the construction of racial and ethnic questions in British society. This can be viewed in the way successive governments in the UK have responded to racial discrimination with two measures with legislation to reduce discrimination and new legislation to reduce the immigration numbers of black people (Sivanandan 1982). The assumption being that if the gates were closed to black migration the race problem would be resolved. These types of social policy and attitude ensured that subordination and the exclusion of black migrants were set in place. For e.g. following the race riots in Nottingham and Notting Hill in 1958, the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962 was introduced to curb further black immigration. After this period there was a racialisation of immigration legislation (Miles and Phizacklea 1984); Solomos 1988). The belief that immigration was essentially an issue of race was consistent with the view that a) the growing number of black citizens was a potential source of conflict and b) it was necessary for the state to introduce measures to promote the integration of immigrants into the wider society (Solomos 1988) . The linking of immigration controls with integrative measures was a significant step, since it signalled a move towards the management of domestic race relations as well as legitimising the institutionalisation of firm controls at the point of entry. These two sides of state intervention were seen as inextricably linked, the reasoning behind the link was the idea the fewer immigrants (especially black ones) there were, the easier it would be to integrate them. Miles and Phizacklea argue, that a central ideological consequence of this was that the notions of race and immigration became interchangeable, and so, whenever, immigrants and immigration became the centre of debate, the reference was in fact to coloured people regardless of their place and not to all people entering Britain (1984 p22). The fear that the social exclusion of racial minorities in Britain could follow the violence and disorder of the civil rights movement in the US led to the government in changing the approach to race relations in the 1960s (Solomos 1988) Multiculturalist / Integration Plus The 1960s is broadly viewed as the second phase in race relations approach. The fear that the social exclusion of racial minorities in Britain could follow the violence and disorder of the civil rights movement in the US subsequently led to the introduction of the Race Relations Act of 1965 which aimed to prevent racial discrimination. However, it was a weak piece of legislation and only spoke of discrimination in specified places of public resort, such as hotels and restaurants, as being illegal. A new act was introduced in 1968 in which provisions were extended to cover housing and employment in the UK (Deakin et al. 1970). Under the terms of the act, the Race Relations Board was set up in 1966 which set up the Community Relations Commission to promote harmonious community relations (Deakin et al. 1970). A few years later in 1969, the UK government chose to ratify the United Nations Convention on Racial Discrimination, with a reservation in respect of the Commonwealth Immigration A cts so it could continue with the racialisation of immigration to the UK (Sivanandan 1982). These, and subsequent immigration controls have continued to have implications which range much wider than one aspect of law. Firstly, because internal immigration controls affect not only immigrants but all black people in the UK, they reinforce the division in society between black and white people, and secondly, this had and continues to have, serious implications for the civil liberties and rights of the population in general (Gordon 1985). This period saw a shift in race relations to integration plus. In this period there was growing recognition of the legitimacy of black and minority ethnic people to be different especially with regard to issues around language, religion and the wearing of school uniforms (Gilroy 1987); (Brah 1996). It was thought that identities and values represented by immigrants could be accommodated within a multicultural framework and the recognition and acknowledgement of different cultures could coexist with mutual respect. In 1966, the then home secretary, Roy Jenkins, announced: I do not regard [integration] as meaning the loss, by immigrants, of their own national characteristics and culture. I do not think that we need in this country a melting pot, which will turn everybody out in a common mould, as one of a series of carbon copies of someones misplaced vision of the stereotyped Englishmanà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ I define integration, therefore, not as a flattening process of assimilation but as equal opportunity, accompanied by cultural diversity, in an atmosphere of mutual tolerance. The multicultural policy appealed to white British population, as it fitted in with their universal liberal democratic principles, they were confident to welcome people from Commonwealth countries. It was also about cultural value, that British did not regard their culture to be superior to those of the immigrants, at least not at a personal level. It was anticipated the differences in cultures would mainly be restricted to the home, and would involve mainly differences in traditional dress and cuisine, festivals and religions (Solomos and Keith 1989) In the public sphere, a variety of policy initiatives and programmes were based on the premise of providing equal access to employment, education, housing and public facilities generally. However, from the start the policy of equality of opportunity and racial equality caused confusion for many reasons and led to the policy to have little effect. Firstly, as Solomos (1989) notes, the notions of equality of opportunity and racial inequality are embedded in value judgements; thus there is not an agreement what on what equality constitutes in relation to the public good. Furthermore, the definitions of and guidance on these concepts were not forthcoming from the government. As a result of this fundamental constraint, local authorities did not know how to implement equality of opportunity as an effective measure against discrimination and were using terms and concepts in a confused, arbitrary and contradictory manner (Sooben 1990). Ouseley (1984) questions, how far can equality of opportunity and racial equality are achieved without incorporating into the established channels of decision-making the political interests of the black and minority communities It is also significant to note that at the introduction of the race relations legislation successive governments did not seek to use the mainstream Government departments to tackle this issue. While the Home Office was directly responsible for the enforcement of strict immigration controls, the responsibility for enforcing the legislation was given to regulatory agencies and judicial system. From 1965 to 1975 successive governments left the issue of tackling racial discrimination to these bodies and there was little direction or support provided by central government itself (Solomos and Back 1996). By the early 1970s there was much criticism of the limits of legislation and critics were calling for a new and more effective strategy to tackle racial discrimination particular in such areas as housing and employment (Solomos and Back 1996). At the same time research on aspects of racial discrimination by a number of bodies showed that high levels of discrimination persisted and this was taken to imply that the efforts of successive governments from 1965 onwards had produced little or no change (Solomos and Back 1996). More critical studies took their cue from this evidence to argue that race relations legislation, particularly when linked to discriminatory immigration controls, could be no more than a gesture or symbolic political act which gave the impression that something was being done while in practice achieving very little (Solomos and Back 1996) The shortcoming of the existing legislation, and particularly the powers available to the Race Relations Board and the Community Relations Commission, were becoming increasingly evident by the early 1970s. A major government investigation was launched titled The Organisation of Race Relations Administration in 1975. The report helped to put a number of important points on the agenda (a) The need to go beyond the narrow definition of discrimination used in the 1965 and 1968 Acts, in order to include institutionalised or unintended forms of discrimination; (b) The need to strengthen the administrative structures and legal powers of the Race Relations Board in order to allow for a more effective implementation of antidiscrimination policies, including penalties for those found guilty of discrimination; (c) The need for a more interventionist stance from central government departments, particularly the Home Office (Solomos and Keith 1989) The Labour Government which came to power in 1974 therefore proposed reform to the legislation and in 1976 the new Race Relations Act was introduced. This new act was wider and significantly it incorporated direct and indirect discrimination. Direct discrimination was defined by the act where a person treats another person less favourably on racial grounds than he treats, or would treat, someone else, however, indirect discrimination was defined as consisting of treatment which may be described as equal in a formal sense as between different racial groups, but discriminatory in its effect on one particular racial group (Miles and Phizacklea 1984). The second recommendation, to strengthen the administrative powers of the race relation bodies led to the setting up of the Commission for Racial Equality. The Commission was seen as having three main duties: (a) to work toward the elimination of discrimination; (b) to promote equality of opportunity and good race relations; and (c) to keep under review the working of the Act and draw up proposals for amending it (Miles and Phizacklea 1984). However, within a decade of the 1976 Act the disjuncture between the objective and its actual impact was apparent. This was clearly stated in Lord Scarmans report on the urban unrest riots in Brixton in 1981 when Scarman stated that racialism and discrimination against black people often hidden, sometimes unconscious -remained a major source of social tension and conflict  [1]  . Almost all the academic research that has been done on the effectiveness of the 1976 Act, has pointed to three ways in which policies have proved to be ineffective in tackling racial inequality. First, the machinery set up to implement the Act has not functioned effectively. Second, the policies have not produced the intended results. Third, policies have failed to meet the expectations of the black communities (Solomos and Jenkins, 1987). At a local government level the policy initiatives actions to eradicate discrimination had developed ad-hoc and taken many forms. Multicultural types of events such as International Womens Day, fun days, face painting and food, or as (Alibhai-Brown 2000) states saris, samosas and steel bands. Whilst in the public sector offices there would be cultural awareness training events. These initiatives were based on the premise that if the white population were convinced of the legitimacy and values of other cultures then this would eliminate the ignorance, intolerance which had led to previous acts of discrimination and conflict. This approach was criticised by many as it meant the problems experienced by migrants would be attributed to their culture essentialising all experiences to their culture. The funding allowed minority groups to set up groups to meet the needs of the minority population. Whilst these may have me the short term needs of people excluded from mainstream services, the fundamental flaw with this method was it was often viewed the town councillors played the different ethnic communities against each other to compete for funding, there was resentment among populations as one community was viewed to be seen to be more privilege than another. (Sivanandan 1982) states this type of multicultural policy resulted in taking the fighting off the streets and into the town halls. Another criticism of multiculturalism is that the term was not defined and became over time a fuzzy concept (Markusen 2003). Multiculturalism came to have many different meanings and became a divisive tool creating separate groups within communities. Rather than integrated communities, different groups engaged in aspects of their cultural identity. (Benhabib 2002) refers to this as mosaic multiculturalism, that cultures are clearly delineated and identifiable entities that co-exist while maintaining firm boundaries (p8). The tragic murder of Stephen Lawrence, in 1993 and the subsequent complaints and Macpherson Inquiry published in 1999 (Macpherson 1999) about the way in which the Metropolitan police had mishandled the case, is viewed as major benchmark in race issues (Back et al. 2002). In this respect the Macpherson Inquiry was a significant marker in racism in that institutional racism was exposed and put on the political agenda by the then Home Secretary Jack Straw (Back et al 2002). Following the recommendations made in the Macpherson Report in 1999 the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 was introduced. The amendments extended further the application of the Race Relations Act 1976 to the police and other public authorities; exemption under that Act for acts done for the purpose of safeguarding national security; and for connected purposes; immigration and nationality cases; and judicial and legislative acts (RRAA 2000). The act also specified that local authorities adhere to general statutory duty: to eliminate unlawful racial discrimination; and to promote equality of opportunity and good relations between persons of different racial groups. And also specific duties, to undertake positive action to eliminate discrimination, race equality policies were compulsory within public sector organisations. Whilst racism continued throughout 1980 /90s there were signs of another distinctive form of discrimination arising towards Muslims and Islam. There were anti-Muslim feelings throughout mainland Europe including the UK. It is suggested the roots of Muslim marginality date to The Satanic Verses affair in the late 1980s  [2]  . Certainly, by the mid-1990s, anti-Muslim feelings were serious enough for the Commission on British Muslims and Islamophobia to be established in 1996, and the following year the report titled Islamophobia: a challenge for us all (1997) by the Runnymede Trust. The report described the nature of anti-Muslim prejudice and reported the consequence of this prejudice greatly hindered Muslims to play a full part in mainstream society. It was rather insightful, when Solomos wrote in 1999, if anything the experience of the last two decades teaches us that the ways in which policy recommendations are translated into practice remains fundamentally uncertain, particularly as the nature of policy change depends on broader political agendas. (Solomos 1999: 3.2) Integrationist Since the beginning of this century, the race relations approach has moved to a new phase, to community cohesion and integration. Two significant events in 2001, the race riots in three towns in northern England and 911 in the US led to a renewed approach by the government in the UK. While investigations into the disturbances were conducted in the areas involved in the disturbances in Burnley, Oldham and Bradford (The Clarke Report  [3]  , The Ritchie Report  [4]  and The Ouseley Report  [5]  respectively) and the Independent Review Team (Cantle Report) which provided a national overview of the state of race and community relations, Community Cohesion Review Team Report (2001) (Home and Office 2001) that directed changes in government approach. A few days before the release of the Cantle Report, the then Home Secretary, David Blunkett expressed his concerns about the race riots in an interview in the Independent We recognise there are historic divisions between communities that have separated Asian from White and Afro-Caribbean from Asian and that it will take many years to overcome. We also recognise that racial prejudice is deep-seated and we need to face it head on. He stated that we have got to develop a sense of identity and a sense of belonging if we are to have social cohesive communities.  [6]  . Following the interview, the media focused on one recommendation out of the 67 which the report recommended (Robinson 2005). The result of this was the disturbances quickly became a concern about identity and belonging rather than the frustrations of people living in areas of social and economic deprivation, as detailed in each of the local reports. The concept of segregation was used in The Ouseley Report, and was placed at the heart of the Community Cohesion Review Team Report and the opening paragraph in the report exemplified this concern: Whilst the physical segregation of housing estates and inner city areas came as no surprise, the team was particularly struck by the depth of polarisation of our towns and cities à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Separate educational arrangements, community and a voluntary body, employment, places of worship, language, social and cultural networks, means that many communities operate on the basis of a series of parallel lives. (p9). The concern was the lack of interaction between the different ethnicities had led to the ignorance and fear about each other. It was viewed the minority ethnic community had not integrated into white mainstream exemplified by the residential segregation of the different ethnicities. The blame for the existence of parallel lives people was considered to be due to multiculturalist policies, these had caused and allowed ethnic communities to be inward looking and had allowed minority communities to self-segregate. The self-segregation debate was fuelled further by comments from unexpected quarters, from the then head of the Commission for Racial Equality who stated that Britain was sleep-walking into segregation, that this would lead Britain to have American style black ghettos  [7]  . This public declaration by the head of race relations body lent further support to self-segregation debate. At the time, policy makers and politicians and sensationalised headlines in the right wing media gave support to and legitimised the claim that it was not racial discrimination that was the problem, it was the culture of immigrants, that immigrants did not want to mix and their culture was too different to integrate with British culture. Levels of residential segregation also became an indicator of migrant integration and high levels of segregation were viewed as a divisive factor (Phillips 2007). Although the term integration is popularly used by politicians and policy makers alike, guidance on policy was not forthcoming and there was confusion as to what the term means (Catney, Finney and Twigg 2011). Most political discussion of integration seems to assume tacitly that it means conformity with a homogenous set of norms and values within a monocultural society. In 2002 a report had been commissioned by Home Office (Castles et al. 2002) had been critical of the use of the term integration. As a theoretical concept the meaning of the term integration ranges from assimilationist to pluralist perspectives, which the authors argued needs to be examined more closely in terms of their application to two-way processes of accommodation between minorities and the broader society. And also the term integration is so broad and vague that it can be over-used and invoked without any attempt to establish relevant indicators p118. The confusion over the term was also reflected in the initia tive and policies that local government were addressing as part of the community cohesion agenda. Four years after the term had been introduced, at the launch of the government report (Home and Office 2005) Improving Opportunity, Strengthening Society in January 2005, which had been attended by some 500 delegates and distinguished panel  [8]  , delegate members and many of the panellists questioned what is meant to integrate to achieve integration. Delegates questioned whether it meant going to the pub stop praying and shaving off the beard sharing some common values while not abandoning what differentiates one from others and how did we know when a person has integrated (Grillo 2007). These types of questions are a reflection of the questioning and great confusion over the meaning of the term integration across the UK. Segregation There has been a strong link made between the integration of minority ethnic groups and their residential segregation by policy makers, media and academics (Kalra and Kapoor 2008). The authors of the Cantle Report had stated We do not see integration and segregation as necessarily opposed. The complete separation of communities based on religion, education, housing, culture, employment etc., will, however mean that the lack of contact with and absence of knowledge about, each others communities will lead to the growth of fear and conflict. (Section 5.7.3). An explanation of the term segregation is provided the extent to which different groups are geographically, economically and socially separated, including the impact of housing policies and practice (CANTLE REPORT 2001, p61). Over the last decade the much sensationalised claim of sleepwalking into segregation has been challenged and has been refuted and the segregation debate has been put to rest. Human geographer (Peach 1996, Peach 1999, Peach 2009) extensive empirical work in ethnicities and residential patterns has shown the segregation levels to be very different from the American style ghettos and on the contrary to Phillips (2007) claims, Peach argues the levels of segregation of minority ethnic communities are decreasing (2009, p17). Another extensive work by (Simpson and Finney 2011) Sleepwalking into Segregation: Challenging Myths about Race and Migration. Simpson (2004) argues the evidence did not support the legend of self-segregation. Demographic evidence shows dispersal, supporting the survey evidence of a desire to live in mixed neighbourhoods by most in the South Asian populations. There has been much criticism of the narrowly focused self-segregation claims, which highlight the racialised lens of the debate. For instance, there has been little criticism of the white flight process which affected the residential patterns to be obscured in particular areas. Additionally, there is not so much attention, by the media or government, to the segregation of neighbourhoods by class, income and lifestyles or to the increasing trend of gated communities by social elites ((Atkinson and Flint 2004); (Manzi and Bowers 2005). Kalra Kapoor (2008) point out the pattern of settlement of immigrants requires to be understood in a historical context as immigrants settled in areas where there were historically manufacturing jobs. The concentration of 55 per cent of Muslim households in the worst two deciles of multiple deprivations in England and Wales (Peach 2006) needs to be seen in this context. Studies into the experiences of integration and segregation in the Netherlands and the UK found that current understandings of segregation and integration are too focused on cultural aspects, and overlook structural factors that obstruct immigrants integration (van and Liempt 2011). Whilst the claims of segregation were finally dismissed, alarm over American style segregation persisted from the period 2001 2007, and where integral to the debate on the community cohesion and integration agenda. Communitarianism and community cohesion In the concern to bring about racial harmony within communities, the New Labour government drew upon American policy makers and concepts. According to Robinson (2005) the language of community cohesion had been non-existent in urban theory or public policy prior to 2001. One of these was the concept of communitarianism which was the work of Etzioni 1995. The idea behind this concept is that communities can serve the dominant moral order by expressing particular moral commitments to which individual members assign their personal values and allegiance (p1417). Within this narrative, segregation is problematized, as it is perceived that communities that assert order are at odds with the dominant order. Thus, after the 2001 disturbances and questioning in the West of assertive Muslim allegiances post 9/11 the focus on community as an area of social control was given credence. According to Robinson, The Cantle Report saw the community to be the place where cohesion was to happen, for micro-communities to gel or mesh into an integrated whole (p1417). The Cantle Report in 2001 drew upon the work of (Kearns and Forrest 2000) in relation to cohesion in communities. Their framework for socially cohesive society consists of five key elements, four of these elements were adopted common vision and a sense of belonging for all communities; the diversity of peoples different backgrounds and circumstances are appreciated and positively valued; and strong and positive relationships to be developed between people from different backgrounds in the workplace, in schools and within neighbourhoods. The fifth element was adapted social solidarity and reductions in wealth was replaced with those from different backgrounds have similar life opportunities (p1013). Thus community cohesion is conceptualised as social cohesion at the neighbourhood level and community is regarded as the place where common social values enabling all communities to work together towards common goals can be asserted (Robinson 2005). The concept of social capital which was popularised b

Glaciers And Climate Change Environmental Sciences Essay

Glaciers And Climate Change Environmental Sciences Essay The article is mainly talk about the interaction between glaciers and climate change. Take the Tianshan No.1 Glacier as an example. Glacier produces in climate and by the impact of climate change. The glaciers change is the result of climate fluctuations. And glacier changes in turn acts on the natural environment that contribute to climate change. Tianshan No.1 Glacier has changed significantly in the past five decades, includes glacier surface firn characteristics, ice formation zones, ice temperature, thickness, area and terminus position, etc. These glacier changes related to temperature rise, and respond to recent climate variation. In addition, changes in the global climate and environment caused by glacier change, such as the increase of glacier runoff, sea-level rise, and the reduction of surface albedo caused by area shrinkage etc. The interaction between glacier and climate change not only has important impacts on global climate variation, but also has great significance fo r the study of climate and environment. 1. Introduction Glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation (melting and sublimation) over many years, often centuries. Its movement caused by the action of gravity. Glacier ice is the largest reservoir of freshwater, supporting one third of the worlds population. 11% of the worlds land area is covered by glaciers. The glacier mainly distributed in the Antarctic, the Arctic and high-altitude regions of the middle and low latitudes. It is a product of the climate and a good indicator of climate, also it acts on climate. The glaciers change, especially changes in mountain glaciers, is a barometer of global climate change. Precipitation, temperature is the main climate factors that affecting glaciers. The precipitation decides glacier accumulation, and temperatures decide ablation. Therefore, the amount of precipitation, its distribution during the year, and interannual variability effect glacier recharge and activities. While the temperature impacts ice formation and glacial melt water. The precipitation and temperature codetermine the nature of the glacier, development and evolution. 1.1 Glacier mass balance Glacier mass balance is the key factor that links glacier fluctuations and climate change. Climate change leads to corresponding changes in the material balance state of glacier. While this kind of change in the mass balance of glacier can lead to change in glacier movement characteristics and glacier thermal regime, and thus lead to changes in the glacier terminus position, size and ice reserves. Glacier mass balance formular has two elements: glacier accumulation and ablation. Glacier ice accumulation occurs through accumulation of snow and other frozen precipitations, include rime ice, avalanching from hanging glaciers on cliffs and mountainsides above, and re-freezing of glacier melt water as superimposed ice. The ablation refers to the melting of snow or ice that runs off the glacier, evaporation, sublimation, calving, or erosive removal of snow by wind. Air temperature is typically the dominant control of ablation with precipitation exercising secondary control. With successive years in which accumulation exceeds ablation, a glacier will experience positive mass balance, its terminus will advance and vice versa. 1.2 Research Significance Current glacier recession under the global warming has aroused world-wide attention. The sensitivity of alpine glaciers to temperature change is found to be largely amplified. The number of retreating glaciers has improved significantly. For a number of glaciers, shrinkage rate appears to have accelerated since the 1990s. Increase melting speed of glaciers can lead to sea level rise and submerging of some coastal areas. Moreover, it induces snow and ice related disasters, for example, glacier flood and avalanche, which menace the living environment of human beings and wild animals, as well as change the habits and characteristics of many species. On the other hand, the disappearance of ice-covered regions on the Earth will in turn change the global climate regime significantly. Ice covers, especially those in the Polar Regions, can reflect a great deal of solar energy back to the outer space, which helps to keep the Earth cool. However, with the ice cover melting, the underlain land and the water will expose to the air, and thus certainly absorb much more solar radiation and cause more ice melting. The accelerated glacier recession in China is also very obvious, especially in Northwest China, where glacier melt water runoff increases, area of glacier decreases, terminus retreats, snow line elevates and many small glaciers are disappearing. Glacier is known as the solid reservoir and the cradle of oasis in the arid regions in Northwest China. It is the major water source for human living and development. Study area Tianshan No.1 Glacier(43 °6†²N ¼Ã…’ 86 °49†²E) is located at a height of 3,454 m above sea level, and about 118 km from Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in China. It is the headwaters of Urumqi River, approximately 100km from Asia geographic center. In addition, it is considered one of the most important dry land glacier models in Asia, and one of the most famous ten glaciers in the world. It has the longest record of mass balance in the Asian high mountains. The glacial record shows that the glacier has shrunk significantly in last 30 years. The Tianshan No.1 glacier is shrinking at the speed of 3.5 m and 5.9 m every year on its east and west sides respectively. In the past 45 years, its coverage has dropped from 1.94 sq km to 1.68 sq km, a 13.8% loss. The land here is characteristic of alluvial deposits by glaciers, so those conducting geological surveys can explore the development course of the Urumqi River in the past millions of years. Glacier-climate interactions The glaciers change is the inevitable result of climate fluctuations. Atmospheric precipitation and heat status changes, profound impact on the growth and decline of the advance and retreat of the polar ice caps and mountain glaciers. By observing the glacier changes, understanding the glacier dynamic of global or regional, and forecasting global climate change. Glaciers in China are mainly small and medium-sized mountain glaciers in low latitude. They have a good response for climate fluctuations of short cycle. Since the Little Ice Age, the general trend of glaciers around the world is retreat mainly. The Fourth Assessment Report of IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) pointed out that impacts of climate warming on many phenomena are remarkable, such as shrinkage of the Arctic ice cap, acceleration of sea level rise, recession of glacier terminus all over the world, thawing of permafrost, earlier breaking up of ice in the rivers and lakes, prolongation of crop growing season in the middle and high latitudes, and changes in the distribution and behavior of animals and plants. Take Tianshan No.1 Glacier as an example, glacier has changed significantly in the past five decades, includes glacier surface firn characteristics, ice formation zones, ice temperature, thickness, area and terminus position, etc. The main drive forces to the glacier change are the heat and water conditions of the glacier covered region. Glacier melting is tightly related to the temperature variation. According to the records of meteorological stations in the headwaters region, the air temperature has been rising since 1985, and the tendency of rise has accelerated since 1995. From 1997 up to present, the average temperature has increased by 1à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™, as the largest rise extent in recent 50 years. The observation of Daxigou Meteorological Station shows that the average annual temperature increased by 0.8à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™(0.017à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™/a) during 1958~2004 with obvious temperature rises especially in autumn and winter. The characteristics of snow-firn stratigraphy and ice formation zone of the glacier are sensitive to the climate change. The climate warming greatly promotes the glacier melting, which consequently alters the properties of snow pack stratigraphy and ice formation zones. According to the analyses of 60 vertical profiles of snow pits obtained from the accumulation zone of Tianshan No. 1 Glacier during the period of 1961~2005, the construction of snowfirn stratigraphy had a remarkable change. The proportion of coarse firn in the snow pits increased from 40% to 65%, and fine firn decreased from 25% to 7%. This indicates that snow pack is severely affected by melt water, which accelerates the process of transformation from fine firn to coarse firn. Compared with the snow-firn stratigraphic constituents and its structure in the 1960s and 1980s, current specimens show remarkable changes, such as reduction of snow-pack depth, simplification of structure, blurred boundaries of snow layers, an d mergence of dust layers within snow pack. The mass balance change is an undelayed response of the glacier to climate change, and it is a sensitive indicator for climate change. For the mass balance of Tianshan No. 1 Glacier, both annual value and cumulative value have shown negative increases since 1958, indicating severe mass losses. In time of 1958-2004, there were 31 negative mass balance years against 15 positive years. From 1997 to today, the negative mass balance has lasted for 10 years, which never happened ever before. The average annual mass balance during 1958-2004 was -233.6 mm water equivalent (weq) and the cumulative mass balance added up to -10746.5 mm weq, which means that the average thickness of the glacier nearly reduced 12 m and the volume loss was about 20.62-106m3 weq. Unlike the glaciers in Europe and mid-America, which accumulate in winter and lose mass in summer, Tianshan No. 1 Glacier has both accumulation and ablation in summer, and there is little snowfall in winter. Previous researches on Tianshan No.1 Glacier have shown that the mass balance was connected with the precipitation, and negatively correlated with air temperature in summer (May to August). However, with the increase in both current temperature and precipitation, mass balance has different responses to them. Retreat of glacier and its impact Under the climate warming, the law of terminus recession and ice thickness reduction are followed by glacier shrinkage. The changes of glacier area and terminus position result from short-term and long-term climate changes. Tianshan No. 1 Glacier has an overall shrinkage since the year 1959 when the observation initiated. The east and west branches of Tianshan No. 1 Glacier separated into two independent glaciers in 1993 due to ablation, during this period (1959~1993) the total terminus retreat was observed as 139.72 m at an average retreat rate of 4.5 m per year. From 1993 to 2004, the east branch of Tianshan No. 1 Glacier retreated at an average rate of 3.5 m per year (a total of 38.7 m), and the west branch retreated at a rate of 5.8 m per year (a total of 64.1 m). The recession rate (the ratio of receded length to the original glacier length) of Tianshan No. 1 Glacier was 7.8% in the period of 1962~2004 for the east branch and 10.5% for the west branch, respectively. The west bra nch terminus retreated 6.92 m in 1999 and 6.95 m in 2000, respectively, which are the highest records in the observation records. Since the ice flow velocities in corresponding years were observed stable at terminus, it is unlikely that the significant retreats were caused by the reduction of ice flux from upper parts of the glacier, and thus, it is clearly due to the intense ice melting. With terminus receding, its altitude simultaneously elevated from 3736 m a.s.l in 1962 to 3746m a.s.l in 1980, and the east branch terminus altitude in 2005 was 3777 m a.s.l, 31 m higher than that in 1980. Glacial ablation will not only lead to floods, landslides and other natural disasters, but also lead glacier runoff also to be reduced, and make the downstream freshwater resources gradually scarcity. Research Cumulative temperature is a major factor affecting glacier ablation. Cumulative temperature, namely, the sum of daily mean air temperature above the melting point during ablation season is closely related to the area of glacier ablation zone. According to the previous studies, the annual cumulative temperature in the headwaters region of Urumqi River rose by 133à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™Ã¢â‚¬ ¢d during 1960~2004. Its tendency is coincident with that of average annual temperature, i.e. since the late 1980s the cumulative temperature has risen remarkably, and meanwhile the climate warming showed a accelerated tendency (see Fig.1). Fig. 1 Mass balance of Tianshan Glacier No. 1, accumulated temperature (T ¼Ã… ¾0à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™) and their trends during 1958~2003 During the period of 1962~2006, the area of Tianshan No. 1 Glacier reduced by 0.27 km2. From 1992 to 2006, the glacier area decreased by 0.16 km2, which is 0.04 km2 more than that from 1962 to 1992. Based on the observation over the past 43 years, glaciologists found that the decrease of glacier area has accelerated since 1986. Figure 2 shows the recession process of the glacier terminus, and Fig. 3 displays the morphological shapes of Tianshan No. 1 Glacier in different years. Fig. 2 Morphological change of Tianshan No. 1 Glacier over time.(Dashed lines represent the glacial boundaries of 1962, 1973,1980, 1984, 1986, 1994 and 2001; solid lines represent the glacial boundary of 2006) Fig. 3 Morphological changes of Tianshan No. 1 Glacier in the years of 1962, 1988, 1993,1996, 2001, and 2005 Glacial temperature, especially the temperature of the ice below active layers, determines many physical characteristics of the glacier. The change of ice temperature indicates the change in the glaciers cold reserve, which can cause the change of the sensitivity of the glacier in answer to climate warming. Comparing with three vertical profiles of ice temperature at the altitude of 3840 m in the years of 1986, 2001 and 2006 (Fig. 4), The glaciologist found that it is about 10m in depth that the lower boundary of the active layer of the glacier, below which the ice temperature is little affected by the seasonal variation of air temperature. If ignoring the change of the ice temperature in active layer, the ice temperature from 10 to 22 m in depth had a remarkable rise during 1986~2001. The rise range decreased with the largest value of 0.9à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™ (10%) at 10 m depth below ice surface and a negligible change at 22 m depth. Similarly, compared with the ice temperature in 2001, the ice temperature in 2006 had an obvious rise, with an increase of 0.4à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™ at 10 m depth. Usually, the ice temperature at the lower boundary of active layer is identical with the annual average air temperature. Therefore, the rise of ice temperature is undoubtedly the result of progressively climate warming. Fig. 4 Comparison of ice temperature profiles obtained in 1986, 2001 and 2006 at a site around 3840 m a.s.l on No. 1 Glacier in Tianshan Mountain Fig. 5 Annual mass balance of Tianshan No. 1 Glacier against summer temperature (May-August), annual temperature and annual precipitation at Daxigou Meteorological Station Figure 5 shows the variations of mass balance, summer temperature, annual temperature and precipitation during1959-2004, from which researcher found that during 1960-1986 the mass balance had a weak negative correlation with temperature, while a clear positive correlation with precipitation, indicating that the mass balance is controlled by both temperature and precipitation, with precipitation as the main factor. During this period, the annual average temperature and precipitation were -5.4à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™and 425.8 mm, respectively. However, the correlation has altered since 1986. The mass balance showed a negative correlation with temperature and no correlation with precipitation, indicating that the mass balance was mainly controlled by temperature. During this period, average annual temperature and precipitation were -4.9à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™and 491.6 mm, respectively. The results show that temperature and precipitation are usually control mass balance, but temperature is mainly contr ol mass balance when temperature rises to a certain level, though with high precipitation. Existing policy for climate change adaptation As early as in 2006, the Urumqi municipal government had made à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹provisions: from pollution to protect important water source in Urumqi, prohibit visitors in Tianshan Glacier. But the absence of fencing and secure, some tourists into the glacier region through various ways, changed the environment of the glacier. The deputy of autonomous regions, Chunyu Cui, proposed to establish an areas about National Tianshan Glacier nature reserves of Xinjiang in 2012. But the policy had not yet been introduced. Conclusions and recommendations Conclusions Taking Tianshan No. 1 Glacier as an example, this article talk about the response of glacier to current climate warming based on the observation dataset of 50 years. The conclusion was drawn as follows: Since the 1960s, snow firn stratigraphic components and structure have shown remarkable changes, including reducing snow pack depth, simplifying structure, and obscuring boundaries of snow layers with different characteristics. The area of glacier ablation zone keeps expanding, the positions of ice formation zones move upwards, and the top of east branch has already shown the characteristic of ablation zone. During 1962~2006, the area of Tianshan No. 1 Glacier reduced by 0.27 km2 (14%). The shrinking tendency has accelerated in recent years. At the altitude of 3840 m a.s.l, a significant rise in the ice temperature was observed during 1986-2001, with the highest rise value of 0.9à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™ at depth of10 m. From 2001 to 2006, the ice temperature rose by 0.4à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™at depth of 10 m. Average annual mass balance during 1958-2004 was -233.6 mm weq, with the cumulative mass balance of-10746.5 mm weq, which indicates that the thickness of Tianshan No. 1 Glacier reduced nearly 12 m and loss of volume came to about 20.62-106 m3. Mass balance is controlled by both temperature and precipitation before 1986, with precipitation as the main factor. But after 1986, mass balance is controlled mainly by temperature, though with high precipitation. Recommendations In order to protect the glaciers, many experts hope to take measures as soon as possible to protect the natural environment of the glaciers in Xinjiang in accordance with the law, slow down man-made destruction. On the other hand, encourage and support to use the artificial weather fully developed air water resources, to carry out the artificial water project, in order to increase the glaciers snow. There are some suggestions: Through energy conservation, development of natural gas, hydropower, coal bed methane utilization, bio-energy, wind energy, solar energy, geothermal energy. Strengthen the planning and implementation of ecological construction and environmental protection. Strengthening climate change communication and scientific popularization to raise awareness of climate change in the whole society.

Immanuel Kant (1724 - 1804) Essay -- Essays Papers

Immanuel Kant (1724 - 1804) Author of Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals (1785). "The Enlightenment was a desire for human affairs to be guided by rationality than by faith, superstition, or revelation; a belief in the power of human reason to change society and liberate the individual from the restraints of custom or arbitrary authority; all backed up by a world view increasingly validated by science rather than by religion or tradition." (Outram 1995) In the eighteenth century, people started questioning the authority and knowledge of the church. New ideas placing human reason over faith and blind obedience began arising. This period in history is known as the Enlightenment. It is a movement, still in progress, for individual people to reach and hopefully grasp their highest potential. It began with the writings of philosophers such as Voltaire (1694-1778) and Charles-Louis Montesquieu (1689-1755). The second wave included Denis Diderot (1713-78), d'Alembert (1714-80), and Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-78), and the final stretch came from thinkers such as Lessing and Immanuel Kant (1724-1804). All three eras emphasized intellectual reason over faith and put more reliance on scientific discoveries and revelations. However, the people in the third part, especially Immanuel Kant, having the benefit of hindsight, are able to encompass the movement from faith to reason in their writings. The basic details of Kant's biographic life take very little space. He was born in 1724 in Konigsberg, the capital of East Prussia and one of Frederick the Great's garrison towns. Kant knew what it was like to live as a peasant, since he came from a peasant family. His father was a harness maker. From an early age, Kant showed much intellectual potential and his local fame gained him admittance into a school called the Collegium Fredericianum, an institution run by Pietists. "Pietism was an eighteenth century fundamentalist movement within German Protestantism", also followed by his parents, "that minimized the authority of the church and stressed individual moral conduct (Sullivan 1994)." Then, he attended the University of Konigsberg, also staffed mainly by Pietists. The influence of this religious background is reflected in Kant's beliefs in the existence of God, in the dignity of each person, and in a universal moral code. Kant spen... ...e believes that it is still going on. The time of Enlightenment is not over yet we still presently are in it today. He says: "If it is asked now whether we live at present in an Enlightened age, the answer is: No, but we do live in an age of Enlightenment (Velkley 1989)." Immanuel Kant Links: University of Arkansas Link: University of Arkansas Link Kant Homepage Link: Kant Homepage Works Cited - Acton, H.B., Kant's Moral Philosophy, published by: Macmillan and Co., Copyright 1970. - Buchdahl, Gerd, Kant and the Dynamics of Reason, published by: Blackwell Publishers, Copyright 1992. - Deleuze, Gilles, Kant's Critical Philosophy, published by: The University of Minnesota Press, Copyright 1983. - Sullivan, Roger J., An Introduction to Kant's Ethics, published by: Cambridge University Press, Copyright 1994. - Velkley, Richard L., Freedom and the End of Reason, published by: The University of Chicago, Copyright 1989. - Wood, Allen W., Kant's Rational Theology, published by: Cornell University Press, Copyright 1978.

E.P Thompsons The making of the English Working Class Essay -- Thomps

E.P Thompson's The making of the English Working Class From looking at The making of the English Working Class it seems quite obvious that E.P Thompson’s main arguments throughout his book are about the notion of ‘class’, in particular the ‘making of the working class’ ; and in order to evaluate his theories we must attempt to look at other historians opinions about his book, and his suggested theories, in order to come to an impartial evaluation. Many historians have their own interpretations when trying to define class, like Bourke who links class to characteristics such as accent, clothing; Marx who states that class was ‘no more or less than an objective social category’; and E.P.Thompson’s definition, that class happens ‘as a result of class conscious experience.’ Therefore it is quite clear that class is a contested concept as there is no exact definition, thus making it more difficult for historians to come to a conclusion with evidence to prove it. The Making of the English Working Class is according to Kaye and McClelland, ‘the obligatory starting point for any contemporary discussion of the history of the working-class formation.’ This gives us the indication that Thompson had not just written another piece on the concepts of class but that his book ‘opened interpretive eyes to a new way of seeing class.’ In his book Thompson’s main purpose was to write adjacent to the grain of economic history by implying that ‘the working class did not rise like the sun at the appointed time. It was present in its own making.’ In this we can see how Thompson seems to envoke the working class experience in a vivid way, which is arguably one of the reasons why his book received such appraise. However his book also received much criticism, as Kaye and McClelland point that his ‘own theory of how class formation is determined remains highly ambiguous.’ This suggests that perhaps Thompson did not go into specific detail on how class was formed and when, which remains a highly debated topic. The fact that Thompson argues ‘thus the working- class presence was, in 1832, the most significant factor in British political life’, is argued by the Marxist historian Anderson, that class was not specifically made in the 1830’s due to its decline, but was perhaps made in the 1880’s. The fact that he insinuates that the English working class was not ‘made’ by the ... ...analysed the ‘master narrative’ in order to come to the conclusion that ‘the terminology of class was not the favoured language of radicals in Thompson’s period and after, rather the construct ‘the people’ predominated and tended towards inclusiveness and harmony between classes.’ From looking at various historians opinions regarding E.P.Thompson’s book The making of the English Working Class, it is quite evident that there are many opposing views about his work that have led to many criticisms as well as many appraisals. The topic of class is highly debatable due to the fact there is no specific definition of it. It is also debateable where it originated from and so we cannot just look at one historian’s interpretation of the subject but we need to look at many in order to come to our own conclusions of the concept of ‘class consciousnesses and ‘class identity’. Thompson has produced an ‘outstanding’ interpretation of his theories on what made the working class and many historians have made valid criticisms that allow us to question some of his main arguments within the book, meaning that the notion of class is still a contested concept for which there is no specific answer.

The Purpose of Education Essay -- Philosophy of Education Teaching Tea

The Purpose of Education As teachers endeavor into the field of education, it is imperative to ask exactly what the purpose of education is and why education has become one of the fundamental institutions of society. In examining this question, I realize that education serves as the basis for the organization of our culture, and essentially, the entire world and its influence is invaluable. I see four essential purposes of education: to foster thinking and reasoning skills in students, to create a sense of community, to develop life skills such as responsibility and cooperation, among others, and to provide a precursor for life’s continuous education. The most obvious purpose of education, and perhaps the one that many people view as the only purpose, is to instill in students a means of thinking. In our current education, this takes the form of several major subject areas, like math, science, history, and English, but these areas are constantly expanding to reflect our changing culture as students today are encouraged to expand their knowledges. But education goes beyond even providing subject information; it teaches students to think critically and rationally and to consider ideas— skills necessary in all life situations. The structure of education today, and throughout history, helps to provide a strong sense of community within society. Because students’ main access to other people outside their families is in school, thi...

Characters in Hamlet Essay

Why does one live? What purpose does one serve? What is the meaning of life? These are all existential questions that both ancient and modern philosophers have yet to satisfactorily answer. The weight of one’s mortality and the differences of life and death are introduced right from the start of Shakespeare’s play _Hamlet_ having Hamlet, in the aftermath of his father’s death, attempt to explore these existential questions, seeking truth and understanding as he tries to grasp the anecdote about his father’s death. Claudius on the other hand is deeply considering his actions while also enduring a very difficult apprehension of life after death. Claudius acts to generate Hamlet’s confusion and anger, and his ensuing search for truth and life’s meaning, but Claudius himself is not a stationary character. In private, he is a very different character. It is clear that Claudius is seen as a murderous villain, but a divided villain: a man who cannot refrain from nourishing his own desires. He is not a monster, only morally weak, intent on trading his humanity for power. Polonius is a man filled with confidence in his knowledge, and while he is a blowhard, and he does spout sayings, his cliches constitute sound advice and his observations prove themselves prophetic. In _Hamlet_, life and death provides multiple influences and consequences for each of these characters, affecting both their well-beings and sense of meaning. Finik 2 Hamlet is a university student of Wittenberg who frequently contemplates on several perplexing philosophical questions, and possibly suicide. When King Hamlet, his father, dies, he returns home to Denmark only to discover that there was evidence of foul play in his father’s death. â€Å"_The serpent that did sting thy father’s life/Now wears his crown_. † (I. V. 39-40). The Ghost of King Hamlet tells Hamlet that his uncle Claudius is the murderer. Feeling decisive, Hamlet seeks to prove Claudius’ guilt before he takes any action. However, Hamlet is too quick to act at times: he constantly exaggerates his intellect while ignoring his emotions and what feels right. Although his father’s death set high emotions for Hamlet, it serves as only one of the troublesome events for Hamlet. The fact that his mother, Gertrude, has ended her mourning and married another man (Claudius) so quickly, shows Hamlet the differences in some peoples thoughts, decisions, and possibly way of life. â€Å"_Frailty, thy name is women_! † (I,II,146). In this quote, Hamlet is speaking in his first soliloquy. The â€Å"women† he specifically refers to is his mother. Hamlet feels that Gertrude is weak and not strong enough to mourn his father any longer. Hamlet even continues to say that not even an animal, or beast, who has no reasoning or skills, would have abandoned the mourning so quickly. All in all, this shows how angry and distressed Hamlet is by his mother’s marriage. Although Hamlet appears to be the exemplar of an anti-existentialist from the outset of the play, Hamlet’s logic slowly begins to unravel, with layer after layer revealing more snippets of Hamlet’s emotion. As Hamlet speaks the line: _To be, or not to be, that is the question:_ _Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer_ _The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,_ _Finik 3_ _Or to take arms against a sea of troubles_ (III,I,58-61) He is contemplating the thought of suicide and wishing that God had not made suicide a sin. Hamlet’s anxiety and uncertainty causes him to doubt the power of reason alone to solve his issues. Hamlet begins to realize that reason is helpless in dealing with the depths of human life, which is one of the central assertions of existentialism. However, in considering both his emotions and reasoning, Hamlet avoids the temptation of suicide knowing that to escape life’s pain, would mean to eternally suffer in hell. By deciding to stay alive and counter Claudius’ fraud, Hamlet strongly demonstrates his inner existential qualities. As Claudius is introduced, he expresses himself as an intelligent and capable leader. Claudius gives a speech intent on making his court and country satisfied with their new leader, addressing the people of his brother’s death, his recent marriage and the potential unease with Norway. Claudius is well aware that if any change would occur in the government, civil unrest would definitely unfold. His speech combines the people’s loss with a new beginning that they will have under his responsibility. He also uses the death of King Hamlet to create a sense of national unification, â€Å"_the whole kingdom/To be contracted in one brow of woe_† (I.II. 3-4), but in private, Claudius conceals a very different personality. The Ghost refers to him as â€Å"_that incestuous, that adulterate beast_† (I. V. 42), and soon, his crime is what is known to be what is â€Å"_rotten in the state of Denmark_† (I. IV. 90). The King has committed fratricide and has taken the Queen with â€Å"_the witchcraft of his wit_† (I. V. 47). Claudius represents the worst of human dignity, showing greed, corruption and excess. However, Claudius is not entirely a sociopath. His actions occasionally weigh heavy on him: Finik 4 _O, ’tis true_. _How smart a lash that speech doth give my conscience! _ _The harlot’s cheek, beautified with plastering art,_ _Is not more ugly to the thing that helps it_ _Than is my deed to my most painted word:_ _O heavy burden_ (III. I. 49-53) Claudius tries to ask God for forgiveness in a soliloquy, but realizes that he still profits from his crimes and is not willing to give them up. â€Å"_But what form of prayer/Can serve my turn? Forgive me my foul murder/That cannot be, since I am still possess’d of those effects for which I did murder_† (III. IV. 52-54). Claudius can also how some sensitivity. He is genuinely sorry for Polonius’ death, and he honestly loves Gertrude. Although he strongly intends on killing Hamlet, he refuses to do so himself on Gertrude’s behalf. Claudius may show sensitivity for many characters but, nobody comes before his own desires. A great example of this is how Claudius does not even intend to stop Gertrude from drinking the poison in the goblet during the duel between Hamlet and Laertes because it would have implicated Claudius in his plot to kill Hamlet. Therefore, putting his desires in front of all. Whereas most other characters in _Hamlet_ are preoccupied with ideas of justice, revenge, and moral balance, Claudius is decided upon maintaining power. Polonius, a man brimming with confidence, seems like a feeble old man who cannot say anything without attempting a great speech. At other times, it feels as if though he is Finik 5 undermining the life of the court through a network of spies. When Polonius finds his son Laertes, before leaving for France, he urges him â€Å"_aboard, aboard_† (I. III. 55), but proceeds to prevent him from boarding by giving some advise. This speech concludes with the message- â€Å"_to thine own self be true/thou canst not then be false_† (I. III. 79-80). Yet, sometime later, Polonius is ordering Reynaldo to spy on Laertes and deliberately trap him by deceit â€Å"_and there put on him what forgeries you please_,† (II. I. 19-20) meaning to be false, to say that Laertes is into â€Å"_drinking, fencing, swearing, quarrelling, and drabbing_† (II. I. 26-27). Contrary to what Polonius has told Laertes, he is telling Reynaldo to be false and that his â€Å"_bait of falsehood takes this carp of truth_† (II. I. 63). In all, Polonius is concerned about his own reputation more than the feelings and well-being of others. He puts plenty of effort into earning what he thinks is right and uses long speeches to convince others. In the end however, he is killed by one of his own ingenious plans. Hamlet’s perpetual reflection does finally help him to overcome his great anxiety. When he returns from exile in Act V, Hamlet appears to be very different. He is calm and less afraid of death. He has come to realize that destiny is ultimately controlling all of our lives, and any sense or question of existentialism would change nothing. Hamlet is ready to confront the circuitous truth that to avenge his father’s death he must commit the same act for which he seeks revenge. He now admits that he knows nothing of the world, â€Å"_since no man knows aught of what he leaves, what is’t to leave betimes? Let be_. † (V. II. 207-208). Hamlet has reached the climax of his philosophy; he has prepared himself for death. Claudius is the villain of the piece, as he admits to himself: â€Å"_O, my offence is rank it smells to heaven_† (III,III,40). His fratricide is the corruption invading the events around – that which is, in the words of Marcellus, â€Å"_rotten in the state of Denmark_. † Claudius is socially capable, and his charm is natural. He can exhibit deep distress Finik 6 over his â€Å"_dear brother’s death_† but quickly turns mourning into celebration and moves on â€Å"_With mirth in funeral and with dirge in marriage_† to whatever lies ahead. He is a very decisive man and recognizes that he his â€Å"_offense is rank_† and â€Å"_smells to heaven_,† he also admits that he will not make amends with God because he refuses to give up what his crime has profited him. He is willing to take the consequences of his actions after death while enjoy a great lust of power in life. Despite the vast amount of experience, Polonius is naive. Polonius’ inability to understand Hamlet reflects his ability to understand things. To prove his belief in Hamlet’s madness he invokes a little play-acting from Ophelia. He misdirects Ophelia into reading a book to confront Hamlet, while he and the King eavesdrop. Although this meeting reveals that Polonius has made a great mistake, he is not in the least discouraged but immediately sets up his next plot. It proves to be his last because he is killed. If he had not misjudged Hamlet he would not have been pursuing his ill-founded suspicions and been behind the arras and gotten himself killed. In _Hamlet_, life and death provides multiple influences and consequences for each of these three characters, affecting both their well-beings and sense of meaning. In the end, Hamlet finally recognizes that life is governed by destiny itself, and that no alteration can be done with any amount of questions or actions. He awaits death at a moment’s notice. Claudius on the other hand, has accepted the fact that he will suffer after death in hell. He is not willing to capitulate his power and therefore decides to live his life the way he wants, knowing that he has committed crimes to others. His meaning in life is to live life to the fullest and accept what may happen after death. Polonius acts like a fool, attempting to rival the other main characters by using eloquent words that do not represent what truly composes him, making him a hypocrite. While he depends upon his memory, he utters lengthy phrases, and gives useful counsel, but, as he ages, he cannot Finik 7 be kept busy and intent, Polonius is subject to the desolation of his capabilities. He loses the order of his ideas, and entangles himself in his own thoughts. The meaning of life for Polonius may seem unclear, or entangled. He means well for his children but also takes thoughts too far and may seem to over think. He is ignorant in foresight and the idea of dotage engulfing upon wisdom will solve all of the phenomena for Polonius. In the end, Hamlet, Claudius, and Polonius have all expressed what their true meaning in life is. Whether it be to accept destiny’s fate, avoid suffering after death, or, to act foolishly and hypocritically, life and death has most definitely forged a path for all three of these characters. Works Cited Shakespeare, William. _Hamlet. _ Ed. Roma Gill. Glasgow: Bell and Bain Ltd. 2009.