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

Respnse - Essay Example To speed up delivery and installation at customer sites, I had insisted that service engineer be attached to this team, which was sanctioned by the Executive Director. Our internal quality processed required that the externally sourced goods be verified and checked before installation at customer sites. This activity was controlled by the service manager. He would deliberately delay the process, as je was upset that I had transgressed into his sphere of power. Entertainment expenses as part of marketing activities was only permitted for managers. Since I had the additional responsibility of liaison with public sector and government agencies, I was given a special concession for entertainment bills, with the requirement that the bill be countersigned by the Executive Director before reimbursement. Scrutiny of bills before passing it on to accounts for reimbursement was the responsibility of the HRM deputy manager. She would call me for verifications each time a bill was presented, per ked at a benefit that she did not enjoy, though we were in the same grade. 3. Do â€Å"organizational politics† have a place in effective leadership, or are they consistently counter-productive to leadership effectiveness? Discuss.

The Specific Heat Capacity of Water and Metal Lab Report

The Specific Heat Capacity of Water and Metal - Lab Report Example The temperature of 500 ml of water in a beaker was measured before a warm heater connected to power supply was dipped in the beaker. After 10 minutes of heating and constant stirring of water, the power supply was switched off, and water temperature measured. The same procedure was repeated for a period of 15 minutes. The results were recorded in table 1. The temperature of aluminium block was recorded before a heater connected to a power supply was used to heat the block for a period of 8 minutes. The above procedure was repeated using Copper block and the results were recorded in table 2. The experimental specific heat capacity of water was 4785 JKg-1 oC-1 while the literature value was 4187 JKg-1 oC-1. Therefore, the percentage error for water was calculated using the formula: % Error= |Experimental value-Theoretical value| Ãâ€"100 The specific heat capacity of water determined in this experiment had a numerical value of 4785  ± 263 JKg-1 oC-1 while that of aluminium and copper were 1278 and 545 JKg-1 oC-1, respectively. The standard (literature) specific heat capacities of water, aluminium and copper are 4187, 900 and 386 JKg-1 oC-1, respectively (Table of specific heats). The obtained values were more than the literature values. The anomalies observed between these values were probably due to random errors in the experimental procedures e.g. the loss of heat to the surrounding and the presence of impurities in the water hence leading to an increase in the boiling points. Systematic errors could be due to the weights of the metal blocks and temperature readings as well as fluctuations in pressure. In future experiments, loss of energy to the surroundings could be avoided by using more energy to heat the water for it to attain the required temperature. In addition, water with higher levels of purity can be u sed in the experiments so that the effect of impurities on

The Seven Dimensional Model of Religion

The Seven Dimensional Model of Religion This essay examines Smarts seven dimensional model of religion against six main world religions. I shall then examine how other belief systems fit into the same model. I shall consider other models briefly attempting an analysis of whether Smarts model is successful. When I mention religion I mean the Christian religion; and not only the Christian religion but the Protestant religion; and not only the Protestant religion, but the Church of England. (Henry Fielding: TomJones) The first consideration when attempting the definition of religion is that a straight forward definition such as Fielding attempts in his classical work excludes the world view of religion. He speaks of Christianity excluding some traditions we will examine. Each religious tradition within itself embodies numerous belief systems. Many philosophers and theologians would insist that religion is not definable. Smart recognises that religion: is partly a matter of convention as to what is counted under the head of religion and what is not. (Ninian Smart: ThePhenomenon of Religion p10) In setting out his model Smart attempts to find one that is inclusivistic of global religion whilst confining the definition to that which can be classified as of religion. The seven dimensions are: InowExperiential; Doctrinal; Mythical; Ritualistic; Institutional and Ethic I now  propose to examine these key areas explaining briefly what Smart meant by them attempting to apply it to the six world traditions. Experiential Smart explains the experiential dimension as the emotions witnessed by the founder of the tradition and its followers. Rudolf Otto describes it as the numinous experience, that is, the feeling one experiences when the senses of man are aroused as a result of paranormal or special places. Examples of this are Moses and the Burning Bush; Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita. The second aspect of the experiential is that of mysticism. This is an inner seeking of that which is unknowable. Examples of this would be the whirling dhervishes and the Hasidic tradition within Judaism. Doctrinal Smart explains this as the formulation of a system to encapsulate the tradition. For instance, Smart gives Aquinas philosophical explanation of creation an authoritative feel compared with the story of creation in Genesis. There is also the doctrine of theTrinity going some way to explain Jesus as God within Christianity. Within Buddhism, the Buddha explained himself the path to salvation whereas other traditions have left that to the succeeding institution to develop. Mythological Smart explains this as sacred history or sacred story rather than the term we are familiar with today. The great religions have stories to tell of their founders such as the Enlightenment of the Buddha or the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus. There are also stories to explain difficult concepts for example evil. Many faiths strengthen these stories by writing them down as in the Torah or the Quran.Oral traditions also evolve such as the Catholic tradition of relying on various saints for help. Ritual Smart explained this as a method by which religion expresses itself. Humankind uses rituals worldwide as a form of communication, for example, the handshake. There is a binding together of people who recognise these rituals. Examples of these will be: the ancient Jewish tradition of ritual sacrifice in the Temple; Baptism withinChristianity. Ethical Religions usually follow a code ofethics they expect their followers to adopt. This concerns not only the individuals behaviour but also that of the society. Examples of this are: the ten commandments; the 613 commandments of Jewish Law; Vatican Edicts on birth control. Institutional Smart describes this as the tangible visual embodiment of religion that can be seen on two levels through groups of people as in the Church, or the Sangha. The second level is through the buildings such as the mosque, the mandir, the cathedral. Also within this category can be places of religious significance such as Benares, the River Ganges and Jerusalem. Visual/Artistic These aspects of religion can be translated into works of art; architecture; music. This aids ritual or understanding sacred story for example hymns, rosary beads. In Smarts book Religious Experience and Mankind he argues that this model works as closely as possible to discovering the nature of religion. He struggles however in that other world philosophies such as Humanism and Communism closely follow the model. For the purpose of brevity, I shalloutline the model against communism to illustrate the comparisons. In the ritual dimension, communismhad set in place ceremonies performed in praise of the philosophy for examplethere were annual celebrations of the revolution. In the experiential dimensionKarl Marx was held as the prophet and founder of wisdom. His revelation of anew system created the wow factor. In the mythological dimension oraltraditions were developed of the revolution. Das Kapital became the sacredtext. In the doctrinal dimension, edicts were passed down explaining howpeople were now meant to work and live. In the ethical dimension moralbehaviour and the laws of society were adjusted to make credible the communisttradition. For instance, it was acceptable to murder if the criminal was apolitical agitator and the authorities executed. In the institutional dimensionthe communist party became the church and the mission was communism. In thematerial dimension places such as Lenins tomb became a shrine, a focal pointof worship. Yet, communism could never be considered a religion but more anideology. Yet it fits within the model quite confortably. The social dimension isquestionable. It also relates to politics and racism as an identity, a label,a badge of allegiance of a group. This is how Richard Gombrich terms modernworld religion. For him, the key to defining religion is what you do, notwhat you think. Hans Kung demonstrates thatreligion can be classified in terms of family. Indian religions tend to followa mystical route with a mystical leader; Chinese religion with a wise sage; andNear Eastern religion with a wise figure. It is not possible to put a narrowdefinition on the religion but I can accept that they belong together infacilitating humankind with its humanity. Bibliography Fielding Henry: Tom Jones Oxford World Classics Oxford 1998 Gombrich Richard: TherevadaBuddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benaresto Modern Colombo RoutledgeLondon 1988 Kung Hans: Tracing the Way:Spiritual Dimensions of the World Religions Continuum 2002 Otto Rudolf: Mysticism(East) RA Kessinger Publishing 2003 Open University: A5 Religion Block4 units 14-15 pp 36-38 Smart Ninian: The Phenomenon ofReligion London and Oxford 1978 p10 Smart Ninian: ReligiousExperience and Mankind Collins New York 1971

Essay --

Evan Smeenge Professor Stabler HST 303 01/31/14 From Ideal to Destruction John Gast’s painting titled American Progress perfectly portrays the idea of manifest destiny that engulfed the minds of Americans. Portrayed in the right side of the painting is indubitable western influence with boats, a bridge in the distance, and trains with little or no track in front of them which allows the mind to conclude the newcomers are pushing west. In the middle of the landscape are horses, buggies, and covered wagons, showing a slight increase in modernity compared to what is shown in the far left of the painting, Indians or better known by 18th and 19th century Europeans as savages. Gast also places the portrayal of western influence in the light portion of the piece, and the old primitive way of live portrayed by savages on the dark side of the piece. This is not coincidence, primitive behavior was viewed as improper and it needed enlightenment this is precisely what Gast presents in American Progress. In the bottom left corner an animal shows its teeth, which could be a signal of the dangers to moving west. What is probably noticed first however is the woman in the center of the painting. The angel, the guiding light of Manifest Destiny the one who is bringing the light that you see so prominently in the right side of the painting. Manifest Destiny was thought of as God’s call to bring western enlightenment to the west. Those who were enlightened and civilizations created by those who were enlightened were viewed as utopian. However, eleven years before Gast painted American Progress was the start of a war that rattled America. Westward expansion and subsequent acquisition of the west was fought over and the utopian ideal Gast portrays was... ...h and the South wanted the territory for themselves. The North wanted to expand its industrial fingers to better their economy, but the South wanted more land for plantations to also better their economy. First, the Wilmot Proviso established popular sovereignty as the new factor that decided what side was going to obtain the land. This angered the South because they were frightened that their voice would be lost, and subsequently slavery would be demolished. However, the North felt anger after Stephen Douglass proposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, which repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and allowed any white male settler to decide if the new territory would be slave or free. With Southern white men trying to make the territories slave territories, the North were furious and started bleeding Kansas, which arguably was the spark that ignited the Civil War.

For Which of the Boys Essay

The boy that I felt the most sympathy for in The History Boys would have to be Posner. The portrayal of his character compared to that of the other boys is entirely different. Throughout the play, Posner is shown to be an outsider; â€Å"too young† to understand most things, and even to be included in Hector’s inappropriate behaviour. It is evident from the start that Posner has feelings towards Dakin, however Dakin’s behaviour towards Posner is far from romantic, hence we can sense that he doesn’t return the romantic feelings that Posner so desperately desires. This immediately creates sympathy for him, as it shows that he has no hope of happiness with the person whom he clearly loves. As the play progresses and develops, we can see that Posner is confused about his sexuality and is tormented by the idea that he’ll never fit in anywhere. He confesses his feelings and worries to Irwin who sympathises, however this does nothing to comfort Posner. As the other boys begin to change their attitudes towards life and learning, Posner seems to remain the same and spend more time with Hector. This could be viewed as very odd behaviour, as the other boys seem keen to avoid any time alone with Hector due to his ephebophilia. This, again, highlights the fact that Posner is extremely lonely and confused, therefore is willing to seek comfort with even the most inappropriate of people. When the disastrous event of the motorcycle accident happens at the end of the play, we are given an insight into just how much it affected the boys in years to come. While it seems that the others have moved on in life, Posner is described to have â€Å"periodic breakdowns† and to have been the only one that â€Å"truly took everything to heart†. This proves that Posner was really affected by those particular years of his life, despite the fact that he was never directly targeted by Hector. Overall, Posner is presented as a confused, lonely character which generates large amounts of sympathy from the audience.

Branches of Philosophy Essay

Thesis This essay project with answer different questions to the six branches of Philosophy. The branches are Metaphysics-is something real? Epistemology-How do we know? Ethics-What is right or wrong? Aesthetics- Is something beautiful? Political- What government is best? And Social- How should we act in in society. Six Branches of Philosophy There are six branches of philosophy. There is Metaphysics, Epistemology, Ethics, Aesthetics, Political, and Social. Each branch asks us all specific types of questions that we ask ourselves each and every day. Some of these questions we ask without even realizing that we have done so. Metaphysics is the first branch of Philosophy in this discussion. This asks the question of what is real. At an early age we are taught that there is a heaven and earth. At different times we ask ourselves is there really a heaven. Based on what we are taught I believe there is a heaven and that there will come a time in our life that we will be in the place created by God called heaven. According to the bible, God created man from the dust of the earth. We live in the physical world and the spiritual world depends on each person’s spiritual belief. I believe each one of us has a soul. I believe the soul stays around loved ones until the day of reckoning. I believe all people have free will but different circumstances determine what happens to us thru fate. The psychological world I believe consists of our mind and the world that we chose to create for ourselves to live in. The Epistemology branch asks us the question of how is anything known. Things that are known are taught to us from our parents and by teachers in school. We are taught different things thru text books and by experience. Thru different experiences we learn how to conduct ourselves around other people and we gain knowledge by studying the different works of scientists and scholars. There are not any limits to human understanding. Each person’s understanding depends on them. Some people understand things differently than others and each person’s limits differ from others. I don’t believe there is a relationship between faith and reason. Faith goes along with ethics and morals. I don’t fully understand what artificial intelligence is. The next branch of philosophy is the Ethics branch. We are taught from an early age the difference of right and wrong. Laws tell us what is or isn’t right and as humans if we break these laws we are punished. To me being a good person means to follow the golden rule â€Å"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you†. I believe that virtue does lead to happiness. If you do what is right by others then others will have the tendency to follow your lead. I believe society affects morality. This all depends on the circumstances in which you live. If you live in an area that has a lot of crime and hatred then you have the tendency to follow others in that area. If you set high moral standards for yourself then no matter where you live or the types of people you are surrounded with won’t affect you. I think that morality is more culture based. Each person has to choose how they apply the morals they are taught at an early age to their adult lives. Each person has different morals that they live by and have to decide how these will be applied. The next branch of philosophy we are going to discuss is the Aesthetics branch. This brings up the question of what is beautiful. In my opinion beauty is in the eye of the beholder and each culture has what they regard as to what is beautiful. Art depicts the creator’s feelings or ideas as to what they believe beauty is. Art can be successful and valuable to the creator and also to the person that enjoys different art forms. To one person a piece of art might have beauty to it and to another person it might be just horrendous. So therefore beauty in art may or may not matter to all people. The next topic is the political branch of philosophy. I believe the best type of government is the democratic government. This form of government, people do have a small voice in different matters. I think the government should have limited power and that the government should listen to the common people as to what the needs of the population are. I believe that if the common person had the ability to be more involved in the government of today then the needs of the common person would be made possible thru a vast majority voice. The last branch of discussion is the Social branch. I believe this branch is determined thru the ethics branch of philosophy. People shouldn’t have to give up rights just to live in a specific society. We should be able to live our lives the way we now and by the morals and ethics we have built for ourselves. I think some people act according to the surroundings they are in at different times. With many different cultures of society today, I believe there is a large language barrier. With all the different cultures communications has become a big issue. Each culture believes that their language should be the language spoken. I believe that there needs to be one universal language spoken and then different societies of people wouldn’t feel as if they were being mistreated or neglected. Reference: Baird, F. E. , & Kaufmann, W. E. (2000). Ancient philosophy. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. M. U. S. E. My Unique Student Expeience.