Tuesday, December 31, 2019

The Competition For Admission Into College - 791 Words

The competition for admission into college can be extremely tough, and a gap year, especially a mandatory one, can lead to even greater competition than before. When searching through application upon application, universities tend to look for students who have â€Å"passionate involvement in a few in or out of school activities† as well as â€Å"out of school experiences including work, community service, youth organizations, religious groups, etc.† (IECA, 1). Many universities look out for not only a student’s GPA throughout their high school years, but also the extracurriculars and experiences the student has gone through in order to find the handful of applicants that are deemed the â€Å"cream of the crop.† By adding the mandatory gap year for all students to the educational system, the students who are aiming to be accepted into the top universities of the nation will essentially have another year of school to go through because of their need to have their college application look the most polished and unique out of all the others. Yet a vast majority of the applicants will have similar-looking application forms because of the actions they are all taking to appear as the best. However, that specific â€Å"king of the hill† type mindset is what creates the cookie-cutter applicants many universities face today, and the arrival of a mandatory gap year could magnify the problem with more and more students trying to outshine each other in the fight for the top. Gap years allow students toShow MoreRelatedTrends Of College Admissions : Katherine O Malley. Arizona State University1510 Words   |  7 Pages Trends in College Admissions Katherine O’Malley Arizona State University One of the key components in higher education enrollment management in a public, four-year university is the admissions process. With encouragement from many sources such as friends, family, and college marketing materials, high school juniors and seniors apply and enroll in college by the thousands each year (McDonough, 1994). College choice is greater now than twenty years ago, but finding the right fitRead MoreLegacy Admission Should Not Be Allowed Since World War I1477 Words   |  6 Pages Legacy Admission As Peter Schmidt of the chronicle says, legacies originated after World War I to support the immigrant students, particularly Jews. When it became harder to control Jewish enrollment, in 1920’s most respected universities such as Harvard, Yale and Princeton considered legacy status. Since then it has raised the concerns for lower class families who did not attend good universities and their children wanted to attend but ended up not getting admission. In 2003, SenatorRead MoreAmerica Should Not Be Allowed Since World War I1525 Words   |  7 Pageswanted to attend but ended up not getting admission. In 2003, Senator Edward Kennedy sought legislation to compel colleges to make public their data on legacy admissions. It didn’t pass due to higher education’s powerful lobbying. Legacy admission should not be allowed since it promotes discrimination, lowers academic competition, should not affect alumni donating to their universities and as well as thei r academic performance. Many colleges ask applicants if they have a parent or grandparentRead MoreSchools, Accreditations, and Competition between Individuals and Institutions989 Words   |  4 PagesSchool, accreditation and competition What does individual and institution have in common? Both of them want to achieve something that makes them outstanding. School as an educational institution also want to achieve something. School wants to be recognized by the society, that’s how the idea of accreditation came up. Accreditation is a form of quality assurance to ensure the teacher, school’s curriculum, and the alumni’s â€Å"quality† are adequate to fulfill the society’s need. By being accreditedRead MoreGraduation Speech : College Admissions1424 Words   |  6 Pagesthe process of college admissions. While it may seem like no big deal - it may sound like a blessing when the length of a graduation ceremony is considered - the impact of a class ranking extends far beyond the privilege of giving a speech on graduation day. Class rankings are a vital component of high schools, and eradicating them would be detrimental to both colleges and students in many ways. Class rankings provide colleges with data needed for evaluating applicants. Some colleges have a plethoraRead MoreThe Admissions Process Is Becoming A Competition872 Words   |  4 Pagesanxious to hear if they got into the college of their dreams, but those dreams may be crushed by the overwhelming grades and test scores. Today, there are many colleges who have eased up and made their application process easier. The admission process has become a competition and many colleges have been known to favor only athletes or A.P. students. Then the students who have poor schooling systems or no athleticism become last on the totem pole. So what many colleges have decided to do is look into havingRead MoreEssay about Home Schooling: A Form of Education on the Rise913 Words   |  4 Pagesschooling. Homeschooling is a viable alternative to public schooling because it has been proven that homeschoolers excel at college, homeschoolers show exceptional abilities in academic competitions, and homeschoolers have many more opportunities than public school children. College is becoming more and more important in the world today. Homeschoolers have been proven to excel at college because of their ability to teach themselves and their knowledge of the subjects they are studying. Homeschool studentsRead MoreSociological Imagination : My High School Gpa989 Words   |  4 Pagesthese forces against me I failed and did not receive admission. Although my experience was rather dramatic, other students had different, and even more dramatic, experiences than me. For example, one student from my school received admission to Harvard University. This same student also had a stroke in the 2nd grade and has had physical and mental disabilities ever since. Looking at this case in isolation, people assumed that he only got admission because he was an Asian student with disabilities.Read MoreAffirmative Action And Its Effects On The United States1100 Words   |  5 Pagesefforts. At the same time, policies that give â€Å"preference† in employment (or un iversity admissions) to less-qualified members of these groups are strongly opposed† (Holzer 535). The preferences for less-qualified minorities and females in most current Affirmative Action practices create labor market inefficiencies and removes competiveness beginning in the adolescence age level. There is a misconception that competition is bad; that self-esteem will be irrevocably damaged. If a student can experienceRead MoreReview Of President Obama s Goal For The United States990 Words   |  4 Pagesworld by the year 2020, access to higher education has taken center stage for a variety of audiences, particularly students, their families, and educators who assist them. The National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) gathers these educators – college guidance counselors, admissions officers, and enrollment management administrators – as well as representatives from community-based organizations, and educational vendors each fall for the NACAC conference. The annual conference provides

Monday, December 23, 2019

Comparing Vladimir Lenin s Eyes And A Capitalist Society

The popular, the majority, the working class, the predominant, the masses. There are countless terms available to describe who has the most socio-political power, the most weathered; the proletariats. In Vladimir Lenin’s eyes, in a capitalist society a proletariat is the term used to describe the working class, the class that does not have ownership of any means of production(land and capital) and whose sole income source derives from labor. The minority, who own the majority of the wealth, the means of production, and the means of coercion(law enforcement and legal system). In a capitalist society, the bourgeoisie exploit the proletariats. Only the bourgeoisie could afford the means of production, therefore they control the proletariat’s†¦show more content†¦They would prohibit any Soviet that had a capitalist agenda from gaining any socio-political power, therefore creating the first completely proletarian government, made by and for the working class. Anoth er example of where this method was applied is the Chinese Communist Revolution. Qu Lindong, a prominent Chinese historian at the University of Beijing, describes â€Å"Marxism as the dominant outlook in[Chinese] history.† In fact, the Chinese Revolution was championed by Mao Zedong, a devout believer in the Marxism-Leninism revolutionary theories, whom attempted to apply the techniques used by Lenin in the Russian Revolution, adapted slightly to fit China’s socio-political needs, to his own nation. Both of these revolution’s occurred for the same reason; the majority’s exasperation in their respective, unequal social structure. Essentially, the working class got tired of being exploited and suppressed by the ruling class, and decided to take a stand against them, as one unit. The Chinese Revolution was similar to the Russian Revolution because, once capitalism reigned globally supreme, the only type of revolt that could occur is the overthrow of capitali sm by the conscious revolutionary acts of the proletariat. Therefore, almost all revolutions are based on class conflict and

Sunday, December 15, 2019

Political Identity Free Essays

Political Identity can be referred to the collective aspect of the set of characteristics by which a political party of your choice is recognizable or known. Politics exists all around the world whether it involves the government, religion, debates, events, or individuals in general. It can be quite difficult to determine one’s Political Identity as this consists of various concepts. We will write a custom essay sample on Political Identity or any similar topic only for you Order Now I am a follower of the Liberal Party of Ontario which is aligned with the Canadian Liberal Party. The following essay will be discussing the influences that have impacted me in order to create my own Political Identity. Politics consists of three distinctive categories such as, the Conservative Party, the Liberal Party and the New Democratic Party. The Liberal Party generally stands between the view points of both the Conservative Party and the New Democratic Party. This party has formed the Government of Ontario since the year 2003. The Liberal Party is extremely open to embracing changes and creating opportunities for individuals in our modern world. As in individual, I tend to follow a middle path in which I consider both sides of the decisions I make. I am also quite open to learning newer concepts and I have the ability to adapt to any changes that my arise. Thus I believe that my Political Identity lies with the Liberal Party as my actions can relate to the ones made by this party. As a child, I was unable to understand the concept of politics, though I was taught to support the Liberals. However now that I have matured, I have discovered why many individuals choose to support the Liberals, as opposed to the other political parties. Due to the positive attitude towards change, the Liberal Party is the reason why Canada is seen as such a multicultural country. The Liberal Party has helped changed the lives of many individuals that had been living an unfortunate life. If it were not for the Liberals, I would not be in such a well developed country. My parents had not been blessed with such a pleasant life. They had came across many hardships in life and hoped that their children would not experience such a life. Throughout the 1970s, the Liberal Party granted permission for the Ismaili Muslims from Africa to enter Canada, in order to have a better lifestyle. This is when my parents fled from East Africa and entered Canada. Migrating to Canada has had a great positive impact on their lives, along with the lives of many others. Hence my family and friends have been voting for the Liberal Party for many years. This has impacted my Political Identity by a whole lot. There are many factors which contributed to the choice of my Political Identity Living in a society in which immigrants from all around the world are present, has assisted in shaping my Political Identity. While attending school, I am exposed to a variety of races. Therefore schools tend to enforce Liberalism as well. Due to this, many students choose to follow the Liberal Party. Not only do I follow the Liberals because I such a society, but also because the Liberals have given individuals the freedom of their choice. During the past, the women of Ontario were not granted the permission to abort their children. If one chose to give up her baby, she was to cross the border to fulfill her desire. However the Liberals brought a change in which a woman is free to act upon her choice. Also, same-sex marriages were not permitted at any costs. Yet recently, by law, individuals are allowed to wed any sex of their choice without being ridiculed. Although these acts may have seemed immoral in the past, they have come to be accepted by our society. I too feel that individuals should have the right of freedom when it comes to choosing what is best for their lifestyle. Thus I support the decisions the Liberals have chose to create based on our modern society. Overall, I believe that the Liberal Party is an exceptional party that has performed many changes that have been beneficially for many individuals. Although I felt compelled to support the Liberals because my family supported them, as a matured person, I now feel that the Liberal Party is worth supporting because not only has it assisted my the members of community, it has also assisted people from around the world. This party has also given individuals the right of freedom in order act upon their desire. Though it has limitations, the Liberal Party strives to strengthen its economy and create opportunities for its people. As a person, I believe it is important to accept change and keep oneself open to new opportunities. Therefore my Political Identity can be recognized as a Liberal. How to cite Political Identity, Papers

Friday, December 6, 2019

A theory of Human Motivation. Classics of Organization

Question: 1. Discuss how the recognition scheme supports McDonald's culture and attracts future leaders? 2. Discuss which theory you think would support McDonald's recognition scheme? Answer: 1. The Following Case Study Deals With the Behavioural and the Ways McDonalds use in their Business Scheme to Make Profit. For the following case study, different scenarios will be discussed on the basis of McDonalds organizational structure and their way of hiring the people and also the lucrative ways they keep in their schemes for their employees. It would also discuss if they are going to be a directly part of a non-profit organization (Renz, 2016). For the following case study, McDonalds human resource management is taken to be in consideration and the methods or ways they take in their organization to keep their employees intact. Also we would look into the internal strategies of the company and the difference in their approach on human resource management with some not for profit organization. McDonalds has a recognition scheme which gives their employees a chance to prove themselves and choose a future leader from that group. McDonalds in Australia has the largest employee with about seventy five thousand people. It won an award in the year 2008 for one of the best companies to work in Australia. It has a strong potential for developing its future leaders as many of its employers including the managing director of the company also started in the as young as fifteen years old. They have a strong understanding of the uplifting the people who got potential and who prove to be good for the company in the future. As many as seventy percent of the employees who work in McDonalds are mainly school going student aged between fourteen to eighteen years. Having young people in the staff provide a large pool of potential managers and future leaders in the organization. Having young people at the workplace also prove to be beneficial as they tend to learn thing quite easily compared to others. Young minds also tend to give more and more innovative ideas and each in its unique way. As McDonalds is considered the biggest of all in the global fast food market, it uses its organizational culture to attract more and more employees. McDonalds organizational culture motivates learning. This reflects the effectiveness to achieve the desired levels in the corporate culture of human resource capabilities (Purce, 2014). This highlights why McDonald is so famous and an established company worldwide. It has a unique culture that is followed by five strategies namely people, products, place, price and promotion. There is strong recognition in the company itself. It is possible because it runs formal annual events and developing programs that are operated in the corporate level. The one that runs at store level is the Crew Recognition Program as this is aimed to find out the one who have contributed the most during hi/her shift. The ones who are in high level are also recognized by giving them awards as the employer of the month or employer of the year. They get their names printed in the monthly staff magazine named WRAPT and are also awarded some gift or discount card. There is also an Outstanding Achievers Award at the corporate level where employees get nominated by their managers for contributing the most to the business strategy or is delivering results which was not expected. They are approved by each recipient and are awarded a $500 dollar gift voucher and also get a formal recognition to their peers at the annual staff meeting. The main reason they prosper with their scheme is because the organization has some following characteristics. The first one is the People-Centricity where the employers need and development gets prioritizes (Purce, 2014). They encourage their employers to help improve processes and procedures to ensure the support for the people. Second is the individual learning where importance of lifelong learning are highlighted which in turn promotes the productivity, quality and business effectiveness (Sparrow , Brewster Chung, 2016). It also offers training and development opportunities to enhance one are learning. The main aim is keep employees more motivated in learning. The third one is the organizational learning where they aims to use ones learning to develop organizational knowledge to push the business forward. They encourage their employees to give feedback and knowledge sharing through policies, programs and meetings. The last one is the Diversity and inclusion where the human resource management sees the importance of optimizing human resource capabilities that deals with diverse market. To keep a check on the diversity and inclusion, the employers are encouraged to give their feedback so that it can help the organization to grow more and more. By giving feedback, they can understand more about their internal problems and help in managing (Purce, 2014). Giving feedback also helps them to ensure they are well received in the organization and with this feedback they can get a clear picture of what is in t he mind of the employees. This also helps in enabling the quality of service through people centricity, individual and organizational learning (Sparrow, Brewster Chung, 2016). McDonald mainly focuses on individual learning and strong team spirits. A strong culture has developed due to its recognition program which in turn contributes retention of staff. With more interactions with the employees, they can get to know more about their talents which can help in their productivity and will give them more chance to prove themselves among their peers which will boost their confidence which will make them work for long (Doherty, Haugh Lyon, 2014). 2.McDonalds Recognition Scheme can be understood by Maslows Hierarchy scheme under which Motivation and Rewards are Included and Self-Determination scheme. Motivation and rewards are there at the core of recognition schemes as if the organization supports their crew members more, they can help in turning the productivity for the organization and if there are any rewards included in their work, the employees would try their best to get that which will keep them motivated for their work more and more. This will in turn also help them to get recognized in front of their peers at the annual staff meeting which will give them a chance for upliftment (Healy, 2016). Motivating someone will also help the employees to get more engaged in their work and if possible find a way to some innovative ideas which would help the organization to grow. Fulfilling the needs of an employee would also help in increasing the performance of the employer (Benn, Dunphy Griffiths, 2014). Effective motivation system helps in greatly increasing the performance of the employees performance hence productivity is also increased. Maslows theory and self determination theory should help the companys recognition scheme. Maslow theory has been depicted as a pyramid which shows the needs of a human being (Healy, 2016). The first one is the physiological scheme in which the employee expects to have a goof working environment and should get monthly salary and also should provide essential facilities. The second is the safety needs where there would be a contract between the employer and the company and also benefit with pension and sick pays (Maslow, 2013). The third one is the social needs where there will be groups working across teams at different levels encouraging team building through social activities. The fourth one is the self-esteem where one expects to get respect and praise from others. Feedback and appraisal system can help in recognizing the employees contribution. Celebrating employees achievement would also help them in regaining that self respect and appraisal. The last in the pyramid is the self-actualisation, where one employee is motivated to believe in one self so that he/she can have career discussions among managers and human resource and also they should have the confidence that they can fill any future vacancies (Maslow, 2015) ("Summary of Maslow on Self-Transcendence", 2017). The second theory would be the self determination theory or SDT which is concerned with the supporting of natural or intrinsic tendencies to behave in effective and healthy ways ("Extrinsic vs. intrinsic motivation: what's the difference? - NTD.TV", 2017). SDT is mainly concerned with basic three psychological needs that are competence, relatedness and autonomy can be used for the optimal development and functioning of human persons. Competence can be referred to as meeting the daily challenges and demands of environment. These can be achieved by effective outcomes and having desired goal sets. Autonomy can be defined as having the control in making choices from ones own will (Van den Broeck, Vansteenkiste De Witte, 2013). The essential elements that bring about the autonomy includes self awareness of ones motives, external demands and emotions and having the chance of self direction and choice making and have active involvement. Both competence and autonomy are necessary for mainta ining the intrinsic motivation (Kehoe Wright, 2013). Relatedness can be defined as the need to achieve connections and closeness with others. This will further provide emotional security. SDT shows the need to get competence, relatedness and autonomy and describes it as compatible and universal. SDT says the people gets influenced by their culture in assigning the meaning and often interpret as positive or negative. With the help of SDT, many employees can get their recognition as they know what is good for them and what decisions will make profit for the company (Spence Deci, 2013). If they give any feedback or suggestion that can really help the organization, they will be automatically recognized by their managers and hence they can get some rewards or incentives which will motivate them to work more and more and they would prove to be more productive in the coming years. Autonomous academics help to adapt learning attitudes, academic studies and well being. Autonomous helps a person to decide what is good and what is bad (Kehoe Wright, 2013). This helps those making decisions which are more effective and this helps them stand out of the blue. Their intellectual thinking helps them to think more deeply and this also helps in recognition of the employees among the peers and gives them a better chance for the upliftment (Renz, 2016). Hence, these theories can help in the recognition scheme as with the above theory, one can evaluate oneself more deeply and one can make him/her more useful. McDonalds approach is very much different from any not for profit organization. McDonalds approach to managing the HR would not be directly applicable for the Non-profit organization as McDonalds is doing business for which they need human resources to run that organization where as in any NGOs; they work there willingly to help people. McDonalds is solely dependent on human labor so they need some rewards and motivation so as to keep their workers in place (Renz, 2016). They need some lucrative offers too so that their crew remains interested. Along with the rewards, they need to provide some allowances like free food, place to live, pensions and a good working environment whereas in case of Spastic Centre, as they are NGOs, they dont find this attractive (Butler Wilson, 2015). McDonalds per year make millions of turnover and they are the longest chain in the fast food market and hamburgers. For McDonalds, human resource management is required to look after every department and how it is operating and with time providing them with rewards occasionally (Grant, 2016). The not for profit organizations is a company that is trying hard to find quality staff for a long run. Therefore, the not-for profit organizations are trying hard for the retention of their existing employees (Butler Wilson, 2015). The essay is trying to highlight if McDonalds human resource management strategies can be applied in a not-for-profit organization. A thorough study has proved that McDonalds has been effectively maintaining good relationships with its employees and employees are given firm opportunity to improve their position on the assessment of their performance where it falls under the expectancy theory.(Renz, 2016). The essay says that the employees in the McDonalds company are well taken care of on the basis of their performance and are also rewarded according to their performance. But on the other hand, the employees in the spastic centre are trained according to the conditions of the company that may face in the future. McDonalds style cannot be applied in case of any not-for-profit organizations. Company whose aim is in maximizing the profit for every fiscal year has to implement different strategies in order to get the benefits from there employees. The same cannot be applied for any not-for-profit organizations as they tend to work for the betterment of the society and also encourages their employees to work for the benefit of others and should be selfless in their work (Renz, 2016). McDonalds gives the power of authority to the managers who looking after a particular franchise. According to agency theory, they got the power to implement and can also execute the decisions that has been made and these decisions are not related to the principals. There is a fine line that is underlying between a multibillion company and a not-for-profit organization. Not-for-profit has no aim in earning any sort of profits. The not for profit organizations generally hire and try to hold onto their working personnel so as to reach the aim they are working for. The company also offers quality training for their employees so that they can reach the goals that they up set for. Monetary rewards are hard to give to the employees working for any not-for-profit organization, as they do only work for the betterment of the society. The tax is deducted from the salary of the employees. Facilities such as superannuation scheme, perquisites, and food provision scheme are given to the employees of Spastic Centre (Alliance, 2017); however there is no scope for any kind of opportunities. McDonalds is able to give much better opportunities and security to the staff from all the investment and franchise that is under the company. Since an argument always forms two way paths, there will be no topic untouched for the same argument. Managing strategies are also different for any not for profit organization. Some conditions are there that need to be checked before the proceedings where one needs to check if there is any opportunity in the growth of the company; whether it covers insurance of the employees and whether the employees can find any sort of competitiveness in there workplace . Conclusion Rewards are really important for any organization but on the other hand, it is bad also as when there will be no rewards or any monitory benefit is included in any other work, then that individual may not want to do that task anymore. Good managers motivate their workers to do even good. Motivation helps anyone to do a task more efficiently and can prove to be more productive. With their productivity in line, they can benefit the company more and hence they get recognition from their peers. With rewards and incentives included, they can take their work more seriously (Wilton, 2016). Here we would consider the Maslow Theory where the basic needs of a human being are described and all organization should follow this structure so as to give their workers a safer environment to work. References: Alfes, K., Shantz, A. D., Truss, C., Soane, E. C. (2013). The link between perceived human resource management practices, engagement and employee behaviour: a moderated mediation model.The international journal of human resource management,24(2), 330-351. Alliance, C. (2017). History | Cerebral Palsy Alliance. Cerebralpalsy.org.au. Retrieved 9 February 2017, from https://www.cerebralpalsy.org.au/who-we-are/history/ Armstrong, M., Taylor, S. (2014).Armstrong's handbook of human resource management practice. Kogan Page Publishers. Benn, S., Dunphy, D., Griffiths, A. (2014).Organizational change for corporate sustainability. Routledge. Butler, R., Wilson, D. C. (2015).Managing voluntary and non-profit organizations: Strategy and structure. Routledge. Doherty, B., Haugh, H., Lyon, F. (2014). Social enterprises as hybrid organizations: A review and research agenda.International Journal of Management Reviews,16(4), 417-436. Extrinsic vs. intrinsic motivation: what's the difference? - NTD.TV. (2017). NTD.TV. Retrieved 9 February 2017, from https://www.ntd.tv/2017/02/08/extrinsic-vs-intrinsic-motivation-whats-difference/ Fee, M. C. (2014). Human resources management. Grant, R. M. (2016).Contemporary strategy analysis: Text and cases edition. John Wiley Sons. Healy, K. (2016). A Theory of Human Motivation by Abraham H. Maslowreflection.The British Journal of Psychiatry,208(4), 313-313. Kehoe, R. R., Wright, P. M. (2013). The impact of high-performance human resource practices on employees attitudes and behaviors.Journal of management,39(2), 366-391. Maslow, A. H. (2013).A theory of human motivation. Simon and Schuster. Maslow, A. H. (2015). A theory of Human Motivation.Classics of Organization Theory,50, 142. Purce, J. (2014). The impact of corporate strategy on human resource management.New Perspectives on Human Resource Management (Routledge Revivals),67. Renz, D. O. (2016).The Jossey-Bass handbook of nonprofit leadership and management. John Wiley Sons. Sparrow, P., Brewster, C., Chung, C. (2016).Globalizing human resource management. Routledge. Spence, G. B., Deci, E. L. (2013). Self?determination theory within coaching contexts: Supporting motives and goals that promote optimal functioning and well?being.Beyond goals: Effective strategies for coaching and mentoring, 85-108. Summary of Maslow on Self-Transcendence. (2017). Ieet.org. Retrieved 9 February 2017, from https://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/Messerly20170204 Van den Broeck, A., Vansteenkiste, M., De Witte, H. (2013). Self-Determination theory. Wilton, N. (2016).An introduction to human resource management. Sage.

A theory of Human Motivation. Classics of Organization

Question: 1. Discuss how the recognition scheme supports McDonald's culture and attracts future leaders? 2. Discuss which theory you think would support McDonald's recognition scheme? Answer: 1. The Following Case Study Deals With the Behavioural and the Ways McDonalds use in their Business Scheme to Make Profit. For the following case study, different scenarios will be discussed on the basis of McDonalds organizational structure and their way of hiring the people and also the lucrative ways they keep in their schemes for their employees. It would also discuss if they are going to be a directly part of a non-profit organization (Renz, 2016). For the following case study, McDonalds human resource management is taken to be in consideration and the methods or ways they take in their organization to keep their employees intact. Also we would look into the internal strategies of the company and the difference in their approach on human resource management with some not for profit organization. McDonalds has a recognition scheme which gives their employees a chance to prove themselves and choose a future leader from that group. McDonalds in Australia has the largest employee with about seventy five thousand people. It won an award in the year 2008 for one of the best companies to work in Australia. It has a strong potential for developing its future leaders as many of its employers including the managing director of the company also started in the as young as fifteen years old. They have a strong understanding of the uplifting the people who got potential and who prove to be good for the company in the future. As many as seventy percent of the employees who work in McDonalds are mainly school going student aged between fourteen to eighteen years. Having young people in the staff provide a large pool of potential managers and future leaders in the organization. Having young people at the workplace also prove to be beneficial as they tend to learn thing quite easily compared to others. Young minds also tend to give more and more innovative ideas and each in its unique way. As McDonalds is considered the biggest of all in the global fast food market, it uses its organizational culture to attract more and more employees. McDonalds organizational culture motivates learning. This reflects the effectiveness to achieve the desired levels in the corporate culture of human resource capabilities (Purce, 2014). This highlights why McDonald is so famous and an established company worldwide. It has a unique culture that is followed by five strategies namely people, products, place, price and promotion. There is strong recognition in the company itself. It is possible because it runs formal annual events and developing programs that are operated in the corporate level. The one that runs at store level is the Crew Recognition Program as this is aimed to find out the one who have contributed the most during hi/her shift. The ones who are in high level are also recognized by giving them awards as the employer of the month or employer of the year. They get their names printed in the monthly staff magazine named WRAPT and are also awarded some gift or discount card. There is also an Outstanding Achievers Award at the corporate level where employees get nominated by their managers for contributing the most to the business strategy or is delivering results which was not expected. They are approved by each recipient and are awarded a $500 dollar gift voucher and also get a formal recognition to their peers at the annual staff meeting. The main reason they prosper with their scheme is because the organization has some following characteristics. The first one is the People-Centricity where the employers need and development gets prioritizes (Purce, 2014). They encourage their employers to help improve processes and procedures to ensure the support for the people. Second is the individual learning where importance of lifelong learning are highlighted which in turn promotes the productivity, quality and business effectiveness (Sparrow , Brewster Chung, 2016). It also offers training and development opportunities to enhance one are learning. The main aim is keep employees more motivated in learning. The third one is the organizational learning where they aims to use ones learning to develop organizational knowledge to push the business forward. They encourage their employees to give feedback and knowledge sharing through policies, programs and meetings. The last one is the Diversity and inclusion where the human resource management sees the importance of optimizing human resource capabilities that deals with diverse market. To keep a check on the diversity and inclusion, the employers are encouraged to give their feedback so that it can help the organization to grow more and more. By giving feedback, they can understand more about their internal problems and help in managing (Purce, 2014). Giving feedback also helps them to ensure they are well received in the organization and with this feedback they can get a clear picture of what is in t he mind of the employees. This also helps in enabling the quality of service through people centricity, individual and organizational learning (Sparrow, Brewster Chung, 2016). McDonald mainly focuses on individual learning and strong team spirits. A strong culture has developed due to its recognition program which in turn contributes retention of staff. With more interactions with the employees, they can get to know more about their talents which can help in their productivity and will give them more chance to prove themselves among their peers which will boost their confidence which will make them work for long (Doherty, Haugh Lyon, 2014). 2.McDonalds Recognition Scheme can be understood by Maslows Hierarchy scheme under which Motivation and Rewards are Included and Self-Determination scheme. Motivation and rewards are there at the core of recognition schemes as if the organization supports their crew members more, they can help in turning the productivity for the organization and if there are any rewards included in their work, the employees would try their best to get that which will keep them motivated for their work more and more. This will in turn also help them to get recognized in front of their peers at the annual staff meeting which will give them a chance for upliftment (Healy, 2016). Motivating someone will also help the employees to get more engaged in their work and if possible find a way to some innovative ideas which would help the organization to grow. Fulfilling the needs of an employee would also help in increasing the performance of the employer (Benn, Dunphy Griffiths, 2014). Effective motivation system helps in greatly increasing the performance of the employees performance hence productivity is also increased. Maslows theory and self determination theory should help the companys recognition scheme. Maslow theory has been depicted as a pyramid which shows the needs of a human being (Healy, 2016). The first one is the physiological scheme in which the employee expects to have a goof working environment and should get monthly salary and also should provide essential facilities. The second is the safety needs where there would be a contract between the employer and the company and also benefit with pension and sick pays (Maslow, 2013). The third one is the social needs where there will be groups working across teams at different levels encouraging team building through social activities. The fourth one is the self-esteem where one expects to get respect and praise from others. Feedback and appraisal system can help in recognizing the employees contribution. Celebrating employees achievement would also help them in regaining that self respect and appraisal. The last in the pyramid is the self-actualisation, where one employee is motivated to believe in one self so that he/she can have career discussions among managers and human resource and also they should have the confidence that they can fill any future vacancies (Maslow, 2015) ("Summary of Maslow on Self-Transcendence", 2017). The second theory would be the self determination theory or SDT which is concerned with the supporting of natural or intrinsic tendencies to behave in effective and healthy ways ("Extrinsic vs. intrinsic motivation: what's the difference? - NTD.TV", 2017). SDT is mainly concerned with basic three psychological needs that are competence, relatedness and autonomy can be used for the optimal development and functioning of human persons. Competence can be referred to as meeting the daily challenges and demands of environment. These can be achieved by effective outcomes and having desired goal sets. Autonomy can be defined as having the control in making choices from ones own will (Van den Broeck, Vansteenkiste De Witte, 2013). The essential elements that bring about the autonomy includes self awareness of ones motives, external demands and emotions and having the chance of self direction and choice making and have active involvement. Both competence and autonomy are necessary for mainta ining the intrinsic motivation (Kehoe Wright, 2013). Relatedness can be defined as the need to achieve connections and closeness with others. This will further provide emotional security. SDT shows the need to get competence, relatedness and autonomy and describes it as compatible and universal. SDT says the people gets influenced by their culture in assigning the meaning and often interpret as positive or negative. With the help of SDT, many employees can get their recognition as they know what is good for them and what decisions will make profit for the company (Spence Deci, 2013). If they give any feedback or suggestion that can really help the organization, they will be automatically recognized by their managers and hence they can get some rewards or incentives which will motivate them to work more and more and they would prove to be more productive in the coming years. Autonomous academics help to adapt learning attitudes, academic studies and well being. Autonomous helps a person to decide what is good and what is bad (Kehoe Wright, 2013). This helps those making decisions which are more effective and this helps them stand out of the blue. Their intellectual thinking helps them to think more deeply and this also helps in recognition of the employees among the peers and gives them a better chance for the upliftment (Renz, 2016). Hence, these theories can help in the recognition scheme as with the above theory, one can evaluate oneself more deeply and one can make him/her more useful. McDonalds approach is very much different from any not for profit organization. McDonalds approach to managing the HR would not be directly applicable for the Non-profit organization as McDonalds is doing business for which they need human resources to run that organization where as in any NGOs; they work there willingly to help people. McDonalds is solely dependent on human labor so they need some rewards and motivation so as to keep their workers in place (Renz, 2016). They need some lucrative offers too so that their crew remains interested. Along with the rewards, they need to provide some allowances like free food, place to live, pensions and a good working environment whereas in case of Spastic Centre, as they are NGOs, they dont find this attractive (Butler Wilson, 2015). McDonalds per year make millions of turnover and they are the longest chain in the fast food market and hamburgers. For McDonalds, human resource management is required to look after every department and how it is operating and with time providing them with rewards occasionally (Grant, 2016). The not for profit organizations is a company that is trying hard to find quality staff for a long run. Therefore, the not-for profit organizations are trying hard for the retention of their existing employees (Butler Wilson, 2015). The essay is trying to highlight if McDonalds human resource management strategies can be applied in a not-for-profit organization. A thorough study has proved that McDonalds has been effectively maintaining good relationships with its employees and employees are given firm opportunity to improve their position on the assessment of their performance where it falls under the expectancy theory.(Renz, 2016). The essay says that the employees in the McDonalds company are well taken care of on the basis of their performance and are also rewarded according to their performance. But on the other hand, the employees in the spastic centre are trained according to the conditions of the company that may face in the future. McDonalds style cannot be applied in case of any not-for-profit organizations. Company whose aim is in maximizing the profit for every fiscal year has to implement different strategies in order to get the benefits from there employees. The same cannot be applied for any not-for-profit organizations as they tend to work for the betterment of the society and also encourages their employees to work for the benefit of others and should be selfless in their work (Renz, 2016). McDonalds gives the power of authority to the managers who looking after a particular franchise. According to agency theory, they got the power to implement and can also execute the decisions that has been made and these decisions are not related to the principals. There is a fine line that is underlying between a multibillion company and a not-for-profit organization. Not-for-profit has no aim in earning any sort of profits. The not for profit organizations generally hire and try to hold onto their working personnel so as to reach the aim they are working for. The company also offers quality training for their employees so that they can reach the goals that they up set for. Monetary rewards are hard to give to the employees working for any not-for-profit organization, as they do only work for the betterment of the society. The tax is deducted from the salary of the employees. Facilities such as superannuation scheme, perquisites, and food provision scheme are given to the employees of Spastic Centre (Alliance, 2017); however there is no scope for any kind of opportunities. McDonalds is able to give much better opportunities and security to the staff from all the investment and franchise that is under the company. Since an argument always forms two way paths, there will be no topic untouched for the same argument. Managing strategies are also different for any not for profit organization. Some conditions are there that need to be checked before the proceedings where one needs to check if there is any opportunity in the growth of the company; whether it covers insurance of the employees and whether the employees can find any sort of competitiveness in there workplace . Conclusion Rewards are really important for any organization but on the other hand, it is bad also as when there will be no rewards or any monitory benefit is included in any other work, then that individual may not want to do that task anymore. Good managers motivate their workers to do even good. Motivation helps anyone to do a task more efficiently and can prove to be more productive. With their productivity in line, they can benefit the company more and hence they get recognition from their peers. With rewards and incentives included, they can take their work more seriously (Wilton, 2016). Here we would consider the Maslow Theory where the basic needs of a human being are described and all organization should follow this structure so as to give their workers a safer environment to work. References: Alfes, K., Shantz, A. D., Truss, C., Soane, E. C. (2013). The link between perceived human resource management practices, engagement and employee behaviour: a moderated mediation model.The international journal of human resource management,24(2), 330-351. Alliance, C. (2017). History | Cerebral Palsy Alliance. Cerebralpalsy.org.au. Retrieved 9 February 2017, from https://www.cerebralpalsy.org.au/who-we-are/history/ Armstrong, M., Taylor, S. (2014).Armstrong's handbook of human resource management practice. Kogan Page Publishers. Benn, S., Dunphy, D., Griffiths, A. (2014).Organizational change for corporate sustainability. Routledge. Butler, R., Wilson, D. C. (2015).Managing voluntary and non-profit organizations: Strategy and structure. Routledge. Doherty, B., Haugh, H., Lyon, F. (2014). Social enterprises as hybrid organizations: A review and research agenda.International Journal of Management Reviews,16(4), 417-436. Extrinsic vs. intrinsic motivation: what's the difference? - NTD.TV. (2017). NTD.TV. Retrieved 9 February 2017, from https://www.ntd.tv/2017/02/08/extrinsic-vs-intrinsic-motivation-whats-difference/ Fee, M. C. (2014). Human resources management. Grant, R. M. (2016).Contemporary strategy analysis: Text and cases edition. John Wiley Sons. Healy, K. (2016). A Theory of Human Motivation by Abraham H. Maslowreflection.The British Journal of Psychiatry,208(4), 313-313. Kehoe, R. R., Wright, P. M. (2013). The impact of high-performance human resource practices on employees attitudes and behaviors.Journal of management,39(2), 366-391. Maslow, A. H. (2013).A theory of human motivation. Simon and Schuster. Maslow, A. H. (2015). A theory of Human Motivation.Classics of Organization Theory,50, 142. Purce, J. (2014). The impact of corporate strategy on human resource management.New Perspectives on Human Resource Management (Routledge Revivals),67. Renz, D. O. (2016).The Jossey-Bass handbook of nonprofit leadership and management. John Wiley Sons. Sparrow, P., Brewster, C., Chung, C. (2016).Globalizing human resource management. Routledge. Spence, G. B., Deci, E. L. (2013). Self?determination theory within coaching contexts: Supporting motives and goals that promote optimal functioning and well?being.Beyond goals: Effective strategies for coaching and mentoring, 85-108. Summary of Maslow on Self-Transcendence. (2017). Ieet.org. Retrieved 9 February 2017, from https://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/Messerly20170204 Van den Broeck, A., Vansteenkiste, M., De Witte, H. (2013). Self-Determination theory. Wilton, N. (2016).An introduction to human resource management. Sage.

Friday, November 29, 2019

Ethical Dilemma Essay Example

Ethical Dilemma Essay Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a subdivision of philosophy, dealing with questions about morality. Societies, religions, professional groups all around the globe have their own principles or standards of conduct, which are followed by their members (Davis, Fowler, Aroskar, 1997). Ethics is concerned with what is right, and what is wrong, good or bad, fair or unfair, responsible or irresponsible, it relates to what we ought to do in terms of rights, obligations, and benefits to society, fairness, or specific virtues. It is not just about what the case is or what is most acceptable or convenient (Preston, 1996). In the case study The Typo, writer is placed in a head of marketing position in a small, struggling, pharmaceutical company, which is introducing very promising drug to the market. The future existence of the company depends on successful placement of that drug. However, there is a typographical error in all print material about site effects of that drug. Marketing manager has an ethical dilemma, stop the marketing campaign and correct the â€Å"typo†, consequently future existence of his company will be in jeopardy, or to take a risk and go ahead with campaign without letting anyone know about the â€Å"typo†. This essay will describe ethical dilemmas and their characteristics, continuing by ethical dilemma marketing manager are confronted with. Discussion on defensible moral judgements after that will be followed by introduction of two consequentialist theories namely egoism and utilitarianism and Kant’s ethics as one of non-consequentialist theory, which should assist marketing manager in making a justifiable moral judgement. Ethical dilemmas are placing individuals in complex situations were no obvious solution is clear (Shaw, Barry Sansbury, 2007). When we are confronted with two or more moral principles, and we are equally dedicated to all of them then we are dealing with moral dilemma. MacNiven (1993, p. ) identify, ’If both alternatives did not have an equally strong claim for someone, he or she would not see the situation as a moral dilemma. ’ Person, who has to solve ethical dilemma, can be left displeased, as there may have been another alternative that was evenly as satisfactory as one taken. Respond on ethical dilemmas by people depend on the ethical systems which controlled their thinking. Everyone approaches moral dilemmas from different point of view, making society’s compromise impossible. MacNiven (1993) concluded that the presence of moral dilemmas in our lives is confirming that the moral systems hich are controlling our judgments and behaviour have stopped working and are no longer in a leading position. With respect to Ghillyer (2010) who has introduced four characteristics of an ethical dilemma; these which are having an equally right choice but haven’t been taken, followed by characteristics where rest of the people involved may suffer as a result of the choices haven’t been made, the choice you have made is challenging your personal ethical principles and lastly, the choice you have made has disregard an ethical value of your community or society. We will write a custom essay sample on Ethical Dilemma specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Ethical Dilemma specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Ethical Dilemma specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Marketing manager is confronted with ethical dilemma of should he stop the marketing campaign for very promising drug for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and correct typographical error in the print material which is misleading doctors and their patients or ignore typographical error by not stopping the marketing campaign and not informing family doctors about ten times higher risk on bad side effects of promoted drug. On one hand, by not informing family doctors about real risk for patients, he is placing patients’ trust to their family doctors at risk. On the other hand, by informing doctors about typographical error, he is putting his employer and his own employment in danger situation. Delay in placement of new drug on the market and more costs involved for marketing promotion can be crucial for coming existence of the business. To be exact, two sides of ethical dilemmas exist, objective and subjective. The objective side of the dilemma is what it seems to be a dilemma for one person does not appear to be a dilemma to other person. Oppositely subjective site of an ethical dilemma is when an emotional component has affected an individual’s response the way a dilemma was seen and settled (MacNiven, 1993). As a guide by solving ethical dilemmas moral judgements are used. Shaw at al. (2009, p. 28) highlights, a moral judgement to be strong, ‘it must be supportable by a defensible moral standard, together with relevant facts. ’ People are using moral standards as a guide on what is right and what is wrong. To make morally strong, justifiable, right decision marketing manager of pharmaceutical company should consider three factors. Firstly, moral judgement needs to be logical, therefore marketing manager should not follow his personal preferences and feelings, instead he should look for motives and proofs to support the judgements. Logical judgements need to match with our other moral and non-moral beliefs (Shaw et al, 2009). For that reason marketing manager should not simply follow his personal preferences by keeping his job. He should consider option about informing doctors of typographical error, by doing so matching his moral and non-moral beliefs. To be in a good position to make an informed judgment, marketing manager should collect as much as possible evidence; for instance, what could happen if patients with acute or chronically gastrointestinal or diarrhoea problems will be taking these drugs, will medication intake for them be fatal? Important fact as well is, doctors are already informed about bad side effects of that drug therefore if side effects will occur they will know what has caused these symptoms. Treatment for gastroenteritis and diarrhoea is available; however there is no treatment available for Alzheimer’s disease. How high is the possibility for doctors to realise that the percentage of patients, who are taking new drug, with bad side effects is far above two per cent? If the company will not survive another month or so by discontinuing marketing campaign, what loss will be for the society not to place very promising drug on the market? And finally, moral judgements should be based on manager’s acceptable moral principles. These principles need to be ‘unambiguous and can withstand critical scrutiny and rational criticism (Shaw et al, 2009, p. 29). Ethical theories can be divided in to two groups; consequential, where ethical decisions are based primarily on evaluating outcomes, and non-consequential, where decisions are based on clear basic view of the right or one’s duty (Preston, 1996). As Shaw et al. (2009, p. 58) describes, ‘If the consequences are good, then the act is right; if the consequences are bad the act is wrong. ’ The outcome of moral judgement wi ll depend on amount of good against the amount of bad an action is going to create. In contrast, non-consequentialist theories are solely concerned with an action, regardless of after-effects. For instance, take a provoked community debate about abortion. Non-consequentialist will defend foetus as a human being in all circumstances and regardless of consequences, where consequentialist will advocate ethical justification for abortion on case-by-case basis (Preston, 1996). ‘The view that the best theory of general action, or life, is to do what is best for oneself, regardless of effects on others, except when those are indirectly necessary for the best result for oneself (Narveson, 1998, p. 16). ’ Subsequently Shaw at al. 2009, p. 60) calculate, ‘If an action produces or will probably produce for the agent a greater ration of good to evil in the long run than any other alternative, than that action is the right one to perform, and the agent should take that course to be moral. ’ Egoism comes in two species; psychological and ethical. Psychological theory is about what we should do. It says that we should, or ought to, act only in our own interest ( Narveson, 1998). Shaw at al. (2009) added, people are so created that their duty is to act selfishly. Marketing manager should decide what his long term goal is; career with current employer or will he easy accept option to find another job, if needed. Contrary, if I am an individual ethical egoist it could happen that on a long run by achieving self-interest, others believes, reactions and attitudes may well have a direct impact upon my own interest (Shaw at al, 2009). In other words, it means, someone to whom a person with moral dilemma has close relationship, can have influence on decision making process on long run. For example, parents, who are suffering of Alzheimer’s disease; I would like to keep them at home, so it will be beneficial to treat disease, on the other hand I will need to place them in to residential care. Nowadays our communities are facing very complex dilemmas therefore ethical egoism is not a preferred pathway to be followed. It does not offers consistent method of resolving conflicts of self-interest. Negotiation, compromise and self-sacrifice are required to successfully solve dilemmas in communities. The second consequential ethics theory is utilitarianism which claims that: ’one ought to do the act, the consequence of which brings about the greatest good for the greatest number of person (Desjardins, 2009). In other words, following utilitarian standards is ethical; not following is not (Klein, 2003). This theory is organised around analysing consequences, how actions will affect people involved. None of actions are ever right or wrong when you are taking a closer look at the act from different points of view (Desjardins, 2009). Hence marketing manager should analyse the situation from different points of view and once he has all facts and data available he should make a moral decision which will benefit the majority of people suffering Alzheimer’s disease. In that scenario he will need to place promising new drug on the market. The question is, will he inform public about â€Å"typo† occurred or not? Marketing manager will need to decide, what is more beneficial for people with Alzheimer’s disease; treat disease and cause diarrhoea and gastrointestinal problems by some of them. He needs to keep in ind it is about the quality of life people with Alzheimer’s disease are living and about their future. Chemo therapy used for treatment of cancer has a lot of bad side effects such as nausea, loss of appetite, hair loss of as well, however so long no other better alternative for treatment exist doctors are using these methods (Davis, Fowler, Aroskar, 1997). Kant’s ethics, named after German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) is one of non-consequential approaches to ethics. Kant’s moral rules are based on motive of duty (Shaw at al, 2009). Actual consequences are irrelevant; rules are logically prior to acts. If an act is inconsistent with an acceptable rule than the act is morally wrong. Kant believed morality is natural to people and it is discovered not created. ‘The morality of an act is independent of the perspective of the agent; a belief that lying is right does not make it so (MacNiven, 1993, p. 49). ’ In our case scenario marketing manager’s duty is to promote new drug, to place new product as successfully as he can on the market. This theory is not bothered with consequences after that. Kant’s theory is based on facts not on predictions. If drug to treat Alzheimer’s disease is available that it is marketing manager’s duty to make this drug available for people who suffer of Alzheimer’s disease. In conclusion, marketing manager has to make a moral judgement about the ethical dilemma he is facing. To assist him by making his decision three solutions were presented; egoism and utilitarianism as consequential theories and Kant’s theory as one of non-consequential theories. Marketing manager has to decide if he will follow egoistic approach and will place priority to future existence of company, he is employed with, or he will follow utilitarianism theory and will stop marketing campaign which will place his employer in jeopardy. As non-consequential approach Kant’s theory was presented. If he will decide to follow this theory he will be just doing his job, for what he is paid for. It is his mission to complete the job without thinking on consequences which can be caused by his actions. As marketing manager’s primary goal is to make right moral decision, he needs to decide what are his most important moral norms, what decision will best enrich his well-being and satisfaction in his life? References: Davis, A. J. , Fowler, M. D. , Aroskar, M. A. (1997). Ethical Dilemmas Nursing Practice. (5th ed. ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education Inc. Desjardins, J. (2009). An Introduction to Business Ethics. (3rd ed. ). Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education. Ghillyer, A. (2010). Business Ethics: A Real World Approach. (2nd ed. ). Boston: Mcgraw-Hill Higher Education. Klein, E. R. (2003). People First! Professional and Business Ethics without Ethics. Oxford, UK: University Press Of America. MacNiven, D. (1993). Creative Morality. London, UK: Routledge. Narveson, J. (1998). Egoism and Altruism. In R. Chadwick, Encyclopedia of Applied Ethics (pp. 15-21). London, UK: Academic Press Limited. Preston, N. (1996). Understanding Ethics. Sydney, NSW, Australia: The Federation Press. Shaw, W. H. , Barry, V. , Sansbury, G. (2009). Moral issues in Business. (1st Asia-Pacific ed. ). South Melbourne, Victoria, Australia: Cengage Learning Australia Pty Limited. Ethical Dilemma Essay Example Ethical Dilemma Essay Ethical Dilemma Name: Course: Date: We will write a custom essay sample on Ethical Dilemma specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Ethical Dilemma specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Ethical Dilemma specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Ethical Dilemma Introduction A compound situation that mostly involves a psychological conflict between two situations that are both morally right is what an ethical dilemma entails. An ethical dilemma involves one choosing to obey a rule and in the same process transgressing another rule. In terms of healthcare, ethical dilemmas are very common as people differ in the mode in which a patient should be treated. When a patient has a life threatening condition that requires surgery that is dangerous, he or she is faced with a decision. In making this decision, they are faced with an ethical dilemma. That is, in going for the surgery, s/he could die or not end up improving their quality of life and not doing the surgery in which they could still die. Patients and their loved ones are not the only ones that are faced with ethical dilemmas, doctors as well as on a daily basis they are made to choose what are best for their patients. Discussion The healthcare system has undergone a series of radical changes. The changes have brought with them complex situations and thus the use of ethics become part of what should be applied. Thus, ethical dilemmas arise, as people are known to view situations in different perspectives. Ethical dilemmas are more often than not put across to attempt to contest a system that is ethical as well as how the rest of the world views it. How one views a particular situation, is not necessarily, how another person will view it. These arguments have been disapproved in many ways over the past years. Just as people are different, their views on how to handle a certain situation will also differ. A person, who chooses to do something in a certain way, often feels that by choosing one option, they have gone for the option that is a lesser evil than the other option. The same applies in healthcare, as doctors are also different. They are faced with decisions every day all with the aim of making their pat ient better. Physicians are forced to decide whether what they are doing is good for their patient, even if it is bad in terms of how society views that dilemma. Euthanasia is a situation where a doctor, patient or the loved one of the patient decides to end the life of their patient. The person advocating for it often feels that, by doing so, they will have put the patient out of the pain and suffering that is associated with the disease a patient is suffering from. This however goes against how society views life. Other people will not understand why kill someone who still might have some time left to live. Society believes that life is precious, and it should be preserved. Society does not get why one would choose to end his or her life, yet there still are other options to explore that would make the patient live comfortably. However, the pressure associated with seeing a fellow human being suffer with little or no hopes of recovering can make someone decide to relieve the patient from the pain. Some doctors also say that euthanasia goes against the Hippocratic Oath they took as doctors to practice medicine ethically and honestly therefor e preserving and protecting the lives of their patients. Since 2006, euthanasia also known as assisted suicide has been termed as the most active area of study in cotemporary bioethics. The earliest reports of euthanasia took place when the Emperor Augustus died in the arms of his wife without suffering. He asked his wife to let him die honorably than let him continue suffering, yet there was no way he could get any better. In those days, the term euthanasia had not yet been coined. The term was first used in the 17th century by a doctor called Francis Bacon. He said it referred to an easy happy death through the alleviation of pain rather than a death that is slowed down by a doctor through administering drugs. He felt that it was a doctor’s responsibility to alleviate a patient’s pain, as this was why they were doctors. The move was welcome, even if it meant letting the patient die, as opposed to having a life that is of less quality than the patient was living before. Euthanasia is illegal in some places in the world, while in others, it is termed as legal. Where it is illegal, a person who commits euthanasia can be charged with murder (Dowbiggin, 2 005). Euthanasia can be classified into three. It can be voluntary, non-voluntary or involuntary. Voluntary euthanasia is when the patient gives consent to let someone end their life prematurely. It is usually legal in the countries that permit the practice. The countries in the world that permit it are Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg. Other countries are adopting this method though many objections have been presented by pro-life activists. In the United States for instance, some states advocate for voluntary euthanasia while others still do not. The states that advocated for voluntary euthanasia all follow the Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Missouri State rendering voluntary euthanasia legal in this case. It is necessary to note that voluntary euthanasia should not be confused with when a patient commits suicide with the help of a physician. This is termed as assisted suicide, which is legal in some countries, which include Switz erland, Australia, Belgium and three states of United States that are Oregon, Washington and Montana. Non-voluntary euthanasia is whereby it is done when the consent of a patient is not available. It is illegal in all countries. Involuntary euthanasia is whereby the patient does not give their consent to be killed off. When this is done, it is tantamount to murder and the person responsible for it can be charged in a court of law. Though some forms euthanasia can be termed as legal, it is essential to note that child euthanasia is illegal in the whole world. Anyone who does this has committed murder, as a child does not have the capacity to make such a decision on his or her own. Even if a parent feels that they have the power to make decisions on behalf of the child, this decision is not up to them. These three forms of euthanasia are classified into passive euthanasia in which treatment is withheld. By treatment, it means that the use of medicine that is necessary to prolong the life of a patient is withheld. Passive euthanasia can also include administering large doses of morphine so that the patient feels less pain since they do not have painkillers in their system. Active euthanasia, on the other hand, is by employing the use of substances that would end the life of a patient faster. This could be using lethal substances that are harmful to the health of a patient, even if s/he was healthy. A widely known example of active euthanasia is the case of the terminally ill patient in Michigan was administered lethal medication to him by his doctor. Dr. Jack Kevorkian was charged with first-degree murder for killing his patient Thomas Youk. Though the medication was administered per Youk’s request, Dr. Kevorkian was sentenced to prison after being found guilty of second-degr ee murder. Many authors have written articles on this issue and have termed it as unhelpful and misleading. They have questioned the fact that is euthanasia mercy killing or murder of an innocent victim. The topic of euthanasia is associated with many debates with people on the opposite sides of the debate feeling that their views are most relevant than the other side. People have different views, most of which have been brought about by the backgrounds that they have grown up in. However, for the independent minded, they will feel that it is more crucial to remember their loved one as a happy healthy person than as a sick person. They would rather not see them in pain. It is a personal decision, as no one would like to see his or her loved ones in pain. People that support euthanasia will argue that it is easier to let a patient die as one will know that they are no longer in pain. Through death, a patient is at peace and no longer has to worry about being sick. In the case of a patient choosing to end his or her life, they feel that society needs to respect that decision. If the patient were not hurting anyone else, why would the state interfere? Death is a private matter, and if t hrough it, the grief and suffering of not only the patient, but also their loved ones is shortened, then the practice of euthanasia should be advocated. Even Christians support euthanasia and back up their claims by saying that, God is love. Since love entails compassion, why someone would let a loved one be in pain yet there is a way of ending the pain. The greatest show of love to them is to let someone die thus showing that their love is agape. They even quote the bible saying that in Genesis chapter one, verse 28 it says that God gave human beings dominion over all things. Thus, they feel that it is their right to choose what happens to their loved ones. God gave human beings free will meaning that whatever they decide to do with their lives it is in their own hands. Even in the bible, there are examples of euthanasia. Like in second Samuel chapter 1 verses, 9 and 10 where King Saul asked his guard to kill him after he felt that he could not kill David. They also say that in John chapter 10 verse 10 that it promotes life in all its fullness. If a person feels that his or her life’s quality is lessened, then they should opt for euthanasia. For people who have been led to believe that life is important they tend to be pro-life. They will be against any form of euthanasia even if it means less suffering for the people involved. According to them life is precious and should not be left to people who are already distraught to make such decisions. They feel that if euthanasia were made legal more people would opt for it and not just terminally ill patients. Medical experts have already said that it is impossible to give a specific time limit for life expectancy. They might give less or more time than the patient has. People against euthanasia also feel that it will reach a time when it will become non-voluntary. Just because someone does not want to take responsibility for what is happening, does not mean that another life has to end. For instance, in the case of parents who kill a child because they are paralyzed and they feel that taking care of the children will be too much for them. In Latimer’s case, a father ha d to kill his mentally disabled daughter because he thought that she had a hip problem that was a danger to her health. This is an example of non-voluntary euthanasia, and it was not necessary for the father to kill the daughter and end his pain and suffering. Pro-lifers feel that if more countries continue to legalize euthanasia it will reach a time that it will be used as a means of healthcare cost containment. Cutting costs is crucial to many people and if they see that their patient will not get better, they would rather kill them than continue paying for treatment that will not work. Life is crucial and practicing euthanasia shows that, as human beings people do not value life and the joys that it brings with it. Thus, they feel that euthanasia should remain illegal in the whole world so that people continue to value life. A line needs to be drawn when it comes to euthanasia. This is because human beings are not capable of making decisions that involve life or death situations. It should not be upon them to decide who gets to live or die. No one has the capacity to play God so therefore euthanasia should be made illegal in the whole world. Even if someone’s quality of life has reduced, the patients still have a right to live. However painful it is to see a loved one sick, it is essential to preserve life. Every person plays a different role in life. Just because one feels love for another more than anyone else does, does not mean that they get a chance to decide when their life ends. Furthermore, when faced with such a dilemma one is not in the right state of mind to make decisions. Conclusion Ethical dilemmas will always be there in life. How a person chooses to solve them, is what matters the most. It is often an endeavor to disprove what is termed as ethical by different people. Just like in euthanasia, both parties that are for and against it feel that their views are most valid. Thus, no matter which stand one chooses to follow it will still mean going against another choice. Life is precious no matter how one looks at it. It is therefore necessary to preserve it, as only God knows the time or day that a person should die. Therefore, human beings should not advocate for euthanasia. Work cited: Dowbiggin, I. R. (2005). A concise history of euthanasia: Life, death, God, and medicine. Lanham, Md: Rowman Littlefield.

Monday, November 25, 2019

Free Essays on The Myth Of Sisyphus And The Meaning Of Life

-their world is completely engulfed in their child’s life. For that period of time their life is dedicated to that little one, that is their life’s meaning- to raise and provide for their offspring. In that case, they can undisputedly say that their child is what gives the meaning to their life. We can understand that form of reasoning, that one doesn’t see any... Free Essays on The Myth Of Sisyphus And The Meaning Of Life Free Essays on The Myth Of Sisyphus And The Meaning Of Life The Myth of Sisyphus and The Meaning of Life Ever since philosophers started to ponder on life’s perennial questions, one was-and still is, coming back unanswered. What is the meaning of life? There isn’t a one, definite answer to this question, and we can expect as many answers as there are people in the world. Everyone will answer this in a different way, because each person has various meanings for what is valuable in their life. We can give a couple of examples for the life’s meaning, but it is not said that others will agree on our conclusion/finding. The question about life’s meaning is not one where you can go, and discover the answer to. It is rather a set of values, images, visions, some sort of ones creation- a metaphor, a symbol. Each and everyone one of us has a different meaning to his/her life, and in this paper I will try to discuss various values that are meaningful to ones life, and possibly give contrasting views on that entry. The Myth of Sisyphus will be used as a corners tone for a possible answer to the question and as an example of raison d’Ã ªtre to the answer. As mentioned before, there are as many answers to the question about life’s meaning as there are souls on this planet. What factors make a person determine the life’s meaning? One model could consist of someone that answers the question by saying that his offspring is what gives his life meaning. That is a perfectly good reply- if one has children. When a child is born, parents give it all of their attention and foster it. They provide for it, in other words-their world is completely engulfed in their child’s life. For that period of time their life is dedicated to that little one, that is their life’s meaning- to raise and provide for their offspring. In that case, they can undisputedly say that their child is what gives the meaning to their life. We can understand that form of reasoning, that one doesn’t see any...

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Exemption of military from environmental conservation Research Paper

Exemption of military from environmental conservation - Research Paper Example This is done by proper legislation through acts of parliament, formation of organizations that ensure protection of endangered species and supporting world organizations whose mandate is to protect the environment. In the process of environmental conservation, an important question about the military involvement is environmental conservation normally surface. Scholars like Benedict Cohen and Jamie Clark have been able to argue out ideas on the military involvement in environmental conservation. Indeed, the issue of environmental conservation should be taken with the seriousness it deserves hence no person or personality should be exempted in the efforts of environmental conservation. Background information Environment is the conditions or the surroundings through which a human being, plant or animal operates. It involves the air, the waters, the soil, forests, etc. The environment is beneficial because it is a habitat to living things, source of food for animals, source of medicine and provides beautiful scenery during man’s relaxation. Over the past century, the military activities have been strongly linked to being insensitive to the conservation of the environment. Research through books, journals, newspaper articles and other forms of media has shown that the environmental pollution and degradation is due to the some of the military activities. The military may affect the environment unwillingly such as during combat or even during the training and testing sessions. In the training sessions and even live combat, the military use weapons, which release harmful chemicals to the environment (Bowden, 2004). These chemicals pollute the environment hence leads to death of biodiver sity. In addition, the contaminated air may lead to increase in temperatures hence tropical diseases like malaria become widespread. Moreover, it has been proven that the radiation caused due to nuclear weaponry causes faster multiplication of body cells hence development of cancer. Thus the effect caused by military activities are more severe that leave the question should the military be exempt from environmental conservation. Method To address the issue, I will conduct a review of related research from the books, journals, newspaper articles and other forms of media. The review will give information on various scholarly materials that have researched on the issue. The findings will be summarized to give the results that on whether military should be exempt from environmental regulations. Literature review Land degradation is the deterioration of top soil in which the value of the biophysical environment is affected by one or more combinations of human-induced methods. The explosi ves used during testing or live combats affect the nature of the land by creating large dents in the ground (Schwartz, 2006). These dents accumulate water hence the land becomes unsuitable for agriculture. In addition, the heat generated by the explosives kills the microorganisms, which are responsible for the fertility and aeration of the soil. These lands are left bear hence no agricultural activities can take place. According to Schwarts (2006), military activities during either war or practice may result into leaving some dangerous substances in the environment. These substances may include radiations, unexploded ammunitions, burning oil wells etc. These environments are risky for

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Philadelphia (1993) Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Philadelphia (1993) - Research Paper Example Far right views also view the AIDS pandemic as a God sent weapon to destroy the homosexual population. According Friedman-Kien AE (1981), the views of the religious right on matters of HIV can be termed as â€Å"Dissident science†. This term comes from the fact that the theories put forward by the religious right have no scientific backing. It is unfortunate that for a long time the views of the religious right heavily impacted on policy discourses of the disease. This paper explores the responses AIDS activist media reacted to the dissident science on HIV/AIDS as constructed by the religious right. In particular, the paper explores the homosexual dimension of the HIV/AIDS debate as espoused by the Movie Philadelphia (1993). The causation debate Scientifically, it is known that HIV/AIDs is caused by the transfer of body fluids containing the viruses from one person to another’s bloodstream. The primary method of transmission of the disease is sexual intercourse. Male to male intercourse is not a HIV risk by itself. Instead, two other conditions must be met for transmission to occur. These conditions are: one of the partners has to be infected with the virus, and intercourse must result in introduction of the HIV virus into the blood stream of the uninfected partner (Duesberg, 1989). In the United States most transmissions occur between gay men. While globally most transmission occur in between heterosexual sexual partners. Since, the 1980 and 1990 the trend of higher infections in homosexual population has continued in the United States (Duesberg, 1989). It is worth noting that when the disease was first diagnosed in the United States it was recorded among Homosexual populations. This gave rise to strongly held prejudice among religious right activists that HIV/AIDS is a disease for Gay people (Marcus, 2002). The religious activist made it appear like the disease was caused by Gay men and then spread to the rest of the heterosexual population. Ini tially, HIV/AIDS was referred by names that closely tied with the gay sexual orientation. According to Andriote (1999), early reports of the disease referred to it as the gay plague, gay cancer or the Gay disease. Early researchers referred to it as the Gay-related immune deficiency (GRID). The homosexual community responded to this branding of the disease as homosexual disease by mobilizing demonstration. In 1986, Gay AIDs activists were called to action to deflect an editorial that linked HIV/AIDS with the group. William F. Buckley had published an article in March 1986 asserting â€Å"It is both a fact and the popular perception that AIDS is the special curse of the Homosexual† (Andriote, 1999). The article went further to propose the branding of gay men with AIDS at the rear and drug addicts on the arm. The Article led to the formation of the Swift and Terrible Retribution Committee. In concentration camp uniforms the retribution council picketed the headquarters of Buckl ey’s National Review in Manhattan (Afshar, n.d). The Gay and Lesbian Alliance against defamation started the media activism by organizing demonstration against homophobic and AIDS phobic coverage of HIV issues all over America (Vaid, 1995). Most of the demonstrations targeted the New York Times which was accused of being deliberately biased against

Monday, November 18, 2019

Safety Training Program Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Safety Training Program - Assignment Example The goals will be to educate workers on handling procedures; hazards associated with chemicals, how to read safety, and were they are stored. The Hazard Communication Act or Hazcom was developed after The Right-To-Know Act of 1986. Its goals are to boost employee awareness, evaluate job safety, design safe work procedures, assign personal protective equipment where needed. Employees need to know about this activity so they will not be afraid to speak up and ask questions about their working conditions (Lang 2010). After internship experiences from questions that I asked from employees that worked out in energy plants, I began to realize a lack of training on knowledge of safety for working around chemicals, handling chemicals, and the storage of chemicals. Training is one of the best methods because it gives the employee the knowledge needed to understand the subject. It can also give examples of what can go wrong if they are not handled properly. This will give a great picture of what is expected of them. The employees of any work location that handles any kind of chemicals in their daily work setting. It can even be someone that works with them every day or someone that only handles them once a week. The employees that do not handle any chemicals should have training on the subject as well so they are a clear understanding of safety as well. The delivery I would like to give would be in a multitude of ways. Like classroom time with PowerPoint slides, visual pictures of what can go wrong, in the field training, and some testing to see if the employees were getting the material.

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Looking Back On Childhood Memories English Literature Essay

Looking Back On Childhood Memories English Literature Essay looking back on my childhood I can remember wanting to be like my cousin. I only saw the good in her and so everything she told me I did. It wasnt until we broke a door in our house that I stopped being a puppet and started thinking for myself. What happened was that we wanted to get our bikes from the garage but the door was closed. My cousin then had the bright idea to run towards the door to push it open. We both then did just that, we ran and slammed into the door to push it open. But on the third try the door landed on the floor, broken. We had made a big mistake. Our garage door was now broken and all because of us. Who wouldnt change after that accident? Hasnt everyone had an experience in which they had to overcome a mistake making them stronger as a person? I realized that becoming who you are has to do with the experiences one goes through. Just like in the article Masks, the author had an experience in which she also realized that, the perfect image of someone can be deceiving, making you the strong independent one. The article starts out with a description of what seems to be a perfect girl, which would be Kathy. Then goes on to talk about her and the way she dresses, which is quite different from the way Kathy did. As it was described in the article, she wore a pink dress with frills and lace and impeccably white tights. Her feet, which swayed back and forth underneath her chair, were pampered with shiny, black shoes without a single cuff. She was very wise, sophisticated beyond her kindergarten years (169). Unlike Kathy, Tiff was simple and wore, green and red plaid pants and [a] yellow shirt with tiny, blue stars [which] showed the days wear between breakfast, lunch, and recess (169) They were completely different people and different characteristics, yet the author followed her around and wanted to be just like he r. She wanted to be like Kathy, the perfect girl, because she was popular and seemed to have a great life. Kathy tried to show off her things and the fact that guys wanted to invite her places. Then the author comes to realize that Kathy is nothing without her friends and material things because she is something she does not want to be. One day Kathy came into the library and could not find her friends anywhere and since she didnt want to be seen alone, she sat with the Tiff. But as soon as Kathys friends arrived she acted as though Tiff did not exist. After this encounter the author sees she is the powerful one, because she is independent. She might not have all the materialistic things Kathy has but at least the author doesnt have to pretend to be someone she is not. She unlike Kathy is comfortable with who she is. She does not wear a mask. I can relate to the author of Masks because of the experience I had with my cousin. The funny part is that even before that experience, my parents always taught me to be independent and to think for myself, yet I was unable to not follow my cousin. Masks shows how if people become more independent and realize that being an individual is more powerful than following the majority because it gives you a sense of control and leadership. I completely agree with that idea because if someone is independent they are able to be responsible and keep focus on a goal. Since I have been taught this since I was a little kid, including my experience with my cousin, it actually helped me get by high school (my teenage years) in a much more successful way; my goal being graduating high school. Considering that many students drop out because they rather go out with their friends than to be in school. Or so they think, since they want to be cool they go with the flow. This going with the flow model mak es people be followers instead of being leaders. Yes, some people that go with the flow can be leaders but only if they have already established themselves as an individual and know who they are. In order to have that advantage people must have been a leader at some time in their life. The article Masks and my experience ties into the article, Why Do Teenagers Get Tattoos? A Response to Andres Martin, which explains how teenagers want to be seen as different, they want to stand out by getting tattoos, because it gives them an identity. Sean Barry defies what Martin said about tattoos in his article, On Teenagers and Tattoos. In his article Martin establishes that he believes teenagers get tattoos for three reasons, control, rebelling, and for making relationships more real. Barry then starts out with relating tattooing to the reader and his experiences with tattoos, and then explained Martins view on teenagers getting tattoos. He then brings it back to his point of view and makes his view much stronger. Barry thinks Martin over exaggerated about why teenagers get tattoos because he over generalizes too much. He thinks that tattoos actually give teenagers an individual identity. Barry then agrees with some statements written by Martin and slowly goes against him unt il he gets his opinion to sound much stronger. Barry is able to shows he understands Martin and yet finds that tattoos bring a sense of identifications and individualism for people. He also explains how other methods are now used to show rebellion because tattoos have become such more accepted and common now. Teens have begun to use extreme piercings as a rebellious attitude. Barry goes on by concluding with agreeing that Martin did a good job showing a psychological response to tattoos but that he has limited his argument to generalizations, therefore, tattooing is used as a sense of individual identification rather than rebellion. I agree with Sean Barry because it is true that many people now have tattoos and it has become a sign of individualism rather than rebellion. Many people I know have gotten their tattoos because it represents a moment in their life in which they have overcome something or want to remember a moment or person in their life forever. I actually want to get a few tattoos myself which I have designed. One of them is a tiger on my back which would represent courage and strength. Another one is a symbol of a turtle which represents living life by enjoying every moment and its surroundings, as well as patients. I want to get these tattoos because they represent who I am and what I have been through. They are not a sign of rebellion at all; if that were the case then I wouldnt even know what the tattoos represent or would have just said I want them because they look cool. That is why I disagree in the fact that teenagers use it as a sign of rebellion because I think that the person getting a t attoo is usually completely sure of what they want and are at an age that they know what they are doing. I know plenty of teenagers who have gotten tattoos and have a story behind each one. They feel like the tattoos help them remember and embrace a moment in their life. Plus, people wonder when looking at you, why you got tattoos. It makes you stand out from the crowd. The truth is that depending of peoples experience one learns to handle situations and learns who they are; they find their identity that way. Tattoos just give then a symbol of individualism. The two articles give great ideas on how people find their identity but approached it differently. In Masks the author uses a story telling style to be able to both entertain and inform about finding ones identity. Realizing who we really are and why we are stronger when independent and not when following others in order to be popular. This style is more attractive to readers because they can relate to the story more and build a sense of emotion. With the experience the author shows she makes her view much stronger than using a close structure which was used in Why Do Teenagers Get Tattoos? A Response to Andres Martin. Sean Barry makes his view completely clear but does not grab much attention from the readers with his style. But what he does do is relate to the audience by giving examples of why people would get tattoos and why Martins opinion was not relevant and over generalized. Barry comes to a conclusion of individuality from the tattoos rather than a realization like in Masks. To find ones identity one has to experience life. People build their characteristics by each experience they have as well as interactions in their social life. I feel that there are only two types of people in the world, those who just want to fit in and those who are just themselves. The people who want to be themselves then want to be seen as different from others. That is when the ideas with tattoos come into place and when they realize they have a strong will. Just like when I realized following my cousin example wasnt always the best way to go. In the article Masks, the author also becomes aware of her independence. She sees that having a lot of materialistic things and only relying on being this exterior perfection will get you nowhere. There are times when people have to make their own choices and become responsible. They need to become independent. Finding your identity is overcoming the fear of being yourself.

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Exposing the Falseness of Truth in On the Nature of the Universe Essay

Exposing the Falseness of Truth in On the Nature of the Universe  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚      Truth is in the eye of the beholder. Or is it? Questions regarding the nature of truth have always been central to not only philosophers, but all men (and women, of course) who possess any desire for knowledge. For while truth itself is an elusive concept, it is also the underlying theme of all science -- which is the basis of knowledge -- and so the seeker of learning must first discover his own truth about the world; without a strong belief, the slippery nature of truth will only serve to confuse and mislead the student of life. A person who is lacking a basic understanding of truth can never fully grasp the fine distinction between appearance and reality, yet the ability to separate the two is essential to anyone interested in knowledge at a higher level, where appearances lead only to dead ends. Or do they? And who says appearance is not reality? At the heart of this matter is the conflict between truth as an absolute and the truth of the senses; while this may seem like a trivia l matter (truth is true, isn't it?), it is anything but. If there does indeed exist an absolute truth, as the Socratics claim, then all attempts to understand the universe are futile, since human senses can never adequately grasp a truth that is so far above everyday experience. On the other hand, the Epicurean view of truth is much more encouraging; after all, this explanation of truth as being of the senses offers the hope that individuals have the ability to create, and therefore understand, their own universe. The Epicureans, by advocating truth of the senses, basically claim that whatever appears to be something, really is, whereas followers of Socrates would disc... ...y that this debate over its relativity can ever be satisfactorily settled. Nevertheless, both philosophies have valid arguments, and each also has its merits from the common man's point of view; while Plato's truth appeals to the seekers of knowledge and idealists who dream of a perfect world, Lucretius' definition of truth brings comfort to those who need to believe that what they can see and feel is a reliable representation of reality. Both of these explanations could be valid, yet the question remains, and will continue to haunt philosophers as long as man continues to philosophize: what is truth, and if someone accidentally stumbles on its actual nature, how will he recognize it when all he has learned is the art of doubt? Bibliography   Lucretius. On the Nature of the Universe. Tr. R. E. Latham. Introduction by John Godwin. Penguin Books, London: 1994.