Biblical Philosophy of Education Research Paper

Biblical Philosophy of Education - Research Paper Example The Purpose of Education According to the Biblical message, the purpose of education is to increase in the knowledge of God and to subject the Earth and the Sea and the Sky to Gods glory. To illustrate, it is stated in Habakkuk 2:14 that â€Å"Earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea†. A look into John 8:31-32 gives further clarification to the issue. It states â€Å"If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.† Evidently, the purpose of Christian education is to become the Disciples of Christ by knowing the truth. Education has no meaning except as it relates to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. To illustrate, Matthew 16:26 states, â€Å"What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?† A similar notion comes from Ecclesiastes 1:14, which states â€Å"I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind. Philippians 3:8 proclaims â€Å"I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish that I may gain Christ†. ... The second main point evident from the biblical philosophy is that education should support our proclamation of the truth. For example, 1Peter 3:15 states â€Å"Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.† The third purpose of education is that it should facilitate our service to God and to people (Matthew 22:37-39), and the fourth purpose is that it should equip us to watch out that no one deceives us (Mathew 24:4, 5). However, if someone is to believe that the Bible is against using education as a means of livelihood, it is necessary to look into Genesis. It states, learning should equip us to work for a living and to support our families (Genesis 3:19). In addition, Proverbs 31:10-31 shows how skilled the wife of a noble character is. She does a number of works ranging from selecting wool and flax, and works with eager hands. Evidently, Bible is not against using skills and education as a means to survive, but it only glorifies the same. For evidence, 2 Timothy 3: 16-17 says that â€Å"man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work†. In order to understand the purpose of education in a church perspective, one should listen to Colossians 1:17. It states, â€Å"He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together†. Thus, it is evidently said that true knowledge is possible only when it is grounded in God. In other words, the ones who do not acknowledge this fail in their interpretation of facts. A look into the Colossians 2: 2-10 will prove what the purpose of education is. It goes â€Å"my purpose is that they may†¦know the mystery of god, namely Christ in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by

What does it take to be successful in life Essay

What does it take to be successful in life - Essay Example Once they have identified their mistakes and outlined the future course of action that they would take in similar circumstances, they tend to overcome their weaknesses the next time they are in them. Right behavior and rational approach is like a skill that is mastered through practice, experience and reflection upon it. â€Å"An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field† (Bohr cited in â€Å"Mistakes Quotes†). Man has been given the ability to decide much of his fortune himself. Those who think and reflect upon their experiences for learning make their life different from the larger group that does not. One is required to be humble in one’s attitude towards others. One should deal others with the same respect one wants others to deal one with. That does not necessarily mean that one should kill one’s ego and accept any thing that the society has to offer. One should never kill one’s ego. Those who completely loose their ego are at the expense of the society and hence, are vulnerable to unjust criticism, humility and insult. The society considers such people as worthless and makes every attempt to ruin their pleasure and hurt their sentiments. An egoless person is treated very badly and shrewdly by the society at large. Lack of ego destroys an individual’s boundaries. â€Å"Having fuzzy boundaries means you are vulnerable to those who wish to use you, enslave you or hurt you† (Self, Ego and Boundaries†). Therefore, killing one’s ego is never the wise option. However, it should be made right use of. One should be wise enough to know whe re to use ego and to what extent. One should always take a stand for what one considers right and always condemn what one deems wrong. This can only be achieved with the appropriate use of ego. Right use of ego guarantees an individual success and respect in his/her life. People tend to show reverence towards such an individual as they know that he/she is courageous,

The Romantic Comedy Genre

The Romantic Comedy Genre If even half of the projects picked up this year actually get the green light, the first decade of the next millennium may be known as the Romantic Comedy Decade. Sales totals for the genre surged ahead of former rivals Action-Adventure and Science Fiction, landing squarely in the coveted fourth spot [below Comedy, Drama and Thriller]. There was a 50 per cent increase in the number of romantic comedy scripts bought by studios in 1998 compared to the previous year. Examples of films in this period are Four weddings and a Funeral (UK; 1994), My Best Friends Wedding (1997), Shakespeare in Love (UK/US, 1998) and There is Something about Mary (1998). Each year from 1981, the trend is towards a much higher volume of production with especially sustained activity from 1997-9 (Krutnik 2002, p10). Romantic Comedy imports from US also increased from mid-1990s. Films such as the international success Notting Hill (1999) and the Australian-French co-production Green Card (1990) encouraged Hollywood involvement in co-productions. Examples are Sliding Doors (UK/US, 1998) and Bridget Jones Diary (France/UK/US, 2001). Most of the US-British partnership ventures, however, are adaptations of prestige literary or dramatic properties targeted at international audiences (Krunik 2002, p132), including Sense and Sensibility (UK/US; 1995) and Emma (UK/US; 1996). What exactly is Romantic Comedy? How is it defined in order to help people to understand what it actually is? Romantic Comedy: a genre, a family of genres (marriages, manners, screwball), a category of production and marketing, a category of analysis. Definition, even delimitation, is difficult or impossible because all Hollywood films (except some war films) have romance and all have comedy. A workable subset romantic comedy might refer to those films in which romance and comedy are the primary components as crime, war, etc (Krunik 2002, p132) As Handerson said, the word romantic comedy not only is a particular type of a story on two lovers but it also circulates as something of a free-floating signifier that can designate a bewildering array of possible combinations of sex and comedy (Krunik 2002, p 133). Billy Mernit, who is a famous author of romantic comedy, assigns the success of romantic comedy which has continued since the 1980s to its ability to mix with other film genres. Hybridity is by no means a new development within Hollywood genre films, and it is certainly no stranger to romantic comedy (Krunik 2002, p133). Examples are Ball of Fire (1941), in which romantic comedy and elements of the gangster films are combined, I Married a Witch (1942) joins romantic comedy and supernatural fantasy and Too Hot to Handle (1938) combines romantic comedy with aviation adventure. Though there are many exceptions that prove the rule (e.g., the thoroughly old-fashioned Pretty Women), contemporary mainstream audiences seem amenable to movies that mix it up. And this is true of your buyers (the studios); a romantic comedy that promises crossover potential is more likely to pique their interest than a straight-up traditional one (Mernit, B) Pretty Women is a film which is female-centred, pure straight romantic comedy appeals to women whereas the cross-genre film has broader audience. What is more, some of new romances have the elements of sporting backgrounds. For instance, Bull Durham (1998), The Cutting Edge (1992), The American President (1995) and Bulworth (1998). In addition, another trend since 1990s has been the extension of the romantic comedy process to gay relationships (Krunik 2002, p 136). Gay scenarios have been combined within comedies aiming at broader audiences, such as The Next Best Thing (2000), The Object of My Affection (1998) and As Good as It Gets and Chasing Amy (1997). Therefore, it can be said that contemporary romantic has been reconstructed for audiences based on age, ethnicity and sexual preference. In romantic comedies, the real subject is the power of love. Love is not merely the catalyst for action in a romantic comedy, it is the shaper of the story arc. Although many romantic comedies seem to initially set up their protagonists eventual mate as their antagonist, in most cases love itself is the antagonist. Wrestling with love can force a character to grow or to resist growth, but either way, loves effect on the central character is what drives the story. Billy Mernit Heterogeneity and hybridity (Spicer 2001, p184) are the prominent features of masculinity in contemporary British cinema. It means that the range of male forms is much broader than ever before. One of the major ways by which identity is able to be reconstructed is through the mass media as this provides an outlet whereby the expression of alternative identities can be communicated. The media therefore becomes a focus whereby different expressions of gender identity can be expressed and debated. In recent years, there have been rapid changes in many ways within the politics, society and culture. There are many significant reasons for these changes. As the result of these changes there were crucial impacts on social movements. Feminism is often said to be one of the most well known social movement. The key elements and developments of both feminism and cultural discourses are closely related to each other. Question arises at this point, such as what it means to be a woman and man, how are feminine and masculine identities constructed and what is the nature of femininity, masculinity? Not only to feminists but people such as intellectuals, politicians, artists and of course ordinary women and men is interested in such struggles within the culture and society. Since, those struggle occurs when people characterises their existence by repeating the same routine within peoples daily lives. This section will examine the key elements on sex and gender to elucidate the cultural meaning within the media. Gender is a way in which social practice is ordered. In gender processes, the everyday conduct of life is organized in relation to a reproductive arena, defined by the bodily structures and processes of human reproduction. This arena includes sexual arousal and intercourse, childbirth and infant care, bodily sex difference and similarity (Connell 1995, p71). For Judith Butler, who is an American philosopher and has contributed to the fields of feminism, queer theory, political philosophy and ethics, the various manifestation of gender in culture are driven by the self-same expressions deemed to be its consequences (Butler, 1990, p25) is accepted as gender is driven by performance, or the very activity of presentation, it is therefore dependent on what and how this is currently expressed by the individual that, ultimately, constitutes the crucial determining factor, and not an all-embracing universal disposition. In this sense, Butler sees gender as a regulatory fiction that is sustained by performative acts. Due to the fact that the choices an individual can potentially make in relation to gender are restricted thanks to ongoing cultural norms and assumptions, a person is therefore presented with a limited choice of possible identities. Individuals are thereby obliged to follow a course that fits the male/female dichotomy through perform ing and conforming to prevailing gender stereotypes. Furthermore, if the gender is socially constructed the relations between sex and gender become more unstable which makes gender independent from sex. As butler puts it in her writing that, gender is free-floating artifice which culturally constructed, indeed perhaps sex was already gender, so that the sex/gender distinction is actually not a distinction at all (Butler, 1990 p7). Butler suggests that it is possible to have a designated female body and not to show traits generally considered feminine, in other words, one may be a masculine female or a feminine male. One way of challenging such assumptions, Butler suggests, is to encourage awareness of these limitations by the creation of alternative gender scenarios that can lead to a more genuine realisation of ones identity. In effect, this provides for greater flexibility and range of options by which a person is able to construct a unique individuality. The fashion world definitely had the great impact on gender identification. It has been the case that distinctions of the gender are made when looking at fashion magazines such as masculine male and feminine female. The stereotypes of the gender role are repeatedly shown in the advertisements, fashion runways. As if it is saying that this how men and women should look like thus it limits our choice. These examples that I am going to give show how some of Butlers ideas have been taken up in a practical manner. Tailored jacket, bow tie and so forth have been socially accepted for mens clothing. However wearing mens clothing item such as oversized tailored jacket or a bow tie become as a fashion trend for womens clothing in recent years. This indicates from my point of view, that there are no such assumptions or rule for the style of gender identity. There are no set of rules for wearing clothes in order to represent certain genders identity. However there are social taboos which limit people to choose their own identity. But by looking images or photographs in magazines gender is not something fixed it is actually transformable as it shifts in style time to time. Thus, it can be explained that it is challenging the male dominance by reducing the assumption of the cultural meaning of the gender and sex to the level of fashion and style. Another example is how the boundary of men and women has been blurred. First example is a skinny male fashion model, what I found interesting in this example is that how assumption of the male body has been changed. Within the fashion industry, where their fashion products should be sold in order to make a profit. Traditional male fashion models in the past showed strong masculine male body to represent their products. Furthermore, second example is a photo shot of male fashion model by PRADAs spring/fall collection. As I explained of skinny male models above, PRADA also chooses skinny male model. But this time the model is wearing a trousers and a skirt at the same time. This also can be explained as it is breaking the traditional gender stereotype. The formula which says that I dont wear a skirt therefore I am male I am male therefore I dont wear a skirt fails in this image. Again it is just the style and fashion which blurs the boundary of fixed gender and sex .These examples above show how some of Butlers ideas have been taken up in a practical rather than passive way to meaningfully challenge how the public view gender to the extent that the younger generation are now coming to accept a more ambivalent attitude towards sex and gender. Moreover, androgynous models seem to becoming more common in the media a further sign that boundaries are becoming permeable. All societies have cultural accounts of gender, but not all have the concept of masculinity. In its modern usage the term assumes that ones behaviour results from the type of person one is. That is to say, an unmasculine person would behave differently: being peaceable rather than violent, conciliatory rather than dominating, hardly able to kick a football, uninterested in sexual conquest, and so forth (Connell 1995, p67). Perhaps we are aware of masculinity than ever before as it has become one of the interests that have been analysed since mid 1980s. Definitions of masculinity have mostly have taken our cultural standpoint for granted, but have followed different strategies to characterise the type of person who is masculine (Connell 1996, p68). Essentialist focuses on the core of masculine and their lives whereas positivist finds out what men actually are. Normative definition is a standard and explains that masculinity is that men should be. Semiotic definition, however, is that masculinity is non-femininity so that the level of personality is limited. Rather than attempting to define masculinity as an object (a natural character type, a behavioural average, a norm), we need to focus on the processes and relationships through which men and women conduct gendered lives. Masculinity, to the extent the term can be briefly defined at all, is simultaneously a place in gender relations, the practices through which men and women engage that place in gender, and the effects of these practices in bodily experience, personality and culture'(Connell 1996, p71). A concern of much early masculinity scholarship was to highlight the range and diversity of male identities that exist both within society as a whole and in specific settings (Crew 2003, p27). It means that there is class difference between men and the power that they have masculinities in working-class and middle-class to different experiences of capitalist working practice (Tolson 1977; Willis 1977). Tolson described masculinity in working-class as characterised by collective recognition and solidarity, physical toughness and presence, bravado, confrontation, anti-authority sentiment, and the avoidance of feelings (Crew 2003, p27). By contrary, masculinity of middle-class was described as moral dignity, emotional restraint, respectability and individualised notions of self-discipline, ambition and competitiveness (Crew 2003, p27). The interweaving of masculinity and class was most clearly illustrated in Paul Willis (1977) ethnography of a group of working-class lads. Most striking was how the lads associated different types of work with different genders such that they valorised their own identities and the futures that awaited them explicitly masculine terms (Crew 2003, p27). For example, it is both shop floor workers and managers in middle-class who construct a masculine hierarchy in which physical labour is at the summit (Roper 1994: 106). Managers find it hard to show their masculine position and masculinity in their work. It was suggested by Collison and Hearn (1996) that similarly, whilst shop floor workers reject the idea of promotion because it would compromise their masculine self-images (Crew 2003, p27), men working in office also are endangered by what they think of their work as unmasculine. What is more, it is important to see the difference here between what men want to be and what they really are. masculine identities are lived out in the flesh but fashioned in the imagination, with cultural representations providing the repertoire of cultural forms upon which fantasies are cast (Dawson 1991: 118). Masculine heterosexuality somewhat in line with the laddish personalities they were ascribed in the press (Crewe 2003, p 128). They are certainly not macho, overbearing or aggressive: nor did they exhibit the emotionally inhibited toughness of Ropers (1994) organisational men (Crew 2003, p 128). There are two social practices that reinforce oppressive, discriminatory forms of heterosexuality are homophobia and the sexual objectification of women (Pease 2000, p76). The term homophobia is created by The Gay Liberation Movement to identify the fear of homosexuality. According to Kirk and Madsen (1989:26-7), hetero sexual men dislike gays because they believe that homosexuality is caused by sinfulness, mental illness or recruitment (Pease 2000, p 76). It means that homosexuality is a distortion: gay men are evil and corrupted. Most heterosexuals have this misidentification and misconception as they have a negative image of the gay world. Sedgwick (1985:1) used the term homosocial to describe the non-sexual social bonds between men and to analyse how these social bonds keep men in power (Pease 2000, p77). The inability to recognise any homosexual impulses in oneself causes men to project all homosexuality desires outward on to gay men (Kupers, 1993:49) (Pease 2000, p77). Therefore, homophobia is seen as caused by hidden homosexuality. Many men are not aware of flaws or suspects of their heterosexuality. So if heterosexual men regard themselves as normal, homosexual men become abnormal. Heterosexual men try to avoid doing anything that other men might interpret as effeminate or unmanly. Men fear that any intimacy between men may sully their sexual identity (Pease 2000, p 78). Most heterosexual men are attracted by womens bodies and this objectification is the process by which men sees the woman as a thing or an object and fixation to the process of focusing on parts of the female body (Buchbinder, 1987:65-6) (Pease 2000, p84). Heterosexual men are aware of sexism and they often feel torn between their sexual desire and their awareness that their expressed fantasies about women can be experienced as oppressive by women (Horowitz and Kaufman, 1987:81) (Pease 2000, p84). Objectification is one of the key processes in mens sexual relationships with women, in which often a part of the women is seen to represent the whole (Kaufman, 1993: 124) (Pease 2000, p84). Heterosexual men have not done any reflective writings about their sexual desires: Rich (1983:66) has also challenged men to say why they like pornography, whilst gay men have challenged heterosexual men to be up front about their sexuality (Stoltenberg, 1991: 8) (Pease 2000, p85). In part these changes reflect the present state of British film-making which has become decentred and eclectic, lacking studio infrastructure or dominant producers of the earlier period (Spicer 2001, p184). Since 1970s, British film production has recovered and a new generation of film producers has become known that grips a more commercial cinema. The arrival of the multiplexes encouraged revival in cinema-going (Spicer 2001, p184) in all UK. Most of cinema-goers are young people, but ABC1 is the major audience who frequently do cinema-going. The balance between men and women is equal. However, cinema-going will never return to its former importance as a leisure pursuit, but film viewing continues to be a significant part of popular culture with the majority of films watched on television or on video (Spicer 2001, p185). The use of DVD and internet help to increase consumption of film viewing and it eventually makes cinema remain a popular and influential medium, among all classes and age groups and representation of masculinity (Spicer 2001, p185). It has developed from successful British films put in to a national image culture. This section will look at various complex types of masculinity in contemporary British Cinema and give examples for each type. James Bond has been the most enduring post-war British film hero in twenty films spanning thirty-eight years (Spicer 2001, p185). Films that represent Bonds heroic masculinity are A View to a Kill (1987) where Roger Moore re-created Bond as an old-style debonair hero, more polished and sophisticated (Spicer 2001, p185) and The World is Not Enough (1999). He continues to be a hero who keeps the masculinity of traditional male adventurer. There is a new man concept which emerged within commercial culture, in particular, within retailing, advertising, and the early formation of the UK mens magazine market (Crew 2003, p27) and it was in many ways driven by the discovery of a new market (Seidler 1997, p8). The formation of new man imagery has developments in and associated with menswear play an important role. Together with the reshaping of the mens toiletries and grooming products markets, development in menswear markets set some of the big terms for the emergence of the new man imagery (Nixon 1996, p31). The new man concept is the creation of imagery that represented men in ways that were more narcissistic, self-conscious, emotionally expressive, domesticated and feminine than conventional iconography of patriarchal authority, action and machismo (Brannon 1976; Goffman 1979; Wenick 1987) (Crew 2003, p 31). Nixon said the new man imagery was most important in that it represented a loosening of the binary opposition between gay and straight-identified men and extended the space available within the representational regimes of popular consumption for an ambivalent masculine identity (Nixon 1996: 202) (Crew 2003, p 31). The New Man was an alternative image to the macho tough guy, embracing female roles and qualities, a vulnerable nurturer in touch with his emotions, but also rather narcissistic (Spicer 2001, p 187). Hugh Grant in two romantic comedy films embodied the New Man: Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) and Notting Hill (1999). Both films show the gentle, low-rent Man About Town, lovably awkward, tongue-tied, endlessly self-deprecating and sexually naà ¯ve (Spicer 2001, p 187). The independence and the power of women in films like Four Weddings and Notting Hill made Grant show more feminine sides. This is manifested in his insecurity and compliance, his lack of ambition and his desire for stability and heterosexual union, thereby fulfilling his supportive New Man credentials (Spicer 2001, p187). The type of the damaged man appears so frequently in recent British cinema and it has become the most representative image (Spicer 2001, p195). Shallow Grave (1994), Jude (1996) and Heart( 1998) are the performances of Christopher Eccleston who showed the figure of the damaged man with his gaunt features and suffering eyes (Spicer 2001, p 195). Mike Leighs Naked (1993) shows that the underclass male is often irreparably damaged by social disintegration and the film deepened this paradigm into an existentialist nightmare (Spicer 2001, p196). Mark Renton in Trainspotting is perhaps the most representative contemporary male: young, alienated, but also a chameleon, neither hero, villain, conformist or rebel. He is the product of a culture that is decentred and heterogeneous, no longer recognising clear national, ethical or sexual boundaries, where forms of masculinity are becoming increasingly hybrid and audiences delight in the knowingness and self-referentiality of popular culture (Spicer 2001, p 204). Contemporary British cinema has capability to produce positive forms. In Affairs to Remember, Bruce Babington and Peter Evans define romantic comedy as a genre that centres on the couple, celebrating the passionate but hopefully companionate love that brings them together, and typically ending at the moment of passage into the responsibilities of marriage (Babington and Evans 1989:234). (Spicer 2004, p78). In Britain, successful romantic comedy films since the revival are If Only (Maris Ripoll, 1998), Fanny Elvis (Kay Mellor, 1998), Sliding Doors (Peter Howitt, 1997) and Hugh Grant films. Hugh Grant is arguably the most successful current British star, famous throughout the world, able to sell a film on the strength of his name alone (Spicer 2004, p77). The revival of British romantic comedy is linked with popularity that Grant has. Grants films such as Notting Hill (Roger Michell, 1999), Four Weddings and a Funeral (Mike Newell, 1994), Bridget Jones Diary (Sharon McGuire, 2001) and About a Boy (Chris and Paul Weitz, 2002) share a central characteristic: the reluctance to commit, and yet the need to find love meaningful and central to well-being and happiness (Spicer 2004, p77). In Bridget Jones Diary, Grant was No More Mr Nice Guy (Spicer 2004, p83), and his bare-chested in tight leather trousers was photographed in womens magazines to show his new and more muscular body. Hugh Grant plays Renee Zellweggers boss at the publishing company, Daniel Cleaver, sophisticated, sexy professional with long, flowing dark locks and rakish hair (Spicer 2004, p 83). Cleaver is another familiar archetype, the Byronic anti-hero. The essence of the type is its fascinating eroticism (Spicer 2004, p83). The scene where he is undressing Bridget and he says, Silly little boots, silly little dress and these fuck me absolutely enormous pants. Dont apologise, I like them. Hello Mummy! Thats all him. Id have written What the fuck are those knickers? or something similar. He fooled around a lot on Bridget because it was in line with his own style of naughtiness. (Curtis in Raphael 2002s:13) (Spicer 2004, p 83). Some judged that he, like many Byronic males, was more attractive than tedious virtue (Spicer, p84), Daniel is has more charisma than dull Darcy.

Aristotelian Intellectual Intuition, Basic Beliefs and Naturalistic Epistemology :: Philosophy Philosophical Essays

Aristotelian Intellectual Intuition, Basic Beliefs and Naturalistic Epistemology ABSTRACT: I first argue that Aristotelian intellectual intuition (recognizing archai through epagoge and seeing their truth by recognizing their explanatory power through nous) generates basic beliefs which are not inferred — inductively or deductively — from other beliefs. Both involve synthetic intuitive insight. Epagoge grasps a connection and nous sees its general applicability. I next argue that such beliefs are properly basic by adapting an argument made by Hilary Kornblith. According to Kornblith, the world is objectively divided into natural kinds. We humans perceive the world divided into natural kinds. There is empirical evidence suggesting that we divide the world not only as it is objectively divided, but in making inductive inferences, that is, in inferring that an object will have certain properties on the basis of its having others. This grounds the reliability of (certain) inductive inferences. But the leading principles (in Peirce’s sense) of the se inferences are basic beliefs generated through intellectual intuition. Hence intellectual intuition generates certain properly basic beliefs. For Aristotle science is demonstration from first principles. But how does one arrive at these first principles? We observe particular instances and record those observations in memory. This material generates a logos, a meaning. (1) This is the process of epagoge which frames or formulates the archai. We recognize that archai are true, we come to believe them, by the operation of nous. Through nous we come to recognize the explanatory power of archai. In recognizing this, that the archai are true to the facts, we recognize their truth. Particular experiences suggest a certain arche. But nous lets us see that this arche "is the way in which the facts can be understood." (2) But, as Randall emphasizes, nous does not intuit the explanatory power of these archai independently of, or in abstraction from, the facts they explain. "Nous does not `see' the truth of archai by holding them up, in isolation ..., and just staring at them; it `sees' their truth in the subject matter." (3) Does intellectual intuition generate basic beliefs? Experience suggests archai; nous grasps their truth by seeing that they explain certain facts. Are these archai then inferred beliefs, inferred from the facts they allegedly explain? Are they conclusions of arguments whose premises describe these facts? Aristotle views science as deductive system. The arche of that science would not be deduced from more basic first principles.

Problems In A Product Life Cycle Environmental Sciences Essay

Global alteration has an impact on clime, demographical and socio-ecological alteration worldwide, and humanity has an influence on planetary alteration. As a consequence of natural catastrophes, eventually climate arguments came up which drew public attending. These arguments showed that something demands to be done. ( Tan, 2008 ) The industries can seek to bring forth environmentally friendly merchandises, extend the merchandise life rhythm, and make a solution for the end-of-life stage of a merchandise. This chapter demonstrates the job of the merchandise life rhythm and gives an penetration into the transmutation. The industrial revolution set up a additive theoretical account of material watercourses, a system that takes merchandises and throws them off. Toxic stuffs trickle into the nature systems. Furthermore, the waste burning locally generates energy, nevertheless, besides this much more energy is required for new stuff production. ( Hennings, et al. , 2008 ) The whole procedure is named an open-loop supply concatenation. By and large talking, it maps the way from the stuffs to the providers to the terminal consumer. There is no reversal rate from the consumer. There is no return of stuff. The company does non offer any return or recycling system. However, consumers use the merchandise and so at the terminal of the merchandise life rhythm, they throw it off. ( Lebreton, 2007 ) Another possibility is to donate the old apparels to charitable organisations which resell the old apparels to commercial retail merchants in the 3rd universe or in east Europe. In Germany the biggest fabric aggregation is â€Å" Deutsche Rote Kreuz † with 40,000 dozenss collected each twelvemonth. ( Weissinger, 1999 ) In Switzerland there are four large fabric aggregation houses: Texaid, Contex AG, Solitex and Satex. Texaid is the biggest 1 in Switzerland ; it recollects 17,000 dozenss of old fabrics per twelvemonth. The company ‘s grosss go to relief organisations. The gathered fabrics are classified in different quality categories and removed from waste. ( Truninger, 2005 ) The reselling of these apparels ignited a large treatment, as the pattern destroys local concerns which produce traditional apparels. The effects are that the local fabric industry nearby wholly collapsed, and reorganisation is non possible anymore. Some states have imposed import prohibitions. ( W eissinger, 1999 ) This complex job is good documented in the movie â€Å" oburoni wawu – dice Kleider der toten Weissen, † which deals with the inquiry of who needs old apparels and how the concern of old apparels works. The movie shows the way the old apparels take and what happens to them when they arrive in the preset state. ( Strobusch & A ; Terpinc, 1995 ) A farther option is the Climatex Lifecycle. This procedure is an innovation from the endeavor Rohner. Out of old fabrics, they produce felt, which is used to mulch and to cover the vegetable spot. As a consequence, the landfill is less to a great extent loaded and the old fabrics have a concluding responsibility. ( Weissinger, 1999 ) As it can be seen from the illustration of Rohner Textiles, end product went up 30 % and was accompanied by a drastic lessening in cost after they launched the new sustainability scheme. The Rohner illustration shows the positive consequence for a concern if they launch a closed-loop recycling scheme. ( IEHN, n.d. ) There is a new innovation to recycle polyester curtain. Teijin is a recycling company which specializes in polyester recycling. Today the company is a Recycling Network. Under the mark ‘ECOLOG, ‘ are all companies committed to bring forthing fabrics in mono-material polyester. ‘ECOLOG ‘ fabrics can be recycled easy, as there are no assorted fibres and it can be made easy into a new stuff. ( Outdoortrends, n.d. ) The last possibility in fabric recycling is down recycling. This procedure has been done for old ages now because the rate of return of polyester fabrics was really low. In this instance the recycling companies downcyceld the merchandises to knobs. ( Weissinger, 1999 ) To offer recycled merchandises and the usage of recycled stuffs is an environmentally friendly facet of assorted companies. Nowadays the positive environmental impact of merchandises gives a company a competitory border ; it is a must, non merely an option. Companies secure themselves a great hereafter with a strong sustainability scheme. The â€Å" C footmark † of companies is set to diminish, as they are under force per unit area from different stakeholders, like non-governmental organisations, consumers and authorities, to make so. This force per unit area on companies encourages them to cut down their C footmark with different commissariats like green merchandises, sustainable procedures and societal duty plans ( CSR ) . However, good communicating and labeling towards consumers is indispensable, to allow them cognize about the green attempts made by the company. ( Jo, 2010 )Focus on Outdoor IndustryHarmonizing to the study of Luscombe ( 2010 ) , 59 % of participants buy t he purchased point for functional usage and for general every twenty-four hours usage. Merely 3 % bargain it for mundane usage. There is a displacement from utilizing out-of-door merchandises in the athleticss sector towards mundane life usage. The study of EOG shows that quality has the highest impact on the purchasing determination, followed by the trade name name. The 3rd factor impacting the determination is the monetary value. This ranking is for Germany. In Switzerland, the ranking is similar. Quality is the victor, followed by comfort, so the proficient characteristics, and last is the monetary value. Recyclability of the merchandise influences the purchasing determination for 62 % of Germans ; whereas merely 60 % of people are interested in purchasing merchandises made of recycled stuff. In the Swiss study, 67 % are influenced by the recyclability of the merchandise in the purchasing determination and 64 % bargain recycled stuff. ( Luscombe, 2010 ) Nowadays, there is a broad scope of reclaimable stuff. It is possible to recycle polyester, polymeric amide and polyurethane. There are two different recycling methods: stuff recycling and chemical recycling. The undermentioned four possibilities are often used in the industry. ( ISOPA, 2001 ) PET-Recycling ( Material recycling ) PET-Recycling became more widespread, as the environmental considerations gain importance. PET bottles have a really short life rhythm, and moreover they are made of rough oil, which causes environmental jobs, as most PET bottles are destined for landfills. As a consequence, a recycling procedure to recycle the valuable primary resources is a perfect thought. The recycling procedure is non really hard with PET bottles. The stuff to be recycled is ‘polyethylene terephthalate ‘ . ( Evans, 2010 ) A short recycling procedure description: Colored bottles need to be sorted out. Just crystalline bottles can be used for this procedure. The selected PET bottles have to be cleaned and dried and crushed. These crushed pieces will be heated. Through this warming procedure, the crushed pieces are melted and a crimping machine gives the ensuing polyester narrations their texture. The polyester narrations need to dried. The quality control has to be passed. ( Evans, 2010 ) This procedure can be performed one time. If there is a jacket made out of this PET recycled narration, the used jacket, which is non functional any longer, ends in a landfill. Nevertheless, some natural stuff has already been saved thanks to PET recycling. In the following paragraph are some illustrations about the measure of PET bottles needed to do certain points. ( Heimann, 2010 ) â€Å" With 20 PET bottles, a ski jacket can be produced. A jumper needs about 63 PET bottles and a sleeping bag is made of 83 PET bottles. † These are facts found on the bright hub home page ( Evans, 2010 ) . There is besides a negative facet to PET recycling. Since PET can merely be recycled one time, 360A ° recycling is non possible. On the other manus, PET recycling is cheaper than polyester recycling, which is explained in the following point. ( Heimann, 2010 ) Polyester Recycling ( chemical recycling ) A Nipponese company has developed the first polyester recycling system named ECO CIRCLE. This is a closed-loop recycling for polyester points. Old polyester merchandises, which are made out of 100 % polyester, can be chemically converted into new polyester natural stuff. ( Teijin, 2009 ) Products which are reclaimable in this manner have the undermentioned label on them: Figure 6: ECO CIRCLE Logo ( Beginning: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.ecocircle.jp/en/index.htm ) Fleece coats are easy to recycle as they are 100 % polyester. Other coats are frequently a combination of different stuffs. The status for recycling is that the merchandise has 100 % screening truth. The polyester recycling procedure is similar to PET-recycling, but there are some differences as this is a type of chemical recycling. Collected polyester merchandises are broken down into little pieces. Granulated stuff is made. The colouring is removed from the pellets. This procedure requires high energy and important clip. Through chemical intervention, new polyester natural stuff is created. New â€Å" Eco Circle † fibres are created to bring forth reclaimable merchandises. ( Teijin-Fibers, n.d. ) There are different merchandises made by this closed-loop recycling procedure: underwear, T-shirts, jackets, baseball mitts and so on. Swany produced the first closed-loop reclaimable baseball mitt. The list would ne'er stop, as there is an limitless possibility to bring forth pro-ducts with 100 % polyester. ( Teijin, 2009 ) This procedure is criticized, as the fibres are produced utilizing crude oil. Critics say that these fibres should non be produced any longer given the turning trouble with crude oil supplies. However the outdoor industry is acute on utilizing polyester fibres, as this fabric is high quality and stopping points long clip. Figure 7: CO2 Reduction There is less ecological harm with this recycling procedure than with the production of new fibres, as per an analysis conducted by the Suedwind Institute ( n. d. ) . This fact is besides apparent in this Figures 10. 77 % less CO2 is released utilizing the recycling procedure than is released bring forthing new natural stuff from crude oil. ( Beginning: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.patagonia.com/pdf/en_US/common_threads_whitepaper.pdf ) This closed-loop polyester recycling reduces the dependence on rough oil, produces less pollution as there is less godforsaken burning and progresses the reuse of old polyester apparels. ( Patagonia, 2009 ) Nylon/Polyamide Recycling ( chemical recycling ) Old fishing cyberspace and rugs can be used for nylon recycling. This recycling procedure is similar to the polyester recycling, but polyamide recycling is more cost- and time-intensive, as the procedure is more sophisticated. The recycled narrations are largely, but non wholly, used for back packs or for bags. The quality is non affected by the recycling procedure. ( Klattermusen, n.d ) The statute law in some states will perchance forbid the disposal of rugs in landfills. With this action, the client will be forced to recycle old rug, but this statute law has non yet passed. However there is a committedness by different companies which supply industrial rugs to take part in a nylon recycling plan. Furthermore there are different roll uping points for old rug in each state. ( Greener-Industry, n.d. ) There are some illustrations of companies which already offer a recycling plan: Klattermusen Since March 2009 Klattermusen offers a new recycling and recovery system, â€Å" rECOver. † Each point which is reclaimable has a sedimentation of one, five, 10 or 20 Euros. If the client brings these merchandises back to the shop, they get the sedimentation back. Each merchandise has an note of the sum of the sedimentation. Another portion of the plan is that used and patched merchandises are donated to a public trust. This recycling plan consists of the following reclaimable stuffs: nylon, polyester, polypropene and metal. It is one of the lone outdoor companies which recycles nylon and polypropene, as it is hard to retrieve these two substances and every bit good as dearly-won. ( Klattermusen, n.d. ) Goretex In 1993 Gore launched a undertaking named â€Å" Gore Balance Project, † which received the European Outdoor Award for Innovation. It was the first possibility to recycle in the dress industry. The purpose of this plan was to recycle fabric laminate, but the clients were non ready at that clip to take part in the undertaking. As a consequence of the low engagement degrees, Gore had to halt this recycling undertaking. Gore company coined the term â€Å" balanced-project. † Old Goretex-coats will be deconstructed into their belongingss and reused. ( Gore, 2007 ) VAUDE /Sympatex This company is a rival to Goretex. They invented a 100 % reclaimable membrane which is made of O, C and H. These constituents are easy reclaimable, like PET bottles. Additionally there is no fluorcarbon used, and they have the bluesign standard enfranchisement. The bluesign strandard will be explained in Chapter 3.5.2. VAUDE is the official spouse of Sympatex. They produced a new out-of-door aggregation under the slogan â€Å" Reduce, Re-use, Recycle. † The aggregation is high quality, therefore long-lasting, and it made of 100 % reclaimable polyester. Fjallraven In 2012 the first reclaimable coats will be sold. ( Fjalleraven, 2010 ) The company has three different constituents in their recycling plan, â€Å" ECOSHELL. † First, fluorocarbon is non used any longer in the coats. This chemical substance was used in the membrane for impregnation. It is a really effectual substance, but on the other manus it has several negative effects. One point is the substance is found in the nutrient concatenation, secondly, the decomposition clip is over 30 old ages and last but non least it is really hard to recycle. That ‘s why they now use a new substance which is natural. It is a new process invented by Rudolfgroup. The name of the new substance is BIONIC. Second the company is cognizant of the planetary heating, which is besides affected through the recycling plan. â€Å" That ‘s why they support an environmentally friendly aureate criterion undertaking, they have non-polluting energy production every bit good they cut down the depen dence on fossil fuels † ( Fjalleraven, n. d. ) . Last but non least, they employ the â€Å" Eco Circle † recycling system for polyester. The combination of all three points are indispensable to the company, as all influence the environment. ( Fjalleraven, n. vitamin D. ) Figure 8: Recycling Program of Patagonia Patagonia Inc. ( Beginning: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.patagonia.com/web/eu/popup/common_threads/index.jsp ) In 1993 Patagonia produced SynchillaA ® jackets from sodium carbonate bottles. In 2005 the â€Å" Common Threads Garment Recycling Program † was launched. This take-back plan collects old polyester merchandises to recycle into new narration. Customers have two different possibilities to take part in the recycling plan of Patagonia. One would be to return the points to the shop – frequently they have a box there – and the 2nd possibility is to direct it straight by station to Patagonia. They collect all the garments and direct them by ship to Japan, where the recycling procedure happens. ( Patagonia, n. d. ) â€Å" Wear it out ; drop it off ; we recycle it ; it lives onaˆÂ ¦ † is the claim of Patagonia ‘s recycling system, as it can be seen in Figure 11.Recycling CompaniesTeijin The whole company has different sections. The biggest portion is the scope of man-made fibres. Teijin is the lone company that provides a recycling plan in polyester. These recycled polyester fibres can be used for fabrics in the car, outdoor and dress industries. â€Å" Eco Circle † was launched in 2002. This recycling plan is environmentally friendly. Nowadays 200 companies are involved in â€Å" Eco Circle. † The tendency is that different states such as the U.S. , China, Europe and Japan have a higher environmental consciousness than all immature clients, which increases the reclaimable market. ( Shrestha, 2009 ) Polartec This company produces utmost conditions protection fabrics, insularity beds and lightweight wicking base beds. Polartec is used in many countries, like the Marine Corps, Navy, Army and Air Force, every bit good as in the out-of-door industry. Thankss to coaction with companies which offer recycled narration, the recycled merchandise line has risen from less than 1 % to over 30 % in over four old ages. This fact leads besides to a decrease in emanation and energy ingestion. Since 2010 they have partnered with Unifi, as they produce ‘Repreve ‘ narration which is made out of recycled PET bottles. Polartec is confident that with this partnership the recycled merchandise line will turn steadily. ( Polartec, 2010 ) Unifi It is a company which produces multi-filament polyester and nylon textured narrations. These man-made fibres are non merely produced from natural stuff but besides from PET. This fibre is on the market with the name ‘Repreve. ‘ They produce polyester fibres every bit good as nylon fibres. The nylon fibres are made out of consumer fibre waste, whereas the polyester fibres are made out of both consumer fibre waste and consumer plastic waste like PET-bottles. In a lb of ‘Repreve ‘ narration, there are 27 processed PET bottles. These sustainable and recycled fibres are chiefly used by the dress industry, but they are besides used in the furniture and auto industries. A partnership between Polartec and Unifi shows the tendency in the outdoor industry to utilize ecological narration. ( Repreve, 2008 )Recycling Ecologically Worthwhile?The contention environing recycling is large. On the cyberspace there are different forums where this issue is being discussed. In thi s chapter merely some statements out of assorted web logs, web sites and interviews held at the OutDoor Freidrichshafen will be highlighted. Maverick ( n.d. ) is convinced that presents planetary heating, natural instability and H2O deficits are scare tactics. This fact, that the universe is stoping, needs to be stopped, through recycling. This is a crutch, because people who recylcle believe they are profiting the environment, but the recycling procedure itself consumes a batch of energy and causes sometimes more pollution than natural stuffs, harmonizing to Maverick. Maverick ( n.d. ) describes the crutch as follows: â€Å" In a mode similar to medieval Christians purchasing indulgences from priests to be forgiven for their wickednesss without really making anything, recycling may be something we believe to be right and effectual merely because we ‘ve been told it is. † The consequence should be, that people reuse merchandises and alter their consumer behaviour. ( Maverick, n.d. ) Furthermore, a web log from May ( 2007 ) describes the PET recycling as an unuseful pattern. First of wholly, a batch of C is emitted anyhow, as the bottles need to be shipped to China and the new apparels back. Second the apparels made out of the old PET bottels are non recycable any longer and will stop in a landfill. The apparels are at that place for over 24,000 old ages until they are smoldered. About the transportation cost, Heimann ( personal communicating, July 17, 2010 ) comments that presents, Europeans are so addicted to Asia and to America, that the ships are geting anyhow. These ships have to return to the state of beginning, and it makes no pots to make so without lading. ( Heimann, 2010 ) The company Teijin conducted a research survey about the energy ingestion in a closed-loop recycling system with polyester. The consequence indicates that with the resources saved, energy and CO2 emanation is besides reduced. This computation is made by mensurating the CO2 emanation and energy needed for the recycling procedure, every bit good as that emitted and needed by the production with natural stuffs. To have new polyester, rough oil is needed. To bore rough oil, far more energy is needed than the sum recycling requires. The consequences are shown in the figures below. Figure 9: Decrease of CO2 Emission thanks to Recycling ( Beginning: Leaflet Teijin, Japan † ECOCIRCLE † ) The laminitis of the â€Å" Red, White and Green † Blog, Jennifer Grayson, is convinced about the positive facets of the recycling procedure. In 2005, recycling saved an one-year norm usage of energy of 9 million families. This has a direct impact on planetary heating. There is another positive point which concerns employment. The recycling and remanufacturing sectors account for about one million occupations. ( Grayson, 2009 ) The outdoor industry has been criticized for the environmental harm the concern causes, every bit good as for the bad on the job conditions. However the industry has made an attempt to antagonize these negative facets by cut downing their C footmark and by using societal policies every bit good as back uping environmentally friendly undertakings. Some illustrations of eco-conscious methods to accomplish betterment are shown. ( Jo, 2010 ) 1. CSR Corporate societal duty ( CSR ) is an of import manner for a company to demo its duty towards the societal and ecological environment. A competitory border is received by utilizing CSR as a scheme to separate between trade names. ( Jo, 2010 ) 2. Life Cycle Analysis The entire impact on environment has to be understood if the company is interested in bring forthing green merchandises. This impact can be analyzed thanks to the cost construction. This is possible through analysing the life rhythm of a merchandise. All has to be considered, the natural stuff, fabrication, the distribution, every bit good as the usage of the merchandise and last but non least, its disposal. With each measure of the procedure, costs are associated. ( Ciambrone, 1997 ) A cost illustration is shown by Ciambrone ( 1997, pp.1 ) : Design costs Stocking/handling costs User/operating costs Disposal costs Fabrication costs Shipping/transportation costs Reuse/recycle costs Compliance/licensing costs Reducing the cost besides reduces the environmental impact. A company should seek to cut down the life rhythm costs of their merchandises. ( Ciambrone, 1997 ) 3. Ecological Footprint It is a mensurating tool to sort merchandises and services, a company, an organisation, industry sectors, single life styles, vicinities, metropoliss, parts or states. In an LCA, the ecological footmark is ever calculated. What impact a merchandise or a company has on the environment and on the society will be measured. An analysis of the merchandise or the company will be done. There are different standards, such as recyclability, emanation used to bring forth the merchandise and resources used. All factors are evaluated and a computation shows the consequence. The thought behind this is that clients have the possibility to compare the merchandises or companies based on their environmental friendliness. ( Global-Footprint-Network, 2010 ) Goverments and consumers play a active function in forcing frontward the demand for an ecological footmark. ( Jo, 2010 ) 4. Bluesign Certificate To cut down the environmental footmark of the fabric industry, the bluesign criterion was created. Each fabric and yarn maker can use for the certification, but to measure up, it needs to run into the high criterion defined by bluesign. Each company is analyzed exactly. The points evaluated by bluesign ( 2010 ) are the undermentioned: Resources productiveness Consumerism Sewage H2O Discharged air Job safety ( p. 24 ) Retailers and clients can acquire a good orientation about assorted companies thanks to this alone criterion from bluesign. ( bluesign, 2010 ) In the hereafter, companies have to take the duty for cut downing their C footmark. Additionally if the credibleness has to be steady, companies have to be crystalline with their sustainability steps. ( Jo, 2010 )DrumheadFrom the recycling position, a rethinking is besides taking topographic point. Closed-loop supply concatenation are needed in all industries. The open-loop supply concatenation does non hold a long life any longer. The best scenario would be if merchandises are used and reused until the merchandise loses its map, at which point it should be recycled. This manner, the merchandise does non complete as waste at the end-of-life stage but has a possibility to last in another merchandise ( downcycling ) or as the same merchandise ( upcycling ) . These procedures help to protect the environment.

Case Study for Coca-Cola vs Pepsico for 2009

LP 6. 2 Comparative Analysis Case, The Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo, Inc. Instructions: Go to the book’s companion website and use the information found there to answer the following questions related to The Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo, Inc. (a) What were the cash and cash equivalents reported by Coca-Cola and PepsiCo at the end of 2009? What does each company classify as cash equivalents? Answer: On April 9, 2009, Coca-Cola Company reported cash and cash equivalent to be $6,816,000,000 and on December 26, 2009, PepsiCo reported cash and cash equivalent to be $3,943,000,000. Coca-Cola has made almost double the cash and cash equivalent than PepsiCo. Cash equivalent from both companies generally including their time deposits and other investments that are highly liquidated and have maturities of three months or less at the date of as cash equivalents from both companies. Coca-Cola Company typically fund a significant portion of their dividends, capital expenditures, contractual obligations, and share repurchases and acquisitions with cash generated from operating activities. They rely on external funding for additional cash requirements. The Company does not typically raise capital through the issuance of stock. Instead, the company use debt financing to lower overall cost of capital and increase their return on shareowners’ equity. Refer to the heading ‘‘Cash Flows from Financing Activities†. PepsiCo believed that their cash generating capability and financial condition, together with their revolving credit facilities and other available methods of debt financing, would be adequate to meet their operating, investing and financing needs. As of December 26, 2009, their operations in Venezuela comprised 7% of their cash and cash equivalents balance. b) What were the accounts receivable (net) for Coca-Cola and PepsiCo at the end of 2009? Which company reports the greater allowance for doubtful accounts receivable (amount and percentage of gross receivable) at the end of 2009? (c) Assuming that allâ€Å"net operating revenues†(Coca-Cola) and allâ€Å"net sales†(Pepsi Co)were net cre dit sales,compute the accounts receivable turnover ratio for 2009 for Coca-Cola and PepsiCo; also compute the days outstanding for receivables. What is your evaluation of the difference?