The motorcycle Helmet law Essay Example for Free

The motorcycle Helmet truth EssayMillions of people all oer the United States choose motorcycles over automobiles for the thrill, speed, and high performance capabilities. On the other hand, motorcycles are non at all the safest way of transportation. Motorcycles do not provide the passenger with the outer security system that cars provide, therefore, when one crashes, the results are usually much more serious. Injuries to the head are responsible for 76% of shamefulities when dealing with motorcycle crashes many of which could have been prevented had the rider been wearable a helmet. For this reason, many states have adopted the motorcycle helmet police force.The lawfulness states that every passengers must wear a helmet at all times when riding on a motorcycle. This law has created a great deal of controversy. One place supports the law, believing that it cherishs motorcyclists from danger and saves the economy a great deal of money. The other side argues that the law is unconstitutional and it violates our right to freedom. However, statistics show overwhelming support in favor of the motorcycle helmet law. Although wearing helmets cannot prevent motorcycle crashes, they can greatly skip the number of deaths caused by head psychic trauma as well as cut downing taxes, insurance evaluate, and health care costs.Therefore, the helmet law should be put into meat in every state across the United States. Helmets drastically reduce the tremendous number of deaths caused by head injuries as well as step-down the severity of any nonfatal injuries to the head. Statistics gathered by the Safety Nationwide Insurance Enterprises show that an unhelmeted rider is 40% more similarly to suffer fatal head injuries, compared with a helmeted rider. Also, with the helmet law in effect, close to 100% of motorcyclists wear a helmet. Without the law, only 50% of motorcyclists wear helmets.Also, death rates are twice as high in states without the law. One get wo rd estimated that because 25 states ratified the law, over 3,300 lives were saved last year alone. Since helmets reduce the stake of injury and death, they will also, in tern, help the economy. The Vice President of Safety Nationwide Insurance Enterprises, Tim Hoyt, states, We may not be able to eliminate all the risk from motorcycling, but helmet laws greatly reduce the approximately expensive injuries head injuries. Reducing these costs is good for the consumer and it Is good for business, too. Health care costs and insurance rates are lowered because it is not as expensive to treat smaller-scale injuries. The government ends up paying a large portion of peoples medical bills because of different types of humans assistance programs. Hence, when health care costs are lower, the government does not need as much of our money to pay for those programs and taxes are reduced. The Insurance lay down for Highway Safety estimated that over $4 million dollars were saved last year as a direct result of the motorcycle helmet law.For these reasons the motorcycle helmet law should indisputably be enforced in every state. If the motorcycle helmet law helps the economy and more importantly saves lives, why doesnt the entire country enforce the law? The rejoinder is, many people feel that the helmet law is a violation of the rights granted to Americans in the Constitution. Most people in opposition to this law do not necessarily believe that it is a wise choice to ride a motorcycle without a helmet and they do recognize the positive impinge the helmet law has created.However, they do not think that the government has the right to tell people that it is mandatory to wear a helmet. One man argues, If we let the government dictate things like how we should ride a motorcycle, we will slowly develop characteristics of a communist government. Isnt communism what we fought against for so many years? Because of these strong points of view, a number of states do not endorse th e motorcycle helmet law. Some people believe that the motorcycle helmet law violates our freedom as Americans, but the law is actually used to protect us from harm and maintain order.There are limitations on almost everything we do, because a society without some type of laws or rules would be complete chaos. unsloped as there are speed limits, drinking restrictions, and seatbelt laws to protect us while in an automobile, there needs to be some type of law to protect us while riding on a motorcycle (especially since motorcycles are more dangerous in the first place). Therefore, in response to the opposing argument, the helmet law is not imposing on our Constitutional rights, but merely the governments way of saving money for itself and consumers and protecting riders.The motorcycle helmet law was designed to lower taxes, insurance rates, and health care costs and more importantly to save the lives of our loved ones. Statistics have proved just that. There is not one study that dis proves the positive effect the motorcycle helmet law has created thus far. Helmets will not stop a motorcyclist from getting into an accident, but with a helmet, the rider will most likely be able to survive the crash. The extra second it takes to put on a helmet could be the second that saves someones life. Why not make it the law?

Analysis of Marrysong Dennis Scott Essay Example for Free

Analysis of Marrysong Dennis Scott EssayThen Scott having to chart suggesting the creation of a map in order to get wind his wife, this emphasises the exploration of this new-found-land. The poem suggests an unsure attitude, as we see in the first line, year after year we dont know whether this suggest a long, drawn turn out relationship that could become dull, or whether this means he is happy, and the year after year suggests commitment. Time takes a prominent role in the poem, with what is described as year after year is then shortened to passing seasons then shrunk still to an hour until the shifting of moods becomes sudden, suddenly she would change. This suggests discombobulation within the relationship for Scott, as the changing of her attitudes becomes unexplainable and undetectable. This unpredictability leads us to the point of the heavy use of enjambment in the first five lines, word picture a vivid picture of uncertainty for Scott conversely, as the poem progress es, we see a much more structured approach. On the contrary, the poem as a whole is generally lacking in structure. The constant use of caesurae, which breaks lines using pauses, denoted by commas and full stops.Also, the stutter of all, all disrupts the flow of the poem much want the punctuation mentioned. This disruptiveness also contributes to the uncertainty of Scott within the marriage. However, as we approach the concluding lines of the poem Scott evokes a discovery of certainty. He says accepting her geography and stating that he wondered which peradventure suggests that he has no need to wander anymore. This final couplet also features a rhyming final two lines, which suggests stability and an atmosphere of certainty.The oxymoronic use of rattling helpless journey suggest that Scott is at his lovers mercy this is significant, as the whole poem conveys the idea that the woman dominates the relationship, and that Scott is exploring her and severe to figure her out. At the beginning of the poem we see that Scott says that she is under control by saying under his eye, this oxymoron features near to the end of the poem and, with numerous time frames universe described in the lines between these two phrases, seems to suggest that after all this time he still has not been able to work her out or even gain control of their relationship.Conversely, this contrasts with the following two lines in which Scott is stated to have figured her out find his way among the landscapes of her mind. The fourth line, in the walled anger of her quarried hurt takes a prominent role within the poem. The use of walled and quarried suggests an inescapable territory into which Scott seems to be stuck. Quarried also suggests that Scott is trying to unearth her personality, with walled being the antiaircraft behavior with which he does this.Love is a dangerous unreliable territory seems to be one of the main themes evoked by the poem. We see that Scott is continuously trying to gain power in the relationship. This seems to be unobtainable throughout the poem, however the title in itself reveals a childlike innocence about Scott Marrysong isnt really a word, and sounds like a word a child would make up. It also evokes the bewildering nature of love and the complexity of marriage. Ovid Ars Amatoria 1. 469-78 states that dura tamen saxa (nonetheless, hard rocks) molii cavantur aqua (are hollowed out by soft water).At one stage of the poem Scott states that one can see cool water laughing where the day before at that place were stones in her voice Scott maybe saying that the water hollowed out the rocks and overcame the rocks to make way for love. Furthermore, in relation to territory, Ovid states that capta vides Pergama sero capita tamen (You can see that Troy was captured after a long delay, but she was captured in the end) relating to Scott claiming that his lovers logic is like a territory needing to be explored, and the references of time relate to Ov id stating that Troy was captured after a while.

Market analysis: Hydroponics in Mauritius

Market synopsis Hydroponics in MauritiusIn essence, the job of a strategist is to understand and cope with rivalry. Often, managers define competition too narrowly, as if it occurred only among todays direct competitors. L every(prenominal), (2001, p. 6) decl bed that belligerentness in industrial activities means pause relative efficiency along with sustain adequate to(p) growth muchover, agri stage business line rivalrousness has been defined as The sustained readiness to payably gain and maintain groceryplace shargon(Martin, Westgren, van Duren, 1991, p. 1456) or, in a practically consumer-oriented way, as the ability of a degraded or manufacturing segment to offer products and services that meet or exceed the guest value reliablely or potentially offered by the products and services of rivals, transposes, and possible foodstuff entrants (Kennedy, Harrison, Kalaitzandonakes, Peterson, Rindfuss, 1997).Yet, according to Michael E. Porter, the Harvard Business School professor, competition for profit goes beyond sp hold back a pennyed industry rivals to include four other competitive forces as well as customers, providers, potential entrants and relief pitcher products.Furtherto a greater extent, the model of Five matched Forces was developed by Michael E. Porter in his book Competitive Strategy Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors in 1980. It draws upon Industrial Organisation (IO) to develop louvre forces that determine the competitive transport and at that placefore attractiveness of a market. Attractiveness in the context of business environment refers to the overall industry profitability. An unattractive industry is one in which the gang of these five forces acts to drive down the overall profitability. A very unattractive industry would be one approaching pure competition, in which available net income for all firms are driven down to zero.The character, mix, and subtleties of competitive forces are never the same from one industry to a nonher. A powerful and widely used incision for systematically diagnosing the principal competitive pressures in the hydroponics market and assessing the strength and importance of each is the five-forces model of competition.(see figure)Moreover, three of Porters five forces refer to competition from external sources. The remainders are internal threats. Therefore, it is important to use Porters five forces in conjunction with SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and scourges) and PEST Analysis ( governmental, Economical, Social and Technological).Porters Five Forces2.2.1 Threat of in the raw entrantsOne of the defining characteristics of competitive advantage is the industrys parapet to penetration. It is very expensive for rude(a) firms to enter an industry where there is high barrier of entry. Further more than, gainful markets that yield high returns willing attract new firms. In this situation, these new entrants could win o ver major determinants to the market environment (e.g. market shares, prices, customer loyalty) at each time.In the 1993 reprint of the first edition of Bain (1956, pp. 53-166), three main factors are considered as entry barriers economies of graduated table, product differentiation advantages, and absolute cost advantages.Moreover, as more firms enter the market, you will see rivalry increase and profitability will fall to the point where there is no bonus for firms to enter the industry. Likewise, the threat of the new entrants will depend on the extent to which there are barriers to entry. These are typicallyEconomies of scaleAccording to Kislev et al, it is generally accepted that agricultural production is characterized by increasing returns to scale. If economies of scale exist, it represents a high barrier of entry. Firms within the industry will score achieved these economies and if we enter this industry we will stimulate to match their scale size of production in order to compete with them. Thus according to Michael Porter, since EOS does not exist in a tangible way, we need to prove their instauration first before trying to compete with the existing firms.Capital requirementsThis refers to how much money should the firms have to tie up to keep the doors open. This is also a barrier to entry as if firms have to tie up large amounts of capital for daily operations this will deter smaller firms from entering. Dr. Pieter A.Schippers said that hydroponics requires high-cost installations merchandise gourmet vegetables at ritzy prices. According to AREU, the capital investment for hydroponics in Mauritius is up to three million rupees.Brand identicalnessAccording to Erin Ferree ,Brand identity operator is the combination of consistent visual elements that are used in your marketing materials. A basic pock identity kit consists of a logo, business card, letterhead, and envelope. It lay close be extended to include a Web site Where there is brand identity there is high barrier to entry and regarding the hydroponics market in Mauritius, there are no such barriers in the field of hydroponics as it is a newly grown market.Access to DistributionThe new entrant must, of course, secure distribution of its product or service. A new food item, for example, must displace others from the supermarket shelf via price breaks, promotions, intense selling efforts, or some other means. The more limited the wholesale or retail channels are and the more that existing competitors have tied them up, the tougher entry into an industry will be. Sometimes access to distribution is so high a barrier that new entrants must bypass distribution channels altogether or create their own.Switching costSwitching costs are fixed costs that purchasers casing when they change suppliers. Such costs whitethorn arise because a buyer who switches vendors must, for example, alter product specifications, retrain employees to use a new product, or modify processes or information systems. The larger the switching costs, the harder it will be for an entrant to gain customers. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software is an example of a product with very high switching costs. Once a conjunction has installed SAPs ERP system, for example, the costs of moving to a new vendor are astronomical because of embedded data, the fact that internal processes have been adapted to SAP, major retraining needs, and the mission-critical reputation of the application.2.2.2 Bargaining Power of suppliersThe term suppliers comprises all sources for stimulations that are needed in order to provide goods or services and bargaining power is the ability to play the setting of prices. Therefore, bargaining power of suppliers will identify the extent to which your suppliers basin choose to raise prices, reduce quality or reduce service without consequence. The more concentrated and controlled the supply, the more power it wields against the market. Monopolistic or quasi-monopolistic suppliers will use their power to extract better terms (higher profit margins or) at the expense of the market. Moreover, in a competitive market, no one supplier grass set the prices. Likewise, suppliers flowerpot group to wield more bargaining power. The conditions making suppliers, as a group, powerful tend to mirror those making the buyers powerful are as followsDifferentiation of inputsA primary goal of the theory of product differentiation is the authority of market structure and conduct of firms that can choose the specifications of their products besides choosing output and price. Traditional models of product differentiation and marketing have focused on products that are defined by one characteristic only. ( See Hotelling (1929), Vickrey (1964), DAspremont, Gabszewicz and Thisse (1979), Salop (1979), Economides (1984), Anderson, de Palma, and Thisse (1992), among others in economics and Hauser and Shugan (1983), Moorthy (1988) and Kumar and Sudarsha n (1988) in marketing.)Threat of forward integrationThe traditional market foreclosure theory, which was accepted in make iting court cases in 1950s-70s, viewed vertical merger as harming competition by denying competitors access to either a supplier or a buyer. (Arrow, K., unsloped Integration and Communication, Bell Journal of Economics, 1975, 6, 173-183.) The critics argue that the theory is logically flawed, and a vertically integrated firm cannot benefit from excluding its rivals (e.g., Bork, 1978 and Posner, 1976).The paper by Salop and Scheman (1987) forms the nates for this argument, and Ordover, Saloner, and Salop (1990, hereinafter OSS) is perhaps the best-known paper that pioneered the equilibrium approach to the analysis of vertical mergers.In this paper, I shall argue that the new theories on vertical mergers have ignored an important point, namely that vertical integration not only changes the integrated firms incentive to supply inputs to its downstream rivals, but it may also change the rivals incentives to purchase inputs from alternative suppliers. Once this is realized,an equilibrium theory of vertical mergers can be developed without some of the controversial assumptions made in the literature, and this theory can provide a framework in which the competitive effects of vertical mergers are measured and compared. The basic insight of my analysis is that vertical integration creates multimarket interaction between the integrated firm and its downstream rivals. A rival may recognize that if it purchases inputs from the integrated firm, the integrated firm may have less incentive to cut prices in the downstream market, which will benefit the rival. Therefore, vertical integration can change the incentive of a downstream rival in selecting its input supplier, making it a strategic instead of a passive buyer in the input market.Supplier concentration relative to industry concentration wiliness theory predicts that if trade costs go down or if productivity rises exogenously in a pool of potential suppliers with heterogeneous productivity levels, the number of suppliers will enlarge (Helpman, Melitz and Rubinstein 2008).An exogenous taste for variety, or a desire to limit monopoly positions, would also lead to a larger number of suppliers, although these forces are static. In the figurehead of heterogenous quality, however, the dynamics of diversification/concentration can be different.Access of labourAccording to Bertram,G. (1986), he assumes that output is governed by a well-behaved, continuous, constant returns to scale, entireness production function involving two factor inputs, capital and labour.( Bertram, G. (1986), Sustainable development in Pacific micro-economies, World Development, Vol. 14 No. 7, pp. 809-22.)Importance of volume of supplierAccording to Hahn et al., 1990 Humphreys et al., 2004 Krause, 1997 Krause et al., 1998 Li et al., 2007 Watts and Hahn, 1993, buyer-supplier births are becoming increasingl y important as buyers realize that their achiever is often tied to the capabilities and performance of suppliers. Many organizations engage in supplier development to assist suppliers in improving supply chain performance and capabilities.Bargaining power of buyerAccording to Inderst (2007), buyer power is the ability of buyers to obtain advantageous terms of trade from their suppliers. Monopsonistic or quasi- monopsonistic buyers will use their power to extract better terms at the expense of the market. In a truly competitive market, no one buyer can set the prices. Instead they are set by supply and guide. Prices are set by supply and demand and the market reaches the Pareto-optimal point where the highest possible number of buyers are satisfied at a price that still allow for the supplier to be profitable.Porter states that a buyer group is powerful if itpurchases large volumes relative to seller saleslearns low profitsthe products it purchases from the industry represent a su bstantive fraction of the buyers costs or purchasesthe products are standard or undifferentiated and face few switching coststhe industrys product is unimportant to the quality of the buyers products or servicesbuyers pose a credible threat of backward integrationThe buyer has full information.Additionally, with the bargaining power, buyers can impose on suppliers and thus can choose their suppliers. According to Ghodsypour and OBrien, (1998) weber et al., (2000) and Dahel, (2003), this can be done by using the linear programming models. Moreover, the multi-objective programming model developed by Weber and Ellram (1993) can helps buyer to select a pool of suppliers and determine the purchasing units to be allocated among the suppliers. vendee switching costBuyer-supplier kinships play a key role in the success of a supply chain (Chen and Paulraj, 2004 Lin et al., 2001 Storey and Emberson, 2006) however, organizations often face the problem of choosing appropriate suppliers (Pagell and Sheu, 2001 Chen and Paulraj, 2004 Wadhwa et al., 2006 Phusavat et al., 2007). The problem of choosing suppliers so that profits can be maximized has become increasingly vital to an enterprises survival due to keen competition in the micro-profit era (Giunipero et al., 2006). Numerous studies have addressed the issue of the buyer-supplier relationship in supply chain focal point. One stream of research examines related variables, such as cooperation, mirth, trust, and commitment, which make the supply chain relationship successful (Byrd and Davidson, 2003 Fynes et al., 2005 Malhotra et al., 2005). another(prenominal) stream focuses on the criteria for choosing suppliers, such as quality, on-time delivery, and costs (Chen and Paulraj, 2004 Blackhurst et al., 2005 Gunasekaran and Kobu, 2006 Phusavat and Kanchana, 2008). Among these criteria, costs have received the some attention because they are considered the key factor in choosing suppliers (Noordewier et al., 1990 Kalwani a nd Narayandas, 1995 Dahlstrom and Nygaard, 1999 Zhao and Yang, 2007).Buyer informationAnother reason why buyers were in such a strong bargaining position was because they had full information about demand, actual market prices, and even manufacturer costs. The buyers comparative information was often better than what was available to manufacturers, and thus with such full information, retailers were able to ensure that they received the most indulgent prices offered to others, and were able to oppose suppliers claims that their viability would be threatened if prices were reduced. Owing to all of the above reasons, one can see that the bargaining power of the Australian food retailers was so great in the early 1980s that they were perhaps in a unique position of strength even in a global sense.The current barriers for purchasing positive products mainly relates to price, availability, and consumer awareness. Moreover, offering customers and obtaining greater value added by creatin g, developing, and maintaining lasting customer-supplier relationships (Rexha,2000 Van der Haar et al., 2001), such that both parties benefit (Gronroos, 2000 Kothandaraman and Wilson, 2001 Sharma et al., 2001 Walter et al., 2001 Leek et al., 2003), is considered fundamental for guaranteeing the success and survival of companies in the market. Suppliers adapt to the customers needs in order to satisfy them. This adaptation can bring forward the customer to behave opportunistically (Brown et al., 2000 Wathne and Heide, 2000). But if the supplier is able to adapt, and satisfy customer needs better than its competitors, enduring relationships can develop between both agents.Brand identity of buyerAccording to Aaker, (1991, 1996), brand identity is a message about a brand that a firm seeks to communicate with. This communication is undertaken via the product, the brand name, symbols and logos, historical roots, the brands creator, and advertising (Kapferer, 1998Some organisations home plate their competitive advantage on physical assets such as a manufacturing facility, some on their employees, and some on their distribution networks (Kotler, 2000). Many others, however, seek to attain a competitive advantage from intangible assets such as their reputation or the brands that they own (Beverland, 2005 Keller, 1993 Low and Blois, 2002). Yet, research to date on branding in business and industrial marketing has been limited (Beverland et al., 2006 Low and Blois, 2002 Mudambi et al., 1997 Nilson, 1998).Price sensitivityPorter (1985) has defined two primary types of competitive strategy that can provide a source of competitive advantage differentiation and low cost strategy. The low cost strategy, which may enable a price leader position, can lead to price wars and is therefore risky for all digital products and services, including retail banking. Ultimately only one company can be the price leader, thus all other companies should contemplate alternative strategies.Li kewise, marketers and researchers are familiar with the concept of price elasticity, which describes changes in the quantity of demand for a product associated with changes in price of the product. If demand is elastic, changes in price level have a proportionally greater impact on demand. Inelastic demand describes the case where changes in price have little effect on demand. The concept of price elasticity describes the aggregate response of a market segment to price levels. Price sensitivity is an psyche difference variable describing how individual consumers react to price levels and changes in price levels. A consumer high in price sensitivity will manifest much less demand as price goes up (or higher demand as price goes down), and consumers low in price sensitivity will not react as strongly to a price change.Standardize productsA large majority of respondents believed that many retailers considered most food products to be fairly standard, and thus, as they could most often rule alternative suppliers, they played one manufacturing company against another. It was the respondents view that such tactics also extended towards substituting house brands and generics for brand names, and these aspects will be considered later. Thus, unless a manufacturer had very strong end-user demand for its brand (e.g. Vegemite, Milo, Pal), it found that its product was capable of being substituted unless it succumbed to retailer pressure.Threat of substitute productsAll firms in an industry are competing, in a broad sense, with industries producing substitute products. The impact of substitutes affected certain segments of the food industry more than others, the pellucid examples being the yellow fats segment (butter versus margarine), the sweeteners segment (sugar versus sugar substitutes) and the pet foods segment (canned versus dry).The food industry as a whole is, in fact, competing with other substitute expense categories such as entertainment and personal items. While expenditure on food will never fall below an essential base level. Research done by Ogilvy and Mather (1983) seems to suggest that more people cut back on food during the early 1980s, in order to cope with inflation, than on other expense categories.The following factors are being considered when analyzing the threat of substitute productsBuyer propensity to substituteFor sellers, it is crucial to win a buyers trust, then advance it over the course of a relationship. Trust enables the buyer to economize cognitive and emotional energy and rely on a seller before drawn-out information can be gathered (Luhmann, 1979 Jones and George, 1998 Yamagishi, 2002 Mayer et al., 1995). As trust matures, the buyer identifies with (Lewicki and Bunker, 1995) and feels affection and devotion for the seller (McAllister, 1995). Trust is therefore strongly linked to buyer commitment (Moorman et al., 1992) and loyalty (Morgan and Hunt, 1994).A sellers violation of trust occurs when the buyer perc eives evidence that the seller failed to meet the buyers confident expectations (Tomlinson et al., 2004).Relative price/performance relationship of substitutesShapiro (1992) argues that institutional investors, who normally trade in large quantities, are concerned with the opportunity costs involved in undertaking these large trades.Many suppliers, in turn, face a growing trend towards commoditization of products (Rangan and Bowman, 1992) and search for new ways of differentiating themselves through improved customer interactions (Vandenbosch and Dawar, 2002). From an academic perspective, there is a rich and growing tree trunk of research focusing on buyer-supplier relationships in business markets (Ulaga, 2001).More broadly, researchers have coined the term relationship quality which is typically assessed through some combination of commitment, satisfaction and trust (Crosby et al., 1990 Dorsch et al., 1998 Hewett et al., 2002).According to Wilson (1995, p. 337) trust is a fundam ental relationship model building block and as such is included in most relationship models. In addition to trust, Morgan and Hunt (1994) identified commitment as another key-mediating variable of relationship marketing. Furthermore in their commitment-trust theory of relationship marketing, Morgan and Hunt (1994) establish trust as a key-mediating variable that is central to relational exchanges. Moreover, customer satisfaction is widely accepted among researchers as a strong predictor for behavioural variables such as repurchase intentions, word-of-mouth, or loyalty (Ravald and Gronroos, 1996 Liljander and Strandvik, 1995). Satisfaction research is mainly influenced by the disconfirmation paradigm (Parasuraman et al., 1988).Competitive RivalryThe rivalry amongst existing firms analysis will help you to understand the risk that your competitors may compete for market position and if their competitive tactics are likely to be effective.Furthermore, you will find that your competitor s may compete for market position using tactics such as pricing competition, advertising as well as increasing customer service.To analyze industry rivalry in your industry, you will need to consider the following factorsDiversity among competitorsThe first point of departure is found in Miles et al.(1993)and Miles and reversal (1986) proposition that strategy in diversity and structure is normal in any industry, that it is good for and industry and furthermore that various configurations of strategy and structure may be equally effective in producing high performance.Industry growth rateWhen hydroponics industry is in a growth phase there will be room for the industry to grow, as a result there will be a low risk of competitor rivalry. Thompson et al., (2008) stated that rivalry becomes stronger if demand growth is slow.Exit barriersPowell (1995) incorporated entry barriers and industry rivalry in his research and found a significant correlation of firm performance with entry barr iers (r 029 p , 005) and industry rivalry (r 2032 p , 005). These results indicate the higher the entry barriers, the lower the threat of new entrants and the better the opportunities for improved performance and similarly, the higher the industry rivalry, the tougher the industry competition which would mean the lower the firm performance.A survey of Porters modelThere are, however, several limitations to Porters framework, such asIt tends to over-stress macro analysis, i.e. at the industry level, as opposed to the analysis of more specific product-market segments at a micro level.It oversimplifies industry value chains for example, invariably buyers may need to be both segmented and also differentiated between channels, intermediate buyers and end consumers.It fails to link directly to possible management action for example, where companies have apparently low influence over any of the five forces, how can they set about dealing with them?It tends to encourage the mind-set of a n industry as a specific entity with ongoing boundaries. This is perhaps less appropriate now where industry boundaries appear to be far more fluid.It appears to be self-contained, thus not being specifically related, for example, to PEST factors, or the dynamics of growth in a particular market.It is couched in economic terminology, which may be perceived to be too much jargon from a practising managers perspective and indeed, it could be argued that it is over-branded.SWOT AnalysisSWOT analysis, which is sooner introduced in 1969 by Harvard researchers (e.g. Learned et al., 1991), calls for an external assessment of the opportunities and threats that exist in a firms environment and an internal assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the organisation. The SWOT framework became popular during the mid-seventies because of its inherent assumption that managers can plan the alignment of a firms resources with its environment. Subsequently, during the decade of the 1980s, Porte rs (1980) introduction of the industrial organization paradigm with his five forces models gave primacy to a firms external environment, overshadowing the popularity of SWOT. More recently, at the start of the twenty-first century, SWOT is alive and well as the recommended framework for case analysis in many of the leading strategic management and marketing texts (Hitt et al., 2000 Anderson and Vince, 2002). However, despite its wide and enduring popularity, SWOT has remained an theoretical framework, of limited prescriptive power for practice and minor significance for research (Dess, 1999).Generally, firms are asked to develop strategies to guide the organisation to ward opportunities that may be exploited using strengths of the organisation, push the organisation away from threats in the environment, maintain existing strengths and improve organisational weaknesses. Recently, Duncan, Ginter and Swayne (1998) suggested a four step model for assessing internal strengths and weaknes ses. Their four steps include surveying, categorising, investigation, and evaluating.The tables below show the Strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of hydroponics in Mauritius.STENGTHSWEAKNESSESGrowing demand for vegetables, both consumer and business markets.surround-friendly practices favoured.Provide employment.Flexible in production.Poorly structured distribution channels.Finance such project requires huge investments.Insufficient use of technology growers in Mauritius cannot establish to adopt latest technology such as those used in Australia and USA due to high costs.Equipment and other materials have to be imported.Lack of handy trainers.OPPORTUNITIESTHREATSFavoured business environment- laws and legislations have been modified so as to propel small business. Examples are the introduction of the Municipal Fee, replacing the Trade Licence, Special Tax vacation Scheme, cancellation of customs duty on several products and Empowerment Programme.Incentives offered to registered enterprises by SEHDA, National Computer Board and so on. Examples are awards to the best business plans, business advise and facilitation.Increasing cost of doing business.High inflation rate causing depreciation of the Mauritian Rupees.Favourable prices of the substitutes.PEST AnalysisPEST (or political, economic, social and technological factors) is the most commonly used tool for environmental analysis (Beamish, 1996) and is possibly the second most widely known strategy technique after SWOT analysis.Political/ Legal Environment in most countries, the government provides much needed support to those who want to invest in hydroponics technology. Examples are tax relieves on equipment, free counselling, training, incentives to set up small businesses, loan facilities and so on.Regarding the Economic Environment, these issues should be consideredIncome is a major influencer of consumer purchasing power. For instance, a fall in income caused by an increase in the rate of inflation may result in a fall in purchasing power. Consumers may buy more of the organic vegetables, which are cheaper than the hydroponics vegetables. The reverse is also true.Changing consumer spending patterns influence the demand for hydroponics produce. It has been noted that there is an increasing tendency for consumers to spend more and more on leisure activities, transportation, medical-care and education rather than food. But with the new budget made by the finance minister, we can expect that the spending on education will decrease and ultimately result to and increase in food or other activities also.Social/ cultural Environment a take by the NZ Vegetable Growers Federation (www.vegetables.co.nz) , found that nearly 40% of people who purchase organic food do so because they believe it is pesticide-free.Technological Environment growers of hydroponics produce who do not adopt the best practice technology will be disadvantaged and gradually lose access to all but low marg in residual markets.However, there is a profound gap between PEST and SWOT analysis, and this is only partly met by Porters five forces. A linking technique is that of Grundys growth drivers (Grundy, 2004). See the diagram below.Grundy gives an example of growth driver analysis, helping us to represent the forces that, directly or indirectly, cause or inhibit market growth over a particular time period.However, an important feature to note here is that it is part of a system.The system captures, in an onion model format, the key domains that need to be thought through, within the overall competitive climate, beginning with_ PEST factors_ growth drivers_ Porters five competitive forces_ competitive position.These layers of the onion are highly interdependent, which might be a very useful phenomenon for managers to learn about and to apply. For example, where the PEST factors are generally hospitable, growth is advance and the full impact of the five competitive forces may not be fel t and may thus be latent. However, where the PEST factors become inhospitable, this will all the way dampen the growth drivers, and if the growth drivers within a particular market are themselves tightening, for example due to life-cycle effects, then this will put a disproportionate and adverse pressure on Porters five forces, particularly in the bargaining power of buyers, and also upon rivalry. Furthermore, a high growth environment may encourage entrants and a low one will discourage these. The result can lead to a collapse in confidence and in prices unless there are lots of exits.

Problems Of EFL Speaking In Thailand

Problems Of EFL Speaking In siamese connectionlandIntroductionThis chapter provides introductory description regarding the pronunciation of position enceinte by siamese connections. It describes the problems of EFL verbalize in Thailand, function of slope in Thailand, and the t all(prenominal)ing pronunciation in EFL curriculum in Thailand providing the content designed of communicative communicateing skills. This is followed by significance of the study, the purpose of the study, research questions, scope and ending with limitations of the study.1.1 Background to the studyProblems of EFL Speaking in ThailandIn line with the role of side as an inter internal lingua franca, Thailand has taken several measures to incorporate slope into its education system. For example, in 1995, the Thai government make slope quarrel study required from primary(a) check (Sedgwick, 2005). Based on my two-year English teaching experience at school, Narathiwat, Thailand, however, many Thai stu dents still produce problems using English, particularly in the atomic number 18a of pronunciation. One of the reasons for this is the lack of exposure to English row hire show upside the classroom. A nonher could be due to the differences between the phonetic and phonologic systems of English and their first language. Next, they all might be taught and emphasized lone slightly(prenominal) the rule of grammar and increasing their English vocabulary but might non be practiced English pronunciation properly. On the one hand, formal pronunciation instruction should not be overlook in all unlike language classrooms since pronunciation merriments important roles in communication which is the fundamental element of foreign language learning as it has been claim from the most of Thai mass that teachers should speak the target language during their foreign language class.Due to the lack of time on teaching English pronunciation in the classroom, Thai students have not been inst ructed in the area of pronunciation sufficiently. In Thailand, only the students doing bachelor degree in English field are aware of how the enceinte is produced correctly and of the English vowel well(p) both in terms of vowel quality and vowel length but not for others. Hence, some students are aware only of quantity differences of the vowels but never universe realized of quality of the vowels. Moreover, some are not aware of both the quality and the quantity differences between each pair of the vowel hard.Previous studies on the English pronunciation of Thai speakers have found that they do not line of credit vowel length (Chantachorn 2003). For instance, Thai speakers tend not distinguish between vowel pairs like //-/i/ and //-/u/, resulting in words like ship and sheep, and fool and full being produced as homophones. However, most of the published studies on the step upput of English vowels by Thai speakers are impressionistic in nature, and hence, the current study ai ms to quiz the proceeds of English vowels by Thai speakers through acoustic analysis. It also aims to examine the extent to which the production of vowels is influenced by Thai vowels.Those problems of spoken English by Thai students are influenced by the following factors functions of English, English language education, and teaching of English pronunciation.Functions of English in ThailandIn Thailand, recently, the role of English is obviously important as it is utilize for international communication. New technology and World Wide Web have been developed rapidly resulting in a greater transition in education, business, tourism and economic affairs which all interrelate commanding high English proficiency.Thai government officials use English for international conference and communication. For example, ASEAN lift which is a meeting held by ASEAN in relation to economic growth, social progress and cultural development of Southeast Asian Nations. In the commercial part, English is utilise by entrepreneur, tourist agencies, hotels, airlines and even bank to communicate with foreigners, as swell as business for import and export. Beside this, English is the most important for the tourist area in Thailand. For instances, Phuket island, Krabi and Phangna located in southern of Thailand are genuinely popular among Westerners. Therefore, Thais who leave in tourist area need to communicate with them in English even sometimes they do not communicate effectively. This may be due to faulty pronunciations which lead to communication breakdown. Some researchers foreign friends have blamed that most of the Thai mass cannot communicate well, especially for people who come from Deep South of Thailand which are Narathiwat, Pattani, and Yala provinces. This could be due to there are not so many foreigners come there and Deep South is not a tourist area. This also cause the students in the area do not have much motivation in learning English.Another group of English us er is in mass media and publications. Some news transmit and variety shows in Thai television syllabus use English as a mass medium to perform their program. The examples of such programs are English breakfast program on TV Thai channel providing English knowledge together with entertainment such as idiom for everyday life, grammar as well as English pronunciation. Chris Delivery once famous English teaching program on channel TTB5 and English minutes a short program on channel 5. Furthermore, the Hollywood movies are played in the cinemas around Thailand with English sound track and Thai sub-title. However, most Thais prefer to watch the Hollywood movies playing Thai sound track to English one. Moreover, there are also News program using English as a medium played on channel MCOT. Thailand outlook channel is a 24 hours English language news channel broadcasted by ASTV (Asia Satellite television) which provide news and insight into Thai affairs that really matter and affect both Thai and foreign residents. The Nation and Bangkok Post are well cognise and widely read by foreigners and educated Thai readers all over Thailand. For the English magazines, Nation Junior and Student Weekly have been well-liked among Thai teenagers. Since English is a global language, Thai government has tried to get all mass media involved with English language in order to serve Thais and frequent them to learn English.Finally, English, therefore, works as a language for basic informal education in Thailand. Although English is not a medium of teaching in school level, it en adequates students to learn and understand differences of languages and cultures, customs and traditions, thinking, society, economy, politics and administration (Ministry of discipline 2001). All in all, these functions reveal that Thailand has attempted to use English in many ways to make Thais get use to English language however these approaches only work on some Thai groups and some of Thais still not getting familiar with English perception and production skills which are listening, speaking , yarn and writing.English language education in ThailandLearning foreign language serves an important and essential tool for communication, education, seeking knowledge, livelihood and creating understanding the culture and vision of the world community (Ministry of Education 2001). Although English is not only the foreign language in Thailand, clearly can be seen that English language still play a dominant role as it is mainly used to communicate to make a connection and cooperation between people around the world.English has been known as an international language and many Thai people have been getting involved with it for decades. Most of them implicate with English language used in their daily lives from many media such as schoolbook, television, radio and newspaper. The people who get into school, of course, they have known English language at the beginning of the first primary schoo l level. As mentioned above that English language has been made as haughty subject starting at primary school in 1995 in Thailand. However, the curriculum was revised once more in 1996 and English is now taught as a subject in Grade 1 to 12(Sarmah, Gogoi Wiltshire 2009). All students have to take English language as a compulsory subject every semester for primary and subaltern school levels. This means that they have to take English course at least 9 credits for primary level and 12 credits for secondary level. In the upper secondary level, at least 6 credits are required for them (240 hours). Due to limit time as for 2 periods/hours a week, leading to limited lesson for pronunciation. Furthermore, six English courses are required for all learners in four -year curriculum at the undergraduate level (Chusanachoti 2009). These few English courses are only a little period of time exposed to English language use.The Thai Ministry of Education has encouraged several approaches in Eng lish course syllabus to enhance the intelligibility in English language used such as a learner-centered approach, communicative language approach as well as language for specific purpose. Within those approaches, the area of pronunciation has also been taught in terms of conversation and reading out loud. Nevertheless, the most of the contents still focus on reading and writing skill for examples reading comprehension, grammar and vocabulary. This could be primarily due to a fuss in teaching pronunciation, especially at primary level and lower secondary level students feel shy to express and utter an English sound making them not to cooperate with the activities provided. As a consequence, most of the teachers feel oppressed to teach pronunciation.At the primary school level (grade 1-6), students should be qualified to know the English Alphabet, to read a simple word loudly, to spell an easy vocabulary, to read simple conversation and story. However, the course syllabus has been fo cused very few on the pronunciation and reading out loud. Furthermore, in a period of secondary school, the fundamental English course requires the students to be able to listen, read, draw up and speak communicatively at the level of their own. For instances, at grade 6 level, they are requires to be able to communicate naturally in everyday life, to explain or tell a story of their own lives and history. But, as can be seen obviously that students still speak English poorly, even though they have canvass English for 12 years (primary school-secondary school). This could be due to less attention on pronunciation lesson and a lack of exposure to English language used out side the class room. In addition, they tend to pay more attention on reading to be able to comprehend the content of the text and grammar in order to pass the final exam for all grade level students and to success in getting a high score from the national university entrance exam. Beside this, to emphasize on pron unciation and let students learn and know each sound correctly, teachers should instruct students to learn the consanguinity of each letters and its sound. This pull up stakes not only help them in reading and spelling but also leave master them in speaking. Moreover, teaching students to know how the sounds are produced will also support them to be aware of different sound and its characteristics.Teaching pronunciation in EFL curriculum in ThailandPronunciation instruction has sometime been neglected in most EFL classroom. In another word, it is not given much more attention by the teacher in the classroom. In EFL curriculum in Thailand, spoken English has been played through these following main contents language for communication, language and culture, language and relationship with other learning areas and language and relationship with community and the world (Ministry of education 2001).The Thai Ministry of Education has placed teaching pronunciation instruction to all scho ol level at primary and secondary school. Generally at Grades 1-3, students are expected to be able to know and pronounce the English alphabet, words, phrases, and simple sentences simultaneously with observing the principle of pronunciation. The tasks focus on learning basic phonology system which involves specifying the letter sound and vowel sound (a, e, i, o, u), spelling the words correctly and reading some basic words and sentences out loud as well as getting students practice on producing initial and final consonant, rhythm and intonation. Besides, the students would be engaged in interpersonal communication by asking them to use short and simple word that they have heard. These include using requested words such as pleas do not make a noise and can you help me, please?. Moreover, Students grade one, two and three should be able to differentiate the consonance sound and speak common sentences in imitating a real situation in the classroom. At Grade 4-6 primary education level , students are trained to speak English through expressing their needs feeling and opinion. They also should be able to tell story about themselves, friends and family to others. The ability in using English to communicate in various situations is required for them.During secondary education, speaking activities in the EFL curriculum, students are required to be able to listen, speak, read and write appropriately with their own grades both at upper and lower levels. Generally at the lower secondary level, communicative speaking tasks are played through various speaking activities such as dialogue speaking, speaking for short conversation, speaking for giving the information around them and showing opinion about the matters around them in the current situation. Reading aloud is also emphasized by training students to read some story in text books, newspaper and some simple English poem out loud in front of the classroom. By these school levels, in fact, the practice on production of English vowel sound appears in the curriculum designed. For instance, students should be able to read all text out loud by observing the basic principle of pronunciation. This means they would discriminate the differences of English vowel sound in term of vowel length.The emphasis of communicative speaking at the upper secondary level is on asking for information, accurately read out loud text, news, announcement, advertisement, skits and poem and having conversations to exchange some information, experience, opinion in current situation in Thailand and overseas. These activities will be done by having a role-play in the classroom. For example, divide students in a group and ask them to create some situation by imitating the real situation in day life. Some students play as news reporters and some play a short drama in front of their friend.As a matter of fact, although there are some contents on English pronunciation practice, the limited time as mentioned above is one of obstacles of practicing pronunciation. In addition, in the EFL context, Thai secondary students appear to use and give attention on English literacy skills of reading and writing rather than listening and oral skills (Bennui 2003).Significance of the StudyAn acoustic analysis of English vowels produced by Thai speakers will yield more reliable information on the characteristics of the vowels produced, in particular vowel quality and vowel length for monophthong vowels, and the former for diphthongs. such(prenominal) information will enable comparisons with the acoustic characteristics of vowels in Thai, making it possible to compare the vowel systems of English and Thai, and henceforth to determine the influence of L1 on English. The findings on the extent to which Thai speakers can perceive English vowel contrast will help in the understanding of the relationship between perception and production of vowel contrast in English as it can be argued that if they are unable to perceive vowel cont rast, they may not be able to produce the contrast. The information will also provide valuable insights to the area of pronunciation teaching in Thailand.The Purpose of the StudyThe current study is found on an instrumental analysis of English vowels produced by native speakers of Thai and investigates if there is any acoustic evidence of vowel contrast between vowels in Thai and English. It also aims to examine the extent to which the vowels produced by the Thai subjects share similar characteristics with a native and neighboring variety of English. The study also intents to examine the perception of English vowels by Thai speakers. In relation to these, the purpose of this study is to answer the following research questionsWhat are the acoustic properties of English vowels produced by Thai speakers?To what extent is there vowel contrast between traditional vowel pairs of /i/ //, /e/ //, / / /u/, // // and // //?To what extent is the production of English vowels influenced by the speakers L1?To what extent do the vowels produced by Thai subjects share similar characteristics with British (BritE) and Malaysian English (MalE)?To what extent can Thai speakers perceive vowel contrast in English?The Scope and Limitations of the StudyThis work is limited to the acoustic properties of English monophthong and diphthongs as produced by 15 female students from one secondary school in one particular area of Thailand Narathiwat. Moreover, the data were collected by recording the subjects in word list and informal speech context. Thai speeches were save by 5 female subjects in order to enable comparison of Thai vowels with the English produced by the target subjects.

Existence of the soul

Existence of the psycheIntroductionThere ar a number of big philosophical questions that commonly interest philosophers. Chief among these questions is the existence of the consciousness. What leave behind become of me when I die? Will I cease to exist or not? And if I do continue to exist will I remain in my current form or that of an other(a) life form? These are questions which are frequently discussed when talking about the brain. Platos work on life by and by devastation is regarded as one of the very first pieces of written philosophical work on the existence of the soul. Platos Phaedo is an fire to answer these questions an attempt to prove that the soul pre-exist the body and that it continues to live after remnant. Platos Phaedo mustiness at that placefore be discussed if a conclusion is to be reached on whether the soul pre-exist the body. Much of Platos work, distant many other philosophical writings, is in conference. Platos dialogues are named after the cen tral character, which in this case, is Phaedo. Besides Phaedo, other important characters in the dialogue are Echecrates with whom the dialogue begins with, Socrates who is the main character in the dialogue, Simmias of Thebes, a follower of the philosopher Pythagoras and Cebes whom also is a follower Pythagoras. Phaedo centres on the death of Socrates, who was sentenced to death in 399BC for corrupting the chiefs of the youth and denouncing the gods. later on the trial, Socrates is in prison waiting to be condemned by drinking Hemlock and this is the point of Platos Phaedo which begins to look at life after death. It is clear that the introductory variance of the dialogue takes place from (60a) whereby Socrates after massaging his leg states that pleasure and pain are closely related, despite the fact they are opposites. The point Socrates makes here seems logical as empirical have a go at it expresss that people messnot appreciate the ups of life without having the downs. So crates thus goes on to claim that anyone wise will follow him to death, as a wise soulfulness or a philosopher long to be released from the body. This is an important point of Platos dialogue as it ignites the discussion of the immortality of the soul. Why would Socrates claim that those who are wise should follow him to death shortly? For Socrates death is just now a release of the soul from the body. Socrates believes that firstly he will be entering the company of good and wise gods and second he expects to enter the company of dead people that are better than those still alive, thus it is good to leave life (Daniel Hill lecture notes, 2008). furthermore the body for Socrates is a hindrance for a philosopher seeking the truth. The bodys demands much(prenominal) as food, drink and sex are not the concerns of a true philosopher and more so the body cannot provide reliable information, our senses constantly deceive us. (A fine examplemaybe example). The truth is the real nature of any given thing i.e. justice in itself, which has never been perceived by anybody. In order to reach the uncontaminated truth one must be pure and uncontaminated. Socrates goes as far to say the philosophers line of credit consists precisely in the freeing and separation of the soul from body (Daniel Hill lecture notes, 2008). However by arguing this point Socrates is presuming that life exist after death, something which provokes Cebes to raise an objection questioning Socrates line of thought by highlighting that it is widely accepted that when one dies the soul may be released from the body and scatter like smoke and so destroyed Cebes ch wholeenge is one which Socrates must respond to and he does so by producing four assembly lines to support his claim that the soul is immortal. First is the Argument from Opposites which aims to show the cycle of death and rebirth must go on forever. Secondly is the conjecture of Recollection which aims to show that the argumentation d epart of the soul did exist forward birth, thus making it plausible to hold that it will also exist after death. Third is the affinity argument, which concerns itself too with the reasoning part of the soul, in particular the nature of the Forms and the control of desires. The final argument Plato introduces considers the soul as the cause of life. The Argument of Recollection is what must be discussed in detail due to as stated above it concerns itself with the pre-existence of the soul.Theory of RecollectionThe Theory of Recollection is introduced by Cebes, who briefly outlines the argument as follows that all erudition is just really recollection and that by recollecting it shows that we must have learned sometime before which is impossible unless our souls existed somewhere before they entered this human shape. So it seems that the soul is immortal (Daniel Hill remonstrate Notes 2008). Simmias then asks Cebes to remind him how the proof of Socrates possibleness of learning as recollection goes and Cebes provides two reasons. Firstly Cebes puts forth that when people are asked questions, if the question is put in the right way they can answer everything correctly, which they could not possibly do unless they were in possession of knowledge (Daniel Hill call down Notes 2008) and secondly if you confront people with a diagram or anything like that, the way in which they react provides the clearest proof that the theory is correct (Daniel Hill Lecture Notes 2008). Cebes argument is very vague however the point he seems to be trying to make can be understood by using a mathematical question. For example if you were asked, what is 6+33? You would give the answer of 39, yet it is unlikely that you would have learnt that exact sum beforehand, so the fact that you recognised it shows that you must have learnt it in a previous life. Cebes answer for Simminas is allusive thus Plato introduces Socrates to give the argument in full detail. In Phaedo Socrates begi ns with the suggestion that one can only recollect what one has learnt at some previous point. Socrates too understands that recollection is the process of being reminded of something and uses the example of lovers who are reminded of the person they love, when they recognise a piece of clothing or any other private prop owned by their lover (Plato 2003). However to have prior knowledge of all things gained from experience within the world would be absurd, thus Plato outlines what he means is that we have knowledge of abstract entities or as Plato describes the knowledge of Forms. What does Plato mean by abstract entities or Forms? Plato means entities such as justice, beauty, goodness and holiness etc. The example he gives is comparison. Plato writes in Pheado We admit, I suppose, that there is such a thing as equality not equality of stick to stick and stone to stone and so on, however something beyond all that and distinct from it inviolate equality (Plato 2003). Its seems what Platos argument is trying to show is that there is a concept of equality which is recollected when we view certain objects, such as two sticks of similar duration or if we feel the weight of two stones of similar weight and we know whether or not they are of equal weight because we understand the concept of equality without it ever being taught. However what must be understood is that Plato is not saying that equality is within the sticks and stones themselves, as they may appear equal to me but unequal to another but rather by seeing the sticks and the stones that we get the idea of absolute equality.Socrates then continues to highlight that we are aware that sticks and stones do choke short of being equal, but to be conscious of the fact that they fall short means that we must have a the concept of what it is to be absolutely equal. However how do we know of this equality when Plato denies empirical knowledge as reliable? Socrates answers That we must have had some previous knowledge of equality before the time when we first realised (Plato 2003). Therefore Socrates deduces that we obtained our knowledge of equality before birth. So if this holds true with equality then it must hold true with all other abstract entities or Forms such as beauty and justice. However Socrates continues claiming that Each of us loses this knowledge at the moment of birth, but afterwards by pertinent exercise of our senses, recover the knowledge which we once had before, I suppose that we call learning (Plato 2003). Hence Socrates concludes that all learning is recollection. Socrates then moves on to pay an alternative explanation to support his argument claiming that someone who truly knows a subject ought to be able to develop it to others, yet most people cannot explain the things that he (Socrates) has been explaining to Simmias (http//www.sparknotes.com/doctrine/phaedo/section5.rhtml). Socrates explains that if someone can be brought to recollect knowledge of the kin d he is explaining and then able to explain that knowledge to others, then it goes to show that knowledge existed in a past life and it was forgotten the at birth. Simmias raises an objection to this point stating that perhaps we gain knowledge at birth, but Socrates simply reminds him that if we possessed it at birth then surely it would be absurd to lose it at the exact same moment we gained that knowledge. Socrates then concludes that the existence of the soul before birth is as certain as the existence of beauty, goodness, and all things in themselves that the soul supplies knowledge of when we see the physical things that approximate to themPlatos argumentPlatos argument seems to be coherent and reaches a sound conclusion that the soul pre-exist birth. However the argument has been criticised by many philosophers due to the gaps within the argument. These gaps within Platos argument must be explored in order to come to a conclusion on whether the Theory of Recollection does pro ve that the soul pre-exist the body. A chief unfavorable judgment of Platos theory of recollection stems from the foundation of his argument. Plato discusses two different kinds of knowledge intrinsic knowledge of the Forms (goodness, beauty and equality etc.) and the recollection of knowledge, and this is where the problem lies. In Phaedo Socrates is intent on cover that what we know was present before birth However Plato gives no explanation of when before birth we acquire this knowledge or how. Further, if we did come into this world conditioned of abstract qualities such as justice, holiness and equality etc, the next thought would be that when did we first come into contact with these abstract qualities?. Plato gives no time configuration and this is important as it obvious that when we, as humans get to a certain age all of us tend to know similar concepts such as those of the Forms describe by Socrates in Phaedo. Further, Plato maintains that no true knowledge can come ab out from experience and that knowledge is innate therefore experience from a previous life could not have given us the knowledge of the Forms, such as equality, beauty and justice etc. On the other hand in Platos defence that it could be said that our very first soul was created with such knowledge that is our first soul was created with the knowledge of Forms. However there are those that object to this line of view claiming that Plato does not provide an answer on how the cycle of birth and death of the soul begin? And if it has a kickoff how can it end? (http//www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/phaedo/section5.rhtml). Owen Mcleod highlights this fact stating If the soul cannot die, then the soul is indestructible. The general principle being assumed here seems to be that if x cannot die, then x is indestructible. But.If x is destructible, then x can die. This is clearly false. Inanimate objects of all sorts rocks, shoes, corporations can be destroyed, and hence are destructible, bu t they do not literally die upon destructionMore so is Platos meaning of equality. Plato advances equality not just as a relation to two objects but as a property in itself. Yet we wouldnt normally think of a single stick on its own of being able to have the property of equality and so forthFurther Platos knowledge as discussed above is not that of future events or empirical knowledge but that of the knowledge of the Forms. Therefore for the Argument from Recollection to work the Theory of Forms must be accepted. This is as Hackforth states the doctrine of Forms is with that of the souls existence before its incarnation in other words, they stand and fall together. Attempts to prove the Theory of the Forms may be or fail, but what the significance here is that Platonised Socrates does not explicitly prove or justify the Theory of the Forms Another problem of Platos argument is regarding the type of plan that Recollection of the Forms leads us to make.If as Plato states that everyt hing we perceive in the world, including those sense perceived judgments are sustained by the Forms, it would suggest that all human beings judgments are correct, as the Forms are pure truth. Yet this conclusion would be widely inaccurate as human beings make many incorrect judgments, the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster is a testament to this as it was human errors which resulted in destroying the lives of thousands of people.ConclusionPlatos Theory of Recollection is a coherent argument and one which attempts to prove that the soul does pre-exist the body. Plato Phaedo works on many grounds due to the fact that we as human beings can relate too much of what Plato has written. It is widely accepted that when humans look at an object we can be reminded of a particular person or event. Therefore it does not seem strange to think of abstract qualities such as equality in the same way. Nonetheless, the Theory of Recollection rest upon premises which once examined shows misgivings within the argument. Plato Argument from Recollection relies heavy on his Theory of Forms which he assumes are not doubtable and due to this the Theory of Recollection automatically proves the existence of the soul. Yet the Forms are susceptible to doubt, as discussed before if humans decisions are imbued by the Forms then surely the Forms are doubtable as human beings decisions are incorrect time after time. Further modern day philosophy has simply described Phaedo as a religious doctrine supported by poets (Hackforth 1992), suggesting that Phaedo may have proved the pre-existence of the soul in Ancient Greek, yet now in the modern era it is must be seen as no more than a religious doctrine which was widely accepted at the time. Against modern philosophy Platos argument does not appear to be justified. Karl Poppers falsification theory, for example, demands that any suggestion that is put forward must be done so in terms that allows it to be falsified. If the idea requires certain assumption s that are impossible to prove, like the Theory of the Forms, then we cannot consider it as being valid Yet the context in which the dialogue was written must be considered when evaluating the Theory of Recollection. Socrates is condemned to death and his final hours are upon him, it is clear that Socrates purpose in the dialogue is to explain his views on death to his friends. Socrates lack of concern in the face of death surprises Cebes and Simminas and this prompts Socrates to convey his views on the immortality of the soul. Furthermore the period the dialogue was written, it was universally accepted that life existed after death. thusly Plato task is to link life after death to life before death. Therefore a modern reader must bare this in mind when considering Platos Theory of Recollection. Thus after examining Platos Theory of Recollection it can be concluded that though the argument is coherent, key premises are subject to criticism which undermines Platos argument. Furtherm ore with development of modern philosophy and developments in science the Theory of Recollection is subject to further failings, thus to a modern reader it would be difficult to accept the Theory of Recollection as golden proof for the pre-existence of the soul, yet at the time Plato wrote Phaedo the argument would have been accepted by a great number of people.

A Promise Is A Promise :: Personal Narrative Death Friendships Papers

A Promise Is A Promise The room was ludicrously cold and my skin was damp against the sheets. No matter how extreme the temperature, I am addicted to the calming lull of the air conditioner as I sleep. Its what they call my white noise. The afternoon sunbathe was playing peek-a-boo with the clouds as its rays snuck in through the blinds. The muscles in my neck and shoulders were throbbing. I was still trying to get utilise to my awkward dorm room bed. A muffled voice traveled through the paper-thin brick wall and the sound of familiar music took center stage in my dreams. At first, I was pissed false because my new neighbor was interrupting my precious nap, but I soon realized that I had a special fastening to the song she was singing. It instantly reminded me of an old friend. As I drifted back to sleep, I began to dream about a childhood memory. I remember feeling as if the day was never going to end. level now as an adult, my concentration still seems to plummet as the weeken d approaches. At that time in my life, the grade of patience I could sustain had exactly been maturing for ten short years. I made that particular school day even more unnecessarily spectacular than usual since I knew it wasnt well(p) an average Friday. Instead of going to my house after school as usual, I was going home with my lift out friend. After hours of literally twiddling my thumbs (like I said, I was a dramatic child), we were finally standing outside at the parent pick-up location with the other eager childlike students. My book bag was light on my back, which meant there was no homework in store for me tonight. All I had to look forward to was a sleepover fill with PG-13 movies, a nauseating amount of Reeses Pieces and Mountain Dew, and prank phone calls to random boys who were also in Mrs. Webbs fifth grade class. I love prank phone calls.As I bent down to tie my shoelace, a slippery raindrop slithered down my lightly freckled cheek. Before I had the prognosis to l ook up at the silver grey sky, the clouds exploded like champagne flowing over the edge of a bottle. Renee grabbed my hand, and we darted off as fast as our little legs could run. As I hopped into the midst of the backseat, the scent of the brand new car continued to saturate my already moist pores.A Promise Is A Promise Personal Narrative Death Friendships PapersA Promise Is A Promise The room was ridiculously cold and my skin was damp against the sheets. No matter how extreme the temperature, I am addicted to the calming lull of the air conditioner as I sleep. Its what they call my white noise. The afternoon sun was playing peek-a-boo with the clouds as its rays snuck in through the blinds. The muscles in my neck and shoulders were throbbing. I was still trying to get used to my awkward dorm room bed. A muffled voice traveled through the paper-thin brick wall and the sound of familiar music took center stage in my dreams. At first, I was pissed off because my new neighbor was interrupting my precious nap, but I soon realized that I had a special attachment to the song she was singing. It instantly reminded me of an old friend. As I drifted back to sleep, I began to dream about a childhood memory. I remember feeling as if the day was never going to end. Even now as an adult, my concentration still seems to plummet as the weekend approaches. At that time in my life, the degree of patience I could sustain had only been maturing for ten short years. I made that particular school day even more unnecessarily dramatic than usual since I knew it wasnt just an average Friday. Instead of going to my house after school as usual, I was going home with my best friend. After hours of literally twiddling my thumbs (like I said, I was a dramatic child), we were finally standing outside at the parent pick-up location with the other eager elementary students. My book bag was light on my back, which meant there was no homework in store for me tonight. All I had to look fo rward to was a sleepover filled with PG-13 movies, a nauseating amount of Reeses Pieces and Mountain Dew, and prank phone calls to random boys who were also in Mrs. Webbs fifth grade class. I loved prank phone calls.As I bent down to tie my shoelace, a slippery raindrop slithered down my lightly freckled cheek. Before I had the chance to look up at the silver sky, the clouds exploded like champagne flowing over the edge of a bottle. Renee grabbed my hand, and we darted off as fast as our little legs could run. As I hopped into the middle of the backseat, the scent of the brand new car continued to saturate my already moist pores.

William Harrison :: essays research papers fc

William Henry Harrison William Harrison was our 9th president. He had many accomplishments before he was president. He gave the endless inaugural speech. In 1809 William Harrison negotiated the Treaty of Fort Wayne. The treaty was an agreement between the United States and many Native American tribes. In 1811 Harrison led soldiers in the difference of opinion of Tippecanoe against a Shawnee Tribe. The Americans won the battle and he was a hero after the Battle of Tippecanoe. He was also in charge of the committee on armament affairs. In 1816 he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. In 1819 he was elected to the Ohio State Senate. In 1825 he was elected to the U.S. Senate. He then was named minister of a S issueh American country called Columbia. Later he became governor of Indian Lands. In 1836 he lost the election for president to Martin Van Buren. Then he won the next election in 1840.William Harrison had a lot of accomplishment before he was president.William Harri son was born in Virginia. He had to over come any(prenominal) obstacles in his life. One was he grew up during the American Revolution. He and His father disagreed about the job Harrison would have. His father wanted him to be a doctor scarce when he died Harrison stopped studying medicine and joined the army. He also fought in a lot of difficult battles against the British and the Native Americans. Six out of ten of William Harrisons children died at an early age. He overcame all of these obstacles.William Harrison only was in office for one month. This was because he caught pneumonia and died.