Infectious disease Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Infectious disease - Essay Example The HIV virus damages the immune system by damaging CD4+ lymphocytes and marring cell-mediated immunity, which impedes the body’s ability to combat infections thereby rendering the body susceptible to diseases (McCutchan, 2013). As a result, when other viruses, bacteria or pathogens gain access to the body, they fail to get resistance from the host body immune system hence cause disease. Thereafter, a person with the HIV virus in his or her body is said to have AIDS when the immune system gets compromised. AIDS is a multiplex of signs and illnesses brought about by the effects of HIV on the immune system. From the name, an individual must come into contact with the virus to have an infection. HIV virus thrives in biological fluids such as human blood, semen, and vaginal secretions. Breast milk also contains the virus. Other body fluids such as amniotic fluid surrounding a fetus as well fluids surrounding organs such as the brain or the spinal cord also contain the HIV virus. HIV virus exits the host through various portals such as the mucus membranes, open wounds, bloodstream, and genital tract. The breasts also serve as a portal of exit for infected mothers who breastfeed their infants. HIV virus moves from the reservoir to a new host through participating in unprotected oral, vaginal or anal sexual intercourse with an infected person. According to the World Health Organization, HIV/AIDS spreads mainly through sexual contact thereby making it classified as a sexually transmitted infection (2015). Sharing needles with a person who is infected with HIV also leads to transmission of the virus. Consequently, the abuse of injectable drugs such as heroine is associated with high rates of HIV transmission. Expectant mothers infected with the HIV virus can also transmit it to their babies in the course of the gestation period, during childbirth or while breastfeeding. However, recent advancements in the prevention of mother to child

Disability Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Disability Paper - Essay Example There is a requirement to provide education in the least restrictive environment. According to Kaplan et. al. (2007), "BU failed to demonstrate that it met its duty of seeking appropriate reasonable accommodations for learning disabled students with difficulty in learning foreign languages by considering alternative means and coming to a rationally justifiable conclusion that the available alternativewould lower academic standards or require substantial program alteration." "On May 26, 2006, in School Board of Henrico County VA v. R.T., a minor, Judge Robert Payne of the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Virginia issued an extensive pro-child decision on behalf of RT, a child with autism, in a tuition reimbursement case" ("Court Cases of Interest," 2009). In this case, the student was awarded funding because the school system did not give the child an appropriate educational program ("Court Cases of Interest," 2009). This is similar to Guckenberger II in the way that the education being provided was inappropriate for the students' needs. According to Wright (2005), in another court case, Schaffer v.

Water Pollution Control In The Textile Industry Environmental Sciences Essay

Water Pollution Control In The Textile Industry Environmental Sciences Essay The water law framework in our country is attributed by the coexistence of a number of different principles, rules and acts adopted over several decades extending from common law principles and irrigation acts from the colonial acts to the recent regulation of water quality and pollution. The basic underlying reasons for water law reforms are both physical and institutional. Over the past few decades water has gradually become sparse in many parts of the country. This can be attributed to increased pollution of finite water resources and also increased use of water by all categories of water users as a consequence of economic and population growth. The Water Act of 1974 was Indias first attempt towards dealing comprehensively with the environment related issues. Water is a subject in the State List under the Constitution. Consequently, the Water Act which is a central law came into being under Article 252(I) of the Constitution which empowers the Union Government to make laws in a field reserved for states. All the states have approved the implementation of Water Act 1974. In spite of this there is a lack of umbrella legislation at the national level because of which different state and central legal interventions do not coincide often. Water Prevention And Control Of Pollution Act, 1974 Salient Features The Water Act establishes a Central and State pollution control boards. The Central Board may advise the Central Govt. on water pollution issues, coordinate the activities of state pollution control boards and devise a comprehensive plan for the control and prevention of water pollution. In case of any conflicts between the Central and the State boards, central board prevails. This act is applicable to streams, inland waters, subterranean waters, and sea or tidal waters. Standards for the discharge of effluent or the quality of the used water being released into the water sources are to be prescribed by the state boards. Any person or any industry for that matter has to take the consent of the state board before proceeding towards establishing any industry, operation or process or any treatment or waste disposal system. The Act specifies other important functions of the state boards as follows: Devising a comprehensive programme for prevention, control and abatement of water pollution in respective states Encouraging, conducting, and participating in investigations and research of water pollution problems Inspecting facilities for sewage and developing economical and reliable methods of its treatment State board in its capacity may take emergency measures if it foresees accidents or events that might pollute the water bodies. These measures include activities like removing the pollutants, alleviating the damage and issuing orders to the polluter prohibiting effluent discharges. Under section 33A state boards can issue directions to any person, office or authority, including orders to close, prohibit or regulate any industry, operation or process and to stop or regulate the supply of water, electricity or any other service. Not complying with a court order under section 33 or a direction from the board under section 33A is punishable by fines and imprisonment as per section 41. In order to assist the Water Act, the Water Pollution Board constituted under the Pollution Act, has been empowered under the Cess Act to levy a cess/tax for meeting the financial requirements for its working. This cess is for the purposes and utilization under the Water Act. The Cess Act grants a rebate in the cess payable to those who install a plant for the treatment of sewage or effluents. This is one of the steps to encourage establishments to set up effluent treatment plants and process the effluents before releasing them. However it is to be noted that Cess Act cannot be deciphered individually and should be taken into consideration only in relation with the Water Act. While it is quite evident that water laws are the need of the hour but these water law reforms can only contribute to solving water management issues but fail to solve issues related to human rights, social, environmental and health aspects of water. Textile industry The textile industry in India mainly depends upon exports and manufacturing. Export income from textiles account for around 30% of Indias export revenues and 3% of Indias Gross domestic product. This industry has grown a lot over the past few years especially after the economic liberalization in 1991 where the country was opened to free trade under the auspices of Dr Manmohan Singh. The table below gives the major strength and weaknesses of the textile industry in the country Strengths Weaknesses Production Capacity Increased global competition Cheap Labor Dumping Efficient production facilities Huge Decentralized sector Large domestic markets High production costs Large Export Potential Poor Supply chain management Flexible manufacturing Systems Outdated technologies To grow at a rate of around 15% in the coming years the sector needs to keep in mind the following points which shall go a long way in ensuring that growth is maintained at healthy rate and is also sustainable. Threat of competition in Domestic Market Ecological and Social Awareness Ecological and social awareness are going to play a huge role in determining who is going to reap profits in a sustainable manner keeping in view the sensitivity of the stakeholders who are most of the times the losers when large scale development takes place. The industry is likely to face pressure from the media, the Government and the common people to follow international norms and regulations which shall prohibit it from using natural resources like Water which is a key ingredient in producing textiles. The way this industry uses water and how much it pollutes the various sources shall be determined by external factors. Developed markets have extremely high standards of consumer consciousness on issues such as polluting Dyes, Usage of Child Labor, Unhealthy working conditions of the mill workers etc. Standards like SA 8000 have now been started to get implemented in the industry at a large scale. This has also led to pressure on companies to limit sourcing from countries which violate the practices mandated under the norms of SA 8000. The Indian industry needs to improve its working practices and the fallout of the new international developments in this particular area. In such a scenario large players can take advantage of this and indulge in practices which promote sustainability. Proper water Use by textile mills and recycling and purifying water and then reusing it for industrial purposes can also serve the purpose in the long run. Textile Industry and water Pollution Textile Industry is one of the most polluting industries in the country and in terms of consumption of water it constitutes around 3.2% of total consumption of water for various processes like scouring, sizing, and bleaching, dying and other associated processes. It is one of the most growing sectors in the Indian economy in terms of its contribution to the total GDP of the country. Water pollution is done by each and every process in the whole manufacturing of textiles, The table below gives an exhaustive list of the various processes and the nature of effluents and pollutants which are released as a result of the above. Process Pollutants Nature of Effluents Desizing Starch, Glucose, Resins, Fats and Waxes High Biochemical oxygen demand Kiering Caustic Soda, Wax, Grease, Soda Ash, Sodium Sillicate Strongly Alkaline, High Biochemical oxygen Demand Bleaching Hypochlorite, Caustic soda, Hydrogen peroxide and acids Low biochemical oxygen demand and strongly alkaline Mercerization Caustic Soda Strongly alkaline, low biochemical oxygen demand Dyeing Reducing agents like sulphides, acetic acids and soaps Fairly high biochemical oxygen demand ,strongly colored Printing Dyes, starch, gums oil, china clay, mordants, acids and salts Faily high biochemical oxygen demand, Oily appearance Finishing Special finishes, starch, salts, tallow Low Biochemical oxygen demand, less alkaline The polluted water is very harmful for human beings living in and around the area where the pollution takes place as the turbidity of the water is very high and toxic elements present in the water which have a detrimental effect on humans and animals make such water unfit for consumption. The stakeholders which reside alongside areas which are affected by this menace face severe health hazards and face decrease and productivity and life span as a result of the above. Effects on Aquatic Life and Other living creatures High PH levels in water makes it alkaline, alkaline water is not fit for aquatic creatures like fishes and it also causes incrustation in sewers and may also damage crops by hampering their natural growth rate. Spoiling the natural color of water hampers the passage of sunlight and thus prevents photosynthesis in the aquatic plants and other marine life existing inside water. The effluents and oils present in the pollutants which are passed into water increase the turbidity of water and gives it a bad appearance and foul smell. Oily scum interferes with the oxygen transfer and colloidal matter clog the pores of soil. High levels of dissolved solids are detrimental to sewers as it causes incrustation in sewers. High level of sodium is also harmful to crops. Dissolved oxygen in water is an essential element in marine life and therefore the amount of oxygen required to correct the effluent is expressed in the form of biochemical oxygen demand or BOD. Steps to curb Water Pollution To curb pollution due to these textile mills in the areas around them the following measures can be taken in order to increase measures leading to long term sustainability as a corporate strategy which is wholly aligned to the business goals of being profitable in the long run and acquire market share in the future. Reduction in waste water volume: The water used in processing of textiles is reduced to a considerable extent such that the effluent concentration is limited to a specified small volume of water and it does not start impacting larger volume of water. Counter flow processing Water re-use technique which uses the same water before discharging it into the water body so that effluent concentration is limited to a small volume and more water is saved in the process. Reduction of process chemicals: The process chemicals create more than 90% of the pollution in textile industries. This also brings down the production cost in terms of the chemicals used. It can be achieved through reusing various chemicals when processes are completed. For Example: Caustic soda is recovered from the mercerizing and sourcing and is consequently filtered and dialyzed so that it can be reused. Process modification would involve slight modifications in the various processes used during manufacturing in order to create lesser pollution and reduces unnecessary wastage of water. Certain alternate chemicals can also be used during manufacturing so that recovering those chemicals become easy and it thus can be used in further manufacturing processes. Pre-Release Stage Water Treatment Before water is released into the nearest water body it is essential that it is treated properly in order to ensure that there is significant reduction in the level of pollutants in water before it gets released into the water body. The following steps are necessary in order to ensure proper water condition before release into the nearest river or stream or lake. Primary Treatment: It involves concepts of removal of suspended solids by sedimentation, floatation or coagulation techniques using alum and electrolyte. Secondary Treatment: This involves oxidation of organic matter by aeration either by chemical of biological methods or by both. This is done in presence of micro organisms in presence of chemicals such as Urea. Pollutants resistant to biodegradation such as detergents and petrochemicals are removed by non biological means and are again treated with bleaching powder before releasing them into the water body. Tertiary Treatments: Tertiary treatment contains of three main methods like Chemical Coagulation which involves a mixing tank with the effluent and the coagulant mixed and its PH adjusted to an optimum level. The resultant coagulated material is separated by sedimentation or flocculation. Carbon absorption Technique which is effective in removing pigments and dyes using carbon which is activated and has large surface area. Reverse osmosis where cellulose acetate is used to create a semi permeable membrane and subjected to pressure which is usually greater than the osmotic pressure of the effluent. This process can remove 95% of the dissolved solid content as the solution passes from area of higher concentration to lower concentration. Now to discuss the applicability of these methods to curb water pollution in Textile industry and also to do the cost benefit analysis of the same we shall discuss a relevant case of Tiruppur Textile Industry. Case discussion: Tiruppur Textile Industry Background South Asia lately has become the hub of Industrialisation and the unchecked growth is leading to severe environmental problems. Industries have sprung up as clusters which is why the issue of environmental pollution becomes even more relevant in highly water polluting industries like textile dyeing, leather tanning, paper and pulp processing, sugar manufacturing, etc. The runoff released by these industries leads to contamination of surface and ground water sources and eventually impacts the livelihood of the poor. In a usual scenario, the above mentioned industrial units function at a small or medium scale, are a huge employment opportunity for the locals and have the potential to generate foreign exchange because all these industries are export oriented and more than half of their produce is shipped abroad. Given the vast coverage of these industries, the pollution control mechanisms have been awfully weak in these units. The pollution control authorities have been lenient in imple menting the law and ensuring prevention of water pollution caused due to these industries mainly considering the socio economic benefits that they provide and also the low financial capacity of the small scale units. It is a huge capital investment for the relatively smaller industrial units to set up effluent treatment plants and the return on investment is very low. Since they provide employment, therefore these agencies have not tightened the noose on them. This stance of the Pollution Control Boards further discouraged the polluting industries to formulate and implement pollution management and reduction strategies either by efficient effluent treatment or process changes by adopting newer and cleaner technologies. In this report we have attempted to analyse the environmental impact of the production process followed in a textile unit with reference to Tiruppur, a major textile cluster in South India. A cost benefit analysis of the implementation of cleaner production processes and setting up of treatment plants has also been done to depict the return on investment for these textile units. Textile Industry And Its Benefits Tiruppur, located in Tamil Nadu, is a leading cotton knitwear industrial hub in South India. The industrial activities have experienced a rapid growth during the last two decades due to decentralization and flexibility. At this point of time more than 9000 small-scale textile related units are operating with a volume of investment more than US $ 200 million. The city of Tiruppur contributes 56% of the total cotton knitwear exports from India. The industry provides socio-economic benefits to the local community and to the nation in the form of employment, income, and foreign exchange. More than 2 lakh people are directly employed by this industry. The export value from Tiruppur during the year 2002 was about US $ 957.5 million. An equal amount is sold in the domestic market. The economic opulence of Tiruppur on this industry and the local community is employed either directly or indirectly in this industry in one way or the other. Textile Process And Pollution The textile manufacturing process on the whole is a polluting activity with the major contributors being the bleaching and dyeing (textile processing).During 1981, in Tiruppur , only around 70 textile units were operating. This number drastically rose to 450 ten years later and further to 866 in 1997. With due credit to efforts of the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) against the release of untreated effluents some units had to be shut down because of non-conformity to the pollution prevention standards in the state. In 2004 there were a total of 702 textile processing units functioning in Tiruppur. These units together used around 85 million litres per day (mld) of water and discharged a similar quantity (83 mld) as effluents, which are laced with a significant volume of chemicals used at the wet processing stage. The point worth noting here is that the amount of water used as input is almost same as the amount of water that is released in the water bodies which actually me ans that if there is a possibility to treat the effluents, the resultant residual water can be used as a recycled input and thus costs can be decreased. These units collectively produced a quantity of 15,000 tonnes of cloth per month. The incessant release of untreated effluents for more than 10 years has resulted in accumulation of harmful suspended and dissolved solids in the soil, ground water, etc. at Tiruppur and surroundings. During 1980 to 2000, the cumulative pollution load discharged by the Tiruppur units is as follows: Total Dissolved Solids(TDS) : 2.35 million tonnes Chloride: 1.31mt Sulphate: 0.13 mt Total Suspended Solids: 0.098 mt Chemical Oxygen Demand: 0.09mt Biological Oxygen Demand: 0.03 mt Oil and Grease: 0.001mt Impact of Textile Effluents On The Environment From the research conducted on water pollution in Tiruppur area, it is clearly evident that the accumulation of chemicals had added to the woes. All ground water studies showed that open wells and bore wells in and around Tiruppur exhibited high levels of TDS (ranging from 3000mg/l to 11,000 mg/l) and Chloride (ranging from 2000 mg/l to 5000 mg/l) due to industrial pollution and these values were much higher than the background level for this region. The available groundwater in this region was rendered unsuitable for domestic, industrial or irrigation consumption. The surface water studies indicated that the Noyyal river (the river passes through Tiruppur and receives the major share of untreated effluents), reservoir, downstream of Noyyam, (Orthapalayam) and irrigation tanks have been adversely affected by industrial pollution and the surface water is unfit for consumption purposes. A study to measure the quality of soil also indicated the pollution concentration and most of the ar ea the soil is alkaline (pH >8.5) or tending to alkalinity (pH 8-8.5). The Damage Cost Imposed By Pollution Due to high water pollution many adverse effects in the ecology of the Tiruppur area are observed. Agricultural water, drinking water and various fisheries in Tiruppur area and downstream villages have been affected. The water which has been polluted by the textile industry is injurious (EC>3mmhos/cm) to agriculture in an area of 146.3 square km and critical (EC 1.1 to 3 mmhos/cm) in 218.3 square km. Because of this, crop productivity in these villages has declined substantially which has affected the welfare of farmers. Recently farmers took action and filed a case against the industry. The total cost to agriculture was estimated at US $50 million. Drinking water in these villages has also been affected and the municipality has to bring additional water from neighboring villages. In affected villages, special water supply schemes have been issued by the Water Board. Also, a lot of the short fall is being met by bringing water from distant sources of water which leads to the wastage of a lot of time and effort. Considerin all of this, the total damage cost due to pollution of drinking water comes down to US$23.8 million. The fisheries activities in various downstream regions like the Noyyalriver, tanks and reservoirs have been affected as well. Fish mortality rate has increased which has led to a stoppage of fish culture. US $.15 miilion comes out to be the loss in value of fish and besides that, the possibility of the toxicity of existing fish is also high, consumption of which can lead to serious health problems. This high level of pollution has had an adverse effect on the operations of the industry itself. Since most of the industrial wells in this area have only coloured, or very highly polluted water, major water supply is brought in through tankers from peripheral areas. The cost incurred by the industry to maintain this additional source of water supply is US $165 million. Besdies this, the continued buying of water leads to the development of a water market, which causes the water levels in the peripheral villages to go down, affecting the livelihood of villagers. On many occasions, protests have been done by villagers against the water transfer. A mega water supply project is being undertaken by the Tiruppur Area Development Corporation. The total cost of this project is estimated to be US $269 millions and will have to be financed by government agencies and the consortium. Under this scheme, it has been planned that 185 mld of water, which would be both industrial and domestic, would be transferred to Tiruppur from River Cauvery, which is an interstate and a very controversial river in India. If this project would succeed, the industry will need to pay more than what they are currently paying for water, which could result in a huge cost increase for textile processing. Besides these quantifiable terms, human health and aquatic eco-system of river, tanks and reservoir, livestock etc. also get affected by water pollution, but their cost has not been taken into account as it is not easy to express in monetary terms. Status of Effluent Treatment On seeing various adverse effects and hence assessing the seriousness of pollution from textile affluents, the Courts finally gave an order against the continued functioning of various polluting units without being accompanied by effluent treatment plants in 1997. After this order, the state pollution control agency has increased the amount of pressure on all the textile manufacturing units towards effluent treatment. The units which were too small to comply with these regulations and survive were closed. Presently out of the existing 702 units, 278 units are treating upto 38 mld of water effluents through Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CEPTs) which are 8 in number and 424 units are treating upto 45 mldof chemical effluents using Individual Effluent Treatment Plants (IETPs). For effective effluent treatment, US $ 10 million has been spent for various fixed costs, which the Government subsidizes heavily. Besides these, an additional US $ 6.7 million has already been incurred as ann ual running costs. The cost analysis has shown that the variable cost per unit of effluent treatment is much higher than the capital cost both in the IETPs (which is 86% of total cost) and CETPs (which is 73%). Unfortunately the current treatment system is not sufficient for reducing the large amounts of TDS, particularly the acids like Chloride and Sulphates. The average concentration of TDS in the treated effluents is 300 of the TNPCB standard of 2100 mg/l. The same is true of Chloride, which averages more than 300% of the CETP existent standard. Learnings from the case Thus we can see that the management of environment at the Tiruppur textile industry has been difficult and the various difficulties faced by the various actors (State Pollution Control Board, Water Resources Organisations, Local Government , Industrial Organisations, NGOs etc.) or interested parties in this regard or in finding a solution for this problem. If these difficulties had been effectively dealt with, the environmental impacts could not have continued at this level. The above analysis on various RO plants and CPT for the textile units has clearly shown the long run advantage to the industries apart from reducing the various social costs. These technologies can be implemented by all large-scale units who possess the capacity for investment and have long-term vision about the business. But the affordability of affluent treatments among existing large number of small and medium units remains a big challenge. The textile manufacturing industry is predominantly an export oriented business which faces high competition. So any investment done on RO or CPT here impacts the cost of production by increasing it in the short run which is especially true for the smaller units. Also being able to find such big investment, which is approximately more than 10-20 times the overall capital investment, is almost impossible. But the introduction of a much cleaner production for textiles and the availability of advanced treatment technology is the viable long term solution towards further improvement of environmental standards. Realizing the same facts, (i.e. the existing economic benefits of the Tiruppur industry, social costs of pollution, various constraints in effective management of pollution among small scale units, and the need for a having a critical solution for the pollution problem), an integrated process of pollution management can be attempted at by different actors who are related to Tiruppur textile business. In such circumstances the role of various foreign buyers and the consumers of Tiruppur garments are greatly significant. If a very strong demand for garments which are pollution free or come with a green label is observed from them along with a willingness to pay more, definitely it would provide pressure to introduce cleaner technology by the various industries operating in this domain. A few very small units will have no other option but to close down, since making such an investment may not be viable for them. Other units however can think of various steps like unit modification individually or even have joint units. Most critical are proper technical guidelines for these units and financial support is needed for the units from various domestic and foreign research institutions and other donor agencies. In parallel, sincere collaborative efforts from joint industrial associations, pollution law enforcement agencies, industrial consultants and experts, etc. are also required. Only than the textile industry in Tiruppur would be a ble to achieve the ideal objective of sustainable development. Recommended Strategy for companies in textile industry The companies in Textile industries can be divided into two: Major players with financial strength to invest in greener technologies and small player which need assistance even to maintain regulatory standards. Hence the strategy will also differ based on the type of company. Strategy for small players A broad categorization has been done based on the revenue. Below Rs. 10 million the company can be said a small company. It is imperative for a small company to follow regulatory standards at least. While government is finding difficult to close all such factory due to labor intensive nature of such industry it is always a long term risk hence the standards should always be maintained. Hence their strategy is to achieve the minimum standards by increasing the cost as less as possible. The immediate high investment in green technology may throw them out of market. Following strategy must be followed by the company. To have least impact on increment in costs the company might seek financial assistance from government subsidy or jointly making investments. To get knowledge assistance it could collaborate with various stakeholders. Small Players (Under Rs. 10 million) Strategic Objective Maintain Pollution control board standards with least impact of costs Maintain PCB Standards (Avoid risk of closure) Annual maintenance and up gradation as per standards Collaboration with the foreign buyer Setting up Joint Effluent Treatment Plants (JETP) Identify subsidies given by government and avail them Join with other small players to invest in ETP Collaboration with pollution enforcement agencies, NGOs, industrial consultants, Industrial associations, Financial assistance Knowledge Assistance Least impact on costs (Remain competitive) Strategy for big players: A major player could afford a significant investment for the long term overall benefit. The strategy should be to gain competitive advantage by achieving Cleaner process technology and establishing efficient effluent treatment plants. These will have high investments in short term but will give major cost advantage and high value of intangibles, other important aspect is to have a differentiation based on greener features. This way a high premium could be charged against the product and much higher overall profitability could be achieved. Big Players (Above Rs. 10 million) Strategic Objective Differentiate product based on Green features Process improvement (Raw material efficiency, Waste reduction) Application of Cleaner Process Technology (CPT) e.g. soft flow machines, dye bath segregation etc. Collaborate with foreign buyers to create demand for green products Establish Individual Effluent Treatment Plant (IETP) Recycle major percentage of used water using RO etc. technology Get green label and accreditations from ISO etc. Recycling of critical resources (Water) Promotions as a Clean and Green Product

Viriginia Woolf :: Author Viriginia Woolf feminism relationships

Viriginia Woolf (this essay has problems with the format) One of the greatest female authors of all time, Virginia Woolf, produced a body of writing respected worldwide. Driven by uncontrollable circumstances and internal conflict, her life was cut short by suicide. Her role in feminism, along with the personal relationships in her life, influenced her literary works. Virginia's relationships throughout her life contributed, not only to her literature, but the quality of her life as well. Perhaps the greatest influence in Virginia's life is her mother, Julia Stephen. "Julia Stephen was the most arresting figure which her daughter [Virginia Woolf] tried to resurrect and preserve" (Gordon 4). Woolf, a manic-depressive, found herself constantly searching for approval. "Virginia needed her mother's approval in order to 'measure her own stature" (Bond 38). Battling with a sense of worthlessness, Virginia's mother helped her temporarily rid herself of self-criticism and doubt. This however was short-lived. When Mrs. Stephen rejected Virginia, she felt her mother's disapproval directly related to the quality of her writing. "Virginia Woolf could not bear to reread anything she had written†¦ Mrs. Stephen's rejection of Virginia may have been the paradigm of her failure to meet her own standards" (Bond 39). With the death of her mother Woolf used her novel, To the Lighthouse to "reconstruct and preserve" the memories that still remained. According to Woolf, "the character of Mrs. Ramsey in To the Lighthouse was modeled entirely upon that of her mother" (Bond 27). This helped Virginia in her closure when dealing with the loss and obsession with her mother. Although Virginia clung to the relationship with her mother, she favored her father, Leslie Stephen. Virginia resembled her father uncannily in character traits, in her writing and self-doubts, in her great and malicious sense of humor, in her marriage, in her frugality, in her fear of aging, and in her social consciousness. (Bond 59) They were both extremely outspoken while sparing no one's feelings with their comments. Virginia and Leslie both had strong personalities and rapid mood changes. Woolf portrayed her father, like her mother, through characterization in To the Lighthouse. Mr. Ramsey captures her father as a man of "baffling mutability, a lightening switch from the m ost lovable of men, to a 'famished wolfhound' and back again" (Gordon 22). This portrayal of Leslie Stephens relates to his uncontrollable rages and mood swings. Leslie Stephen not only controlled Virginia's mental development, but her intellectual development as well.

Comparison of the Theories of Sigmund Freud and Emile Durkheim on Religion

Abstract This paper examines the works of Sigmund Freud and Emile Durkheim on religion, looking at how both theorists essentially viewed religion as serving an integral role in human culture. In particular, this essay considers how both theorist consider religious believers to be mistaken in their ontological beliefs, and the rational causes for this. Introduction While both Sigmund Freud and Emile Durkheim are concerned with the study of human behaviour as it relates to culture, each does so from within distinct traditions. In terms of religion, Freud’s approach belongs to the psychological tradition, while Durkheim puts forward a sociological approach. In the Freudian view, human behaviour is largely driven by inborn and intangible â€Å"drives†, working in the unconscious. Such phenomena are not directly observable, that is, they are non-empirical; they must consequently be inferred, and as such are conjectural. Durkheim’s sociological method, on the other hand, utilises direct empirical observations of social phenomena (rites, rituals, customs, et cetera), looking to account for the impetus behind and purpose of group behaviour. Hence Freud is concerned with obscure, intangible internal phenomena, whereas Durkheim is concerned with overt and tangible external phenomena. Evidently, the theoretical positions in question to a degree divide between internal and external motivations. Different Routes to the Core of a Delusion Durkheim posits a direct connection between environmental variables, the way groups interact with such variables, and how this interaction is perceived by individual members of said group. There is a mode of cyclical reflexivity in this dynamic: this means people â€Å"living together in society generate rules which are felt by any individual member as acting on him from outside, as having a force which he feels as both uplifting and constraining† (Scharf 1970, 151). This force, Durkheim argues, is an externalisation of conventions peculiar to the group; that are perceived as exogenous but which are in fact endogenous. This tendency to externalise, Durkheim suggests, derives from the natural human desire to ascribe meaning to experience, to seek a pattern in the natural order. Thus, as Kunin states, religion likewise â€Å"is an externalisation of society and its order† and speaks to the â€Å"dialectic relationship between the individual and society† (2003, 82). Religion, then, provides for an externalised object onto which collective emotion can be projected; this is ultimately reflexive because the externalisation at root represents the people themselves. As a result, to honour religious custom is indirectly to honour the group. This is why for Durkheim religious experience serves to strengthen group cohesion and bonding. Freud’s understanding of religion is somewhat pejorative. Connolly observes that Freud noticed â€Å"the connection between abnormal psychological conditions and religion† (1991, 146): which observation he expanded upon in his study â€Å"Obsessive acts and Religious Practices† (1907). As the paper’s title suggests, Freud drew a connection between psychological abnormality and religious practice, noting a resemblance between â€Å"what are called obsessive acts in neurotics and those religious observances by means of which the faithful give expression to their piety† (17). In turn, Fre ud perceived religion, like neurosis, as symptomatic of deep-seated psychological issues. In the words of Gallucci, â€Å"Freud saw religion as a collective neurotic symptom, an obsessional neurosis† (2001, 76). This â€Å"neurosis†, according to psychoanalytic theory, comes about as a defence mechanism against feelings of helplessness which obtain in a dispassionate cosmos. Hence the need for a cosmic father figure, who, as a parent comforts the child, palliates the religious subject with conciliatory notions (about purpose, meaning, boundaries, rewards, and so on). This entire dynamic apparently stems from Oedipal anxieties, where â€Å"each person grows up with a sense of foreboding toward a father figure who is both feared and loved†; this, it follows, â€Å"becomes the basis for the cosmic father figure, who offers protection and salvation but in the meantime needs to be appeased by devotion and sacrifice† (Clarke 2002, 43). In Freud’s mind, r eligion therefore constitutes a surrogate parent. On the surface, Freud and Durkheim proffer two seemingly quite different explanations for religion. Importantly, while these theories are not overtly complementary, nor are they mutually exclusive. Indeed, significant parallels may be drawn between each approach. For example, both both theorists argued that religion is an important factor in community cohesion (Scharf 1970, 155); both agree that â€Å"religion is central to any cultural analysis† (Ginsburg and Pardes 2006, 220); and, thus, both hold that â€Å"that the cognitive roots of religious belief are to be found in social experience† (Spiro 1987, 202). These similarities are significant and, moreover, point to one common determinant: that the underlying basis of religious convictions are contrary to what believers suppose. For Durkheim, the real driving force behind religion is social cohesion; for Freud, the impetus is psychological assuagement. In either case, social unity and mental wellbeing obtain, only for slightly different conceptual reasons. From the above, one might argue that Freud and Durkheim share significant overarching perspectives on religion while holding markedly different structural viewpoints on how and why religion functions. Freud is concerned with psychological structures; Durkheim with sociological structures. Freud believes religion works to console believers from the ultimate anxiety of a meaningless cosmos. Durkheim believes religion provides for a canvas on which social phenomena can be externalised and then re-accommodated as an exogenous entity. Again, both modes of behaviour essentially work to the same purpose: instilling a sense of meaning in human life. At this stage, one might consider the ways in which Freudian theory could compensate for shortfalls in the work of Durkheim and vice versa. For instance, Durkheim offers little in the way of early psychological developmental insights, into the religious pr ocess; yet there is no reason that early anxiety (of an Oedipal nature) could not cohere with Durkheimian ideas. Indeed, such anxiety and the consequent potential for neurosis could suggest an even greater need for group cohesion: as a way of reifying the delusion through consensus, thus alleviating the anxiety. Again, this would chime with Durkheim’s understanding that religion is â€Å"a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things [. . .] which unite in one single moral community called a Church† (cited in Gain 2010, 39). By the same token, Freud’s limitations could perhaps be overcome with reference to some of Durkheim’s insights. Scharf notes a â€Å"weakness of Freudian theory† in that it â€Å"does little to explain [the] variety† in articulations of paternity and fraternity within religious discourse, advising that, here, â€Å"Durkheim’s structural approach has more value† (1970, 154). Accordingly we see that a synthesis of theoretical approaches may not only be possible but highly advantageous. Conclusion Freud and Durkheim take very different roads to arrive at more or less the same destination. For this reason, significant and consistent core elements may be identified between their works. These include the fundamental belief that religion serves an explicable, material, social purpose which is essentially external to theological concerns; that religious believers are at base mistaken in their beliefs (insomuch as these beliefs are connected to cosmic phenomena beyond the rationally explicable); that, it follows, religion is the irrational articulation of an ultimately rational cause (anxiety or clan behaviour); that religion can function as a surrogate or projection of humanity – reformed with divine auspices; and that, finally, religion is an integral element of human culture. What is fundamentally different in these two authors is their methodological priorities. Each man comes from a very distinct tradition. Put simply, Freud and Durkheim were engaged in different discipl ines; as a result, their pursuits were orientated differently The reason Freud and Durkheim’s works are compared at all is that the realms of the sociological and of the psychological possess mutual territory: the grounds of culture. Both theorists have their limitations. Durkheim can be accused of being over reductive and simplistic. Social structure may not be enough to account for every aspect of religion. Psychological, cognitive and other inborn factors may also have a large part to play. Freud, on the other hand, may place too much onus on the unconscious drives in dictating religious experience. After all, religion is so varied and complex, it might be argued, to defy any wholesale theory to explain it away. What, for example, do we make of religions in which there is no â€Å"father figure† proper; or religions which proclaim no deity at allClearly there are unanswered questions on both sides of the aisle. Perhaps a hybrid methodology that adopted a syncretic a pproach to the study of religion might help answer these questions. After all, it seems to be the case that both Freud and Durkheim arrived at crucial insights into the social and psychological determinants that drive religion. References Clarke, P. J. (2002) Explaining Philosophy and Ethics. Cheltenham: Nelson Thomas. Connolly, P. (1991) â€Å"Psychological Approaches†. In: Connolly, P. ed. Approaches to the Study of Religion. New York: Continuum, pp. 135-193. Durkheim, E. (1912). The Elementary Forms of Religious Life. (J. Swain, Trans.) New York: The Free Press. Freud, S. (1907) â€Å"Obsessive Acts and Religious Practices†. In: J Strachey (ed. and trans.) Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud. London: Hogarth Press. Gain, M., 2010. On Durkheim’s Rules of Sociological Method (Routledge Revivals). New York: Routledge. Gallucci, G. M., 2001. Plato and Freud: Statesmen of the Soul. Philadelphia: Xlibris. Ginsburg, R. & Pardes, L., 2006. New Perspectives on Freud’s Moses and Monotheism. Tubingen: Niemeyer. Kunin, S. D., 2003. Religion: The Modern Theories. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Scharf, B. R., 1970. â€Å"Durkheimian and Freudian Theories of Religion: The Case of Judaism†, The British Journal of Sociology, Vol. 21. 2 (June), pp. 151-163. Spiro, M. E., 1987. Culture and Human Nature. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction.

Book Review: War! What Is It Good For?

Putting 100 years in respective and compare the 100, 200 million people died from a population of 10 billion which makes a percentage of 1 to 2 who died violently. Those born in the 20th century are lucky as the average of violent death is 10 times less compare to those born in Stone Age. This text has one of the greatest paradoxes of human history as it states that war has made the world much safer now. War Is considered as a massive murder and claiming that it has a positive consequence In not right, but the author argues to It as the philosopher Thomas Hobbes once concluded the same In the 1640 urine the English Call war.Archeology has shown that people has been killing themselves for about 50000 years and their population Just Increase by twice but during the Ice age 10000 BC where there were less wars, the plant and animal multiplied themselves at a very high rate. Before 10000 BC all humans had been hunters and after 10000 BC human started farming. Later something unusual happe n, the stronger started to include the weaker into larger societies. Slowly from Egypt to Peru many were adopting this method.The stronger understood that to cake lager societies they need to make a stronger government and this was done by suppressing violence among the subjects. Those who govern stop killing the well behaved as they are easier to govern and taxed that those who are violent thus, this has resulted into a 90% decrease in violent death. It Is true that not all government is good at delivering peace. Dictators Like Heelers, Stall's, Mass and Did Malls, tend to shoot, stave and gas a lot of people to make things done. Thus war has made states and states have made peace.War may not be a pleasant way of making larger and useful societies but it was the only way that human have found. The author argues that if conflicts could have been argued and resolved by discussion, human could have greatly benefited from it. The author added that people uses war as a way to make gover nment. The larger and safer the societies the richer the government. Peace can result in economical growth. So in a way war has enriched the world. The author concluded that somehow war has been beneficial as it has brought bigger societies, stronger government and bring peace and prosperity in the societies.Nowadays, people live twice as those in 10000 years before. War has not Just bring peace and wealth but also made us good at fight more efficiently organized and bigger destructive weapons. Book Review: War! What Is It Good For? By perplex The atrocity of war cannot be overstated but, Ian Morris gives a different view about it. In 1945, mostly 100 million people died and the nuclear war begun. Between the First World War and civil war it is said to be the worst but also the best time of states that war has made the world much safer now.War is considered as a massive ruder and claiming that it has a positive consequence in not right, but the author argues to it as the philosopher Thomas Hobbes once concluded the same in the 1640 during the English Civil war. Archeology has shown that people has been killing themselves for about 50000 years and their population Just increase by twice but during the ice age 10000 BC where there were less wars, the plant and animal has resulted into a 90% decrease in violent death. It is true that not all government is good at delivering peace. Dictators like Hitless, Stalin, Mass and Did Mains, tend to

20 Topics on Psychology Studies for a Statistical Report

20 Topics on Psychology Studies for a Statistical Report If you need 20 topics on   psychology studies for a statistical report, look no further. If you are interested in elaborate and narrow essay topics with which you can explore psychology studies, consider the 20 below: The Effect of Television on Time Spent Completing an Assignment Limited Concentration and Fear Factors in Interaction Design Understanding Human Factors in User Interaction Design Human Resources Management: How Labor Rights Changed After the Arab Spring from the Perspective of HRM The UAE Used Car Market: Cherries, Lemons Market Mechanisms Why and How Firms Use Currency Derivatives to Achieve Their Financial Goal The Effect of Paper Color on Exam Performance Childhood Abuse Survivors and Adult Coping Skills Dementia Care: Social Work Practice Interventions The Relationship between ITS Experience and Emotional Stability, Controlling for Age and Gender Government Contractors are Valuable to the Federal Government: Pros and Cons Effects of Parental Incarceration and Marital Status on the Mental Health of Adolescents in Ethnic Minorities Dioxin Effects on Cancer Growth in Children Staff Turnover Rates in Early Childhood Education, and its Effect on Outcomes for Children Enrollment Management: How Numbers Impact Productivity PCMH for Increased Outcomes and Reduced Re-Admissions Tutoring in Elementary School: How it Improves Lifetime Success Parental Involvement in Private School: Improving Student Academics Meeting Social Responsibility through Supply Chain Management Age Diversity in the Workplace: How to Tackle the Issues Aren’t those topics interesting? Well that’s not all you get. We also have a collection of 10 facts on psychology studies and a guide on writing a statistical report. Below you will find a great statistical report sample on psychology studies: Sample Statistical Report: The Effect of Television on Time Spent Completing an Assignment It is commonplace today for school aged children to sit in front of the television when they start homework. Of course college students will simultaneously complete homework assignments or read a text book while ripping through channels on TV. Many of the students argue that having a distraction in the form of television and radio while completing homework does not interfere with the ability to complete homework effectively. In fact many students argue that having a TV in the background functions as a white noise which they have to actively block out in order concentrate. Today teachers and parents are the few remaining individuals who disagree with this theory and as such researchers have thought out the answer as to whether television does have an impact on homework one way or the other. Previous studies have focused on the effects of watching or listening to television while doing homework (Cool, et al., 1994). These researchers provided their participants with a specific amount of time during which they were instructed to complete the assignment. Some of the participants were exposed to television as they worked and others were not. The research discovered that significantly fewer questions were completed within the given timeframe when a participant in question was exposed to television as compared to those participants who were exposed to relative silence. In addition to this they have determined that those who had watched television had showed worse results compared to those who were given silence first. Another study by Pool, et al., (2003) had focused specifically on the impact a soap opera had on students, trying to complete their homework. In this study the participants were placed in three different conditions. First was a visual soap opera, the second was given the audio soundtrack to a soap opera and the third was no sound at all. All of the participants were provided with memorization assignments and the results from this study indicated that participants who were in the visual soap opera category required significantly more time to complete the same assignment compared to the other two groups. In addition to this half of the participants had to increase the amount of time it took for them to complete the work because they were continually working away from the assignment to the television. A study similar to these two set out to determine if there was anything in a real life more exciting which was distracting to the ability to complete homework on time (Patton, 1983). These experimenters provided questionnaires to 387 students and asked them to fill out the questionnaire at home and return them to the experimenters. The capacity theory states that in case the brains are exposed to two different functions each of which requires attention, the attention will be divided between the two evenly and the general performance will diminish. In this case it refers to watching television and completing homework (Goldstein, 2005, p. 15). Each of these studies have come to similar conclusions regarding the effect the television has on studying. In the previous studies the number of questions answered within a specific amount of time was also one of the main factors. This particular study is different in that it focuses on time as the a dependent variable and not the number of questions which are answered. The current study aims to share the impact that watching television has on the amount of time it takes students in college to complete a homework assignment. It is hypothesized that sitting in front of the television will increase the amount of time taken to complete a homework assignment. The study found that watching television increases the amount of time it took to complete an assignment even if students only have the television on in the background. The results of the study remained consistent with all previous studies related to the effect that television has on completing assignments. This study had determined that many participants exposed to television would regularly look up at the screen which was the key factor behind the extended amount of time it took to complete the assignments. This finding is consistent with the work noted by Pool, et al. (2003) where participants regularly looked up at the television screen. By looking up at the screen the brain experienced the divided attention related to the capacity theory and as a result both of the tax diminished. The success for the mass of the tasks remains proportional to the amount of cognitive resources being utilized and in this case the amount of resources necessary for each individual task was more than t he amount of cognitive resources available at any given time. Other studies have focused on how many questions were completed in a specific amount of time and this study was different in that students were encouraged to complete their tasks under time constraints. References: Cool, V., Yarbrough, D. B., Patton, J. E., Runde, R. Experimental effects of radio and  television distractors on children’s performance on mathematics and reading assignments. Journal of Experimental Education, (1994) 62, 181-194. Garner, Roberta, and Gregory M. Scott.  Doing qualitative research: designs, methods, and techniques. Pearson Education, 2013. Goldstein, E. B., Cognitive psychology, connecting mind, research, and everyday experience.  (2005) Belmont: Thomson Wadsworth. Patton, J. E., Stinard, T. A., Routh, D. K. Where do children study? Journal of Educational Research, (1983). 76, 280-286. Pool, M. M., Koolstra, C. M., Van Der Voort, T. H. A. Distraction effects of background soap operas on homework performance: An experimental study enriched with observational data. Educational Psychology, (2003). 23, 361-380. Wang, Zheng, et al. Multidimensions of Media Multitasking and Adaptive Media Selection.  Human Communication Research  41.1 (2015): 102-127. Wiecha, Jean L., et al. Household television access: associations with screen time, reading, and homework among youth.  Ambulatory Pediatrics  1.5 (2001): 244-251. Wolfe, David A., Maria G. Mendes, and David Factor. A parent†administered program to reduce childrens television viewing.  Journal of applied behavior analysis  17.2 (1984): 267-272. Xu, Jianzhong, and Hongyun Wu. Self-regulation of homework behavior: Homework management at the secondary school level.  The Journal of Educational Research  106.1 (2013): 1-13.

Art critisim essays

Art critisim essays While attending the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art I was fascinated by all the different styles, textures, and materials that where used to make art. But of all the extraordinary works of art on display perhaps one of the smaller pieces was the one that had the biggest impact on me. In this art criticism paper about Jackson Pollocks, Silver and Black Diptych, exhibited in the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, a description, interpretation and summary will help the reader understand and appreciate this 1950 work of art. This piece of art created by Jackson Pollock in 1950 is an oil paint and metal on a canvas. The artwork measures exactly 11 Â ½ x 17 inches. The white canvas is painted in Pollocks signature way of flinging, dribbling, and puddling the paint across the canvas. It seems that the piece (canvas) was painted as a whole but is now divided into two equal halves. Hints the title of the piece Silver and Black Diptych, diptych meaning two. Pollock often altered or trimmed his paintings to suite the image. The painting consists of silver and black as the two dominating colors. An extremely dark red and peach color is used sporadically throughout the canvas as well. Also a little orange and blue appear. A thin metal copper colored piece divides the artwork in half. The same material used to divide the artwork is also used as the frame or outer piece. The frame looks to be hand made to fit the canvas exactly. On the right side of the divider in the lower right hand corner is where the most pai nt is applied, mostly black and silver. Also located on the right side of the divider but in the upper right hand corner is an added piece of silver metal that is attached to the canvas. This metal piece is also painted mostly in silver. The paint applied in this work of art is very spread out, where as in some of Pollocks other paintings very little canvas is visible ...

Aesthetically Pleasing Efficient Intelligent Building Skins Engineering Essay

Aesthetically Pleasing Efficient Intelligent Building Skins Engineering Essay Architecture is no longer static and unchangeable – instead it is dynamic, responsive and conversant – The idea that building skins reflect the skins of living organisms: properly designed, they breathe, change form, and adapt to variations in climate – But can highly efficient intelligent skins still be aesthetically pleasing? â€Å"A building becomes a chameleon which adapts. A properly equipped and responsively clothed building would monitor all internal and external variables, temperature, hygrometry and light levels, solar radiation etc, to determine the best energy equation given these conditions and modify the building and it’s internal systems accordingly. It is not too much to ask of a building to incorporate, in its fabric and its nervous system, the very basic vestiges of an adaptive capability.† (Rogers 1978) The aim of this paper is to explore the notion of incorporating intelligence into a buildings faà §ade. The discussion about the energy efficiency of faà §ades has inspired many architects to no longer view the building envelope as static but as a dynamic being, that can adjust its shape, surface, function and interior spaces in real time in response to intelligent controls that monitor active feedback from the environment. Solar and wind energy, daylight, and water can be captured by buildings and reused efficiently. An Intelligent building is one that combines both active features and passive design strategies to provide maximum user comfort by using minimum energy. The intelligent faà §ade forms part of the intelligent building, it is what protects the inhabited interior whilst controlling exchanges between inside and outside at the envelope level. The plan being to respond effectively to changing climate conditions and inhabitant needs in order to improve functional performance. A buildings faà §ade doesn’t just play a key role in the sustainability of a building; adding to both energy efficien cy and the quality of the internal climate. It is also a fundamental part of the building’s aesthetic, adding to the structural outline and defining its visual impact on the urban surroundings. A faà §ade can only be described as intelligent when it makes use of natural renewable energy sources such as solar energy, airflows or ground heat to meet a building’s requirements in terms of heating, cooling and lighting. The idea that the fabric of a building can increase its interaction and response to external changes and internal demands with a prime objective of lowering the environmental load is an exciting concept. The facades almost become local, non-polluting energy suppliers to the building. The notion of intelligent building facades is not a new idea; however the implementation of high-tech skins has been slow. While fashionable and almost certainly advantageous, sceptical architects are afraid that operable components are magnets for value engineering or foresee them being stripped off their buildings in the future due to poor performance or poor maintenance. However, the rising cost of energy, latest environmental initiatives and the focus on the green propaganda has put great responsibility on architects and engineers to make continuous energy savings and this must be achieved through effective building design and clever management. Almost seven years after the European Union passed legislation requiring property owners to report on the energy performance of their buildings, a new round of tougher regulations is under way. Plans to revise the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) in 2010 are expected to result in even tighter emissions targets for new buildings. Gradually more and more architects are beginning to enjoy automating their facades rather than leaving energy-efficient functions to chance. Consequently, the crucial boundary connecting the interior environment and the elements is getting more consideration and consequ ently more animated.

Puritan ideals in colonial America reflected the cultural attitude and Essay

Puritan ideals in colonial America reflected the cultural attitude and defined the role of women in their society - Essay Example Choosing to be a single woman was considered by the Puritans to be disregarding ‘God’s will.’ These women were looked upon suspiciously and this choice heightened the chance that they would be accused of being a witch. This discussion will examine the role of women in colonial America and how the religious Puritanical system of the time defined women’s rights and duties within that society. Puritan women were prevented from owning property; they could not negotiate their own contracts or even keep any of their own wages. â€Å"Before the middle of the nineteenth century, the property rights of American married women followed the dictates of common law, under which everything a woman owned became her husband’s property upon her marriage† (â€Å"Married Women’s Property Acts†, n.d.). These restrictions on what a woman could do or own were partly due to the fact that most women were not considered intelligent enough to consider all the consequences involved in managing business or political situations. Women also played the subordinate role in defining the family’s religious beliefs. The observed religious traditions that guided the patriarchal family order allowed wives only a small authoritative role within the family unit. For instance, mothers were trusted and expected to pass along the teachings of the Puritans and Christianity to the children. Husbands could, and often did, entrust their wives to handle various legal and financial matters of the household or family farm but the extent of power the wife possessed always remained at her husband’s discretion. Wives that happily accepted their role and conformed to Puritan societal standards were openly referred to and addressed as ‘goodwife.’ However, the authoritative figure in the family and throughout all facets of Puritan society was clearly the man. The only role that wives served in the male dominated public psyche

Lease Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Lease - Essay Example he FSAB standards, the lease agreement is for the use of the combustion turbine which could qualify as a capital lease because it is an agreement for the use of a piece of property that could be classified as an asset. The first item to be assessed is the legal fees arising in connection with the lease, i.e., $500K to Stipe, Berry, Mills and Buck, together with $1 million in legal fees incurred by Goliath Co. These expenses would fall under the category of external expenses that are not incurred on a sustained basis, but rather are a one-off expense. They do not fall under the category of a recurring expense and moreover, the total value of the payments as mentioned above, is unlikely to add up to a sum that is greater than 90% of the fair value of the leased asset, i.e., the combustion turbine. This expense can however be included in the Balance sheet of the Company as an establishment expense, which would fall under the category of a one-time expense for setting up the lease. The a dvantage of this method is that it could contribute towards the payment of lower taxes to be paid on incomes gained from the leased property during the first year of lease. In regard to the second provision, the lease is a capital lease that would fall under the category of a direct financing lease, because lease payments are being made by a bank and Goliath Company which is leasing out the asset does not gain any share in the profits of Big Bear. The default provision in the lease requires a penalty payment from Big Bear if there is a â€Å"material adverse change† in its financial condition. Although this term is not specifically defined under the agreement, nevertheless the direct inference would be construed as any change in financial circumstances that lead to Big Bear being unable to make its payments. The inclusion of a penalty payment is a fairly standard provision within a lease document, but the instigating factor is a default in the bank’s credit arrangement. This

Change Management term paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Change Management - Term Paper Example The Aster Group provides homes and housing related services in England. For excellent leadership and performance, it secured the â€Å"Beacon Company† award in 2006. In fact, the company was forced to change and diversify due to a number of factors. First of all, as Green (2007) notes, the company wanted to shift from a local authority culture to an autonomous not-for-profit nature. Also, the Housing Corporation decided to reduce the number of approved organizations from 350 to 70. So, to retain business, the company had to go a long way from its 110th position. The way to achieve the same for Aster was to merge and seek new alliances. Starting at the Top However, one can observe slight differences in the way both of the companies introduced change. In the case of Biogen Idec, the company set up a project team, which looked into the various factors associated with the change. Various heads including â€Å"international business, commercial operations, human resources, and int ernational legal affairs were part of the project team, and every aspect of the change† was identified and analyzed (Green, 2007, p.90). Admittedly, the company was performing well in accordance with the Change Management guideline which indicates that it is necessary to understand the need for change through Diagnosing Change (Change Management, n. d.). On the other hand, in Aster, the change started from the new chief executive of the company, who tried to introduce a culture that just â€Å"keeps moving all the time†. In other words, observing the challenges ahead, the chief executive decided to move away from its local authority structure and develop a group structure. Thus, the company worked with Testway – and both chief executives considered open discussion as an important factor to ensure proper collaboration. As acquisition and merger were a part of the change strategy, a board was developed, which included important leaders of both the firms. And as the re were more mergers and acquisitions, more and more personnel were included in the board according to requirements. Anyway, as Gossas commented, the leadership led the change in both of the cases (Ahiberg & Naucler, 2007). Involving all the Layers In Aster Group, first of all, replacing the previous autocratic management style, the new chief executive introduced the culture of open communication and feedback. This resulted in better cooperation from the part of managers and other staff. Thus, at first, he managed to secure the belief and support of the managers and staff. Then, he encouraged the people to contribute their own opinions and suggestions for the future course of action. Here, as Jones, Aguirre, and Calderone (2004) point out, the leadership was giving adequate attention to the human factor, because, for making all the employees committed to the vision of change, the leadership role was effectively handed over to the managers. According to the writers, after allowing au tonomy in day to day operations, the board focused on long term strategic issues; and anyway, both the companies followed the golden rule that change should start at the top. Also, by enlightening and enabling all the layers, the leadership ensured the involvement of every layer. Increased Autonomy to Units and Affiliates In fact, both the companies changed their management styles to introduce various autonomous or semi-autonomous units. To illustrate, the board of Aster Group decided to hand over

Managing Radical Changes in an Organization Essay

Managing Radical Changes in an Organization - Essay Example The use of organizational teams by most organizations to implement radical changes has been a core recommendation by most scholars however, the requirements for these teams to be successful in the change implementation are not clear. However, the composition of the change teams and how they are selected, their motivation and influence of engaging with the employees on the need to make changing to the company, are critical to the success of the change implementation. In this study several theories are put in place to identify the strategies that any team carrying out change must observe for it to be successful. Nevertheless, the adoption-innovation theory, and the ability based theory of emotional intelligence proposes that the teams that observe the views of the employees, the team that uses the cognitive style will no fact be successful in the implementation of any form of change. Moreover, the leader of the team has a direct effect on the success of radical change implementation (A ntonakis 2009). ... While there might be several factors behind these failures, there is the underestimation of the quantity of time and the energy required that would create a new organizational culture so that the employees might be accepted and feel this change in the organization. Without employee engaging in any type of change, there is little realization of the profits or the required results. The organizational change is therefore a slow and dynamic process that needs careful planning. The external forces in the present economic and social environment have made many organizations to seek the best ways in which to adapt and implement the changes they need in the organization. Nevertheless, the need to maintain the legitimacy of the company and the need to maintain the viability of the resources (Armenakis 1999). Thus therefore, there is a need to focus on radical change initiatives for the organizations to benefit from any form of change they are about to implement. The radical changes in the mobi le banking industry are often associated with some form of risk and difficult to implement. Change Process Models According to Baron (1997), change is a slow and dynamic process in an organization. It consists of several phases that need to be successive. These he referred successive phases as â€Å"unfreezing, moving, and refreezing† (Barbuto 2006). Several other recent studies have based their ideas on this phase model and come up with related models that aim to show the practical aspect of the implementation of the radical changes by an organization. Baron (1997) asserts that the implementation of the radical changes in an organization is a daunting task and therefore throughout the

UK politics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

UK politics - Essay Example This is the reason why UK’s government from 1997-2010 has been dubbed as the â€Å"Labour Government.† British prime ministers serve the British people for not more than five years (Magstadt, 2008). This means that after five years, another prime minister will be chosen unless the current leader can maintain the parliament’s â€Å"vote of confidence† (Magstadt, 2008). Blair’s political career is a perfect example for this political situation. After he served the British people for five years, he was again elected for another term. Blair was reelected by the British parliament in 2001 (Childs, 2008). It was another victory for the Labour Party after Blair’s landslide election in 1997 (Childs, 2008). The Third Way The â€Å"Third Way† is actually an ideology (Walraven & Persons, 2000). It is often associated with the Labour Party. This political idea was actually introduced by Tony Blair (Holmes, 2009). He has utilized this ideology when he ran for public office in 1997 to be UK’s prime minister. He described his platform of governance as the â€Å"Third Way†. This description seemingly suggests a different way of imposing policies in United Kingdom. Blair was actually aiming for ideological change. He wanted to change the political landscape of British government. He neither favored the first and second way of leading Britain. The first way refers to Margaret Thatcher’s leadership while the second way pertains to John Major’s administration. It was Blair’s vision to implement a new policy. The â€Å"Third Way† or the so called â€Å"New Labour† is the way to adopt this modern course of action (Kramp, 2010). Blair called this policy as â€Å"neither the old left nor the new right† (Leach, 2009 cited in Kramp, 2010, p.4). In other words, the â€Å"Third Way† proposes changes which do not adopt to the old party’s agenda (Kramp, 2010). It establishe s a new and independent policy. It tries to separate itself from Thatcher and Major’s conservative governments (Kramp, 2010). Stated in another sense, the â€Å"Third Way† is a whole new political ideology. According to Kramp (2010), it is a hybrid. Anthony Giddens, the author of the â€Å"Third Way† ideology declared that all he wanted to make is a framework of a collaborated or integrated political programme which will cover each of the significant parts of society (Giddens, 1998). This means that Giddens aims for equality among the British citizens in terms of public services. He wanted to create a point of convergence between the left and right ideologies. In doing such, he made sure that none of the political terms will be in conflict. He formulated the â€Å"New Labour† in a way that it does not favor any of the old ideologies neither the new ideologies. Giddens actually integrated the key concepts of the two principles. In other words, the â€Å"T hird Way† is a neutral political ideology. As cited by Giddens, the ultimate objective of the â€Å"Third Way† must be to assist the people â€Å"pilot their way through the major revolutions of our time: globalization, transformations in personal life and our relationship to nature† (Giddens, 1998). He further said that it is necessary for social democrats to question cultural and economic protectionism as well as the far right territory which views globalization as destructive to national tradition and integrity (Giddens, 1998)

Change Management term paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Change Management - Term Paper Example The Aster Group provides homes and housing related services in England. For excellent leadership and performance, it secured the â€Å"Beacon Company† award in 2006. In fact, the company was forced to change and diversify due to a number of factors. First of all, as Green (2007) notes, the company wanted to shift from a local authority culture to an autonomous not-for-profit nature. Also, the Housing Corporation decided to reduce the number of approved organizations from 350 to 70. So, to retain business, the company had to go a long way from its 110th position. The way to achieve the same for Aster was to merge and seek new alliances. Starting at the Top However, one can observe slight differences in the way both of the companies introduced change. In the case of Biogen Idec, the company set up a project team, which looked into the various factors associated with the change. Various heads including â€Å"international business, commercial operations, human resources, and int ernational legal affairs were part of the project team, and every aspect of the change† was identified and analyzed (Green, 2007, p.90). Admittedly, the company was performing well in accordance with the Change Management guideline which indicates that it is necessary to understand the need for change through Diagnosing Change (Change Management, n. d.). On the other hand, in Aster, the change started from the new chief executive of the company, who tried to introduce a culture that just â€Å"keeps moving all the time†. In other words, observing the challenges ahead, the chief executive decided to move away from its local authority structure and develop a group structure. Thus, the company worked with Testway – and both chief executives considered open discussion as an important factor to ensure proper collaboration. As acquisition and merger were a part of the change strategy, a board was developed, which included important leaders of both the firms. And as the re were more mergers and acquisitions, more and more personnel were included in the board according to requirements. Anyway, as Gossas commented, the leadership led the change in both of the cases (Ahiberg & Naucler, 2007). Involving all the Layers In Aster Group, first of all, replacing the previous autocratic management style, the new chief executive introduced the culture of open communication and feedback. This resulted in better cooperation from the part of managers and other staff. Thus, at first, he managed to secure the belief and support of the managers and staff. Then, he encouraged the people to contribute their own opinions and suggestions for the future course of action. Here, as Jones, Aguirre, and Calderone (2004) point out, the leadership was giving adequate attention to the human factor, because, for making all the employees committed to the vision of change, the leadership role was effectively handed over to the managers. According to the writers, after allowing au tonomy in day to day operations, the board focused on long term strategic issues; and anyway, both the companies followed the golden rule that change should start at the top. Also, by enlightening and enabling all the layers, the leadership ensured the involvement of every layer. Increased Autonomy to Units and Affiliates In fact, both the companies changed their management styles to introduce various autonomous or semi-autonomous units. To illustrate, the board of Aster Group decided to hand over

UK politics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

UK politics - Essay Example This is the reason why UK’s government from 1997-2010 has been dubbed as the â€Å"Labour Government.† British prime ministers serve the British people for not more than five years (Magstadt, 2008). This means that after five years, another prime minister will be chosen unless the current leader can maintain the parliament’s â€Å"vote of confidence† (Magstadt, 2008). Blair’s political career is a perfect example for this political situation. After he served the British people for five years, he was again elected for another term. Blair was reelected by the British parliament in 2001 (Childs, 2008). It was another victory for the Labour Party after Blair’s landslide election in 1997 (Childs, 2008). The Third Way The â€Å"Third Way† is actually an ideology (Walraven & Persons, 2000). It is often associated with the Labour Party. This political idea was actually introduced by Tony Blair (Holmes, 2009). He has utilized this ideology when he ran for public office in 1997 to be UK’s prime minister. He described his platform of governance as the â€Å"Third Way†. This description seemingly suggests a different way of imposing policies in United Kingdom. Blair was actually aiming for ideological change. He wanted to change the political landscape of British government. He neither favored the first and second way of leading Britain. The first way refers to Margaret Thatcher’s leadership while the second way pertains to John Major’s administration. It was Blair’s vision to implement a new policy. The â€Å"Third Way† or the so called â€Å"New Labour† is the way to adopt this modern course of action (Kramp, 2010). Blair called this policy as â€Å"neither the old left nor the new right† (Leach, 2009 cited in Kramp, 2010, p.4). In other words, the â€Å"Third Way† proposes changes which do not adopt to the old party’s agenda (Kramp, 2010). It establishe s a new and independent policy. It tries to separate itself from Thatcher and Major’s conservative governments (Kramp, 2010). Stated in another sense, the â€Å"Third Way† is a whole new political ideology. According to Kramp (2010), it is a hybrid. Anthony Giddens, the author of the â€Å"Third Way† ideology declared that all he wanted to make is a framework of a collaborated or integrated political programme which will cover each of the significant parts of society (Giddens, 1998). This means that Giddens aims for equality among the British citizens in terms of public services. He wanted to create a point of convergence between the left and right ideologies. In doing such, he made sure that none of the political terms will be in conflict. He formulated the â€Å"New Labour† in a way that it does not favor any of the old ideologies neither the new ideologies. Giddens actually integrated the key concepts of the two principles. In other words, the â€Å"T hird Way† is a neutral political ideology. As cited by Giddens, the ultimate objective of the â€Å"Third Way† must be to assist the people â€Å"pilot their way through the major revolutions of our time: globalization, transformations in personal life and our relationship to nature† (Giddens, 1998). He further said that it is necessary for social democrats to question cultural and economic protectionism as well as the far right territory which views globalization as destructive to national tradition and integrity (Giddens, 1998)

Law and Morality Essay Example for Free

Law and Morality Essay 1. Criminal law is not (just) for the protection of individuals but also for the protection of society ? Moderate / Disintegration Thesis: 1 The state has power to legislate morality in order to protect itself against behaviors that may disintegrate society and its institutions ? Society â€Å"means a community of ideas; without shared ideas on politics, morals, and ethics no society can exist† (Devlin, 10). ? Devlin appealed to the idea of societys moral fabric. He argued that the criminal law must respect and reinforce the moral norms of society in order to keep social order from unravelling. Society’s morality is a crucial, if not the crucial, element that holds it together ? Societies disintegrate from within more frequently than they are broken up by external pressures. There is disintegration when no common morality is observed and history shows that the loosening of moral bonds is often the first stage of disintegration, so that society is justified in taking the same steps to preserve its moral code as it does to preserve its government the suppression of vice is as much the laws business as the suppression of subversive activities. Devlin, The Enforcement of Morals 36 (1959) ? Extreme/ Conservative Thesis: A society is entitled to enforce its morality in order to preserve its distinctive communal values and way of life HART: Hart critiques Lord Devlin’s first argument by challenging his conception of society â€Å"*He has+ a confused definition of what a society is† (Hart (1962) chapter 82). ? Attack against the Moderate/ Disintegration Thesis ? Hart argues that decriminalizing behavior, which has previously been viewed as immoral behavior, is not necessarily a threat to the society’s long-term cohesion or existence. ? [Devlin] appears to move from the acceptable proposition that some shared morality is essential to the existence of any society to the unacceptable proposition that a society is identical with its morality as that is at any given moment of its history, so that a change in its morality is tantamount to the destruction of a society. (Hart 51-52. Italics in original. ) ? The moderate thesis implies factual claims of the disintegration of society for which Devlin did not provide, and (in Harts view) could not have provided, substantial empirical support. DEVLIN: ? I do not assert that any deviation from a society? s shared morality threatens its existence any more than I assert that any subversive activity threatens its existence. I assert that they are both activities which are capable in their nature of threatening the existence of society so that neither can be put beyond the law . I would venture to assert, for example, that you cannot have a game without rules and that if there were no rules there would be no game. If I am asked whether that means that the game is „identical?with the rules, I would be willing for the question to be answered either way in the belief that the answer would lead to nowhere. If I am 1 (Hart’s term H. L. A. Hart, Social Solidarity and the Enforcement of Morality, The University of Chicago Law Review 35 (1976), pp 1-13]. ) asked whether a change in the rules means that one game has disappeared and another has taken its place, I would reply probably not, but that it would depend on the extent of the change. (Devlin, Morals 37). ? Lord Devlin does not then think that this power should be exercised against every single kind and act of immorality. Society should exercise this power only when the moral sensibility of the majority regarding a given immoral activity rises to the level of profound â€Å"intolerance, indignation, and disgust† (Devlin, Morals 17) ? DWORKIN: If society should not legislate against all immorality, because not all immoral activities and acts endanger its existence, then what standards for evidence and action will be used to justify society’s right to enforce its morality in any given case? The threshold criterion that Lord Devlin offers is public outrage, so it comes out that nothing more than passionate public disapproval is necessary after all!? (Taking Rights Seriously. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1977, p. 245) ? Attack against the Extreme/ Conservative Thesis Hart rejected the extreme thesis on the ground that it potentially justified legal enforcement of moral values, regardless of their content, simply because they were widely held. Such restrictions restrict society from evolving naturally in terms of its citizens’ moral beliefs practices. ? Devlin? s approach of incorporating moral values into the law â€Å"regardless of content, simply because they were widely held† places â€Å"an unjustified brake on changes in [what should be dynamic ] social mores† (Peter Cane 23). DEVLIN: 2. The content of moral legislation should be determined by what he terms â€Å"public morality†. ? This is not merely the majority position that could be determined by a public opinion poll. Public morality is the view held by the â€Å"reasonable man† /â€Å"right-minded man† ? What is acceptable to the ordinary man, the man in the jury box, who might also be called the reasonable man or the right minded man Devlin The Enforcement of Morals 38 (1959) Devlin chose the man in the jury box because: a) The verdict of a jury (12 men and women) must be unanimous (at the time he was writing) b) The jury will only reach its verdict after the issue has been fully examined and deliberated. c) The jury box is the place where the ordinary persons conception of morality is enforced. ? Elsewhere his comments suggest that the content of public morality can be identified by some kind of moral intuition ? It is the power of a common sense and not the power of reason that is behind the judgments of society†¦There is, for example, a general abhorrence of homosexuality. We should ask ourselves in the first instance whether, looking at it calmly and dispassionately, we regard it as a vice so abominable that its mere presence is an offence. If that is the genuine feeling of the society in which we live, I do not see how society can be denied the right to eradicate it (Devlin, Morals 40). ? As DWORKIN phrases the argument: â€Å"In the last analysis the decision must rest on some article of moral faith, and in a democracy this sort of issue must be settled in accordance with democratic principles. (b) It is, after all, the community which acts when the threats and sanctions of the criminal law are brought to bear. The community must take the moral responsibility, and it must therefore act on its own lights – that is, on the moral faith of its members† (Dworkin, 246-247) HART: ? Distinguishes between Positive and Critical Morality Critical Morality: A statement of what is morally true Positive/conventional morality: A statement of what most people believe is morally true. ? Hart argued Devlin always slipped into the Positive Morality approach. The problem is that beliefs about moral matters change. At any given time in a community, there may be a consensus on some moral questions, while on other questions there will be sharp divisions. Over time, an issue may go from being a matter of consensus to being a matter of controversy, and given enough time, an issue which there was a consensus one way may eventually be a matter of consensus the other way. How can we know that our laws are enforcing society’s moral consensus rather than just protecting the last generation’s prejudices against a consensus forming around another position. (Jurisprudence, theory and contextBrian Bix p. 169) ? The Harm Principle Hart’s2 point of inception was Mill’s ‘Harm Principle’: If there are any ‘Critically Moral Rights’ or ‘Natural Rights’ there must be a natural right of every person to be equally free. Therefore â€Å"The only purpose for which power can rightfully be exercised over any member of a civilised community against his will is to prevent harm to others. †3 ? Starting with the liberty-protecting Harm Principle enabled Hart to cast onto Devlin the burden of proof on the issue of the relationship between immorality and social harm. Certainly, Devlin provided no hard evidence to support his assertion that society would be worse off without legal moralism but neither did Hart provide any factual evidence that society would be a better (or, at least, no worse a) place without legal moralism (Peter Cane 31). ? DEVLIN: the fact that consent is not a defence for various harm-based offences showed that the harm principle was not the laws normative foundation. HART: distinction needed to be drawn between moralism and paternalism. Paternalism is justification of interfering with another person against their will, where that person will then be better off or protected from harm. ? DEVLIN: the existence of the crime of bigamy also undermined the harm principle. HART: distinction needed to be drawn between Harm and Offense. What is wrong with Bigamy is its offensiveness to peoples religious sensibilities. ? DEVLIN: We see (moral) wrongfulness taken into account went sentencing, and we do not premise this on harmfulness because otherwise all crimes will be treated alike whether it was done maliciously or otherwise. HART: distinction needed to be drawn between principles of Sentencing and criminal liability. The fact that the moral gravity of an offenders conduct- its wrongfulness as opposed to its harmfulness can be taken into account in sentencing tells us nothing about the relationship between law and morality. [Hart offers no reason why this should be so (Peter Cane 32)] ? To sum up Hart’s position: Everyone has a priori liberty. Cannot exercise that liberty when it infringes (Harm’s) another’s liberty. A change in social institutions is not the sort of harm from which a society has a right to protect itself. A society’s right to act should be restricted to demonstrable and imminent rather than speculated and distant harm. 2 3 Hart, Law, Liberty and Morality, p. 14. John Stuart Mill â€Å"On Liberty† ch. 1 ? Problem: The law seems to have little or nothing to do with the immediate consequences of the criminalized conduct. These include the criminalisation of attempts, offences of risk-creation, and the acceptability of strict and negligence-based criminal liability. (Peter Cane 33) ? In order to protect the ‘Harm Principle’ there are 2 reactions to criminal liability that seem to contradict the requirement of â€Å"Harm† : 1. Any law that is not premised on harm is wrong, should be decriminalized 2. Attempt to rationalize in terms of the harm principle any and every aspect of the criminal law that appears at first sight to be inconsistent with it. This is the strategy adopted by Gardner and Shute in relation to rape, and their approach could be applied more generally to cover risk-creation and attempts, for instance. We might say (as Gardner and Shute say in relation to rape) that a society in which the creation of certain risks was not a crime, or in which attempting and contemplating crimes were not themselves crimes, would be (in some sense) a worse society to live in than one in which they were. A worry about this sort of argument, however, is that it depends on the aggregate effect of many such acts, and does not seem to justify coercion of any individual. ? Classifying such diffuse effects as harm seem[s] to reduce the significance of Mills principle to vanishing point. 4 Reinterpreting the harm principle to encompass such non-individualized harm =(what Hart called) the moderate thesis in different garb! PETER CANE: ‘Taking Law Seriously: Starting Points of the Hart/Devlin Debate’(2006) 10 (1/2) The Journal of Ethics, Vol. 10, No. 1/2 (Jan. , 2006) ? The debate about the limits of the criminal law has become a debate about the meaning of the harm principle and the definition of harm. Devlins approach was better. He asked a nonleading question: what factors ought to be taken into account in deciding whether conduct ought to be criminalised? Harm (however defined) is one such factor. But should it be given lexical priority over other relevant factors? ? It is easy enough to accept Harts idea that freedom is a basic human value. Human beings are individuals, and being able to express that individuality in ones choices and actions is an essential component of human well-being. Alongside the individuality of human beings, however, their other most noticeable characteristic is sociability. It is not just that most people choose to live in (larger or smaller) communities or that most people belong to various overlapping and interacting groups. People are also heavily reliant on those communities and groups, and on their relationships with other human beings. If individual freedom is a precondition of human flourishing so, too, is membership of communities and groups, and a rich network of social interactions. ? The law has many social benefits: We must view the law positively as a set of social resources rather than negatively as a restraint on individual freedom. ? This misconception arises from an unsophisticated picture of criminal penalties that fails to recognize their variety and the varying degrees to which they invade individual autonomy, and impose harsh treatment on and stigmatize the offender. This is, no doubt, partly the result of Harts argument that rules and principles of sentencing are irrelevant to questions about the limits of the criminal law. This is incorrect: Some conduct should not be criminalised at all, no matter what the penalty. But in relation to some conduct, the answer to the question of 4 N. E. Simmonds, Law and Morality, in E. Craig (ed. ), Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy (London: Routledge, 2004), retrieved 19 May 2004 from http:/ www. rep. routledge. com. whether it should be criminalised will depend on whether a suitable penalty is available. Penalties relate to stigma, and stigma relates to informing a societies interactions. ? The conception of the criminal law and of law in general that underpins the Hart-Devlin debate is what we might call a conception of law as coercion. According to this understanding of law, its prime significance and function is to secure compliance with its norms by threats of coercion and imposition of punishments and other sanctions. Laws coerciveness is seen as the characteristic most relevant to determining its proper limits. This is a deficient understanding of law and its social functions. For the typical, law-abiding citizen the significance of law resides not in its coerciveness but in its normativity. Such a person obeys the law not in order to avoid its coercive sanctions but because they consider obedience to be the preferable or correct course of action. A legal system could not operate effectively if this were not so. In this light, we must question whether a theory of the limits of law based on the assumption that law is seen by those to whom it is addressed as an invasion of their autonomy is likely to be sound. Why should we determine the limits of law by reference to the perspective of the minority of people who obey it only because of its coercive capacity, rather than the perspective of those who view law as a legitimate source of standards of behaviour? If law were viewed from this latter perspective, the idea that it might appropriately prescribe standards of behaviour that express shared social values and aspirations would seem much less objectionable. DWORKIN: Distinguishes between Goal-Based Strategy and Rights-Based Strategy: Goal-Based Strategy: Even if the behavior is bad for the community as a whole, just considered in itself, the consequences of trying to censor or otherwise suppress it would be, in the long run, even worse. Rights-Based Strategy: Even if the behaviour makes the community worse off, even in the very long run, it is nevertheless wrong to censor or restrict it because this violates the individual moral or political rights of citizens who resent the censorship. Favouring the Rights-Based Strategy (p. 194) People have the right not to suffer disadvantage in the distribution of social goods and opportunities, including disadvantage in the liberties permitted to them by the criminal law, just on the ground that their officials or fellow-citizens think that their opinions about the right way for them to lead their own lives are ignoble or wrong. I shall call this the right to moral independence, Justification of the Right to Moral Independence Rights are individual’s trumps5 over a background justification for political decisions that states a goal for the community as a whole. If someone has a right to moral independence, this means that it is for some reason wrong for officials to act in violation of that right, even if they (correctly) believe that the community as a whole would be better off if they did. To some extent, the argument in favour of a particular right must depend on which general background justification for political decisions the right in question proposes to trump. 5 Dworking, Taking Rights Seriously Dworkin assumes that the background justification with which we are concerned is some form of utilitarianism, which takes, as the goal of politics, the fulfilment of as many of peoples goals for their own lives as possible. This is the most prevalent background in Western Democracies. Suppose we accept then that, at least in general, a political decision is justified if it promises to make citizens happier or to fulfil more of their preferences, on average, than any other decision could. Suppose we assume that the decision to prohibit pornography altogether does, in fact, meet that test, because the desires and preferences of publishers and consumers are outweighed by the desires and preferences of the majority, including their preferences about how others should lead their lives. How could any contrary decision, permitting even the private use of pornography, then be justified? A proper understanding of the underlying justification for utilitarianism will itself justify the Right. Utilitarianism owes whatever appeal it has to what we might call its egalitarian nature. Utilitarianism claims that people are treated as equals when the preferences of each, weighted only for intensity, are balanced in the same scales, with no distinctions for persons or merit. Even if the majority’s preference (i. e. that which will make the majority happier) is to disadvantage or to advantage a minority, this is inconsistent with the very essence of utilitarianism , so even if it does result in fulfilment of as many of peoples goals for their own lives as possible, utilitarianism cannot allow that without undermining the philosophy that bore utilitarianism itself. Dworkin’s argument, therefore, comes to this: If utilitarianism is to figure as part of an attractive working political theory, then it must be qualified so as to restrict the preferences that undermine egalitarianism. One very practical way to achieve this restriction is provided by the idea of rights as trumps over unrestricted utilitarianism. The right of moral independence can be defended in a parallel way. Neutral utilitarianism rejects the idea that some ambitions that people might have for their own lives should have less command over social resources and opportunities than others, except as this is the consequence of weighing all preferences on an equal basis in the same scales. It rejects the argument, for example, that some peoples conception of what sexual experience should be like are inherently degrading or unwholesome. But then it cannot (for the reasons just canvassed) count the moral preferences of those who do hold such opinions in the calculation whether individuals who form some sexual minority, including homosexuals and pornographers, should be prohibited from the sexual experiences they want to have. The right of moral independence is part of the same collection of rights as the right of political independence, and it is to be justified as a trump over an unrestricted utilitarian defence of prohibitory laws against pornography. Limitations on the Right: (p. 195) Suppose it is discovered that the private consumption of pornography does in fact significantly increase the danger of crimes of violence, either generally or specifically crimes of sexual violence. Or suppose that private consumption has some special and deleterious effect on the general economy, by causing great absenteeism from work. Then government would have, in these facts, a justification for the restraint and perhaps even for the prohibition of pornography that does not include the offending hypothesis either directly, by the assumption that the hypothesis is true, or indirectly, in the proposition that many people think it true. Can we find a plausible justification for restricting the display of pornography that does not violate the right of moral independence? We can, obviously, construct a certain argument in that direction, as follows. Many people do not like to encounter genital displays on the way to the grocer. This taste is not, nor does it necessarily reflect, any adverse view of the character of those who do not mind such encounters. Another may argue, for example, that his own delight in other peoples bodies is lessened or made less sharp and special if nakedness becomes either too familiar to him or less peculiar to those occasions in which it provides him special pleasure, which may be in museums or his own bedroom or both. Or that sex will come to be different and less valuable for him if he is too often or too forcefully reminded that it has different, more commercial or more sadistic, meaning for others. Or that his goal that his children develop certain similar tastes and opinions will be thwarted by the display or advertising that he opposes. None of these different opinions and complaints must be the product of some conviction that those with other opinions and tastes are people of bad character. The Williams Report: If one accepted, as a basis for coercing one persons actions, the fact that others would be upset even by the thought of his performing those actions, one would be denying any substantive individual liberty at all. 5 5 Report, p. 100. Laws against public sex would generally be thought to be consistent with the harm condition, in the sense that if members of the public are upset, distressed, disgusted, outraged or put out by witnessing some class of acts, then that constitutes a respect in which the public performance of those · acts harms their interests and gives them a reason to object . The offensiveness of publicly displayed pornography seems to us to be in line with traditionally accepted rules protecting the interest in public decency. Restrictions on the open sale of these publications, and analogous arrangements for films, thus seem to us to be justified . If one goes all the way down this line, however, one arrives at the situation in which people objected to even knowing that pornography was being read in private; and if one accepted as a basis for coercing one persons actions, the fact that others would be upset even by the thought of his performing these actions, one would be denying any substantive liberty at all.