Questions on Shoeless Joe Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Questions on Shoeless Joe - Assignment Example The story of the novel of Shoeless Joe written by W.P Kinsella depicts the love of young farmer for baseball. The novel is a beautiful triumph of imagination of the author in the illustration of the individual’s love for the game. His love for the game made him convert his field of corn into a base ball field, in the fantasy of seeing his favorite base ball player Joe playing barefoot in the field. A magical mission of baseball was undertaken by the farmer. The farmer along with another character of the novel J. D. Salinger traveled all down to Minnesota in the search of a player who had played a single innings many a days before in the oldest living club of ex-Chicago. Wonderful myths of the game of base ball were depicted in the film in a very gentle and sweet tone. A world that is culturally conservative and restrictive had been depicted by the author in his book. The social history of the game in the framework of the Ronald Reagan’s presidential rule reflects the di scrimination of the society as well as the world of games on the basis of race and gender. In the novel the famous base ball player Shoeless Joe Jackson was the role model of the farmer who had been involved in a scandal and hence forced to quit the game. The farmer dreamt of his dream player playing in his field. The love for the game and the players were very truly and beautifully depicted in the film along with the racial discrimination. ... A magical mission of baseball was undertaken by the farmer. The farmer along with another character of the novel J. D. Salinger traveled all down to Minnesota in the search of a player who had played a single innings many a days before in the oldest living club of ex-Chicago. Wonderful myths of the game of base ball were depicted in the film in a very gentle and sweet tone. A world that is culturally conservative and restrictive had been depicted by the author in his book. The social history of the game in the framework of the Ronald Reagan’s presidential rule reflects the discrimination of the society as well as the world of games on the basis of race and gender. In the novel the famous base ball player Shoeless Joe Jackson was the role model of the farmer who had been involved in a scandal and hence forced to quit the game. The farmer dreamt of his dream player playing in his field. The love for the game and the players were very truly and beautifully depicted in the film al ong with the racial discrimination. The film Field of Dreams has been adopted from the novel of Shoeless Joe. The film is also about the base ball player, Shoeless Joe Jackson, the legendary leftfielder of Chicago White Sox. The player got involved in the scandal of the so called black Sox of the year 1919 in America. The film had the wish of bringing back the country into the days of innocent white baseball. The days free of scandals, dirty tricks involved in the world of game along with no stains in the honor of the country were the ultimate aim of the common people of the country. The main character of the film had always dreamt of those days which were clean simple along with being pure and white. The counterculture of the year 1960s for the country had been

Act Utilitarianism Essay Example for Free

Act Utilitarianism Essay Utilitarianism is a theory in normative ethics holding that the proper course of action is the one that maximizes overall happiness. It is now generally taken to be a form of consequentialism, although when Anscombe first introduced that term it was to distinguish between old-fashioned Utilitarianism and consequentialism. [1] According to utilitarianism the moral worth of an action is determined only by its resulting outcome although there is debate over how much consideration should be given to actual consequences, foreseen consequences and intended consequences. Two influential contributors to this theory are Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill. In A Fragment on Government Bentham says ‘it is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong’ and describes this as a fundamental axiom. In An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation he talks of ‘the principle of utility’ but later prefers â€Å"the greatest happiness principle. [2][3] Utilitarianism can be characterized as a quantitative and reductionist approach to ethics. It is a type of naturalism. [4] It can be contrasted with deontological ethics,[5] which does not regard the consequences of an act as a determinant of its moral worth; virtue ethics,[6] which primarily focuses on acts and habits leading to happiness; pragmatic ethics; as well as with ethical egoism and other varieties of consequentialism. [7] Utilitarianism has often been considered the natural ethic of a democracy operating by simple majority without protection of individual rights. [8] Early utilitarianism The importance of happiness as an end for humans has long been recognized. Forms of hedonism were put forward by Aristippus and Epicurus; Aristotle argued that eudaimonia is the highest human good and Augustine wrote that all men agree in desiring the last end, which is happiness. Happiness was also explored in depth by Aquinas[9][10][11][12][13] However, utilitarianism as a distinct ethical position only emerged in the eighteenth century. Although utilitarianism is usually thought to start with Jeremy Bentham there were earlier writers who presented theories that were strikingly similar. In An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals David Hume writes: In all determinations of morality, this circumstance of public utility is ever principally in view; and wherever disputes arise, either in philosophy or common life, concerning the bounds of duty, the question cannot, by any means, be decided with greater certainty, than by ascertaining, on any side, the true interests of mankind. [14] Hume had studied under Francis Hutcheson and it was he who first introduced a key utilitarian phrase. In An Inquiry into the Original of Our Ideas of Beauty and Virtue (1725) Hutcheson writes, In comparing the moral qualitys of actions, in order to regulate our election among various actions proposed, or to find which of them has the greatest moral excellency, we are led by our moral sense of virtue to judge thus; that in equal degrees of happiness, expected to proceed from the action, the virtue is in proportion to the number of persons to whom the happiness shall extend (and here the dignity, or moral importance of persons, may compensate numbers); And in equal numbers, the virtue is as the quantity of the happiness, or natural good; or that the virtue is in a compound ratio of the quantity of good, and number of enjoyers. In the same manner, the moral evil, or vice, is as the degree of misery, and number of sufferers; so that, that action is best, which procures the greatest happiness for the greatest numbers; and that, worst, which, in like manner, occasions misery. [15]. In the first three editions of the book Hutcheson followed this passage with various mathematical algorithms â€Å"to compute the Morality of any Actions†. In this he pre-figured the hedonic calculus of Bentham. It is claimed[16] that the first systematic theory of utilitarian ethics was developed by John Gay. In Concerning the Fundamental Principle of Virtue or Morality (1731) Gay argues that. Utilitarianism â€Å"happiness, private happiness, is the proper or ultimate end of all our actions†¦ each particular action may be said to have its proper and peculiar end†¦(but)†¦. they still tend or ought to tend to something farther; as is evident from hence, viz. that a man may ask and expect a reason why either of them are pursued: now to ask the reason of any action or pursuit, is only to enquire into the end of it: but to expect a reason, i. e. an end, to be assigned for an ultimate end, is absurd. To ask why I pursue happiness, will admit of no other answer than an explanation of the terms. †[17] This pursuit of happiness is given a theological basis: â€Å"Now it is evident from the nature of God, viz.his being infinitely happy in himself from all eternity, and from his goodness manifested in his works, that he could have no other design in creating mankind than their happiness; and therefore he wills their happiness; therefore the means of their happiness: therefore that my behaviour, as far as it may be a means of the happiness of mankind, should be such†¦thus the will of God is the immediate criterion of Virtue, and the happiness of mankind the criterion of the wilt of God; and therefore the happiness of mankind may be said to be the criterion of virtue, but once removed†¦(and)†¦ I am to do whatever lies in my power towards promoting the happiness of mankind. [18] Gay’s theological utilitarianism was developed and popularized by William Paley. It has been claimed that Paley was not a very original thinker and that the philosophical part of his treatise on ethics is â€Å"an assemblage of ideas developed by others and is presented to be learned by students rather than debated by colleagues. †[19] Nevertheless, his book The Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy (1785) was a required text at Cambridge[19] and Smith says that Paley’s writings were â€Å"once as well known in American colleges as were the readers and spellers of William McGuffey and Noah Webster in the elementary schools. †[20] Although now largely missing from the philosophical canon, Schneewind writes that utilitarianism first became widely known in England through the work of William Paley. [21] The now forgotten significance of Paley can be judged from the title of Birks 1874 work Modern Utilitarianism or the Systems of Paley, Bentham and Mill Examined and Compared. Apart from restating that happiness as an end is grounded in the nature of God, Paley also discusses the place of rules. He writes, â€Å"†¦actions are to be estimated by their tendency. Whatever is expedient, is right. It is the utility of any moral rule alone, which constitutes the obligation of it. Modern Utilitarianism by T. R. Birks 1874 2 But to all this there seems a plain objection, viz. that many actions are useful, which no man in his senses will allow to be right. There are occasions, in which the hand of the assassin would be very useful†¦ The true answer is this; that these actions, after all, are not useful, and for that reason, and that alone, are not right. To see this point perfectly, it must be observed that the bad consequences of actions are twofold, particular and general. The particular bad consequence of an action, is the mischief which that single action directly and immediately occasions. The general bad consequence is, the violation of some necessary or useful general rule†¦ You cannot permit one action and forbid another, without showing a difference between them. Consequently, the same sort of actions must be generally permitted or generally forbidden. Where, Utilitarianism therefore, the general permission of them would be pernicious, it becomes necessary to lay down and support the rule which generally forbids them. †[22] 3 Classical utilitarianism Jeremy Bentham Benthams book An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation was printed in 1780 but not published until 1789. It is possible that Bentham was spurred on to publish after he saw the success of Paley’s The Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy. [23] Benthams book was not an immediate success[24] but his ideas were spread further when Pierre Etienne Louis Dumont translated edited selections from a variety of Benthams manuscripts into French. Traite de legislation civile et penale was published in 1802 and then later retranslated back into English by Hildreth as The Theory of Legislation, although by this time significant portions of Dumont’s work had already been retranslated and incorporated into Sir John Bowrings edition of Benthams works, which was issued in parts between 1838 and 1843. Benthams work opens with a statement of the principle of utility, â€Å"Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure. It is for them alone to point out what we ought to do†¦ By the principle of utility is meant that principle which approves or disapproves of every action whatsoever according to the tendency it appears to have to augment or diminish the happiness of the party whose interest is in question: or, what is the same thing in other words to promote or to oppose that happiness. I say of every action whatsoever, and therefore not only of every action of a private individual, but of every measure of government. †[25] In Chapter IV Bentham introduces a method of calculating the value of pleasures and pains, which has come to be known as the hedonic calculus. Bentham says that the value of a pleasure or pain, considered by itself, can be measured according to its intensity, duration, certainty/uncertainty and propinquity/remoteness. In addition, it is necessary to consider â€Å"the tendency of any act by which it is produced† and, therefore, to take account of the act’s fecundity, or the chance it has of being followed by sensations of the same kind and its purity, or the chance it has of not being followed by sensations of the opposite kind. Finally, it is necessary to consider the extent, or the number of people affected by the action. Perhaps aware that Hutcheson eventually removed his algorithms for calculating the greatest happiness because they â€Å"appear’d useless, and were disagreeable to some readers†[26] Bentham contends that there is nothing novel or unwarranted about his method for â€Å"in all this there is nothing but what the practice of mankind, wheresoever they have a clear view of their own interest, is perfectly conformable to. † Rosen warns that descriptions of utilitarianism can bear â€Å"little resemblance historically to utilitarians like Bentham and J. S. Mill† and can be more â€Å"a crude version of act utilitarianism conceived in the twentieth century as a straw man to be attacked and rejected. †[27] It is a mistake to think that Bentham is not concerned with rules. His seminal work is concerned with the principles of legislation and the hedonic calculus is introduced with the words â€Å"Pleasures then, and the avoidance of pains, are the ends that the legislator has in view. † In Chapter VII Bentham says, â€Å"The business of government is to promote the happiness of the society, by punishing and rewarding†¦ In proportion as an act tends to disturb that happiness, in proportion as the tendency of it is pernicious, will be the demand it creates for punishment. † The question then arises as to when, if at all, it might legitimate to break the law. This is considered in The Theory of Legislation where Bentham distinguishes between evils of the first and second orders. Those of the first order are the more immediate consequences; those of the second are when the consequences spread through the community causing ‘alarm’ and ‘danger’. Utilitarianism â€Å"It is true there are cases in which, if we confine ourselves to the effects of the first order, the good will have an incontestable preponderance over the evil. Were the offence considered only under this point of view, it would not be easy to assign any good reasons to justify the rigour of the laws. Every thing depends upon the evil of the second order; it is this which gives to such actions the character of crime, and which makes punishment necessary. Let us take, for example, the physical desire of satisfying hunger. Let a beggar, pressed by hunger, steal from a rich mans house a loaf, which perhaps saves him from starving, can it be possible to compare the good which the thief acquires for himself, with the evil which the rich man suffers? †¦ It is not on account of the evil of the first order that it is necessary to erect these actions into offences, but on account of the evil of the second order. †[28] 4 John Stuart Mill Mill was brought up as a Benthamite with the explicit intention that would carry on the cause of utilitarianism. [29] Mills book Utilitarianism first appeared as a series of three articles published in Frasers Magazine in 1861 and was reprinted as a single book in 1863. Higher and lower pleasures Mill rejects a purely quantitative measurement of utility and says, â€Å"It is quite compatible with the principle of utility to recognise the fact, that some kinds of pleasure are more desirable and more valuable than others. It would be absurd that while, in estimating all other things, quality is considered as well as quantity, the estimation of pleasures should be supposed to depend on quantity alone. †[30] Mill notes that, contrary to what its critics might say, there is â€Å"no known Epicurean theory of life which does not assign to the pleasures of the intellect†¦ a much higher value as pleasures than to those of mere sensation. † However, he accepts that this is usually because the intellectual pleasures are thought to have circumstantial advantages, i. e. â€Å"greater permanency, safety, uncostliness, c. † Instead, Mill will argue that some pleasures are intrinsically better than others. The accusation that hedonism is â€Å"doctrine worthy only of swine† has a long history. In Nicomachean Ethics (Book 1 Chapter 5) Aristotle says that identifying the good with pleasure is to prefer a life suitable for beasts. The theological utilitarians had the option of grounding their pursuit of happiness in the will of God; the hedonistic utilitarians needed a different defense. Mill’s approach is to argue that the pleasures of the intellect are intrinsically superior to physical pleasures. Few human creatures would consent to be changed into any of the lower animals, for a promise of the fullest allowance of a beasts pleasures; no intelligent human being would consent to be a fool, no instructed person would be an ignoramus, no person of feeling and conscience would be selfish and base, even though they should be persuaded that the fool, the dunce, or the rascal is better satisfied with his lot than they are with theirs†¦ A being of higher faculties requires more to make him happy, is capable probably of more acute suffering, and is certainly accessible to it at more points, than one of an inferior type; but in spite of these liabilities, he can never really wish to sink into what he feels to be a lower grade of existence†¦ It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied. And if the fool, or the pig, are of a different opinion, it is because they only know their own side of the question†¦ [31] Mill argues that if people who are â€Å"competently acquainted† with two pleasures show a decided preference for one even if it be accompanied by more discontent and â€Å"would not resign it for any quantity of the other† then it is legitimate to regard that pleasure as being superior in quality. Mill recognises that these ‘competent judges’ will not always agree, in which case the judgment of the majority is to be accepted as final. Mill also acknowledges that â€Å"many who are capable of the higher pleasures, occasionally, under the influence of temptation, postpone them to the Utilitarianism lower. But this is quite compatible with a full appreciation of the intrinsic superiority of the higher. † Mill says that this appeal to those who have experienced the relevant pleasures is no different to what must happen when assessing the quantity of pleasure for there is no other way of measuring â€Å"the acutest of two pains, or the intensest of two pleasurable sensations. † Mills proof of the principle of utility In Chapter Four of Utilitarianism Mill considers what proof can be given for the Principle of Utility. He says’ â€Å" The only proof capable of being given that an object is visible, is that people actually see it. The only proof that a sound is audible, is that people hear it In like manner, I apprehend, the sole evidence it is possible to produce that anything is desirable, is that people do actually desire it†¦ No reason can be given why the general happiness is desirable, except that each person, so far as he believes it to be attainable, desires his own happiness†¦ we have not only all the proof which the case admits of, but all which it is possible to require, that happiness is a good: that each persons happiness is a good to that person, and the general happiness, therefore, a good to the aggregate of all persons. †[32] It is usual[33] to say that Mill is committing a number of fallacies. He is accused of committing the naturalistic fallacy, because he is trying to deduce what people ought to do from what they do in fact do; the fallacy of equivocation, because he moves from the fact that something is desirable(1), i. e. is capable of being desired, to the claim that it is desirable(2), i. e.that it ought to be desired; and the fallacy of composition, because the fact that people desire their own happiness does not imply that the aggregate of all persons will desire the general happiness. Hall[34] and Popkin[35] defend Mill against this accusation pointing out that he begins Chapter Four by asserting that â€Å"that questions of ultimate ends do not admit of proof, in the ordinary acceptation of the term† and that this is â€Å"common to all first principles. † According to Hall and Popkin, therefore, Mill does not attempt to â€Å"establish that what people do desire is desirable but merely attempts to make the principles acceptable. †[33] The type of â€Å"proof† Mill is offering consists only of some considerations which, Mill thought, might induce an honest and reasonable man to accept utilitarianism. [33] Having claimed that people do, in fact, desire happiness Mill now has to show that it is the only thing they desire. Mill anticipates the objection that people desire other things such as virtue. He argues that whilst people might start desiring virtue as a means to happiness, eventually, it becomes part of someone’s happiness and is then desired as an end in itself. The principle of utility does not mean that any given pleasure, as music, for instance, or any given exemption from pain, as for example health, are to be looked upon as means to a collective something termed happiness, and to be desired on that account. They are desired and desirable in and for themselves; besides being means, they are a part of the end. Virtue, according to the utilitarian doctrine, is not naturally and originally part of the end, but it is capable of becoming so; and in those who love it disinterestedly it has become so, and is desired and cherished, not as a means to happiness, but as a part of their happiness. [36] 5 Utilitarianism 6 Twentieth century developments Ideal Utilitarianism The description Ideal Utilitarianism was first used by Hastings Rashdall in The Theory of Good and Evil (1907) but is more often associated with G. E. Moore. In Ethics (1912) Moore rejected a purely hedonistic utilitarianism and argued that there is a range of values that might be maximized. Moore’s strategy was to show that it is intuitively implausible that pleasure is the sole measure of what is good. He says that such an assumption, â€Å" involves our saying, for instance, that a world in which absolutely nothing except pleasure existed—no knowledge, no love, no enjoyment of beauty, no moral qualities—must yet be intrinsically better—better worth creating—provided only the total quantity of pleasure in it were the least bit greater, than one in which all these things existed as well as pleasure. † â€Å"It involves our saying that, even if the total quantity of pleasure in each was exactly equal, yet the fact that all the beings in the one possessed in addition knowledge of many different kinds and a full appreciation of all that was beautiful or worthy of love in their world, whereas none of the beings in the other possessed any of these things, would give us no reason whatever for preferring the former to the latter. †[37] Moore admits that it is impossible to prove the case either way but believed that it was intuitively obvious that even if the amount of pleasure stayed the same a world that contained such things as beauty and love would be a better world. He adds that if anybody took the contrary view then â€Å"I think it is self-evident that he would be wrong. †[37] Act and rule utilitarianism In the mid-twentieth century a number of philosophers focused on the place of rules in utilitarian thinking. [38] It was already accepted that it is necessary to use rules to help you choose the right action because the problems of calculating the consequences on each and every occasion would almost certainly result in you frequently choosing something less than the best course of action. Paley had justified the use of rules and Mill says, â€Å"It is truly a whimsical supposition that, if mankind were agreed in considering utility to be the test of morality, they would remain without any agreement as to what is useful, and would take no measures for having their notions on the subject taught to the young, and enforced by law and opinion†¦ to consider the rules of morality as improvable, is one thing; to pass over the intermediate generalisations entirely, and endeavour to test each individual action directly by the first principle, is another†¦ The proposition that happiness is the end and aim of morality, does not mean that no road ought to be laid down to that goal†¦ Nobody argues that the art of navigation is not founded on astronomy, because sailors cannot wait to calculate the Nautical Almanack. Being rational creatures, they go to sea with it ready calculated; and all rational creatures go out upon the sea of life with their minds made up on the common questions of right and wrong. †[39] However, rule utilitarianism proposes a more central role for rules that was thought to rescue the theory from some of its more devastating criticisms, particularly problems to do with justice and promise keeping. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s articles were published both for and against the new form of utilitarianism and through this debate the theory we now call rule utilitarianism was created. In an introduction to an anthology of these articles the editor was able to say, â€Å"The development of this theory was a dialectical process of formulation, criticism, reply and reformulation; the record of this process well illustrates the co-operative development of a philosophical theory. †[40] Smart[41] and McCloskey[42] initially used the terms extreme and restricted utilitarianism but eventually everyone settled on the terms act and rule utilitarianism. The essential difference is in what determines whether or not an action is the right action. Act utilitarianism maintains that an action is right if it maximises utility; rule utilitarianism maintains that an action is right if it Utilitarianism conforms to a rule that maximises utility. In 1953 Urmson published an influential article[43] arguing that Mill justified rules on utilitarian principles. From then on articles have debated this interpretation of Mill. In all probability it was not a distinction that Mill was particularly trying to make and so the evidence in his writing is inevitably mixed. In 1977 a collection of Mill’s writing was published which included a letter in which he said: â€Å"I agree with you that the right way of testing actions by their consequences, is to test them by the natural consequences of the particular action, and not by those which would follow if everyone did the same. But, for the most part, the consideration of what would happen if everyone did the same, is the only means we have of discovering the tendency of the act in the particular case. †[44] This seems to tip the balance in favour of saying that Mill is best classified as an act utilitarian. Some school level textbooks and at least one UK examination board[45] make a further distinction between strong and weak rule utilitarianism. However, it is not clear that this distinction is made in the academic literature. It has been argued that rule utilitarianism collapses into act utilitarianism, because for any given rule, in the case where breaking the rule produces more utility, the rule can be refined by the addition of a sub-rule that handles cases like the exception. [46] This process holds for all cases of exceptions, and so the ‘rules’ have as many ‘sub-rules’ as there are exceptional cases, which, in the end, makes an agent seek out whatever outcome produces the maximum utility. [47] 7 Two-level Utilitarianism In Principles (1973)[48] R. M. Hare accepts that rule utilitarianism collapses into act utilitarianism but claims that this is a result of allowing the rules to be as specific and un-general as we please. He argues that one of the main reasons for introducing rule utilitarianism was to do justice to the general rules that people need for moral education and character development and he proposes that â€Å"a difference between act-utilitarianism and rule-utilitarianism can be introduced by limiting the specificity of the rules, i. e. , by increasing their generality. †[49] This distinction between a ‘specific rule utilitarianism’ (which collapses into act utilitarianism) and ‘general rule utilitarianism’ forms the basis of Hare’s two-level utilitarianism. When we are ‘playing God or the ideal observer’ we use the specific form and we will need to do this when we are deciding what general principles to teach and follow. When we are ‘inculcating’ or in situations where the biases of our human nature are likely to prevent us doing the calculations properly, then we should use the more general rule utilitarianism. Hare argues that in practice, most of the time, we should be following the general principles: â€Å"One ought to abide by the general principles whose general inculcation is for the best; harm is more likely to come, in actual moral situations, from questioning these rules than from sticking to them, unless the situations are very extra-ordinary; the results of sophisticated felicific calculations are not likely, human nature and human ignorance being what they are, to lead to the greatest utility. †[50] In Moral Thinking (1981) Hare illustrated the two extremes. The archangel is the hypothetical person who has perfect knowledge of the situation and no personal biases or weaknesses and always uses critical moral thinking to decide the right thing to do; the ‘prole’ is the hypothetical person who is completely incapable of critical thinking and uses nothing but intuitive moral thinking and, of necessity, has to follow the general moral rules they have been taught or learned through imitation. [51] It is not that some people are archangels and others proles but rather â€Å"we all share the characteristics of both to limited and varying degrees and at different times. †[51] Hare does not specify when we should think more like an archangel and more like a prole as this will, in any case, vary from person to person. However, the critical moral thinking underpins and informs the more intuitive moral thinking. It is responsible for formulating and, if necessary, reformulating the general moral rules. We also switch to critical thinking when trying to deal with unusual situations or in cases where the intuitive moral rules give Utilitarianism conflicting advice. 8 Preference utilitarianism Preference utilitarianism was first put forward in 1977 by John Harsanyi in Morality and the theory of rational behaviour[52] but it is more commonly associated with R. M. Hare,[51] Peter Singer[53] and Richard Brandt. [54] Harsanyi claimed that his theory is indebted to Adam Smith, who equated the moral point of view with that of an impartial but sympathetic observer; to Kant who insisted on the criterion of universality and which may also be described as a criterion of reciprocity; to the classical utilitarians who made maximising social utility the basic criterion of morality; and to ‘the modern theory of rational behaviour under risk and uncertainty, usually described as Bayesian decision theory’. [55] Harsanyi rejects hedonistic utilitarianism as being dependent on an outdated psychology saying that it is far from obvious that everything we do is motivated by a desire to maximise pleasure and minimise pain. He also rejects ideal utilitarianism because â€Å"it is certainly not true as an empirical observation that people’s only purpose in life is to have ‘mental states of intrinsic worth’. †[56] According to Harsanyi, â€Å"preference utilitarianism is the only form of utilitarianism consistent with the important philosophical principle of preference autonomy. By this I mean the principle that, in deciding what is good and what is bad for a given individual, the ultimate criterion can only be his own wants and his own preferences. †[57] Harsanyi adds two caveats. People sometimes have irrational preferences. To deal with this Harsanyi distinguishes between ‘manifest’ preferences and ‘true’ preferences. The former are those â€Å"manifested by his observed behaviour, including preferences possibly based on erroneous factual beliefs, or on careless logical analysis, or on strong emotions that at the moment greatly hinder rational choice† whereas the latter are â€Å"the preferences he would have if he had all the relevant factual information, always reasoned with the greatest possible care, and were in a state of mind most conducive to rational choice. †[57] It is the latter that preference utilitarianism tries to satisfy. The second caveat is that antisocial preferences such as sadism, envy and resentment have to be excluded. Harsanyi achieves this by claiming that such preferences partially exclude those people from the moral community. â€Å"Utilitarian ethics makes all of us members of the same moral community. A person displaying ill will toward others does remain a member of this community, but not with his whole personality. That part of his personality that harbours these hostile antisocial feelings must be excluded from membership, and has no claim for a hearing when it comes to defining our concept of social utility. †[58] More varieties of utilitarianism Negative utilitarianism In The Open Society and its Enemies (1945), Karl Popper argued that the principle maximize pleasure should be replaced by minimize pain. He thought â€Å"it is not only impossible but very dangerous to attempt to maximize the pleasure or the happiness of the people, since such an attempt must lead to totalitarianism. †[59] He claimed that, â€Å"there is, from the ethical point of view, no symmetry between suffering and happiness, or between pain and pleasure†¦ In my opinion human suffering makes a direct moral appeal, namely, the appeal for help, while there is no similar call to increase the happiness of a man who is doing well anyway. A further criticism of the Utilitarian formula ‘Maximize pleasure’ is that it assumes a continuous pleasure-pain scale which allows us to treat degrees of pain as negative degrees of pleasure. But, from the moral point of view, pain cannot be outweighed by pleasure, and especially not one man’s pain by another man’s pleasure. Instead of the greatest happiness for the greatest number, one should demand, more modestly, the least amount of avoidable suffering for all †[60] Utilitarianism The actual term Negative Utilitarianism was introduced by R. N. Smart as the title to his 1958 reply to Popper[61] in which he argued that the principle would entail seeking the quickest and least painful method of killing the entirety of humanity. â€Å"Suppose that a ruler controls a weapon capable of instantly and painlessly destroying the human race. Now it is empirically certain that there would be some suffering before all those alive on any proposed destruction day were to die in the natural course of events. Consequently the use of the weapon is bound to diminish suffering, and would be the rulers duty on NU grounds. †[62] Negative utilitarianism would seem to call.

Americas First Serial Killer :: essays research papers

In a later time, Minnie R. Williams would have been called a â€Å"Dallas girl.† She grew up in Big D, received a quality education at Boston’s Conservatory of Elocution and she had money. The money came following the death of the kindly rich uncle who had taken her in as an orphan. Minnie inherited his estate, including some real estate in Fort Worth appraised at nearly $50,000. After her out-of-state schooling, Minnie lived in Dallas with her sister Nannie (who had been raised by another uncle) before deciding to return to Boston for additional studies. While there, she met a good looking fellow named Harry Gordon. In addition to being handsome, he was smart. And, like Minnie, he had money – or at least said he did. Smitten from the start, Minnie soon signed letters to her sister as Mrs. Harry Gordon. The newlyweds moved to Chicago in March 1893. Later that spring, Minnie wrote Nannie and asked her to come to Chicago to see the world’s fair then under way. The sister arrived in June. In early July, Nannie wrote her aunt that she, Minnie and her new brother-in-law planned to visit Europe. That letter, written July 4, 1893, was the last time anyone ever heard from either of the two sisters. Later that summer, their relatives engaged the famous Pinkerton Detective Agency to find the two young women. Meanwhile, an affable Midwesterner got off the train in Fort Worth to handle a little financial business. At the Tarrant County Clerk’s office he filed a deed signed over to him by his wife, Minnie Williams Gordon, preparatory to making improvements to the property. Gordon soon hired a contractor to build an expensive three-story stone and frame building on the lot. With construction still under way, Gordon borrowed $20,000, using his real estate and the planned improvements as collateral. But Gordon seemed to have trouble making the loan payments. Before long, he borrowed something else – someone’s horse – and â€Å"consolidated† his debt by riding that horse out of state with most of the bank’s $20,000 in his pocket. The Pinkerton men on the case succeeded in unraveling it, tracing Gordon to Boston. When Bean Town police arrested him on Nov. 17, 1894, he confessed to scamming folks in Texas. But he did not confess all at first. When he lived in Chicago, he said, â€Å"I fell in with a typewriter girl [Minnie] and furnished a house on the outskirts of the city, where we lived together.

Ethics: Religion vs. Abortion

Not every woman was meant to be a mother. Not every couple is meant to have a child. So what happens when an unprepared couple becomes pregnant? The first thoughts are not to carry a baby to full term for it to be adopted or to grant temporary custody. People look for the easiest way out which is to get rid of the baby. Our society has become so accustom to instant gratification that there are no thoughts that run through our minds when making such decisions. Our biggest concerns are how much it will cost and who will find out. At what point is the weight of this decision realized?When do we realize that we are taking a life? For this specific reason there are people who boldly stand against abortion. Truly children are a gift from the Lord; the fruit of the womb is a reward (Psalm 127:3 KJV). There are many verses in the bible that explains how children are great gifts and should be cherished and welcomed into the world. The church has stepped in to remind us how gracious the gift o f life really is. The religious war on abortion cannot be easily defined. Although people are religious and may fear God, the issue is that there are no consequences during life.There is only a threat that people who have or perform abortions will go to hell in the after life. The churches only weapon is excommunication where they limit a person’s membership or exile them from the church. Originally Catholic Church’s position on excommunication was limited to the abortion of a formed fetus. The theory of a formed fetus came from Aristotle's concept of ensoulment which was adopted by Christian philosophers. Aristotle believed that fetuses were conceived in a vegetative or animalistic state and that between 40 and 90 days a fetus undergoes â€Å"ensoulment† in which the fetus actually received its human soul.So it was this concept that made abortion a homicide after the 90 period. Church councils usually grouped abortion earlier than the ensoulment with other sex crimes. After 1869 the Catholic Church agreed that ensoulment started at the time of conception, this now made abortion a homicide at anytime, in the eyes of the church. Abortion wasn’t always such a controversial issue in America; there was a time when it was taken lightly. In the early 1800s many mothers died during or after child labor. Lack of medical knowledge and equipment made delivery difficult and because of this aborting children was a norm.Although there seemed to be less death surrounding abortion, the procedure was reevaluated in the late 1800s and anti-abortion laws were put into place. By 1910 almost all of the states had declared abortion illegal due to its immorality; some believed that laws were put into place because the early settlers feared being over populated by the immigrants that were traveling to our country at the time. Others believed that Doctors led lawmakers to criminalize abortion. This was their way of taking control of the practice. Many abor tions were performed by female practitioners in women’s homes.To get those women to get back into doctor's offices they claimed that their main objective was to protect women from the dangerous abortion techniques practiced outside of the office. After these laws were put into place abortions were to be performed by doctors only after they determine if the pregnancy would endanger the mother or child. After six decades of illegal abortions throughout the United States they were convinced to give women back the rights to their bodies with Roe v. Wade in 1973. Legalizing abortion dropped the number of pregnancy related hospitalizations by 75 percent almost instantly.That number has continued to drop over the years and has reached less than 1 percent. Legalizing abortion has saved a lot of lives but there are still many obstacles that woman face when making this grave decision. When it comes down to which law is more relevant it is easy to say the law of the land prevails. Simpl y because in our times there is not much respect for religion. Many people don’t know what they believe in or would rather believe in nothing. When it comes to something to have faith in or look up to it is often monetary.These are the beliefs of the youths, that money will help them get through anything. Older generations know that you need to have faith in something that can make you feel loved. Money is not abundantly available to any of us, while God, Jesus and his word are readily available for us all. Many people do not attend church and don’t read the bible so to them there is no other law than what they see in front of them. The law of the land is gives direction to those who are seeking abortions. Protestors that harass and even use violence towards people seeking abortions will not enlighten them.The church must find a way to reach out to people so they may realize what kinds of options they have. The state offers counseling, adoption agencies, and welfare to those seeking assistance with children. When it comes to assistance it doesn’t seem that the church has much to offer but it does seem that they are quick to judge. Researching this paper has enlightened me on abortion. I didn’t know that there were so many deaths involved with illegal abortions. I mainly focused on what has happened in the United States. Digging deeper I found that there are still many countries that have not yet legalized abortion.Cuba and Guyana are the only countries in Central and South America that are allowed to practice abortion. In this area there are over four million illegal abortions done every year even though this region is the biggest Roman Catholic region in the world. Women who are well off are able to use large sums of money to get into professionals offices. While poor women take the risk of having abortions below medical standards. After already going through the trauma of an awful procedure when these women are taken to the hospit al they are questioned and then often thrown in jail awaiting trial or even convicted.There have even been convictions in the United States for performing late-term abortions. Most states prohibit abortions after viability or the point when a fetus can survive outside the womb. Viability is often around 28 weeks but at 21 weeks the fetus has already developed all its organs and body structures. I have never had an abortion and hope that it is never a decision I will have to struggle with. I am very safe and take the proper precautions that will save me and my unborn child. There is so much that is readily available for us, condoms, birth control, and abstinence plus many other ways to protect ourselves.Although I agree that the procedure should be available, I also believe that they should know and exhaust all options. Ultimately I cannot give a stern opinion on the matter. I have never been in a place where I have to choose to take someone’s life or dedicate my own. I do und erstand the state of our economy and that many people are not in the proper place to raise a child. If you don’t know where your next meal will come from or how you will be making your next mortgage payment, you may not want to bring a child into a world of stress and frustration.Bibliography â€Å"Abortion. † Methods of. Web. 09 Apr. 2012. . â€Å"National Abortion Federation: History of Abortion. † National Abortion Federation (NAF). Web. 09 Apr. 2012. . BBC News. BBC. Web. 09 Apr. 2012. . â€Å"Your Baby's Developments in the Womb. † Askamum. Web. 09 Apr. 2012. . â€Å"Baby's Development in the Womb. † – MyDr. com. au. Web. 09 Apr. 2012. . â€Å"Major U. S. Laws concerning Abortion. † U. S. LAWS RESTRICTING ABORTION. Web. 08 Apr. 2012. . â€Å"The Bible and Abortion. † What the Bible Says about Abortion! Web. 08 Apr. 2012. .

Logical and Physical Data Models

The Physical Data Model (PDM) describes how the information represented in the Logical Data Model is actually implemented, how the information-exchange requirements are implemented, and how the data entities and their relationships are maintained. There should be a mapping from a given Logical Data Model to the Physical Data Model if both models are used. The form of the Physical Data Model can vary greatly, as shown in Figure 31. For some purposes, an additional entity-relationship style diagram will be sufficient.The Data Definition Language (DDL) may also be used. References to message format standards (which identify message types and options to be used) may suffice for message-oriented implementations. (Getting information from the LDM in form of file) Descriptions of file formats may be used when file passing is the mode used to exchange information. Interoperating systems may use a variety of techniques to exchange data, and thus have several distinct partitions in their Physi cal Data Model with each partition using a different form.The figure illustrates some options for expressing the Physical Data Model and an other table (in the original document) provides a listing of the types of information to be captured. A physical data model (or database design) is a representation of a data design which takes into account the facilities and constraints of a given database management system. In the lifecycle of a project it typically derives from a logical data model, though it may be reverse-engineered from a given database implementation.A complete physical data model will include all the database artifacts required to create relationships between tables or to achieve performance goals, such as indexes, constraint definitions, linking tables, partitioned tables or clusters. Analysts can usually use a physical data model to calculate storage estimates; it may include specific storage allocation details for a given database system. As of 2012 seven main databas es dominate the commercial marketplace: Informix, Oracle, Postgres, SQL Server, Sybase, DB2 and MySQL.Other RDBMS systems tend either to be legacy databases or used within academia such as universities or further education colleges. Physical data models for each implementation would differ significantly, not least due to underlying operating-system requirements that may sit underneath them. For example: SQL Server runs only on Microsoft Windows operating-systems, while Oracle and MySQL can run on Solaris, Linux and other UNIX-based operating-systems as well as on Windows.This means that the disk requirements, security requirements and many other aspects of a physical data model will be influenced by the RDBMS that a database administrator (or an organization) chooses to use. Overview Logical data models represent the abstract structure of a domain of information. They are often diagrammatic in nature and are most typically used in business processes that seek to capture things of im portance to an organization and how they relate to one another. Once validated and approved, the logical data model can become the basis of a physical data model and inform the design of a database.Logical data models should be based on the structures identified in a preceding conceptual data model, since this describes the semantics of the information context, which the logical model should also reflect. Even so, since the logical data model anticipates implementation on a specific computing system, the content of the logical data model is adjusted to achieve certain efficiencies. The term ‘Logical Data Model' is sometimes used as a synonym of ‘Domain Model' or as an alternative to the domain model.While the two concepts are closely related, and have overlapping goals, a domain model is more focused on capturing the concepts in the problem domain rather than the structure of the data associated with that domain. History The ANSI/SPARC three level architecture, which â⠂¬Å"shows that a data model can be an external model (or view), a conceptual model, or a physical model. This is not the only way to look at data models, but it is a useful way, particularly when comparing models†. [1] When ANSI first laid out the idea of a logical schema in 1975,[2] the choices were hierarchical and network.The relational model – where data is described in terms of tables and columns – had just been recognized as a data organization theory but no software existed to support that approach. Since that time, an object-oriented approach to data modelling – where data is described in terms of classes, attributes, and associations – has also been introduced. Logical data model topics Reasons for building a logical data model * Helps common understanding of business data elements and requirements * Provides foundation for designing a database Facilitates avoidance of data redundancy and thus prevent data & business transaction inconsisten cy * Facilitates data re-use and sharing * Decreases development and maintenance time and cost * Confirms a logical process model and helps impact analysis. Modeling benefits * Facilitates business process improvement * Focuses on requirements independent of technology * Facilitates data re-use and sharing * Increases return on investment * Centralizes metadata * Fosters seamless communication between applications * Focuses communication for data analysis and project team members * Establishes a consistent naming schemeLogical & Physical Data Model A logical data model is sometimes incorrectly called a physical data model, which is not what the ANSI people had in mind. The physical design of a database involves deep use of particular database management technology. For example, a table/column design could be implemented on a collection of computers, located in different parts of the world. That is the domain of the physical model. Logical and physical data models are very different in their objectives, goals and content. Key differences noted below. Logical Data Model| Physical Data Model|Includes entities (tables), attributes (columns/fields) and relationships (keys)| Includes tables, columns, keys, data types, validation rules, database triggers, stored procedures, domains, and access constraints| Uses business names for entities & attributes| Uses more defined and less generic specific names for tables and columns, such as abbreviated column names, limited by the database management system (DBMS) and any company defined standards| Is independent of technology (platform, DBMS)| Includes primary keys and indices for fast data access. Is normalized to fourth normal form(4NF)| May be de-normalized to meet performance requirements based on the nature of the database. If the nature of the database is Online Transaction Processing(OLTP) or Operational Data Store (ODS) it is usually not de-normalized. De-normalization is common in Datawarehouses. | A logical data m odel describes the data in as much detail as possible, without regard to how they will be physical implemented in the database. Features of a logical data model include: * Includes all entities and relationships among them. All attributes for each entity are specified. * The primary key for each entity is specified. * Foreign keys (keys identifying the relationship between different entities) are specified. * Normalization occurs at this level. The steps for designing the logical data model are as follows: 1. Specify primary keys for all entities. 2. Find the relationships between different entities. 3. Find all attributes for each entity. 4. Resolve many-to-many relationships. 5. Normalization. The figure below is an example of a logical data model.Logical Data Model Comparing the logical data model shown above with the conceptual data model diagram, we see the main differences between the two: * In a logical data model, primary keys are present, whereas in a conceptual data model, no primary key is present. * In a logical data model, all attributes are specified within an entity. No attributes are specified in a conceptual data model. * Relationships between entities are specified using primary keys and foreign keys in a logical data model.In a conceptual data model, the relationships are simply stated, not specified, so we simply know that two entities are related, but we do not specify what attributes are used for this relationship. Logical Model Design Physical Model Design Figure 5. A logical data model (Information Engineering notation). You also need to identify the cardinality and optionality of a relationship (the UML combines the concepts of optionality and cardinality into the single concept of multiplicity). Cardinality represents the concept of â€Å"how many† whereas optionality represents the concept of â€Å"whether you must have something. For example, it is not enough to know that customers place orders. How many orders can a custome r place? None, one, or several? Furthermore, relationships are two-way streets: not only do customers place orders, but orders are placed by customers. This leads to questions like: how many customers can be enrolled in any given order and is it possible to have an order with no customer involved? Figure 5 shows that customers place zero or more orders and that any given order is placed by one customer and one customer only.It also shows that a customer lives at one or more addresses and that any given address has zero or more customers living at it. Although the UML distinguishes between different types of relationships – associations, inheritance, aggregation, composition, and dependency – data modelers often aren’t as concerned with this issue as much as object modelers are. Subtyping, one application of inheritance, is often found in data models, an example of which is the is a relationship between Item and it’s two â€Å"sub entities† Service and Product.Aggregation and composition are much less common and typically must be implied from the data model, as you see with the part of role that Line Item takes with Order. UML dependencies are typically a software construct and therefore wouldn’t appear on a data model, unless of course it was a very highly detailed physical model that showed how views, triggers, or stored procedures depended on Logical Data Models (LDMs) represent data table (Entity Type) relationships. Logical Data Model Notations Entity Type Entity Type refers to a group of related data placed in an RDBMS (Relational Database Management Systems) table.An entity is an instance of an entity type represented as a single row in a data table. Relationships and Multiplicity Relationships illustrate how two entity types are related. Cardinality specifies how many instances of an entity relate to one instance of another entity. Physical data model represents how the model will be built in the database. A phy sical database model shows all table structures, including column name, column data type, column constraints, primary key, foreign key, and relationships between tables. Features of a physical data model include: * Specification all tables and columns. Foreign keys are used to identify relationships between tables. * Denormalization may occur based on user requirements. * Physical considerations may cause the physical data model to be quite different from the logical data model. * Physical data model will be different for different RDBMS. For example, data type for a column may be different between MySQL and SQL Server. Steps For Physical Data Model * Convert entities into tables. * Convert relationships into foreign keys. * Convert attributes into columns. * Modify the physical data model based on physical constraints / requirements. Physical v/s logical Entity names are now table names. * Attributes are now column names. * Data type for each column is specified. Data types can be different depending on the actual database being used. Data modeling is the act of exploring data-oriented structures. Like other modeling artifacts data models can be used for a variety of purposes, from high-level conceptual models to physical data models (PDMs). Physical data modeling is conceptually similar to design class modeling, the goal being to design the internal schema of a database, depicting the data tables, the data columns of those tables, and the relationships between the tables.      | presents a partial PDM for the university – you know that it isn’t complete by the fact that the Seminar table includes foreign keys to tables that aren’t shown, and quite frankly it’s obvious that many domain concepts such as course and professor are clearly not modeled. All but one of the boxes represent tables, the one exception is UniversityDB which lists the stored procedures implemented within the database. Because the diagram is given the stereo type Physical Data Model you know that the class boxes represent tables, without the diagram stereotype I would have needed to use the stereotype Table on each table.Relationships between tables are modeled using standard UML notation, although not shown in the example it would be reasonable to model composition and inheritance relationships between tables. Relationships are implemented via the use of keys (more on this below). Figure 1. A partial PDM for the university. When you are physical data modeling the following tasks are performed in an iterative manner: * Identify tables. Tables are the database equivalent of classes; data is stored in physical tables. As you can see in Figure 1 the university has a Student table to store student data, a Course table to store course data, and so on.Figure 1 uses a UML-based notation (this is a publicly defined profile which anyone can provide input into). If you have a class model in place a good start is to do a one-to-one mapping of your classes to data tables, an approach that works well in â€Å"greenfield† environments where you have the luxury of designing your database schema from scratch. Because this rarely happens in practice you need to be prepared to be constrained by one or more legacy database schemas which you will then need to map your classes to.In these situations it is unlikely that you will need to do much data modeling, you will simply need to learn to live with the existing data sources, but you will need to be able to read and understand existing models. In some cases you may need to perform legacy data analysis and model the existing schema before you can start working with it. * Normalize tables. Data normalization is a process in which data attributes within a data model are organized to increase the cohesion of tables and to reduce the coupling between tables. The fundamental goal is to ensure that data is stored in one and only one place.This is an important consideration for applic ation developers because it is incredibly difficult to stores objects in a relational database if a data attribute is stored in several places. The tables in Figure 1 are in third normal form (3NF). * Identify columns. A column is the database equivalent of an attribute, and each table will have one or more columns. For example, the Student table has attributes such as FirstName and StudentNumber. Unlike attributes in classes, which can either be primitive types or other objects, a column may only be a primitive type such as a char (a string), an int (integer), or a float. Identify stored procedures. A stored procedure is conceptually similar to a global method implemented by the database. In Figure 1 you see that stored procedures such as averageMark() and studentsEnrolled() are modeled as operations of the class UniversityDB. These stored procedures implement code that work with data stored in the database, in this case they calculate the average mark of a student and count the nu mber of students enrolled in a given seminar respectively.Although some of these stored procedures clearly act on data contained in a single table they are not modeled as part of the table (along the lines of methods being part of classes). Instead, because stored procedures are a part of the overall database and not a single table, they are modeled as part of a class with the name of the database. * Apply naming conventions. Your organization should have standards and guidelines applicable to data modeling, and if not you should lobby to have some put in place.As always, you should follow AM’s practice of Apply Modeling Standards. * Identify relationships. There are relationships between tables just like there are relationships between classes. The advice presented relationships in UML class diagrams applies. * Apply data model patterns. Some data modelers will apply common data model patterns, David Hay’s (1996) book Data Model Patterns is the best reference on the s ubject. Data model patterns are conceptually closest to analysis patterns because they describe solutions to common domain issues.Hay’s book is a very good reference for anyone involved in analysis-level modeling, even when you’re taking an object approach instead of a data approach because his patterns model business structures from a wide variety of business domains. * Assign keys. A key is one or more data attributes that uniquely identify a row in a table. A key that is two or more attributes is called a composite key. A primary key is the preferred key for an entity type whereas an alternate key (also known as a secondary key) is an alternative way to access rows within a table.In a physical database a key would be formed of one or more table columns whose value(s) uniquely identifies a row within a relational table. Primary keys are indicated using the stereotype and foreign keys via . Read here for more about keys. Although similar notation is used it is interes ting to note the differences between the PDM of Figure 21 and the UML class diagram from which is ti based: 1. Keys. Where it is common practice to not model scaffolding properties on class models it is common to model keys (the data equivalent of scaffolding). 2. Visibility. Visibility isn’t modeled for columns because they’re all public.However, because most databases support access control rights you may want to model them using UML constraints, UML notes, or as business rules. Similarly stored procedures are also public so they aren’t modeled either. 3. No many-to-many associations. Relational databases are unable to natively support many-to-many associations, unlike objects, and as a result you need to resolve them via the addition of an associative table. The closest thing to an associative table in is WaitList which was introduced to resolve the on waiting list many-to-many association depicted in the class diagram.A pure associative table is comprised of the primary key columns of the two tables which it maintains the relationship between, in this case StudentNumber from Student and SeminarOID from Seminar. Notice how in WaitList these columns have both a PK and an FK stereotype because they make up the primary key of WaitList while at the same time are foreign keys to the other two tables. WaitList isn’t truly an associative table because it contains non-key columns, in this case the Added column which is used to ensure that the first people on the waiting list are the ones that are given the opportunity to enroll if a seat becomes available.Had WaitList been a pure associative table I would have applied the associative table stereotype to it. Logical Versus Physical Database Modeling * March 14, 2001 * By Developer. com Staff * Bio  » * Send Email  » * More Articles  » After all business requirements have been gathered for a proposed database, they must be modeled. Models are created to visually represent the propose d database so that business requirements can easily be associated with database objects to ensure that all requirements have been completely and accurately gathered.Different types of diagrams are typically produced to illustrate the business processes, rules, entities, and organizational units that have been identified. These diagrams often include entity relationship diagrams, process flow diagrams, and server model diagrams. An entity relationship diagram (ERD) represents the entities, or groups of information, and their relationships maintained for a business. Process flow diagrams represent business processes and the flow of data between different processes and entities that have been defined.Server model diagrams represent a detailed picture of the database as being transformed from the business model into a relational database with tables, columns, and constraints. Basically, data modeling serves as a link between business needs and system requirements. Two types of data mode ling are as follows: * Logical modeling * Physical modeling If you are going to be working with databases, then it is important to understand the difference between logical and physical modeling, and how they relate to one another.Logical and physical modeling are described in more detail in the following subsections. * Post a comment * Email Article * Print Article * Share Articles Logical Modeling Logical modeling deals with gathering business requirements and converting those requirements into a model. The logical model revolves around the needs of the business, not the database, although the needs of the business are used to establish the needs of the database. Logical modeling involves gathering information about business processes, business entities (categories of data), and organizational units.After this information is gathered, diagrams and reports are produced including entity relationship diagrams, business process diagrams, and eventually process flow diagrams. The diagr ams produced should show the processes and data that exists, as well as the relationships between business processes and data. Logical modeling should accurately render a visual representation of the activities and data relevant to a particular business. Note| Logical modeling affects not only the direction of database design, but also indirectly affects the performance and administration of an implemented database.When time is invested performing logical modeling, more options become available for planning the design of the physical database. | The diagrams and documentation generated during logical modeling is used to determine whether the requirements of the business have been completely gathered. Management, developers, and end users alike review these diagrams and documentation to determine if more work is required before physical modeling commences. Typical deliverables of logical modeling include * Entity relationship diagrams An Entity Relationship Diagram is also referred t o as an analysis ERD.The point of the initial ERD is to provide the development team with a picture of the different categories of data for the business, as well as how these categories of data are related to one another. * Business process diagrams The process model illustrates all the parent and child processes that are performed by individuals within a company. The process model gives the development team an idea of how data moves within the organization. Because process models illustrate the activities of individuals in the company, the process model can be used to determine how a database application interface is design. * User feedback documentationPhysical Modeling Physical modeling involves the actual design of a database according to the requirements that were established during logical modeling. Logical modeling mainly involves gathering the requirements of the business, with the latter part of logical modeling directed toward the goals and requirements of the database. Ph ysical modeling deals with the conversion of the logical, or business model, into a relational database model. When physical modeling occurs, objects are being defined at the schema level. A schema is a group of related objects in a database. A database design effort is normally associated with one schema.During physical modeling, objects such as tables and columns are created based on entities and attributes that were defined during logical modeling. Constraints are also defined, including primary keys, foreign keys, other unique keys, and check constraints. Views can be created from database tables to summarize data or to simply provide the user with another perspective of certain data. Other objects such as indexes and snapshots can also be defined during physical modeling. Physical modeling is when all the pieces come together to complete the process of defining a database for a business.Physical modeling is database software specific, meaning that the objects defined during phy sical modeling can vary depending on the relational database software being used. For example, most relational database systems have variations with the way data types are represented and the way data is stored, although basic data types are conceptually the same among different implementations. Additionally, some database systems have objects that are not available in other database systems. Implementation of the Physical Model| The implementation of the physical model is dependent on the hardware and software being used by the company.The hardware can determine what type of software can be used because software is normally developed according to common hardware and operating system platforms. Some database software might only be available for Windows NT systems, whereas other software products such as Oracle are available on a wider range of operating system platforms, such as UNIX. The available hardware is also important during the implementation of the physical model because da ta is physically distributed onto one or more physical disk drives. Normally, the more physical drives available, the better the performance of the database after the implementation.Some software products now are Java-based and can run on virtually any platform. Typically, the decisions to use particular hardware, operating system platforms, and database software are made in conjunction with one another. | A logical data model describes your model entities and how they relate to each other. A physical data model describes each entity in detail, including information about how you would implement the model using a particular (database) product. In a logical model describing a person in a family tree, each person node would have attributes such as name(s), date of birth, place of birth, etc.The logical diagram would also show some kind of unique attribute or combination of attributes called a primary key that describes exactly one entry (a row in SQL) within this entity. The physical model for the person would contain implementation details. These details are things like data types, indexes, constraints, etc. The logical and physical model serve two different, but related purposes. A logical model is a way to draw your mental roadmap from a problem specification to an entity-based storage system.The user (problem owner) must understand and approve the logical model. A physical model is the roadmap from the logical model to the hardware. The developer (software owner) must understand and use the physical model. ERD Consider a hospital: Patients are treated in a single ward by the doctors assigned to them. Usually each patient will be assigned a single doctor, but in rare cases they will have two. Heathcare assistants also attend to the patients, a number of these are associated with each ward. Initially the system will be concerned solely with drug treatment.Each patient is required to take a variety of drugs a certain number of times per day and for varying leng ths of time. The system must record details concerning patient treatment and staff payment. Some staff are paid part time and doctors and care assistants work varying amounts of overtime at varying rates (subject to grade). The system will also need to track what treatments are required for which patients and when and it should be capable of calculating the cost of treatment per week for each patient (though it is currently unclear to what use this information will be put).

The Removalists essays

The Removalists essays The Removalists, written by David Williamson, is a very interesting play set in the seventies. The basic plot is two sisters walk into the police station to complain about one sister being physically abused by her husband. The to police officers then help her move out but not before beating her husband quite severely. In the end, one of the police officers loses control and beats the husband to death, although unintentionally. Now, the question posed by this essay is whether, given the chance, I would create three dimensional characters on stage or stereotypically Australian characters. Having given it some thought, I believe that the most effective way to portray these characters is hide a deep character with a thin layer of superficial, Australian stereotype on the top. To put it simply, I would start the play by making the audience believe that there is not much substance to the characters, but as the play proceeds, a new layer is slowly revealed to expose a greater personality. The following body of text will give examples as to why I believe this. The first example I shall give is Simmonds. Simmonds is one of the police officers who helps move Fiona (the sister who was beaten), out of her apartment. Simmonds is the most senior of the two policeman in this play. He is a sergeant and is married with two children. On the surface, he looks like your typical bullying police officer. I'm not saying he isn't, but there is more to this character then meets the eye. He may preach that adultery is wrong but only when he wants to get that moral advantage over those around him. This particular trait means he has set quite large double standards. Double standards because originally he had ulterior motives for helping the two women but when he realised that Kate (the sister to Fiona) wasn't interested in sleeping with him he goes off at her about being an adulterer. This is very hypocritical. This makes him sound stereotypical, and on th ...

Spanish Christmas Songs and Carols

Spanish Christmas Songs and Carols Singing Christmas carols in Spanish can be an enjoyable way to put your Spanish skills to good use. On the one hand, you will practice pronunciation and learn new vocabulary, and on the other, by reading the lyrics, you can identify the parts of speech that you are already familiar with. When and Where Do We Sing These Songs? Christmas traditions are big in Spanish and Hispanic cultures given their Catholic heritage, and most people decorate their houses with mangers  as well as with trees. The Hispanic tradition calls for the novena or posada, the nine nights before Christmas Day when you meet with friends and family, read prayers from a novenario, eat lots of good food and of course, sing many songs. These novenas take place in family homes, but some neighborhoods host them in open spaces. This collection of seasonal songs contains some that are commonly sung in novenas but also at church during Christmas celebrations, particularly during the Holy Mass that takes place on December 24th at midnight (remember that for most Hispanics the big Christmas celebrations happen on Christmas Eve and not on Christmas Day). Practicing Spanish Through Villancicos Below is an index of links to popular Christmas carols in Spanish, also known as villancicos, paired with their English versions. Note that in some cases the translations listed here arent the only ones available, so dont be surprised if the Spanish lyrics arent the same as youve seen somewhere else or sung before. For example, Silent Night, Holy Night has been translated as both Noche de Paz, Noche de Amor and Noche de Luz, Noche de Paz. Note also that in a few cases the translations are far from literal: anyone who has tried translating songs will understand why it is so difficult, as it requires the songs meaning, rhythm, and rhyme to be conveyed in the resulting translation. Some of the carols include a grammar and vocabulary guide for classroom use or personal study. With the exception of the English version of Los Peces en el Rà ­o (an original for this site), all these songs are in the public domain, so feel free to share them with your classroom or music group. Write down all the new vocabulary you learn, and conjugate each new verb in all the tenses you already know. There is no better way to learn than through catchy songs! Away in a MangerJesà ºs en PesebreDeck the HallsYa Llegà ³ la NavidadThe Fishes in the RiverLos Peces en el Rà ­oHark, the Herald Angels SingEscuchad el Son TriunfalJingle Bells #1CascabelJingle Bells #2Navidad, NavidadJoy to the World ¡Regocijad! Jesà ºs Nacià ³O Christmas Tree (O Tannenbaum)Quà © Verdes SonO Come All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fideles)Venid, Venid FielesO Holy NightNoche SagradaO Little Town of BethlehemOh Pueblecito de Belà ©nSilent NightNoche de PazThe Twelve Days of ChristmasLos Doce Dà ­as de NavidadWhat Child Is This? ¿Quà © Nià ±o Es Éste?

Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) History

Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) History The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) is an industrial labor union, founded in 1905 as a more radical alternative to craft unions. An industrial union organizes by industry, rather than by craft. The IWW is also intended to be a radical and socialist union, with an anti-capitalist agenda, not just reformist agenda within an overall capitalist system. The current constitution of the IWW makes clear its class struggle orientation: The working class and the employing class have nothing in common. There can be no peace so long as hunger and want are found among millions of the working people and the few, who make up the employing class, have all the good things of life.Between these two classes a struggle must go on until the workers of the world organize as a class, take possession of the means of production, abolish the wage system, and live in harmony with the Earth.†¦.It is the historic mission of the working class to do away with capitalism. The army of production must be organized, not only for everyday struggle with capitalists, but also to carry on production when capitalism shall have been overthrown. By organizing industrially we are forming the structure of the new society within the shell of the old. Informally called the â€Å"Wobblies,† the IWW originally brought together 43 labor organizations into â€Å"one big union.† The Western Federation of Miners (WFM) was one of the larger groups that inspired the founding. The organization also brought together Marxists, democratic socialists, anarchists, and others. The union was also committed to organizing workers regardless of sex, race, ethnicity, or immigrant status. Founding Convention The Industrial Workers of the World was founded at a convention in Chicago called on June 27, 1905, which â€Å"Big Bill† Haywood called â€Å"the Continental Congress of the working class.† The convention set the direction of the IWW as a confederation of workers for â€Å"the emancipation of the working class from the slave bondage of capitalism.† Second Convention The following year, 1906, with Debs and Haywood absent, Daniel DeLeon led his followers within the organization to remove the president and abolish that office, and to diminish the influence of the Western Federation of Miners, which DeLeon and his Socialist Labor Party fellows considered too conservative. Western Federation of Miners Trial At the end of 1905, after confronting the Western Federation of Miners on strike at Coeur d’Alene, someone assassinated the governor of Idaho, Frank Steunenberg.  In the first months of 1906, the Idaho authorities kidnapped Haywood, another union official Charles Moyer, and sympathizer George A. Pettibone, taking them across state lines to stand trial in Idaho.  Clarence Darrow took up the defense of the accused, winning the case at the trial from May 9 to July 27, which was widely publicized.  Darrow won an acquittal for the three men, and the union profited from the publicity. 1908 Split In 1908, a split in the party formed when Daniel DeLeon and his followers argued that the IWW should pursue political goals through the Social Labor Party (SLP). The faction which prevailed, often identified with â€Å"Big Bill† Haywood, supported strikes, boycotts, and general propaganda, and opposed political organization. The SLP faction left the IWW, forming the Workers’ International Industrial Union, which lasted until 1924. Strikes The first IWW strike of note was the Pressed Steel Car Strike, 1909, in Pennsylvania. The Lawrence textile strike of 1912 began among the workers at the Lawrence mills and then attracted IWW organizers to help out. The strikers numbered about 60% of the city’s population and were successful in their strike. In the east and Midwest, the IWW organized many strikes. Then they organized miners and lumberjacks in the west.   People Key early organizers of the IWW included Eugene Debs, â€Å"Big Bill† Haywood, â€Å"Mother† Jones, Daniel DeLeon, Lucy Parsons, Ralph Chaplin, William Trautmann, and others.  Elizabeth Gurley Flynn gave speeches for the IWW until she was expelled from high school, then she became a full-time organizer. Joe Hill (remembered in the â€Å"Ballad of Joe Hill†) was another early member who contributed his skill in writing song lyrics including parodies.  Helen Keller joined in 1918, to considerable criticism. Many workers joined the IWW when it was organizing a particular strike, and dropped membership when the strike was over.  In 1908, the union, despite its larger-than-life image, had only 3700 members. By 1912, the membership was 30,000 but was only half that the next three years.  Some have estimated that 50,000 to 100,000 workers may have belonged to the IWW at various times. Tactics The IWW used a variety of radical and conventional union tactics. The IWW supported collective bargaining, with the union and the owners negotiating over wages and working conditions. The IWW opposed the use of arbitration – settlement with negotiations run by a third party.  They organized in mills and factories, railroad yards and railroad cars. Factory owners used propaganda, strike-breaking, and police actions to break up IWW efforts. One tactic was using Salvation Army bands to drown out IWW speakers. (No wonder some IWW songs make fun of the Salvation Army, especially Pie in the Sky or Preacher and Slave.) When the IWW struck in company towns or work camps, employers responded with violent and brutal repression. Frank Little, partly of Native American heritage, was lynched in Butte, Montana, in 1917. The American Legion attacked an IWW hall in 1919 and murdered Wesley Everest. Trials of IWW organizers on trumped-up charges was another tactic. From the Haywood trial, to the trial of immigrant Joe Hill (the evidence was slim and then disappeared) for which he was convicted and the executed in 1915, to a Seattle rally where deputies fired on a boat and a dozen people died, to the 1200 Arizona strikers and family members detained, put in railroad cars, and dumped in the desert in 1917. In 1909, when Elizabeth Gurley Flynn was arrested in Spokane, Washington, under a new law against street speeches, the IWW developed a response: whenever any member was arrested for speaking, many others would also begin speaking in the same place, daring the police to arrest them, and overwhelming the local jails.  The defense of free speech brought attention to the movement, and in some places, also brought out vigilantes using force and violence to oppose street meetings.  Free speech fights continued from 1909 through 1914 in a number of cities. The IWW advocated for general strikes to oppose capitalism in general as an economic system. Songs To build solidarity, the members of IWW often used music.  Dump the Bosses Off Your Back, Pie in the Sky (Preacher and Slave), One Big Industrial Union, Popular Wobbly, Rebel Girl were among those included in the IWW’s â€Å"Little Red Songbook.† The IWW Today The IWW still exists.  But its power diminished during World War I, as sedition laws were used to put many of its leaders in prison, totaling almost 300 people. Local police and off duty military personnel forcibly closed IWW offices. Then some key IWW leaders, immediately after the Russian Revolution of 1917, left the IWW to found the Communist Party, USA.  Haywood, charged with sedition and out on bail, fled to the Soviet Union. After the war, a few strikes were won through the 1920s and 1930s, but the IWW had faded to a very small group with little national power.

SEE and Create Topics Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

SEE and Create Topics - Coursework Example When I think of electricity, high voltages, and lightning, I would automatically associate them with immense forms of power and I can only wonder how it can be controlled in such a way that it would create a musical piece. I have seen other musical displays before such as those accompanied by fireworks, lights, or water. However, the use electricity, channeling like lightning and even creating distinct and controlled sounds offers a more exciting and engaging show. b. The subject of the art is a woman. Colors involved in the art can be divided into two parts: a warm and natural palette on the upper portion and vivid and flashy colors on the bottom. The elements of design and composition are timing, motion arcs, and overlapping actions. a. Understanding the story or plot in the animation is somehow challenging, wherein a woman is confronted with some obstacles in her way. However, I think that the main feature of this art form is to showcase the fascinating concepts of timing and multi-dimensional motion. In Diane Meyer’s Italy VI: 2009, 2011, hand-sewn archival ink-jet print embroidered photo of a scenic image of a land form, the easily distinguishable crisscross pattern of the embroidery adds depth to an already pronounced art of photography. The sewn tiles in the photograph are intricately designed to attain unity and balance with the original photo. It is evident that Chinese tea cups are among the world’s most beautifully created ceramic art. The significance of tea cups in Chinese culture and tradition can be traced to several centuries ago. This segment hosted by Stephen Fry gives a hilarious side of the history of Chinese tea cups, together with his guests; they brought me to a big laugh and at the same time gave me a brief but informative knowledge on the magnificent tea cups of early

Why does the govrnent lock public parks when the citizens pay for them Research Paper

Why does the govrnent lock public parks when the citizens pay for them - Research Paper Example Travellers navigate with public parks as landmarks and travel routes. In the U.K., there are at least 27,000 thousand public parks that cover 143,000 hectares of land. These parks offer spaces for leisure, recreation, sports, entertainment and business. Some parks are open and very accessible while other parks are walled with gated entrances. Around 1.5 billion people visit these parks each year. With many people using parks, upkeep is necessary. The government spends ?630 million of taxpayer’s money for the upkeep of these parks. Every visit costs 42 pence. In the last 10 years, spending on public parks has decreased. (Urban Parks Forum, 2001) With decreased spending, the trend is good parks are becoming better and bad parks continue to deteriorate (Urban Parks Forum, 2001). The state of the park has a direct relationship with visits. Deteriorating parks mean lower number and frequency of visits. Decrepit public parks become spaces for antisocial activities and crime. These p arks are evaded by residents, with the effect of further facilitating the use of these parks for unwanted activities. In an effort to control the deterioration of public parks, given budget cuts, a measure being done is using gates and locking parks. The park can be accessed only during certain hours, such as from 6 am to 7 pm. All people inside will be asked to leave when the parks close. This practice has spurred the issue of limiting people’s access to public parks when they are paying for the upkeep. Importance of Public Parks Public parks are important. Public parks benefit people. These benefits justify the development of public parks and government spending on upkeep. Public parks support environmental sustainability. Green spaces facilitate the development of urban ecosystems (Zhou & Rana, 2012). Public parks support biodiversity, including plants, animals and insect that plays a role in sustaining the natural environment. At the same time, public parks are green spac es that allow people to interact with the natural environment and become part of the ecosystem. (Barbosa et al., 2007) Trees and vegetation in parks regulate temperature by providing a cooling effect. Trees provide shade in hot weather and absorb heat. This prevents the urban heat island effect from happening. Without trees and plants, heat would be absorbed by concrete, which is capable of retaining heat for long hours. When heat accumulates in concrete, temperatures in the area rises. Park greenery also lowers air pollution by absorbing carbon dioxide to create oxygen and providing barriers to noise. (Millward & Sabir, 2011) When it rains, trees and plants in public parks absorb water to prevent runoffs that cause floods (Dolesh, 2011). Public parks improve the aesthetic quality of neighbourhoods and city centres (Millward & Sabir, 2011). The greenery balances the monotonous visual effect of concrete and asphalt in cities (Salazar & Menendez, 2007). Landscaping in public parks is intended to provide a pleasant view to visitors and passersby. Public parks also promote health and safety. Interaction with nature can improve physical and psychological well-being. Public parks encourage physical activity (Salazar & Menendez, 2007). Parks provide various opportunities for physical activity as a way for people to get their required doses of physical exercise to prevent health conditions, such as heart problems and obesity (Bedimon-Rung, Mowen, & Cohen, 2005). Public parks provide social, economic and political benefits. Public parks provide a good place for social interaction (Barbosa et al., 2007). Social interaction happens when people engage in leisure, recreational or sports activities in public parks. Public parks also create employment, which ranges from the upkeep of the park to

Literacy Narrative Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 3

Literacy Narrative - Essay Example The mode of realism that Eliot employs and her focus on the issues of gender has affected the way my fiction has been. This is a literacy narrative in as much as it was a shaping influence on my writing and the ways in which I read and understood literature. Apart from being the reading of a text, it was also the reading of a culture and an age in which that culture was set. The prospect of reading arguably the finest British novel ever was a daunting one. Prior to the reading of the book, I undertook a study of the Victorian age and looked at the general characteristics of this age. Set in one of the most turbulent eras of England, Eliot is able to look at the different aspects of Middlemarch as a town and look at the ideas of tradition and progress in an incisive manner. The process of reading the book in itself was an emotionally draining one as the fates of Dorothy Parker and the other characters in the novel seemed to unfold in front of my eyes. The sheer size of the novel and t he networks that it created was mind-boggling. Apart from this, it was also interesting to read of the ways in which the lives of different members of a society were interconnected and vital for the progress of another one. The process of reading the book also opened up many avenues through which to analyse the position of women even in contemporary society. This was thus, a profoundly unsettling experience. It was also, however, an experience that taught me to value the position of literature in the world. Following the process of reading the book, I was better informed regarding Victorian society and its culture. Apart from this, the intense positivity that comes from the climax of the novel stayed with me beyond the time that I was actually reading the novel. This event remains one that shaped the way I write poetry and prose. I have incorporated elements of the social realist style in my narratives. Also, the focus on women-centric issues is also something that I have tried to i nclude in my writing. The methods that Eliot employs in order to provide a clearer understanding of the society continue to inspire me as a writer. The incisiveness with which she analyses the electoral and social changes that took place during the Victorian era is something that I also look for in other writers. Middlemarch has become a work that I look to as part of the larger canon of works that has inspired me to write and read a greater number of works of literature. The importance given to the lower classes in this work also inspires me to always look at the condition of the subaltern in literature. This has greatly shaped the kind of books that I like. The event was, in the ultimate analysis, one that shaped the very way in which I looked at and analysed literature. Literature from then on was not something that merely was read for pleasure. It was intrinsically connected to the society from which it emerged. Eliot’s commitment to social issues was something that has s tayed with me and affected my love for literatures from postcolonial societies across the world. Her goal of representing the subaltern has led me to a greater commitment to literatures of this kind. However, the effect of this great novel was also to make me realize that the work of a novel was not mere analysis but also to move the audience. The fates of

Organizational Behavior & Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Organizational Behavior & Leadership - Essay Example Leader B and leader C are senior members of the organization with chances of succeeding Executive A. Executive A is a level five leader. The leadership style integrates features of transformational and transactional leadership styles and focuses on an organization’s long term objectives while shifting focus from the leader. The leader therefore motivates and empowers people to achievement of collective objectives and defines rules to guide people in their designated roles. Rewards or penalty may follow this and integration of features of transformational and transactional leadership may be situational of hybrid. Executive A’s driven and ambitious state identifies transformational features towards inspiration and motivation of followers while his high level focus indicates transactional trait of adherence to guidelines. The leader also shifts focus from him to the organization by attributing success to other leaders. His ability to accept responsibility for mistakes and his role in developing leaders further identifies transformational trait. The executive therefore ha s the traits of a level five leader (Phillips and Gully, 2011). Leader B identifies with transactional leadership style. One of the features of the style is a contingent reward system in which the leaders establishes standards for followers and uses the standard for appraisal and reward. Employees who meet the set standards receive reward while those who do not may either not be rewarded or may be penalized for failure. The leaders also believed in routine operation and does not emphasize on employees’ innovation and growth. From this perspective, performance is based on set instructions and not on an organization’s overall objectives. The leader therefore becomes active when employees deviate from expectations. In leader B’s approach to leadership, clarification of roles to be