Civil War Study Guide :: essays research papers

1. Alexander Hamilton - He was one of the earliest and most active nationalists, believing that the continental congress needed to be strengthened or overthrown in favor a new, more imposing federal government that could legislate within the states, which the continental congress could not do. Hamilton was the spokesman for an active government, stressing the principle of government "Responsibility", against the Jeffersonian/Madisonian principle of public vigilance and suspicion of government power. Recent scholars have argued that these two philosophies form the thesis-antithesis of the post-revolutionary era—Alexander Hamilton being the figurehead of responsible government. 2. Thomas Jefferson - Jefferson's idea for the United States was that of an agricultural nation of yeoman farmers, in contrast to the vision of Alexander Hamilton, who envisioned a nation of commerce and manufacturing. Jefferson was a great believer in the uniqueness and the potential of the United States and is often classified a forefather of American exceptionalism. American exceptionalism is the idea that the United States and the American people hold a special place in the world, by offering opportunity and hope for humanity, derived from a unique balance of public and private interests governed by constitutional ideals that are focused on personal and economic freedom. 3. Henry Clay – Henry Clay was known as â€Å"Mr. Whig† because he was one of the founders of the party. He was a 3 time presidential loser. In 1824, he advocated high duties to relieve the prevailing economic distress, which he pictured in a brilliant and effective speech. Although they were caused by the reactionary effect of a disordered currency and the inflated prices of the War of 1812, he ascribed the problems to the country's dependence on foreign suppliers and markets. He said that the United Kingdom was a shining example of the wisdom of a high tariff; and no nation ever flourished without one. He closed his principal speech on the subject in the House of Representatives with a glowing appeal in behalf of what he called the "American System."Henry Clay's American System was a plan to strengthen the nation's economy by tying the North, South, and West together. It called for: Federal funding of infrastructure improvements (such as the Erie Canal and a series of highways) funded by a raised tariff on imported goods. Using protective tariffs to encourage development of domestic industry, and Reliance on domestic financial resources. Henry Clay was only twenty-two, when, as an opponent of slavery, he vainly urged an emancipation clause for the new constitution of Kentucky. Civil War Study Guide :: essays research papers 1. Alexander Hamilton - He was one of the earliest and most active nationalists, believing that the continental congress needed to be strengthened or overthrown in favor a new, more imposing federal government that could legislate within the states, which the continental congress could not do. Hamilton was the spokesman for an active government, stressing the principle of government "Responsibility", against the Jeffersonian/Madisonian principle of public vigilance and suspicion of government power. Recent scholars have argued that these two philosophies form the thesis-antithesis of the post-revolutionary era—Alexander Hamilton being the figurehead of responsible government. 2. Thomas Jefferson - Jefferson's idea for the United States was that of an agricultural nation of yeoman farmers, in contrast to the vision of Alexander Hamilton, who envisioned a nation of commerce and manufacturing. Jefferson was a great believer in the uniqueness and the potential of the United States and is often classified a forefather of American exceptionalism. American exceptionalism is the idea that the United States and the American people hold a special place in the world, by offering opportunity and hope for humanity, derived from a unique balance of public and private interests governed by constitutional ideals that are focused on personal and economic freedom. 3. Henry Clay – Henry Clay was known as â€Å"Mr. Whig† because he was one of the founders of the party. He was a 3 time presidential loser. In 1824, he advocated high duties to relieve the prevailing economic distress, which he pictured in a brilliant and effective speech. Although they were caused by the reactionary effect of a disordered currency and the inflated prices of the War of 1812, he ascribed the problems to the country's dependence on foreign suppliers and markets. He said that the United Kingdom was a shining example of the wisdom of a high tariff; and no nation ever flourished without one. He closed his principal speech on the subject in the House of Representatives with a glowing appeal in behalf of what he called the "American System."Henry Clay's American System was a plan to strengthen the nation's economy by tying the North, South, and West together. It called for: Federal funding of infrastructure improvements (such as the Erie Canal and a series of highways) funded by a raised tariff on imported goods. Using protective tariffs to encourage development of domestic industry, and Reliance on domestic financial resources. Henry Clay was only twenty-two, when, as an opponent of slavery, he vainly urged an emancipation clause for the new constitution of Kentucky.

About Mike Leigh :: essays papers

About Mike Leigh Like many of the films watched in class there seems to be an ongoing theme in Mike Leigh’s films of the tragedy that is the life of those living in Britain. Fortunately, Leigh chooses to instead use these tragedies to instead promote the optimism or â€Å"high hopes† if you will of the people stuck in such unfortunate circumstances that are displayed onscreen. His films seek to bring light where there is darkness and truth where there are lies. In the film Secrets and Lies, we are introduce into a family that seems to have quite a few problems that are on the surface and far more that are well hidden to the world as well as those they call family. Instead of pulling together and expressing their feelings and problems they instead decide to draw in on themselves and keep the secrets hidden. It seems to me to be a out of sight, out of mind kind of mentality that for some odd reason they believe will help them deal with their problem. At the birthday party when things finally come to a head and Maurice finally says his peace and gets the secrets and the lies that they have all kept for so long out in the open the burden of his message is what is going to happen after this is unleashed upon their family. Maurice faced an unknown future when he decided to face up to his family’s problems. He was the only character in the entire film that actually knew everything that was being kept from the rest of the family. With this knowledge comes a burden of what to do with this knowledge. With the emergence of Hortense and the discovery of her true identity Maurice must come to grips with the truth of his family and must make them understand that they must tell each other the truth behind their demeanor. Maurice’s speech could have had very bad consequences. He could have lost his niece, whom he views as the daughter he and his wife will never have. He also could have lost Cynthia’s trust in making her tell the truth of matters. Lastly, Maurice’s own marriage was on the brink due to his wife’s inability to have children and she was driving him away because of it. One small turn of events could have forever veered this from the brink of tragedy right over the edge and this would have been yet another family lost to the unforgiving world in which they live.

Plato and Aristotle on Knowledge Essay

The purpose of this paper is to explore Plato and Aristotle’s conceptions on knowledge, their understanding of the physical universe, and the suggestions that these beliefs conclusively made to the natural sciences. I shall do this by explaining Plato’s analysis of the nature of knowledge, and the role his proposed theory of forms plays in it. I will then go on to describe how this analysis applies to, and provides suggestions for, the methodology of science. This essay will then switch its focus to Aristotle, explore his views on motion, and describe how these represent a departure from Plato’s analyses. It will then conclude with the exploration of his understanding of motion, paying special attention to how it contributes to his understanding of the physical universe as a whole. First, I will address Plato’s interpretation of knowledge. Plato believed that true knowledge could only originate from reason, and that reason could only be derived from that which is unchanging. However, he noted that the sense experiences which our world provides us with go through constant changes, and therefore cannot be relied upon as sources of reason. He states in his novel Timaeus, that these types of things are â€Å"opined by opining accompanied by irrational sensation† (Plato, and Kalkavage 58). Plato argues that the only way to evaluate sensory information to obtain true knowledge is through the application and analysis of certain principles that are unchanging. These principles are what Plato refers to as forms. Because of their unchanging nature, Plato regarded these forms as being able to be â€Å"grasped by intellection accompanied by a rational account† (Plato, and Kalkavage 58), and therefore undoubtedly true He concluded that believing to know something from only sensory information is not equivalent to having true knowledge of that thing. However, if forms cannot be understood from sensory information, one may wonder how a person can begin to comprehend these forms if it is not through perceptions and experiences. To address this puzzle, Plato suggests that before we were born in the physical world, we existed in the realm of the ideal forms. It is there where our soul gained true knowledge. Therefore since â€Å"the soul is immortal and has been born many times† (Plato, Anastaplo, and Berns 17), true knowledge always lies within the soul and learning is simply a matter of recollecting what our souls learned before. Plato’s beliefs introduced a radical new way of thinking to natural scientists, specifically astronomers. His theory served as a warning to scientists that information derived from visual experience is not equivalent to having true knowledge of that thing. This is a revolutionary suggestion for the reliability of previous data collection methods, especially in the case of the conventional idea held in astronomy that knowledge could be derived from an expertise in visual observation of celestial motion. Plato gives two possible outcomes for scientists to consider when confronted with observational data. The first is to discern some unchanging, and therefore rational, mathematical structure within the data in order to obtain a true knowledge of what is seen. The second is to understand where irregularities in this data are too great to be able to discern any such mathematical structure. In this case Aristotle suggests that the data can only be thought of as simply a subject of reality, therefore unable to provide true knowledge. Next, I will explain Aristotle’s views of the nature of change, and how they represent a departure from the methodology of Plato. Unlike Plato’s theory of forms, in which forms are unchanging and absolute, Aristotle believed that most substances undergo change in some way. Also, when describing change, Plato only recognizes change in a pair of opposites, but Aristotle elaborates on this idea, and describes five necessary components for change. In Book V of Aristotle’s novel Physics, he explains that â€Å"there is something which initiates the change, and something which is changing, and again something in which the change takes place (the time); and apart from these, something from which and something to which† (62). In simpler terms, Aristotle believed that every change has the following: a cause, some starting point, something which the change acts on, some ending point, and some time in which it occurred. Aristotle also divided the different types of change he believed to occur into four different categories. The first being change in substance. This type of change encompasses transitions from existence to nonexistence, such as when something is born and when it dies. The second type of change that can occur is a change in quality, also known as an alteration. Hot food becoming cool or the change in color of fruit would be an example of this type. The third type of change is that of quantity. This often refers to the growth or diminishment of a certain object. For example, a toddler goes through a quantitative change during a growth spurt when he grows taller. Finally, the fourth type of change that Aristotle acknowledged is change of place, otherwise referred to as motion. Motion specifically played a large role in developing Aristotle’s overall understanding of the global features of the physical universe. Aristotle believed that knowledge came from understanding and being able to explain the causes which originated motion, or more generally change in itself. This presents the fact that Aristotle believed a physical explanation was necessary to obtain true knowledge, whereas Plato believed that true knowledge was not reliant on physical evidence. This led to Aristotle’s expansion of Plato’s geocentric model of the universe. Unlike Plato, who thought of it in geometric terms, Aristotle thought of this model as physically real and gave a physical explanation for it. According to Aristotle, all of the motion in this system originates in the outermost sphere. This motion is the ultimate cause of all motion in the universe. For this reason he calls the outermost sphere the prime mover. To conclude, in this paper we explored Plato’s analysis of the nature of knowledge, specifically recognizing the integral role his proposed theories of forms played in it. This provided us with the basis to understand Plato’s views on the unreliability of the information we perceive in physical world. We then examined how this analysis provided a radical new way of thinking about the reliability of information obtained by sensory observation. Next, we examined Aristotle’s views on the nature of change, emphasizing how his understanding represents a departure from Plato’s ideas. We then looked more specifically at one of his four proposed types of change: motion. We examined the role it played in not only in his theory that all motion originates from the outer sphere of the universe, but also in his overall understanding of the physical universe. Works Cited Aristotle, Philip H. Wicksteed, and Francis Macdonald Cornford. The Physics. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1980. Print. Plato, and Peter Kalkavage. Plato’s Timaeus: Translation, Glossary, Appendices and Introductory Essay. Newburyport, MA: Focus Pub. /R. Pullins, 2001. Print. Plato, George Anastaplo, and Laurence Berns. Plato’s Meno. Newburyport, MA: Focus Pub. /R. Pullins, 2004. Print.

Literary Essay †Julius Caesar Essay

As humans, none of us are entirely good or entirely evil. It is the same with the characters in the play Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare. While many are portrayed as good or evil, none really are. This can be more easily explained through the characters Brutus, Marc Antony and Julius Caesar. From the very first mention of Brutus the audience is told that he is the most honorable man in Rome. This would persuade us to believe that he is a good character. From the beginning this is true, but not too far into the play, after some coaxing by Cassius, Brutus’ more evil side is revealed. He contributes to the plot of killing Caesar and says in Act II scene 1 line 10 â€Å"It must be by his death†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This alone is totally the opposite of what an honorable man would do. Nevertheless, he tries to redeem himself by adding in Act II scene 1 line 11-12 â€Å"I know no personal cause to spurn at him, but for the general.† So we are led to believe that â€Å"sacrificing† Caesar is and honorable thing being done for the Roman people not just a well organized murder. This is one example of how no one is entirely good. Next is Caesar’s right hand man, Marc Antony. He loved Caesar very much and was deeply saddened when Caesar was murdered. After this event, he persuades Brutus to let him speak at Caesar’s funeral as a friend. Act III scene 1 line 227-230 â€Å"And am moreover suitor that I may produce his body to the market place; and in the pulpit, as becomes a friend, speak in the order of his funeral† The real reason why Antony wanted to speak at the funeral was to let the people know that Brutus murdered Caesar for no good reason. He expresses his success in Act III scene 2 line 270-271 â€Å"Belike they has some notice of the people, how I had moved them.† Marc Antony never forgives Brutus and the other conspirators for murdering Caesar and even goes to war with them because of it. Antony fighting for his friend’s death shows that he is good. But he tricks the others which show’s some bad in him. The last case is a little different than the others. This last example exactly isn’t of complete good or evil. It just shows how no one is perfect. Caesar was to be the ruler of the Roman Empire. Everyone thought that he was the best person for the job. He was thought of as a god. Gods are perfect  and Caesar was far from it. In Act I scene 2 lines 111 Cassius tells Brutus stories of how weak Caesar is. â€Å"Caesar cried ‘help me, Cassius, or I sink.'† He continues by adding in lines 127-128 â€Å"Alas it cried, ‘give me some drink, Titinius,’ as a sick girl.† This shows how Caesar was not like any god even though that is what the people believed. The whole point of this essay was to show how even in plays that it is impossible to have someone who is entirely good or evil. It’s just too unrealistic. As humans, we all possess good and bad characteristics. They may not be balanced but there isn’t anyone who is totally good or evil.

Achieving Strategic Fit

Strategic fit express the degree to which an organization is matching its resources and capabilities with the opportunities in the external environment. The matching takes place through strategy and it is therefore vital that the company have the actual resources and capabilities to execute and support the strategy. Strategic fit can be used actively to evaluate the current strategic situation of a company as well as opportunities as M&A and divestitures of organizational divisions.Strategic fit is related to the Resource-based view of the firm which suggests that the key to profitability is not only through positioning and industry selection but rather through an internal focus which seeks to utilize the unique characteristics of the company’s portfolio of resources and capabilities. [1] A unique combination of resources and capabilities can eventually be developed into a competitive advantage which the company can profit from. However, it is important to differentiate betwee n resources and capabilities.Resources relate to the inputs to production owned by the company, whereas capabilities describe the accumulation of learning the company possesses. Resources can be classified both as tangible and intangible: Tangible: Financial (Cash, securities) Physical (Location, plant, machinery) Intangible: Technology (Patents, copyrights) Human resources Reputation (Brands) Culture Several tools have been developed one can use in order to analyze the resources and capabilities of a company.These include SWOT, value chain analysis, cash flow analysis and more. Benchmarking with relevant peers is a useful tool to assess the relative strengths of the resources and capabilities of the company compared to its competitors. Strategic fit can also be used to evaluate specific opportunities like M&A opportunities. Strategic fit would in this case refer to how well the potential acquisition fits with the planned direction (strategy) of the acquiring company. In order to ju stify growth through M&A transactions the transaction should ield a better return than Organic growth. The Differential Efficiency Theory states that the acquiring firm will be able increase its efficiency in the areas where the acquired firm is superior. In addition the theory argues that M&A transactions give the acquiring firm the possibility of achieving positive synergy effects meaning that the two merged companies are worth more together than the sums of their parts individually. [2] This is because merging companies may enjoy from economics of scale and economics of scope.However, in reality many M&A transactions fails due to different factors, one of them being lack of strategic fit. A CEO survey conducted by Bain & Company showed that 94% of the interviewed CEO’s considered the strategic fit to be vitally influential in the success or failure of an acquisition. [3] A high degree of strategic fit from can potentially yield many benefits for an organization. Best case scenario a high degree of strategic fit may be the key to a successful merger, an efficient organization, synergy effects or cost reductions.

Psychological Testing Essay

Psychological testing refers to as a field which is characterized by the use of samples of behavior in to the way of generalizations of every given individual. In psychological testing, however, it is usually not possible to control all the extraneous variables, but the metaphor here is a useful one that forces us on the standardized procedures, on the eliminations of conflicting causes on experimental control and on the generation of hypotheses that can be further investigated. Thus, psychological testing a narrower concept referring to the psychometric aspects of a test. The actual administration and scoring of the test and the interpretation made of the scores. Tests Test is define as an objective and standardized measure of a sample of behavior. objectivity is at least a theoretically, most aspects of a test such as how the test is scored and how the score is interpreted, are not a function of the subjective decision of a particular examiner but are based on objective criteria. Standardization: that is, no matter who administers scores and interprets the test, there is uniformity of procedure and a sample behavior. A test is not a psychological X-ray, nor does it necessarily reveal hidden conflicts and for-bidden wishes; it is a sample of a person’s behavior, hopefully a representative sample from which we can draw some inferences and hypotheses. Tests are used for a wide variety of purposes that can be subsumed under more general categories. These categories include classification, self-understanding, program evaluation and scientific inquiry. (Kline, 2000). Major Categories of Tests Classification  Classification involves a decision that a particular person belongs in a certain category, For example, based on test results we may assign a diagnosis to a patient, place a student in the introductory Spanish course rather than the intermediate or advanced course, or certify that a person has met the minimal qualifications to practice medicine. Self-understanding Self-understanding involves using test information as a source of information about oneself. Such information may already be available to the individuals, but not in a formal way. For example, a student studying electrical engineering her high GRE scores confirm what she already knows, that she has the potential abilities required for graduate work. Program evaluation Program evaluation involves the use of tests to assess the effectiveness of a particular program or course of action. You have probably seen in the newspaper, tables indicating the average achievement test scores for various schools in your geographical area, with the scores often taken, perhaps incorrectly as evidence of the competency level of a particular school. Program offered by a mental health clinic, or the effectiveness of a new medication. Scientific inquiry If you glance through most professional journals in the social and behavioral sciences, you will find that a large majority of studies use psychological tests to operationally define relevant variables and to translate hypotheses into numerical statements that can be assessed statistically. (Kline, 2000). Major Users and Uses of these Tests  Tests are tools usually used by professionals to make what may possibly be some serious decisions about a client: thus both test and the decision process involves a variety of ethical considerations to make sure that the decisions made are in the best interest of all concerned and that the process is carried out in a professional manner. There are serious concerns on the part of both psychologists and lay people, a about the nature of psychological testing and its potential misuse, as well as demands for increased use of tests. Kline, 2000). Concepts of Reliability and Validity The word reliability refers to the extent that a measure is relatively free or random error and is consistent in the numbers assigned to objects or events while validity refers to whether the number obtained truly reflects what the user intended to measure. Therefore, validity requires reliability because validity is not a property of the measure, but instead it is to the truthfulness of the inferences that are drawn from the measure. However, a concept of reliability usually gives the accuracy of a measurement, while the concepts of validity it relates to the truthfulness of a measurement. The concepts of reliability and validity can be explain as when estimating parameters from some data with statistical methods, it is important to understand the uncertainty of parameters. The uncertainty comes from two sources: sampling and measuring the study units. Often the data is a (random) sample from a population. (Hoshmand, 1994). The first error then comes from collecting the data and generalizing the results to a population level. Another source of error is present when measuring the study units when assessing the quality of the collected and measured data set, we end up with questions: Are we measuring the right thing? How accurate our measurements are? The former question leads us to the concept of validity which is the most important property of measurement. The latter question is related to the concept of reliability. The concept of reliability and validity has a major impact in the field of psychological testing. this is because that since generalizability theory is for investigating and designing the reliable observations, thus, each has test score, a single true score, single reliability and validity coefficient and belong to one family of parallel observations, but the generalizability theory which serves both may produce error which is due to multiple scores. (Rush, First, & Blacker, 2008).

Important Advice †Do Not Deceive Essay

Humanity is facing many problems like poverty, diseases, violence, homicide, economic recession, and many other miseries, which cause fear in a blissful soul. Since money buys the means that give comfort and happiness to a human, the people are striving either to sustain the basic needs of livelihood, or to expand their existing financial kingdom. However, during their struggle for earning money, some people try to deceive others, and cause sorrow to the bereaved persons. In doing so, although they might have gained more money, but their act of deceit reverts to them, and they also suffer some kind of loss- money, health, happiness, or peace of mind. It is the law of nature that we reap what we sow. If somebody causes pain to a fellow human, then the same pain will return to the miscreant. Can anybody get happiness by snatching happiness from others? Can anybody prosper by cheating somebody through cunning means? It can be seen from the ongoing economic recession that big businesses, who had committed fraud and deception, collapsed eventually. It is true that deceptive acts lead to disaster, foreclosures, layoffs, and suffering. The manipulations in the account statements, which were done by well-paid executives, not only deceived the investors, but also caused grief to the fraudsters, who lost billions of dollars during the slump. Hence, my advice to humanity is that one should never deceive somebody. Relations and economy prosper on mutual faith, and they perish if deception becomes the means of attaining them. Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba preaches â€Å"Love all, serve all,† and â€Å"Help ever, hurt never. † Since we all are humans, and we are liable to commit errors, we should forgive others for their unintentional mistakes, and always encourage them to improve their performances. In a positive work environment, workers are motivated to produce the best results, and they try to excel through their sincerity and diligence. Please do not deceive anybody for your own benefit.