True Knowledge - Descartes vs Plato free essay sample

Many philosophers have tried to figure out what exactly true knowledge is. For years they have been asking questions and looking deep into the mind to better understand the methods needed to get to true knowledge. If we go back to some of the earliest philosophers we meet Plato in Greece. Plato tried to take on the question himself in a fictional conversation he wrote up between Socrates and Meno, and in which we see some insight to what he believes it is. In the conversation Socrates asks the question of what virtue really is. Meno tries to answer by giving a very specific answer as to what virtue was within Greek society of that day, but Socrates then replies that although one who follows what Meno said is considered to be a virtuous person, it still does not define virtue itself. After a while of conversation Meno gets frustrated and gives up, as they could not come to a true definition of virtue. We will write a custom essay sample on True Knowledge Descartes vs Plato or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Socrates (Plato) then explains that in order to really know something you have to be able to reason and withhold the Socratic conversation (kind of like a devil’s advocate conversation) in which they discuss the concept at question and bounce back and forth until there is a real answer. Socrates then goes on to say that inside every person’s soul and mind is knowledge they carry with them from their past lives. They know everything already and when they learn it is merely a recollection. True knowledge is really already in our minds but just has to be brought out. Socrates then demonstrates this with a slave and some mathematical equations, but also tries to show the difference between true belief and true knowledge as at one point the slave boy believed he was write, but wasn’t. Plato comes to say that even though one may have true belief in something he still may not truly know that that something is true. Later on a French philosopher, Renà © Descartes, comes along and tries to answer the question of true knowledge on his own. He derives that a lot of what people think is true knowledge, can be doubted, and that it isn’t really true knowledge. If one person comes along and says â€Å"I know there is a god† but another man comes along and says† no, I know there is no god!† how can they both know? Only one of these men can have true knowledge. Descartes wr ites that in order for something to really be true knowledge it must have three elements to it. First, he says, is that it must be true. Then although it is  true, one must also believe it. Then the last, and probably most important thing that makes something true knowledge, according to Descartes, is that it must be something that cannot be doubted by anyone, because if there is any doubt, than it is possible it can be false, and therefore not true knowledge. Descartes also about the method known as hyperbolical/metaphysical doubt which he uses (but it is really just a fancy way of saying he was a skeptic). He comes to the conclusion that one of the things that he really can’t doubt is that his mind exists, because if he doubts, then doubt obviously has to come from somewhere, and that is the existing mind. Unlike the mind however, we can’t always be so sure of the body existing, as it is proven to us via our senses. He then writes that sometimes even though we may believe something because our senses all point to it, it doesn’t mean it is true because our senses can be doubted, as they do some times mislead us. Descartes also brings up the perception of reality in dreams. Sometimes we can be fooled by our senses and think we have true knowledge of something but it may only be a dream we are fooled to believing. If something can even be doubted in the most obscure and smallest way, then to Descartes it cannot be accepted as true knowledge. Both Philosophers seemed to have different perspectives of what true knowledge really is and what methods are necessary to get to it. Even though the opinions differ, they also share some similarities and Descartes must’ve definitely taken a thing or two away from Plato’s writings which came before him. Both philosophers, although using different methods to get at it, discuss how true knowledge must be undisputed for the most part. If someone can come and either doubts you, or reasons against something you said was true knowledge, then it can’t be true knowledge. Both methods involve conversations in which the person believing he has true knowledge would truly come to see that it wasn’t in fact true knowledge. Both Plato and Descartes also believed that true knowledge was in the mind, Plato in that it’s all there from previous lives; and Descartes in that it must come from your mind, and not your sense, because your mind cannot be doubted. When it c omes to differences Plato, unlike Descartes, likes to talk things out in reason and doesn’t shut people down, rather let them notice that they are wrong by asking questions. Descartes isn’t like that; he is much more of a skeptic and just doubts everything and everyone. Descartes also likes to  discuss issues of objective concepts such as nature and the self as opposed to concepts that are subjective like issues of the society around him that Plato liked to discuss in his writings. When I first signed up for philosophy class I was dreading coming to it, I thought it would be a bunch of random stupid ideas that I would have to read from people that have been dead for years. After reading both philosophers’ writings my idea on philosophy had changed completely. The writings of Plato and Descartes alone had taught me a lot about knowledge and the process of learning. Although I believe that a lot of things they had wrote aren’t so true, such as Plato’s theory of recollection, and Descartes’ skeptic doubts of our senses and god, I still think a lot of what they discussed is valid and applicable to life and reasoning still today. Plato’s Socratic dialogues give light to a lot of the ways people have good constructive arguments even today. It also teaches people to not just believe things we are told but to apply logic and use our minds that were given to us. If we doubt and search for answers, we are more likely to understand things better for ourselves. When ideas come from our own minds they are more concrete as opposed to when we just take others’ words and just accept them. The mind is such a powerful tool it would be a real shame to waste it.

Furniture Styles French Empire, English Regency, and American Classical. Revival essayEssay Writing Service

Furniture Styles French Empire, English Regency, and American Classical. Revival essayEssay Writing Service Furniture Styles: French Empire, English Regency, and American Classical. Revival essay Furniture Styles: French Empire, English Regency, and American Classical. Revival essayThe French Empire furniture (1805-1830) style differs from other styles, has its characteristic features which were so common for Napoleon’s period. This style is massive and noble. Napoleon’s passion to majesty marked furniture style of that time: small pieces almost disappeared, massive items with flats surfaces and flat corners prevailed. Empire tables used to be the most notable feature– massive and round, they served as dinning tables. Several new pieces of furniture appeared: such as boat beds decorated only on one side, the office Minister desk, psyche mirrors, boat beds with one-side decoration and others. The peculiar features of the furniture were heavy stable legs, marble tops, lack of moldings and bronze fittings. The main wood was mahogany, however, beech, boxwood, marple, olivewood, burled elm and walnut were also used. Napoleon wanted to have the sign of his vic tories and imperial grandeur even in furniture, so it often had ornaments with military trophies, Napoleon’s emblem, his monogram, etc. The main furniture maker of that time was George Jacob. Together with his brother he organized the family furniture workshop in 1786 and realized Napoleon’s orders and desires. He specialized on the production of veneered case-pieces and seat furniture.English Regency is a style in furniture which prevailed in England in the period of 1811-1820 and is known as the period of George IV, the Prince of Wales and regent of   that period. It was the time of restoration of ancient tendencies in furniture: inheritance of Roman and Greek times. It was classical furniture with classical decorations: lion heads, animal legs, Roman Gods, griffins, etc. The most popular item of that period is a chair. Chairs made of mahogany and rosewood were really fashionable. They used to have horizontal lines, high set arms and concave front legs. Sofas and c ouches were popular, as well. Moreover, the couch was the creation of the Regency style and was used as day-bed.George IV had great influence on furniture production and the craftsmen of that period that is why this furniture style got the name after him. He became Regent in 1811 because of his father’s insanity and in three years he spent an enormous amount of money just on furniture – about  £160,000. He collected rare pieces of Dutch masters.Influential designers of that period were George Smith, Henry Holland and Thomas Hope. Hope was that designer who adopted Egyptian and Greek ornament into the English furniture and presented his ideas in his work Household Furniture and Interior Decoration (1807).American Classical Revival as the furniture style was widespread in America starting from 1815. This tendency came from Europe, however, it had its peculiar American features. Furniture items were bulky and massive – it was also inheritance of ancient Greek and Roman tradition. The main characteristic features of the American Revival are the following: bronze or marble decorations, bold carving, scroll-shaped legs which resembled animal paws, heavy pedestal bases, classical motifs, heavy geometric shapes, etc. The most notable pieces of this period are Klismos chair, scroll-end sofa and settee, canopy beds. In America it was the period of rapid industrialization and it had influence the furniture industry, of course. Machinery allowed producing and selling furniture items for reasonable price, which conditioned the quick and wide development of American Classical Revival. Among remarkable designers of that style are Charles-Honorà © Lannuier, an immigrant from France, and Duncan Phyfe. He introduced gilded caryatids on chairs and table underlining elegance of that style. Mahogany was used, as well.To sum up, despite the fact that all three furniture styles (French   Empire, English Regency, and American Classical Revival) have a lot of in common, they have a lot of distinguishing features due to the national peculiarities.

How to Separate Salt and Water

How to Separate Salt and Water Have you ever wondered how you could purify seawater to drink it or how you could separate salt from water in saltwater? Its really very simple. The two most common methods are distillation and evaporation, but there are other ways to separate the two compounds. Separate Salt and Water Using Distillation You can boil or evaporate the water and the salt will be left behind as a solid. If you want to collect the water, you can use distillation. This works because salt has a much higher boiling point than water. One way to separate salt and water at home is to boil the salt water in a pot with a lid. Offset the lid slightly so that the water that condenses on the inside of the lid will run down the side to be collected in a separate container. Congratulations! Youve just made distilled water. When all of the water has boiled off, the salt will remain in the pot. Separate Salt and Water Using Evaporation Evaporation works the same way as distillation, just at a slower rate. Pour the salt water into a shallow pan. As the water evaporates, the salt will remain behind. You can speed up the process by raising the temperature or by blowing dry air over the surface of the liquid. A variation of this method is to pour the salt water onto a piece of dark construction paper or a coffee filter. This makes recovering the salt crystals easier than scraping them out of the pan. Other Methods To Separate Salt and Water Another way to separate salt from water is to use reverse osmosis. In this process, water is forced through a permeable filter, causing the concentration of salt to increase as the water is pushed out. While this method is effective, reverse osmosis pumps are relatively expensive. However, they can be used to purify water at home or when camping. Electrodialysis can be used to purify water. Here, a negatively-charged anode and a positively-charged cathode are placed in water and separated by a porous membrane. When an electric current is applied, the anode and cathode attract the positive sodium ions and negative chlorine ions, leaving behind the purified water. Note: this process does not necessarily make the water safe to drink, since uncharged contaminants may remain. A chemical method of separating salt and water involves adding decanoic acid to salt water. The solution is heated. Upon cooling, salt precipitates out of the solution, falling to the bottom of the container. The water and decanoic acid settle into separate layers, so the water can be removed.

About sales people as employee performance Essay

About sales people as employee performance - Essay Example between employee performance and sales people I would have the chance to check the differences in the form of the above relationship, as appeared in markets worldwide. In other words, I could evaluate the current potentials of employee performance to influence sales people, and vice versa. Current training course has been related to a series of problems. At the first level, not all students are aware of all aspects of employee performance. In this way, delays appear in different phases of the courses. At the same time, existing material related to employee performance is vast. Identifying the material referring solely to sales people takes more time than estimated, a fact that will necessarily affect the progress of the course. The instructions used in the particular course will be aligned with the course’s theme. Emphasis will be laid upon the review of material that is appropriate for understanding the course’s subject. Emphasis will be also given on the development of examinations for checking the progress of learners. Examinations will be based on exercises related to the course’s key issues and its sub-issues. Instructions should be available online, in the school’s website, so that participants are able to check the progress of their exercise, without the intervention of a third person. My instructional strategy would have two different characteristics: it will be interactive, available through the Internet for review, and b) direct instruction. In addition, a different instructional strategy can be used anytime for evaluating the performance of sales people as employee performance. The course will be divided into 8 sections; each section will focus on the examination of a particular issue of employee performance. The relationship between employee performance and sales people will be also analyzed. The schedule will be structured as follows: five sections will refer to employee performance; the sections, during which the relationship between

Introduction to Africana Studies Assignment Essay

Introduction to Africana Studies Assignment - Essay Example This could be done through delayed menstrual cycle, breaking tools, feigning illness, slowing down work or breaking tools. This was the common recourse when slave owners provided meager rations, punished too severely or increased workloads (Winant 85). The effectiveness of this method was due to the fact that in as much as it angered the slave masters, there was little they could do to stop them without risking prolonged breaks in production. The second form of resistance is showing defiance. This could involve publicly defying the master by failing to plead for mercy when beaten. A slave would disobey an order or fight back to prevent a beating. Defiance carried the risk of inviting more severe punishment. The third and most desperate form of resistance involves making oneself incapable of working. This could be achieved through self-mutilation. Some slaves would murder their slave masters and mistresses. Others would commit suicide by drowning themselves in rivers or jumping out of windows. The fourth form of resistance is running away. Groups of slaves would came together to plan escapes. They would run away and hide out in swamps and the forest often attacking plantations to save other slaves. Individual slaves would also run away to the North. Most escape attempts were unsuccessful. The American civil war was caused by a complex set of economic, social, political and psychological differences. In the course of the American Revolution and the making of the constitution, differences between northerners and southerners were overtaken by their mutual interest in building a new nation. However, once this was done, those differences started growing with the south seeking to separate from the Union. It took the leaders of a national stature to hold the Union together. The deaths of Daniel Webster and Henry Clay in 1852 left a vacuum that was replaced by sectional spokesmen who were unwilling to compromise. In the 19th century, the South was

The Handsomest Drowned Man Essay Example for Free

The Handsomest Drowned Man Essay The story begins with several children playing on the beach. That pretty much suffices for They see an abnormal looking bulge in the ocean. They try and guess anything that it might be until it washes up shore and they realize it’s a drowned man. The children, being children, start to play with the body until an adult spots the new toy and lets the rest of the village know. The men of the town carry the body to the nearest house and talk about how heavy he is. Since the body was in the ocean for so long, they figured it was the water that went to his bones. In their small fishing community, there is such little space around that dead bodies are not buried, but thrown over the cliffs and into the ocean. Since the village is so small, the men look around to see that none of them are missing, and automatically know that the dead man is a stranger. That night, the men of the village go around to other towns to seek a better idea of where he might’ve come from. The women stay behind to clean the ocean’s waste off the body. As they clean him off, the women notice that he comes from somewhere far away because the junk that they clean off isn’t a part of anything around their part of the world. When the drowned man is finally cleaned off, the women are left in awe because he is the biggest and tallest and most proud looking man they have ever seen. Hes so big that the women can’t find a bed big enough for him. They can’t find any clothes to fit him, so the women, sewed clothes for him from a sail. While they work on his clothing, the women feel like everything has changed because of their discovery. They start to compare the dead man to their husbands in such a way that made their husbands seem like the worst choice they’ve ever made. The oldest woman in the group of women looks down at the drowned man and says he has the face of someone named Esteban. All of the other women agree right away. Later on after midnight, while the women watch the body being dragged along the ground, they start feeling pity for the drowned man because of his massive size which must have been a burden for him. They thought about his life; and how he would have probably had trouble going through doorways, hitting his head on crossbeams, and not being able to find a chair sturdy enough to seat him. When the men come back and announce that none of the nearby villages can claim the dead body, the women get hyped up about the idea that he is now theirs. The men think their women are being ridiculous and just want to get this burial done as fast as possible. They make a type of stretcher to carry him to the cliffs. While the men rush to get the task done, the women try to waste time by covering the dead body up with other little items. The men complain the entire time until the handkerchief uncovers the dead man’s face and they all stand there in awe about how handsome he is and know that he is â€Å"Esteban†. They thought the same thing about the man and how he must have had such a hard time moving his massive body around and how burden he was causing the villagers. So the villagers make a formal funeral. They go to villages around them to get flowers, and they choose for him honorary family members from their village, The women mourn so loud it steers the sailors off course. As they carry his body to the cliff, the women are aware for the first time that everything they know doesn’t compare to the beauty of their drowned man. When they finally let the body go off the cliff, they don’t anchor it, so that he can come back if he wishes. The villagers realize that everything will be different from now on. They will make the best of their village and make it progress by building houses bigger and better, paint them bright colors, and plant flowers on their cliffs so that future sailor’s going by will see and smell them, and they will know that it’s â€Å"Esteban’s Village†.

America Must Create Jobs Essay -- The Decline of America

Those living in the United States of America are experiencing some economically dark times. Unemployment is becoming increasingly worse. Social programs are failing. Prices everywhere are on the rise as wages are declining drastically. Class division has never been more distinct. Of those lucky enough to have secured the multiple jobs needed in order to maintain their subsistent existences, most make only a minimum wage, established by their state’s laws, which is then harshly taxed upon. Life is hard enough in our dying superpower of a nation, but even worse for the work force of America that must survive on minimum wage. It is an offending disappointment that our fellow countrymen and women must live the way they do. This raises a crucial question whose outcome affects much of the working population. Should minimum wage be raised? And why? There are several arguments being made by economists as to why the minimum wage must be increased. One reason that really pulls on the heart strings is that raising the minimum wage will assist American families. Many of those on minimum wage are working for what is considered â€Å"living wages† as opposed to a side wage. A living wage is much more substantial. These peoples’ needs must be taken into account if they are to survive. But survival isn’t enough. People are not robotic. They all deserve the same chance at happiness as everyone else. Over 28 million of the people in this country work for minimum wage. In the words of one economist that is fighting for the preservation of the family, â€Å"With more family income, some people would choose to retire, go back to school, or have children, making it easier for others who need jobs to find them. Working families would have more time for commu... ...evin-Waldman, Oren M. The Case of the Minimum Wage: Competing Policy Models. Albany: State University of New York, 2001. Print. Levin-Waldman, Oren M. Wage Policy, Income Distribution, and Democratic Theory. London: Routledge, 2011. Print. Mutari, Ellen, and Deborah M. Figart. Women and the Economy: A Reader. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2003. Print. "The Case for Raising the Minimum Wage." The Case for Raising the Minimum Wage. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2013. Staff, NPR. "Raising Minimum Wage: A Help Or Harm?" NPR. NPR, n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2013. "Top 5 Reasons Why Raising the Minimum Wage Is Good for You and Me." Alternet. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2013. Adams, Mark. "Raising the Minimum Wage Hurts the Poor." US News. U.S.News & World Report, 11 Mar. 2013. Web. 05 Dec. 2013. "Why We Should Not Raise the National Minimum Wage." IVNus. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2013.

A theory of human motivation Essay

Abraham Maslow was a famous psychologist and was also known as the father of modern management. He in his article â€Å"A Theory of Human Motivation† formulated a framework of human motivation and drives on the basis of their needs†¦ The table below depicts the hierarchy of these human needs in order. 1) Psychological needs: they are recognized as the primary needs of every individual that are essential to be fulfilled. They are required for survival. They comprise of necessities like food, shelter, sleep, water etc. 2) Safety Needs: as soon as the psychological needs are met, ones attention is diverted towards fulfilling the security needs. Every person has some insecurities may it be physical or emotional. According to Maslow until and unless these needs are addressed and resolved a person would feel threatened and would not climb up any further on the pyramid. 3) Social Needs: this is the first level of higher level of needs. It involves the interaction and relationship with a society, family or social group. 4) Esteem Needs: esteem needs include self-respect, self worth, recognition and achievement. 5) Self-Actualization needs: realizing personal potential, self-fulfillment, seeking personal growth and peak experiences Maslow’s ideas regarding the hierarchy of needs provides information about workplace environment that encourages and enables employees to attain their potential that is self actualization. Managers can use these to encourage personal growth and development. Douglas McGregor’s Theory X and Y were a basis of development of positive management styles and techniques. And prove to be helpful in development of organizational development and culture within the organization. It clearly defines two different methods of management control. One is the classic and conventional authoritative management style and the other is the modern a participative style. Companies’ can chose either of them but theory Y or the participative style has been more effective in motivating the workforce. Because these theories help us understand the psyche of human mind which in turn can be helpful in developing the job description. And if the job design would be good enough than this would motivate employees to work harder and bring in innovation. In this world where nothing is stagnant and environment changes, such steps are all effective in helping a company cope with these changes and to conquer new market with fresh ideas. All these theories are a guiding force to manage employees and their talent. Motivation is essential at all levels. It is a complex combination of several factors. Motivation leads to efficiency, profits and loyalty. It can make the impossible possible. Employees need to feel respected and valued in the company. This gives them a sense of belonging. Adopting sensible job designs for the workforce can only bring about this change. It is the responsibility of the leadership to make such job descriptions that help utilize the potentials. Theory Y shows that management styles empower and have a significant impact on workforce motivation. Works Cited Abraham Maslow. (n. d. ). Maslow Hierarchy of Needs. November 14, 2008. Retrieved from: < http://www. abraham-maslow. com/m_motivation/Hierarchy_of_Needs. asp> Businessballs. com. (n. d. ). Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. November 14, 2008. Retrieved from: < http://www. businessballs. com/maslow. htm> Job Access. (n. d. ). Job description and design. November 14, 2008. Retrieved from: .

Animal Sexual Behavior

Talking about human sexuality last year, I was asked whether the different sexual orientations could be found in animals other than humans. Well, the answer was â€Å"yes†. But sexual orientation is just a bit of the big whole called sexual behavior. That is why in this occasion I am going to talk about animal sexual behavior. To put you in context, the study of animal sexuality is a rapidly developing field. It used to be believed that only humans and a handful of other species performed sexual acts other than for procreation, and that animals' sexuality was instinctive.Current understanding is that a wide range of species appear both to masturbate and to use objects as tools to help them do so; in many species animals try to give and get sexual stimulation with others where procreation is not the aim; and homosexual behavior has now been observed among 1,500 species. SEX FOR PLEASURE Do animals get pleasure from sex? Science cannot say for sure what animals do or do not find â€Å"pleasurable†. However, current understanding suggests that anything an animal does that furthers its own survival is pleasurable; in order to make sure  the animal  keeps doing it. That includes sexual intercourse.They say it is  nature's way  of ensuring the continuation of the species. Remember that the only purpose of the clitoris is to give pleasure, and nearly all female mammals have a clitoris. Nevertheless, very few animals have sex purely for pleasure, rather than for procreation. That is to say that, though most of animals do get pleasure from sex, not all of them will have sex just for the sake of it. TYPES OF ACTIVITIES 1. AUTOESTIMULATION OR MASTURBATION Petter Bockman of the Natural History Museum at the University of Oslo commented that: â€Å"Masturbation is common in the animal kingdom†¦There are plenty of animals who will masturbate when they have nothing better to do. Masturbation has been observed among primates, deer, killer whales and penguins, and we're talking about both males and females. They rub themselves against stones and roots. Orangutans are especially inventive. They make dildos of wood and bark. † 2. ORAL SEX Auto-fellating or licking, sucking and/or nuzzling by a male of his own penis in animals is documented in goats, primates, hyenas, bats and sheep, among others. 3.CROSS SPECIES SEX Many animals are sexual opportunists, partaking in sexual relations with individuals of visibly distinct species. This is more visible in domesticated species and animals in captivity, because in the wild, the two species would normally not share enough common territory to provide adequate opportunity for much cross-species sexual activity. Hybrid offspring can result from two organisms of distinct but closely related parent species, although the resulting offspring is not always fertile.This is the case of the mule (jack/mare cross), the hinny (horse/jenny cross), the tiglon (tiger/lioness cross) and the liger (lion/tigress cross). 4. PROSTITUTION In some penguin species, the females, even when in a committed relationship, will exchange sexual favors with strange males for the pebbles they need to build their nests. Prostitution was also observed among chimpanzees, which trade food for sex. 5. SEXUAL IMAGINARY VIEWING Problems with encouraging pandas to mate in captivity have been very common.However, showing young male pandas â€Å"panda pornography† is widely credited with a recent population boom among pandas in zoos. It shows that pandas, as well as most of primates, really value the images and are able to put sexual meaning on them. 6. NECROPHILIA Necrophilia in animals is where a living animal engages in a sexual act with a dead animal. It has been reported in cane toads and ducks. 7. HOMOSEXUAL BEHAVIOR No species has been found in which homosexual behavior has not been shown to exist, with the exception of species that never have sex at all.Homosexual behavior in animals re fers to the documented evidence of homosexual and bisexual behavior in animals other than humans. Birds: Black swans: An estimated one-quarter of all black swans pairings are homosexual and they steal nests, or form temporary threesomes with females to obtain eggs, driving away the female after she lays the eggs. More of their cygnets survive to adulthood than those of different-sex pairs, possibly due to their superior ability to defend large portions of land. The same reasoning has been applied to male flamingo pairs raising chicks.Gulls: 10 to 15 percent of female western gulls in some populations in the wild exhibit homosexual behavior. Mallards: form male-female pairs only until the female lays eggs, at which time the male leaves the female. Mallards have rates of male-male sexual activity that are unusually high for birds, in some cases, as high as 19% of all pairs in a population. Penguins: Male penguin couples have been documented to mate for life, build nests together, and to use a stone as a surrogate egg in nesting and brooding. Vultures, ibises and pigeons. MammalsAmazon Dolphin: The Amazon River dolphin or boto has been reported to form up in bands of 3–5 individuals enjoying group sex. The groups usually comprise young males and sometimes one or two females. Sex is often performed in non-reproductive ways, using snout, flippers and genital rubbing, without regards to gender. In captivity, they have been observed to sometimes perform homosexual and heterosexual penetration of the blowhole, a hole homologous with the nostril of other mammals, making this the only known example of nasal sex in the animal kingdom.American Bison: Courtship, mounting, and full anal penetration between bulls has been noted to occur among American Bison. Also, mounting of one female by another is common among cattle. Bonobo: The Bonobo, which has a matriarchal society, unusual amongst apes, is a fully bisexual species—both males and females engage in hetero sexual and homosexual behavior, being noted for female-female homosexuality in particular. About 60% of all sexual activity in this species is between two or more females. Bonobos use sex to divert attention and to defuse tension.Elephants: African and Asian males will engage in same-sex bonding and mounting. Such encounters are often associated with affectionate interactions, such as kissing, trunk intertwining, and placing trunks in each other's mouths. Unlike heterosexual relations, which are always of a fleeting nature, the relationships between males may last for years. Asiatic elephants in captivity devote roughly 45% of sexual encounters to same-sex activity Giraffes: Mounting between male giraffes males have been found to be more frequent than heterosexual coupling: up to 94% of mounting incidents take place between two males.Japanese macaque: With the Japanese macaque same-sex relations are frequent, though rates vary between troops. Females will form â€Å"consortshipsâ⠂¬  characterized by affectionate social and sexual activities. Sheep: homosexuality in male sheep (found in 8% of rams) is associated with a region in the rams' brains which is half the size of the corresponding region in heterosexual male sheep. Spotted hyenas, bottlenose dolphins, whales, deer, polecats and lions. Others: Dragonflies: Male homosexuality has been inferred in several species of dragonflies.About 80 % of sexual coupling occurs between males. Sources: Bagemihl, B. 1999. Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity. St. Martin's Press. 752 pp. de Waal, F. M. B. & R. Ren (1988): Peacemaking among Primates. Harvard University Press, Cambridge (Massachusetts). Roughgarden, J. 2004. Evolution's Rainbow: Diversity, Gender, and Sexuality in Nature and People. University of California Press. Berkeley CA. 474 pp Sommer, V ;amp; P. L Vasey (2006): Homosexual Behaviour in Animals, An Evolutionary Perspective. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Psychological Evaluation of Peter Griffin

Psychological Evaluation of Peter Griffin Free Online Research Papers Name: Peter Griffin Date of Birth: 12/25/1970 Sex: Male Date of Assessment: 6/29/2010 Age at testing: 39 Psychologist: Timothy Remmert Confidential Psychological Evaluation REASON FOR REFERRAL Mr. Griffin is a 39-year-old white male who works on an assembly line in a beer bottling plant. Mr. Griffin’s supervisor, Sydney Wick, referred Mr. Griffin for a psychological evaluation due to frequent alcohol abuse and erratic behavior that is disruptive to the workplace. Mr. Griffin reports that, while he drinks â€Å"regularly†, he does not believe his drinking affects his productivity at work, and feels he is being persecuted by his superiors. ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENTS AND EVALUATIVE PROCEDURES Clinical interview with Mr. Griffin on June 29, 2010 for approximate 1  ½ hours. MMPI -2: Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 CPI: California Psychological Inventory BACKGROUND INFORMATION or RELEVANT HISTORY Mr. Griffin was born and raised in Quahog, Rhode Island. His father, Liam Griffin, worked as a welder in a playground equipment factory, and his mother, Mary Griffin was a housewife. Peter is an only child, and both parents are deceased. Mr. Griffin is married to Lois Griffin, age 37, with 3 children, Christopher, 16, Meg, 15, and Stewie, age 1  ½ yrs. Griffin attended James Woods High School in Quahog, R.I., but left after failing to complete his sophomore year at age 17. He held a number of menial jobs before a friend of his helped him find employment at the Pawtucket Patriot Brewery, where he has been employed for 5 years. BEHAVIORAL OBSERVATIONS and MENTAL STATUS EXAM Mr. Griffin appeared oriented to person, place and time, but seemed confused as to the circumstances surrounding his referral and evaluation. Mr. Griffin seemed friendly and attentive until asked about his alcohol consumption. He vehemently denied any excess consumption and insisted that he drinks â€Å"just like everyone else I know.† Mr. Griffin became visibly upset when informed of the reason for his evaluation, and repeated claims of persecution by his superior(s) at work. When asked relatively common judgment questions, he appeared somewhat impaired. For example, when asked what he would do if he came home and the toilet was overflowing, he replied that he would go to the neighborhood bar and have a few beers until â€Å"Lois got home and fixed it.† His short term and long term memory appeared to be relatively intact, but his attention span is very limited. He would often play with objects on my desk, and when these were removed, he would be looking around the office and at the window while we were talking. Toward the end of the interview, Mr. Griffin seemed nervous, and made the comment, â€Å"I sure could use a beer. How about you, Doc?† When asked if he had ever considered â€Å"taking a break† from drinking alcohol, he replied, â€Å"Doc, I’m telling you, I got no problem. I drink. I get drunk. I fall down. No problem.† Mr. Griffin was administered the MMPI-2, and the CPI, the results of which showed significant levels of emotional upset which may interfere with memory, concentration, abstraction and judgment. Mr. Griffin does not appear to be very reflective or thoughtful, which can limit insight and judgment. Concentration difficulties were evidenced by Mr. Griffin’s distractibility and inattentiveness. Peter’s intellectual level is in the lowest range of normal, and borders on mild mental retardation. He likes clear-cut solutions and has trouble dealing with ambiguity, novelty, and change. He is cognitively very rigid and has fixed ideas from which he has trouble deviating. Mr. Griffin is severely cognitively impulsive in a way that may be pathologically indicative of alcoholism. A lack of cognitive mediation and evidence of impulsive behavior often result with Peter acting without proper consideration of the consequences. Peter’s clinical profile indicates the following characteristics and symptoms: Clinical Assessment Symptomology Impulsiveness, emotional volatility, agitation, poor judgment, excitability, confusion, disorganization, stress (work problems), possible delusions, occasionally tenuous grasp of reality, generalized anxiety, self-absorption, unrealistically demanding of others (particularly those in authority), prone to substance abuse. DSM-IV DIAGNOSTIC IMPRESSION Axis I Alcohol dependence Axis II Dependent personality disorder Axis IV Environmental and social support issues Axis V GAF : 40 CONCLUSIONS and RECOMMENDATIONS 1.Peter is being referred to a certified addiction professional for further evaluation and/or treatment. The dependent personality disorder and environmental and social support issues will be addressed in future therapy sessions with a trained psychologist concurrent with any recommended alcohol abuse treatment and/or therapy. Upon initiation of treatment(s), Peter will be cleared to return to work with the understanding that his continued employment will be contingent on his ongoing participation in treatment and his acceptable behavior in the workplace. Peter should be considered for further testing and evaluation at a future time to be determined by treating professional(s). REFERENCES Littlefield, A.K., Sher, K.J., Wood, P.K. (2010). Do changes in drinking motives mediate the relation between personality change and â€Å"maturing out† of problem drinking? Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 119(1), 93 – 105. McKillop, J., Miranda, R., et al. (2010). Alcohol demand, delayed reward discounting, and craving in relation to drinking and alcohol use disorders. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 119, 106 – 114. Zikos, E., Gill, K.J., Charney, D.A. (2010). Personality disorders among alcoholic outpatients: Prevalence and course in treatment. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 55(2), 65-73 Simons, J.S., Carey, K.B., Wills, T.A. (2009). Alcohol abuse and dependence systems: A multidimensional model of common and specific etiology. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 23(3), 415 – 427. Keady, J., Clarke, C.L., et al. (2009).Alcohol-related brain damage: Narrative story lines and risk constructions. Health, Risk, Society, 11(4) 321 – 340 retrieved 6/30/2010 from http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.lib.ucf.edu/ehost/resultsadvanced?vid=2hid=108sid=1461ef4e-f21e-4638-b58d-54b70e822a54%40sessionmgr104bquery=(alcoholism)bdata=JmRiPXBzeWgmZGI9cGRoJmRiPXB6aCZjbGkwPUZUJmNsdjA9WSZjbGkxPVJWJmNsdjE9WSZ0eXBlPTEmc2l0ZT1laG9zdC1saXZl Van der Plas, Crone, E.A., et al. (2009). Executive control deficits in substance-dependent individuals. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 31(6), 706 – 719 Witkiewitz, K., Villarroel, N.A. (2009) Dynamic association between negative affect and alcohol lapses following alcohol treatment. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 77(4), 633 – 644 Kramer, G.P., Bernstein, D.A., Phares, V. (2010). Introduction to Clinical Psychology. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson/Prentiice Hall. Research Papers on Psychological Evaluation of Peter GriffinThe Relationship Between Delinquency and Drug UseMoral and Ethical Issues in Hiring New EmployeesStandardized TestingPersonal Experience with Teen PregnancyThree Concepts of PsychodynamicRiordan Manufacturing Production PlanResearch Process Part OneBook Review on The Autobiography of Malcolm XEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenTrailblazing by Eric Anderson

Auditing And Assurance Services of Insurance Company

Analysis of business risk of HIH indicated that such risks are linked with global, environmental and local factors. Such risks are deemed to be relied on the understanding of insurance sector and the ways in which HIH is capable to adjust itself within the parameters of risk evaluation (Abbas and Iqbal 2012). Insolvency Risk Determination: Several measures are available for insolvency determination in which the roles of evaluating risk are dependent on the auditing risk evaluation. Here exists certain general agreement that is necessary to have the capacity for addressing the debts of the organization under which it is encompassed. Along with support of insolvency risk and profitability structure there is a requirement concentrate more on business that will include limited consumers to launch the sector (Bagshaw 2013). The conceptual framework is based on the organizations capacity to address its existing debt. For this reason, it is vital to determine company’s solvency that further analyses non-financial along with financial considerations. Profitability Evaluation and Related Structure: Among the suitable approaches for evaluating HIH’s business risk in order to further analyze the competitive environment of the sector concerning the increase in competition along with price range enhancement. For risk evaluation, insurance handling within the Australian industry turns out to be relatively simpler those are fresh to the regulations of the industry (Bebbington et al. 2014). â€Å"The Insurance and the Superannuation Commission† serves as an Australian regulatory body holding the â€Å"Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority†. Certain risks that HIH is capable to deal with include auditing risk factors as this facilitates the company to issue an unqualified audit relied on some financial statements. Such aspects are generally relied on holding the procedure along with planning in alignment with some risks namely control, detection and inherent risk (Glover et al. 2016). Control risks encompass certain material inaccuracy that the company failed to detect in its internal control systems. It was observed from the case of HIH the accuracy and completeness of the general ledger for the ledger recognition and the bank account, which is not yet performed by the company. Organizational performance is relied on the process of substantive differential that offers a huge dependence on the process of external documentation (Griffiths 2012). Ledger accounts inclusion and the distinct bank accounts assist in organizations tangible assets valuation. Risk detection includes several techniques of auditing that is performance based and does not tend to detect the material inaccuracies or any assertions. This indicates that it is necessary for HIH to focus on timely planning and decreasing the situations of not detecting material misstatement very effectively. From the internal documents of HIH, it is gathered that the company was not capable of conducting suitable substantive procedures that is intended to address issues related with superior performance concerning the inadequate planning and goodwill for upcoming tax benefits (Kogan et al. 2014). Inherent risk can be understood as uncertainties related to a company’s financial statement in which HIH Insurance Company accepts the solvency margin maintenance, charging adequate premiums along with the organizations liquidity factors. This includes reinsuring several different policies along with offering the record of marine insurance practices that hugely belongs to insurance professions. The issue is associated to unqualified audit procedure that includes audit risk those are inefficiently managed by the organization. Auditors are seemed to have less awareness regarding inherent risk that is unrecognized by modifications made by HIH in the previous year. Huge focus is observed to be on auditing report that signifies auditing practices implemented by HIH. The auditor remained inefficient in investigating the company’s auditing practices that it can notify to various practices. Such issues are generally associated to inadequate auditor’s independence in alignment with the non-auditing work performance and realizing the HIH operations for enhanced business risk. Such cases are linked to certain auditing procedures with estimated auditing risk (Messier Jr 2016). For creditors it is essential that they require put huge focus on the minimum solvency needs that is deemed that organization can stay solvent at the declaration time of the director. The reports are linked with the determination of management lied on increasing concern. It is essential to indicate that HIH requires directing its focus on an organization’s liquidity position where the liquidity position is generally concerned with financial as well as operational conducts of HIH. Such risks were related with pricing capability and outstanding claims of companies in alliance with HIH’s reservation policy for dealing and working on investment decisions (Pitt 2014). Such representations are relied on provision handing where there is a requirement for prudential margins. For clients the focus is greatly on organizational performance illustrating inefficient goodwill planning and for deferred acquisition expenses and increase tax advantages. For this reason, if the consumers hire former auditors than it might have adverse impact on the independence of eternal auditing. It can be gathered that these auditors continues holding effective partnership with the auditing team. This includes holding increased influenced on the recent auditors based on the authority (Rikhardsson and Dull 2016). Considerably it can be stated that there is a strong association among former along with the existing auditors as they are capable to recognize and deal with issues related with parties that they hold and influence. Certain conditions that have surfaced the process of negligence actions of HIH insurance is generally related with the alterations accelerations made in the legislations. It is gathered from the case of the company that combinations of high risk pricing capability, uncontrolled investments and under-reserving the policies resulting in depletion of the company’s financial resources (Schmidt et al. 2016). Faulty corporate governance conducts of HIH- From the case study it is gathered that the reasons for a company’s bankruptcy generally includes certain agency cost issues resulting from agency conflict between the proprietors, debtors and managers in the company. A huge fraction of the issues is based on the changes that are generally reinforced with the direct liability structure of the government. The beginning of the legislative changes is linked with the public liabilities and insufficient risk management plays the role for ineffective management (Shin et al. 2013). Facts gathered from the case study indicate that inadequate risk management is because of the reason of failure in developing efficient management practices and policies. The directors seem to avoid conducting analysis of strategy for investment along with risk appreciation that is linked with several information sources. Inadequate independence data resources- The case study indicates that an accounting system has a considerable role in the functions of commercial systems of supremacy. For a company like HIH, it does not seem practicable for the non-executive directors to collect and have data vital for them to fulfill their director’s responsibilities. For this reason, responsibilities of the company’s noon-executive directors requires being compromised for there are no alternatives other than relying on the accounting systems generated and directed by the management. Moreover, this indicates inherent risks of business systems (Gaber and Lusk 2015). Inadequate independence for non-executive director- From the information gathered from the case study it is gathered that the non-executive directors it is justified to be questions and most certainly it does not seem that ideal as it seems to appear. Among the five executive directors, two directors are observed to be partners of Arthur Anderson secretarial company. It was gathered that HIH had experienced an expense of $1.7 million to Anderson for â€Å"Auditing Services† along with an amount of $1.631 million for the â€Å"provision of non-auditing services†. It is gathered that auditing services serve as a major source of extractions from the independent auditor and several related directors (Christensen et al. 2012). Either indirectly or directly corporate governance practices of HIH are held accountable for negligence conducts that effectively defines that the guiding principal or action course because of lack in independent evaluation of the management. Major focus is observed to be on the inadequate evidence before the audit report release along with changes that has been possible to be made in several accounts. The development of close relationship with the non-auditing services resulted in refusal on the enhancement of paid auditing services (William Jr et al. 2016). HIH Company desired to hire prior to the members of its external audit group are because of following reasons: Auditors are required to conserve the professional skepticism that implements the managerial conducts of organizations for the auditors and management are not capable to manage the financial statement (Christensen et al. 2013). Auditing organizations are required to offer certain non-auditing services with management consultancy along with offering advices on tax. This will make companies capable to offer non-auditing and auditing services to consumers. Objectivity is relied on dependency handling where consumers’ information is dependent on income source. Whereas, interest conflict is set to offer auditing and consulting services a set of discrepancies between the executives and management. Auditors have the reports concerning the financial situations with the profit maximization objective of companies (Ricchiute 2012). Benefit of having the identical organization offers both consulting and auditing services, as they are dependent on dealing with the audit activities of business. These facilities facilitate having the change in certain impaired statements. The reports are relied on recognizing company errors as it facilitates auditors and consultant to maintain client information management. These m easures facilitate in dealing with mistakes and offer compilation of management reports. The regulatory measures serve as best solution for determining financial reports accuracy where providing these services are advantageous for various accounting companies (Pitt 2014). The case study indicates that organizational members did not accomplish their duties honestly, because they continuously offered misleading or false information. Most of the company’s staff indulged themselves in unethical conducts where they failed to complete their organizational duties effectively. Arthur Anderson deteriorated situations with considerable collapse of Enron. The organization observed the person guilty of obstructing justice for some work papers deductions (Messier Jr 2016). These situations indicate a violation of thee organizations ethical standard that is further than the ethical limit of any corporate organization. Organizational staff requires indulging themselves in attaining ethical duties off the organization other than dealing with their clients. Such statement is relied on maintaining regulations with suitable codes and business standards. This encompasses information disclosure for suitable accounting practices (Pitt 2014). Evaluation of the case study recommends certain policies concerned with governance and financial reporting within amendments of CLERP 9, mentioned under: These recommendations intend to identify and deal with issues concerned with corporate groups. Their objective is to enhance financial reporting along with audit functions for disclosing the matters that impacts audit independence and further financial information disclosures (Messier Jr 2016). These suggestions intend to identify responsibility through spreading long chain of managerial functions essential to be performed by employees. Abbas, Q. and Iqbal, J., 2012. Internal Control System: Analyzing Theoretical Perspective and Practices.  Middle-East Journal of Scientific Research, 12(4), pp. 530-538. Bagshaw, K., 2013.  Audit and Assurance Essentials: For Professional Accountancy Exams. London: John Wiley & Sons. Bebbington, J., Unerman, J. and O'Dwyer, B., 2014.  Sustainability accounting and accountability. London: Routledge. Christensen, B. E., Glover, S. M. and Wood, D. A., 2012. Extreme estimation uncertainty in fair value estimates: Implications for audit assurance. Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory,  31(1), pp. 127-146. Christensen, B. E., Glover, S. M. and Wood, D. A., 2013. Extreme estimation uncertainty and audit assurance.  Current Issues in Auditing,  7(1), pp. 36-42. Gaber, M. and Lusk, E. J., 2015. Account Screening: Rationalizing The Extended procedures Decision in The Audit Context.  EXCEL International Journal of Multidisciplinary Management Studies,  5(9), pp. 1-20. Glover, S. M., Taylor, M. H. and Wu, Y. J., 2016. Current Practices and Challenges in Auditing Fair Value Measurements and Complex Estimates: Implications for Auditing Standards and the Academy.  Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory, 8(6), p. 89. Griffiths, M. P., 2012.  Risk-based auditing. Berlin: Gower Publishing, Ltd. Kogan, A., Alles, M. G., Vasarhelyi, M. A. and Wu, J., 2014. Design and evaluation of a continuous data level auditing system.  Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory,  33(4), pp. 221-245. Messier Jr, W., 2016.  Auditing & assurance services: A systematic approach. London: McGraw-Hill Higher Education. Pitt, S. A., 2014. Internal audit quality. A Journal of Practice & Theory,  3(4), pp. 21-24. Ricchiute, D. N., 2012.  Auditing and assurance services. Berlin: South Western Educational Publishing. Rikhardsson, P. and Dull, R., 2016. An exploratory study of the adoption, application and impacts of continuous auditing technologies in small businesses.  International Journal of Accounting Information Systems,  20(7), pp. 26-37. Schmidt, P. J., Wood, J. T. and Grabski, S. V., 2016. Business in the Cloud: Research Questions on Governance, Audit and Assurance.  Journal of Information Systems, 2(7), pp. 6-37. Shin, I. H., Lee, M. G. and Park, W., 2013. Implementation of the continuous auditing system in the ERP-based environment.  Managerial Auditing Journal, 28(7), pp. 592-627. William Jr, M., Glover, S. and Prawitt, D., 2016. Auditing and Assurance Services: A Systematic Approach.  Auditing and Assurance Services: A Systematic Approach, 8(7), pp. 92-127

Country with a Large Refugee - Afganistan Essay

Country with a Large Refugee - Afganistan - Essay Example Gibney (p.1). Moreover, political conflicts, destruction, and social unrest showered refugees nowhere but primarily in Pakistan and Iran. By doing this the Afghans not only brought mistrust on themselves but carried their war into other lands and created unrest there too. Since then, Pakistan, Iran nor Afghanistan has seen a silver lining in the cloud. This research will mainly focus on answering these five questions in detail, giving evidences and providing conclusions. As Afghanistan is limited by topographical and ethnic divisions, by the end of 19th century, the British and Russians acknowledged the importance of the weak country, acting as a buffer between them. This was the reason why the finalizing of its borders, in 1890’s raised the concerns of London and Moscow. So the Iron Amir of Afghanistan, Abdur Rahman Khan, had to seek help of British subsides. This pattern continued, with little variations, till 1978. Then America replaced Britain as leader of the West after W orld War II. The two giants of the age continued to interpolate Afghanistan, which was both profitable and at the same time, risky for it. None of them wanted a war in Central Asia, and so their agreements maintained Afghanistan’s territorial integrity. In order to do so, the Soviets and US paid for its internal security and economic development, as Afghanistan was unable to do so by itself. Hence, this scenario not only shows the disadvantage of Afghanistan acting as a buffer-state, but also the profit it was getting by doing so. Unfortunately, this scenario ended with the Marxist Coup of April 1978 as Afghanistan went from the buffer state to the Cold-War front line. Now only the Soviets had their interest left in the country, so it was only they who provided money and offered guarantees. The Soviets secretly encouraged and financed Afghan communists from before the formation of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) until the party unexpectedly came to power t hrough a military coup on 27 April 1978. USSR, without much evidence, fueled the fire by sending advisors for helping PDPA give control back to Nur Muhammad Taraki. When this help was resisted by the masses, Moscow retaliated by sending in military men who started commanding the Afghans forces unofficially. This is how it all started, what we know today as the Invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviet Union. Their era however ended in the poor country when the Mujahidin, who had fought the Soviet Union took control of Kabul on 28 April 1992. The fighting between the