Jean Racine Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Jean Racine - Essay Example An interesting case in this point can be round in Racine's preface to Phedre. The seventeenth-century reader would likely have been surprised to find there no mention of pardon, whose parasitic rival version of the same story set off an unusually venomous battle. (Bold, 2001) According to Bold "Racine's own creation is modestly represented, as a carefully charted divergence from the Eurpidean 'Route' to which Racine remains richly indebted, serving 'Phedre' as an exemplary character". "The litotes of this opening, which might be read as a ritual gesture of authorial self-effacement, conceals in fact a far more complex irony in as much as it erases more than we at first think more, that is, than the simple vanity of a purely original creation, an inventio ex nihilo. One is, upon reflection, struck by a number of things in this apparently modest statement. This is certainly one of the very few places where one can find the character of Phedre described, at whatever level, as reasonable. It has also been fairly argued that Euripides's tragedy Hippolytus given the play's title and the stepmother's early guilt-ridden suicide is not really about Phedre anyway. More importantly, as it implies only a difference between the Latin and the French versions, Racine's dismissive reference identifies the Senecan text as the site of corruption and consequently, as an alibi for his own text's purer origins". (Bold, 2001) 'Phedre' the entire play revolves around the concept of 'monster'. To how much the statement is true can be determined from the fact that 'Phedre' represents the corruption and evil enriched in the social attitude of French culture of the then seventeenth century. Racine wanted the society to confront to the social dilemmas so it seems as if he has shown the French society, a mirror so that they might acknowledge their reality in the form of corruption and vulgarity. The main monster according to my perception is the evil that resides deep within a human, now it depends upon the person as to whether he feeds and nourishes that evil so that the evil grows up to become a 'monster' or he remains callous towards the evil, so that eventually he is alleviated. Let us see and examine every central character of 'Phedre' in the light of 'monstrous' appeal. 'Hippolytus' in other monsters Though Hippolytus is unmonstrous as compared to other characters in 'Phedre', but he fails to succeed through the rein of monstrous characters. One reason might be the strength of his inner self and conscience, which escorted him to remain aloof from participating in the devilish works of 'Phedre'. His reason for being morally ethical is the true love of 'Aricia', which lead him towards the light instead of thrusting into the darkness of horror which otherwise would have transformed him into the monster. He is the only character perceived to be 'human' as he knows the morals of relations, and unlike other characters in 'Phedre' he has trained his ego towards goodness and moral values. The reason for other

Errors to Avoid In a Business Letter Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Errors to Avoid In a Business Letter - Essay Example The first error to avoid in a business letter is the use of the irrelevant material in the document. People tend to incorporate a series of irrelevant words in an attempt to please the reader. The use of an irrelevant material is a serious error that makes the written document long, boring and of poor quality. The writer may use long descriptions in order to portray their knowledge in the field. As a result, the reader may fail to comprehend the core purpose of the letter. The use of technical jargon and complex words in a business document frustrates the reader and thus contributes to miscommunication. In business writing, a skilled writer is expected to produce documents with excellent word choice. A writer may say, â€Å"The employees are very concerned with how the layoffs will affect their lives.† This sentence is improper because it uses similar words to express the employees’ reaction to layoffs. In the stated example, the writer is expected to say â€Å"Employees fear that the layoff will affect their morale.† The ideal way to avoid using irrelevant material involves selectively choosing appropriate words that best communicate the intended message. Ambiguous phrases such as ‘It is advisable’ should not be included in business letters. Writers should focus on clear, concise statements that communicate the intended message. Grammatical errors are intolerable in business writing. These errors may be in the form of improper use of verb forms, transitions, and articles. Writers may also incorporate unclear pronoun references, or they may incorrectly use subject/object pronouns. Grammatical errors may be perceived negatively by the reader. The reader may perceive the writer as careless or may fail to acknowledge the seriousness of the written information. Transition errors for example â€Å"The press release was long although the public needed the information.†

What Is The Ultimate Basis Of Religious Belief Philosophy Essay

What Is The Ultimate Basis Of Religious Belief Philosophy Essay In the article, Are Men ever directly aware of God, James considered mystical states of consciousness as the centre and root of personal religious experiences which encompasses spectrum of experiences, from the unspiritual to the most devotedly profound.  One of his arguments is that, we, humans, are in control of what we believe. This can be cross-referenced from his humanistic perspective in psychology. Moreover, he started his piece by defining the expression, mystical states of consciousness. He built his paper by creating a valid topic of investigation and study by defining mystical states of consciousness as real experiences, which is available to most people. And to prevent verbal disputation and recrimination of the loosely-defined words mysticism and mystical, he proposed four marks that an experience must have to be considered one. He started with ineffability which stresses the defiance of expression in order for the experience not to be mistaken as a state of feeling. Moreover, it must be directly experienced; cannot be transferred to others and the no words can be used to describe it. Noetic quality, on the other hand, which is also so similar to states of feeling, says that mystics experience a state of knowledge, not just an intellectual aha moment. It is all encompassing knowledge which is the knowledge of the Unity that fuses even contradictory thoughts to a whole which penetrates the mystics backbone. Subject claims that they have experience revelations and insights into virtual truths. Transiency and passivity are less sharply marked, but are also usually found in mystical religious experiences. Transiency is a state that cannot be sustained for long; it fades rapidly, and remains out of reach. However, some memory content always remains, and this can be used to modify the interior life of the subject between the instant of their recurrence. When in a mystical experience, individuals do not seem to keenly process the data. It is a passive experience; the subject feels a loss of control, and of being in the grasp of superior command James fourth mark. These four qualities mark is what he called, the mystical group. These four marks of mystics and mysticism state forms a distinct region of consciousness. Later, James goes on to suggest that these experiences occur as our field of consciousness increases. James offers variety of experiences that he wants to categorize as mystical, extending from the most trivial to the most important. And he cited examples of their lower grades. He relates this to the power of poetry and music. He also mentioned dà ©jà   vu, a sudden feeling which sometimes sweeps over us of having  been there before. He sees this sort of experience as making us imprecisely conscious of the likelihood of things beyond our normal perceptions. There are degrees of what James calls  mystical consciousness. For these, the writer merely quotes from people who have experienced them. One of the subjects describes being visited by trance states in which awareness of the world was annihilated, leaving a sharp awareness of the self. This brings him to the contemplation of what we to-day call drug-induced states, the consciousness produced by intoxicants and anaesthetics, especially by alcohol. The writer states that his own experience of  nitrous oxide intoxication  has led him to the conclusion that our normal waking consciousness is but one especial type of consciousness. Continuing his survey, James now reaches  religious mysticism pure and simple. This is where the experience is of the presence of God. As one of the writers quoted says, I was aware that I was immersed in the infinite ocean of God. He completes his survey of the range of mystical experiences by looking at  its methodical cultivation as a component of the religious life. He starts with yoga, the experimental union of the individual with the divine  and the various levels of contemplation in Buddhism. Then he goes on to quote at considerable length an account that offers insight into Sufism. Finally, the writer comes to the mystical theology of Catholicism as exemplified in three Iberian mystics, St John of the Cross, St Ignatius Loyola and St Teresa of Avila. Two concerns that the writer dwells on are sense of revelation and tonic effects of mystical states Illumination and Ecstasy. Thus St Teresa reports on the one hand on receiving privileged insights, and on the other hand on experiencing rapture of the mind and senses. Moreover, five negatives have been described; however, the main benefit that James seems to see in all this is an  overcoming of all the usual barriers between the individual and the Absolute. There is oneness and both parties are aware of it. Before concluding, he characterized the general traits of the mystic range of consciousness as whole pantheistic, optimistic, anti-naturalistic and harmonizes best with twice-borness and the so-called worldly states of mind. In conclusion, the writer made three points. First, the subjects of mystical experiences are themselves totally convinced by them. Second, there is no reason why other people should share that conviction for different subjects experiences generate different messages. James suggests that mystical experiences, viewed overall, are non-specific in doctrinal content. Third, mystical experiences prevent us from rejecting out of hand the possibility of a world beyond our senses. The supernaturalism to which they persuade us may, interpreted in one way or another. The significance of keeping the meaning of mystical states of consciousness value-neutral was pointed out by James. Furthermore, he explains that all mystical experience, whether positive or negative, deserves recognition as available states of consciousness. He does not debate whether they are a superior or inferior form of consciousness; instead he points out that mystical states include truth and deceit, gratification and pain. His approach is subjective rather than objective and I think he makes some valid points concerning how we judge the faith claim by other people. It was right to respect the personal belief of serious spiritual believers; likewise it is right that what they believe to be true should not be imposed on anyone for them to believe. We all have spiritual needs that somehow, someway when put together build our fragmenting self. Furthermore, he didnt investigate developed patterns of various religions rather he was interested on the experiences that formed the basis of the formal expressions. He has no time for time-honored religion, or theology, rather, he focuses on the mystical, individual life-changing experiences people have in sensing the presence of a higher power. He gave a humane analysis which cleared the empiricists. Indeed, he sets it as his task to evaluate whether religion is good as a social force, and concludes that it is, though with some important caveats. This leaves us with an essential account of what religion truly means and the way in which it is or can be intertwined with social, political and other factors. It lets us unravel such threads in an effective way, and shows us that religion in its essence is not the cause behind all the worlds evil and or good. Rather, religion is a fundamental dimension of consciousness. He concludes that there are other types of truth that we are not usually conscious of and that mystical states give us some hint. Moreover, it interesting that he appears to rebuff and demonstrate flaws in every proof of Gods existence but at the same time believes God is real because He has genuine effects. In his paper, religion was examined from a purely pragmatic perspective. It focused on the individual connection of one individual to the heavenly. Moreover, it was remarkable that the characteristics of religious experience were connected to a range of other phenomena such as drunkenness, ghostly visions, optimism and diseases without any anti-religious schema. It offers less in terms of experimental results since it is impossible to agree on an epistemological point of reference for spiritual matters. So, he provides a virtual catalog of anecdotal references from which to deduce his observations. His answer, of course, is an assorted bag, a cognitive dissonance that is tentatively positive, but not definitively so. This article is not just an assessment but a search for the legitimacy of religion, the reality, and the unity. It is neither an endorsement nor a tearing-down; it does not walk with a particular faith. It is a scientific and philosophic look at religion and one that does not simply dismiss faith as foolish primitive garbage. A foremost flaw in the work is that he dispatches entirely with the historical, institutional, and intellectual mechanisms of religious praxis. While it could be said that these components were anterior to his psychological concern, the manner in which they are done demonstrates a narrow purview of what religion is. Despite this admirable aspiration for reconciliation, he leaves the reader uncertain of what road to take. No matter what his convictions, systematic theology will never voluntarily submit itself to the methodological considerations of empirical science, nor vice versa. Perhaps only in the past decades has the passion for disproving religion subsided enough to allow researchers to make meaningful steps in dialogue between the disciplines. Additionally, his breakdown of four common attributes of the mystical experience primarily the noetic quality, have really been a useful in assessing ones mystical experience. On the other hand, the article A skeptical View of Mysticism by Bertrand Russell started with a presentation of another possible source of knowledge in religion aside from science, which may be properly described as revelation. According to him, we accept the results of studies as truths which we have never conducted or had firsthand experience, and so, mystics might also claim that their source of knowledge is also unquestionable. He admitted that this point is difficult to argue because, people who have mystical experiences would justify that their claim as unquestionable as so with scientific findings of people. Furthermore, he compared the verifiability of science over religion and says that it is useless to attempt an argument that will appeal to the man who has himself enjoyed mystic illumination. He emphasized the importance of the scientific ways of acquiring knowledge as opposed to mystical experiences which cannot be tested. He also stressed the point that mystical experiences are not transferable, so, science should have no expectation as to the result. Moreover, he raised the point on our acceptance of truth, that we, as critical thinkers should not recognize things/events as true without sufficient evidence and has not passed the intra- and inter- subjectivity tests. However, this can also be contradicted by mystics by saying that science should be neutral and should view theirs on their procedures. Furthermore, he stated that the chief argument in favor of the mystics is their agreement with each other. However, mystics vary in the way they give verbal expressions to their experiences, and so he enumerated three things that successful mystics maintain. First, all division and separateness is unreal, and that the universe is a highly indivisible unity. Second, the evil is illusionary, and the illusion arises through falsely regarding a part of self-subsident. And lastly, the time is unreal, and that reality is eternal, not in the sense of being everlasting, but in the sense of being wholly outside time. These traits, however, according to him are just representative sample of the whole. Russell built further arguments by instructing the readers to image that they are in a law-court, seeking to decide on the credibility of the witnesses who claims to assert these three assertions. He demonstrates an argument, makes the possible reaction of both sides, then critics it. He started with the differences of the belief of mystics wherein he cited examples such as the Virgin of the Christians which would be disagreed by Protestants, the Archangel Gabriel and such. Indeed, Christians, Muslims, Buddhist, etc. would discredit and brand each other as untrustworthy. However, he said that mystics would argue that everyone should respect each others belief and wouldnt focus in their differences but instead look unto their similarities to strengthen their claim concentrating on the above mention things they tend to uphold. Then he asks what test can be applied to their unanimous evidence. Russell said that first hand information is vital in order to make someone believe your claim and this is promised by scientific investigations. Nonetheless, this questions yields to various answers such as a receptive frame of the mind, humility, fasting religious mediation, and breathing exercise. And so, if we succeeded, according to Russell, to feel in a certain time that time is unreal and experienced a state of mind that they describe, how then, shall we assess its reliability when we reverse to our normal states? Furthermore, mystics agree about the unreality of time. Russell said that if time is unreal, there would be no sequence of events and the cause and effect relationship of what we do would be nonsense. Our time markers for time such as before, after, tomorrow would become just mere utterances. Therefore, there would be no events; were just lost in the vastness of the cosmos, embracing what is said to be real in the temporal world. And if so, there would be neither improvement nor deterioration, no distinction between sorrow and happiness. And such views, according to Russell exterminate not only science but prudence, hope and effort which does not go along with what is important to religion morality and worldly wisdom. Mystics, however, would not accept this conclusion but urge doctrines which teach such. Russell cited Dean Inges disagreement with the region that focuses on evolution that stresses temporal process. Russell found himself in harmony with Inge, however, sought more than that, more inferences. It is imperative not to distort the doctrine of mysticism, in which the author thinks, there is a core of wisdom. Let us see how it seeks to avoid the extreme consequences which seem to follow from the denial of time, said Russell. The philosophy from Parmenides to Hegel is an example wherein the distinction between what he calls, reality and appearance, the way of truth and opinion. Difficulties could arise, however, at this point because if the relationship between them would become so intimate, all things whether pleasant or not would have their counterparts in reality, and if the relation is too limited, inferences cannot be made about the character of appearance to reality and reality would be vague Unknowable. On the other hand, he said that pantheism would be very difficult to avoid for Christians because if the world is only apparent, God created nothing, and the reality corresponding to the world is a part of God; but if the world is in any degree real and distinct from God, we abandon the wholeness of everything, which is an essential doctrine of mysticism, and we are compelled to suppose that, in so far as the world is real, the evil which it contains is also real. The Bishop of Birminghan also rejected all sorts of pantheism because if a man is actually a part of god, the evil in man is also God. Russell then moves to another argument which is the mystics denial of the world of sense. Assuming that the world reality is used in the context of law-courts, there would be no doubts in rejecting their claims because of the inconsistency of their testimonies and mundane moments. This resulted to the scrutiny of another sense which is emotion. And what Russell claims is that mysticism is an emotion and not a fact which does not assert anything and cannot be confirmed nor contradicted with science. Furthermore, he reiterated that science only demands a person on normal eyesight, normal consciousness, and normal behavior as opposed to religion which demands physical, psychological and mental alteration. He therefore concluded that mystical states which demands abnormal physical condition are just abnormal perceptions while normal perception, which is proved to aid in our life have correspondence with fact. He said that mystical experiences as emotions may have been the one responsible for providing breath, calmness and profundity wherein self-centered desires are dead, and the mind serves as a mirror of the infiniteness of the cosmos. And the assertions from these feelings are inessential for he cannot accept any method of arriving at the truth except of science. And that evil and good may have rooted from false beliefs. This article remains too rigid makes it sure that science is the only way of knowing things. Russell, till the very end of his article asserted that he cant accept other ways to verify the truth of a claim. This I disagree. As much as philosophy is concerned, I am deeply inclined of why David Hume included emotions and ideas as source of truth and or knowledge. No one, till now have solved this misery, I guess. Indeed, we are aware of the development of the pragmatic theory of truth which however, failed because of the relativity of human behavior. As the famous quotation goes, Experience is the best teacher. And I believe that there are things which we cannot share or make other people to believe because of the individual differences and experiences we have. We are unique individuals not just in our thoughts but in the biological foundation DNA. We even dont know ourselves much thats why we still use Freuds unconscious mind. Freuds theories were never proven correct; however, it is still used because nothing was used to verify its credibility. Same goes with religion, the metaphysical concepts that they have introduced has affected our lives and thats why we believe in it. It is faith, and we dont question it. Moreover, the contemporary issues that have arisen were about the dispute between evolution and creationism. It is a common misconception that they are contradictory to each other. That one must believe and choose between the two. We must take into account that evolution answers the question HOW and creationism answers the question WHO. Furthermore, I believe on both yet I am more convinced on creationism. Just like mysticism which miracles comes on unexpected times, felt the power and the good feeling it brings, the innate satisfaction and joy which is beyond comprehension is a manifestation that there divine intervention. This I believe on religion that there is divine being who makes all things possible which also depends on the persons beliefs and acts. It is the core of wisdom and knowledge that is applied to do the right thing or the other way around. It is the application of what we learn and experienced that leads us to what we believe and wanted to happen. What we act, do is nothing unless we can discern if it is right or wrong. This is what keeps us moving, changing, and progressing. This, however, when not carefully considered also cause adverse effects. I would like to connect this with Julian Rotters Locus of Control which tests whether individuals are governed by themselves or by faith or destiny. Because of my assertions in this paper, you may say that I have low locus of control, that my philosophies in life are dependent upon external situations.. Actually not, I am in the middle. I believe that I am responsible for my life; I am in control of what happens in my life. However, we cannot deny the fact that we are cultured affected by social interactions. As Plato has said, we are social animals. Furthermore, everything happens for a reason, everything in life is so interconnected. I have met people whom I wasnt connected to for 6 years and now weve become best of friends. Though, I believe that I am the one in control of my life, my beliefs however, are affected by outside forces, I have learned much from Russells argument; however, I am firm with my stand that we are free to choose about our basis of religious belief. He should not be enmeshed in determining if religious experiences might or might not be true, but should determine whether anything practical results from them. Finally, both of the essays have classified religious belief as emotion, and it is. The only difference is that the first accepted it in a humanistic way and the other has done it otherwise. Now, what is my ultimate basis of religious belief? It is subjective spiritual rather than existential. We have our own beliefs but its how we act that matters, how it affect ourselves and the people around us. Its the truth of life that matters. Science itself does not claim that they are the ultimate truth; they only claim that they are presenting the best interpretation of things so far. So does with religion, it is the best way we have interpreted our faith so far.

Big Brother Is Watching You Essay -- essays research papers

Big Brother Is Watching You   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  My name is Winston Smith, a man of 39 living in Oceania, and I am the last sane man on earth. I believe the date to be 1984, even though I have no real proof of it. London, as I know it, is a place devastated by hunger and disrepair. A place where every action and thought are closely monitored. For as long as I can remember, the Party has been in control. The principles of Ingsoc1 and Big Brother have been dictating public interest here since the 40s. Even though I have never known any other life, it feels like there is something inherently wrong with this one. Big Brother imposes a way of life that is intolerable to me. I have committed acts of subversion, violence, perversion, demoralization and more for the good of the Brotherhood2. I am a traitor, and the rest of the people of Oceania are empty headed automatons.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I seem to be the only person in possession of a memory. When I used to work for Minitrue3 in the records department, my job was to remove or rewrite incongruent bits of history from the Times and other periodicals. On occasion I would rewrite entire articles to favor of the Party and it’s predictions. There was one week when it was announced that the chocolate ration would be reduced to 20%. The next week there was an announcement that the ration would be raised to 20%! And no one noticed the lie that was told! Everyone believed that only a week from when their rations had b...

Eliot Spitzer Case Essay

Eliot Spitzer, attorney general of New York Investment Protection Bureau, was the leading regulator who changed the way many Wall Street firms do business. What he accomplished was nothing short of extraordinary – he has not only stood up for the investors against Wall Street giants, but he did so in such an aggressive but rightful manner that required much courage and sophistication. Many criticized Spitzer for his overly aggressive indictments and actions against Wall Street firms, which consisted releasing the Merrill Lynch’s incriminating emails on the national television as well as releasing firms’ civil charges to public before the court ruled on the case. However, his rationale behind it was that many Wall Street firms have taken shelters under legal settlements – usually led by SEC or other government regulation agencies – that would withhold the scandalous details of their charges and only require firms to pay some fines. These firms’ reputations would remain intact and the public would not have any awareness of the â€Å"corrupt business models† that many of these firms have been practicing. That is why many firms continue to make fraudulent, deceitful deals that would rip off their clients, and drive up their profitability, knowing that the worst case scenario is them getting caught and having a pay some type of fine to settle the case. Therefore, Spitzer releasing the incriminating details of Wall Street firms to the public, though a bit unorthodox, is fair in my opinion. He did so for a rightful reason – to use the power of publicity to implant fears of committing frauds into Wall Street executives’ minds. He wanted to build a stronger deterrent against Wall Street firms’ ill practices. In addition to that, Spitzer’s actions are also legitimized by a rarely known New York State law called Martin Act. This Act, once invoked by attorney general, can prohibit a firm from continuing its allegedly fraudulent practices. Attorney generals can then immediately expose the situation to the public while continue their investigation and gather more information until they are ready to file suit – which can be civil or criminally – against the firm. The act itself is designed to prevent fraud and deceitful practices. Spitzer used the Martin Act as his strongest vehicles to punish the di shonest Wall Street firms. Of course, no firms are â€Å"corrupt† by nature. Matter in fact, most of the Wall Street firms have Code of Ethics and Control systems in place to prevent their employees to practice fraudulently. However, the main problem is that although these policies are well-written in form, not much effort is spent by the firms to actually implement these policies and codes. For example, Merrill Lynch had policies requiring equities analysts to be totally objective, and yet most of its investment bankers acted as salesperson by manipulating reports on stock to attract and keep clients. Most of the fraudulent transactions were able to take place in these sophisticated, well-built Wall Street firms because these firms lacked strong internal control. The high incentive to generate revenue at all costs, the lack of transparency and information flow, and confusing ethical standard all contributed to the interest-conflicting corporate culture that many Wall Street firms have but refuse to ack nowledge. To have a strong internal control, the utmost important component is the â€Å"tone at the top† – a solid corporate governance. Strong corporate governance leads to a healthy control environment, which can really define the way a company functions and whether employees act on behalf of the best interest of the shareholders and clients. Aside from setting the mission statements, the top management should emphasize and enforce the values in professional integrity and ethical standard. Firms should set up proper Human Resource (HR) policies and training to make sure they have hired the right people who will do the right things. One of the major weaknesses in many Wall Street firms is their compensation structures. Many, if not all, Wall Street employees are rewarded by how much revenue they generate for the firm instead of the quality of service they provide to the customers. That is why investment bankers and stock analysts do not feel bad when they sold â€Å"junk† stocks to unsophisticated buyers as they are receiving multi-million dollars for doing so. Nonetheless, it is this form of distorted incentive that has pressured many to do unethical things even when they did not want to. Henry Blodget of Merrill’s Internal Research Group awarded InfoSpace highest recommended stock rating because Merrill’s Investment Banking (IB) division had an affiliation with an internet company that InfoSpace was going to acquire. He was pressured by the IB division, and eventually cooperated despite disagreeing because he was â€Å"paid to do so†. For â€Å"contributing† to Merrill’s IB operations, Henry’s annual â€Å"guaranteed† minimum cash bonus drastically increased from $3 million in 1999 to $12 million in 2001. HR should make more commitment to employee competence and evaluate them on the basis of the service quality instead of the profit-driven criteria. A better performance evaluation procedure can definitely enforce more ethical behaviors and due diligence within the firms. For many of these fraudulent practices to take place undetected and undeterred, it is clear that Wall Street firms also lacked check and balance. Have they properly enforced segregation of duties, authorization procedure, and documentation, it would make it much harder for these fraudulent transactions to go through. Analysts would review each other’s work to make sure trades are fairly assessed and authorized by the right senior personnel. Documentations are made so it would be easy for the manager to follow and back track the trade. Also more than one group of people would be working on the trade so they can all take responsibility for it if anything goes wrong. With proper check and balance, people would have less leeway to make ill-advised deals to the investors knowing that there are extra sets of eyes watching over them. These internal controls would have detected and prevented fraudulent transactions before they even had a chance to proceed. Wall Street firms would not have to worry about getting caught by the external parties – such as Spitzer’s and his crew – and face charges and public humiliation. In the 60 minute video we watched last class, Henry Markopolous complained about relative lack of action by SEC in moving to stop the Madoff scandal in its tracks. This point was reiterated again in this case as SEC played a rather passive role in the Merrill scandal as well as other fraud investigations Spitzer was involved in. It just seems that because SEC does an enormous number of investigations, it sets the limit of what it can do in terms investigation scope and response time to the fraud. Therefore, it made a strong enforcers like Spitzer even more if an important role for the public investors. Comparing to SEC’s long, formal procedure that requires committee voting to even issue a subpoena, Spitzer’s attorney generals’ office was a much more flexible, agile place where they can file suit with the court to take actions against fraud in a very short period of time. Spitzer’s use of publicity, although triggers criticisms such as â€Å"subverts due process to release undigested investigative files to the media before charges are filed†, was Spitzer’s way to show public the â€Å"shocking betrayal of trust† of some trusted Wall Street firms and allow the public to know what was going on. Given the authority by the Martin Act, Spitzer was able to sue the firms criminally as well, which means death sentence to any corporation. Nonetheless, Spitzer has never done so because his ultimate goal was not to â€Å"kill† the firm, but to rather remove the â€Å"tainted spots† from the firm, whether it is its CEO or any other executive position, so the firms can learn their lesson and become better corporate citizens – a result that ordinary settlements often fail to achieve. Therefore, I would conclude that Eliot Spitzer’s actions regarding Wall Street regulation were appropriate. Despite his sometime s extreme measures, no firms bankrupted and no employees lost their jobs. His greatest accomplishment came when he pushed Wall Street to its greatest reform since the Great Depression. On 2002, SEC, regulators, and the ten largest Wall Street firms agreed in principle to revise firms’ compensation plan to avoid conflicts of interest that have affected the research analysts’ independence and objectivity. The â€Å"Global Settlement† in 2003 has brought Wall Street giants – such as Credit Suisse First Boston, Merrill Lynch, and Salomon Smith Barney – to their knees with fraudulent charges which required a total of $1.4 billion fine to resolve the case. Spitzer has done the right thing to reform the Wall Street into a much more trustworthy business environment that would enhance the wellbeing of both investors and employees. It is clear that who is on the right side. Eliot did the right thing, given this authority by the Martin Act, to show It is a duty of a voter. And he used the authority for a good cause, which pushed Wall Street as SEC, Spitzer, I think Spitzer’s practices are fair because although he has the authority to He never did so because, but to rather allow the firms to learn their lesson –The Wall Street was successfully pushed to a reformation with his effort, and made it The problem with SEC is its conservative approach toward fraudsters. They are slow at reacting to frauds. Has too many investigations SEC has to handle. SEC has a formal procedures requiring the staff to vote from the five-member commission first to issue subpoenas and then to file suit. The enforcement and regulations were separate divisions in SEC: enforcers tended to focus on individual cases of wrongdoing while regulators looked at the overall pictures. Compare to SEC, Spitzer looked at both, and the attorney general’s office was a flexible, agile place where they can file an affidavit with the court at a very short time.

A analysis of Google quit Chinese market

Fourthly, the conflict between Google and Chinese government had upgrade to diplomatic emissions, the wise was both of two government solve this problem in intellect way. 2. 0 The company profile of Google Google is an American multinational corporation, which is worked on Internet service including search, cloud computing software and online advertising. The mission and vision of Google is to organize the world's Information and make it universally accessible and useful. As the culture of Google, they hire smart and determined people.Its employees share common goals and vision, but they hire people from all over the world. When they are not work, the offices environment like home and It Is leased. They have open culture, make every contributor feel comfortable. (Google, 2014) 2. 1 The introduction of Google's problem encountered in China The most of obvious problem is Google have conflict with Chinese government. At the beginning, Google was not obeyed Chinese Internet Censored regu lation. But under the pressure of Chinese government, Google tried to cooperate that is not approved by Chinese government, but it did arouse against in the rest of world.A internal problem from Google is they did not understand Chinese culture and language which make search engine Inefficiency. Google's business had been taking from Its competitor?Bald. According to high level report (San, 2007, p. 6) 3. 0 Evaluation of the Inter personal relationships affects the corporation's profit in China Interpersonal relationship means a strong, deep, or close association between two or more people. The interpersonal relationships are formed in the context of social, cultural, traditional and other elements.For most of people, they are likely to feel non-treatable with foreigners, which is hurting international business. Such as Google, it entered China as foreigners, it hard or Google to open Chinese market. Therefore, inter personal relationships allow build trust or even friendship, which is beneficial to corporation's business. Furthermore, Inter personal relationships allow International corporation know the local culture, which Is good for communication. Inter personal relationships can eliminate the barrier In communication, and offer high efficiency and unblocked communication and in respect way.Google do not know the Chinese culture and instead of English. Google did not realize it, its functions of mandarin is weak, so seers cannot get satisfy answer by Google search engine. Interpersonal relationship is based on culture, it is seemingly more vital in China than any rest of countries. The inter personal had been becoming indispensable social element which ensures social function operation, since thousands years ago, inter personal tradition had formed. The foreign corporation effort to enter China market, it is important to learn this culture.Apparently, Google did not figure out this issue, they did not understand culture, and try to use their successful exp erience in America to open Chinese market. They make their business operation too professionals and cool, which betrayed Chinese culture. Because the misunderstanding Chinese situation, they are not favorable for Chinese net citizens. Compare with national brand Baud, the local business are deeper understanding Chinese situation, Baud occupies more market than Google. For example, Baud has many functions which is understanding Chinese culture.Such as Baud Zooidal, it provides a platform to let Internet citizen ask question and answer. And Baud Tibet is very suitable to Chinese Internet citizens, they can communicate on the Tibet. Agreeably, it gathers the people who have common point. Furthermore, Baud search engine understands Chinese language, so user are easy to access what they want, but Google not. (Edward, 2010) Not only the Chinese business men work rely on inter personal relationships, but also are international corporations necessary have good relation with government and a uthorities.The good relation with government official provides the good communication that make international corporations deeper understand local regulations. It is helpful to international corporations which is not adopted Chinese environment to change and transform. However, Google are too late to realize this, they had been trying to work on Internet freedom and try to build this as brand image in first several years entered China market. The brand image was not successful as they expected. With the Baud's rise, Google had been losing market share, and having trouble with Chinese government.According high level report (John 2011, p 1) Hence, it is easier for Google to operate it businesses, if they have good inter personal relationships network as international corporations. It can allow the opportunities and bring profit. Without inter personal relationship is hard to move on in China, but friends can impart experience and help. As long as international corporation build good i nter personal relationship, they are likely to access success and harmony cooperation relations. According high level report (David, p 3) 4. Chinese Internet Management Begun in 2003, Chinese government built the Great Firewall, it can block some foreign websites and surveillance of the network. Any uncensored Internet information is found that will be immediately deleted or shielded. Strength of monitoring program A, Contain the Internet violence B, Contain the Internet rumor C, Keep harmful content away from child A, It impose restriction on Google information B, It hurt human rights and make Google be debatable. 4. 1 The strength of monitoring program In China, the Internet violence has been overflow, which can be controlled by program.A behavior called â€Å"Human flesh search† This action allows net citizens to dig up another net citizens' private information including real name, address, hand phone number, his employer and so on. The Chinese official and social expertis e judge this behavior is Internet violence and guilty. Hence, they persisted monitoring program which contained this behavior. â€Å"Human flesh search† did hurt huge number of people. Some person had action which is unaccepted to other net citizens. The latter would use â€Å"Human flesh search† dig up their information, and abuse, threaten the victims.And it also infringes upon citizen's legal rights, such as right to privacy. Meanwhile, the Great Firewall can intercept dirty language, personal abuse. In some degree, it does refine the Internet environment. The circumstance can be controlled by government. Google is so powerful and it search engine can be this crime's accessory. It is refine the environment of Google. So, for Google, this monitoring can help Google find the crime information, it is good for Google development. (ROB, 2012) The Internet rumor has been overflow, which also has been keeping down by the program.In China, the Internet rumor is seemingly wo rse than any rest of countries. Rumor disrupts normal social order and brings about panic, riot, which is immorality. The government has duty to crackdown on online rumors to give citizen a truth. The radical content can be kept away from children. Some information is ultra, which s full of violence, pornographic, and poison. The child can easily access that information. The appropriate management is benefit to child. The parents are not worry about that children read bad information. (Shannon, 2013) 4. The weakness of Internet management The monitoring system is so strong that cover whole Internet, it can surveillance privacy, stop information, shield search engine. Chinese government use it prohibit many things. It is violate human rights. In China, it is hard to separate the politically- motivated Internet management and protecting legitimate citizen's interest. The overspent takes advantage of the monitoring system to achieve political motivation. The content harmful government but it is truth can be intercepted. It is good for government to shield and cover truth.The research engine cannot provide information to Chinese citizens without government censored. Google is an organization which believes the Internet information freedom, it provide some information which can be harmful to Chinese government. The government use law And it is ruining Google's reputation. (Suburban, 2013) Google cannot provide some websites which are not allowed to access in China, such s Faceable and Youth. Chinese governments and authorities stop these websites from citizens. It does puzzle citizens to use Internet.On another hand, the pirate and tort information is full of Internet in China, the monitoring system like blind and no operation to this crime. Google pay attention on copyrights, but its competitor is not at all. In China, Baud which is the biggest competitor have been offering pirate and tort information under the monitoring system. The authorities are conniving nati onal corporation Baud and cause problem with Google that reduce its competitiveness. And net citizens are prefer Baud in China. According to high level report Anyone, 2011,p. 12) The censored system is so restrict that many useful information had been deleted.Google provides some acknowledge and ideology which also are prohibited, such as some chemistry principle, explode principle, and firearms acknowledge. The Chinese officials believe it can ensure society stabilization. â€Å"There are no explode, because no one can make it† It does puzzle learners have right purpose. Not only it violates human rights, but also does it perplexes Google operation. Google as requested to upgrade system to manage information and corporate the Great Firewall. Liking other Internet Corporation in China, Google had to invest huge sums on develop its monitoring systems.It wastes money and time, it reduces the corporation competitiveness. Furthermore, when the Great Firewall updating, these corpo ration business including Google can be affect. The condition of Internet become Jam and slow. (ROB, 2012) 5. 0 The importance of CAR in maintaining corporation international The CAR means the relationship between global corporations, government of countries, and individual people. The relationship between local society and corporation also is important. And the relationship between corporations with its stakeholders also cannot be forgotten.The stakeholders mean those effect corporation police and practices. Sustainability, the resource on the earth is limited, and corporations are the part of society. Hence, it is concerned that corporation how to use resource. As an international corporation, it behavior would be concerned, and public concerned its use of resource. It more likes morality restraint. And corporations pay attention on resource utilized which is responsible to society. Furthermore, sustainability not only about means resource, but also carrying capacity of the ecosys tem. Global corporations should concerned developing with care protection of ecosystem.They are powerful and taking more responsibility. The society is sustainability development and they can sustainability development. According to David (2008, app) concerned CAR is apparently important. The good action can build good brand awareness, such as charity. The media will help to advertise these beneficial actions, which is more worth that advertisement and promotion. (Craig, 2003, p. 21) For example, in China, Struck donates 1. 5 million US Dollar for training west rural teachers in poor areas, furthermore, this program also support poor students to finish their college study.Moreover, Struck are working on Education in China and Struck are the partner with women's Development Federation and Water and Sanitation Education Project. So, it is the reason of Struck is welcome in China. (Struck, 2006) 5. 1 The advice to Google Google have the privacy issues. As a global corporation, this pro blem had been across many countries. Marc believes that Google violate the global privacy tankards, and those issues are becoming as amusing as serious. Hence, the advice is respected the people's privacy right.It is important to build brand image to public, if Google hurt customer's privacy, which one are likely to use Google. And the different areas have different regulations of privacy, as a globe corporation, it is important to follow those different rules. Internal Google, they can set up a program to check any content that violent privacy. It is too late if external point out this behavior, which can quickly spread to world by media and bring harmful effect. According to high level report Anyone, 2006, p. ) The second advice is keeping away from China. It has a big share of search, in China.Chinese government insisted to censoring search content. Google had been agreeing with this censoring, but it against by rest of world. They believe the monitoring had violated the human ri ght. And the Chinese government still believed Google against the law under the cooperation. The censoring was betrayed Google's principle that respects Internet freedom and reality. Keeping cooperation would arouse the more oppose, including, Human right organization, reporter without burden and so on. In 006, some of demonstrator had the activity called â€Å"Mass Breakup with Google†.This activity protests the Google's cooperation with Chinese government. And demonstrators believe that Google break own principle of â€Å"Don't be evil†. Away from China, and refuse cooperation can build good brand image to rest of world, and the operation still work in Hong Kong. According high level report (Bassoon, 2007, p 10-15) 6. 0 The suggestion to lessen the political vulnerability between the government of USA and China There are many, complex, and rottenness conflicts between two countries. The deepest conflict is in ideology. China is governed by the communist party which b elieves the socialism with Chinese characteristics.Obviously, United States of America is the leader of capitalist countries. Both of two have so much difference in belief. Hence, it related and cause the specific conflicts. The biggest answers were requested censored by Chinese government. The international social believe it betray the principle of freedom of Internet, in further, it violates human rights. Although, Google effort to cooperate with Chinese government, the latter still believe Google default and provide porn information. In the Google sides, they assert hey suffer from Chinese hacker Internet attack.USA government requires Chinese government to protect the rights of Google. Yahoo can work in China, because it respects the Chinese regulation. Yahoo has totally legal operation in China. Yahoo is taking responsibility of CAR. Both of China and USA better keep calm. In front of the conflicts, both of two governments better keep restrain action and speech. Between two lar ge countries, they have to think about the long-term benefit and cooperation. Impulsion and extreme action will hurt long-term cooperation relations. As Google's issue, it is a commercial issue. The suggestion is keeping it to commerce problem.The public social can query Chinese government's strategy of treat Internet information. But, it is not smart for USA, as a government to interfere China internal affairs. It is not smart way to upgrade this issue to political problem that is making problem more complex. The deep communication and understand the culture and custom. Through the communication, both of sides can solve this issue in negotiations and dialogue. USA government can understand Chinese conditions and troubles. There are reasons for censored Internet information. USA government can figure out these reasons before action.Meanwhile, it is important to protect Google's right. Chinese government should investigate Internet attacks. Such as Yahoo, it also has business in Chin a, and it can have a good relation with Chinese government. Yahoo respects Chinese regulation, and the government has no issue with Yahoo. The communication is important to understand the policy of government. 7. 0 Conclusion For many reasons, Google had quite China in 2011. Corporation put website into Hong Kong, which is last part business in China. The biggest reason is Google misunderstanding of China situation.Without consider inter personal relationships, the wrong evaluation was hurt Google in China. The shortage of understanding language make search engine work inefficiency. The market share was declined in big degree. The conflicts with Chinese government were upgrading. The cooperation with Chinese government was suffering against with rest of world. In awkward situation, quite might be the best choose, it still can be helpful to build brand awareness to rest of world. As the conflicts had been caused the diplomatic tensions, the suggestion was that both of governments sol ved this issue, which better noninsured the long-term interest.

Difference Between Intrinsic and Instrumental Value

Difference Between Intrinsic and Instrumental Value The distinction between intrinsic and instrumental value is one of the most fundamental and important in moral theory. Fortunately, it is not difficult to grasp. You value many things, such as beauty, sunshine, music, money, truth, and justice. To value something is to have a positive attitude toward it and to prefer its existence or occurrence over its nonexistence or nonoccurence. You can value it as an end, as a means to some end, or both. Instrumental Value You value most things instrumentally, that is, as a means to some end. Usually, this is obvious. For instance, you value a washing machine that works- purely for its useful function, or instrumental value. If there were a very cheap cleaning service next door that picked up and dropped off your laundry, you might use it and sell your washing machine because it no longer has any instrumental value to you. One thing nearly everyone values to some extent is money. But it is usually valued purely as a means to an end. It has instrumental value: It provides security, and you can use it to purchase things you want. Detached from its purchasing power, money is just a pile of printed paper or scrap metal. Intrinsic Value There are two notions of intrinsic value. It can be: Valuable in itself  Valued by someone for its own sake If something has intrinsic value in the first sense, this means that the universe is somehow a better place for that thing existing or occurring. Utilitarian philosophers like John Stuart Mill claim that pleasure and happiness are valuable in and of themselves. A universe in which a single sentient being is experiencing pleasure is better than one in which there are no sentient beings. It is a more valuable place. Immanuel Kant holds that genuinely moral actions are intrinsically valuable. He would say that a universe in which rational beings perform good actions from a sense of duty is an inherently better place than a universe in which this doesn’t happen. The Cambridge philosopher G.E. Moore says that a world containing natural beauty is more valuable than a world without beauty, even if there is no one there to experience it. To these philosophers, these things are all valuable in and of themselves. This first notion of intrinsic value is controversial. Many philosophers would say that it makes no sense to talk about things being valuable in themselves unless they are actually valued by someone. Even pleasure or happiness are only intrinsically valuable because they are experienced by someone. Value for Its Own Sake Focusing on the second sense of intrinsic value, the question arises: What do people value for its own sake? The most obvious candidates are pleasure and happiness. People value many things- wealth, health, beauty, friends, education, employment, houses, cars, and washing machines- because they think those things will give them pleasure or make them happy. It may seemingly make sense to ask why people want them. But both Aristotle and Mill pointed out that it doesn’t make sense to ask why a person wants to be happy. Most people value not only their own happiness, they also value the happiness of other people. They are sometimes willing to sacrifice their own happiness for the sake of someone else’s. People also sacrifice themselves or their happiness for other things, such as religion, their country, justice, knowledge, truth, or art. Those are all things that convey the second characteristic of intrinsic value: They are valued by someone for their own sake.