Aristotle - Biography Essay Example for Free

Aristotle Biography Essay Raphael portrays two of Greeces great philosophers as the focal point of his masterpiece The School of Athens. Aristotle has his hand pointing straight out as if he is declaring to Plato that truth is found right here around us. Aristotle was an excellent teacher who is considered to be the prince of philosophy and one of the worlds most influential thinkers of all time. Aristotle was born in 384 B. C at Stragyra in Thrace, on the north coast of the Aegean Sea. This was fifteen years after the death of Socrates and three years after the founding of Platos Academy. His father was the court physician and friend of King Amyntas of Macedonia. It is likely that Aristotles great interest in biology and science, in general, was nurtured in his early childhood. At the age of seventeen, Aristotle moved to Athens and enrolled in Platos Academy as a student of philosophy. He studied for over twenty years at the Academy until Plato died in 348 B. C. Throughout his time at the Academy, Aristotle became one of the top scientist and philosophers, and though he studied under Plato, he was not a Platonist. In fact, he would later criticize Plato and his various doctrines. After the mourning of Platos death had subsided, Speusippus seized power of the Academy. At this time Aristotle quickly left Athens and lived for a time in Assos and Mytilen where he was able to write, research, and teach. He did return, for a time, to Macedonia to tutor Philips son Alexander at his request. By the age of forty-nine, Aristotle had traveled back to Athens to found a school. Many historians believe this is when Aristotle began the most productive period of his life. His school was named the Lyceum, named after the groves where Socrates went to think and which was the sacred domain of Apollo Lyceus. The Lyceum had a fine library, an extensive collection of maps, and a zoo where Aristotle preformed much of his zoological research. . The school was located close to a long covered walk called in the greek peripatos. Aristotle would take his students on this long covered walkway where he conducted much of his teaching as they strolled along pondering many philosophical questions. As a result of this method of teaching, the students of the Lyceum were commonly referred to as peripatetics. Aristotle was only in Athens for twelve years when it was necessary for him to leave for political reasons to save his life. In 322 B. C. Aristotle died and his library was passed on to his successor, Theophratus. Aristotle is regarded as the first truly cosmopolitan thinker. He was interested in a plethora of subjects and gave significant contribution to many of them. He composed major studies of logic, ethics, and metaphysics. Today he is best renown for his work the Metaphysics and the Nichomachean Ethics. In addition to these major studies he also wrote on epistemology, physics, biology, meteorology, dynamics, mathematics, psychology, rhetoric, dialectics, aesthetics, politics, and philosophy. Choose any field of research and Aristotle probably studied it, select an area of human reason and he probably theorized on it. If all of his writings were published today they would fill fifty large volumes in print. Unfortunately, over the last two thousand years many of his writings have been lost. Only one fifth of his writings have endured time. What has been preserved are what many believe are Aristotles lecture notes and notes of his students that were not meant to be printed. These rough notes have been edited in a cut paste fashion in order to try to make sense of Aristotles profound thought. Aristotle philosophy is a development of Platos philosophy. Aristotle respected Plato but rejected the dualism that Plato passionately embraced and taught his pupils. Platos primary reality of the unchanging world existed separately from the world of particular things. Aristotle believed he was able to avoid this ambiguous ideal of two worlds and still communicate all the necessary concepts that Plato did. Metaphysically, Aristotle believed that every living being, except God, is a composite of two factors called form and matter. In Aristotles system of epistemology, he believes that the forms that Plato held unattainable actually exist as essential parts of the things that we asses through our senses. He believed that a human being is a holistic unit of both the body and soul. Aristotle specialized in classifying the many different components in the universe: humans, animals, plants, inanimate objects, etc. His work Catergories was his flagship in the organization of the world. He believed that humans were certainly in a classification of their own, and that human beings could be divided up into three dimensions, or more specifically, three dimensional thinking. The first dimension is productive thinking and refers to man as a maker; the second is practical thinking and refers to man as a learner and knower. All of the books that Aristotle wrote can basically be divided into these three categories. For example his book on poetry would be in the category of productive thinking; ethics would be in the category of practical thinking; philosophy, science, and metaphysics would be in the category of theoretical thinking. Aristotle can be credited with the creation of both the science and the philosophy of biology. His work in science involved the discovery of interconnections between characteristics of organisms. This led to the biological specialties of taxonomy and systematics. This evidenced that he was able to adapt his metaphysical and logical thought to that of the area of zoology. His application of thought to the experimentation makes him one of the founders of laboratory research. Aristotle was the first to create the study of deductive inference. His theory of syllogism, simply put, is a discourse in which certain things having been stated, something else follows of necessity of doing so. Aristotle believed that the laws of logic apply to more than just human thinking. He believed that these laws of being allow the understanding of the logical structure of the world. The premise to his logical system is the law of noncontradiction. Aristotle states in his law that It is impossible for the same attribute at once to belong and not belong to the same thing in the same relation. More simply would be that (B) can not be both (B) and non(b) at the same time in the same sense. This law cannot be proven but it must not be ignored. It is a universal core principle of human thinking. However, a caveat is necessary because the absence of a contradiction doesnt necessary guarantee truth. The world is in a constant state of change. Aristotle believed that changes could be natural or could be a product of human art. The four causes that Aristotle articulated answer the four questions that can be asked about anything. The four questions are (1) what is it? (2) what is it made of? (3) by what is it made? (4) for what end is it made? Aristotle four responses are the four causes: (1) the formal cause (2) the material cause (3) the efficient cause (4) the final cause. The biologist in Aristotle affected the way he observed the world. He observed everything going through change happens to something that is a combination of form and matter becoming something different or new. Teleology is the notion that the present could be understood by reference to the future. The nature of anything is linked to its telos, meaning its goal or final end. The final end of an object reveals its nature and this nature drives it to its goal. This idea is what Aristotle thought could explain many things from a fetus in the womb to an acorn from a oak tree. These four causes are a significant contribution to science in explaining nature Within the dimension of practical thinking is Aristotles view on ethics and how it relates to us not only as individuals but to the world as a whole. His views are contained in basically his two works called the Nicomachean Ethics and the Eudemian Ethics. The Nichomachean ethics is the better one of the two because it is clearer, it addresses more issues within the field of ethics, and it arguments are usually superior. Aristotle believes that everyone has an ultimate goal, and they pursue it by doing what they view as good. What a person views as good is ultimately what will bring them long-term satisfaction and happiness. He goes on too describe the soul of man and its various virtues. He believed that the soul could be divided into two characteristics: reason and desire. These two characteristics may conflict in the soul of a man when trying to make a decision. Aristotle believes that the more disciplined a man is the more reason will win when a decision is made. He believed that these virtues were innate in every man and not acquired in any fashion. Lastly, the way Aristotle viewed God was a product of how he viewed everything else. Aristotle was not a zealot when it came to religion. He believed there was a supreme being because he thought it would be impossible to explain some things. Aristotles view of God was more of a metaphysical necessity. Through his thought of telos he knew the world must have an ultimate cause and this cause must be God. Exposition I specifically like how Aristotle classified everything, and approached fields of study with common sense and practicality. He believed that humans are the highest classification, and I would certainly agree with that. I also agree that the three dimensions of man: productive, practical, and theoretical thinking, are basically the three main areas in life, but I also think that there are other areas on the side, and that everything can be categorized as concretely as he seeks to do. Aristotles ideas of the four different causes are very good. The hegemony of these causes communicate their fundamental value. His central idea that everything has a cause is true and very important. The deductive reasoning he used also helps to clarify things. I believe that the use of syllogisms should not be used to test if a belief is true. A worldview could pass a few tests but that doesnt prove that it is correct. Aristotles view of God is a disturbing product of his system. He is the victim of his own mind. He is a perfect example of how a philosopher may become trapped in his own system. He had made some presuppositions early on that had become the core of what he believed. As he progress in his thought he had to be consistent with what he had first believed and this necessitated him to plug everything into his presuppositions or mold that he had created. This resulted in God becoming an after thought of his life, instead of the focal point of his life. Aristotle had forgotten to place God into his system when it was in infancy. As a result of the complexity, he had to place his unknowable God in a box. Aristotle ethics of having an ultimate goal that provide your happiness is quite interesting. If your ultimate goal is to glorify God then you will find true happiness. John Piper would say that a Christian hedonist finds pleasure in being satisfied with the Lord to bring God the utmost glory. I do not, however, agree with Aristotles division of the soul. There are many problems in Aristotle system. In spite of the problems, his philosophy has affected just about everyone. I believe that the ideas of Aristotle not only influenced the ancient greeks, but also affected medieval philosophy, and modern philosophy. The prevalence of the contributions of Aristotle is ingrained in almost every discipline. Without the teachings of Aristotle the world would be years behind. We owe a lot to this man who gave his life in order to understand our existence and things that exist around us. Raphael painted Aristotle in the middle of his School of Athens for a reason. He must of known of the influence that Aristotle would posses on young minds for centuries to come. Works Cited Adler, Mortimer J. 1978. Aristotle for Everybody: Difficult thought made easy ,New York: Macmillian Publishing Co. Aristotle. 1980. Metaphysics I-IX, Harvard University Press. Barnes, Jonathan. 1996. Aristotle: A Very Short Introduction, New York: Oxford University Press. Cottingham, John. 1996. Western Philosophy: An Anthology, Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishers Ltd. Fearn, Nicholas. 2001. Zeno and the Tortoise: How to Think like a Philosopher, New York: Grove Press. Honderich, Ted. 1995. The Oxford Companion to Philosophy, New York: Oxford University Press. Lennox, James G. 2001. Aristotles Philosophy of Biology, Cambridge University Press. Nash, Ronald H. 1999. Lifes Ultimate Questions: An Introduction to Philosophy, Zondervan. Stumpf, Samuel E. and James Fieser. 2003. Philosophy: History and Problems, McGraw- Hill Higher Education. Wilson, Fred L. Science and Human Values: Aristotle, http://www. rit. edu/ flwstv/aristotl1. html. Accessed 6 October, 2004.

Jean Piaget: The Four Stages Of Cognitive Theory

Jean Piaget: The Four Stages Of Cognitive Theory Cognitive theory of Jean Piaget includes four stages of development that children move through during which the explanatory behaviors of infants transform into the abstract, logical intelligence of adulthood. There are three important specific characteristics of Piagets theory of which the first one is being a general theory, that is, cognitions all aspects undergo a similar course of change. Another characteristic is that children move through the stages in an invariant sequence. Piaget believed that there is a same order that children follow. Third, the stages are universal. Stages in cognitive theory assume the theory to include all children everywhere (Berk, 2003). Biological concepts are used in a limited way in Piagets theory. However, he stated the importance of genetic and environmental factors on the way that children move through the stages (Crain, 2005). He emphasized that the speed of children while passing those stages is affected by differences in genetic and environmen tal factors. Jean Piaget used the term scheme while explaining human beings organized way of making sense of experience (Mark, 1969). Traill (2008) explains that the term scheme used by Piaget is different from peoples everyday usage of scheme. The term can be any pattern for exploring and learning from the environment and it has three different intellectual structures. Piaget calls first intellectual structures to emerge as behavioral schemes, ones that appear after 2 years as symbolic schemes, and structures that appear after 7 years as operational schemes (Piaget, 1972, as cited in Traill 2008). For instance, dropping scheme of an 8 month old baby and a 25 months of will not be the same, as sooner it will become more deliberate and creative. Toddlers, different from infants, begin to think before acting and Piaget identifies that transition from sensorimotor to cognitive approach to the world which depends on mental representations. (Piaget, 1926, as cited in Berk 2003) Images and concepts are the two powerful mental representations. Especially, the shift from sensorimotor to cognitive approach is accounted for two processes; adaptation, consisting assimilation and accommodation, and organization. Interpretation of new structures into already existing schemes is called as assimilation and modification of existing schemes into adaptation of new experiences is called as accommodation. Cognitive adaptation aims to adjust to the environment and is a result of the equilibrium between assimilation and accommodation (Block, 1982). While trying to grasp an object, a baby is experiencing the assimilation process, while removing an obstacle and grasping an object, a baby now accommodates the scheme (Crain, 2005). During the organization process more complex intellectual structures are combined with existing schemes by children. For instance, after the baby experienced and covered dropping movement, then he/she will relate it with throwing movement as well as understanding the concepts of near and far (Berk, 2003). The Sensorimotor Stage (Birth to 2 Years) Jean Piaget observed his children during their developmental period and constructs the stages based on his observations. His books mostly involve many examples from his dialogues and interactions with his children. The sensorimotor stage consists of six substages. (Santrock, 2004) That stage starts with the use of reflexes from birth to 1 month. Newborn reflexes take important place in sensorimotor stage. According to Piaget inborn reflexes are consisted from first schemes. He states that as children use inborn reflexes and experience assimilation, they desire to put them to active use (Crain, 2005). After one month, children begin to repeat their chance behaviors and primary circular reactions period (one to four months) starts. A baby experiences the thumb sucking by bringing her hand to her mouth by a chance, when the hand falls she wants to get it back and experiences many failures until she gets it back (Crain, 2005). At that example the child organizes the hand movement and sucking which is a kind of circular reaction. Piaget also states that children at that period indicate the first efforts at imitation (Berk, 2003). The next substage is secondary circular reactions and is observed between fourth and eighth months. Infants start to experience motor achievements that encourage them to play attention to their environment. Infants begin to get enjoyment from the response of the environment to their attempts and they repeat their movements that get reaction from their surrounding (Santrock, 2004). Coordination of secondary schemes substage takes place during eight to twelve months. At this stage infants begin to coordinate tow or more actions to achieve simple objectives. In addition with an intentional purpose, babies try to imitate behaviors after watching a person. One may be able to observe a baby at this stage trying to stir with a spoon. In addition, a baby may begin to cry when she sees her mother wearing her coat in order to stop her mother leaving (Berk, 2003). In substage 5, tertiary circular reactions (twelve to eighteen months), children are interested with different outcomes. Piaget had observed one of his children hitting on a table at different rates in order to listen different sounds that he creates (Crain, 2005). It should be noted that all experiences are results of childrens intrinsic curiosity about the environment around them that Piaget emphasizes within his cognitive development theory. The last substage of the sensorimotor period is named as beginnings of thought or internalization of schemes lasting from eighteen to twenty months. During that substage children have the capacity to remember the behaviors that are not present (deferred imitation). Their efforts on imitation also indicate progress and they experiment with actions inside their heads. Besides, children can be observed to engage in make-believe play during that period (Santrock, 2004). Object Permanence: Piaget and many researchers concluded that infants appreciate concepts of permanence objects. Up to four months, children do not make any attempt to an object leaving in front of their eyes. During secondary circular reactions stage children are more able to explore their surrounding and they have a better sense of permanence of objects. At stage four children have the ability to find the hidden objects. If an adult takes a toy behind a box, the baby will look at the behind of the box and find the toy. During the stages five and six children are able to follow displacements and follow invisible shifts (Crain, 2005). Beginnings of Categorization: Before the capability of mental representation children are not able to categorize objects. During the first year of their life, children experience perceptual categorization. For example they can categorize the legs of an animal. Conceptual categorization begins with the end of first year; they are now able to categorize similar characteristics and behaviors. Active categorization period starts with the beginning of the second year. It is stated that sorting objects into two classes can be observed in eighteen months babies. In the second year babies can group two different kinds of objects without grasping them (Berk, 2003). When the observed milestones of research and the description of substages of Piaget are compared from birth to two years, both similarities and differences are seen. There are points that seem to occur earlier than Piaget accepted such as categorization, deferred imitation, and analogical problem solving. Those differences are explained differently from many researchers. Some of the surveys indicate that some children born with different intellectual capacities and some of them with a set off limits which causes those differences. The latter argue the theory of Piaget in terms of biological considerations. The Preoperational Stage (2 to 7 Years) Preoperational stage is lasting from two to seven ages in which the child is more capable while dealing with the environment. Although the reasoning of child is still unsystematic and illogical, that is the period that children begin to use symbols and rapidly develop representation. One of the important symbols that indicate increase during that period is language (Santrock, 2004). Piaget believed that experience of internal images occurs before labeling words and he did not take language as an important tool in cognitive development of children. Berk (2003) argues that Piaget had misadjusted the role of language in early intellectual development. She proposes that conceptual abilities of children are highly affected from the dialogues of children with adults. Moreover, there are many psychologists that believe as children develop their language ability, they begin to think more logically. Children experience transductive reasoning during that stage which means shifting from one particular to another. Children place two unrelated situations into the same case as if they have a relationship. One of Piagets children had concluded that she hadnt had her nap yet so it wasnt afternoon (Piaget, 1924). Piaget (1924) explains that statement as an example of transductive reasoning, because the child did not catch the understanding that afternoons include many different events and having nap is only one of them. An important milestone of the increase in mental representation is make-believe play during preoperational stage. The differences in make-believe play between sensorimotor and preoperational stage can be clearly observed. By the middle of preoperational stage make-believe play of children indicate real life conditions. In addition, by preoperational stage children begin to engage in sociodramatic play, they coordinate variety of roles and story lines during their play. One of the criticized points of cognitive theory of Piaget is based on the belief of Piaget that play reflects childrens cognitive and social skills, however there are many recent studies indicating the contribution of play on those skills. Especially during sociodramatic play, children interact with their peers longer and they are more cooperative. Many psychologists believed the role of strengthening of make believe play on a wide range of mental abilities and logical reasoning (Berk, 2003). Egocentrism: Piaget stated that children look at their surrounding from their own viewpoint and they ignore perspectives of others. Three-mountains study is one of the famous observations of Piaget explaining egocentric behavior of children at preoperational stage. He had used a model of three mountains and taken a child for a walk around the model in order to give opportunity for the child to look at the model from different view. Piaget had placed the child from one point of the model and placed a toy to another place. The child had been asked what he/she saw while looking at the model and what the toy would be seen while looking at it. All the children could correctly explain what they were seeing, however children at preoperational stage gave the same answer with their own view (Crain, 2005). Studies emphasize on the relation between egocentrism and social communication. Children at preoperational stage, according to Piaget, fail to recognize the needs of their peers during verbal interaction (Rubin, 1973). As they look only from their own view, they are able to understand view of the person interacting with them. They think that they can be seen from everywhere, everybody see and hear them. An adult may observe a child at this period telling that nobody could see him/her while closing his/her eyes with hands. Animism: Piaget (1951) proposes that the child recognizes no limits between himself and the external world and it is expected that the child would see many nonliving and non acting things as living and conscious and he explains this phenomenon as animism. In his book The Childs Conception of World, 1951, he identifies the reason for him to use the term animisim. He accepts that animism was term used for primitive human beings and responds the criticisms by telling that he had used that term as a generic term and emphasizing on the different types of animism in psychological origins (Piaget, 1951). Children at preoperational stage have a belief that objects are alive because they move and grow. For example, a child may tell that there are not any cars on the road, because they are sleeping. Piaget described animism inside four stages. Initially children accepted useful things as living. At this first stage broken or damaged objects were not alive for them. At the second stage, moving objects, whether are moved by an external factor or by themselves, were considered as alive. In stage three, to be categorized as living, things should move by themselves. Lastly, at the fourth stage, adults know that plants and animals are living things only (Moriarty, 2005). Irreversibility: Going through a series of steps and after changing direction is difficult for children at preoperational stage. Another well known experiment of Piaget indicates that problem in a way that there are children shown 16 boxes, 6 of which are yellow and 10 of which are red. When children are asked whether red boxes are more or boxes, children at this stage responds as red boxes and fails to be aware of that both yellow and red boxes are boxes. In his book The Childs Conception of World, 1951, Piaget gives examples about irreversibility. There are dialogues indicating their inability such as, asking a child about her sister, the child responds that she has a sister named A, then Piaget asks the child whether A has a sister or not, the child responds that A has not a sister. (Piaget, 1951) Inability to Conserve: Piaget propounds preoperational childs lack of conservation by applying experiments of liquids and number. He shows two same size glasses to the children and fulls the glasses with water. He asks children which of the water was more. All the children respond that they were equal in amount. Then he puts the water in one of the glasses into a different size glass (wider or taller) and repeats his question. Children at preoperational stage tell that they are now different. They have not the capability to perceive that certain physical features of objects remain same, even their physical appearance changes (Santrock, 2004) Based on experiments of Piaget, at the beginning of seven children begin to give the correct answer to the conservation tests. Before that age children indicates at conservation but not totally achieve it. They give answers like one is more because it is taller and then change their answers the other one is more because it is wider. Besides, irreversibility of the child can be concluded based on the conservation of liquid experiment. The child cannot understand the end result as a reverse of the original one. Jean Piaget also had thought about the failures of children from the linguistic point. Terms such as taller, more, wider takes time to be understood. He suggests ways to overcome that problem and tells adults to apply experiments by using different sentences and establishing questions by using different words within a particular case (Berk, 2003). Piaget experimented conservation of children also with using number. A row of egg cups and a bunch of eggs are given to children and they are asked to take enough eggs to fill the cups. At the first half of preoperational stage children ignored the number of eggs in the cups and they made an equal length with the rows. Children at the second half of preoperational stage made one-to-one correspondence. However, those children failed in the second question. Piaget then brought together the eggs and asked which of them was more and they could not respond that they are still same. Most of them thought that the longer was more in number. Piaget explains that phenomenon as been influenced by their sudden perceptions than by logic (Crain, 2005). Categorization: In coordinating and extending knowledge in cognitive development theory of Piaget, categorization takes an important place. Researchers state that children begin to make similar categorizations and form some categories with the age of two such as animals, plants, and vehicles (Scholnick, Nelson, Gelman, Miller, 2008). Things or objects in all of those categories have differences in perceptual characteristics, so a conflict emerges with the main idea of Piaget that childrens reasoning is governed by the way they see and objects appear. By the age of three children become able to make distinctions between basic and general categories such as furniture versus tables. However, children at preoperational stage are not able to organize objects into classes and subclasses based on their basic similarities and differences (Meadows, 1986). It is argued that Piaget was partly right and partly wrong with his conclusions of preoperational stage. Researchers give simplified tasks for children and preschoolers indicate the beginnings of logical operations, however there are important differences between their reasoning and children at school age. Difficulties were observed in conservation tests, three mountains tests and appearance-reality tests. As opposed to perceptual approaches to solve problems, children rely on increasing effective mental. In order to give an example, research indicate that children who have not the capability to use counting while comparing two groups of objects, do not also conserve number. They begin to find effective solution ways for proms with more objects when they become capable of counting. Piaget states that, as many other psychologists accept, children move through variety of stages of understating, although they do not totally handle conservation up to school years. The Concrete Operational Stage (7 to 11 years) The beginning of concrete operational stage is furnished by logical reasoning. That period is accepted as a major turning point in cognitive development. The time that a child begins to mentally resemble an adult starts with attaining concrete operational stage. A school-aged childs cognitive performance is more evident in terms of concrete operations. For example an eight year of childs response to conservation of liquid test is that the amount has not changed and they are still same. This explanation of the child also indicates the reversibility of the reasoning that the child has now the capability to understand that the reverse is the same with the original. Their ability to achieve conservation tasks indicate their logical thinking (Richardson, 2003). Between ages seven and ten, children take attention on relations between a general and two specific categories within the same case. Their awareness of classification is getting developed. In middle childhood period many children are interested in collections such as coins, rocks, and stamps which show their level of classification. Children in the concrete operational stage are fairly good at the use of inductive reasoning which involves going from a specific experience to a general principle, whereas children at this age have difficulty with using deductive reasoning. Deductive reasoning involves using a general principle to determine the outcome of a specific event. Seriation: Seriation refers to the capability to arrange objects along a quantitative dimension. Ordering sticks from different lengths is one of Piagets tests. Children at five and six years could create series but they made many errors. However, children at concrete operation stage, by starting the shortest and putting the next, indicate a perfect arrangement with an orderly plan. Children between ages seven to eleven have an ability called transitive inference which refers to mentally arrangement of items. Piaget had showed children three stick with different colors. Children had observed that first stick is longer than second stick and second stick is longer than third stick and they had made the inference that first stick is longer than third stick. Children at concrete operation stage mentally integrate three relations at once. On the other hand, preoperational stage children can achieve analogical reasoning by encouragement of an adult (Meadows, 1989). Spatial Reasoning: The ability of understanding space is more developed in concrete operational children. School age children begin to give directions as they gain more advanced space understanding. Children at five or six years indicate difference while representing an object on a persons, in front of them, left or right. Starting from seven age children achieve mental rotations, that is, they can recognize their own frame and of a person in a different direction (Santrock, 2004). While drawing large scale areas their performance indicate important changes representing their development of cognitive skills. In the middle period of concrete operational stage children achieve to place notes showing the location of objects in their classroom. Their capability to use a rotated map is improving and also their map drawing become more accurate. Research indicate that concrete operational thinking has a limitation that while children are reasoning in a logical manner, they are always dealing with concrete knowledge. With abstract information, they cannot catch the achievement (Crain, 2005). When they are given ideas that do not appear in the real world they are not able to indicate the same responds with concrete ones. That can be easily observed from transitional inference that when children are shown the sticks they give the correct responds whether which one is smaller or taller than the others. However, when the questions turned to a more concrete version such as As hair is longer than B, B2 hair is longer than C. Who has the longest hair?, up to eleven years children cannot give the right answer (Richardson, 2003). Jean Piaget believed the importance of rich and appropriate environment for the speed of concrete operational cognitive skills of children. Many research done in small towns or villages represent the lack of rich environment and its consequences on children. Even the easiest conservation tasks are not easily achieved until the age of eleven. On the contrary, many children living in big cities, especially Western nations, have many opportunities in terms of environment and from very young periods of childhood they meet with rich and varied materials. Hence, they easily understand the conservation tasks. The same comparison had done between children receiving a professional early childhood education and the ones that spend their early period at home or street. The conclusions indicate better results of the children continuing a preschool program (Berk, 2003). A survey had been made between Brazilian street vendors and Brazilian economically advantaged children on informal version and Piagetian version of class inclusion test of Piaget. In the informal one, the researcher asks children for the price of two chewing gums which are different. In the Piagetian one, four units of one type (mint) chewing gum and two units of the other (strawberry) one is set aside and the researcher asks In which one do you get more money, whether you sell me the chewing gum with mint or all the chewing gum? The success of two groups children indicates difference that on the informal version of the conservation task street vendors performed better and on the other version economically advantaged children performed well (Ceci Roazzi 1994, as cited in Berk 2003). The Formal Operational Stage (11 Years and Older) The child in sensorimotor period can do things and play with objects, the child in sensorimotor period and concrete operational period can think and make reasoning about those objects. Thinking about propositions and relations different from objects and events is another period. Now human beings are bale to make coordinations of coordinations, in other words, they can combine two different groupings of concrete operations within reversibility by reciprocity (Richardson, 2003). In formal operational stage adolescents do not require concrete things as objects of thought. Adolescents at this stage are capable of deductive reasoning. In order to overcome a problem, they start more generally and think evaluate all possible factors and then proceed to more specific predictions. Piaget used pendulum problem in that stage in which he had showed many strings with different lengths, objects differing in weight, and in order to hang the strings a bar to children. He asked the factors that will affect the speed with which a pendulum swings. Children in concrete operational level made an unsystematic experimentation. The influences of each variable could not be distinguished by them. Adolescents of formal operational stage separate the factors that have the possibility to affect the speed into four groups; strings length, objects weight, the level of force when pushing the object, and how high the object is raised before it is released. At the end they come up to a right conclusion that the length of the string affects the speed (Berk, 2003). They work systematically in terms of all possibilities as a scientist. Cognitive development theory of Piaget is mostly depending on mathematical and scientific reasoning; however he has some speculations on social life of formal operational stage adolescents. Piaget thinks that children between seven and ten live in here and now, whereas at the formal operational stage they start to think about long-term periods. They handle abstract ideas such as justice and love and they start to construct theories for better living world (Inhelder Piaget, 1955, as cited in Crain 2005). Piaget identifies egocentrism again and believes that a new kind of egocentrism is carried by utopian during that period. Piaget takes into account and repeat the forms of egocentrism from beginning to later periods: At the beginning, sensorimotor period, infants have no idea bout the environment around them and they are egocentric, still the objects that they cannot see have no existence on their own. At the next level, preoperational thought, children enter a representative world in terms of language and symbols. They indicate difficulty more than their own view. After a time they become aware of other perspectives and they start to think about concrete objects. Finally, adolescents, formal operational period, meet with a world full of problems and possibilities. Adolescents feel unlimited power in themselves for their thoughts and egocentrism reappears and they are now not able to distinguish self and others abstract views.(Crain, 2005). Teenagers feel that they are at the centre of their environment and they assume that everyone is looking at them. They spend many hours in front of a mirror feeling anxiety for the peoples criticism about them. This is called as imaginary audience. Then with having a thought that everyone is observing them, they start to feel themselves special and unique and this is named as personal fable. Propositional Thought: Adolescents do not need to refer real-life conditions and they are capable of evaluating the logic of propositions. Previously, they were evaluating statements when they were concrete in the real world. Piaget did not give an important role for language in childhood period, but he thought that it was more significant during adolescence. So, verbal reasoning about abstract situations and events is one of the important concepts in formal operational thought. Adolescents thoughts and opinions about abstract conditions and their capacity while expressing those views are demonstration of their propositional thought. Theory and research of Piaget have greatly changed the view at infant action and thought and provided a new way of looking at children (Fischer Heneke, 1996). Evaluation of Piagets Theory Jean Piaget has contributed to the field of child development than many other theorists, as many things he expressed were the first for his time. He was the first to tell that children were different from adults and they are curious and active learners (Berk, 2003). Piaget is the founder of discipline of cognitive development. He was interested in reasoning of children and that ensured the idea of that field would be developmental and should be different from the study of adult thinking. Piagets considerations through the idea about active roles of children on their development can be seen as obvious recently, but it was innovative for his time (Shaffer Kipp, 2001). Piaget tried to explain the process development and from that part he was one of the firsts who not only described the theory. Piagets explanations had a major impact about social and emotional developmental theories. By asking many questions about intellectual development of children and creating thousands of resource for that field, he had important contributions for the educators and researchers (Shaffer Kipp, 2001). Many studies criticize Piaget for underestimating mental capabilities of children due to his concern with defining the underlying cognitive structure which considered performance of children on a conservation task. Piaget is criticized as assuming that child making mistake in one problem will lack the underlying concepts he was testing. Validity of this assumption is refuted by stating that performance of a child may be influenced by many other factors instead of lack in cognitive skills (Scholnick et all, 2008). Researchers have challenged stage theory of Piaget by asking if intellectual development is at all stagelike. It is proposed that transitions in mental gradually occur and the consistency of a performance of a child in a test would be very little. For instance, problems of concrete operations and problems of formal operations may be achieved in different orders by many children with different abilities. Many theorists believe that cognitive functions are so complex that would be evaluated within a stage manner. For instance, a nine years old child may do well on verbal reasoning tests if he likes to deal with word puzzles and play verbal games, however he may not do well in mathematical reasoning (Shaffer Kipp, 2001). Besides, Piaget ignores cultural differences while claiming that his stages move on the same sequence in all cultures. Children from different cultures are educated differently and a s environment has a direct interaction with cognitive development, cultural differences should be taken into account to get a valid conclusion. Implications for Education Piaget did influence much from Montessori and Rousseau and emphasized on the importance of active learning of children. He believed that learning is a process of active discovery and should be related with the level of the child. The role of educator at giving the child appropriate and rich environment based on childs interests and modes of learning takes significant place in terms of encouraging innate curiosity of children. An environment with rich, variety, and interesting materials will encourage children to discover and become active learners (Crain, 2005). According to Piaget educators should not teach children in a direct way, children should be allowed to construct their own knowledge through experience. Children should be given the opportunities to make mistakes and learn through those mistakes, and look for solution ways. Piaget helps educators to be aware of that, meaningful interactions of children with environment and real activities will enable children to learn. All of those factors are the roots of constructivism which is a Apoptosis: Techniques for Measuring and Observing Apoptosis: Techniques for Measuring and Observing INTRODUCTION   The number of cells within an organism is tightly regulated- not simply by controlling the rate of cell division, but also by controlling the rate of cell death. If cells are no longer needed, they commit suicide by activating an intracellular death program. (Liao, 2008) Apoptosis, is defined by distinct morphological and biochemical changes mediated by a family of cysteine aspartic acid-specific proteases (caspases), which are expressed as inactive precursors or zymogens (pro-caspases) and are proteolytically processed to an active state following an apoptotic stimulus. (Liao, 2008) The aim of this paper is to discuss the techniques for measuring and observing apoptosis, whilst commenting on any limitations reported to date. DISCUSSION The intracellular machinery responsible for apoptosis Kerr, Wylie and Currie (1972) observed controlled cell death that was distinct from uncontrolled necrotic death. They noticed a characteristic, identical sequence of events in many different types of cells and published their observations in 1972 and used the term apoptosis. (Alberts, 2007; Cancer, 1972) In apoptosis, cell shrinkage and membrane ruffling (blebbing) occur, and the cell disintegrates into small membrane-bound apoptopic bodies. Inside the cell chromatin condensation and nuclear fragmentation occur, which are accompanied by breakdown of the DNA into regular size fragments. On the surface of the cell lipids are rearranged in the bilayer of the plasma membrane with the lipid phosphatidylserine becoming exposed to the outside. (Hancock, 2005) Measuring and observing apoptosis Apoptosis is essentially a morphological state arrived at by a whole variety of different biochemical pathways. Some routes may result in the expression or loss of an antigen but there is no assurance that the same biochemical alterations occur in every cell. The identification of protein markers permits ready detection by conventional immunohistochemistry, which facilitates rapid and confident assessment of apoptosis. (Harrison, 1996) The in situ end labelling and in situ nick translation techniques rely on the presence of DNA strand breaks characteristic of the nuclear implosion and fragmentation seen in apoptosis. Thus, labelling with biotinylated nucleotides and subsequent immunodetection can be used to identity sensitively cells with strand breakage. (Harrison, 1996) Activation of the caspase-3 pathway is a hallmark of apoptosis and can be used in cellular assays to quantify activators and inhibitors of the death cascade by molecular identification. The response is both time and concentration dependent suggesting that multiple pathways play a role in triggering the caspase-3 activation. (Bio Medicine, 2008) TUNEL assay is a technique used for observing activation of the caspase-3 pathway by biochemical verification. The enzyme TdT is able to add nucleotides to the ends of DNA fragments; most commonly, biotin-labelled nucleotides (usually dUTP) are added. The biotinylated DNA can be detected by using streptavidin, which binds to biotin, coupled to enzymes that convert a colourless substrate into a coloured insoluble product. Cells stained in this way can be detected by light microscopy. (Janeway, 2001) The cells with unsuccessful DNA repair may undergo apoptosis; in some cases, false positive labelling may result. TUNEL staining has been reported to give false positive staining in the kidneys of nude and BALB/c mice. In situ localization of activated or cleaved caspase-3 is starting to replace TUNEL as the molecular verification of the apoptotic process. (Hughes, 2007) Extrinsic and Intrinsic signal activation The extrinsic pathway is initiated by ligation of transmembrane death receptors (DR) with their respective to activate membrane-proximal caspases, which in turn cleave and activate effector caspases. A killer lymphocyte carrying the Fas ligand binds and activates Fas proteins on the surface of the target cell. Adaptor proteins bind to the intracellular region of aggregated Fas proteins, causing the aggregation of procaspase-8 molecules. These then cleave one another to initiate the caspase cascade. This pathway can be regulated by c-FLIP, which inhibits upstream initiator caspases, and inhibitor of apoptosis proteins (IAPs), which affect both initiator and effector caspases. (Alberts, 2007; Liao, 2008) The intrinsic pathway requires disruption of the mitochondrial membrane and the release of mitochondrial proteins, such as cytochrome c. Cytochrome c, which binds to and causes the aggregation of the adaptor protein Apaf-1. Apaf-1 binds and aggregates procaspase-9 molecules, which leads to the cleavage of these molecules and the triggering of a caspase cascade. (Alberts, 2007, Liao, 2008) The primary regulatory step for mitochondrial-mediated caspase activation might be at the level of cytochrome c release. The known regulators of cytochrome c release are Bcl-2 family proteins. Members of this family are divided into two main groups, the anti-apoptotic proteins with Bcl-2 and Bcl-Xl as archetypes and the pro-apoptotic proteins such as Bax. The ratio between these different proteins determines the sensitivity of the cell to apoptosis; antiapoptotic proteins inhibit apoptosis by counteracting Bax and Bak, and BH3-only proteins either trigger apoptosis through direct interaction with Bax or sensitize cells to death by inactivating Bcl-2 or Bcl-Xl. (Cartron, 2003; Liao, 2008) RT-PCR primer sets that are specific for genes involved in inducing and regulating the apoptotic response. These primers are specific for genes encoding proteins from the Fas and Fas ligand, Bcl-2 and ICE protein families. The RT-PCR primer sets for studying the apoptotic response are designed to meet several criteria. The primers sets, based on known genomic sequences, amplify a region that spans at least one intron. To distinguish the amplification products from genomic sequences, which are longer than the cDNA products, the primer sets amplify PCR products that are 400 bp to 650 bp in length. The primers are synthesized as 18- to 27-mer oligonucleotides. Each set of primers amplifies only a specific target. (Biomedicine, 2008) Direct measurement using fluorescence resonance energy transfer has shown the interaction between Bax and Bcl-2. (Cartron, 2003) Light microscopy and electron microscopy, including staining, are frequently used to observe the morphological changes of the cells undergoing apoptosis. There are many staining protocols used for identification of apoptotic cells, and the choice varies subject to the laboratory and the tissue being studied. (Wang, 2008) The advantages of Near-Field Scanning Optical Microscope (NSOM) are observing in normal environment, observing in nanometre scale resolution, and observing in non-contact mode. (Wang, 2008) CONCLUSION Using morphology, biochemical or molecular methods to identify, localize and quantify apoptosis gives strength to many research studies. The measurement of the level of apoptosis within tissue sections represents only a à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"snapshotà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ of one time point during a developmental, physiological or pathological process. Given the rapid nature of apoptosis and its cryptic nature in tissue sections, these measurements may often be underestimates of the actual extent of apoptosis. The ability to measure the levels of apoptosis within living organisms, including humans, non-invasively at repeated intervals over time would facilitate the analysis of apoptosis in many organs as well as tumours. (Hughes, 2007) These investigative techniques have broadened the understanding of disease development and will undoubtedly present real opportunities for novel therapeutic intervention. For example, the gene-driven nature of apoptosis and its modulation by various controlling molecules have provided a basis to develop therapies for selectively protecting or deleting cell populations. (Hughes, 2007)

Case Study Of Changing Health Behaviour Tamara Nursing Essay

Case Study Of Changing Health Behaviour Tamara Nursing Essay Health behaviour is an accomplishment that enhances, continue or intimidate an individuals health (Barkway 2009, p. 126).The desire to change personal behaviour to enhance future health outcomes is usually overrated. It is inner personalities of the person that born or been nurtured the way they were. Health behaviour influences a lot of aspects in life and it is an ongoing process throughout lifespan. Experience and environmental factors influenced a persons behaviour. To transform ones health behaviours include prevention, management of treatment, right attitudes and awareness which are also the base to individuals perspectives. Variance between behaviour and knowledge might be within Tamara who professes to value health yet still smokes. Cognitive dissonance revealed that she recognized and understand the smoking effect in her heath, but her behaviour doesnt link with her knowledge and principles. With few attempts to change her smoking behaviour without success, its not just a matter on understanding and making it simple, therefore its important to identify what is involved in the process of behaviour change and turn it to psychology (Candlin 2008, p. 192). According to (Barkway 2009, p. 138) transtheoretical model of behaviour change, accommodate both behaviour and cognitive strategies. Cognitive based therapy help people to go further towards the perpetuation stage of positive health behaviour such as smoking cessation. In Australia, smoking is the third disease that causes most death: it is liable for about 80% of all lung cancer death and 20% of all other cancer deaths. Australian spent about 21 billion dollars in a year for tobacco in health care, social cost and business and passive smoking took life over 200 people a year; half of which are children. The healthcare setting is engaging and making a lot of awareness to the public; such as stop smoking campaign, going cold turkey, quit smoking month in working environment, Australia Better Health Initiative and Tags-program are aimed at children in primary schools. All these are to motivate and encourage all the young dynamic generation to quit smoking and to save the environment. Base on Tamaras case study, personal behaviours such as smoking, financial, fit in social and standard of living needs and do not need to be conventional to a health-focused model of behaviour change. Transtheorectical Model (TTM) of behaviour change analyses both behaviour and cognitive strategies. TTM also states clearly that the person can maintain the stages of positive health as maintenance and its also not uncommon for a person from maintenance stages to relapse before achieving to the stable stage. In this case study shows that Tamara has the determination to change and reached to the maintenance stage but her social circle influences are greater than her strong abilities, which makes her to reverse on the different stages in TTM. As a health professional to obtain successful outcomes of nursing care, the nurse must adopt the role as patient educator to start and facilitate the process of health behaviour change. The purpose to change a persons behaviour completely is impossib le but with effort, educations and reasoning can make the most changed in an individuals behaviour. TTM model was developed by Procaska and DiClemente (1984) from addiction research studies and was further expand by Prochaska et al (1992) as stated in (Barkway 2009 p. 138). Stages in TTM encourage a person to analyses as a cycle of change but not a failure. A precontemplation stage is where Tamara is not aware that smoking is bad to health and she does not feel as a treat because her parents are smokers and she has been broad up in such an environment that is acceptable. She might have the perception that if my parents smoke and they are healthy and so am I. Tamaras self esteem and pride that pulled her through when she is out with her friends and she feel herself been left out if she does not smoke as all her friends smoke. In the other hand she also used smoking as to maintain her body weight. In contemplation stage it is an effective stage where Tamara is aware that smoking is bad for health and in result there is a need to change after her father was diagnosed with early stage of emphysema. Her fathers state triggered Tamaras awareness and realized smoking is harmful for health. Preparation stage is where Tamara became aware the potential harm caused by smoking and makes an attempt to stop smoking by reducing it to only smoke on weekends. Action is the most crucial stage where autonomy and willpower plays an important role in decision making for an individual to choose the best for them (Leddy 2006, p. 165). For Tamara she decided to quit smoking for good due to her fathers illness. Maintenance or termination stage is whereby a person has to self control, belief on what the person need to achieve and has the resistance to temptation to surrounding environments and influences by social activities. In Tamaras situation she lacks of determination and willpower on her goals to cease smoking where the state that she relapsed and resume to daily smoking. Tamara has only short term achievement. Due to relapse, the whole process of TTM stages starts to recycle again. According to (West 2006, p. 774) argued that TTM are no stages in any significant sense and there is no cycle of change. TTM also mention that if a persons desire and if that condition is right, stimulates an attempt at change whose success depends on their background and personal factors. According to Prochaska, TTM model was the first model to tackle the subject at a population level. According to Prochaska, TTM is a progressive approach whereby individuals have to progress through stages but (West 2006, p. 775) argued that TTM should be a stage free whereby people who are at a given moment where more or less, than those who are in the process of trying to change and others who are more or less ascertain in their new behaviour styles. And yet another journal also reviewed that the effectiveness of interventions in TTM, regardless whether it is stage progression, behaviour change and with either no or with other type of intervention, or usual care control have limited evidence to be proven (Bridle et al. 2005, p. 295). According to (West 2006, p. 775) criticized TTM is a model whereby it overlooked the essential motivation process of an individual but Prochaska mentioned that TTM does include operant learning principles and not simply the positive and negative type of analysis. According to (West 2006, p. 775) that human beings inspiration is much livelier and influenced by the instant context. According to Prochaska, action stage needs a significant commitment of time and energy. This is the stage where an individual gets most recognition from others because of their visible efforts (West 2006, p. 775). Research caution not to oversight this visible action of trying to change naturally because that the individual only change when there is a must to change as when there is a need to reached the definite goal; a decisive factor which scientist and experts agree is enough to reduce risk to the problem behaviour. TTM stages function outside conscious awareness and did not follow the decision making rules where it weigh up the costs and benefits. There is modest or no consideration of the notion of addiction which is obviously a crucial consideration when it comes to smoking behaviour. Prochaska described that temptation as the strength of urges to fit in a precise habit while in complex situation. Proschaska further mention that situations of negative effect or emotional distress, positive social situations, and cravings are the most common types of temptation to acknowledge. Temptation and self-efficacy have an inverse relationship with each other across the stages of change as its proven in studies (Guo 2009, p. 834). In an article it was shown that argument about the TTM was not against the existence or measurement of discrete entities that would be nonsensical, but (West 2006, p. 774) mentioned that TTM was actually criticized on the stages. There isnt any evidence to prove that TTM measures were superior to predicting the desire or intention of health behaviour change. In order for TTM to be generalized to the population, more studies should be carried out (Bridle et al. 2005, p. 299). It is important to analyse the process of hypothesis for each stages of transition in TTM (Guo 2009, p. 834). However, with the best evidence available it is limited not only in terms of methodological quality, but also the effectiveness of TTM interventions in health behaviour change in relation to either facilitate or promote progress stage (Bridle et al. 2005, p. 299). As a health professional has traditionally been apprehension with individuals risk factors for disease, economic, social and political causes for health issues. Its a challenge for a nurse to assist a person to change his/her lifestyle and there is no miracle to make a person to change their behaviour overnight. As a first step, Tamara should prepare herself on her action and planned on what she needs to help herself. Tamara also needs to be actively taking part in her action on developing and monitor herself on her progress. The healthcare professional has to set goals for Tamara and counselling is the first step of her improvement. During this stage of behaviour change, consciousnesses should be raised and assess the knowledge, barriers and how the family members can help Tamara; also check on the degree of the readiness of Tamara in change of herself. Tamara should prepare herself emotionally to face the physical, environment and her personal values. Tamaras counselling should include on how to handle her smoking influences when attend social activity, weight loss program-exercise and the harm of smoking effect for herself and people surrounding her. Evidence shows that women who are active in exercise initiated a quit attempt, which embrace promise and motivated to quit smoking (Vidrine et al. 2006, p. 101). Also set a quitting date, teach her coping skills. Build a good healthcare professional and patient relationship. Compassionate, empathy and concern from healthcare professional, that numerous smokers have effectively quit smoking (Vidrine et al. 2006, p. 101). As a healthcare professional, encourage or engage Tamara to speak to people who have successfully changed their lifestyle habits. In the early phase of change, the immediate positive verbal feedback of her desire should be re-assessed and re-evaluated by healthcare professional. That would help the healthcare professional to evaluate on how far Tamara has achieved her target. Arrange a support group, and telephone counselling, therefore whenever she feels she need a listening ear to reduce her stress, she can get help directly. That action would help to prevent her from relapse. As a healthcare professional, motivations, support and follow up on the progress of her health behaviour changes should be reviewed every 2 to 3 week for the initial period with telephone calls review, and 1to 3months of follow ups to check on her progress. Theres a lot of other ways of interventions and different types of healthcare professionals approaches in their own unique way for smoking cessation. More healthcare professionals training is needed in cessation of smoking and further behaviour researches in general have to establish. In conclusion, even there are pros and cons in TTM stages, it should be taken the measures of the attitudes as an individual towards quit smoking. All the result supports the concept that attitudes influences both intention and behaviour. TTM stages is a useful evaluation method, it can be use as a guide and valuable psycho-educational tools. TTM also facilitate and educate candidates about the change process in nature and dynamic of change. Feedbacks on performance are accurate and timely as the progress is crucial part of the self-regulatory cycle. Usage of Transtheorectical Model is base on the type of research as different research design offers different rank of evidence about the efficiency. TTM stages help a person to know where, when, how and at which stage change of behaviour affected, such as relapse and also help the person to improve or recover from the stage of relapse. Without stages its difficult for a healthcare professional to determine at what level or degree an individual is experiencing. Currently there are a lot of evidences supporting TTM and criticizing the model therefore it will be appealing to see what future will find.

Julius Caesar :: Ancient Rome Roman History

Julius Caesar When the name Julius Caesar is heard, it can only trigger the image of a great leader that led Rome into prosperity. Caesar's military excellence brought more power and more land; that lead to the increase of size and strength in Rome. His dictatorship helped the stability and prosperity in Rome. Caesar's assassination lead to a monarchy that was ruled by Octavin. His death lead to a domino effect ending in the ultimate collapse of the Roman Empire. Many people of the 21st century follow the path of Julius Caesar and try to be as great as he was. The assassination of Julius Caesar was a tragedy due to the contributions he made to Rome's prosperity during his life, and the chaos that occurred in Rome after his death. The contributions that Caesar made towards the strength of Rome's success, and the chaos and collapse of Rome after his death made the assassination of Julius Caesar a tragedy. Julius Caesar was assassinated by his own senate on March 15 44 BC; also known as the Ides of March. As he was walking in to the senate house, a man told him to beware the Ides of March. He ignored this statement and walked into the senate house. At this time some of the Senate members surrounded Caesar in a stealthy manner and tugged on his toga. As he looked around he was stabbed by many of the senate members multiple times. He collapsed to the ground and lay on the marble floor dead, next to the feet of Pompey's statue. (Nardo 94) Caesar's military eminence helped Rome prosper into one of the greatest and most memorable civilizations in history. His campaigns helped Rome grow larger in size and in power. His victories in Egypt, Pontus, Gaul, Africa, and parts in the Asia Minor were some of Caesar's greatest honors, (Bruns 99) and is considered "the most powerful national leader in history"(Nardo 73) because of his conquests. The major reason for his strong army was due to the fact that the senate favored him. The senate gave him three provinces for the span of five years, instead of one province for one year. With this ruling, he had "a chance to build a stronger personal army"(34). The strategies and tactics used by Caesar made his death even more tragic because of his excellent leadership and planning. Caesar planned wars by legionary battles.

Mr Collins: Character Review :: Free Essay Writer

Mr Collins: Character Review We first hear of Mr Collins, one of Mr Bennet’s distant cousins, in a letter addressed to the family living in the house which after Mr Bennet’s death will become his own. In this letter he sounds very pompous, irrelevantly reiterating and repeating the name of his patron, Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Mr Collins is honest that he has an ulterior motive for wanting to stay at Longbourn: he wishes to take the hand of one of the Bennet sisters in a marriage which would ensure that at least one daughter of Mr Bennet would remain comfortable, living at Longbourn as ‘Mrs Collins’. He does not ask to stay at Longbourn, he expects his stay to be welcomed, and even desired, by the Bennet family. â€Å"I remain, dear sir, with respectful compliments to your lady and daughter†: this quote shows how ingratiating Mr Collins is: a side of his character which the reader sees more readily during the rest of the novel. Having previously thought Mr Collins was an â€Å"odious man†, Mrs Bennet is quick to change her mind after Mr Collins made compliments towards her daughter (and herself) in the letter. Upon arrival at Longbourn Mr Collins assures that â€Å"the young ladies I come prepared to admire†. The word ‘prepared’ in this quote gives the implication that Mr Collins does nothing in a rash manner and has everything planned in what appears to be quite a sly way. Once inside the house Mr Collins begins to commend each and every item of furniture within it. Mrs Bennet would on any other occasion have been delighted at this, but she knows that when Mr Collins entails the estate all that he admires will be his own. Mr Collins believes that by ingratiating Mrs Bennet about her house he will please her, but this begins to vex her a fair deal. â€Å"The girls were not the only objects of Mr Collins desire†, here we can see that Mr Collins views the girls as nothing more than materialistic, as objects. By the evening, Mr Collins is getting somewhat tiresome as he â€Å"eloquently praises† his patron, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, with great vivacity and unstoppable determination. â€Å"Lady Catherine was reckoned proud by many people†; Mr Collins cannot see that Lady Catherine is proud because he is proud himself and rates Lady Catherine very highly: perhaps high enough to warrant a little, or is Lady Catherine’s case a lot, of pride.

Famine, Affluence, and Morality Essay

By â€Å"drowning,† I mean those who are suffering help people. A few of the counter-arguments that Singer addresses are: One, that he government will be less likely to take responsibility because private organizations are organizing relief funds. Giving privately allows the government to escape their responsibilities of supplying aid. Singer does not believe that this assumption is plausible. He states: I do not, of course, want to dispute the contention that governments of affluent nations should be giving many times the amount of genuine, no-strings-attached aid that they are giving now. I agree, too, that giving privately is not enough, and that we ought to be campaigning actively for entirely new standards or both public and private contributions to famine relief. Indeed, I would sympathize with someone who thought that campaigning was more important than giving one- self, although I doubt whether preaching what one does not practice would be very effective. Unfortunately, for many people the idea that â€Å"it’s the government’s responsibility† is a reason for not giving which does not appear to entail any political action either. Two, until there is an effective population control, relieving famine will postpone starvation. If we relieve suffering that is happening in the now, the future may end p suffering instead. The best means of preventing famine is population control. However, there are organizations who work specifically with population control. Therefore, this counter-argument is not sufficient enough to allow us to stand in the background. The third counter-argument would be how much we should be giving away. Should we be giving away more that would cause suffering to ourselves? Earlier in Singer’s article, he suggests that if everybody in his situation could donate E5, then nobody would be obligated to give more. He does not suggest that we give until we each the level marginal utility- the level at which by giving more, would cause as much suffering to ourselves or our dependents. Singer’s concept of marginal utility relates to his argument by explaining and understanding that there are some people who cannot afford to support relief funds. He simply states â€Å"if everyone in circumstances like mine. † This means that not everybody will be in the same circumstance to provide funds for relief. Duty and charity, according to Singer, should be redrawn or abolished. Doing good by giving money away’ is not considered charitable by Singer, but it is doing ood. We should refrain from buying clothes for fashion if we have old clothes that are suitable to keep us warm and give the money away instead. He says, â€Å"We would not be sacrificing anything significant if we were to continue to wear our old clothes, and give the money to famine relief. By doing so, we would be preve nting another person from starving. It follows from what I have said earlier that we ought to give money away, rather than spend it on clothes which we do not need to keep us warm. † This act is not considered charitable to Singer either. Our society, however, see’s hese act as charitable because it is a voluntary donation. Personally, I do not completely disagree with Singer’s views but, I do not completely agree with them either. Jan Narveson (2004) wrote in her article Is World Poverty a Moral Problem for the Wealthy? That she does not think we owe the poor anything special. People may benefit for charities, but we should not be looked at as not the responsibility of another countrys government to take care of a poor country. It is the same as I do not think the wealthy should have to pay more taxes than the poor. We all start from somewhere and some millionaires and billionaires had to start from the bottom as well. We all work hard for the salaries we earn. On the other hand, I think that charities are used for a good cause that benefit others rather than ourselves. Singer definitely had some points that if we all give a little, the world may be a better place. Narveson also wrote in another article Welfare and Wealth, Poverty and Justice in Todays World (2004), â€Å"each of us could do vastly more than we do to the needy. That we do not is a serious moral failing. † This is completely true and upports Singer’s views as well. However, her statement is far more accurate in what we could do, rather than what we should do. My view would fall under deontological ethics. Mosser (2010) states that â€Å"deontological ethics focuses on the will of the person carrying out the act in question, his or her intention in carrying it out, and, particularly, the rule according to which the act is carried out†. For me this means that there could be different outcomes for Singer’s argument and that every aspect should be looked at. It doesn’t make his view right or wrong, but it doesn’t make the iews that counter his right or wrong either. Peter Singer’s article â€Å"Famine, Affluence, and Morality,† was written to convince people that our decisions and actions can prevent other countries from suffering. He suggests that people should do what is morally right by contributing financially to aid those who are starving, rather than purchasing â€Å"wants† for those who can afford it. Singer argues his position, provides counter-arguments, and explains his concepts for aiding countries in need. My views are not against Singer’s position, but they are not for his position either. References Mosser, K. 2010).

A Brief History of Stephen Hawking

Today I will introduce a famous and outstanding scientist to you. A brief history of Stephen Hawking. The main contents include four aspects Stephen William Hawking is an English theoretical physicist and cosmologist, whose scientific books and public appearances have made him an academic celebrity. Stephen William Hawking was born on 8 January 1942 (300 years after the death of Galileo) in Oxford, England. His parents' house was in north London, but during the Second World War Oxford was considered a safer place to have babies. When he was eight, his family moved to St Albans, a town about 20 miles north of London. At 11 Stephen went to St Albans School, and when he was 17 he went on to University College, Oxford, his father's old college. Stephen wanted to do Mathematics, although his father would have preferred medicine. Mathematics was not available at University College, so he did Physics instead. After three years and not very much work he was awarded a first class honours degree in Natural Science. Stephen then went on to Cambridge to do research in Cosmology, there was no-one working in that area in Oxford at the time. His supervisor was Denis Sciama, although he had hoped to get Fred Hoyle who was working in Cambridge. After gaining his Ph. D. he became first a Research Fellow, and later on a Professorial Fellow at Gonville and Caius College. After leaving the Institute of Astronomy in 1973 Stephen came to the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, and from 1979 to 2009 he held the post of Lucasian Professor of Mathematics for 30 years. The chair was founded in 1663 with money left in the will of the Honorable Henry Lucas, who had been the Member of Parliament for the University. It was first held by Isaac Barrow, and then in 1669 by Isaac Newton. Stephen Hawking has worked on the basic laws which govern the universe. He showed that Einstein's General Theory of Relativity implied space and time would have a beginning in the Big Bang and an end in black holes. These results indicated it was necessary to unify General Relativity with Quantum Theory. One consequence of such a unification that he discovered was that black holes should not be completely black, but should emit radiation and eventually evaporate and disappear. Another conjecture is that the universe has no edge or boundary in imaginary time. This would imply that the way the universe began was completely determined by the laws of science. Stephen has many technical publications, such as The Large Scale Structure of Spacetime, 1973. This is a book written by Stephen Hawking and George Ellis. They attempt to describe the foundation of space itself and its nature of infinite expansion, mathematically as well as theoretically. The book is too hard to read, he derides it as â€Å"highly technical and quite unreadable† and advises readers to not seek it out. Information Loss in Black Holes is an article about the question of whether information is lost in black holes. He also has three popular books published. The first one is his best seller A Brief History of Time, which stayed on the British Sunday Times bestsellers list for a record-breaking 237 weeks. The book attempts to explain a range of subjects in cosmology, including the Big Bang, black holes and light cones, to the nonspecialist reader. Its main goal is to give an overview of the subject, but unusual for a popular science book, it also attempts to explain some complex mathematics. The second one is Black Holes and Baby Universes and Other Essays, It is a collection of both introductory and technical lectures on the thermodynamics of black holes, but it also includes descriptions on Special Relativity, General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics. This collection of lectures also includes essays on Hawking's personal life when he was young and, most famously, his disease, motor neurone disease. The book also includes an interview of Stephen Hawking. The third one is The Universe in a Nutshell. The book explains to a general audience various matters relating to his work the part of superstring theory in quantum mechanics. It tells the history and principles of modern physics. It is generally considered to be a sequel to A Brief History of Time. Stephen has many interesting ideas. He is known for his three big ideas. Idea about Alien life, he suspect there could be life and intelligence out there in forms we can’t conceive. Just as a chimpanzee can’t understand quantum theory, it could be there are aspects of reality that are beyond the capacity of our brains. Idea about Time travel, he believes that we can start our time travel through wormholes. He thinks wormholes are all around us, only they're too small to see. They occur in nooks and crannies in space and time, nothing is flat or solid. If you look closely enough at anything you'll find holes and wrinkles in it. It's a basic physical principle, and it even applies to time. Idea about Leaving earth, He said if humanity is to survive long-term, we must find a way to get off planet Earth. It will be difficult enough to avoid disaster in the next hundred years, let alone the next thousand or million; our only chance of long-term survival is not to remain inward-looking on planet Earth, but to spread out into space. Professor Hawking is the recipient of many awards, medals and prizes, Known for Wolf Prize, Prince of Asturias Award, Copley Medal, and Presidential Medal of Freedom. And he is also a Fellow of the Royal Society and a Member of the US National Academy of Sciences. This picture shows President Obama talks with Stephen Hawking before presenting him the Presidential Medal of Freedom on 12 August 2009. The Medal of Freedom is the nation's highest civilian honour. Stephen Hawking continues to combine family life (he has three children and one grandchild), and his research into theoretical physics together with an extensive programme of travel and public lectures.