Tuesday, November 26, 2019
Financial Ratios and Monsanto 4.to Rationalize Essay Example
Financial Ratios and Monsanto 4.to Rationalize Essay Example Financial Ratios and Monsanto 4.to Rationalize Essay Financial Ratios and Monsanto 4.to Rationalize Essay EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Purpose statements: 1. To assess the strengths and weaknesses of Monsanto 2. To determine the courses of action to be taken 3. To find out the competitive advantage of Monsanto 4. To rationalize and analyze case of an existing company Objective of the case/ problem: To transform the company into a life sciences behemoth. Alternative courses of action: 1. To merge with companies having strong financial resources 2. To have interrelationships 3. Acquisitions Analytical tools employed: 1. SWOT (Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) Analysis 2. Porters Five Force Analysis Recommendation: Monsantos swelling new product pipelines is an expensive endeavor and so it has to merge with companies that can provide them the resources and at the same time maximize its potential pharmaceutical and agricultural biotechnology pipelines. Implementation: Implementing the said alternative courses of action needs careful analysis as this involves large amount of money. Monsanto must create linkage to companies that would complement its strengths and overcome its weaknesses. In acquiring, the company must make sure that it would add to the value of the organization. Conclusion: Monsanto has lots of potentials. Tying up with firms can push them more beyond their limits and eliminate unnecessary duplications and high activity costs. Establishing interrelationships is a capability driver and if it would be matched with opportunities, it would eventually lead to the achievement of their goal- worlds leading life sciences company. METHODS OF ANALYSIS 1. SWOT Analysis Strength The strength of Monsanto is its pharmaceutical and agricultural biotechnology pipelines Weaknesses Lack of financial resources, sales and marketing muscles and distribution network Opportunities : Interrelationships and acquisitions of companies will be the vehicles by which they can go forward and commercialize new product worldwide. Threats Expiration of the patents, growing oppositions to genetically engineered foodstuffs, failed merging with the American Home Products (AHP) 2. Porters Five Force Analysis New entrants Monsanto is new to pharmaceutical industry. Mercks competing COX-2 inhibitor is said to join the market. Zenecas new own brand of glyphosate-based herbicide, Touchdown is ready to penetrate the United States. Bargaining power of customers They charged their genetically- altered seed at market rate plus a technology fee but they dont control the retail price. On their pharmaceutical products, they tested 700 different pricing models before settling on a cost to customers which is significantly more than the generic drugs but less than most analysts had initially expected. Bargaining power of suppliers The Washington University in which Monsanto is affiliated to arranged terms and agreements apart from the payment tendered. With the use of technology o mass-produce animal growth hormones, Monsanto paid thousands of dollars and agreed to make several subsequent milestone payments and promised royalties on future sales. Nature of rivalry in the market When Monsanto started to search for COX-2 inhibitor,Merck was also racing to develop the same. There were several smaller agricultural biotechnology companies had also been developing genetically altered crops. Zeneca tests its own brand, Touchd own to match with Monsantos Roundup. Threat of substitutions Zeneca already sold Touchdown outside the United States and was preparing to market also in the said country. APPENDICES: Financial Ratios: (dollars in millions) Liquidity Ratios 1998 1997 Current Ratio 1. 53 1. 21 Quick Ratio 1. 40 1. 60 Working Capital Ratio 2. 07 2. 35 Leverage Ratios 1998 1997 Total Debt to Equity Ratio 1. 53 0. 7629 Long-Term Debt to Equity Ratio 1. 25 0. 4822 Total Debt to Asset Ratio 0. 701 0. 619 Activity Ratios 1998 1997 Inventory Turnover 4. 315 5. 469 Fixed Assets Turnover 2. 658 3. 130 Total Assets Turnover 0. 517 0. 697 Profitability Ratios 1998 1997 Gross Profit Margin 0. 585 0. 589 Operating Profit Margin 0. 013 0. 066 Net Profit Margin -0. 029 0. 062 Return on Assets (ROA) 0. 007 0. 062 Return on Equity (ROE) -0. 050 0. 044
Saturday, November 23, 2019
5 Tips for Passing the Bar Exam
5 Tips for Passing the Bar Exam Youve successfully made your way through law school and now youre one two-day test, the bar exam, away from becoming a lawyer. The first piece of advice: celebrate your JD quickly and then move on to bar exam prep immediately after graduation. Time is ticking. Here are five more tips to help you pass the bar exam. Sign up for a Bar Review Course You may wonder why after three years of very expensive schooling you are now expected to pay even more money to learn what you thought you were supposed to be learning during law school. But now is not the time for you to worry about the cost of bar exam prep. Be as economical as possible, by all means, but think about what it would mean to you, financially, to fail the bar, face employers without a license to practice law, and have to pay to take the bar exam again. If you are really strapped for cash, there are special bar exam loans available exactly for this purpose. Why sign up for a bar review course? Well, those who take bar review courses have great passage rates for a reason- the course employees study and analyze exams so they know what examiners are likely to test on and what they are looking for in answers; they can steer you to hot topics and train you how to deliver the right answers, and that is what is most important during the bar exam. Yes, you need to know and understand the fundamentals of the main areas of law, but all the legal knowledge in the world wont help if you dont know how to frame your answer as the graders want to read it. Tell Everyone You Know Not to Expect to See You for Two Months Thats a bit of an exaggeration, but not by much. Do not plan on doing anything else during those two months between graduation and the bar exam except study. Yes, you will have nights off and even whole days off here and there, which are essential for relaxing your brain but dont schedule work, planning of family events, or other serious obligations during the two months before the bar exam. Quite simply, the bar exam should be your full-time job during those months of studying; your promotion will come when you get the results that you passed. Make a Studying Schedule and Stick to It Your bar review course will most likely provide you a recommended schedule, and if you manage to abide by it, youll be doing well. The main subjects tested on the bar exam will be the same basic courses you took the first year of law school, so be sure to dedicate huge chunks of time to Contracts, Torts, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law and Procedure, Property, and Civil Procedure. States vary as to the other subjects tested, but by signing up for a bar review course, youll have the inside track on those as well. A very basic bar exam prep study schedule can set aside a week to study each topic, including practice questions. That will leave you two weeks to devote time to trouble areas and to more nuanced areas of law that might be covered on your states bar exam. One tip here on studying: think about making flashcards. In the process of writing them, youll be forced to condense rules of law into short snippets to fit on a card, exactly as youll need to provide them in bar exam essays- and they just might sink into your brain as you write. Take Practice Bar Exams A large part of your preparation time should be spent taking practice bar exams, both multiple choice and essays, under exam-like conditions. You dont need to sit down and take an entire two days every week to take practice bar exams, but be sure you are doing enough multiple choice questions and essays so you have a good feel for the exam structure. Just like when you were preparing for the LSAT, the more comfortable you become with the test and its format, the more youll be able to concentrate on the material and getting the answers correct. Start doing practice questions even as early as the first week of studying; no, you wont get everything right, but if you pay attention to what you got wrong, those principles are likely to stick in your head even more than if you had simply tried to memorize them through studying. And, as an added bonus, if the questions were included in bar prep materials, they are also likely to be similar to those that will appear on the bar exam. Think Positively If you graduated in the top half of your law school class, chances are extremely good that you will pass the bar. If you graduated in the next quartile, the likelihood that youll pass is still pretty good. Why? Because bar exams, no matter what state, test your competence to be a lawyer and not how great a lawyer you will be- and that means you need only earn a solid C on the exam to pass. If youve passed law school, theres no reason you cant pass the bar exam on the first try. This doesnt mean you should rest on your law school accomplishments and assume youll pass, of course. You still need to put the time and effort into learning and applying the materials, but the odds are in your favor that youll pass. Most states have higher than 50% pass rates. Remember those numbers when stress starts setting in. Just remember that it will all be over in mere weeks. With the right bar exam prep, youll never have to go through it again.
Thursday, November 21, 2019
Maximising Stock Valuation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words
Maximising Stock Valuation - Essay Example With this background, as per the BT management's opinion as on 31st March 1983 with the NFL loan amount of 2944 million the debt ratio for the company was too high and a new capital structure was needed to increase the stock valuation for the proposed floatation move. In the management's view the ideal capital structure should have a low level of debt which not only increases the value of the stock but also reduces the interest burden. One possible way to achieve this was to consider writing off of some portion of the debts or converting them into equity. The management also estimated that the company would have to borrow additionally to meet the cash outflow in the form of dividends, tax payments, interest charges and other necessary capital expenditure. This may increase the debt content of the capital structure which will further have negative impact on the stock valuation. Taking the argument of the management it would be ideal for the company to arrive at a capital structure where the debt equity ratio is kept at the ideal level from the point of payment of interest as well as to maintain the value of the stock. In order to achieve these objectives, the proposal by the government in converting 750 million of debts into preference shares would have been the best suggestion to follow. This can be substantiated by the following arguments that go in favour of this suggestion: 1. The calculation of the financial leverage ratio and debt equity ratio based on the projected balance sheets after incorporating the proposed conversion of debt into preference shares look as shown below: 2. In view of the lowering leverage and debt equity ratio figures the proposed Scheme of structuring of debts as suggested by the government appear to be of the optimum solution available to BT in the matter of capital structuring. 3. The proposed leverage ratio and equity ratio make the shares attractive to the shareholders since it will result in increased earnings per share. 4. Since immediately after the floatation there would be no chances for BT to go in to the equity market for making a right issue to raise funds for the capital expenditures. Even if the company had to go in for acquisitions, the company should have more cash resources to meet the acquisition cost. Such a situation can be handled only with the above proposed restructuring where the company's cash flow position improves every year with lower cost of capital. 5. Another argument that goes in favour of the proposed restructuring is that without the government converting certain portions of the loan into equity BT would be showing a 126 percent debt to equity as at the end of the year 31st March 1983 and even with the flow of retentions without the write offs the debt-equity ratio would at best be at 96 percent as the end of 31st March 1984. These levels are very high as compared to the other quoted companies. 6. Moreover the level of gearing without debt restructuring along with the interest cover of 2.8 times as existed for 1983-84 would not have made the BT's share attractive for investment. 2. As an advisor to the Government, what level of gearing would you recommend for BT and
Tuesday, November 19, 2019
Ethics and Leadership Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words
Ethics and Leadership - Research Paper Example The ethical issue concerning the employees of global fashion plant was that the owners and management of the company were observed to render insignificant consideration to think about the volatile effects due to their actions. The leaders of that plant were observed to lack in terms of awareness regarding ethical managerial conduct that states the minimum behavior required from them towards the employees. The code of conduct can be classified as Deontology which can be defined as actions that are in accordance with moral principles or certain rules. It further states that rules or principles are derived from rationality that is justified to each and every employee. In Kathie Leeââ¬â¢s fashion plant there were various rules which directly created a negative impact on the working environment of the organization inhibiting the moral conscience of the leaders. For instance, the women workers were asked to raise their hands for taking permission to use the bathrooms that were kept locked. They were allowed to use the washrooms two times a day only, once in the morning and again in the evening. Furthermore, the women were searched physically as the company prohibited from bringing any snacks that could stain the garments. The employees were also tortured mentally to work faster and produce as many apparels as possible within a limited working hour. It was observed that in eight man-hours, a group of sixty-five women stitched nearly eight hundred pairs of Kathie Lee pants (Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights).... In Kathie Leeââ¬â¢s fashion plant there were various rules which directly created a negative impact over the working environment of the organisation inhibiting the moral conscience of the leaders. For instance, the women workers were asked to raise their hands for taking permission to use the bathrooms that were kept locked. They were allowed to use the washrooms two times a day only, once in the morning and again in the evening. Furthermore, the women were searched physically as the company prohibited from bringing any snacks that could stain the garments. The employees were also tortured mentally to work faster and produce as much apparels as possible within a limited working hour. It was observed that in eight man-hours, a group of sixty five women stitched nearly eight hundred pairs of Kathie Lee pants (Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights, 1996). Thus, it can be observed that the process performed by the management at Kathie Leeââ¬â¢s plant violated the standards o f human and labour rights in its Honduras plant where they made the workers work more than the standard time specified by the labour organisations, only to meet the orders demanded by Wal-Mart. The ethics imbibed in the behaviour of the superiors play an imperative role while motivating or maintaining a happier working environment. It can specifically be described as a character trait of a human-being that is required to flourish and lead a healthier life which can also be quite beneficial to facilitate a productive working environment encouraging employees to participate in the overall growth of the company (Hindman & Smith, 1999). Thus, a leader of an organisation should possess virtuous skills in their behaviour towards the subordinates. In the case of Kathie Leeââ¬â¢s
Sunday, November 17, 2019
Macbeth Act 3 Scene 5 Essay Example for Free
Macbeth Act 3 Scene 5 Essay This scene takes place in a deserted area where there is thunder which also parallels with act 1 scene 1 where the witches meet each other with thunder and lightning. The scene establishes the mood of darkness and violence and also creates suspense and eerie atmosphere due to the presence of witches. It begins with Hecates monolog where she disapproved the witches for meddling with Macbeths future; this passage foreshadows the appearance of the witches to Macbeth along with his downfall. Her anger is shown at the opening of the scene with the use of three rhetorical questions. In the first rhetoric question, Hecate criticizes the witches in a deeming way. In the second rhetoric question the alliteration trade and traffic emphasizes her upset tone and in the third rhetoric question she asserts her superiority over the witches mistress of your charms, the close contriver of all harms. Through the metaphor, wayward son Hecate gives clues that Macbeth attempted to defy the witches prophecy by trying to destroy Banquos line. It also shows his self-centered ambition, and he is called a wayward son because he is not a genuine devotee of witchcraft and only aims to the profit by it. The lines by Hecate give a clear hint that Macbeths reliance on the witches is misplaced and that he is doomed. After rebuking the witches for the past errors Hecate commands them to make amends of their folly action. Hecate gives out a feeling of betrayal through the use of her language. She uses rhetorical questions, rhyming couplet, and enjambment which disguises her underline message. Hecate also asks the witches to help her manipulate Macbeths emotions and plans to create illusions which will lure Macbeth into a false sense of security. Hecates speech is ironical when she says that the witches tempted Macbeth by saying riddles when they actually prophesied to Macbeth. Euphemism is used in the terms glory of art and great business to refer to the witches plan of destroying Macbeth. The great business also refers to the major illusion that they are going to destroy Macbeth. Imagery is used in the scene were a vivid description of the scheme of the witches plan is described there hangs a vaprous drop profound; Ill catch it ere it come to ground; Hecate intends to lead Macbeth to his doom and distraction by magic spells which will conjure up powerful apparitions that will be able to lead Macbeth to his ultimate doom. As a result Macbeth will defy fate and death and will ignore all warnings of wisdom and fear of consequences security is mortals chiefest enemy, Hecate says that overconfidence is the greatest enemy of man as by depriving of his own wisdom and making him complacent, it sends him to the path of ruin and destruction. These captivating lines encapsulates the fascinating rituals of which craft.
Thursday, November 14, 2019
Analysis of Randall Jarrells The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner Essay
Analysis of Randall Jarrell's The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner Many of the great poems we read today were written in times of great distress. One of these writers was Randall Jarrell. After being born on May 6, 1914, in Nashville Tennessee, Jarrell and his parents moved to Los Angeles where his dad worked as a photographer. When Mr. and Mrs. Jarrell divorced, Randall and his younger brother returned to Nashville to live with their mother. While in Nashville, Randall attended Hume-Frogg high school. Randall showed his love for the arts while in high school by participating in dramatics and journalism. Jarrell continued his career in the arts when he wrote and edited for Vanderbiltââ¬â¢s humor magazine, The Vanderbilt Masquerader. After earning his graduate degree at Vanderbilt, Jarrell accepted a teaching job at the University of Texas. While teaching at Texas, Jarrell met his future wife, Mackie Langham, a fellow English teacher. In 1942, Jarrell left home to join the Army Air Corps as a flying cadet. At about this same time, Randallââ¬â¢s first book of poetry was being published. When Jarrell wrote home, his family often said his letters were, ââ¬Å"confined and dreary.â⬠When Jarrell could not quite cut it as a cadet, he switched to being a navigation control tower operator. As a control tower operator, Randall began to write about the pilots, navigators and gunners of the war. This is probably when Jarrell wrote one of his most famous poems, ââ¬Å"The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner.â⬠After being discharged from the army, Randall went back to teaching. Randallââ¬â¢s love for teaching showed by his famous quote, ââ¬Å"if I were a rich man, I would pay money to teach.â⬠Randall did have some psychiatric problems though. Many people thought Jarrell committed suicide when he was hit by a car on a dark road in 1965. People assumed suicide because at the time of his death Randall was in treatment for slitting his wrists in an attempt to kill himself. Most of Randallââ¬â¢s poetry reflects what he saw and experienced during the war. The structure that Jarrell uses in his poem, ââ¬Å"The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner,â⬠is quite unique. This poem consists of five uneven verses. All of these verses are combined into one stanza. The metric pattern in this poem is very hard to detect. All of the lines begin with at least two anapestic feet followed by at least one iambic foot. This poem i... ...between abortion and a gunner being killed in the belly of a plane. During an abortion, after the baby has been killed in the womb, the doctors, ââ¬Å"washâ⬠the dead fetus out of the mother with a hose. In the first part of the fourth line of this poem when Jarrell writes, ââ¬Å"I woke to the black flak,â⬠the reader heres the alliteration of the, ââ¬Å"ck,â⬠sound. With the repetition of this sound the reader can almost hear gunfire. Although there is no rhyme scheme to this poem, end rhyme takes place at the end of the first and fifth lines. The last thing one would analyze when explicating this poem would be the theme. Analyzing the theme of a poem consists of two things. First one would have to look at the topic of the poem. In this poem the topic is obviously the gunner getting drafted, the horrifying experiences of the gunner, and the death of the gunner. The second thing one would have to look at would be how the author feels about the topic. In this poem the author obviously feels that life is a very fragile thing. Whether you are a baby in your motherââ¬â¢s womb or you are a gunner in the belly of a bomber, Jarrell shows us just how fragile life is and how easily it can be taken away.
Tuesday, November 12, 2019
Philosophy Unit Essay
A thought or notion that cannot be true or false | God, Dog, Evil | Proposition | A statement which is either right/wrong | ââ¬Å"God is pinkâ⬠| Knowledge | Expressed in propositions that are formed by joining concepts, state something that is true or false | ââ¬Å"The dog is Yellowâ⬠| Three Types of Knowledge | ââ¬â Propositional- ââ¬Å"Know thatâ⬠ââ¬â Knowledge by Acquaintance ââ¬â ââ¬Å"Know ofâ⬠ââ¬â capacity/Ability ââ¬â ââ¬Å"Know howâ⬠| | A Priori | Propositional knowledge that we know is right before (sense) experience | ââ¬Å"2+2=4 ââ¬Å" | A Posteriori | Propositional knowledge that we know is right only after (sense) experience | ââ¬Å"The sky is blueâ⬠| Synthetic | Not true by definition ââ¬â Tells us something substantial about the world | ââ¬Å"Snow is whiteâ⬠| Analytic | True by definition | ââ¬Å"All Bachelors are unmarried menâ⬠| Necessary | Had to be true, true in all possible worlds | Maths ââ¬â 2+2=4 | Contingent | Could be otherwise | ââ¬Å"Obama was elected Presidentâ⬠| Induction | Reasoning that draws conclusions from a finite collection of specific observations. | 1). The sun has always risen 2). The sun will always rise | Deduction | Reasoning in which the conclusion must follow the premises | 1). Man is mortal 2). Socrates is man 3). Socrates is mortal | Innate | Knowledge that is present in the mind at birth | Conceptual Schemes ââ¬â Kant | Intuitive | propositions that we know are right through pure thought | ââ¬Å"I think therefore I existâ⬠ââ¬â Descartes | Empiricism | Argues that you can only have analytic a priori knowledge | ââ¬Å"All Widows were once Marriedâ⬠(Analytic a priori) | Rationalism | Argues that you can have analytic and synthetic a priori knowledge (Not Plato) | ââ¬Å"God Existsâ⬠ââ¬â Descartes (Synthetic a priori) | All Ideas Come From Experience: Empiricism John Locke | David Hume | The mind is a Tabula Rasa ââ¬â Blank Slate Sensation + Reflection Simple, complex, and abstract ideas Simple ideas come from sensation Complex + Abstract come from reflection | Sensation creates impressions in our minds Ideas are ââ¬Ëfaint impressionsââ¬â¢ of sensations which are ââ¬Ëvivid and forcefulââ¬â¢ All thoughts are combinations of ideas e. g. Golden Mountain | Counter Arguments: Not all simple ideas come from experience Missing shade of blue ââ¬â Hume | Complex/Abstract ideas are not from experience general idea is required to form the abstract idea ââ¬â Curruthers | Some ideas are innate Ideas of God/Infinity ââ¬â Descartes Veined Marble ââ¬â Leibniz All knowledge is innate in the soul, just needs to be recalled ââ¬â Plato | Knowledge about what exists must be justified by sense experience: John Lock | 2 Fountains of Knowledge ââ¬â Sensation + Reflection All ideas are from these ââ¬â So all propositions must be as well | BUT | David Hume | Humeââ¬â¢s Fork Relations of Ideas ââ¬â Analytic a priori knowledge Matters of Fact ââ¬â Synthetic a posteriori knowledge Anything is ââ¬ËEmpty Metaphysical Speculationâ⬠and should be ââ¬Ëcast to the flamesââ¬â¢ e. g. God | Humeââ¬â¢s Fork itself is ââ¬â¢empty metaphysical speculationââ¬â¢ ââ¬â contradicts itself | Alfred Jules Ayer | Verification Principle Analytic or Empirically Verifiable (can be proven by experience) Anything else is meaningless e. g. Infinity | | John Stewart Mill | No a priori knowledge All knowledge is a posteriori and learnt through induction, including logic and mathematics | What about analytic a priori knowledge? ââ¬Å"A bachelor is not marriedâ⬠| Strengths: Sets clear limits on appropriate objects of knowledge ââ¬â Allows us to learn without being distracted by ââ¬ËEmpty Metaphysical Speculationââ¬â¢ The view reflects our experience of learning ââ¬â It explains why we learn like we do Counter Arguments: Sense experience is never certain ââ¬â Leads to scepticism Senses, Dreams, Deceiving Demon ââ¬â Descartes Cave Analogy ââ¬â Plato | Some knowledge about what exists is known a priori Self/God/EW ââ¬â Descartes Forms ââ¬â Plato Causation, self, space ââ¬â Kant | Knowledge of relations of ideas is a priori Donââ¬â¢t get more certain ââ¬â True in all possible worlds ââ¬â Russell | Experience alone is unintelligible Needs to be mediated through a conceptual scheme ââ¬â Kant, Saphir/Whorf | Mind contains innate knowledge: Plato | All knowledge is innate Slave Boy Analogy No education but still recognises the proof Learning as recollecting/remembering prompted by questioning Reason recognises truth not the senses | BUT Boy is prompted through questions | Leibniz | Veined Marble Mind not passive ââ¬â contains ââ¬Ënatural inclinations and dispositions, habits or potentialitiesââ¬â¢ | | Kant | Conceptual Schemes are innate Categories are innate e. g. Space, Time, Self | The conceptual scheme is innate capacity/ability knowledge, not propositional knowledge | Counter arguments: This knowledge can be explained through intuition and deduction Reason discovers the knowledge ââ¬â Descartes | Innate knowledge is absurd ââ¬â There is no universal assent Children and idiots donââ¬â¢t know the simplest truths ââ¬â Locke | Innate knowledge is a ââ¬Ënear contradictionââ¬â¢ ââ¬â Impossible to know but not know that you know ââ¬â Locke | Doctrine of Innate Ideas: Descartes | Ideas are either: Adventitious ââ¬â From experience Factitious ââ¬â Made up by us Innate ââ¬â In the mind at birth | ââ¬ËGodââ¬â¢, ââ¬ËInfinityââ¬â¢, and ââ¬Ësupreme perfectionââ¬â¢ are not experienced or made up They must therefore be innate (Trademark Argument ââ¬â We know of God, but do not experience God ââ¬â He left his mark on us ââ¬â This is innate) | Innate ideas provide the materials for reason to think develop knowledge without needing experience | Counter Arguments: John Locke | The mind as a Tubula Rasa (slank slate) at birth There is no innate knowledge only a posteriori knowledge We have of positive idea of infinity Infinity is defined in the negative ââ¬Ënever endingââ¬â¢, only ever experience being able to add more on | David Hume | All ideas are formed from experience E. g. Golden Mountain ââ¬â God is just qualities in man joined together and ââ¬Ëaugmented without limitââ¬â¢ | Knowledge Through Intuition + Deduction Key Terms | Intuition | Self evident truths ââ¬â Reached through pure thought | Deduction | Conclusion reached by following same premises e. g. Sudoku ââ¬â Original numbers are self evident, other numbers discovered through reason. Answer is certain | Descartes | Intuition | Self as a thinking thing exists (The Cogito) | Deduction | God Exists ; External world exists (Ontological Argument) | Counter Arguments: Descartesââ¬â¢ intuitions and deduction donââ¬â¢t work Existence of self not known through reason ââ¬â Cogito only proves only the existence of thought, not a thinker e. g. BFG (Big Friendly Giant) Ontological Argument fails to prove the existence of God ââ¬â Only proves hypothetical existence ââ¬â Hume Proof for existence of external world depends on existence of a good God | Humeââ¬â¢s Fork Reason limited to tautologies/relations of ideas | No a priori knowledge ââ¬â Mill | Is certainty confined to introspection and the tautological? Key Terms | Introspection ââ¬â Looking inwards i. e. Internal experiences Tautology ââ¬â Saying the same thing twice E. g. Reverse Backwards (i. e. Analytic) | David Hume | Humeââ¬â¢s Fork Reason is limited to the meaning of words | Descartes | Experience is limited to immediate awareness We can never be sure that the external world corresponds to out experiences (we might be dreaming/demon) | Conclusions: David Hume | Yes | Humeââ¬â¢s Fork Only relations of ideas can be certain, all matters of fact are open to doubt | Descartes | No | Reason can discover certain knowledge of the world through intuition and deduction e. g. God exists | Kant | No | We can have certain synthetic a priori knowledge of our conceptual scheme e. g. We will perceive the world in space, time, causation | Yes | We can never know of the world of the noumena | Experience is intelligible due to a conceptual scheme: Kant | Mind is active ââ¬â Organises experience into categories e. g. Filing Cabinet Ordered into Space/ time/causal relations/unity Conceptual scheme > Universal, a priori, necessary | Implications | Synthetic a priori knowledge of the categories is possible e. g. Cookie cutter analogy ââ¬â Cutter is set (conceptual scheme), What it is cutting can change, but still get the same shape Only know the phenomena, never the noumena Fishing Net/Blue Spectacles Analogy | Saphir/Whorf | Experience is ordered due to the language that we use Linguistic relativism ââ¬â Societies organise experience by defining thing with words e. g. Inuit + Snow, and Hopi + Time Conceptual Scheme > A posteriori, relative contingent | Implications | World as it is is still unknowable No innate scheme, rather a range of different schemes |
Sunday, November 10, 2019
Ambedkar Open University (BAOU) Essay
Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Open University (BAOU), Ahmedabad was established in 1994 by the Gujarat State Legislature. It is the seventh Open University in the country in terms of their establishment. The University offers 72 programs with an enrolment of more than 1, 00,000 learners. The University has established regional centre on the campus of South Gujarat University, Rajkot and has initiated the process of another establishing regional centre on the campus of North Gujarat University, Patan. It has jurisdiction over the whole state of Gujarat. The main objectives of the university are to advance and disseminate learning and knowledge by a diversity of means, including use of any communication technology and to provide opportunities for higher education to a large segment of the population. The university encourages the Open University and distance education system in the educational pattern of the State. The university is open to all persons irrespective of classes, castes, creed or religion. Education is an important situation all over the world, and is maybe one of the most forgotten topics in the underdeveloped countries. This is the main reason why they donââ¬â¢t contribute to the progress of their own countries. Education is a human right, and as a fundamental right it is the responsibility of governments to provide it. The most important thing is that education influences human development, economic growth and the fundamental requirement for democracy. It is important in a country to invest a big part of the profits in education, because in many countries, governments prefer to invest in weapons without thinking that they should give another direction to the resources from the military where war and win are the most important thing. The government is blind, and they want to see first in the outside than in the inside, when there are more important things to fulfill like basic needs including food, clothing and shelter. Another important reason why it is necessary to invest in education is because children are being prepared to be poor laborers, just as the people years ago. Instead of preparing them for the future, they have been sent to the past with obsolete laws. There is a big necessity for programs that can teach the responsible use of resources, because without the right knowledge these people without education could be wasting a lot of resources and at the same time could be contributing to an unsustainable development. When speaking of development, the role of women is important in these processes, because in the countriesà with the highest levels of human development it is declared that they offer equal opportunities and gender equity in their societies. It means that women can reach high positions, and they can do many of the things that were restricted to them a few years ago. When people seeâ⬠¦
Thursday, November 7, 2019
Advertising in Pharmacueticals essays
Advertising in Pharmacueticals essays The Misleading Truth About Pharmaceutical Advertisements Is a patient at liberty to diagnose his or her own affliction? If so, are they also qualified enough to know the right medication and take into consideration the drugs adverse effects? With the recent onset of direct to consumer advertising for prescription drugs, this is becoming the case. In 1994, expenditures on direct to consumer advertisements were about twenty-five-million a year. By 1998 that figure changed to about 225 million (Sasich 2). Turn on the TV, there they are. Open your favorite magazine, there they are again. Listen to the radio, congratulations, youve found another ad for the latest prescription drug. Rush down to your local physician and life will be perfect, right? Do these advertisements have a place in healthcare, where they could be potentially dangerous? Although educating the public about treatment options is not a bad thing, these advertisements are misleading the public into unnecessary treatment. We first have to look at what an advertisement is intended to do: persuade. Advertisements for prescription medication are not only persuading the general public to get the treatment, they are telling them that they have the affliction. This is increasingly damaging in cases where the affliction is somewhat subjective, such as depression. Im sure that every normal person has at least once in theyre life felt sad or depressed. This does not mean that there is a problem that would require medication. But advertisements are telling them that they do. If a patient feels this way, take this, everything will be perfect and the patient will unquestionably feel happy. Take this pill and problems will disappear faster than a hamburger at Weight Watchers. This is not the case. Advertisements are not selling the remedy; they are selling the affliction, and promising that your lifes problems can be whisked away in one convenie...
Tuesday, November 5, 2019
Hurdling the Olympic word police - Emphasis
Hurdling the Olympic word police Hurdling the Olympic word police Today, its exactly two years until the opening ceremony of the Olympics and the moment the eyes of the world turn towards London. However, advertisers not officially associated with the Games will have to duck and dive to be able to cash in on this attention without alerting the Olympic word police. Thats because a law passed in 2006 forbids any combination of 2012, games, gold, silver, bronze and London to be used by anyone but official sponsors of the event. Sporting bodies have made it their business to protect their multi-million-investing sponsors from opportunistic encroachers since 1996. That was the year Nike irked official Olympic sportswear supplier Adidas by setting up their own tented village opposite the main stadium. And you may have read about this years World Cup in South Africa being invaded by a posse of orange-clad women promoting Bavaria beer to the reported fury of Fifa, who had an exclusive deal with Budweiser. Protecting your corporate pitch is one thing. But staking claims on individual words? Is that a step too far? Write and let us know. Meanwhile, if non-sponsors want to make the most of the global publicity in 2012, theyll have to get creative. Grabbing some of the sport-watching spotlight without mentioning the main event will require contortions fit for an Olympic gymnast. It looks like its not only the competing athletes who have just two years left to rise to the challenge.
Sunday, November 3, 2019
High Dropout Rates in the United Sates Research Paper
High Dropout Rates in the United Sates - Research Paper Example In the recent years, California schools in the United States have registered high rates of dropout particularly among African-Americans. As result of many factors, this has raised the concerns of many of the parties involved in the education sector. These parties include government agencies departments, and the non- governmental organizations. The revelation of the high dropouts in schools has led to a research being carried out through cooperation and collaboration of the various agencies to investigate the trends, reasons behind this problem and how this can be curbed and reduced. Government has instituted a four year research to study the trends of the high dropout rates, establish the reasons behind the trend, investigate the efforts to reverse the trend, and come up with amicable recommendations to solve this problem. According to previously carried out research, there is difference in the rates of dropouts among the various races. Race distribution in any Californian school determines the rate of drop out the school will experience over time. High dropout rates are recorded among the minorities with African-American recording the highest rates. Whites and Asians have in the past recorded the lowest rates of dropout from schools. This is because of reasons associated with the background of the students, parental expectations, and faculty expectations. The expectations held of the student by the society at large either demoralize or motivate the students in pursuit of their education.
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