Philosphy of education Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Philosphy of education - Term Paper Example It helps in developing a world where justice, equality and standards of life are core principles to aid and guide humanity. The acquisition of education, however, requires a great deal of struggles form the individual. An educated person is the one who is civilized, morally enlightened and understands human dignity as a core principle which should not be compromised in any field. An educated society hence, creates certain implied duties on the individuals to work for mutual benefits leading to technological advancements, help each other to maintain peace in the society and maintain relationships to keep the learning track going. Plato’s theory of education explained learning as an ongoing process where learning develops with the growth of a person. He proposes that an individual’s learning continues from 6 to above 50 years of age. Learning, according to Plato, is a must to thrive in the society. In the same way I consider learning as an important and integral part of a person’s life which cannot be separated but rather a person should stay open to accept and follow new ideas, thoughts and issues.

The Effect of Grammar Learning on Speaking Ability of Efl Learners Essay Example for Free

The Effect of Grammar Learning on Speaking Ability of Efl Learners Essay Nowadays, one of the hottest issues in the field of foreign and second language learning or teaching is how to converse fluently in the target language. Generally speaking, most of the EFL learners believe that their knowledge in English is nearly assessed by the way they can interact in the target language. They maintain that their linguistic knowledge and their abilities in other skills—reading, writing, and listening—are not that much important. What is significant is their ability in conversational situations. Of course, this belief belongs to lay and ordinary people. Unfortunately, a majority of EFL teachers and instructors follow this point of view in a broader sense, too. These instructors declare that in learning English EFL learners do not have to be trained from the grammatical point of view. Now, the question is that is it really no relationship between the grammatical rules and learning to communicate fluently in a foreign language? The linguistic knowledge in English consists of the ability to analyze and recognize the structural features and components in the language. These abilities are concerned with phonological, morphological, syntactic, and semantic issues. The building blocks of the communication are grammatical points which make the structure of a language. Before starting to speak many factors and components must be formed in a person’s mind. First, the sounds should be matched with each other to shape different words. Second, these words need to be united together to form phrases, clauses, and at last sentences through which a particular meaning can be conveyed. Considering these facts, we can say that it is probably impossible to communicate in a foreign language without knowing the grammatical rules and structures of the target language. The focus of this paper is to review the literature in order to find any possible relationships between these two elements in the view of other researchers in this field of study. Also, at the end of this article, the opinions of a group of Iranian EFL learners will be presented about this issue to clarify the aim of our research better.

To Sir with Love: discourses, positions and relationships :: To Sir, with Love Essays

Research Paper Identify and discuss professional issues in education evident in a film or a piece of young people’s literature in which a teacher plays a fairly cental role. This essay will critically analyse the discourses, positions and relationships, as well as certain individuals habitus’ (after Bourdieu and Wacquant, 1992, cited in Gale & Densmore, 2000), which influence the classroom of Mark Thackeray (Sidney Potier) in the film To Sir with Love (Clavell, 1966). Via this analysis, I argue that the film portrays a simplistic, commercial palatable rather than a realistic image of the challenges of teaching, leading the viewer to a distorted perception of the implications of the various discourses employed. In order to clarify this point, I compare several incidents depicted in the film, with the same incidents as they are described in the autobiographical book by E.R. Braithwaite(Braithwaite, 1959), upon which the film is based. In doing so, I will evaluate the pedagogy of the films teacher (Thackeray) against the standards set for graduates and teachers respectively by the Queensland Board of Teacher Registration (hereafter BTR) and Education Queensland (hereafter EQ). Identifying the faulty conclusions which an uncritical viewing of the film may lead to, with regard to the availability of equal opportunity and social justice, I will make specific recommendations for reconstructed teaching practice, drawing on literature on social justice and democratic schooling. The film To Sir, with Love (hereafter ‘the film’), centres around three interlinked individualist assumptions: that social and economic advancement is sure if one tries hard enough (meritocracy), that race and class are no barrier to social and economic advancement (‘equal playing-field’), and that innate talent rather than learnt skill, plays the most crucial role in a person’s success (giftedness). These will be referred to in turn below. In contrast to this individualist stance, E.R.Braithwaite describes early in his book To Sir, With Love (hereafter ‘the book’) how his race had mitigated against his acquiring an engineering position for several years, despite excellent qualifications. He reacts to these difficulties by presenting his students with many examples of the interdependency of humanity: the brotherhood of Man. In the film, Mark Thackeray too, continues to apply for engineering positions while teaching at North Quay Secondary.. Only at the end of the film is he finally offered the lowly post of ‘Third Assistant Engineer’ by a firm outside of London, despite his ‘astounding qualifications’, but paradoxically it seems this event is meant to emphasise the recurrent theme of the cinematic retelling of this story: that ‘Anything’ is possible with enough persistence and effort.

Articles of association Essay

This sets out the rules for running the company. It contains the procedures for calling shareholder meetings, the number, rights, and obligations of directors, shareholder voting rights, and lastly details of how accounts will be kept and recorded.  Once these two documents have been agreed they are sent to Companies House (a government body that watches over limited companies). If everything is in order, the registrar of companies’ issues a Certificate of incorporation, which allows the company to start trading out makes the company a separate legal entity from the owners. Details of the director’s and the secretary’s intended address for the registered office as well as their personal details and information of other directorships they may have held within the last five years.  This must be signed after all the other documents as it confirms that all the other registration requirements have been fulfilled. This declaration must be signed before a solicitor.  Once all the forms are completed, they should be send to the company’s house where they are checked for such instances as confirming that the prospective officers of the company are not on the disqualified directors’ list. How the ownership suits the business activity  Peacocks group’s ownership suits their activity because they operate on a large scale by selling a wide range of goods like women’s wear, (lingerie, night wear, swimwear, e-vie fashions), men’s wear (jackets, shirts, ties, trousers), children’s wear (new borns, toddlers, babies), street wear, foot wear, home wear. With this, they employ more than 5000 personnel and trades from over 385 stores throughout the UK. The profits Peacocks receives from selling their goods is used to pay wages, and buying other products to be sold from the suppliers. Because Peacocks is a large company, it gets a lot of profits from different branches and can manage to sell a large number of products and also employ enough staff to maintain the smooth running of the business. Relationship between the size of the business and the type of ownership  Peacocks is a large business covering 110,000 square feet and has about 385 stores in the UK. It operates on a large scale and this is one of the reasons why it is a public limited company. It employs 5000 personnel to work for it throughout the UK.  The industrial sectors to which my businesses belong  The primary sector is concerned with the production or obtaining of raw materials. This includes occupations like farming, forestry, fishing and mining, and oil and gas drilling. For many products, such as fish fingers, this will be the first stage of production. The fish will be then sold on for processing at the secondary stage. The secondary sector deals with manufacturing, processing, construction, and assembly. This relates to manufacturers of consumer and industrial goods. A paper mill, a carpet factory, and a house builder are all found in this sector. Secondary industry processes the goods that come from the primary industry and turns them into something that people want. My two businesses, which are Peacocks, and Top Girl hairdressers both belong to the same industrial sector. They both belong to the tertiary sector, which is known as the service sector. The tertiary sector includes all the providers of services to businesses and to individuals, and can be divided into four sections. These are business services, financial and business services, transport and communication, retailing, distribution, hotels and catering. They belong to this sector because they provide services. Peacocks mainly provides retailing while top girl hairdressers provides hair styling. Top girl hairdressers also provides retailing but as a side activity. It sells a few hair products to its customers just in case they come to get their hair done without any products. They also provide information about maintaining hair. Peacocks sells women’s wear, men’s wear, home wear and children’s wear.Consultancy work is generally popular- tax consultants, management consultants, and computer consultants. Whenever there is constant, rapid change that affects business you will find that consultants are often used to advise how best to adjust to these. Recruitment agencies and selection consultants depend on the job market. When unemployment is high they may struggle, when employment is good and people are looking to change jobs regularly they benefit from increased business. Don’t forget that recruitment agencies often specialise in temporary employment opportunities.  Security firms are becoming more and more popular. Certainly many retail organisations do. Security services are normally sub-contracted because this is more cost-effective than employing and managing specialised security staff.  Industrial cleaners are also sub-contracted. Your college probably buys in its cleaning services rather than employing cleaners. This has been a growth area for entrepreneurs in the past few years.  Secretarial services are generally less popular than they were several years ago. The use of computers and modern software packages means that many people can produce their own documents quickly and easily.

Comapre 2 Grief theorists Essay

Grief and bereavement are different for each individual, that is no two people will experience a loss in the same way. A loss is the absence of something we deem meaningful. Over the years there have been many different theories of grief, but it is not a ‘one size fits all’ approach. The aim of this paper is to compare two grief models, namely Dr Elisabeth Kubler-Ross’ Five Stages of Grief and Dr William Worden’s Tasks of Mourning including the Seven Mediators of Mourning. After comparing the two models the paper will then look at how the two models are different and finish with a case study using one of the models. Dr Elisabeth Kubler-Ross was a Swiss born Psychiatrist. During her in psychiatry residency she was appalled by the treatment of patients who were dying. She began lecturing medical students and forced them to face dying patients. Her extensive work with the dying lead to the writing of her book ‘On death and dying’ (1969). In this book she proposed the Five Stages of Grief, being denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance, which most people will feel when faced with death. Whilst this model was initially for the dying patient it has been later adapted for the bereft. Dr Kubler-Ross notes that these stages are not meant to be completed in a strict order or are indeed the only emotions the bereft will pass through. Other researchers studying the process of loss and grief have recognised these stages as well as the fact that they do not have to be experienced in any particular order but are all part of the grieving process. The bereaved may vacillate in and out of some stages before completing this part of the process. Grief begins at the moment a loss is recognised, long before death actually happens. Dr Kubler-Ross’ Five Stages of Grief will be explained in more detail below: Denial. Shock and disbelief that the loss is happening. Numbness and even a sense of isolation that takes over the bereaved and for brief periods of time. Do they remember that they have suffered the loss? Anger. Why me? The bereaved may find themselves angry at the loss or themselves for wishing it would all end. Bargaining. This is usually about making a compromise with God or other deity. â€Å"Just let my baby have a heart beat on this ultrasound and I’ll do whatever you want† or your friend asks God to let him live a while longer and he’ll promise to quit smoking. Depression. Becoming so sad that things just don’t matter anymore. Feelings of hopelessness, sorrow, and despair overwhelm the bereaved. Acceptance. Coming to terms with reality. Loss is part of life and cannot be avoided. If the loss is the death of a loved one then a feeling of calmness and peace that the berefts loved one is no longer suffering and is at rest or peace, having gone on to a better place. These stages can come in any order and can be intertwined. The bereft will experience grief in their own way and their own time. Some people will move through the grieving process quickly, and others take much more time to grieve. Some bereaved people may effectively remain in denial for a long time and put off their grieving. The Four Tasks of Mourning is based on research by Dr J William Worden, PhD, who is currently a professor at Biola University in California. Dr Worden (2009) theorised that the grieving process was broken down into four main tasks of grieving and seven mediators of mourning which could be addressed individually or at the same time. Dr Worden’s Four Tasks of Mourning are: Task 1: To Accept the Reality of the Loss. During this task, the bereft must face the reality that the loss is real. In the case of a death the bereft must come to harsh terms that the deceased is never coming back. Task 2: To Process the Pain of Grief. This task is just as the title of the task suggests, that is, to process the pain and to find a way to cope with the pain until it passes. Task 3: To Adjust to a World Without the Deceased. Within this task there are three adjustments that need to be made; external adjustments, internal adjustments, and spiritual adjustments. Task 4: To Find an Enduring Connection With the Deceased in the Midst of Embarking on a New Life. ‘to find an enduring connection with the deceased in the midst of embarking on a new life’ (Field, Gal-Oz & Bonanno, 2003). Worden also identifies seven determining factors that are critical to appreciate in order to understand the client’s experience which he calls the Mediators of Mourning. These include: (1) who the person who died was; (2) the nature of the attachment to the deceased; (3) how the person died; (4) historical antecedents; (5) personality variables; (6) social mediators; and (7) concurrent stressors. These mediators include many of the risk and protective factors identified by the research literature and provide an important context for appreciating the idiosyncratic nature of the grief experience (Corr & Coolican, 2010). Issues such as the strength and nature of the attachment to the deceased, the survivor’s attachment style and the degree of conflict and ambivalence with the deceased are important considerations. Death-related factors, such as physical proximity, levels of violence or trauma, or a death where a body is not recovered, all can pose significant challenges for the bereaved. Dr Worden’s work is an important development in the understanding of the process of coping adaptively with bereavement as each task is clearly defined in an action-oriented manner. The writings of both Dr Kubler-Ross and Dr Worden have had a substantial impact in the world of loss and grief. Although the simplicity is surely attractive, Dr Kubler-Ross’ theory has not been supported by research and it has largely been abandoned by clinicians and researchers alike (Harvard Mental Health Letter, 2011). Dr Worden (2009) suggested that we look at grief as a series of tasks rather than stages as detailed above. Both models have what could be defined as steps in the grieving process and these steps provide the counsellor a theoretical framework in which to work. Neither of the two models are designed to be linear in their process and in fact the bereft may swing back and forth between some of the steps in each model. The danger with these, and all other models, however, is that they can be normative and tell people how they ought to experience grief. Individuals are all unique and experiences of grief vary from person to person. Therefore, the emphasis on moving through the stages may not, in reality, respect where each individual is. After all, some may never actually want to â€Å"get over† the death of a loved one. Consequently, there is a risk that people who are not following these stages might be labelled as suffering from a â€Å"complicated† or â€Å"unresolved† grief and may be intervened with unnecessarily or inappropriately (Hamama-Raz, Hemmendinger & Buchbinder, 2010). Case Study Penny is 48 years old. She is in a defacto relationship with Leonard for the past seven years. She has three grown up children, one living nearby, the other living in Melbourne, and her daughter, Katherine (24 years old), living at home and working. She is healthy and has a steady job. She has limited contact with the husband from whom she had been divorced when the children were very young. Leonard is a magazine editor and had never married. When he had met Penny they seemed just right for each other. They were each other’s best friend. Leonard had not been feeling right for a short time before consulting his doctor. Tests showed a malignant mass in his bowel. He was operated on to remove the mass and he was to begin chemotherapy soon after. This weighed heavily on Penny and Leonard, despite the optimistic prognosis offered by Leonard’s doctors. In Penny’s life, the routine of the household was that she woke Katherine up in the morning, as she was notorious for sleeping through her alarm clock and arriving late for work. One morning, Penny bent over to shake Katherine awake, but this morning she could not be awakened. She had died during the night. Penny called an ambulance, and within minutes the paramedics were there but Katherine had been dead for several hours. The doctors were unable to establish a cause of death even after extensive testing. The next days were a total blank as Penny went through the motions of all that had to be done. The family gathered, the funeral took place, and Penny blocked most of it out. Penny has been unable to function. Her grief and depression are crippling and overwhelm everything. For the first few weeks, she could not eat or sleep. She was unable even to consider returning to work, as she was immersed in her grief. Leonard suggested that she should get some help, so Penny went for group counselling at a local agency. The group proved somewhat helpful and it enabled Penny to return to work about eight weeks after Katherine’s death. At work, she found herself short tempered, snapping at colleagues, she was preoccupied and could not focus and she was frequently late. She was able to get through the days, only to come home and cry. It was her anger that finally propelled her into individual counselling. She was unable to be civil to her work colleagues â€Å"who were idiots.† The few friends that she still had were objects of her wrath. She found herself irrationally lashing out at anyone who even slightly annoyed her, and she began to feel isolated and frightened by her own actions. She began individual bereavement counselling in December, eight months after Katherine had died. If I was counselling Penny I would assess which of Worden’s four mourning tasks were not complete and make an effort to address the gaps. If Penny has not accepted the reality of the loss, then Penny has to begin the letting go of the deceased. However, if the difficulty is in experiencing the pain, then I would help Penny feel safe enough to feel both the positive and negative aspects of his or her grief. This safety would be built up through the accepting relationship established between myself and Penny. If adjusting to the environment seems to be the hurdle, then problem solving would become the focus of helping Penny to make the needed changes to get back to living. If Penny were unable to engage in relationships and withdraw her emotional energy from Katherine, then I would have to work with her to help release her from the binding attachment to Katherine and to be free to develop new relationships. Often the bereft are afraid to let go of the deceased for fear that the deceased will be forgotten. It may be constructive for me to counsel Penny on how to build new connections to Katherine, new ways to think about her in a more spiritual or ethereal manner. I would also urge social connectedness with others by encouraging and supporting efforts in that direction. In conclusion, every person will experience grief and loss at some stage of their lives. It is the way that this grief and loss is handled by the counsellor that can help the bereft deal with their loss and move past it, incorporating the loss into their lives. An effective counsellor can only do this if they are familiar with the theories of grief and loss. References Beyond the five stages of grief. (2011). Harvard Mental Health Letter, 3. Corr, C. A., & Coolican, M. B. (2010). Understanding bereavement, grief, and mourning: implications for donation and transplant professionals. Progress in Transplantation, 20(2), 169-177. Field, N. P., Gal-Oz, E., & Bonanno, G. A. (2003). Continuing Bonds and Adjustment at 5 Years After the Death of a Spouse. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 71, 110-117. doi:10.1037/0022-006X.71.1.110 Hamama-Raz, Y., Hemmendinger, S., & Buchbinder, E. (2010). The Unifying Difference: Dyadic Coping With Spontaneous Abortion Among Religious Jewish Couples. Qualitative Health Research. doi:10.1177/1049732309357054 Kubler-Ross, E. (1969). On death and dying. New York: Macmillan. Worden, J. W. (2009). Grief counseling and grief therapy: A handbook for the mental health practitioner. New York, NY: Springer Pub. Co.a

Operation Catapult at Mers El Kebir (World War II)

Operation Catapult at Mers El Kebir (World War II) The attack on the French fleet at Mers el Kebir took place on July 3, 1940, during World War II (1939-1945). Events Leading up to the Attack During the closing days of the Battle of France in 1940, and with the German victory all but assured, the British became increasingly worried about the disposition of the French fleet. The fourth largest navy in the world, the ships of the Marine Nationale possessed the potential to alter the naval war and threaten Britains supply lines across the Atlantic. Voicing these concerns to the French government, Prime Minister Winston Churchill was assured by Navy Minister Admiral Franà §ois Darlan that even in defeat, the fleet would be kept from the Germans. Unknown to either side was that Hitler had little interest in taking over the Marine Nationale, only ensuring that its ships were neutralized or interned â€Å"under German or Italian supervision.† This latter phrase was included in Article 8 of the Franco-German armistice. Misinterpreting the language of the document, the British believed that the Germans intended to take control of the French fleet. Based on this and a distrust of Hitler, the British War Cabinet decided on June 24 that any assurances provided under Article 8 should be disregarded. Fleets and Commanders During the Attack British Admiral Sir James Somerville2 battleships, 1 battlecruiser, 2 light cruisers, 1 aircraft carrier, 11 destroyers French Admiral Marcel-Bruno Gensoul2 battleships, 2 battlecruisers, 6 destroyers, 1 seaplane tender Operation Catapult At this point in time, the ships of the Marine Nationale were scattered in various ports. Two battleships, four cruisers, eight destroyers, and numerous smaller vessels were in Britain, while one battleship, four cruisers, and three destroyers were in port at Alexandria, Egypt. The largest concentration was anchored at Mers el Kebir and Oran, Algeria. This force, led by Admiral Marcel-Bruno Gensoul, consisted of the older battleships Bretagne and Provence, the new battlecruisers Dunkerque and Strasbourg, the seaplane tender Commandant Teste, as well as six destroyers. Moving forward with plans to neutralize the French fleet, the Royal Navy began Operation Catapult. This saw the boarding and capture of French ships in British ports on the night of July 3. While the French crews generally did not resist, three were killed on the submarine Surcouf. The bulk of the ships went on to serve with Free French forces later in the war. Of the French crews, the men were given the option to join the Free French or be repatriated across the Channel. With these ships seized, ultimatums were issued to the squadrons at Mers el Kebir and Alexandria. Ultimatum at Mers el Kebir To deal with Gensouls squadron, Churchill dispatched Force H from Gibraltar under the command of Admiral Sir James Somerville. He was instructed issue an ultimatum to Gensoul requesting that the French squadron do one of the following: Join the Royal Navy in continuing the war with GermanySail to a British port with reduced crews to be interned for the durationSail to the West Indies or the United States and remain there for the rest of the warScuttle their ships within six hoursIf Gensoul refused all four options, Somerville was instructed to destroy the French ships to prevent their capture by the Germans. A reluctant participant who did not wish to attack an ally, Somerville approached Mers el Kebir with a force consisting of the battlecruiser HMS Hood, the battleships HMS Valiant and HMS Resolution, the carrier HMS Ark Royal, two light cruisers, and 11 destroyers. On July 3, Somerville sent Captain Cedric Holland of Ark Royal, who spoke fluent French, into Mers el Kebir aboard the destroyer HMS Foxhound to present the terms to Gensoul. Holland was coldly received as Gensoul expected negotiations to be conducted by an officer of equal rank. As result, he sent his flag lieutenant, Bernard Dufay, to meet with Holland. Under orders to present the ultimatum directly to Gensoul, Holland was refused access and ordered to leave the harbor. Boarding a whaleboat for Foxhound, he made a successful dash to the French flagship, Dunkerque, and after additional delays were finally able to meet with the French admiral. Negotiations continued for two hours during which Gensoul ordered his ships to prepare for action. Tensions were further heightened as Ark Royals aircraft began dropping magnetic mines across the harbor channel as talks progressed. A Failure of Communication During the course of the talks, Gensoul shared his orders from Darlan which permitted him to scuttle the fleet or sail for America if a foreign power attempted to claim his ships. In a massive failure of communication, the full text of Somervilles ultimatum was not relayed to Darlan, including the option of sailing for the United States. As talks began to stalemate, Churchill was becoming increasingly impatient in London. Concerned that the French were stalling to allow reinforcements to arrive, he ordered Somerville to settle the matter at once. An Unfortunate Attack Responding to Churchills orders, Somerville radioed Gensoul at 5:26 PM that if one of the British proposals was not accepted within fifteen minutes he would attack. With this message Holland departed. Unwilling to negotiate under threat of enemy fire, Gensoul did not respond. Approaching the harbor, the ships of Force H opened fire at an extreme range approximately thirty minutes later. Despite the approximate similarity between the two forces, the French were not fully prepared for battle and anchored in a narrow harbor. The heavy British guns quickly found their targets with Dunkerque put out of action within four minutes. Bretagne was struck in a magazine and exploded, killing 977 of its crew. When the firing stopped, Bretagne had sunk, while Dunkerque, Provence, and the destroyer Mogador  were damaged and run aground. Only Strasbourg and a few destroyers succeeded in escaping the harbor. Fleeing at flank speed, they were ineffectively attacked by Ark Royals aircraft and briefly pursued by Force H. The French ships were able to reach Toulon the next day. Concerned that the damage to Dunkerque and Provence was minor, British aircraft attacked Mers el Kebir on July 6. In the raid, the patrol boat Terre-Neuve exploded near Dunkerque causing additional damage. Aftermath of Mers el Kebir To the east, Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham was able to avoid a similar situation with the French ships at Alexandria. In hours of tense talks with Admiral Renà ©-Emile Godfroy, he was able to convince the French to allow their ships to be interned. In the fighting at Mers el Kebir, the French lost 1,297 killed and around 250 wounded, while the British incurred two killed. The attack badly strained Franco-British relations as did an attack on the battleship Richelieu at Dakar later that month. Though Somerville stated we all feel thoroughly ashamed, the attack was a signal to the international community that Britain intended to fight on alone. This was reinforced by its stand during the Battle of Britain later that summer. Dunkerque, Provence, and Mogador received temporary repairs and later sailed for Toulon. The threat of the French fleet ceased to be an issue when its officers scuttled its ships in 1942 to prevent their use by the Germans. Selected Sources HistoryNet: Operation CatapultHMS Hood.org: Operation Catapult

Wheaton College Admissions Data and Acceptance Rate

Wheaton College Admissions Data and Acceptance Rate If you are interested in attending Wheaton College, know that they accept around  three-quarters of those who apply. Learn more about what it takes to get into this college. About Wheaton College Wheaton College is a private, Christian liberal arts college located in Wheaton, Illinois, west of Chicago. The college is interdenominational, and students come from over 55 church denominations. The college has a 12 to 1 student / faculty ratio, and undergraduates can choose from 40 majors. The college frequently ranks highly among national liberal arts colleges and best value colleges. Wheaton is also one of the 40 schools Loren Pope included in his well-regarded Colleges that Change Lives. In athletics, the Wheaton Thunder compete in 22 NCAA Division III intercollegiate sports in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW). Will you get in if you apply to Wheaton College? Calculate your chances of getting in with this free tool from Cappex. Admissions Data (2016) Wheaton College Acceptance Rate: 79  percentGPA, SAT and ACT graph for WheatonTest Scores: 25th / 75th PercentileSAT Critical Reading: 590 / 710SAT Math: 580 / 690SAT Writing: - / -What these SAT numbers meanTop Illinois colleges SAT comparisonACT Composite: 27  / 32ACT English: 27  / 34ACT Math: 25  / 30ACT Writing: - / -What these ACT numbers meanTop Illinois colleges ACT comparison Enrollment (2016) Total Enrollment: 2,901  (2,456 undergraduates)Gender Breakdown: 47 percent Male / 53 percent Female98 percent Full-time Costs (2016-17) Tuition and Fees: $34,050Books: $800 (why so much?)Room and Board: $9,560Other Expenses: $1,900Total Cost: $46,310 Wheaton College Financial Aid (2015-16) Percentage of Students Receiving Aid: 87  percentPercentage of Students Receiving Types of AidGrants: 80 percentLoans: 53 percentAverage Amount of AidGrants: $17,344Loans: $7,108 Academic Programs Most Popular Majors: Biblical Studies, Business, Communication Studies, Elementary Education, English, History, International Relations, Philosophy, Psychology, SociologyWhat major is right for you? Sign up to take the free My Careers and Majors Quiz at Cappex. Retention and Graduation Rates First Year Student Retention (full-time students): 95 percent4-Year Graduation Rate: 82  percent6-Year Graduation Rate: 91  percent Intercollegiate Athletic Programs Mens Sports: Football, Track and Field, Wrestling, Swimming, Tennis, Soccer, Golf, Basketball, Baseball, Cross CountryWomens Sports: Soccer, Swimming, Softball, Tennis, Basketball, Track and Field, Volleyball If You Like Wheaton College, You May Also Like These Schools University of Chicago: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphPepperdine University: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphBaylor University: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphPrinceton University: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphStanford University: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphUniversity of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphVanderbilt University: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphYale University: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphUniversity of Michigan: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphCalvin College: ProfileTaylor University: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphWestmont College: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT Graph Wheaton College Mission Statement mission statement from wheaton.edu/welcome/aboutus_mission.html Wheatons mission statement expresses the stable and enduring identity of the College - our reason for existence and our role in society and the church. All the purposes, goals, and activities of the College are guided by this mission. Wheaton College serves Jesus Christ and advances His Kingdom through excellence in liberal arts and graduate programs that educate the whole person to build the church and benefit society worldwide. This mission expresses our commitment to do all things - For Christ and His Kingdom. Data Source: National Center for Educational Statistics

Complete Guide How Much Does College Cost, Really

Complete Guide How Much Does College Cost, Really SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips If you're thinking about going to college, you probably know by now that an education is, well, expensive. It's not just tuition you're worried about - there are so many other costs associated with forging out on your own, especially if you'll be living away from home for the first time. The best way to tackle these expenses? First, you have to educate yourself about the reality of college costs.In this comprehensive guide, I'll walk you through all the expenses you'll need to consider when you go to college, both obvious and not-so-obvious. Then, I'll discuss factors that affect how much money you and your family actually pay out-of-pocket - it's not as hard as you think to get a first-rate education for a bargain. Major Costs These are the expenses you probably already know about. They're the big costs associated with getting a college education, and they'll make up the bulk of your expenses. College Tuition and Fees Your tuition charge is what you pay for actual academic instruction and class credit. Students are often billed per semester, credit hour, or quarter. Fees are often for mandatory student service charges and are tacked on to the tuition sothat they're reported together. For the 2014-2015 academic year, the average cost of tuition and fees was: $31,231 at private colleges $9,139 for state residents at public colleges $22,958 for out-of-state residents at public colleges Remember that this is just for one year of college - 4 years at private colleges can cost you well into thesixfigures. As you can see, there's a lot of variation in the sticker price of an education at different types of schools. What really matters, though, is the net price - what you actually end up paying. I'll discuss that more later in this post. As you might have noticed, there's a huge difference in the average public school tuition cost for residents and non-residents: a $13,819 difference, to be exact. You'll see an even more significant discrepancy in cost at certain schools. I've put togethera list of some of the largest public schools in the country so that you can see the difference in price based on residency: School Resident tuition Non-resident tuition University of Central Florida $6,368 $22,467 DeVry University (IL) $18,270 $18,270 Liberty University (VA) $20,300 $20,300 Texas AM - College Station $3,486 $12,782 Ohio State - Columbus $10,037 $27,365 Penn State - University Park $17,502 $30,452 UT Austin $9,798 $33,842 Florida International University $6,108 $18,508 Arizona State University - Tempe $10,957 $29,421 Michigan State $14,334 $36,934 Public universities can offer great educations at a great bargain for residents, but what about private schools? They're notorious for their higher sticker prices, which can scare off prospective students and parents. But remember, what actually matters is your net cost at a particular school.As it turns out, a lot of excellent private universities also have some of the most generous financial aid programs because of their larger endowments - they can afford to give more money to students, especially to attract high-caliber students who may not otherwise be able to afford to goto their school. This effectively lowers the net cost for many students. I’ve come up with an example to demonstrate cost differences for a student at an in-state public university, an out-of-state public university, and a private university with a generous financial aid program. My example student lives in NY state with a family income of $60,000/year, and an Expected Family Contribution (EFC) of $3,970, which I calculated using the FAFSA4caster (learn more here). Take a look: Resident: University at Buffalo Nonresident: Penn State Private: Harvard University Tuition only $8,871 $31,346 $45,278 Cost of Attendance (Tuition, room, board, fees, books, transportation, personal expenses) $24,916 $48,900 $64,700 Net Price (before student loans work study) $18,430 $45,875 $4,600 Net Price (after student loans work study) $9,708 $40,375 $1,600 Notice that the student's lowest net cost is at the school with the highest sticker price.Now, not all private schools will have financial aid programs as good as Harvard’s, but many prestigious private schools strive to meet 100% of their students' need (need = total cost of attendance - Expected Family Contribution). My ultimate point? Don't discount pricier schools just because you don't think you could afford them; your net price could be more reasonable than you think. I'll talk more about estimating your net price at the end of this post. College Room and Board Costs Room fees cover your housing and utilities, whereas board fees include your meal plan. Some schools offer customizable meal plans and housing options, so you can select room + board combinations that better fit your budget. Many students choose (or are required) to live on campus, especially their freshman year. Room and board charges are often lumped together. You may be able to pick and choose among room and board services if you move off-campus, assuming your school allows you to live outside of their dorms. Off-campus living expenses will vary by geographical area; it may be cheaper to live in an apartment if you attend a more rural college, but you may end up paying more if do the same at a more urban school.Getting a 1-bedroom apartment near Georgetown University will cost you around $2,000/month, for example, whereas a similar apartment near Arizona State University might only cost you $800. For the 2015-2016 academic year, the average cost of room and board was: $,516 at private 4-year colleges $10,138 at public 4-year colleges If only board fees paid for pizza like this in the dining halls. Hidden College Costs These are less obvious expenses associated with attending school but are just as important when it comes to budgeting for school and preparing adequately. When you come up with your own budget, try to be honest and realistic with yourself about how much you think you'll spend in each category. College Books Costs The average student spends about $1,200 per year on textbooks; it's easy to see how this adds up when some individual books can cost upwards of $200. You may end up spending less than this each year if you: Purchase used textbooks Rent course materials Share books with friends or classmates Check out textbooks from the library Purchase electronic copies of textbooks Travel Costs Travel expenses usually include travel between home and school, and travel while you’re at school. This will vary widely across students, for obvious reasons.To calculate your travel costs between home and school, consider: How often you plan on going home The average cost of a round trip (budget more if you’re traveling via plane/train/bus during the holidays) You’ll most likely incur some travel expenses while you’re at school as well, especially if your campus is scattered. To calculate these expenses, consider: How often you’ll be doing any sort of traveling (not on foot). Whether you’re bringing a car with you. If yes, include gas/parking costs in your travel calculation. Whether your school offers students discounted or free public transport passes. If not, research the cost of monthly public transport passes. Maybe you'll factor some more exotic expenses into your travel budget. Lab Fees Supplies If you’re not a science major, chances are you won’t have to pay many (if any) lab fees. These average about $50/class. Schools usually lump these in with textbook expenses, but since these numbers are just averages, expect to pay more in this category if you’re a science major. Personal Expenses in College These expenses include things like clothing, laundry, toiletries, haircuts, and entertainment. The average student might spend about $2,000 per academic year on these things. This amount might sound like a lot, but if you’re in school eight months out of the year, it comes out to about $60/week. If you tend to spend more money on things like fine dining, concerts, etc., you may want to work out your own personal expenses budget to keep track of how much you’re spending while at school. Estimating Your Total College Cost, With Financial Aid This guy doesn't know anything about college expenses, but he'll feel much better once he learns how to calculate his net price. The numbers above look large - sometimes amounting to over $50,000 per year - but don't fret just yet.A huge factor affecting what you’ll actually pay for school - your net price - is your family financial situation. Generally, the lower your family's income, the more financial aid you'll be eligible for, which translates to a lower net price. This has implications in two related (but separate) domains: Federal aid School-specific aid Scholarship money can also affect your net price - I'll touch on that at the end. Federal Aid Federal aid, which comprises grants like the Pell and loans like the Direct Subsidized and Direct Unsubsidized, is usually pretty standardized and easy to predict. Students who are interested in federal financial aid have to submit a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) every year (learn more about the submission process here). The information generated by the FAFSA not only informs federal aid awards, but also institutional awards and even private grants and scholarships. The most important figure generated by the financial information you enter into the FAFSA is called the Expected Family Contribution, or EFC. If your EFC is at or below certain thresholds, you’ll be eligible for different federal programs. For example, if your EFC is at or below $5,081 for the 2015-2016 academic year, you'll be eligible to receive the Pell Grant. Again, because federal aid is so standardized, you can predict with good accuracy what grant and loan programs you’ll be eligible for using the FAFSA4caster. You can get step-by-step instructions on calculating your federal aid using our Pell Grant Calculator guide. School-Based Aid If schools award their own institutional aid, they’ll use your FAFSA information (specifically, your EFC) to calculate need-based aid eligibility. The amount of aid schools award will vary widely based on their financial aid budgets. It’s pretty easy to estimate your net price at almost any school, especially if you know your EFC. Just Google â€Å"[school] net price calculator† - that’s what I did to estimate the cost for the schools in the chart above. Scholarships Outside of federal and school-based aid and scholarships, you might also consider looking into private scholarships. Scholarships can be awarded based on financial need, merit, or both. There are countless scholarship options out there, with many meant for students of different races, ethnicities, nationalities, genders, sexualities, and academic interests. You may want to start by checking out the National Merit Scholarship, or scholarships based on your standardized test scores. Putting it All Together: Calculate Your Net Price for College 1. Visit the FAFSA4caster to estimate your EFC. The FAFSA4caster will also estimate your eligibility for the Pell Grant and some federal loans. Get step-by-step instructions here. 2. If you have a list of specific schools you're interested in, visit their net price calculators (most schools have calculators available through their financial aid websites). Try Googling "[school name] net price calculator" for results. If you're not sure where you'd like to apply, try using the net price calculators at different types of schools (e.g. public vs. private). You may have to enter your EFC. Make a note of whether the calculators include estimates school-based aid, federal aid, or both. 3. Subtract aid that you think you're eligible for based on the calculations you did in Steps 1 and 2 from the total cost of attendance. If you anticipate any scholarship earnings, subtract that amount from the CoA as well. Voila - you have a net price! Keep in mind, though, that this is just an estimate; you won't have an official net price until you receive financial aid packages from schools. What's Next? Want to learn more about federal financial aid, which can bring down your net price? Check out our guide comparing Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized loans, as well as our Pell Grant guides to eligibility criteria and limits. Interested in strengthening your applications to schools that offer those generous financial aid packages? Get the best score possible on your SAT. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now: Have friends who also need help with test prep? Share this article! Tweet Francesca Fulciniti About the Author Francesca graduated magna cum laude from Harvard and scored in the 99th percentile on the SATs. 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Pollution Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Pollution - Research Paper Example Evidently, pollution has been in existence since the dawn of mankind. These pollutions have been mostly due to natural causes arising from the Earth’s natural processes such as volcanic activity or sedimentation caused by river flows. However, the Earth possesses its own purifying systems that are in a capacity of counterbalancing the adverse effects of pollution. On the other hand, the Earth’s natural purifying systems have a limit to what it can adequately control. To this end, the acceleration of pollution due to rapid industrialization and unsustainable practices by man, has led to the compounding of pollution effects across earth’s ecosystem levels. At this juncture, the United Nations Environmental Program have defined pollution as the inclusion of contaminants into a pristine environment that consequently degrades its quality, and leads to detrimental effects. Evidently, pollution stems from two principal sources; natural source and manmade sources or indu strial sources. Moreover, there are myriad types of pollution that accrue from pollution. To this end, these types of pollution include, air, water, noise, visual, soil, waste, food, light and construction pollution. The subsequent section will intricately delve into the two sources and types of pollution. Moreover, an in depth analysis of the effects of pollution on the environment, health, and animals will be highlighted. Finally, the report will recommend measures of preventing and reducing pollution in Dubai. The natural sources of pollution refer to contaminants are introduced by natural processes as opposed to manmade processes. Evidently, these natural sources affect the air water and soil. To this end, natural sources include toxic gases produced by volcanic eruptions (BTNEP). These gases are mostly nitrogen dioxide, and sulphur dioxide that contribute to the changing of chemical processes such as acidification of rainwater. Moreover, the heat generated during a volcanic eruption increases

Environmental effects on leukemia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Environmental effects on leukemia - Essay Example This is what will be dissertated in the following. Leukemia is clinically and pathologically split up in to its acute and chronic forms. The acute form of leukemia is characterized by the rapid growth of immature blood cells. â€Å"Acute forms of leukemia can occur in children and young adults.† (Wikipedia, 2006). If left untreated, this form of leukemia will cause the patient to die within months or even weeks. The chronic form of leukemia is different in that it is distinguished by the excessive buildup of relatively mature, but still abnormal, blood cells. â€Å"Chronic leukemia mostly occurs in older people, but can theoretically occur in any age group.† (Wikipedia, 2006). Effects of leukemia are things such as damage to the bone marrow, by way of displacing the normal marrow cells with increasing numbers of malignant cells; and easy bruising, excessive bleeding, and even the development of pinprick bleeds (or petechiae). Other related symptoms of leukemia include: fever, chills, and other flu-like symptoms; weakne ss and fatigue; loss of appetite and/or weight; swollen or bleeding gums; neurological symptoms (headache). The effects that the environment has on leukemia are many. Firstly, there are possible environmental causes in relation to the cause of childhood leukemia. Although not many agents have actually been officially documented as causes of leukemia, in acute lymphoblastic leukemia, most researchers believe that â€Å"†¦it takes 2 or 3 ‘hits’ to the DNA in just the right places to turn a normal developing cell into a leukemia cell.† (Ped-Onc Resource Center, 2005). These ‘hits’ are considered to be either totally and completely random, or that perhaps they are due to causes or exposure to something in the environment. The effects of the environment in regards to leukemia is not only categorized with children, however. Our blood perfuses all of our body’s organs and can carry toxic

Auditing research paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Auditing research paper - Essay Example The digital sales increased by 53% over last year and net earnings increased by 6.9% to $80.4 million. Earnings per share went up by 17%. (GameStop Reports†¦) Due to previously announced planned investments and due to some strategic initiatives the earning per share in second quarter is likely to decline by $0.04 per share. The full year diluted earnings per share is estimated at $2.82 to $2.92 that is a rise of 6.4% to 10.2% over the last year of 2010. That means net earnings will be in the vicinity of $440 million to be up by almost 8-9% in comparison to last year of 2010. (GameStop Reports†¦) On the matter of quality of earnings, It will be pertinent to state that GameStop achieved record sales of $9.47 billion and net earnings of $408 million (up by 8.1%) in the year 2010. The last year’s earnings in the difficult market condition should be considered good as it shows increase in earnings by almost 8%. Net earnings to sales ratio is 4.3% that is also commendable. GameStop could generate $590 million of operating cash flow and reduced debt by $200 million that truly displays the quality of its earnings. (Brightman 2011) In view of the solid earnings performance, BB&T Capital Markets upgraded GameStop from hold to buy ratings with a $32 price target. The main reason for upgrading cited by BB&T is declining competition in the high margin used game market. Overall capital market’s response to the company was quite encouraging last year (Wilcox, 2010). Lazard Capital Market analyst commented stating that this is a notable achievement. He further stated that even assuming slow growth, digital will promise more than 0.5 billion revenue to GameStop in next two years. GameFly is a new entrant in the capital market hence it will take some time to have full-fledged financial data of the company; however, when compared with industry average it is found that GameStop is a low debt company that certainly displays it strength. Even

English Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 44

English - Essay Example The current political system discourages all people from participating, especially Arab Americans. The system has become unsustainable and there is need to reform American foreign policy. There is need to develop a foreign policy that seeks to establish peace rather than perpetuate war, especially in the Arab world. Practically, all Americans are included in the American Dream. Exclusion from the dream is a voluntary process where the discontented, particularly some minority groups, can excuse themselves from the Dream. American expects a lot from individual people who pursue the American Dream. In their hard work to succeed, individuals usually contribute to the success of the nation through their contribution to the overall economic welfare of the nation. American art exposes a melancholy tension in the Dream. The work culture that was once characteristic of America is waning as the country strives for new innovations aimed at propelling it a step further as the world’s greatest nation. The features of the American Dream that emphasize wealth, fame and power affect the polity and global image of America by casting an image of a greedy country, that focuses more on its interest and would do all to achieve what benefits it at the expense of other

Frank Lucas involement with the mob in the movie American Gangster Essay

Frank Lucas involement with the mob in the movie American Gangster - Essay Example And in order to achieve that, he got his 100% pure dope directly from source in Bangkok, where opium plants were also cultivated. Accordingly, he could sell this high quality dope at a lower price. He branded his own product as â€Å"Blue Magic† which became the number one brand of heroin in Harlem and other cities in the US. Frank Lucas: The "Original American Gangster† 3 Frank Lucas: The "Original American Gangster† And His Conflict with Italian Mafia 1â€Å"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the State will show and you will hear that Frank Lucas is the most dangerous man walking the streets of our city† - Det. Richie Roberts. Frank Lucas is one of the most successful heroin importers in US. What made Frank being successful was his unique marketing strategy. He thinks and acts like an executive officer. He realized that he could only achieve success once he breaks the monopoly of Italian Mafia held in New York. In order to do that, he went to Bangkok, Thail and and directly contracted with the supplier. As a result, he was sure to have 100% heroin and he could even distribute it at a lower price by cutting off the middlemen. Frank Lucas was then one of the most intellectual US heroin dealers who also created his own business empire, a crime organization operated in Harlem during the late 1960s and early 1970s. 1 â€Å"He's structured his organization to protect him in the same way† - Det. Richie Roberts. Frank builds his empire with family, uprooting brothers and cousins. Frank Lucas branded his very own product as â€Å"Blue Magic† which he guaranteed to be 98 – 100% pure. â€Å"Blue Magic† which has a really good quality was sold at a cheaper price compared with the other products. It eventually became famous and even hit the top of the competition, which also distressed the monopoly of Italian Mafia. This was alarming for Italian Mafia. And so Dominic Catanno from the same gang met up with Frank to talk a bout the monopoly and the other dairy farmers or the other drug dealers who were left behind the competition. And so at the end of their discussion, they had a deal that Frank will consider distributing them his very own â€Å"Blue Magic† at $50,000 per Kilo. Frank Lucas: The "Original American Gangster† 4 In the film I didn't really see too many conflicts between Frank and the Mafia except for an issue on drug monopoly. Since the Italian Mafia do not want any competition as what Dominic Cattano said â€Å"1No, I just think monopolies were made illegal in the country, Frank, 'cause nobody wants to compete, you know. Nobody wants to compete, not with a monopoly.† Just as the nature of monopoly, where there is a single distributor to eliminate competition and prices are set and manipulated. However, Frank as free and fearless as he is does not like the idea. He rather dealt with Mafia being their supplier of â€Å"Blue Magic† rather than getting into monopol y with them. My perception of Frank Lucas base on his conflict with Mafia is he is not only fearless, but he is also smart and he knows what success means and how to get it right. He has a very strong will and a strong character that also attributed to his great success. And I think, this great success still turn Mafia as his enemies in the end as the group almost killed his wife. 1â€Å"Success. It's got enemies. You can be successful and have enemies or you can be unsuccessful and have friends.†

Forced Migration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Forced Migration - Essay Example A major reason that has intensified forced migration is the international terrorism which is being driven by certain religious ideologies.   For instance, the notorious organizations like the Al- Qaeda and Taliban which have targeted the conversion of entire world in to Islam, consider all other religious groups as their foes.   This Spiritual Terrorism addresses itself as Jihad.   Although they are against all governments, their major concern seems to be the United States of America and some other European nations that have a colonial or imperial history. The global terrorism has left far reaching consequences on the social, moral and economic areas of the present world. People suspect the members of other ethnic groups and that leads to communal riots and violence in many parts of the world. The recent terror attacks and current warfare in the countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, and Palestine etc. have produced thousands of refugees. The moral concept of the world is highly affected by terrorist distractions. Children and women are being exploited and victimized more than ever before. Crimes such as smuggling, looting and sex racketing flourish along with every terror attempt. Terrorists invest huge amounts in their operations to attract youngsters of poor financial and educational backgrounds.   The number of death and migration occurred during the terror attacks, and further due to the war against terror are beyond any statistics. Thousands of children every year become homeless and women miss their husbands and fathers for the sake of terrorism. Horrible uncertainty is prevailing in many of the countries which are having terrorist influence.  Unexpected climate changes and natural calamities also often compel people to move from one place to another. Irrespective of geographical differences every population is under the threat of forced migration which can be caused by climate change or other ecological catastrophe. Natural phenomena such as sea level rise, hurricanes and typhoons, drought, wildfire, heat waves, volcanoes, and earthquakes result in massive migration every year in many parts of the world. Millions of people become homeless who are often called ecological refugees. These causes are absolutely natural and there is no significant connection with any sort of global change. In addition to these environmental reasons, sometimes governments’ infrastructure projects also cause forced migration which can be attributed to global change. For instance, building of dams, roads or tourist resorts often demand people to leave their place. World Bank estimates that 90 million people were displaced in the 1990s as a result of infrastructure projects (Digby B, 2001). In fact there are only a few causes like globalization, financial policies, and infrastructure modification that are closely associated with global change.

Frank Lucas involement with the mob in the movie American Gangster Essay

Frank Lucas involement with the mob in the movie American Gangster - Essay Example And in order to achieve that, he got his 100% pure dope directly from source in Bangkok, where opium plants were also cultivated. Accordingly, he could sell this high quality dope at a lower price. He branded his own product as â€Å"Blue Magic† which became the number one brand of heroin in Harlem and other cities in the US. Frank Lucas: The "Original American Gangster† 3 Frank Lucas: The "Original American Gangster† And His Conflict with Italian Mafia 1â€Å"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the State will show and you will hear that Frank Lucas is the most dangerous man walking the streets of our city† - Det. Richie Roberts. Frank Lucas is one of the most successful heroin importers in US. What made Frank being successful was his unique marketing strategy. He thinks and acts like an executive officer. He realized that he could only achieve success once he breaks the monopoly of Italian Mafia held in New York. In order to do that, he went to Bangkok, Thail and and directly contracted with the supplier. As a result, he was sure to have 100% heroin and he could even distribute it at a lower price by cutting off the middlemen. Frank Lucas was then one of the most intellectual US heroin dealers who also created his own business empire, a crime organization operated in Harlem during the late 1960s and early 1970s. 1 â€Å"He's structured his organization to protect him in the same way† - Det. Richie Roberts. Frank builds his empire with family, uprooting brothers and cousins. Frank Lucas branded his very own product as â€Å"Blue Magic† which he guaranteed to be 98 – 100% pure. â€Å"Blue Magic† which has a really good quality was sold at a cheaper price compared with the other products. It eventually became famous and even hit the top of the competition, which also distressed the monopoly of Italian Mafia. This was alarming for Italian Mafia. And so Dominic Catanno from the same gang met up with Frank to talk a bout the monopoly and the other dairy farmers or the other drug dealers who were left behind the competition. And so at the end of their discussion, they had a deal that Frank will consider distributing them his very own â€Å"Blue Magic† at $50,000 per Kilo. Frank Lucas: The "Original American Gangster† 4 In the film I didn't really see too many conflicts between Frank and the Mafia except for an issue on drug monopoly. Since the Italian Mafia do not want any competition as what Dominic Cattano said â€Å"1No, I just think monopolies were made illegal in the country, Frank, 'cause nobody wants to compete, you know. Nobody wants to compete, not with a monopoly.† Just as the nature of monopoly, where there is a single distributor to eliminate competition and prices are set and manipulated. However, Frank as free and fearless as he is does not like the idea. He rather dealt with Mafia being their supplier of â€Å"Blue Magic† rather than getting into monopol y with them. My perception of Frank Lucas base on his conflict with Mafia is he is not only fearless, but he is also smart and he knows what success means and how to get it right. He has a very strong will and a strong character that also attributed to his great success. And I think, this great success still turn Mafia as his enemies in the end as the group almost killed his wife. 1â€Å"Success. It's got enemies. You can be successful and have enemies or you can be unsuccessful and have friends.†

DETAILS OF ASSIGNMENTS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

DETAILS OF ASSIGNMENTS - Essay Example Combined with unprofessional clinicians that provided support, I found a new lease on dying and the processes involved that have far-reaching consequences on family and the victim. Most children do not think of death and dying nor contemplate its somewhat grotesque cultural symbolism, instead they are too busy considering peer relationships or the receipt of their next reward for good behaviour. Perceptions of death at the childhood level are usually ambiguous sensations that occur when exposed to different death scenarios, such as the loss of a distanced great-grandmother. It is not until adulthood arrives that the individual begins to think about death, reinforced by different retirement packages offered by companies or other cultural symbols, and wonders about the realities of death as an unstoppable outcome to living. I have always had a form of thanaphobia, which is fear of dying or death, and of the dead (Aiken, 2000). It is likely a product of different media images, such as Michael Jackson’s â€Å"Thriller† which depicts the gruesome, mangled aspects of death that come from decomposition. Perhaps it was built as a combination of different stimuli related to death, such as news reports that highlight the crushed automobile that reinforce our absolute frailty as human beings. Until Aunt Linda was diagnosed with cancer, I had been able to calm my mild thanaphobia and just accept that it would be an eventual part of my life cycle that should be accepted, but rarely reflected upon. It was her response to having terminal cancer and the emotional phases that this once-vibrant woman went through that forever changed my view of dying and transformed mild thanaphobia into a full-blown case of it. When an individual is told they have a terminal illness, they often reach a stage in coping referred to as anger, where the individual looks for someone to fault for their problem, such as the doctor, God, or anyone they

Pre-Socratic Philosophers Essay Example for Free

Pre-Socratic Philosophers Essay Pre-Socratic is the expression commonly used to describe those Greek thinkers who lived and wrote between 600 and 400 B.C. It was the Pre-Socratics who attempted to find universal principles which would explain the natural world from its origins to mans place in it. Although Socrates died in 399 B.C., the term Pre-Socratic indicates not so much a chronological limit, but rather an outlook or range of interests, an outlook attacked by both Protagoras (a Sophist) and Socrates, because natural philosophy was worthless when compared with the search for the good life. To give the Pre-Socratic thinkers their full due would require an article of encyclopedic scope. Given that, I have decided to list a number of sites on individual Pre-Socratic thinkers.Anaximander1. Life and SourcesThe history of written Greek philosophy starts with Anaximander of Miletus in Asia Minor, a fellow-citizen of Thales. He was the first who dared to write a treatise in prose, which has been called traditionally On Nature. This book has been lost, although it probably was available in the library of the Lyceum at the times of Aristotle and his successor Theophrastus. It is said that Apollodorus, in the second century BCE, stumbled upon a copy of it, perhaps in the famous library of Alexandria. Recently, evidence has appeared that it was part of the collection of the library of Taormina in Sicily, where a fragment of a catalogue has been found, on which Anaximander’s name can be read. Only one fragment of the book has come down to us, quoted by Simplicius (after Theophrastus), in the sixth century AD. It is perhaps the most famous and most discussed phrase in the history of philosophy.We also know very little of Anaximander’s life. He is said to have led a mission that founded a colony called Apollonia on the coast of the Black Sea. He also probably introduced the gnomon (a perpendicular sun-dial) into Greece and erected one in Sparta. So he seems to have been a much-traveled man, which is not astonishing, as the Milesians were known to be audacious sailors. It is also reported that he displayed solemn manners and wore pompous garments. Most of the information on Anaximander comes from Aristotle and his pupil Theophrastus, whose book on the history of philosophy was used, excerpted, and quoted by many other authors, the so-called doxographers, before it was lost. Sometimes, in these texts words or expressions appear that can with some certainty be ascribed  to Anaximander himself. Relatively many testimonies, approximately one third of them, have to do with astronomical and cosmological questions. Hermann Diels and Walter Kranz have edited the doxography (A) and the existing texts (B) of the Presocratic philosophers in Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, Berlin 1951-19526. (A quotation like â€Å"DK 12A17†³ means: â€Å"Diels/Kranz, Anaximander, doxographical report no.17†³).| 2. The â€Å"Boundless† as Principle According to Aristotle and Theophrastus, the first Greek philosophers were looking for the â€Å"origin† or â€Å"principle† (the Greek word â€Å"archà ªÃ¢â‚¬  has both meanings) of all things. Anaximander is said to have identified it with â€Å"the Boundless† or â€Å"the Unlimited† (Greek: â€Å"apeiron,† that is, â€Å"that which has no boundaries†). Already in ancient times, it is complained that Anaximander did not explain what he meant by â€Å"the Boundless.† More recently, authors have disputed whether the Boundless should be interpreted as spatially or temporarily without limits, or perhaps as that which has no qualifications, or as that which is inexhaustible. Some scholars have even defended the meaning â€Å"that which is not experienced,† by relating the Greek word â€Å"apeiron† not to â€Å"peras† (â€Å"boundary,† â€Å"limit†), but to â€Å"perao† (â€Å"to experience,â⠂¬  â€Å"to apperceive†). The suggestion, however, is almost irresistible that Greek philosophy, by making the Boundless into the principle of all things, has started on a high level of abstraction. On the other hand, some have pointed out that this use of â€Å"apeiron† is atypical for Greek thought, which was occupied with limit, symmetry and harmony. The Pythagoreans placed the boundless (the â€Å"apeiron†) on the list of negative things, and for Aristotle, too, perfection became aligned with limit (Greek: â€Å"peras†), and thus â€Å"apeiron† with imperfection. Therefore, some authors suspect eastern (Iranian) influence on Anaximander’s ideas. Anaximenes (d. 528 BCE) According to the surviving sources on his life, Anaximenes flourished in the mid 6th century BCE and died around 528. He is the third philosopher of the Milesian School of philosophy, so named because like Thales and Anaximander, Anaximenes was an inhabitant of Miletus, in Ionia (ancient Greece). Theophrastus notes that Anaximenes was an associate, and possibly a student, of Anaximander’s. Anaximenes is best known for his doctrine that air is the source of all things. In this way, he differed with his predecessors like Thales, who held that water is the source of all things, and Anaximander, who thought that all things came from an unspecified boundless stuff. 2. Doctrine of Change Given his doctrine that all things are composed of air, Anaximenes suggested an interesting qualitative account of natural change: [Air] differs in essence in accordance with its rarity or density. When it is thinned it becomes fire, while when it is condensed it becomes wind, then cloud, when still more condensed it becomes water, then earth, then stones. Everything else comes from these. (DK13A5) Influence on later Philosophy Anaximenes’ theory of successive change of matter by rarefaction and condensation was influential in later theories. It is developed by Heraclitus (DK22B31), and criticized by Parmenides (DK28B8.23-24, 47-48). Anaximenes’ general theory of how the materials of the world arise is adopted by Anaxagoras(DK59B16), even though the latter has a very different theory of matter. Both Melissus (DK30B8.3) and Plato (Timaeus 49b-c) see Anaximenes’ theory as providing a common-sense explanation of change. Diogenes of Apollonia makes air the basis of his explicitly monistic theory. The Hippocratic treatise On Breaths uses air as the central concept in a theory of diseases. By providing cosmological accounts with a theory of change, Anaximenes separated them from the realm of mere speculation and made them, at least in conception, scientific theories capable of testing. Thales of Miletus (c. 620 BCE – c. 546 BCE) The ancient Greek philosopher Thales was born in Miletus in Greek Ionia. Aristotle, the major source for Thales’s philosophy and science, identified Thales as the first person to investigate the basic principles, the question of the originating substances of matter and, therefore, as the founder of the school of natural philosophy. Thales was interested in almost everything, investigating almost all areas of knowledge, philosophy, history, science, mathematics, engineering, geography, and politics. He  proposed theories to explain many of the events of nature, the primary substance, the support of the earth, and the cause of change. Thales was much involved in the problems of astronomy and provided a number of explanations of cosmological events which traditionally involved supernatural entities. His questioning approach to the understanding of heavenly phenomena was the beginning of Greek astronomy. Thales’ hypotheses were new and bold, and in freeing phenomena from godly intervention, he paved the way towards scientific endeavor. He founded the Milesian school of natural philosophy, developed the scientific method, and initiated the first western enlightenment. A number of anecdotes is closely connected to Thales’ investigations of the cosmos. When considered in association with his hypotheses they take on added meaning and are most enlightening. Thales was highly esteemed in ancient times, and a letter cited by Diogenes Laertius, and purporting to be from Anaximenes to Pythagoras, advised that all our discourse should begin with a reference to Thales (D.L. II.4). 1. The Writings of Thales Doubts have always existed about whether Thales wrote anything, but a number of ancient reports credit him with writings. Simplicius (Diels, Dox. p. 475) specifically attributed to Thales authorship of the so-called Nautical Star-guide. Diogenes Laertius raised doubts about authenticity, but wrote that ‘according to others [Thales] wrote nothing but two treatises, one On the Solstice and one On the Equinox‘ (D.L. I.23). Lobon of Argus asserted that the writings of Thales amounted to two hundred lines (D.L. I.34), and Plutarch associated Thales with opinions and accounts expressed in verse (Plutarch, De Pyth. or. 18. 402 E). Hesychius, recorded that ‘[Thales] wrote on celestial matters in epic verse, on the equinox, and much else’ (DK, 11A2). Callimachus credited Thales with the sage advice that navigators should navigate by Ursa Minor (D.L. I.23), advice which may have been in writing. Diogenes mentions a poet, Choerilus, who declared that ‘[Thales] was the first to maintain the immortality of the soul’ (D.L. I.24), and in De Anima, Aristotle’s words ‘from what is recorded about [Thales]‘, indicate that Aristotle was working from a written source. Diogenes recorded that  Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ[Thales] seems by some accounts to have been the first to study astronomy, the first to predict eclipses of the sun and to fix the solstices; so Eudemus in his History of Astronomy. It was this which gained for him the admiration of Xenophanes and Herodotus and the notice of Heraclitus and Democritus’ (D.L. I.23). Eudemus who wrote a History of Astronomy, and also on geometry and theology, must be considered as a possible source for the hypotheses of Thales. The information provided by Diogenes is the sort of material which he would have included in his History of Astronomy, and it is possible that the titles On the Solstice, and On the Equinox were a vailable to Eudemus. Xenophanes, Herodotus, Heraclitus and Democritus were familiar with the work of Thales, and may have had a work by Thales available to them. A solstice is an astronomical event that happens twice each year when the Sun reaches its highest position in the sky as seen from the North or South Pole. The word solstice is derived from the Latin sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still), because at the solstices, the Sun stands still in declination; that is, the seasonal movement of the Suns path (as seen from Earth) comes to a stop before reversing direction. The solstices, together with the equinoxes, are connected with the seasons. In many cultures the solstices mark either the beginning or the midpoint of winter and summer. The term solstice can also be used in a broader sense, as the date (day) when this occurs. The day of the solstice is either the longest day of the year (in summer) or the shortest day of the year (in winter) for any place on Earth, because the length of time between sunrise and sunset on that day is the yearly maximum or minimum for that place. Proclus recorded that Thales was followed by a great wealth of geometers, most of whom remain as honoured names. They commence with Mamercus, who was a pupil of Thales, and include Hippias of Elis, Pythagoras, Anaxagoras, Eudoxus of Cnidus, Philippus of Mende, Euclid, and Eudemus, a friend of Aristotle, who wrote histories of arithmetic, of astronomy, and of geometry, and many lesser known names. It is possible that writings of Thales were available to some of these men. Any records which Thales may have kept would have been an advantage in his own work. This is especially true of mathematics, of the dates and times determined when fixing the solstices, the positions of stars, and in  financial transactions. It is difficult to believe that Thales would not have written down the information he had gathered in his travels, particularly the geometry he investigated in Egypt and his measuring of the height of the pyramid, his hypotheses about nature, and the cause of change. Proclus acknowledged Thales as the discoverer of a number of specific theorems (A Commentary on the First Book of Euclid’s Elements 65. 8-9; 250. 16-17). This suggests that Eudemus, Proclus’s source had before him the written records of Thales’s discoveries. How did Thales ‘prove’ his theorems if not in written words and sketches? The works On the Solstice, On the Equinox, which were attributed to Thales (D.L. I.23), and the ‘Nautical Star guide, to which Simplicius referred, may have been sources for the History of Astronomy of Eudemus (D.L. I.23). Pythagoras (c.570—c.495 BCE) The pre-Socratic Greek philosopher Pythagoras must have been one of the world’s greatest persons, but he wrote nothing, and it is hard to say how much of the doctrine we know as Pythagorean is due to the founder of the society and how much is later development. It is also hard to say how much of what we are told about the life of Pythagoras is trustworthy; for a mass of legend gathered around his name at an early date. Sometimes he is represented as a man of science, and sometimes as a preacher of mystic doctrines, and we might be tempted to regard one or other of those characters as alone historical. The truth is that there is no need to reject either of the traditional views. The union of mathematical genius and mysticism is common enough. Originally from Samos, Pythagoras founded at Kroton (in southern Italy) a society which was at once a religious community and a scientific school. Such a body was bound to excite jealousy and mistrust, and we hear of many struggles. Pythagoras himself had to flee from Kroton to Metapontion, where he died. It is stated that he was a disciple of Anaximander, his astronomy was the natural development of Anaximander’s. Also, the way in which the Pythagorean geometry developed also bears witness to its descent from that of Miletos. The great problem at this date was the duplication of the square, a problem which gave rise to the theorem of the square on the hypotenuse, commonly  known still as the Pythagorean proposition (Euclid, I. 47). If we were right in assuming that Thales worked with the old 3:4:5 triangle, the connection is obvious. Pythagoras argued that there are three kinds of men, just as there are three classes of strangers who come to the Olympic Games. The lowest consists of those who come to buy and sell, and next above them are those who come to compete. Best of all are those who simply come to look on. Men may be classified accordingly as lovers of wisdom, lovers of honor, and lovers of gain. That seems to imply the doctrine of the tripartite soul, which is also attributed to the early Pythagoreans on good authority, though it is common now to ascribe it to Plato. There are, however, clear references to it before his time, and it agrees much better with the general outlook of the Pythagoreans. The comparison of human life to a gathering like the Games was often repeated in later days. Pythagoras also taught the doctrine of Rebirth or transmigration, which we may have learned from the contemporary Orphics. Xenophanes made fun of him for pretending to recognize the voice of a departed friend in the howls of a beaten dog. Empedocles seems to be referring to him when he speaks of a man who could remember what happened ten or twenty generations before. It was on this that the doctrine of Recollection, which plays so great a part in Plato, was based. The things we perceive with the senses, Plato argues, remind us of things we knew when the soul was out of the body and could perceive reality directly. There is more difficulty about the cosmology of Pythagoras. Hardly any school ever professed such reverence for its founder’s authority as the Pythagoreans. ‘The Master said so’ was their watchword. On the other hand, few schools have shown so much capacity for progress and for adapting themselves to new conditions. Pythagoras started from the cosmical system of Anaximenes. Aristotle tells us that the Pythagoreans represented the world as inhaling ‘air’ form the boundless mass outside it, and this ‘air’ is identified with ‘the unlimited’. When, however, we come to the process by which things are developed out of the ‘unlimited’, we observe a great change. We hear nothing more of ‘separating out’ or even of rarefaction and condensation. Instead of that we have the theory that what gives form to the  Unlimited is the Limit. That is the great contribution of Pythagoras to philosophy, and we must try to understand it. Now the function of the Limit is usually illustrated from the arts of music and medicine, and we have seen how important these two arts were for Pythagoreans, so it is natural to infer that the key to its meaning is to be found in them. It may be taken as certain that Pythagoras himself discovered the numerical ratios which determine the concordant intervals of the musical scale. Similar to musical intervals, in medicine there are opposites, such as the hot and the cold, the wet and the dry, and it is the business of the physician to produce a proper ‘blend’ of these in the human body. In a well-known passage of Plato’s Phaedo (86 b) we are told by Simmias that the Pythagoreans held the body to be strung like an instrument to a certain pitch, hot and cold, wet and dry taking the place of high and low in music. Musical tuning and health are alike means arising from the application of Limit to the Unlimited. It was natural for Pythagoras to look for something of the same kind in the world at large. Briefly stated, the doctrine of Pythagoras was that all things are numbers. In certain fundamental cases, the early Pythagoreans represented numbers and explained their properties by means of dots arrang ed in certain ‘figures’ or patterns. Zeno’s Paradoxes In the fifth century B.C.E., Zeno of Elea offered arguments that led to conclusions contradicting what we all know from our physical experience–that runners run, that arrows fly, and that there are many different things in the world. The arguments were paradoxes for the ancient Greek philosophers. Because most of the arguments turn crucially on the notion that space and time are infinitely divisible—for example, that for any distance there is such a thing as half that distance, and so on—Zeno was the first person in history to show that the concept of infinity is problematical. In his Achilles Paradox, Achilles races to catch a slower runner–for example, a tortoise that is crawling away from him. The tortoise has a head start, so if Achilles hopes to overtake it, he must run at least to the place where the tortoise presently is, but by the time he arrives there, it will have crawled to a new place, so then Achilles must run to this new place, but the  tortoise meanwhile will have crawled on, and so forth. Achilles will never catch the tortoise, says Zeno. Therefore, good reasoning shows that fast runners never can catch slow ones. So much the worse for the claim that motion really occurs, Zeno says in defense of his mentor Parmenides who had argued that motion is an illusion. Although practically no scholars today would agree with Zeno’s conclusion, we can not escape the paradox by jumping up from our seat and chasing down a tortoise, nor by saying Achilles should run to some other target place ahead of where the tortoise is at the moment. What is required is an analysis of Zeno’s own argument that does not get us embroiled in new paradoxes nor impoverish our mathematics and science. This article explains his ten known paradoxes and considers the treatments that have been offered. Zeno assumed distances and durations can be divided into an actual infinity (what we now call a transfinite infinity) of indivisible parts, and he assumed these are too many for the runner to complete. Aristotle‘s treatment said Zeno should have assumed there are only potential infinities, and that neither places nor times divide into indivisible parts. His treatment became the generally accepted solution until the late 19th century. The current standard treatment says Zeno was right to conclude that a runner’s path contains an actual infinity of parts, but he was mistaken to assume this is too many. This treatment employs the apparatus of calculus which has proved its indispensability for the development of modern science. In the twentieth century it finally became clear that disallowing actual infinities, as Aristotle wanted, hampers the growth of set theory and ultimately of mathematics and physics. This standard treatment took hundreds of years to perfect and was due to the flexibility of intellectuals who were willing to replace old theories and their concepts with more fruitful ones, despite the damage done to common sense and our naive intuitions. The article ends by exploring newer treatments of the paradoxes—and related paradoxes such as Thomson’s Lamp Paradox—that were developed since the 1950s. Parmenides (b. 510 BCE) Parmenides was a Greek philosopher and poet, born of an illustrious family about BCE. 510, at Elea in Lower Italy, and is is the chief representative of the Eleatic philosophy. He was held in high esteem by his fellow-citizens for his excellent legislation, to which they ascribed the prosperity and wealth of the town. He was also admired for his exemplary life. A â€Å"Parmenidean life† was proverbial among the Greeks. He is commonly represented as a disciple of Xenophanes. Parmenides wrote after Heraclitus, and in conscious opposition to him, given the evident allusion to Hericlitus: â€Å"for whom it is and is not, the same and not the same, and all things travel in opposite directions† (fr. 6, 8). Little more is known of his biography than that he stopped at Athens on a journey in his sixty-fifth year, and there became acquainted with the youthful Socrates. That must have been in the middle of the fifth century BCE., or shortly after it. Parmenides broke with the older Ionic prose tradition by writing in hexameter verse. His didactic poem, called On Nature, survives in fragments, although the Proem (or introductory discourse) of the work has been preserved. Parmenides was a young man when he wrote it, for the goddess who reveals the truth to him addresses him as â€Å"youth.† The work is considered inartistic. Its Hesiodic style was appropriate for the cosmogony he describes in the second part, but is unsuited to the arid dialectic of the first. Parmenides was no born poet, and we must ask what led him to take this new departure. The example of Xenophanes’ poetic writings is not a complete explanation; for the poetry of Parmenides is as unlike that of Xenophanes as it well can be, and his style is more like Hesiod and the Orphics. In the Proem Parmenides describes his ascent to the home of the goddess who is supposed to speak the remainder of the verses; this is a reflexion of the conventional ascents i nto heaven which were almost as common as descents into hell in the apocalyptic literature of those days. The Proem opens with Parmenides representing himself as borne on a chariot and attended by the Sunmaidens who have quitted the Halls of Night to guide him on his journey. They pass along the highway till they come to the Gate of Night and Day, which is locked and barred. The key is in the keeping of Dike (Right), the Avenger, who is persuaded to unlock it by the Sunmaidens.  They pass in through the gate and are now, of course, in the realms of Day. The goal of the journey is the palace of a goddess who welcomes Parmenides and instructs him in the two ways, that of Truth and the deceptive way of Belief, in which is no truth at all. All this is described without inspiration and in a purely conventional manner, so it must be interpreted by the canons of the apocalyptic style. It is clearly meant to indicate that Parmenides had been converted, that he had passed from error (night) to truth (day), and the Two Ways must represent his former error and the truth which is now revealed to h im. There is reason to believe that the Way of Belief is an account of Pythagorean cosmology. In any case, it is surely impossible to regard it as anything else than a description of some error. The goddess says so in words that cannot be explained away. Further, this erroneous belief is not the ordinary man’s view of the world, but an elaborate system, which seems to be a natural development the Ionian cosmology on certain lines, and there is no other system but the Pythagorean that fulfils this requirement. To this it has been objected that Parmenides would not have taken the trouble to expound in detail a system he had altogether rejected, but that is to mistake the character of the apocalyptic convention. It is not Parmenides, but the goddess, that expounds the system, and it is for this reason that the beliefs described are said to be those of ‘mortals’. Now a description of the ascent of the soul would be quite incomplete without a picture of the region from which it had escaped. The goddess must reveal the two ways at the parting of which Parmenides stands, and bid him choose the better. The rise of mathematics in the Pythagorean school had revealed for the first time the power of thought. To the mathematician of all men it is the same thing that can be thought and that can be, and this is the principle from which Parmenides starts. It is impossible to think what is not, and it is impossible for what cannot be thought to be. The great question, Is it or is it not? is therefore equivalent to the question, Can it be thought or not? In any case, the work thus has two divisions. The first discusses the truth, and the second the world of illusion — that is, the world of the senses and the erroneous opinions of mankind founded upon them. In his opinion truth  lies in the perception that existence is, and error in the idea that non-existence also can be. Nothing can have real existence but what is conceivable; therefore to be imagined and to be able to exist are the same thing, and there is no development. The essence of what is conceivable is incapable of development, imperishable, immutable, unbounded, and indivisible. What is various and mutable, all development, is a delusive phantom. Perception is thought directed to the pure essence of being; the phenomenal world is a delusion, and the opinions formed concerning it can only be improbable. Parmenides goes on to consider in the light of this principle the consequences of saying that anything is. In the first place, it cannot have come into being. If it had, it must have arisen from nothing or from something. It cannot have arisen from nothing; for there is no nothing. It cannot have arisen from something; for here is nothing else than what is. Nor can anything else besides itself come into being; for there can be no empty space in which it could do so. Is it or is it not? If it is, then it is now, all at once. In this way Parmenides refutes all accounts of the origin of the world. Ex nihilo nihil fit. Further, if it is, it simply is, and it cannot be more or less. There is, therefore, as much of it in one place as in another. (That makes rarefaction and condensation impossible.) it is continuous and indivisible; for there is nothing but itself which could prevent its parts being in contact with one another. It is therefore full, a continuous indivisible plenum. (That is directed against the Pythagorean theory of a discontinuous reality.) Further, it is immovable. If it moved, it must move into empty space, and empty space is nothing, and there is no nothing. Also it is finite and spherical; for it cannot be in one direction any more than in another, and the sphere is the only figure of which this can be said. What is, therefore a finite, spherical, motionless, continuous plenum, and there is nothing beyond it. Coming into being and ceasing to be are mere ‘names’, and so is motion, and still more color and the like. They are not even thoughts; for a thought must be a thought of something that is, and none of these can be. Such is the conclusion to which the view of the real as a single body inevitably leads, and there is no escape from it. The ‘matter’ of our physical text-books is just the real of Parmenides; and, unless we can find room for something else than matter, we are shut up into his account of reality. No subsequent system could afford to ignore this, but of course it was impossible to acquiesce permanently in a doctrine like that of Parmenides. It deprives the world we know of all claim to existence, and reduces it to something which is hardly even an illusion. If we are to give an intelligible account of the world, we must certainly introduce motion again somehow. That can never be taken for granted any more, as it was by the early cosmologists; we must attempt to explain it if we are to escape from the conclusions of Parmenides. Heraclitus (fl. c.500 BCE) A Greek philosopher of the late 6th century BCE, Heraclitus criticizes his predecessors and contemporaries for their failure to see the unity in experience. He claims to announce an everlasting Word (Logos) according to which all things are one, in some sense. Opposites are necessary for life, but they are unified in a system of balanced exchanges. The world itself consists of a law-like interchange of elements, symbolized by fire. Thus the world is not to be identified with any particular substance, but rather with an ongoing process governed by a law of change. The underlying law of nature also manifests itself as a moral law for human beings. Heraclitus is the first Western philosopher to go beyond physical theory in search of metaphysical foundations and moral applications. Anaxagoras (c.500—428 BCE) Anaxagoras of Clazomenae was an important Presocratic natural philosopher and scientist who lived and taught in Athens for approximately thirty years. He gained notoriety for his materialistic views, particularly his contention that the sun was a fiery rock. This led to charges of impiety, and he was sentenced to death by the Athenian court. He avoided this penalty by leaving Athens, and he spent his remaining years in exile. While Anaxagoras proposed theories on a variety of subjects, he is most noted for two theories. First, he speculated that in the physical world everything contains a portion of everything else. His observation of how nutrition works in animals led him to conclude that in order for the food an animal eats to turn into bone,  hair, flesh, and so forth, it must already contain all of those constituents within it. The second theory of significance is Anaxagoras’ postulation of Mind (Nous) as the initiating and governing principle of the cosmos. Democritus ( 460—370 BCE) Democritus was born at Abdera, about 460 BCE, although according to some 490. His father was from a noble family and of great wealth, and contributed largely towards the entertainment of the army of Xerxes on his return to Asia. As a reward for this service the Persian monarch gave and other Abderites presents and left among them several Magi. Democritus, according to Diogenes Laertius, was instructed by these Magi in astronomy and theology. After the death of his father he traveled in search of wisdom, and devoted his inheritance to this purpose, amounting to one hundred talents. He is said to have visited Egypt, Ethiopia, Persia, and India. Whether, in the course of his travels, he visited Athens or studied under Anaxagoras is uncertain. During some part of his life he was instructed in Pythagoreanism, and was a disciple of Leucippus. After several years of traveling, Democritus returned to Abdera, with no means of subsistence. His brother Damosis, however, took him in. According to the law of Abdera, whoever wasted his patrimony would be deprived of the rites of burial. Democritus, hoping to avoid this disgrace, gave public lectures. Petronius relates that he was acquainted with the virtues of herbs, plants, and stones, and that he spent his life in making experiments upon natural bodies. He acquired fame with his knowledge of natural phenomena, and predicted changes in the weather. He used this ability to make people believe that he could predict future events. They not only viewed him as something more than mortal, but even proposed to put him in control of their public affairs. He preferred a contemplative to an active life, and therefore declined these public honors and passed the remainder of his days in solitude. Credit cannot be given to the tale that Democritus spent his leisure hours in chemical researches after the philosopher’s stone — the dream of a later age; or to the story of his conversation with Hippocrates concerning Democritus’s supposed madness, as based on spurious letters. Democritus has been commonly known as â€Å"The Laughing Philosopher,† and it is gravely related  by Seneca that he never appeared in public with out expressing his contempt of human follies while laughing. Accordingly, we find that among his fellow-citizens he had the name of â€Å"the mocker†. He died at more than a hundred years of age. It is said that from then on he spent his days and nights in caverns and sepulchers, and that, in order to master his intellectual faculties, he blinded himself with burning glass. This story, however, is discredited by the writers who mention it insofar as they say he wrote books and dissected animals, neither of which could be done we ll without eyes. Democritus expanded the atomic theory of Leucippus. He maintained the impossibility of dividing things ad infinitum. From the difficulty of assigning a beginning of time, he argued the eternity of existing nature, of void space, and of motion. He supposed the atoms, which are originally similar, to be impenetrable and have a density proportionate to their volume. All motions are the result of active and passive affection. He drew a distinction between primary motion and its secondary effects, that is, impulse and reaction. This is the basis of the law of necessity, by which all things in nature are ruled. The worlds which we see — with all their properties of immensity, resemblance, and dissimilitude — result from the endless multiplicity of falling atoms. The human soul consists of globular atoms of fire, which impart movement to the body. Maintaining his atomic theory throughout, Democritus introduced the hypothesis of images or idols (eidola), a kind of emanation from external objects, which make an impression on our senses, and from the influence of which he deduced sensation (aesthesis) and thought (noesis). He distinguished between a rude, imperfect, and therefore false perception and a true one. In the same manner, consistent with this theory, he accounted for the popular notions of Deity; partly through our incapacity to understand fully the phenomena of which we are witnesses, and partly from the impressions communicated by certain beings (eidola) of enormous stature and resembling the human figure which inhabit the air. We know these from dreams and the causes of divination. He carried his theory into practical philosophy also, laying down that happiness consisted in an even temperament. From this he deduced his moral principles and prudential maxims. It was from Democritus that  Epicurus borrowed the princi pal features of his philosophy. Empedocles (c.492—432 BCE) Empedocles (of Acagras in Sicily) was a philosopher and poet: one of the most important of the philosophers working before Socrates (the Presocratics), and a poet of outstanding ability and of great influence upon later poets such as Lucretius. His works On Nature and Purifications (whether they are two poems or only one – see below) exist in more than 150 fragments. He has been regarded variously as a materialist physicist, a shamanic magician, a mystical theologian, a healer, a democratic politician, a living god, and a fraud. To him is attributed the invention of the four-element theory of matter (earth, air, fire, and water), one of the earliest theories of particle physics, put forward seemingly to rescue the phenomenal world from the static monism of Parmenides. Empedocles’ world-view is of a cosmic cycle of eternal change, growth and decay, in which two personified cosmic forces, Love and Strife, engage in an eternal battle for supremacy. In psychology and ethics Empedocles was a follower of Pythagoras, hence a believer in the transmigration of souls, and hence also a vegetarian. He claims to be a daimà ´n, a divine or potentially divine being, who, having been banished from the immortals gods for ‘three times countless years’ for committing the sin of meat-eating and forced to suffer successive reincarnations in an purificatory journey through the different orders of nature and elements of the cosmos, has now achieved the most perfect of human states and will be reborn as an immortal. He also claims seemingly magical powers including the ability to revive the dead and to control the winds and rains.