Plato’s Theory of Forms Essay

Qu.1. A] Explain Plato’s concept of the Forms. B] Evaluate carefully Forms as a way of understanding the world. Plato, Socrates’ famous pupil, created the Theory of Forms. This essay will explore the ideas of Plato’s theory, the strengths and weaknesses of his thoughts, and how they affect our understanding of the world. The Theory of Forms states that everything has a Form- whether it is a chair, a bed, an animal etc; absolutely everything has a Form. Plato also states that ‘Forms are perfection’. Plato says there are four Forms for ethical values; these are Truth, Justice, Beauty, and Goodness. Plato believes there is a hierarchy of Forms, with the Form of Goodness being at the top. Plato believes that True Knowledge comes from knowing the four values, and using them to achieve Ultimate Reality. The way to achieve True Knowledge is ‘Only through the mind’ according to Plato. You have to separate body and soul, and concentrate on mind, to accomplish Ultimate Reality. Plato says we are born with the knowledge of Form, and through education, we recollect this knowledge. For example, we say ‘that is a beautiful flower’, but what is beauty? As we grow up, we are told what objects are beautiful; Plato states that we learn of Forms through experience and learning. Plato uses the ‘Analogy of the Cave’ to explain his Theory. The sun in the analogy represents the Form of Goodness; it gives life to everything, and is the source of all. In Christianity, the Form of Goodness is God, as He is the creator and leader. Plato believes to become a true philosopher you must attain knowledge of Forms, and to accomplish true enlightenment you must have true awareness of the Form of Goodness. Plato’s ‘Analogy of the Cave’ also shows that Forms are in a world beyond shadows and beyond appearance, they are the truth within our souls. Saint- Exupery agrees with this by saying ‘What is essential is invisible to the eye’. Plato suggests there is another reality, a reality that is invisible and beyond our senses. Plato says that facts (sight, touch, smell etc) assist in Forms, for example, we look at things to see if they are good. However, Plato says senses are unreliable and relative, and do not give an absolute view on anything. Plato’s ‘Analogy of the Cave’ also explains that although everyone knows the Forms, many refuse to accept them as it can take away the security of illusions, and the world as you know it. Plato believes Forms cannot be taught, only valued, and utilized. Plato’s Theory of Forms has had many criticisms, one being that it is not really a theory. It relies on the ‘Analogy of the Cave’ to support and explain its’ details. This suggests that Plato is unsure of Forms himself, or at least how to explain them. It is suggested that the Theory is unsure of the extent of the Forms, for example, is there a Form for humanity or each individual? This is important as the answer could change the concept of Form, and alter how the concept is used to understand the world. Another criticism is that Plato states that each Form is unique, but does not explain why this is. Plato also tells us about the Forms but does not say what they actually are. This suggests he has little evidence behind his assumptions, and perhaps does not fully understand Forms himself. Plato’s Theory also has many strong points. It is true that we know Forms- such as beauty etc, and learn about them throughout our lives. This suggests that we are born with knowledge of Forms within our minds, and understand the world using these Forms. It is also true that our senses are unreliable and ever-changing, for example we say something is ‘big’ but compared to something else it may be ‘small’. The way we believe things are true, is by using our senses. This suggests that the way we understand the world is untrustworthy and false, as it is based on unreliable sources. Another strong point is how many of us are secure in our world, and do not want to believe another world exists. We are comfortable in believing what surrounds us is true, and do not want our reality to be shattered. Overall, Plato’s theory is complicated and based on the fact that everything has a Form, and we all have an innate knowledge of Forms. Plato’s theory is criticised because it is unclear and imprecise, with little evidence to back it up. Nevertheless, it offers us a different way of thinking and a new light to see things. We have no idea whether it is true- how can we really know anything? Plato’s Theory of Forms is comprehendible and definitely possible and allows us to broaden our mind and consider another reality.

Reflection ( Communication Around The World ) Essay

Reflection ( Communication Around The World ) - Essay Example I found it extraordinary the way the people there articulate sounds and give intonations to words. I recall at suppertime, while the whole family was dinning when I wanted salt because I felt the food did not have enough salt. I did not remember I was a visitor, and found myself speaking in my language. I only realized I was mistaken when all the family burst out in laughter. On inquiry, I learnt that the salt word in my language meant a frog in the new place. The experience embarrassed me and aroused an interest in studying the relationship between languages of the world and their cultures. What I learnt from my findings is that language is a unifying factor and an identity to people who can communicate effectively using it. However, behind this useful finding, there lies a barrier to the people of different languages. Along such lines, language ceases to unite, but instead becomes a tool of discriminating against each other (Chase & Shamo, 2013). A common language unites people, but a different language discriminates against others who do not understand it. Therefore, it is important to study the cultures of the people and relate with their

Antarctic sea ice melt and its implications Essay

Antarctic sea ice melt and its implications - Essay Example mosphere and polar oceans; and changes the force of ocean buoyancy by redistributing fresh water through transportation and subsequent melting of comparatively fresh sea ice. Thesis Statement: The purpose of this essay is to investigate Antarctica sea ice melt, examine the ocean-atmosphere interaction, and evaluate the environmental and societal impact of rising sea levels and other impacts of the sea ice melt. Globally, there is a decline of snow and ice over the past several years, particularly since 1980, with an increasing downturn during the last decade. In the South Pole, the east and west Antarctic Ice Sheets are â€Å"two unequal parts, with different histories and characteristics† (Mercer 1978: 323), Figure 1 below. Unlike the vast, older and mostly land-based ice sheet in East Antarctica, the Western Antarctic ice sheet is younger, much smaller and marine-based, anchored to a distance of 2,500 meters below sea level. Further, West Antarctica is not a single continent, but is a series of islands covered by ice, touching the ocean floor, and not based on land (NASA 2010). Two-thirds of the continent is East Antarctica, a high, frozen desert. If all the ice melted, it would increase the global sea level by about 60 meters or 197 feet. The results from a recent National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/ German Aerospace Center’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) study, indicate that since 2006 there has been greater ice loss from interior East Antarctica than earlier believed (Chen et al 2009). In the Southern Ocean, sea ice forms a fringe around the entire Antarctic continent (Figure 2. below) which is surrounded by the waters of different seas. The Antarctica is subdivided into 5 sectors by researchers, each impacted by diverse geography and weather conditions. This results in greater yearly variations in Antarctic sea ice, as compared to Arctic sea ice (Nasa.Gov 2010). â€Å"Across the Antarctic Peninsula lies one of the

Models of Competition Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Models of Competition - Essay Example e are just a few sellers in collusion (strategically interactive) with the main aim of minimizing competition to provide products and/or services to a large number of customers. A perfect example is the OPEC which controls the price of oil internationally. Perfect (pure) market is broadly an assumption that describes structures in which no player is so enormous as to wield those powers to set the price of a homogenous commodity (Brakman, pg 13). It is always used as a benchmark. In the ideal world, the market is in between the monopolies and perfect market structure. Monopolies do exist especially in the provision of very sensitive public utilities like in the provision of medical services, and public utilities such as gas, electricity, sports e.g. Super sport etc while perfect markets are rather theoretical. The stock markets are near perfect markets due to their composition but not very perfect as it is (Brakman, pg 106). The overarching issue is that competition in most if not all markets are imperfect and even though the goods and services may be differentiated, the firms would still face a down ward sloping curve trend. Markets assuming perfect competition do provide insufficient insight on how markets behave and respond to various factors. Even though the perfect market assumption provides a benchmark, the assumption is that they are pareto efficient. They are assumed to be controlled by such forces that even the government has no control over. This m arket has some limitations among the most crucial being the fact that all people are similar or identical for that matter. But through such models as the Dixit-Stiglitz model the element of the people’s welfare can clearly be examined. The result however gives us a false view of how the market is but for that reason, policies affecting the degree of diversity of merchandise differentiation are having markedly diverse effects on diverse individuals. This to a great extent complicates the analysis of the

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

Literature - Research Paper Example In the end, marriage and love undermine Helena and Hermias friendship, destroying their chance to have the kind of relationship Woolf and other feminists dream of. The desire of Helena and Hermia to get married, and the relationship Oberon has with his wife Titania, show that "A Midsummer Nights Dream" ultimately reinforces the cultural subordination of women by their husbands and lovers. As Roberts points out about Elizabethan drama in general, "unless we are very careful, these plays reinforce for women their inherited and culturally sustained sense of their own insignificance" (367). The same is certainly true of A Midsummer Nights Dream in specific; the play reinforces traditional gender roles which require women to get married and nothing else. This can be seen in the fact that all of the main female characters only want to get married. Even the dramatis personae describes the women characters as "in love with" their lover, or as "betrothed" to them. As Woolf suggests, the women are only described based on the men they associate with (82). Additionally, "A Midsummer Nights Dream has 13 men to 4 women" (Roberts 367). This shows that the play is more interested in men than women, even if the women characters do play such an important role, relatively speaking, to those of the male characters. Of course, the main female characters are Hermia and Helena. Their goals are both marriage, and both of them seem at first to be good Feminist role models. After all, they have both fled with their preferred lover, denying their fathers wishes by refusing to marry the men their fathers prefer. In the first act, Theseus warns them of the consequences of their disobedience. If Hermia does not marry Demetrius instead of Lysander, she will have either "to die the death, or to abjure / For ever the society of men" (I.i.65-66). Even when threatened with execution or being sent to a nunnery, though, Hermia is unrepetant: She would

Concept note Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Concept note - Essay Example It is in directive to achieve responsibilities. ‘Alvin Toffler’ first interpreted the word ‘Adhocracy’ in the year 1970 (Mintzberg & McHugh, pp. 160-197, 1985). The origin of the term adhocracy demonstrates that it specifically defines to explain the flexible dealing with daily changing objectives and motives. Nowadays, in the modern culture, these types of operational systems can be under implementation in the firms having high-risk rates to survive and among the blue-collar organizations, and in those organizations that plan to short-term projects or developed on a temporary basis. Similarly, if the organization persists to develop its structure permanently and is aware of the future risks then it has to maintain its bureaucratic structure to fight with the long term business deals. It also helps to maintain the company’s good will and repute in professional market. This term clearly contradicts to the term bureaucracy that refers to set of defined rules and set hierarchy in accomplishing organizational goals (Thatchenkery, pp. 67-74, 2010). It is a method of supple and casual organization and administration instead of unbending bureaucracy. Adhocracy (Dolan, pp. 33-50, 2010) later on revised in some common literature and in governmental pomposity to define a kind of unsystematic answer by politicians to developing issues, generally focused around American fiscal policy and in foreign policy development, unanimously that resembles Lind bloom’s "muddling through" metaphor (Thatchenkery, pp. 67-74, 2010) than a flexible, but determined organizational strategy. In other words, Adhocracy is simply a flat structure organization that does not follow any hierarchy (Dolan, pp. 33-50, 2010). The norms and regulations of such an organization rely upon a typical non-bureaucratic chunk of ideas. Selective decentralization is a specific characteristic of adhocracy that means a focus of control for decision-making. This phenomenon ex ist in functional divisions within the organization for example the decentralization of the pool system in some organizations taking place of centralized culture and also hierarchical system that majorly defines the outlines for responsibilities in the respective areas that helps in capturing errors and biases more easily. In the adhocracy, the business is proficient of rearranging its own structure including vigorously altering the work ?ow, shifting accountabilities and adjusting to changing environments (Aart & Wielinga, pp. 567-599, 2004). Adhocracies are the organizations and systems with a very beautiful concept in which a system operates in a non-hierarchical structure and has no uniform procedures for dealing with daily problems, is low in reinforcement and prearranges a momentary life. The variance between an adhocracy and the dual intent of bureaucracies is that there is a lack of typical job description definition and no classi?cation of programmed circumstances in adhocr acy. Simultaneously, professional bureaucracy and machine bureaucracy (Baum, pp. 29-43, 1987) is an older shape of Adhocracy, when adhocracy takes a growing form, it may lead to these two possible compositions. Machine Bureaucracy (Huber, pp. 50-67, 2006) is an obvious in its rigid observance to the important individualities of Weberian style bureaucracy. It is a preferred model in a constant atmosphere with routinized procedures. In any case, workers within an adhocracy will have to ?nd innovative keys to

Disaster Plan Assignment Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Disaster Plan Assignment - Research Paper Example The stress test examines the stability of the system on while handling many simultaneous functions and processes. Stress testing is far beyond normal operations as it can be categorized in to application stress testing and hardware stress testing. The strict security measures, both in terms of physical and software security. Biometric identification system and encryption techniques can be implemented to minimize database security. Moreover, the third step would be to replicate the core services that are running on a specific server or workstation. This will facilitate the employees to entertain the patients, whenever a primary server goes down. Plans and Changes In order to minimize system failure for future, risk analysis is required that will identify all the critical systems on the network. It will also demonstrate the factors that may disrupt the critical system on the network. Moreover, it also includes the implementation of adequate controls in order to prevent system failures. Daily backups are required on daily basis and a mechanism is required that will check the integrity of the backup at the same time, if the backup is corrupt, new backup can be requested at the same time. It is essential to prevent the backup database also by applying adequate security measures, as database contents are highly classified. In case of a natural disaster, data must be relocated on a separate data center situated far away geographically. Furthermore, to eliminate power issues, ‘PoE’ can be implemented to minimize electric outage as it contains its own separate electric channel for the workstation and network devices. Root Cause Analysis The major impact that contributed to the system failure problem is the instability of Tech Med system as well as the application that creates database backup. However, primary source of power was restored instantly and replaced by the secondary link. The impact of Tech Med system resulted in halting all the operations associ ated with Jones Regional Medical Center (JRMC). Moreover, the impact of corrupt database backup resulted in a major halt in system operations of the medical center. Manual entries were conducted, as full database recovery is required from journal articles to transactions. Likewise, when the system is not operational, the staff at the medical center has noted all the operational processes manually so that they can be entered, when the system becomes operational. Disaster Recovery Plan The disaster recovery plan covering all the issues and counter measures is demonstrated below (Sandhu, 2002): Threats Counter Measures Power Failure Alternate power distribution link Database Failure Backing up data on 3 different locations at the same time by disk mirroring, ciphering, DLT or manual backup on daily basis. System Failure Alternate system to replace the affected system Theft Lock Cabinets IP cameras, biometric fingerprint identification, Vandalism Hard steel box for Servers and Databases Flood Relocating or replicating the network room Create a duplicate or replica of crucial data servers that are geographically located away Fire water sprinklers, Fire extinguishers Earthquake Relocating data with data centers that are geographically located away Determining the Amount The initial step is to identity the information assets on the network along with the services associated with it. The next