Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Aristotle and Plato Essay Example for Free

Aristotle and Plato Essay One of the greatest philosophers of all time was a man named Aristotle, the ancient greek philosopher. He was practically influenced every area of conceptual modern thinking. His mind set was in terms of materialism, which he essentially viewed substance on Earth before ideas and qualities. He genuinely believed in the notion of analyzing compounds and characteristics of people and their actions. Aristotle, who was a student of Plato, believed in â€Å"virtue of character and thought†, which means that virtue results from teaching, experience, and habits rather than Platos idealism notions of ideas and qualities (pg. 265-266). He believed that peoples noble actions would lead to virtue and that all things in life had an end. That all ends must result in something good, an example would be an acorn, the end of an acorn would be an acorn tree. Aristotle believed that it was inevitable for humans to obtain happiness over a course of time and that this was the end for a human being. He believed that in order to be virtuous, one must first avoid temperance and deficiency. Aristotle also claims that justice can mean both lawfulness and fairness or injustice can mean unlawfulness and unfairness. His notion was that the law encouraged people to pursue virtue, therefore, the lawful person would result to being virtuous. In essence, he claims that people who pursue virtue will be just and those who do not pursue virtue will be unjust. He believed that sensory perceptions in the human soul are reflections of objects, and thoughts in consciousness are based on what we have already seen. Plato believed that the average person could not see the truth, therefore, the noble lie was essential to get people to pursue their natural form or task. A simple ascetic city with the notion of everyone having natural abilities to do a certain job was justice for Plato. In contrast, Aristotle, did not believe that humans had access to these perfect forms in their minds as a way to reach justice and the perfect city. He argues that justice is a complete virtue when exercising virtue in relation to others and that it requires intellectual virtue. That a virtuous person should pursue the most pleasant and happy life, which is the philosophical life of contemplation and speculation. The highest good for Aristotle is the end of a human, which is gained through virtuous action over their course of a life time. In order to live a life of virtue according to Aristotle, one must find the mean or good actions, which finding the mean is virtuous actions. By exercising virtue in relations to others is a good thing that will lead to a virtuous happy life and this will inevitably lead to an end of a human being, which is happiness. He was not a hedonist, his highest good reflected on reason, virtue, and experience that gains practical wisdom and that people learn from mistakes. This notion of a human gaining happiness by living a virtuous life reflects on his notion of a content society. Aristotles perception of justice was similar to Platos in the way that virtue related to both temperance and courage, but in all other aspects they were completely in contrast. Virtue consisted of habits and making right choices for the individual to be just, according to Aristotle. Virtue of temperance and courage causes people to be in a â€Å"good state† and to perform their â€Å"functions† well (pg. 269). Therefore, in order to acquire justice in Aristotles perception, virtue would have to take place within the individuals state of character and reason for the whole in order to pursue virtue. Equality being about justice and exercising freedom was permissible according to Aristotle. He was really about diversity, but not a feminist, he clearly reduced the womens roles in society, which was normal due to an era of sexism. There where three forms of happiness according to Aristotle- a life of pleasure and enjoyment, a life of free and responsibility, and a life as a thinker and philosopher. He rejected the imbalance of these premises and it was essential in human relationships. Therefore, finding the mean and his example of not to be cowardly or impulsive, but courageous. Aristotle believed in the mixture of constitutions, which means that if you mix â€Å"oligarchy† and â€Å"democracy†, which would be essentially â€Å"polity†; bringing a large middle class, then there can be more equality and justice among the citizens (pg. 403). He described democracy as a form of government that would overthrow the rich. Therefore, where the poor are predominant, there will be democracy. Hes implying that there is a better way; modern way to conduct a government where the people are not ruled by a monarch or tyranny. This means that if you rely on one type of constitution, then it would inevitably lead to depravity by changing into a bad constitution. An example would be if monarchy was established, then it would lead to tyranny or aristocracy to oligarchy. Aristotles notion was that in order to have equality, then a mixture of constitutions was necessary for justice. He he elaborates on constitutions, he is indicating the system of government that should be established. This relates to virtue because in order to be virtuous depravity must be impermissible and having a mixture of constitutions brings a balance to good. He advocates on having a massive middle class would be essential in order to have a balance of equality and fairness. He supports on having this large middle class because it will genuinely bring a balance in society and impact on politics according to Aristotle. The virtue of justice belongs to the city, a self-determination of what is just. He advocates on the art of acquisition; that wealth should have a limit. He does not seem to like people who are upset with moneymaking. He emphasized on that a democracy was essentially the worse type of government; just as a tyranny. If there is no large middle class, then democracy denounces to rule by the poor and Aristotle believed that it should be the rule of everyone or the many. Therefore, the mixture of democracy and oligarchy was essential to Aristotle for the sake of polity. Being a just person can lead to a life of virtue, which is acquired by noble actions and experience, in contrast with Platos ideology of perfect forms in the human mind being to abstract and delusional. However, Aristotles notion is to pursue a virtuous life by making right choices and learning from mistakes, which is very good because human beings are not perfect. Happiness would be considered the end of a human being and its acquired by virtue according to Aristotle and making choices on whether to be or not to be a just person. His perspective revolved around people living in communities or political communities and that politics was a characteristic for the well-being. He also incorporated public education being the means of a community and through the development of practical wisdom because he wanted people to learn from their mistakes, stating that there is no perfect idea of a society. When an individual acquired happiness, which was the highest good over their course of life, it was done by pursuing virtue and noble actions. Therefore, Aristotles theory involves a fair political view where there is a higher class, lower class, but more importantly, a massive middle class where everyone must participate in politics. In accordance to Aristotles and its success can be determined by the happiness of the citizens. Where each citizen has acquired the point of where they derive in moderation and are capable of distinguishing the means and the extremes and the good of society. He criticized Sparta on their austere culture and the citizen structure of a military society because he genuinely believed that it was not a content community. He did not lack humane values and he emphasized on how people should exercise virtue in relations to others. In essence, Aristotles theory offers a well established broad and fair view of a justice for a society and politics.

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

Wars are Not Good for the Economy Essay -- Economics War

One of the more enduring myths in Western society is that wars are somehow good for the economy. Many people see a great deal of evidence to support this myth, after all World War II came directly after the Great Depression. This faulty belief stems from a misunderstanding of the economic way of thinking. The standard "a war gives the economy a boost" argument goes as follows: Let's suppose that the economy is in the low end of the business cycle, so we're in a recession or just a period of low economic growth. The unemployment rate is high, people may be making less purchases than they were a year or two ago, and overall output is flat. But then the country decides to prepare for war! The government needs to equip its soldiers with the extra gear and munitions needed in order to win the war. Corporations win contracts to supply boots, and bombs and vehicles to the army. Many of these companies will have to hire extra workers in order to meet this increased production. If the preparations for war are large enough, large numbers of workers will be hired reducing the unemployment rate. Other workers may need to be hired to cover reservists in private sector jobs who get sent overseas. With the unemployment rate down we have more people spending again and people who had jobs before will be less worried about losing their job in the future so they'll spend more than they did. This extra spending will help the retail sector, who will need to hire extra employees causing unemployment to drop even further. A spiral of positive economic activity is created by the government preparing for war, if you believe the story. The flawed logic of the story is an example of something economists call The Broken Window Fallacy. The Broken ... ... a factor of production which will certainly help economic growth. 2. Stability and Economic Growth in the Middle East If peace can somehow be established in the Middle East, the U.S. government might not have to spend as much money on the military as they do now. If the economies of the countries in the middle east become more stable and experience growth, this will give them more opportunities to trade with the United States, improving both the economies of those countries and the U.S. Personally I do not see those factors outweighing the short term costs of the war in Iraq, but you can make a case for them. In the short term, however, the economy will decline due to the war as shown by the Broken Window Fallacy. Next time you hear someone discuss the economic benefits of the war, please tell them a little story about a window breaker and a shopkeeper.

Monday, January 13, 2020

Measuring Training Effectiveness Through Kirk’s Model Essay

If you deliver training for your team or your organization, then you probably know how important it is to measure its effectiveness. After all, you don’t want to spend time or money on training that doesn’t provide a good return. This is where Kirkpatrick’s Four-Level Training Evaluation Model can help you objectively analyze the effectiveness and impact of your training, so that you can improve it in the future. In this article, we’ll look at each of the Kirkpatrick four levels, and we’ll examine how you can apply the model to evaluate training. We’ll also look at some of the situations where the model may not be useful. The Four Levels Donald Kirkpatrick, Professor Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin and past president of the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD), first published his Four-Level Training Evaluation Model in 1959, in the US Training and Development Journal. The model was then updated in 1975, and again in 1994, when he published his best-known work, â€Å"Evaluating Training Programs.† The four levels are: Reaction. Learning. Behavior. Results. Let’s look at each level in greater detail. Level 1: Reaction This level measures how your trainees (the people being trained), reacted to the training. Obviously, you want them to feel that the training was a valuable experience, and you want them to feel good about the instructor, the topic, the material, its presentation, and the venue. It’s important to measure reaction, because it helps you understand how well the training was received by your audience. It also helps you improve the training for future trainees, including identifying important areas or topics that are missing from the training. Level 2: Learning At level 2, you measure what your trainees have learned. How much has their knowledge increased as a result of the training? When you planned the training session, you hopefully started with a list of specific learning objectives: these should be the starting point for your measurement. Keep in mind that you can measure learning in different ways depending on these objectives, and depending on whether you’re interested in changes to knowledge, skills, or attitude. It’s important to measure this, because knowing what your trainees are learning and what they aren’t will help you improve future training. Level 3: Behavior At this level, you evaluate how far your trainees have changed their behavior, based on the training they received. Specifically, this looks at how trainees apply the information. It’s important to realize that behavior can only change if conditions are favorable. For instance, imagine you’ve skipped measurement at the first two Kirkpatrick levels and, when looking at your group’s behavior, you determine that no behavior change has taken place. Therefore, you assume that your trainees haven’t learned anything and that the training was ineffective. However, just because behavior hasn’t changed, it doesn’t mean that trainees haven’t learned anything. Perhaps their boss won’t let them apply new knowledge. Or, maybe they’ve learned everything you taught, but they have no desire to apply the knowledge themselves. Level 4: Results At this level, you analyze the final results of your training. This includes outcomes that you or your organization have determined to be good for business, good for the employees, or good for the bottom line. How to Apply the Model Level 1: Reaction Start by identifying how you’ll measure reaction. Consider addressing these questions: Did the trainees feel that the training was worth their time? Did they think that it was successful? What were the biggest strengths of the training, and the biggest weaknesses? Did they like the venue and presentation style? Did the training session accommodate their personal learning styles? Next, identify how you want to measure these reactions. To do this you’ll typically useemployee satisfaction surveys or questionnaires; however you can also watch trainees’ body language during the training, and get verbal feedback by asking trainees directly about their experience. Once you’ve gathered this information, look at it carefully. Then, think about what changes you could make, based on your trainees’ feedback and suggestions. Level 2: Learning To measure learning, start by identifying what you want to evaluate. (These things could be changes in knowledge, skills, or attitudes.) It’s often helpful to measure these areas both before and after training. So, before training commences, test your trainees to determine their knowledge, skill levels, and attitudes. Once training is finished, test your trainees a second time to measure what they have learned, or measure learning with interviews or verbal assessments. Level 3: Behavior It can be challenging to measure behavior effectively. This is a longer-term activity that should take place weeks or months after the initial training. Consider these questions: Did the trainees put any of their learning to use? Are trainees able to teach their new knowledge, skills, or attitudes to other people? Are trainees aware that they’ve changed their behavior? One of the best ways to measure behavior is to conduct observations and interviews over time. Also, keep in mind that behavior will only change if conditions are favorable. For instance, effective learning could have taken place in the training session. But, if the overall organizational culture isn’t set up for any behavior changes, the trainees might not be able to apply what they’ve learned. Alternatively, trainees might not receive support, recognition, or reward for their behavior change from their boss. So, over time, they disregard the skills or knowledge that they have learned, and go back to their old behaviors. Level 4: Results Of all the levels, measuring the final results of the training is likely to be the most costly and time consuming. The biggest challenges are identifying which outcomes, benefits, or final results are most closely linked to the training, and coming up with an effective way to measure these outcomes over the long term. Here are some outcomes to consider, depending on the objectives of your training: Increased employee retention. Increased production. Higher morale. Reduced waste. Increased sales. Higher quality ratings. Increased customer satisfaction. Fewer staff complaints. Considerations Although Kirkpatrick’s Four-Level Training Evaluation Model is popular and widely used, there are a number of considerations that need to be taken into account when using the model. One issue is that it can be time-consuming and expensive to use levels 3 or 4 of the model, so it’s not practical for all organizations and situations. This is especially the case for organizations that don’t have a dedicated training or human resource department, or for one-off training sessions or programs. In a similar way, it can be expensive and resource intensive to â€Å"wire up an organization† to collect data with the sole purpose of evaluating training at levels 3 and 4. (Whether or not this is practical depends on the systems already in place within the organization.) The model also assumes that each level’s importance is greater than the last level, and that all levels are linked. For instance, it implies that Reaction is less important, ultimately, than Results, and that reactions must be positive for learning to take place. In practice, this may not be the case. Most importantly, organizations change in many ways, and behaviors and results change depending on these, as well as on training. For example, measurable improvements in areas like retention and productivity could result from the arrival of a new boss or from a new computer system, rather than from training. Kirkpatrick’s model is great for trying to evaluate training in a â€Å"scientific† way, however, so many variables can be changing in fast-changing organizations that analysis at level 4 can be limited in usefulness. Key Points The Kirkpatrick Four-Level Training Evaluation Model helps trainers to measure the effectiveness of their training in an objective way. The model was originally created by Donald Kirkpatrick in 1959, and has since gone through several updates and revisions. The Four-Levels are as follows: Reaction. Learning. Behavior. Results. By going through and analyzing each of these four levels, you can gain a thorough understanding of how effective your training was, and how you can improve in the future. Bear in mind that the model isn’t practical in all situations, and that measuring the effectiveness of training with the model can be time-consuming and use a lot of resources.

Sunday, January 5, 2020

A New Antibiotic Kills Pathogens - 875 Words

Antibiotics are secondary metabolites expressed by a microorganism against other microorganisms as a means to compete for limited resources and are thought to have originated from soil-dwelling microbes (D’costa). Many of our current antibiotic therapies were derived directly from soil-dwelling microorganisms, including but not limited to Bacillus, Streptomyces, and Penicillium (cite). Therefore, it is logical that the search for novel antibiotic therapies should continue with soil microbes. Unfortunately, isolation of potential antibiotic drugs from soil microorganisms remains a challenge. Over 99% of microbial life is incapable of being cultured via traditional methods (Lewis). This means that new culturing approaches are required to isolate potential antibiotic producers. Fortunately, progress has recently been made in this endeavor. The methods that follow have been derived from a paper published in Nature in January 2015, titled â€Å"A new antibiotic kills pathogens wit hout detectable resistance.† Utilizing a new means of culturing soil microbes, researchers discovered a previously uncharacterized antibiotic, teixobactin, derived from a ÃŽ ²-proteobacteria called Eleftheria terrae (Ling). The techniques utilized in this paper have shown that there are untapped resources for antimicrobial therapies yet to be discovered. Soil samples can be taken from various geographic locations and depths. Utilizing a culturing device called an iChip, researchers can better replicate theShow MoreRelatedThe Human Immune System Essay629 Words   |  3 Pagesbody to fight diseases, as well as pathogens, the disease-causing factors. It is mainly composed of the tonsils and adenoids, the lymph nodes and lymphatic vessels, the spleen, appendix, and bone marrow. 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