Ideals of Love in Platos Symposium

Ideals of Love in Platos Symposium As much as our society has become involved in the advancement of feminism and the equality of the sexes, there is one fact that neither gender can ignore; none can survive without the other. Love and the want of a soul mate keeps each member of man and womankind in the constant search of the perfect person with whom to become one. Yet if this bond is a necessity of the human race then why has the meaning, purpose and pursuit of it eluded us for so many generations. There has yet to be a one universal explanation of love and there has yet to be one who understands its powers fully. As we see from Plato's Symposium, even to the wisest of men, in a time when the search for knowledge was seen as the pathway to enlightenment, love was still a concept that was not understood and unknown. Though many of their guidelines and characteristics of love are wise, some may not apply to modern society. Platos Symposium serves as a pamphlet that depicts some of the guidelines of love as the philosophers of Plato's time saw them. The intervention of the Gods in the speeches of the philosophers can be interpreted to mean the different aspects of love and their affects on people. It seemed as though in each of the lectures given, Plato put a message into each one. Each man brought up valid guidelines for dealing with love and each should be concentrated on. The speeches started with Phaedrus, who began to state many of the powers of love. He spoke about the honor between one and their beloved and how it was a great virtue in a relationship. The point that Phaedrus made was that a man of any nature would rather suffer humiliation in front of a great mass of people or all of mankind itself than to suffer the loss of respect or the loss of dignity in front of their lover. This point is definitely true, yet Phaedrus failed to make a definite cause as to why this was prevalent. It may pertain ...

International Law - UN, NATO Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

International Law - UN, NATO - Essay Example Twice in the annals of world history has there been marked deterioration in peace resulting in large scale usage of force to kill people and destroy nations that took centuries to build. The positive outcome of these two wars is in the form of United Nations to debunk any attempt by any of the nations to go to war. The history of peace can possibly look at to have started with the Peace of Westphalia in 1658 and the Treaty of Pyrenees in 1659 (Jackson RH & Owens P, 2005, p53). These treaties gain significance because of the recognition they gave to the nation states and their existence. Much of the work done during this phase of the long wars, brought about the thinking that resulted in the formation of League of Nations at the end of the First World War. With the end of the First World War, there was a wide spread thought of bringing lasting peace to the world. In line with Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the League of Nations was born (George Gill, 1996). But that was not to be. However, the formation and the failure of the League was a lesson in the formation of the United Nations later on after the Second World War. The thought process, as George Gill (1996) points out, was also influenced by the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928. In this precursor of a pact, sixty two countries signed for not u sing war for cases that can be resolved by using diplomacy. In the early days of the United Nations with countries existing mostly under the two separate units, more as a bipolar world, the rules were made to contain either of them. With NATO and the Warsaw Pact countries raging a cold war that sent them up into a spiral of weapons race and tall claims of technological marvels the UN was a table to bring both the groups together (Bruno Simma, 1995). The significance of every one of the Articles in the UN Charter should be examined under this purview. It should also be noted that with the rapid change in the political climate of the world and the world moving from the bipolar to a unilateral structure, many of these Articles could lose their sheen. The Articles of the UN charter (Charter of the United Nations, 2007) that is of interest in the current context are the following: Article 2(4):- [a]ll Members [of the UN] shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations. While this article provides for the complete ban on the use of force, there are specific exceptions that the UN Charter allows (Bruno Simma, 1995). These are essentially in the form two Articles that provide for these instances of exception. Article 51:- Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defense if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations, until the Security Council

Hobbes and Locke - Philosophy Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Hobbes and Locke - Philosophy Paper - Essay Example The "nature of state" is that this desire can only be kept under control by the supreme power of the sovereign. In Chapter X Hobbes describes that "the nature of state" cannot be applied to all situation of human behavior. Although Hobbes thought "the nature of state" could be limited in time or scope, when people authorize a sovereign to order, they make him their unlimited representative. Whatever the sovereign does is authorized and binds them; consequently every effective government represents. Thomas Hobbes described life in a state of nature as "solitary, poore, nasty, brutish, and short." (Hobbes), but certainty could be created artificially, if men agreed not to exercise their rights in the cases where it was uncontentiously obvious that they were already under attack, and to hand over the power of defending themselves to a sovereign, who would make the appropriate judgment about difficult cases. Hobbes sees people naturally impelled into the war of all against all. Each will be an enemy to all the rest, not because people are 'sinful' by nature - Hobbes insists that people are not - but because people are both timid and competitive. Fear impels people to strike down their competitors before they can strike humans. (2) Hobbes sees the emergence of "civil society" as a dramatic improvement, because it brings law and authority to people. "Civil society" is contrasted with paternal authority and the state of nature. These changes afforded comfort and decency to civilized and intelligent persons, and a law-abiding political order comprised a satisfactory and progressive state of human affairs. Government was necessary because people were often too short-sighted to realize that their interests were best served by adhering to the rules of justice. It arose less by deliberate decision than through people coming to see that it was to their advantage to support any authority that enforced the rules effectively. The limitation of "civil society" is inability to keep humans genuinely moral. Under morals Hobbes, meant: "mankind that concern their living together in peace and unity" (Hobbes, Chapter XI). It shows the people necessity for strong power, and the lengths at which a person will go to save his life. (3) In the "Letter Concerning Toleration", Lock's principle argument is the claim that religious belief, because it requires consistencies assent, cannot be subjected to effective external coercion; also, the contention that the proper function of the state was to maintain public order and security and that therefore religious toleration was justified only when necessary to achieve that end. Lock created a concept of a "church-society" explaining that all people are born free, but, on the other hand, they starts to share religious believes and values. The move from the state of nature to political society is seen as a response to problems of covetousness, conflict, and ethical uncertainty caused by the development of money and the growth of inequality. Though Locke presents a gradualist account of the actual development of political institutions, the process is described abstractly in terms of state-church relations.

Alternative energy Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Alternative energy - Research Paper Example solution to the most critical problems that the world has today, especially in reducing the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which deteriorates global warming (International Energy Agency, "Solar Energy Perspectives"). Solar energy is, by far, the most experienced form of energy due to its accessibility, and the ease of converting solar energy to electricity. Many solar energy conversion technologies present sustainable and promising potentials in providing renewable energy that does not only reduces the cost of electricity but could also deliver effective mitigating solutions to the environmental problems we have today. The International Energy Agency expresses its confidence over the positive impacts that solar energies could bring to the world. The agency states that the creation of low-cost, unlimited and untainted solar energy technologies will have "huge longer-term benefits" (International Energy Agency, "Solar Energy Perspectives"). The energy agency adds that the stable generation of solar power through the use of solar energy conversion technologies will ensure energy security in many countries; and will cut dependence on power plants that use radioactive materials, which are potentially pernicious to human health. It will also lower down the energy cost, improve sustainability, will help reduce pollution, and will lessen the effects of climate change. Therefore, the agency stresses that since this innovative approach requires substantial amount of financial investments, a careful planning must be employed for an efficient expenditure of financial resources (International Energy Agency, "S olar Energy Perspectives"). Normally, the Earth obtains a sizeable load of radiation from the sun. On average, our planet takes at least 174 pent watts of solar energy (Smil 240). Of this, 70 percent is absorbed by the Earth by the clouds, oceans, and ground forms including the mountains and the plains among others. The sun’s rays could either be

Capitalism and Marxism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Capitalism and Marxism - Essay Example (Elson 1998, p. 53) In view of the Marxist globalization has been seen as an expansion or development of capitalism in the world. Like other traditional works that were seen to fit in a loose framework of anti-globalization, Marxism may not be described as a single movement nor can it be described as following a unitary intellectual practice from a theoretical perspective. In this case we should understand that Marxism as whole has been engaging with contemporary phenomena in a way that the manner and the mindsets that it has been postulating in the past has been evidence in class, political economy, labor, capitalism and in many other socialism concepts and revolution described as the central axis of globalization. (Ollman 1998, p.87) With the end of communism in Eastern Europe in the 1990s, and the consequent embrace of the capitalism like in the Peoples Republic of China, has been expressed as the end of the Marxism's period. Regardless of the fact that the world has embraced the capitalism economies, Marxism still present a poignant and painful way of accounting for globalization. This has been witnessed in what is happening in the aftermath of the wave that took the world from 1990s. Marxism has been expressed in many areas like the free-markets, oppressed and exploited labor, modernization, and many other reforms that have been carried out in the political, social and economic systems of the world. Globalization has been described as increased interaction of the world or the opening up the world. In the last few decades there has been increased movement of people and goods. There has been emergence of new market. Therefore globalization has been a tendency to create a unipolar world though it has been expressed mostly in economic terms. It is increased integration of the political, social and economic factors. (Beams, 19980 Marxism and globalization in view of capitalism Capitalism which was so much argued about by Marxism has been one of the most important pivots that have led to the wave of globalization. There have been increased movements of capital across borders leading to immense change in the way we do things and the way we produce things. Globalization therefore can be seen as a cosmopolitan character which signifies production and consumption in all countries. Globalization places the local and the national conditions in terms of self sufficiency and the creation of the universal system of interdependences. As capitalism takes over the world under the nose of globalization, it has led to smash the border of feudalism and mercantilism. Capitalism is therefore ever moving and ever-changing. It forces human being to change their reality and their own role in the world. (Fredrick 1975, p. 4) According to Marxism socialist revolution was described to occur out of development of the product forces which run into conflict with the social relations of capital. In this case Marx explains the negative effect that can be brought about by the forces of capitalism. Marx tried to show the creative-destructive forces of capitalism which is very well tied together with reason of economic advancement of the world. Therefore Marxism expressed that these creative destructive forces goes beyond history of establishment of the socialism society. One

Eric Schmidt Leadership Qualities Analysis

Eric Schmidt Leadership Qualities Analysis 1. Introduction: In this assignment, I am going to analyze the leadership style of Eric Emerson Schmidt which one was the CEO of the famous internet company Google comprehensively. Over the period of 2001 to 2011, Eric Schmidt leaded the Google company to become one of the most variable companies and the most popular companies in the world. The initial Google is just a searching engine website company, Eric Schmidt likes a magician made a miracle in this company that build up as a industry pioneer. The business philosophy of Eric Schmidt: As Harold Koontz said: â€Å"Management is an art of getting things done through and with people in formally organized groups. It is an art of creating an environment in which people can perform and individuals and can cp-operate towards attainment of group goals. † The full title of CEO is chief executive officer, a important responsibility of CEO is to management the whole company in a positive direction. Every large companies have a evident style as same as their CEO, the CEO runs the company in their own personal style. Eric Schmidt used socio-human approach in his organizational process. And this style was not only used in Google company, but also he used in his first company-SUN which is a same internet technological company as Google and it is famous of JAVA. Because Eric thinks both are same type company, he can use similar style to lead the company. The socio-human approach is a opposite way to technical rational approaches, it is more flexible and humanized to treat employees. the Google is not a traditional company, it depends on its power of innovation. In order to let the employee have better innovative thinking, Eric used this solution to make more advantages for the company. In detail, Eric use a mode which is small team managemen t mode. He made each team have different duty in every areas. That mode is more effective than the old school management mode in real business practice. This approach has following favors :Frist one is that it allows the company to have bigger possible to attempt, let the company has newborn things as much as possible, so the change of success will be lager. There are many famous companies dying because lock of innovation such as Yahoo and IBM. Secondly, this approaches can make employees build up their sense of responsibility as the masters of this company, let them not feel working in a big company. And Eric give the decision-making power to the team, in the process of development, the team mates can have their right to change and improve the product, that also is a benefit thing for their customer. As the famous management education master Peter Ferdinand Drucker said â€Å"The man who focuses on contribution and who takes responsibility for results no matter how junior is in th e most literal sense of the phrase, ‘top management’†. This is also Eric’s goal for using this mode. Thirdly, to reduce the cost of internal coordination, they believe that fast is better than slow in the Google company. The small team management mode can develop more products in shorter time because the team can use their decision-making power to make quick decision, to the failure of adjustment will be repaired easily and quickly. Comparing with other IT companies like Microsoft. When the Microsoft company developed the new windows system, there was a large group members which is several hundreds people to join this subject, it lead to take over years and progress slowly. This is a major point of the Google company can exceed the Microsoft company. The small working team can improve effectively and it is better than the large working group in this specific industry. A good idea will not become effective unless the action commitments have been built into t he decision from the begining. This kind of organization structure is organismic and duo to the Google is a information technology company, duo to that situation, Eric thinks it can help company have better advantage in IT industry environment. The faster update is Google’s powerful weapon to win their competition. The leadership of Eric Schmidt: The definition of leadership is ‘Leadership is the process of influencing the activities of an organized group in its efforts toward goal setting and goal achievement ‘(Stogdill. 1950). The effect of leadership is that make strong motivated to the staffs, let staffs work in unity and achieve goals. According to trait theories of leadership, the leadership is relate to leader’s personality, In Stogdill’s five traits Model: Intelligence, Dominance, Self-confidence, High level of energy, and Task-relevant knowledge. Based on Eric Schmidt’s career , cover news and public speech, Eric at least has intelligence, dominance, and Task-relevant knowledge, these three models can find obvious evidences from his business career. It also can mean Eric has agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience. Firstly, it is clear to see his self-confidence because he believe his employees, he can give the right of decision-making to every teams. Secondly, his openness to experience is also easy to find, during his CEO career in Google these ten years, the Google company developed many newborn product not only in their search function such as Chrome, Android, and so on. Third one is his conscientiousness, as a survey about 313 private company choosing their CEO, there are 215 successes, in these 215 CEO, Almost of them have conscientiousness. That means how conscientiousness important to a successful CEO. Eric Schmidt has been a leader in three big IT company, all of them become famous and successful in their profession area especially these companies have a higher maker value. Eric’s conscientiousness is proved by he having a strong sense of organization, and word hard. He organises the google engineering team in 70:20:10, it means seventy percent group focus on their product in th e area of search function, twenty percent team work on product in other development area like Android, then the least ten percent team works in newborn things like pilotless automobile. Until now the Google still use this structure when they develop product. In the other hand, there has another theory about leadership:Behavioral of theories of leadership. There are two fundamental types of leader behaviours : ‘Initiating structure’ and ‘consideration’. Initiating structure refers to behaviour which focuses on the achievement of objectives and includes clear supervision and role clarification, planning of work and a results orientation. Consideration includes behaviours which encourage collaboration and focus on supportive network, group welfare and the maintenance of job satisfaction. (Brooks, 2009) Eric Schmidt is a consideration structure in this theory. There are some points to prove that. Primarily, Eric give a wonderful and comfortable working environment, this working environment has been first most popular working environment in the world for four years at American Fortune magazine. This is a evident welfare for employees. Secondly, Eric insists to give the power of decision-making to each work team, he is highly trusted to his professional employees, at mean time, the employee get a stronger sense of encourage than a good working environment. Eric get a vehement support from his employees during company developing time virtually. Above two theories of leadership can not explain the leadership style of Eric Schmidt well, in order to give more thoughtful explanation. We appoint the third theory-Situational theories. One of situational theories is Fiedler contingency theory. This model asks the estimate of both the leader’s style and three broad characteristics of the situation:leader-group member relations, task structure, and position power. Primarily, In leader-member relations of Eric and his employees, it easy to prove they are real great, as the organization structure which Eric made, he and his employees have highly trusted with each other. That also can relet to situational leadership theory, his subordinates have enough ability to achieve his requirements, and he do not need to give too much guide to them. Secondly, the task structure is very clear in Google until now, Eric insists his 70:20:10 structure for the engineering development group. Thirdly, the position power of Eric is not very stong, because he give a part power of decision-making to every engineering development teams. Conclusion: All in all, Eric Schmidt is a intelligent, professional, and accommodating leader. As we know that the Google culture is freedom and innovation since two originator of Google Sergey Brin and Larry Page starting the Google company until Eric been invited to be a CEO of this company, this culture never change. Eric’s experience is also perfect for the Google, first advantage is that he has a B. S. degree in electrical engineering at Princeton University and a phd degree in EECS at the university of California, Berkeley. These professional knowledge makes big different with normal CEO for the Google company. Second one is his ideal working experiences, before he came to the Google, the companies that he worked are all IT companies. Effectiveness is a habit, that is a complex of practices. The most significant thing is that he can run these companies very well and make outstanding achievement. Eric Schmidt makes the two originator believe he is the prefect role for The Google CEO. No matter using what theories to analyse the leadership of Eric Schmidt, he has proved that he is a suitable leader for this company during his career of Google CEO. Comparing with the famous Steve Jobs, Eric is not charming and distinctive as Jobs, but his leadership style is more appropriate for the Google Company. References: Koontz H. The management theory jungle[J]. Academy of Management Journal, 1961, 4(3): 174-188. Drucker P F. People and performance: The best of Peter Drucker on management[M]. Routledge, 1995. Stogdill R M. Leadership, membership and organization[J]. Psychological bulletin, 1950, 47(1): 1. lan Brooks (2009). organisational behaviour. 4th ed. Essex: Person Education Limited. p167.

Violent Video Games: A Bad Choice for Parents and Children Essay

Violent Video Games: A Bad Choice for Parents and Children A twelve year old boy named Paul sits about three feet from the fifty-two inch screen television with his eyes fixated on his character, a humanlike fox. He is able to use his game controller without looking away from the television. He sits erect and is so focused on what he is doing that he is unaware of everything that is going on around him. Occasionally he will yell out "Die! Die, sucker!" Just then his five year old brother, Skyler, stops beside him. Skyler exclaims with a smile, "What are you playing?" followed by, "Can I play?" The violence has caught his eye. Paul replies, "Sure, but I need to show you how to work the controller." He continues explaining, "This is Star Fox Adventure and see this red thing moving. That is your fox's sight box. What you see in the box is what the fox sees. You aim it at things and you push this 'A' button to make the fox shoot rockets at things and blow them up." Skyler begins to get really excited, laughing and shouting, "T hat's cool!" It did not take Skyler very long to become engulfed by Paul's Nintendo GameCube system to the point of being totally unaware of all the other children running around him. This scene quickly brought to my mind a question: Are video game systems good or bad for children within these age groups? A parent should get educated on this issue before choosing to buy one of many video systems. Parents should be concerned about the effects on their children. Despite the therapists and psychologists who have said that video games can be used as positive teaching tools (Salamander 2), I see that children of all ages, races and genders become addicted to the violence and tech... ...ay Violate Children's Health." http://lists/.essential.org/pepermail/commercial-alert/2001/000079.html. 3 Nov. 2002. Salamander. "Violence and Video Games." Game Zero Magazine. <www. gamezero.com/team-0/articles/features/violenc_92/> 3 Nov. 2002. Stern, Michael and Jane. "Nintendo." Encyclopedia of Pop Culture. New York: Harper, 1992. "Video Games=Good, and Study Proves It!" 2001. Nintendo Village. http://www.nintendo/village.com/press/releases/archives/pr3.asp> 3 Nov. 2002. "Video Games and Their Effect on Youth." <www.bishops.ntc.nf.ca/ct3200/students02/andrewb/term%202%20project.html.> 3 Nov. 2002. Willis, Susan. "Growing Up With TV and Turtles." Rev. of Playing With Power in Movies, Television and Video Games: From Muppet Babies to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, by Marsha Kinder. Berkeley. Un. of California Press, 1991.