PLANNING PERSONAL FINANCE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

PLANNING PERSONAL FINANCE - Essay Example In case of dividend if the income is received or accumulated it is given a credit @ 10%. For example, if an investor gets a dividend of 90p then total dividend would be counted as 100p as 10% credit built in it. Tax payers who fall in starting rate and basic rates and non tax payers does not have to do any other things in this regard. No refund will be accommodated by HMRC (Her Majestys Revenue and Customs) on this claim by non tax payers. It should be noted that the losses made on disposals can be adjusted with profits made during the year and then the tax would be calculated. Further the losses accumulated can be carried forward for indefinite period. Term life assurance is a policy which gives coverage at a fixed payment rate for decided period of time which is normally limited in nature. After the period has lapsed coverage automatically expires and the rates and premiums also get changed. It is on the client either to leave the coverage or obtain more coverage by making different payment on different terms and conditions. In case of death of insured during the term, the benefits of insured will be paid to the beneficiaries. An individual can also make contributions on his own by making an arrangement with an insurance company or some other provider. These schemes will also enjoy similar tax advantages as that of occupational schemes. Normally individuals invest during their employment life and then enjoy the pension in their post retirement life. There are various advantages attached with an scheme in respect of tax which got itself registered. Some of the advantages are assets grow free from income tax, capital gains tax and corporation tax, employees are allowed to contribute out of their untaxed income and employer contributions are allowed in tax as deductible expenses. Only funded schemes are allowed to get registered. It is not necessary that the shares are available on par

Junior High School Experience Personal Statement - 4

Junior High School Experience - Personal Statement Example Ernie sat next to me at the lunch table. No big deal. I knew Ernie from our classes together, and he made a successful, albeit uncontested, run for student council. Perhaps it was the politician in Ernie that caused him to do what he did that day. One of the things that the members of the student council had to do was sell candy bars to raise money. Ernie was seated at the end of the picnic table style bench, and on the table were his books, neatly stacked. On top of the books was his box of student council candy. I was having a conversation with someone across from me when Ernie knocked over his books and student council candy box. The candy spilled all over the floor. Because the lunchroom was also the gym, except during the lunch hour, then the noise that Ernie’s books made when they hit the floor was loud and resounding, and everything and everyone was quiet. All eyes looked to Ernie’s fallen mess, then, just as quickly, the noise and talking resumed. No one cared t hat Ernie’s books and candy were on the floor. I especially did not care and resumed my conversation with my friend. â€Å"What?† I answered a little more harshly. I just did not understand what this guy’s story was. What was the big deal? He knocked books off the table. It had nothing to do with me. No one cared, pick them up and get on with life. â€Å"If you don’t pick it up,† he spoke softly so that only I could hear him in the noisy cafeteria, â€Å"I’m going to tell him,† pointing to the history teacher standing in the front of the room, â€Å"that you asked me for the questions on the test.† Our next period was with that teacher, and apparently, Ernie had him the previous hour and had already taken the test that we would be getting in the after lunch hour. I have to say that I was shocked, but not for a second did I believe Ernie was going to do what he threatened.  

Darwin as the New Mythology Essay Example for Free

Darwin as the New Mythology Essay It has been a major struggle for the scientific community to understand the persistence of religious belief. After centuries of writing by rationalist thinkers, it remains a mystery why so many continue to believe in the old gods. The survival of religion has been though revolution, political and economic change and every conceivable alteration of consciousness throughout the ages. â€Å"Common sense† would then say that religion, in some very real sense, is true, is righteous and factual if it has survived so many changes. Buckert, however, holds that the only way to explain this persistence, short of admitting there is much truth behind it, is that it assists humanity in adapting to changing environments: in short, making religion part of the Darwinian universe. This review will revolve around the methods used by the author in deriving his conclusion, really on the basis that his treatments of the specific cases are so lacking in detail as to be purely superficial. Hence, the real meat of the book lies in methodology, the â€Å"suggestion† of alternate ways of looking at religion. Buckert begins by making the claim that nearly all researchers on religion hold: that there are undeniable similarities among all religions, regardless of their background or geographical origin (4-6). There is the ubiquity of prayer and sacrifice, the saturation of symbol and other forms of communication within groups, and ultimately, the creation and maintenance of group solidarity, itself an important ingredient in winning the struggle for survival (13). Ultimately, the book makes a single argument: religion makes sense because it assists in the struggle for survival. Even institutions such as self sacrifice and the rejection of competition among certain religions are in fact adaptive behaviors that maintain the solidarity necessary to function in a hostile world. There is no specific reason who religion and religious ideas specifically are necessary for this, nor does this explain the persistence of belief, though it may offer a suggestion as to its ancient origin–which are two different arguments. One interesting (and irritating) feature of this book is that there is no real â€Å"argument† given in the standard sense, rather than a series of suggestions loosely held together by what might be called â€Å"popular Darwinism. † This singular suggestion, that religion â€Å"works† for maintaining solidarity is certainly nothing new, and offers such a superficial view of disparate religions that it remains merely a suggestion, a means of planting doubts among readers who are followers of a certain religious system. Religions such as Christianity or Islam are described in one or two sentence snippets, clearly â€Å"sacrificing† detail for the sake of a smoothly running argument, the ultimate drawback of this work. Giving this thesis in more detail, the author brings this thesis to bear on such objects as guilt, hierarchy, meaning and gift giving–all of these exist in the realm of biology and the world of problem solving within the context of group solidarity, itself a biological mechanism. Again, all of these are described in a few lines, providing a superficial context for the generalizations upon which the book is based. Guilt, for example (cf 103-105), is the beginning of problem solving. Natural disasters, disease, etc. are inevitably met by questions such as â€Å"why us? † Hence, guilt fixes blame so that the group can then go about the business of reinforcing its solidarity to fix the problem. Uses of guilt and shame are constant to punish deviants and maintain solidarity, not to mention reinforcing the world of hierarchy and authority relations. â€Å"Meaning† is offered, on the most general level possible, as finding a purpose in a universe of â€Å"infinite complexity† (26). Of course, Darwin himself could also serve these ends. â€Å"Sacrifice† is treated in an interesting, yet radically general way, as the utilitarian doctrine as sacrificing the part for the whole. In other words, the author uses the example of an animal chewing off its own foot to get out of a trap. Human sacrifice is something like that. This is the basic structure of the book and the method of generalization. â€Å"Generalization† here is deliberately called a method because the argument only works (or at least works smoothly) when it functions at a high level of generality. A specialized study of religious systems will bring out so many deviations from this general scheme as to render it useless. Hence, it must remain at a superficial level. What is the most significant element of the book, however, is the methodology itself. The best way to understand the flow and structure of this work is to grasp the methodological assumptions that are inherent in it. None of these assumptions are argued for, and it is assumed that readers will agree a priori. a. Objects in the natural world create the consciousness not just of peoples, but of communities. Consciousness is not considered an autonomous object and free will is rejected implicitly, consciousness is created by the existence of objects in space and time, and hence, is controlled by them. b. Putting this differently, Buckert assumes that consciousness is a material object, itself part and parcel of the world of cause and effect. This is tantamount to holding that the religious objects of worship or fetish are not actually real, but are artifacts, in fact, residual categories, of the enslavement of consciousness to the world of matter and competition. Even more, that all religions are like this and have the same root, regardless of the background, geography or time period in which they develop. c. The beliefs and methods of the modern scientific mind and their conclusions are assumed to be true, and hence, any treatment of religion (or any social phenomenon whatever) must conform to their demands. In other words, instead of couching his phrases in terms of religion according to â€Å"natural selection,† Buckert phrases his approach in terms of â€Å"facts† and â€Å"truth† about the world of material bodies and cause and effect, within which consciousness develops and takes its course. Needless to say, this approach undercuts his own claim to objectivity and scientific rationalism. d. Another major methodological assumption here is that all thought patterns, or patterns of consciousness require a cause, and this cause is provided by group solidarity and the struggle for survival. Putting this differently, each pattern of consciousness, that is, any systematized belief system must have its roots in evolutionary biology to be made sense of. This is to say that any thought pattern that can be traced throughout time in some superficially similar pattern must have a cause with roots in biology. Of course, this means that group solidarity is itself a biological function and hence, all forms of thought that reinforce such solidarity. e. A striking claim made implicitly throughout the book (and made the bedrock of the argument) is that religious claims are ultimately false. Better, not so much false or true but beyond such evaluations because the purpose is survival and competition, rather than claims of truth or falsity. Of course, religious devotees regularly make truth claims, and many of these claims are directly detrimental to their survival or flourishing. The answer to these claims can be found in the â€Å"Escape and Offerings† chapter (chapter two), where the author holds that when one can see sacrifice as beneficial (cutting off an arm that could infect the whole body, for example), the personal sacrifices of martyrs, etc, can be explained (34-38). This is the â€Å"fallacy of equivocation,† since one is using the word â€Å"sacrifice† in two very different senses and contexts. One might see the utility in sacrificing one to save the whole, but this has nothing to do with explaining the desire for martyrdom or the sacrifice of millions in persecutions of religion. â€Å"Sacrifice† is here used in two different senses. f. States of consciousness such as guilt or reciprocation make no sense unless placed in a Darwinian context. This is merely the thesis restated. But implicitly, this argues that states such as guilt are residual categories of the evolutionary process, and hence, are not real, they are epi-phenomena at best. The argument comes down to justifying one’s own feelings of guilt by claiming that these guilt feelings assist in the development of group solidarity, and hence, it is acceptable that I feel them. Again, this is equivocation, making the jump from the collective to the individual within the same argument. In fact, equivocation is just as much central to Buckert as anything else, since the entire structure of the book is a regular back and forth between the animal world and the development of human religion. Hence if it can be justified in the animal kingdom, it is justified in human society, and if in human society, then the individual. g. Finally, Buckert fails to see the self-referential argument involved. If thought processes are part of the biological process and creative of social solidarity (or are derivative from it), then the Darwinian consensus of the modern scientific establishment also then falls into this category. Such a consensus assists biology in developing its rhetorical weapons, its receipt of grant money and its social prestige. How are these not nearly identical to the present argument concerning religion? In conclusion, the Buckert book here under review is a series of logical equivocations and false parallelisms. Ultimately, the book might have worked if the field of ancient religion had been its specific base (and it the author’s field, after all), rather than seeking to answer the question of the persistence of religion over time. Religion in its primitive, polytheistic sense might fit Buckert’s thesis. However, the existence of a sophisticated Christianity in the High Middle Ages, on the other hand, does not so fit. Developed, literate religions such as Islam have created as many barriers to group solidarity as catalysts, and hence, the argument breaks down. One might conclude that since modern societies have developed new means of reinforcing group solidarity, this method of explanation then fails (a priori) to explain why billions still believe.

Concept of internal marketing

Concept of internal marketing The concept of internal marketing The concept of internal marketing is a tool that companies use within their workforce to communicate with their employees. Many company owners and authors of internal marketing believe this concept is as important to a companys survival as external marketing (communicating to customers). When communicating to employees this involves the communications of â€Å"corporate culture and goals, mission and vision statements, as well as personnel policies and procedures†. http://www.bnet.com/2410-13237_23-168356.html Internal marketing was introduced in the mid 1970s. This was initiated so companies could use the concept as a way of achieving consistent service quality. Internal marketing became known in the service marketing industry. The objective of this concept was to get a more improved performance from the employees who regularly dealt with customers. Although this concept began within the service marketing it has now broadened beyond and is included in many other companies and organisations. Ahmed and Rafiq authors of the book Internal Marketing: Tools and concepts for customer-focused management suggest that authors have many definitions of internal marketing and from studying the literature they have highlighted 5 main elements of the concept; Employee motivation and satisfaction Customer orientation and customer satisfaction Inter-functional co-ordination and integration Marketing-like approach to the above Implementation of specific corporate or functional strategies Employee motivation is a significant element of the concept, for many authors understand this to be the essence of what internal marketing to be. An employees attitude towards their own work place is believed to directly influence the value of the customer service that is given to consumers. This was summarised by Kusluvan (2003) â€Å"Internal marketing efforts are assumed to result in employee satisfaction, job involvement, work motivation, employee commitment, maximum employee effort on behalf of the organizations and customers, increased job performance, service-oriented behaviours and lower turnover which, in turn should improve service quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty† Kusluvan, S (2003) pg:42. There are many other definitions of internal marketing. Ahmed and Rafiq argue that the span of understanding about internal marketing from other authors is huge but vague in its limitations. One of the earlier studies by the author Berry, L (1974) believed that â€Å"effective internal marketing, which would contribute to effective marketing would require financially rewarding personnel, management commitment to sales training and self-development revision of personnel transfer policies and a redefinition of management in terms of helping people to achieve through work† (p.13). Berry along with Pasuraman (1991) later added another definition to the concept in their book Marketing services: Competing Through Quality by stating â€Å"Internal marketing is attracting, developing, motivating and retaining qualified employees through job-products that satisfy their needs. Internal marketing is the philosophy of treating employees as customers and it is the strategy of shaping job -products to fit human needs† (pg 26). These authors believed that there was a set of principles to treating employees fairly and motivating them. They also highlighted the belief that employee satisfaction was an important element of internal marketing. The definition by these authors stress the importance that employee satisfaction is needed in order to develop, motivate and retain the best and most qualified employees. From these two definitions given by Barry you can understand that the concept of internal marketing is a broad notion. The American Marketing Association have given a more simplistic and modern definition for the concept â€Å"marketing to employees of an organization to ensure that they are effectively carrying out desired programs and policies†. This definition doesnt give readers a breadth understanding of the concept. Unlike Berrys (1991) definition it doesnt justify how internal marketing can be achieved in the workplace and it also doesnt explain the ways in which employees are to be marketed to ensure the work carried out by them is effective and of a good standard. An important element of internal marketing as said earlier is motivation [motivating the work force]. Considered by many authors as the ‘grandfather of all definitions on internal marketing Grà ¶nroos (1994) created a definition which saw the efforts of motivating employees as very important. Grà ¶nroos had two previous definitions both created in 1981 which suggests that internal marketing is the selling of the firm to employees who are seen as the internal customers. Grà ¶nroos believed that â€Å"the higher employee satisfaction that will result will make it possible to develop a more customer-focused and market-oriented firm† (Cahill, 1996, p.4). Grà ¶nroos 1994 article looks into motivation and states that â€Å"the internal market of employees is best motivated for service mindedness and customer-oriented performance by an active, marketing-like approach, where a variety of activities are used internally in an active, marketing like and coordinated way† (Grà ¶nroos, 1994, p. 13). This definition, as well as Johnson and Seymours (1985) definition which explains internal marketing should â€Å"create an internal environment which supports customer consciousness and sales-mindedness†. Both definitions highlight the fact that internal marketing is about the service and sales mindedness of the customers. There are other recent definitions of the concept of internal marketing by Ballantyne (2000) which suggests that internal marketing â€Å"is a strategy for developing relationships between staff across internal organisational boundaries. This is done so that staff autonomy and know-how may combine in opening up knowledge generating processes that challenge any internal activities that need to be changed. The purpose of this activity is to enhance quality of external marketing relationships† (pg: 43). This definition emphasises the importance of the relationship between the staff and the organisation and how internal marketing is a strategy that will allow this relationship to become stronger. It also highlights the fact that building on the relationship can enhance the service quality and also their relationship with their external markets. To evaluate how affective internal marketing is with employees companies usually give staff seasonal or yearly surveys which they will us e to measure the affects of their internal marketing efforts. There are many answers to what can actually make a successful company. Some may say its the companys ability to adapt to the market or even a companys high level of customer retention and many believe successful companies are created from within the organisation. Communicating internally but affectively to your internal market (employees) many authors believe is an important attribute for company success, An article written in 2007 about the importance of internal marketing suggested thatâ€Å"Internal communications is traditionally viewed as the sole province of the Human Resources department,† and the article continued by stressing the importance that employees have over effective external marketing â€Å"When employees understand and commit to the value proposition of the company and its brands, external marketing becomes more effective, because the employees become product champions†. As the pace of the economy is fast changing and the recent recession has affected many companys survival, internal marketing grows increasingly important. Due to the recession and the increasing pace of change in the workforce, there has been news of many companys creating alliances with one another, merging with one another and also downsizing as a whole. During these hard times employee motivation is extremely important, especially if every employee is understandably beginning to have concerns about their own companys survival or their current job position. Organisations must instil within these employees some sort of strength and satisfaction that would mean that the employees would continue working and at a good level. Generally, a strategy that many companies use and one which coincides with Ballantynes (2000) definition is that companies â€Å"empower staff to build stronger customer relationship†. Internal marketing supports this strategy (or theory some might say) and suggests that through staff empowerment employees will drive for better understanding, they will have a deeper commitment to the relationship they hold with the organisation and as a result there will be greater involvement from the staff. While todays diverse work force becomes more complicated there are a few barriers which can possibly affect how internal marketing is kept within an organisation. In the book Internal marketing: directions for management, Varey R and Lewis B explain these barriers. The first and probably the most important barrier would be the employees and an organisations ‘resistance to change. Kotler (1990) believed that problems can occur from an organisations ‘built-in â€Å"resistance of management to change† (Percy and Morgan 1990). Managers often do not consider new ideas brought about their company, and this is because a change in the work place can bring forth an overall fear of concern about their job and future positions. Other barriers to internal marketing are ‘inter and intra functional conflict. Inter-functional conflicts often occur when a senior managers assumption of their organisational culture is ill-advised and as a consequence managers may become unaware of the issues and problems which affect prolific activities or â€Å"co-operation and integration† (pg: 78). Intra-functional conflicts are basically when one internal function fails to recognise another internal function. Intra-functional conflicts on the other hand are where the goals and objectives of the organisation and its departments are different to the individual and personal goals of employees. â€Å"It occurs because individuals have different goal, desires and ambitions, and will be submerged in different social spheres of interaction that will impact upon their overall attitude and behaviour†. (Pg: 79) If ever these barriers work in cohesion then it can spell big trouble for any organisation. Although the three chosen are seem as the major barriers affecting the use of internal marketing within an organisation there are also a few other problems which can affect successful implementation of the concept. 1, managerial incompetence 2, poor understand of the internal marketing concept 3, rigid organisational structure and 4, top members of staff treating employees like they are unimportant to the business. Anon (2007) Internal Marketing Kotler P, Bowen J and Makens J (2003) have stated 5 importances of internal marketing; Employees must have a customer service attitude Employees must understand your product Employees must be enthused about your product and your company There must be good communication between employees and management Employees must be able to identify and solve customer problems Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism 3e (2003) Generally employees of organisations, especially those who communicate directly with customers can have an influence on customer satisfaction. The authors suggest that these are 5 important features of internal marketing and in order for it to be affective organisations must aide in ensuring that employees behave in a desired manner expected of them from the organisation. Internal market in todays industry is needed because as Berry L Pasuraman A (1991) stated it serves as a â€Å"managerial philosophy† that a company deploys on to employees that in turn would teach the employees how to maintain good high standard of affective customer service. Within organisations employees are recognised as a major part of the capabilities that service organisations produce. â€Å"The popular view is that employees constitute an internal market in which paid labour is exchanged for designated outputs.† Fill C (2009) pg: 895. Fill suggests if the objective of an organisations internal market is kept then employees will reap the benefits through paid labour. Kotler P, Bowen J and Makens J (2003) have proposed that these are the four objectives of internal marketing; To ensure that employees are motivated for customer-oriented and service-minded performance. To retain good employees. To increase customer satisfaction To increase profitability Some may argue that the main objective of internal marketing is to retain suitable and efficient employee personnel. As a means of retaining these ideal employees, organisations develop motivated and customer-conscious staff which while working simultaneously and cohesively can work towards achieving absolute customer satisfaction. There is a philosophy in internal marketing that every action made within the organisation is oriented towards this sole purpose. As times and the economy change so would the process of internal marketing. The model above shows four steps of internal marketing. Some authors believe this model to be too vague and feel that the complexity of the internal market or many organisations cannot be met by four simple steps. Grà ¶nroos (1996) believes â€Å"The internal marketing process is not to be viewed as a process, which only moves in one direction from the top down. On the contrary, the process needs to be directed from and to every side of the organisation in order for it to be successful† As it is important that an organisations internal marketing objectives are met by its employees, an organisation will produce an internal environment that staff will need to function in to a desired way recommended to them by their company. In the article Internal Marketing (2007) it is written that there are four important areas within an organisations internal environment which are essential for the organisations internal market: Motivation Co-ordination Information Education Internal Marketing from engineer sood These four areas have come up many times in definitions by numerous authors and combined create the four objectives of internal marketing that organisational managers should be trying to reach from their employees. If these are reached then as a result the employees work would drive the profitability of the organisation to a positive and effective level. To conclude in many definitions you will read internal marketing being referred to as a concept that aims on â€Å" attracting, developing, motivating and retaining qualified employee† Berry Pasuraman (1991). In some other cases you will read that internal marketing is a philosophy whereby employees are treated as customers or even in some cases where organisations will basically teach employees a specific way of working in the work place and handling customers. Internal marketing has come a long way since it was first proposed in the service marketing industry in the 1970s. The role of marketing in general has undergone many changes. Organisations have begun networking with one another and members of organisations have begun sharing responsibilities and working as teams. Although many if not all definitions of the term ‘internal marketing can still be relevant to today, the concept in itself over the past 40 years has become one which is/will constantly change as long as the world of business changes. From a concept which first focused on supporting the consciousness and sales-mindedness of employees to one which broadens its scope and understands that the concept is much more profound and more complex to achieve good employee to customer service quality. Key words such as ‘relationships, or ‘motivate and philosophy are now being used in the more modern terms of the definition. J.N. Sheth suggests â€Å"motivation is what moves people. It is the driving force for all human behaviour or more formally, it is ‘the state of drive or arousal that impels behaviour toward a goal objective† (Sheth et al 1999). Indeed, motivating employees has continually been used by authors since the concept of internal marketing was initiated , and although motivating employees to work harder and more efficiently is seen to be very important, organisations also need to understand and create a way of making employees enjoy the work that they are doing. Content workforces which take pleasure in their work are understood to be more productive and affective, which in turn creates a better service and customer experience.Organisations must instil within these employees some sort of strength and satisfaction that would encourage the employees to continue working and at a good level. As the new age dawns many organisations have even used employees to help sell their company e.g. Halifax. Halifax adverts and many other adverts similar to this have used employees as a way of advertising to external customers about big internal changes to policies and procedures that the company may be having. You see adverts everywhere with pictures of employees holding offers or incentives from their company or maybe even different adverts where employees are actually talking to the camera. This can be seen as a form or a strategy used for internal marketing. As a good employee is as important to a company as the employer, employees may feel the need to get more involved with company actions and strategies. In the article Internal Marketing (2007) it was stated that one of the problems which could affect the successful implementation of internal marketing is the ignoring of an employees importance to the company and treating them like any other tool of the business. Companies such as The Carphone Warehouse have their own internal marketing strategy whereby they are accompanied by new employees on a weekend of training. On this expedition employees are taught how to deal with customers, they are given information about the company and objectives that the company and each individual employee are and should be trying to reach, they are taught many things about the products sold in the shops, how to deal with complaints and they are also taught ways in which they should act in the workplace (the rules and codes of conducts). Organisations which take on the strategy to market internally must have a clear and precise objective and mission. The objectives of the organisation must be very clear if it is to correspond with how managers internally market their company to employees. If objectives are clear there will be no confusion within the staff on how to do things and what to aim for. This will help the process of knowledge development of the employee by piecing together understanding and loyalty to individual development. As a personal definition of the term internal marketing one would define it as an internal culture created by the managers of an organisation. This culture allows employees to express their creativity and innovative selves to an extent where they still show responsibility and accountability. It is the selling of the ideals and objectives of the company to the employees so that they work harder towards the goal of ultimate success. Developing and motivating employees are strategies deployed to attain the best qualified staff which would allow organisations to reach set objectives. It is a concept which can be evaluated seasonally through surveys and observations of the employees. Internal marketing should be used to meet the expectations of customers, instead internal marketing should be used to exceed them.

Symbols, Symbolism and Feminism in Ibsens Hedda Gabler Essay example -

Symbolism and Feminism in Hedda Gabler  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚   Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House painted the picture of a strong and independent woman standing up to an oppressive and dominating society; the lead character, Nora, abandons not only her husband, but her entire family, in an effort to discover herself and become a liberated woman.   The play is known for its universal appeal, and the strong blow it dealt to a male-dominated society, by showing not only that a woman could break free from the restraints which society placed upon her, but that men were actually quite powerless in the face of a strong woman; Nora's husband, Torvald, is left weeping as she leaves him at the close of the play.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The strong feminist themes which were the defining elements of A Doll's House are equally evident in the play Hedda Gabler, though the latter seems to be lacking the directness, clarity, and strength of the former, in regards to its feminist ideals.   Hedda and Thea, the two female leads, posses within them both admirable and detestable female traits, and only in combination with each other can the characters reveal the true feminist message of the play.   In order to assist the reader in understanding these concepts, and to illustrate the distinct differences between the two characters, Ibsen uses symbolism.   The symbolic nature of hair, Lovborg's manuscript, and General Gabler's pistols, often seem to strip Hedda of her feminine characteristics, and emphasize the femininity of Thea.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  During the time in which this play was written, and as is very true in modern times, a mark of feminine beauty was long, abundant, flowing hair.   Even today, short hair is often considered to be a mark of a more liberated female, and it has been used to charact... ...ety." Thesis. Brigham Young U, 1990. Dyhouse, Carol. "Mothers and Daughters in the Middle-Class Home: c. 1870-1914." Labor and Love: Women's Experience of Home and Family 1850-1940. Ed. Jane Lewis. New York: Blackwell, 1986. 27-45. Gilbert, Sandra M., and Susan Gubar. The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination. New Haven: Yale UP, 1979. Ibsen, Henrik.   Hedda Gabler.   New York:   Dover, 1990. Lewis, Jane. "Introduction: Reconstructing Women's Experience of Home and Family." Labor and Love: Women's Experience of Home and Family 1850-1940. Ed. Jane Lewis. New York: Blackwell, 1986. 1-26. Lyons, Charles R. Hedda Gabler, Role and World. 1990. Twayne's Masterwork Studies 62. Boston: Twayne, 1991. Salomà ©, Lou. Ibsen's Heroines. Ed. and trans. Siegfried Mandel. Redding Ridge: Black Swan, 1985.   

Essay --

Explaining Consciousness Provides Physicalism With Challenges That Place Limits On Scientific Knowledge, And What It Can Uncover About Consciousness Consciousness is one of those topics that are in the position of trying to understand one’s own organism with one’s own organism. The topic of consciousness is so elusive that it mirrors child hood games of trying to catch your own shadow. In the World of philosophy, discerning the truth about consciousness is no childish game. Materialist J.J.C Smart and philosopher Thomas Nagel agree that qualia exist, but are diametrically opposed when it comes to what consciousness is. In this paper I will argue for Nagel’s point of view that consciousness falls outside the nucleus of scientific explanation. Physicalism cannot objectively uncover consciousness using scientific methods because consciousness cannot be reduced to material parts. If Smart’s reductionist view points were correct, where as physics can explain all there is to know about everything in the universe, then why does consciousness seem to evade physical laws of investigation? Explaining consciousn ess provides physicalism with challenges that place limits on scientific knowledge, and what it can uncover about consciousness. J.J.C Smart proposes that a scientific explanation of consciousness must fall with in universal physical laws. Furthermore, if science could not explain consciousness within scientific laws, than we would have a problem called a nomological dangler. For Smart, this is unbelievable. It would seem that this move by Smart is one based on scientific bias. The nature of consciousness rests in the experience of the first person account, and if philosophy of mind is to have a complete scientific knowledge of the... ...the sense that they are easily detectable. Physically looking for something that does not have a physical structure is like trying to get rid of the left by going to the right side. Ultimately, science is looking in the wrong direction because it cannot by default take into consideration first person quotes. In conclusion, it is very difficult to come up with scientific solutions to the problem of consciousness. Science may never be able to solve the mysteries of qualia. New methods might need to be introduced to uncover personal experience that lie far off in the future. Philosophers will just need to continue in their search for a complete theory of a science of mind. In addition, humility within the sciences may go along way towards an understanding of consciousness. â€Å" We do not know what consciousness means outside the frame of personality†- Albert Einstein

Jung, Gardner, and Freud Comparison Essay

In today’s society, education is more liberal, allowing people to think for themselves and providing them with a broader education. This differs from many years ago, when education was more conservative. Education was very basic, consisting of only academic classes and no electives. People with a more conservative education would never go against what they were taught. However, liberally educated people of today can go against what they are taught, research it themselves, and make new conclusions about their studies. A liberal education enables people to deal with the forces that control their life. It frees them from the restraints in everyday life. Having such a broad education allows people to deal with such forces. Four psychologists have written essays and constructed theories that can agree that liberal education is of a greater stature than conservatively educated. The essays are â€Å"The Theory of Multiple Intelligences,† written by Howard Gardner, â€Å"The Personal and Collective Unconscious,† written by Carl Jung, â€Å"The Allegory of the Cave,† written by Plato, and â€Å"From the Interpretation of Dreams,† written by Sigmund Freud. In Howard Gardner’s â€Å"Theory of Multiple Intelligences† he states that there are seven different kinds of intelligence. He alludes that everyone has the potential to be intelligent in an unconventional way. Gardner writes, â€Å"The question of the optimal definition of intelligence looms large in our inquiry. Indeed it is at the level of this definition that the theory of multiple intelligences diverges from the traditional points of view†(370). If one were to have a more conservative education, Gardner’s ideas would have been absurd because nobody would have understood them. People would have only understood intelligence as being smart in school. People with a conservative education would never look deeper into things. On the other hand, a liberal education teaches people to challenge what they have learned, if they do not agree with it. Gardner did just that. Alfred Binet believed that intelligence was measured by IQ tests. Gardner did not agree with this, so he did his own research on it. Because of Gardner’s liberal education, he was able to rise above those who received a more conservative education. Carl Jung’s essay, â€Å"The Personal and the Collective Unconscious† based itself on a liberal education because it talks about psychology, which falls under liberal education. Psychology is the study of mind and behavior. A liberal education allows people to study this; however, a more conservative education would not because studying the mind is not essential in academics. Psychology studies the things that people cannot see, such as conscious and unconscious states. It also allows people to not have to accept what other people say. In the essay written by Jung, he stated, â€Å"If in such cases we pursue our observations systematically and without prejudice, we shall find material which, although similar in form to the previous personal contents, yet seems to contain allusions that go far beyond the personal sphere†(345). Carl Jung did not agree with Freud’s theory, so he did his own research, and found Freud’s research to be inconclusive. Because of his liberal education and study in psychology, Jung was able to control the forces in his life and did not agree with what was thought by Freud. Plato’s, â€Å"The Allegory of the Cave† shows that the prisoners of his story were unable to see the truth because of their lack of a liberal education. In fact, at first they could not see anything nor could they move their heads. With only the aid of a small fire were they able to see the shadows of pictures on the wall. However, in the end, one prisoner rose above the shadows and saw the truth when he was let out of the cave, but when he went back to the cave, he was terrorized. Plato wrote, â€Å"He will require to grow accustomed to the sight of the upper world. And first he will see the shadow’s best, next the reflections of men and other objects in the water, and then the objects themselves†(317). The other prisoners were not liberally educated. They believed only what they saw, and they did not see what this one prisoner was saying. Plato showed that the prisoners were kept in darkness, unable to see the truth. When they finally were told the truth, they did not believe it because they had not seen it for themselves. During the story, the prisoners were kept in shadows. Today, society deals with the same problem. In today’s society, people have to deal with being lied to by the government and media, which only tell people what they want them to know, and in a sense, they disfigure the truth. With the authority figures, such as the media and government, keeping people in the shadows just like the prisoners, people do not always know what to believe. Sometimes people want to believe what they are told, even though they know it’s a lie. The difference between the prisoners and people today is that more people today have a liberal education. Those with a liberal education can see what the government and media may not want them to see, looking beyond what is given to them, but going out of reach and gathering other information. In the essay written by Sigmund Freud, â€Å"From the Interpretation of Dreams,† Freud analyzed people’s behaviors through their dreams. He had noticed that dreams played an important role in his analysis of neurotic and â€Å"hysterical† patients. Freud believed that sleeping dreams were nearly always, like daydreams, wish fulfillment. Wish fulfillment is such that it may be enrolled in the continuity of the intelligible psychic activities of the waking state; it is built up by a highly complicated intellectual activity. Freud went beyond the boundaries of education. Freud explains his reasoning about dreams, â€Å"[Dreams] are not meaningless, they are not absurd; they do not imply that one portion of our store of ideas is asleep while another portion is beginning to wake† (330). He took a different approach about the way he analyzed people. His liberally educated mind allowed him to get past the typical mental analysis and utilize dream interpretations to fabricate theories. Today’s education is more liberal than it has been in the past. A liberal education teaches people to think for themselves and it provides people with a broader education. The classes that are part of a liberal education are not just the general education classes, they are also electives. A liberal education teaches people to challenge what they do not believe, but a person with a more conservative education would never challenge what they were told. In challenging what they do not believe, they can further research it. In doing this it frees people from the restraints in their everyday life, and allows them to control the forces in their life.