Kant and Equality Essay Example for Free

Kant and Equality Essay Some readers of this essay will have become impatient by now; because they believe that the problem that perplexes me has been definitively solved by Immanuel Kant. It is certainly true that Kant held strong opinions on this matter. In an often-quoted passage, he reports a personal conversion from elitism: â€Å"I am myself a researcher by inclination. I feel the whole thirst for knowledge and the eager unrest to move further on into it, also satisfaction with each acquisition. There was a time when I thought this alone could constitute the honor of humanity and despised the know nothing rabble. Rousseau set me straight. This delusory superiority vanishes, I learn to honor men, and I would find myself more useless than a common laborer if I did not believe this observation could give everyone a value which restores the rights of humanity. †What Kant learned from Rousseau was the proposition that the basis of human equality is the dignity that each human person possesses in virtue of the capacity for autonomy (moral freedom). This moral freedom has two aspects, the capacity to set ends for oneself according to one’s conception of what is good, and the capacity to regulate one’s choice of ends and of actions to achieve one’s ends by one’s conception of what morality requires. According to Kant’s psychology, brute animals are determined to act as instinct inclines them, but a rational being has the power to interrogate the inclinations it feels, to raise the question what it is reasonable to do in given circumstances, and to choose to do what reason suggests even against all inclinations. The question arises whether Kant’s psychology is correct, or remotely close to correct. Perhaps something like the conflict between conscience and inclination is experienced by social animals other than humans. Perhaps the freedom that Kant imputes to human on metaphysical grounds can be shown to be either empirically nonexistent or illusory. For our purposes we can set these questions aside and simply presume that the human psychological complexity envisaged by Kant does describe capacity we possess, whether or not it is shared with other animals. My question is whether Kant’s characterization, if it was correct, would have the normative implication she draws from it. It might seem that the Kantian picture helps to show how moral freedom is arrange concept, which does not significantly admit of degrees. If one has the capacity to set an end for oneself, one does not possess this freedom to a lesser extent just because one cannot set fancy ends, or because other persons can set fancier ends. If one has the power to regulate choice of ends by one’s sense of what is morally right, one does not possess this freedom to a lesser extent because one cannot understand sophisticated moral considerations, or because other persons can understand more sophisticated moral considerations. Moreover, one might hold that it is having or lacking the freedom which is important, not having or lacking the capacity to exercise the freedom in fancy ways. But the old worries lurk just around the corner. The Kantian view is that there are indeed capacities that are crucial for the ascription of fundamental moral status that do not vary in degree. One either has the capacity or one does not, and that’s that. If the crucial capacities have this character, then the problem of how to draw a no arbitrary line on a continuum and hold all beings on one side of the line full persons and all beings on the other side of the line lesser beings does not arise. The line separating persons and nonpersons will be non arbitrary, and there will be no basis for further differentiation of moral status. One is either a person or not, and all persons are equal. Consider the capacity to set an end, to choose a goal and decide on an action to achieve it. One might suppose that all humans have this capacity except for the permanently comatose and the anencephalic. So all humans are entitled to a fundamental equal moral status. This view is strengthened by noting that there are other capacities that do admit of degrees that interact with the no degree capacities. Individuals who equally have the capacity to set an end may well differ in the quality of their end-setting performances. Some are able to set ends more reasonably than others. But these differences in performance do not gainsay the fundamental equal capacity. It is just that having a high or low level of associated capacities enables or impedes successful performance. So the fact that individuals differ in their abilities to do arithmetic and more complex mathematical operations that affect their ability to make rational choices should have no tendency to obscure the more basic and morally status-conferring equality in the capacity of each person to make choices. In response: First of all, if several of these no degree capacities were relevant to moral status, one must possess all to be at the top status, and some individuals possess more and others fewer of the relevant capacities, a problem of hierarchy, though perhaps a manageable one, would emerge anew. More important, I doubt there is a plausible no degree capacity that can do the work this argument assigns to it. Take the capacity to set ends and make choices. Consider a being that has little brain power, but over the course of its life can set just a few ends and make just a few choices based on considering two or three simple alternatives. It sets one end (lunch, now) per decade three times over the course of its life. If there is a capacity to set ends, period, not admitting of degrees, this being possesses it. The point is that it is clearly not merely the capacity to set ends, but something more complex that renders a being a person in our eyes. What matters is whether or not one has the capacity to set sensible ends and to pick among alternative end at a reasonable pace, sorting through complex considerations that bear on the choice of ends and responding in a rational way to these considerations. But this capacity, along with any similar or related capacity that might be urged as a substitute for it, definitely admits of degrees. The same point would hold if we pointed to free will or moral autonomy as the relevant person-determining capacity. It is not the ability to choose an end on ground of consideration for moral considerations merely, but the ability to do this in a nuanced and fine-grained responsive way, that is plausibly deemed to entitle a being to personhood status. In general, we single out rationality, the ability to respond appropriately to reasons, as the capacity that is pertinent to personhood, by itself or in conjunction with related abilities, and rationality so understood admits of degrees. Kant may well have held that the uses of reason that are required in order to have a well-functioning conscience that can tell right from wrong are not very sophisticated and are well within the reach of all non crazy non feebleminded humans. Ordinary intelligence suffices. His discussions of applying the categorical imperative test certainly convey this impression. But commentators tend to agree that there is no simple all-purpose moral test that easily answers all significant moral questions. Thus Christine Korsgaard cautions that the categorical imperative test is not a â€Å"Geiger counter† for detecting the presence of moral duties, and Barbara Herman observes that the application of the categorical imperative test to cases cannot be a mechanical procedure but relies on prior moral understanding by the agent and on the agent’s capacity to make relevant moral discriminations and judgments and to characterize her own proposed maxims perspicuously. These comments confirm what should be clear in any event: Moral problems can be complex and difficult, and there is no discernible upper bound to the complexity of the reasoning required to master and perhaps solve them. But suppose I do the best I can with my limited cognitive resources, I make a judgment as to what is morally right, however misguided, and I am conscientiously resolved to do what I take to be morally right. The capacity to do what is right can be factored into two components, the ability to decide what is right and the ability to dispose oneself to do what one thinks is right. One might hold the latter capacity to be the true locus of human dignity and worth. Resisting temptation and doing what one thinks is right is noble and admirable even if one’s conscience is a broken thermometer. However, one might doubt that being disposed to follow one’s conscience is unambiguously good when one’s conscience is seriously in error. For one thing, moral flaws such as a lazy indisposition to hard thinking and an obsequious deference toward established power and authority might play a large role in fixing the content of one’s judgments of conscience. A conceited lack of healthy skepticism about one’s cognitive powers might be a determinant of one’s strong disposition to do whatever one thinks to be right. Even if Kant is correct that the good will, the will directed unfailingly at what is truly right, has an absolute and unconditional worth, it is doubtful that the would-be good will, a will directed toward what it takes to be right on whatever flimsy or solid grounds appeal to it, has such worth. Take an extreme case: Suppose a particular person has a would-be good will that is always in error. This could be strong or righteous, so that the agent always does what he thinks is right, or weak and corrupt, so that the agent never does what she thinks is right. If the will is always in error, the odds of doing the right thing are increased if the would-be good will is weak and corrupt. Some might value more highly on consequential grounds the weak and corrupt erroneous will, even though the strong and righteous invariably erroneous will always shines like a jewel in its own right. And some might hold that quite aside from the expected consequences, acting on a seriously erroneous judgment of right is inherently of lesser worth than acting on correct judgment of right. Even if the disposition to do what one thinks morally right is unassailable, its purported value does not provide a sound basis for asserting the equal worth and dignity of human persons. The capacity to act conscientiously itself varies empirically across persons like any other valued capacity. A favorable genetic endowment and favorable early socialization experiences bestow more of this capacity on some persons and less on others. If we think of an agent’s will as disposed more or less strongly to do what she conscientiously believes to be right, different individuals with the same disposition will experience good and bad luck in facing temptations that exceed their resolve. Even if we assume that agents always have freedom of the will, it will be difficult to different degrees for different persons to exercise their free will as conscience dictates. Moreover, individuals will vary in their psychological capacities to dispose their will to do what conscience dictates. One might retreat further to the claim that all persons equally can try to dispose their will to do what is right, even if they will succeed in this enterprise to different degrees. But the ability to try is also a psychological capacity that we should expect would vary empirically across persons. At times Kant seems to appeal to epistemic grounds in reasoning from the goodness of the good will to the equal worth and dignity of all human persons. We don’t know what anyone’s inner motivations are, even our own, so the judgment that anyone is firmly disposed to do what is right can never be confirmed. But surely the main issue is whether humans are so ordered that we ought to accord them fundamental equal moral status, not whether, given our beliefs, it is reasonable for us to act as if they are so ordered. The idea that there is a threshold of rational agency capacity such that any being with a capacity above the threshold is a person equal in fundamental moral status to all other persons prompts a worry about how to identify this threshold non arbitrarily. It might seem that only the difference between nil capacity and some capacity would preclude the skeptical doubt that the line set at any positive level of capacity could just as well have been set higher or lower. Regarding the proposal to identify any above-zero capacity as qualifying one for personhood, we imagine a being with barely a glimmer of capacity to perceive the good and the right and to dispose its will toward their attainment. The difference between none and some might be infinitesimal, after all. However, a threshold need not be razor-thin. Perhaps there is a line below which beings with rational capacities in this range are definitely not persons and a higher level such that all beings with capacities above this level are definitely persons. Beings with rational capacities that fall in the middle range or gray area between these levels are near-persons. The levels can be set sufficiently far apart that the difference between scoring at the lower and the higher levels is undeniably of moral significance. But the difference between the rational capacities of the beings just above the higher line, call them marginal persons, and the beings at the upper end of the scale who have saintly genius capacities, is not thereby shown to be insignificant. At the lower end we might imagine persons like the villains depicted in the Dirty Harry Clint Eastwood movies. These unfortunates are not shown as having moral capacities which they are flouting, but rather as bad by nature, and perhaps not entitled to full human rights. No doubt this is a crass outlook, but the question remains whether the analysis we can offer of the basis for human equality generates a refutation of it. Suppose someone asserts that the difference between the rational agency capacities of the most perceptive saints and the most unreflective and animalistic villains defines a difference in fundamental moral status that is just as important for morality as the difference between the rational agency capacities of near-persons and marginal persons. What mistake does this claim embody? COMMENTS ON KANTS ETHICAL THEORY Because we so commonly take it for granted that moral values are intimately connected with the goal of human well-being or happiness, Kants insistence that these two concepts are absolutely independent makes it difficult to grasp his point of view and easy to misunderstand it. The following comments are intended to help the you to avoid the most common misunderstandings and appreciate the sort of outlook that characterizes what Kant takes to be the heart of the ethical life. Kants ethical theory is often cited as the paradigm of a deontological theory. Although the theory certainly can be seriously criticized, it remains probably the finest analysis of the bases of the concepts of moral principle and moral obligation. Kants endeavor to ground moral duty in the nature of the human being as essentially a rational being marks him as the last great Enlightenment thinker. In spite of the fact that his critical philosophy in epistemology and metaphysics brought an end to The Age of Reason, in ethics his attempt to derive the form of any ethical duty from the very nature of a rational being is the philosophical high water mark of the Enlightenments vision of humanity as essentially and uniquely rational. What Kant aims to provide is a metaphysics of morals in the sense of an analysis of the grounds of moral obligation in the nature of a rational being. In other words, Kant aims to deduce his ethical theory purely by a priori reasoning from the concept of what it is to be a human person as a rational agent. The fact that people have the faculty of being able to use reason to decide how to act expresses the fundamental metaphysical principle -the basis or foundation in the nature of reality- on which Kants ethical theory is erected. Kant begins his treatise, The Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Morals with the famous dramatic sentence: Nothing can possibly be conceived in the world, or even out of it, which can be called good without qualification, except a good will. 1. What does Kant mean by good without qualification? Obviously people try to seek and avoid many different sorts of things; those things which they seek they call good, while those they try to avoid, they call bad. These goods which people seek may be divided into those which are sought as means to some further end and those which they seek as good as ends in themselves. Obviously some things may be good as means to one end and bad as means to some other end. Different persons, motivated by different ends, will thus find different things good and bad (relative to their different ends). More food is good to a starving man, but it is bad to one overweight. In order for something to be good without qualification it must not be merely good as means to one end but bad as means to some other end. It must be sought as good totally independently of serving as a means to something else; it must be good in-itself. Furthermore, while one thing may be good as means relative to a particular end, that end becomes a means relative to some other end. So a college diploma may be sought as good as a means for the end of a higher-paying job. And a higher-paying job may be good as a means to increased financial security; and increased financial security may be good as a means to obtaining the necessities of life as well as a few of its luxuries. However, if we seek A only for the sake of B, and B only for the sake of C, etc. , then there is never a justification for seeking A at the beginning of such a series unless there is something at the end of that series which we seek as a good in-itself not merely as means to some further end. Such an ultimate end would then be an absolute rather than a relative good. Kant means that a good will is good without qualification as such an absolute good in-itself, universally good in every instance and never merely as good to some yet further end. 2. Why is a good will the only thing which is universally absolutely good? Kants point is that to be universally and absolutely good, something must be good in every instance of its occurrence. He argues that all those things which people call good (including intelligence, wit, judgment, courage, resolution, perseverance, power, riches, honor, health, and even happiness itself) can become extremely bad and mischievous if the will which is to make use of them is not good. In other words, if we imagine a bad person (i. e. one who willed or wanted to do evil), who had all of these so-called goods (intelligence, wit, etc. ), these very traits would make only that much worse his will to do what is wrong. (We would get the criminal master-mind of the comic books. ) Even health often also cited as a good in- itself may serve to make a person insensitive and indifferent to the lack of good health in others. 3. Isnt happiness such a universal, absolute good in-itself? Kant answers clearly, No. However, many philosophers (the ones we call eudaemonists) have assumed the obvious answer to be Yes. All ancient eudaemonistic ethical theories as well as modern utilitarian theories virtually define happiness as the absolute end of all ethical behavior. Such eudaemonistic ethical theories are attractive because of the fact that they make it easy to answer the question Why should I do what is morally right? For any eudaemonistic theory the answer will always be Because the morally right action is always ultimately in the interest of your own happiness. Since these theories generally assume that people really are motivated by a desire for their own happiness, their only problem is to show that the morally right action really does serve as the best means to obtain the end of happiness. Once you are led to see this, so such theories assume, the question Why should I do what is morally right? is automatically answered. Kant totally rejects this eudaemonistic way of ethical theorizing; he calls decisions made according to such a calculation of what produces your own happiness prudential decisions and he distinguishes them sharply from ethical decisions. This is not because Kant thinks we are not motivated by a desire for happiness, in fact like the ancient philosophers, he takes it for granted that we are; however, such motivation cannot be that which makes an action ethically right or wrong. The fact that an action might lead to happiness cannot be the grounds of moral obligation. Kant regards the notion of happiness as both too indefinite and too empirical to serve as the grounds for moral obligation why we ought to do something. In the first place it is too indefinite because all people have very different sorts of talents, tastes and enjoyments which mean in effect that one persons happiness may be another persons misery. This is because the concept is empirical in the sense that the only way you can know whether what you seek will actually serve to bring you happiness is by experience. As Kant points out, it is impossible that the most clear-sighted [man] should frame to himself a definite conception of what he really wills in this. Since we cannot know a priori before an action whether it really will be conducive to our happiness (because the notion is so indefinite that even the most clear-sighted amongst us cannot know everything that must form part of his own happiness) the desire for our own happiness cannot serve as a motive to determine our will to do this or that action. Moreover, Kant observes that even the general well-being and contentment with ones condition that is called happiness, can inspire pride, and often presumption, if there is not a good will to correct the influence of these on the mind. In other words happiness cannot be good without qualification for if we imagine it occurring in a person totally devoid of the desire to do what is right, it could very well lead to all sorts of immoral actions. 4. What does Kant mean by a good will? To act out of a good will for Kant means to act out of a sense of moral obligation or duty. In other words, the moral agent does a particular action not because of what it produces (its consequences) in terms of human experience, but because he or she recognizes by reasoning that it is morally the right thing to do and thus regards him or herself as having a moral duty or obligation to do that action. One may of course as an added fact get some pleasure or other gain from doing the right thing, but to act morally, one does not do it for the sake of its desirable consequences, but rather because one understands that it is morally the right thing to do. In this respect Kants view towards morality parallels the Christians view concerning obedience to Gods commandments, according to which the Christian obeys Gods commandments simply because God commands them, not for the sake of rewards in heaven after death or from fear of punishment in hell. In a similar way, for Kant the rational being does what is morally right because he recognizes himself as having a moral duty to do so rather than for anything he or she may get out of it. 5. When does one act from a motive of doing ones duty? Kant answers that we do our moral duty when our motive is determined by a principle recognized by reason rather than the desire for any expected consequence or emotional feeling which may cause us to act the way we do. The will is defined as that which provides the motives for our actions. Obviously many times we are motivated by specific desires or emotions. I may act the way I do from a feeling of friendship for a particular individual, or from desire for a particular consequence. I may also be motivated by particular emotions of fear, or envy, or pity, etc. When I act in these ways, I am motivated by a desire for a particular end; in Kants vocabulary I am said to act out of inclination. Insofar as an action is motivated by inclination, the motive to do it is contingent upon the desire for the particular end which the action is imagined to produce. Thus as different rational agents might have different inclinations, there is no one motive from inclination common to all rational beings. Kant distinguishes acts motivated by inclination from those done on principle. For example someone may ask why I did a certain thing, and point out that it brought me no gain, or perhaps even made life a bit less pleasant; to which I might reply, I know I do not stand to gain by this action, but I do it because of the principle of the thing. For Kant, this sort of state of mind is the essence of the moral consciousness. When I act on principle the sole factor determining my motive is that this particular action exemplifies a particular case falling under a general law or maxim. For Kant the mental process by which the actor understands that a particular case falls under a certain principle is an exercise in reasoning, or to be more precise, what Kant called practical reason, reason used as a guide to action. (Pure Reason is reason used to attain certainty, or what Kant called scientific knowledge. ) Since to have moral worth an action must be done on principle, and to see that a certain principle applies to a particular action requires the exercise of reason, only rational beings can be said to behave morally. 6. Why does Kant believe that to have moral worth an action must be done on principle rather than inclination? Kants argument here may seem strange to the contemporary outlook, for it assumes that everything in nature is designed to serve a purpose. Now it is an obvious fact that human beings do have a faculty of practical reason, reason applied to the guidance of actions. (Kant is of course fully aware the people often fail to employ this faculty; i. e. they act non-rationally (without reason) or even irrationally (against what reason dictates); but he intends that his ethical theory is normative, prescribing how people ought to behave, rather than descriptive of how they actually do behave.) If everything in nature serves some purpose then the faculty of practical reason must have some purpose. Kant argues that this purpose cannot be merely the attainment of some specific desired end, or even the attainment of happiness in general, for if it were, it would have been far better for nature simply to have endowed persons with an instinct to achieve this end, as is the case with the non- rational animals. Therefore, the fact that human beings have a faculty of practical reason cannot be explained by claiming that it allows them to attain some particular end. So the fact that reason can guide our actions, but cannot do so for the sake of achieving some desired end, leads Kant to the conclusion that the function of practical reason must be to allow humans as rational beings to apply general principles to particular instances of action, or in other words to engage in moral reasoning as a way of determining ones moral obligation: what is the right action to do. Thus we act morally only when we act rationally to apply a moral principle to determine the motive of our action. 7. Do all persons have the same moral duties? According to Kant only rational beings can be said to act morally. Reason for Kant (as for all the Enlightenment thinkers) is the same for all persons; in other words there isnt a poor mans reason versus a rich mans reason or a white mans reason versus a black mans reason. All persons are equal as potentially rational beings. Therefore, if reason dictates that one person, in a particular situation, has a moral duty to do a particular thing, then any person, in that same situation, would equally well have a duty to do that same thing. In this sense Kants reasoning parallels the way in which stoicism led Roman lawyers to the conclusion that all citizens are equal before the law. Thus Kant is a moral absolutist in the sense that all persons have the same moral duties, for all persons are equal as rational beings. But this absolutism does not mean that Kant holds that our moral duties are not relative to the situation in which we find ourselves. Thus it is quite possible for Kant to conclude that in one particular situation I may have a duty to keep my promise, but in another situation (in which, for example, keeping a promise conflicts with a higher duty) I may equally well be morally obligated to break a promise. 8. Why is it that actions done for the sake of some end cannot have moral worth? Since what ones moral duties are in a particular situation are the same for all persons, ones moral duties must be independent of the particular likes and dislikes of the moral agent. Now any action which is motivated by the desire for some particular end presupposes that the agent has the desire for that end. However, from the simple concept of a rational being it is not possible to deduce that any particular rational being would have any particular desired ends. Most people, of course, desire to seek pleasure and avoid pain, but there is no logical contradiction involved in the notion of a rational being who does not desire pleasure or perhaps who desires pain. Thus reason does not dictate that any particular rational being has any particular end. But if the desire for a particular end gave an action its moral worth, then only those rational beings who happened in fact to desire that end would regard such actions as good, while those that desired to avoid such an end, would regard the action as bad. (Thus for example eudaemonistic theories which assume the end of achieving happiness is what gives an action its moral value, would serve to induce only those beings who happened to have the desire for happiness to behave morally. For those rational beings who happened to desire to avoid happiness, there would be no incentive to behave morally and what appears good to the happiness-seeker will appear positively bad to one who seeks to avoid happiness. ) But, as we have seen above, Kants absolutism reaches the conclusion that moral obligation is the same for all persons. Thus the ground of moral obligation, what makes an action a moral duty, cannot lie in the end which that act produces. 9. What does reason tell us about the principle that determines the morally dutiful motive? Since Kant has ruled out the ends (i. e. the consequences) which an act produces as well as any motive but those determined by the application of principle as determining moral duty, he is faced now with the task of deriving the fundamental principles of his ethical theory solely from the concept of what it is to be a rational being. He now argues (in a very obscure manner) that from this notion of what is demanded by being rational, he can deduce that it would be irrational to act on any principle which would not apply equally to any other actor in the same situation. In other words, Kant claims that reason dictates that the act we are morally obligated to do is one which is motivated by adherence to a principle which could, without inconsistency, be held to apply to any (and all) rational agents. This fundamental ethical principle, which is commonly called The Categorical Imperative, Kant summarizes with the statement that I am never to act otherwise than so that I could also will that my maxim become a universal law. Kants claim that Reason demands the moral agent to act on a universal law thus in many ways parallels Jesus dictum that God commands that those who love Him obey The Golden Rule. 10. What is a categorical imperative? Any statement of moral obligation which I make the principle of my action (my maxim in Kants vocabulary), in the context of a specific situation, constitutes an imperative. I might, in such a situation, choose to act on a statement of the form, If I desire some specific end (e. g. happiness, maximum pleasure, power, etc. ), then I ought to do such and such an action. In doing so I would be acting on what Kant calls a hypothetical imperative. However, Kant has already ruled out ends as the grounds for moral obligation; thus hypothetical imperatives cannot serve as the basis for determining my moral duty. However, if I act on a principle which has the form, In circumstances of such and such a character, I ought to.

How cultures use food Essay Example for Free

How cultures use food Essay 1. Outline the way different cultures use the value food? Out of the many different cultures present throughout the world, all value food in most similar ways. Most similarities can be struck between the availability of foods within their regions, specifically enviromental and seasonal ripening in the spring period. Food has become plentiful in Western civilisations over the past few decades, , due to the advances in agriculture allowing maximum growth and larger yields in the shortest amount of time (Chemgeneration 2011). This has also introduced interest into controversial genetically modified foods and the use of hybrid varieties of plants that have more desirable qualities. An example of this is Maize and certain potatoes that secrete a pesticide from the plant to ward of pests and insects, thus removing the need to use pesticides and chemicals (Chemgeneration 2011). Dr Rosalie McCauley (Development Office Department of Agriculture and Food WA, p1), obtained results that genetically modified foods haves been more increasingly used as the use of farmland increases exponentially at over 6% per year, seeing some 170.3 million hectares of GM foods being grown. In western society, there are a significant percentage of people either being overweight or obese, even Australia that has a population of approx 22 million (Australian Bureau of Statistics p1), with over 60% is considered over weight (ABS 2012, Australian Bureau of Statistics). Most overweight or obese individuals have and unhealthy relationship with food and it was theorised by Dr Carole Hungerford (Good Health in 21st Century) it can be considered ‘an addiction’. There is speculation as to why western society has such an addiction foods such as bread and milk, as we are the only species that drinks milk after weaning, especially that of another animal. Clinical studies and Medical Publications released by Dr J.L. Fortuna (PUBMED, 2010, p1) found clinical similarities for binge eating to that of drug dependences seeing a similar release of serotonin as with other drug dependencies. Though obesity is a prevalent condition around the world, numerous countries do not have the same obesity rates as western culture, some of this is likely to result in the way food is perceived by other cultures. Comparatively, in some cultures around the world, it is part of their culture to abstain from food for a short period of time. A more popularly known fasti ng is the Islamic undertaking of Ramadan where they fast during day light hours (Huda, 2009). Though in western cultures, people have a dislike to feel hungry, and can feel like they have fasted if they miss morning tea during a busy day at work. Numerous cultures throughout history have also used food as offering to their gods or deities to pray for health, or future harvests rain. Egyptian Pharaohs would be entombed with vast pots of food and spices to be used on their journey to the heavens. Some traditional practices continue even today such as the Korean Charye used to honour families ancestors, where special foods are prepared to during the Chuesoerk Ceremonies. The Chuesoerk (Korea.net, 2010) is a three day holiday to celebrate the good harvest received during the spring of that year. These cultural and religious uses for food are worldwide, and often not too distant from Christian practices of thanksgiving celebrated during the Christmas period. In conclusion, all cultures, no matter how distant or unique, have significant celebrations, events or relationships with a large role involving the use or lack of foods. The use of food to bring together communities and families is not dissimilar in almost all countries and demographics on earth; however the individuals use or overuse is not always healthy. References: 1. The Chemical Generation 2001, Viewed 14 January 2014 2. The Chemical Generation 2001, Viewed 14 January 2014 3. Dr Rosalie McCauley, Department of Agriculture and Food, WA, viewed 10 January 2014 4. ABS (2012) Australian health survey: First results, 2011–12. ABS cat. no. 4364.0.55.001. Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics. Viewed 14 January 2014 5. Aust Government, National Health and Medical Research Council. Viewed 10 January 2014 6. Hungerford, Dr Carole, 2008, Good health in the 21st century, Revised Edition, Scribe, Victoria. 7. Fortuna, J. Department of Health Science, CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, viewed 10 January 2014 8. Huda, About.com, 2009. Viewed 15 January 2014 9. Korea.net, 2010, viewed 11 January 2014 2. What general concepts guide the present western diet? The current concepts of the western diet are based in the influence of proteins, carbohydrates, fats and vitamins and minerals (Whitney and Rolfes, 2013). Although we have come a long way with the introduction of multiculturalism some decades ago, for many western diet is still based around the proteins consisting of meats, predominantly red meat and chicken, carbohydrates with starchy root vegetables. This is often referred to as the ‘meat and three veg’ diet and the previous generations would have grown up with this as their diet staples as they where the majority of foods available for purchase or even grown themselves. With exception to the last 200 years, mankind has been involved in the seasonal use of foods and their diets where restricted by what was available at those times. Today there are vast changes in the way foods are produced to permit year round availability and the creation of food products that have previously been unavailable. Researchers at Bates Collage (Lewiston, ME, USA, 2013) believe that in the last 150 years since the invention of stones mills, the refining process of grain to create white flour, is now a consistent staple within the western diet. It was noted that this is a considerable source of carbohydrates and the cultures that had not encountered this food type previously began to show Heart Disease, Type 2 diabetes and stroke. These are all ailments that had been previously unseen in those areas. Additionally, the belief of receiving good value for money has become one of the most influential concepts and reasoning behind the purchase of processed food in recent times. The perception to receive the best meal, to be filling, quickly and well priced has seen the fast food chain market turn into a billion dollar industry (B.A. Swinburne, 2004). Anna Hodgekiss (U.S. daily Mail editor) explains that the over indulgence of these highly fatty foods have been  linked to short life spans and arrays of health problems. Even with the warnings and proven heath problems that arise, some families can become dependent on foods that are considered â€Å"value for money†. In conclusion, the general concepts to achieve the main food groups are relevant and understood but poorly enacted. The ease and availability of cheap fast food and highly refined products, that arrive ready to eat, are becoming preferential over the more time consuming cooking of foods from the local supermarket. References: 1. Whitney, E and Rolfes, S. Understanding Nutrition 13th Edition, 2013, Wadsworth USA 2. BATES Collage 2014, 2 Andrews Road Lewiston, ME 04240. Viewed 14 January 2014 3. Online book extract B.A. Swinburne, Public Health Nutrition, Chap 7, pp132 (p10). Viewed 14 January 2014 4. Hodgekiss, Anna, U.S. Daily Mail, viewed 14 January 2014 3. Discuss the comparative issues between man and nature? Nature is the world surrounding us, and it is the term we use to describe anything that happens which is out of our control. Such as natural disasters like cyclones, floods and drought. So considering this nature can not only be seen as a friend, but also as an enemy. Man desires to control nature by synthetic, mechanic and industrial plans. Synthetic and Natural medicines desire the same outcomes, of long life and good heath, but the methods to achieve it could not be any more different. Whether it is derived by numerous chemical processes or used in the original form it is found, nature made and manmade are vastly different especially when it comes to health and healing. Some cultures rely almost completely on nature to provide their basic needs such as water, food, shelter and even medicine. Though considered bland and not in line with the â€Å"perfect diet† (Health Schools Australia notes), the health benefits and improved health conditions are  achieved without the use of synthetic medicine, where as Western Diet, requires supplement by manmade medicines. This reliance on the local flora and fauna to provide all essentials and life improving aspects is not a new belief and is understood worldwide, but has been partially replaced by Western perception of that health can only be achieved by Pharmaceutical (Crigger NJ). The perception that health and food are separate and not interrelated because ‘man’ has created medicines that are better than those extracted from the ‘nature’ like Tibetans and non western cultures. In contrast, Western society has adopted that the scientific basis behind the synthetic production of therapeutic medicines is the only medical way to treat disease and illness. Today, it appears the practice of non synthetic medicinal applications is mostly centric to non western cultures. The â€Å"Perfect Diet’’ is deemed as a one shoe fits all remedy for the correct eating and dietary requirements for modern people. Where if we look at the diets of other cultures, such as the Hunza diet or Mediterranean Diet, where the majority of the population has a life expectancy significantly higher than that of the Western counterparts may have something to do with the foods that differ to that of the â€Å"Perfect Western Diet†(Diet Choices, 2014 and Trichopoula, A). One key reason is believed to be the Hunza population in the Himalayas consume more than 200% (Dainca Collins, 2011) of the B17 (also known as Amygdalan) than their western counter parts. This is likely due to the Hunza eating the seeds of all fruits, which is something that is often discarded within western society. Christina Larner (Body and Soul) has identified that Apricot se eds contain the largest concentrations of B17, and has been used a cancer treatment in modern times. However the same seeds are alleged to have caused Cyanidic acid when consumed to excessive quantities, but cases of cyanide toxicity are rare (Christina Larner). In conclusion, man created medicines for health and longevity are proven to be available in the natural world around us. Public perception provides the strongest reasons why man made pharmaceuticals are the main stream choice for western society, where as the isolated communities use the world around them to treat their ailments. 1.Whitney, E and Rolfes, S. Understanding Nutrition 13th Edition, 2013, Wadsworth USA 2.Crigger, N.J. 2009, PUBMED, US National Library of Medicine, viewed 14 January 2014 3.Diet Choices, 2014, Diet Choices, Las Vegas NV, USA, viewed 15 January 2014 http://dietchoices.com/diet-plans/hunza-diet/ 4.Trichopoula, A. 2000, PUBMED, US National Library of Medicine, viewed 14 January 2014 5.Dainca Collins, 2011, UNDERGROUND HEALTH REPORTER, viewed 15 January 2014 6.Larner, Christina, Body and Soul, viewed 15 January 2014 4) Diversity of foods has been a benefit to the human race? Australia’s culinary heritage has expanded greatly over the last 100 years with numerous population demographics immigrating to Australia. We have observed cultural and culinary delights flood our markets, restaurants and kitchens with sights, smells and aromas from around the world. Many years ago these would have been deemed exotic and bizarre, but are now considered almost staple additions to the average household pantry. Fifty years ago, within our Grandmothers pantry, our available food selections were significantly limited in spices and rare/exotic foods that are now considered normal place. Meat and three veg meals of starchy root vegetables and heavy protein meats where the staple of the diet during those times. It is argued (Potatoes SA) that these staples popularity on Australian kitchen tables where due to the European based settlers focusing on farming practices for this produce over the last 100 years. Pliner and Hoden (cit. Evaluation of food choice behaviours, p 20) stated it was more to do with the neophobic attitude towards foreign foods due to the â€Å"unfamiliarity of foods† that limited the adventurous mindset to the evolving culinary scene. In either case, only since World War 2 did the appearance of multicultural foods and diets start to intermix. One of the most popular entries into our diets is the highly regarded Mediterranean diet consisting of uncooked fresh whole vegetables, whole grains and some fish and seafood but minimal meat. That compared to the past diets of root based vegetables that where often boiled or baked, and argued to lose most of its natural vitamins and minerals during the cooking process, especially seen with water soluble vitamins (Better Health Channel). The high use of tomatoes within the Mediterranean diet, which contain large amounts of the antioxidant lycopene and that is believed to have anti-tumour properties to relieve cancers  particularly in the prostate and multiple-myeloma (Tonia Reinhard, p44-45). Additionally, the vibrant coloured vegetables that contain high amounts of VIT A and C such as Capsicums, Spinach, green leafy vegetables. VIT A is required for vision, the immune system and as an antioxidant. Dr Carole Hungerford (Good health in 21st century, p160) identifies that night blindness is a symptom of VIT A deficiency. Even the fats used are considered healthier with the Olives and olive oil as the principle source of fat. Tonia Reinhard states that Olive oil contains the richest source of mono unsaturated fatty acids, being 77% mono-unsaturated and 14% saturated, this is attributed as to why it helps to prevent cardiovascular disease. In conclusion, the diversity of foods that have spread across the world is bring ing the many health benefits to many. As the world continues to expand and new ideas and foods are embraced, soon the healing and healthy properties of those unique diets will improve the health and well being across the globe. 1.Potatoes South Australia, 2013, Elder House, Adelaide, SA, viewed 15 January 2014 2.Online Thesis – Roininen, Katariina, 2001, Evaluation of food choice behaviour: Development and Validation of health and taste attitude scales, visited 15 January 2014 3.Better Health Channel, July 2013, Victorian Government, viewed 15 January 2014 4.Hungerford, Dr Carole, 2008, Good health in the 21st century, Revised Edition, Scribe, Victoria. 5.Reinhard, Tonia, (2010), SUPERFOODS The Healthiest Foods on the Planet, Cove Press, NSW 5) The future of nutrition In the past and even in some places still today, nutrition has not play a conscious role in conventional medicine, as the focus has and always seems to be about treating disease not the cause. Nutrition based medicine has been labelled with a stigma as ‘alternative’ or new age and not given the same attention as the newest drug on the market. Recently have we begun to see some changes within the health care system which offers clients a  natural alternative to pharmaceuticals. This has began a movement known as Integrative Medicine (OSHER, 2012), where the approach is about taking the best from conventional and alternative medicine and combining them. This combination of practices is reinforcing the tenants of prevention rather than cure, which follows the old adage that â€Å"an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure†. We are already seeing this revolutionary ideal take off with the emergence of integrative clinics now established in some major citi es, and where patients even seek further information from their GP on what additional alternative treatments are available for their ailments (Mike Adams, 2005). This wider social consciousness towards natural alternatives is perhaps due to the increased marketing of nutritional supplements within media (Mike Adams, 2005). These messages are making people more curious about their health and what they can do to improve it. In addition, we are seeing nutritional products such as ‘Inner Health Plus’ a pro-biotic supplement, is sometimes prescribed to patients following a course of antibiotics. This behaviour by GP’s is demonstrating a small but important step to the medical and health organisations towards the evolution of nutritional medicine. The popularity of supplements and their advertised health benefits has propelled the sale of many nutritional products, especially Omega 3 supplements derived from fish oil or krill oil (Lisa Schofield, 2013). Omega 3 that is naturally occurring within deep ocean fish species has been proven to be beneficial for arthritis suffers, for heart health, and general wellbeing (Whitney, 2013, pg 161.). Dr Hungerford (Hungerford, 2008) tells us that until recent times, animals who do not manufacture their own omega 3 would have had to eat plants which contain omega 3’s for protection against the cold and other health benefits. However, as we domesticated animals, kept them warm in barns, and fed them the food we grew; the animals did not require as much omega 3 in order to survive. This man made change is a potential reason is why fish still remains one of the best sources of omega 3, as the majority of fish that we consume are wild. (Hungerford, 2008 pg. 6-7). In summary, the stigma of nutritional based medicine is slowly being lifted as media, mainstream medicine and health care practitioners inculcate these practices into their professions. Today, more than ever, people have access to the information and products that can be utilised to improve their health, wellbeing and  diets. As the message becomes clearer and better understood, it is likely that the stigma will be removed completely and nutritionists will be given the same renowned as the doctors and medical professionals that share the same vision for long and healthy life for all. 1.Osher Centre for Integrative Medicine, University of California, 2012, CA, USA, viewed 17 Jan 2014 2.Adams, Mike, 24 July 2005, Natural News, viewed 17 Jan 2014 3.Hungerford, Dr Carole, 2008, Good health in the 21st century, Revised Edition, Scribe, Victoria 4.Schofield, Lisa, 09 Sep 2013, Nutraceuticals World, viewed 17 January 2014 5.Whitney, E and Rolfes, S. Understanding Nutrition 13th Edition, 2013, Wadsworth USA Bibliography ABS (2012) Australian health survey: First results, 2011–12. ABS cat. no. 4364.0.55.001. Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics. Viewed 14 January 2014 Adams, Mike, 24 July 2005, Natural News, viewed 17 Jan 2014 Aust Government, National Health and Medical Research Council. Viewed 10 January 2014 B.A. Swinburne, Public Health Nutrition, Chap 7, pp132 (p10). Viewed 14 January 2014 BATES Collage 2014, 2 Andrews Road Lewiston, ME 04240. Viewed 14 January 2014 Better Health Channel, July 2013, Victorian Government, viewed 15 January 2014 Collins, Dainca, 2011, UNDERGROUND HEALTH REPORTER, viewed 15 January 2014 Crigger, N.J. 2009, PUBMED, US National Library of Medicine, viewed 14 January 2014 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19671650 Diet Choices, 2014, Diet Choices, Las Vegas NV, USA, viewed 15 January 2014 http://dietchoices.com/diet-plans/hunza-diet/ Dr Rosalie McCauley, Department of Agriculture and Food, WA, viewed 10 January 2014 Fortuna, J. Department of Health Science, CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, viewed 10 January 2014 Hodgekiss, Anna, U.S. Daily Mail, viewed 14 January 2014 Huda, About.com, 2009. Viewed 15 January 2014 Hungerford, Dr Carole, 2008, Good health in the 21st century, Revised Edition, Scribe, Victoria Korea.net, 2010, viewed 11 January 2014 http://www.korea.net/Government/Current-Affairs/Others?affairId=168 Larner, Christina, Body and Soul, viewed 15 January 2014 Osher Centre for Integrative Medicine, University of California, 2012, CA, USA, viewed 17 Jan 2014 Potatoes South Australia, 2013, Elder House, Adelaide, SA, viewed 15 January 2014 Reinhard, Tonia, (2010), SUPERFOODS The Healthiest Foods on the Planet, Cove Press, NSW Roininen, Katariina, 2001, Evaluation of food choice behaviour: Development and Validation of health and taste attitude scales, visited 15 January 2014 Schofield, Lisa, 09 Sep 2013, Nutraceuticals World, viewed 17 January 2014 The Chemical Generation 2001, Viewed 14 January 2014 The Chemical Generation 2001, Viewed 14 January 2014 Trichopoula, A. 2000, PUBMED, US National Library of Medicine, viewed 14 January 2014 Whitney, E and Rolfes, S. Understanding Nutrition 13th Edition, 2013, Wadsworth USA

Ethical Theories In International Business

Ethical Theories In International Business In recent years, the globalization has been continually stimulated towards nations in the world. Two main reasons that are able to explain the expansion on global business are the degeneration of trade barriers since the end of World War II in conjunction with the sharply increasing in development of the technology in various fields such as communication, information processing, internet and transportation (Y?cel, 2009). Numerous firms, even small businesses, have been increasingly entering into the international business as foreign markets are looked as possible sources of income to the firms. Thus, there are a great number of business people who working overseas and facing the different in environmental and cultural variances. The differences certainly make a lot of problems to the cross border businesses. Many problems have presumably been created due to the different environments and especially cross-cultural environment; ethical problem is one of these problems (Y?cel, 2009). In times past, ethics had not much effect on the business. However, ethical issues have been being in vogue by the arising of dishonesty in an international business. DeGeorge argues that The change in perception and attitude can be traced back to the exponential growth in industrial pollution, the rise of consumerism and the popular reaction to increasing numbers of scandals and corruption (DeGeorge, 2000, P.50). The purpose of this essay is to present the definition of ethics and ethical theories i.e. Deontology, Teleology and Golden Rule. Furthermore, there is a discussion regarding ethical problems that may be encountered when doing business internationally. Moreover, approaches and general guideline for firms to act ethically to the issues are displayed. Harvard Referencing Style is adopted for referencing in this essay. What is ethics? Ethics is the standards to determine what is right or wrong, what is better or worse, what people ought to do or ought not to do which conduct individuals or groups of how to behave. Ethics engages an examination into a reasonable justification for the set of standards that pervasively accepted by members of culture (Grossman, 2001). In addition, MacKinnon defines ethics as Ethics, or moral philosophy, asks basic questions about the good life, about what is better and worse, about whether there is any objective right and wrong, and how we know it if there is (MacKinnon, 2007, P.3). Thus, ethics in business can be defined as the framework of reasoned and appropriated justification that provides goods, profits, to the firm based on the acceptable affected on others including all stakeholders. Business ethics requires an inquiry of firms on their actions towards global (Cuizon, 2009). Ethics is also considered as glue that cements business together (DeGeorge, 2000). As the growth of concerns about an ethical issue, several ethical theories have been developed as a guidelines or rules in order to assist all human beings and also multinational corporations to behave ethically and avoid ethical issues in the business world. Deontological theory, Teleological theory and Golden Rule are some major theories to help flee from ethical issues. These theories have different approaches to justify the behavior of human or firm whether it is ethical or unethical. The first, deontological theory is the theory that makes an ethical judgment based on the intention of act with a neglect of outcome of that act whether the outcome is good or bad. In other words, deontological ethical decision-making process has concentrate on means rather than an outcome. Pojman defines deontological theory as It is not the consequences that determine the rightness or wrongness of an act but certain features in the act itself or in the rule of which the act is token or example (Pojman, 2001, P.134-135). For example, based on the real life experience, there have been many robbery cases in Thailand that the burglars carried a weapon with them whether for violating the victims or even hunting the victims down in order to done their job easier. However, some of these cases were ended up as a death of the heedless robbers themselves because the victims who were being stolen and violated actually had a gun and shot them down instead with intention to protect their lives. This example exemplifies and expresses a difference in the term of killing by based on the deontological theory, to killing somebody is totally wrong but killing with an intention of self-defense against the assault is absolutely different. In contrast of deontological theory, the teleological theory completely provides an opposite way of ethical decision-making process. While deontology has concerned on the means, the teleological theory has focused primarily on the net outcome rather than the means itself. The teleological ethical decision-making process can be defined as the theory that stresses on the examination of the result which caused by a behavior and determine the good or bad of that outcome based on the aggregated benefit consequences for others in culture. Pojman, also, characterizes the theory as The Greatest Happiness for the Greatest Number (Pojman, 1995, P.727). This, teleological theory, could provide a dissimilar option to the same example of deontology. If victims make a decision based on teleological theory, victims would not need to shoot the thieves but call the police instead. Hence, the robbers would be alive but be jailed and the victims would finally be saved by the police. The families of thi eves would not lose their family member and consequently the victims would not be guilt as no one got killed. A given sample situation displays a way of teleology ethical decision-making process which concerns the net benefit of outcome, that are consequences from the act, rather than the act itself. Last theory, the golden rule, is to act to other people in the way that you want to be acted by them. In other perception, golden rule can be defined as to bring others mind into our mind and not to treat others in the way that you do not want to be treated. Y?cel argues about the meaning of golden rule as doing unto others as you would have them do unto you (Y?cel, 2009, P.99). This theory is seemingly a general standards or norms in the deep of human being s mind towards various cultures and religions which can be used simply as a guideline to make an ethical decision in day to day life. For instance, based on the real experience, an engineer who has been working for the special company s project had an idea to largely reduce the cost of manufacturing of the firm. However, his colleague stole his idea and sold it to management level by himself without even a given credit to the originator of the idea. To think based on the golden rule, there is a simple question Would the stealer steal others idea and pretend that the idea was originated by himself if he falls in the same situation with a person whose idea was stolen? The answer is surely no because he would actually not want his idea to be stolen by others, suddenly, he would not do it. As explanation over the ethics and several ethical theories are presented and exemplified, it indicates that even an ordinary people could face the ethical problems in day to day life. In similarly but even much higher magnitude and severity, the across border businesses are encountered with the ethical issues that are particularly caused by the differences in law, politic, environment and culture between home country and host country. Cultural variances over the various groups in international business turn the business ethics to be more complicated (Y?cel, 2009). Many practices that are considered as ethical practices in some countries are declined or even illegal in other countries (Briscoe, 2009). Small and large scale of Bribery, Human rights, Child labor and Employment discrimination are examples of ethical problems in multinational enterprises (Deresky, 2008). One of ethical problems that cross border businesses have been being faced is employment discrimination. It can be defined as treating people including employee with inequality in hiring, promotion, retirement, work selection by based on various factors e.g. gender, age, race, religion and even marital status. Tomei also argues that This difference in treatment puts him or her at a disadvantage or limits his or her access to benefits and opportunities available to other members of society (Tomei, 2003, P.402). In Singapore, for example of the gender discrimination, working men are paid with higher salary than women employee just to protect the successfully in economics of male (MacKinnon, 2007). Another example based on working life experience, the big computer hard drive manufacturer in the world which has over 10 subsidiaries and subcontractors all over the globe was impacted by the recent world s economic crisis. The crisis caused the world s sales in technology sector including c omputer hard drive dropped rapidly. At that time, the company was directly forced by the loss of income to reduce its operating cost in order to sustain the firm and survive in the business. The firm s strategy to reduce the operating cost was finalized and appeared to be the salary deduction of all employees and layoff thousands of employees throughout the organization. A plant in Malaysia, which has been established to serve the repairing and rebuilding function on claimed hard drive from customers, was certainly affected as well as other plants in cross borders. While slashing in salary caused less impact to Malaysian employees, the much more painful was created to workers by discharge a number of employees; most of them were female operators who worked in the manufacturing processes and had age around 35 years old upward. The reason to dismiss these women based on their age regardless their individual working performances was stated by the American Vice President of Asia-Pacific Regional Operations as elders have less concentration and less working efficiency to work in detailed and micro job in assembly and disassembly of hard drive s components. This selective layoff based on age is considered as unethical behavior even the women, who were dismissed, were paid for compensation. These women could definitely not live their life by only based on a moderate paid of compensation. Consequently, they would have to find a new job. However, they would be faced by other discrimination in employment since companies in Malaysia tend to not hire employees 40 years of age or above. Women with an age of 40 and older have less chance to obtain a new employment (Dylyani, 2009). This loophole is caused by the differences in law. While USA has Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) as a shield of this ethical problem, Malaysia has no protector (Dylyani, 2009). The way to resolve these 2 employment discriminations, hiring and termination, would be based on the teleolog ical frameworks. VP of the hard drive firm would at least consider individual working performance of employees as a main factor to decide who would be dismissed individually and certainly not to dismiss by basing on only their age. In addition, the consequences of layoff ought to be considered because there has been a high probability that elder operators who were expelled would be difficult to acquire a new employment. Furthermore, discrimination in hiring would be resolved by adopting the same practices as ADEA as the country s law to close the gap of difference in legal, give back the equal and fairness among all age of employees and conduct firms to behave ethically regarding the problem. It has now become clear that ethics is necessary in international business and ethical issues are unavoidable for the firms who step into across borders. Managers in multinational enterprises are required to make a decision on ethical dilemmas based on the ethical decision making processes and frameworks. Nevertheless, in order to handle with ethical issues effectively by based on the firm s benefit as well as fairness among society, problem in employing the ethical theories to particular ethical issue is definitely emerged i.e. which ethical framework should be applied to certain ethical dilemma to get the best end result? There is possibly no clear answer for the managers regarding this question. Maybe the applicable guideline for managers is to asking by following questions: Does firm act legally under home and host country s laws? Does action conflict with the human rights of all affected by it? Does action conflict with host culture? And does action cause any harm or violation t o the public? To behave ethically is the challenge for the international firms but even more challenge is to apply the ethical guidelines and theories appropriately to the ethical dilemmas.

The White Hip Hop Fan :: Music Racial Race Papers

The White Hip Hop Fan Methodology In case you are not accustomed with the group Public Enemy, the subtitles names is a play of their album "It'll Take a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back." Being not only a white hip hop fan, but a white kid trying to become a rapper, I have obviously been faced with the problem of society's non-acceptance of my type. I interviewed a friend of mine who I rap with quite often about his feelings on the subject of the white hip hop fan, and have long pondered it on my own. I read books and web sites recommended by friends and continue to search out more information on the subject. In this paper I look at the state of the white hip hop fan and of the white rapper, focusing mainly on the social and cultural impact, the way the white fan feels and is looked at by society. Description ON HIP HOP IN GENERAL: The term hip hop relates to four areas of urban culture: mcing, djing, break dancing, and graffiti art. Hip hop basically started in New York city. Who knows which of the four areas really came first, but the important thing is that they evolved together. Many of the graffiti artists were rappers who would tag their name or crew to get publicity. However, if one had to pick who really came first, I would say it was the DJs. The most important early DJs were Grandmaster Flash and Africa Bambaataa, who were hip hop kings of their respective parts of New York City. MCs began to show up in this context as people began to talk over the DJs scratching and they mostly talked about the DJ's skills and pumped up the crowd. Finally, break dancing was obviously started when people began dancing to the music. All four areas have grown up together and taken their own outside influences as well. Now that hip hop has been around for a few decades (it started back in the early 80s), it has gone thro ugh many phases, and is constantly evolving. Some of the earliest hip hoppers say that hip hop died in the 90s, but there are those purists in every musical genres who dislike its evolution for whatever reason, and they are not the majority. Today, hip hop comes in a wide variety from gangsta rap, to underground rap, to jazzrap fusion, to what I like to call pophop, and much more.

fathers and sons :: essays research papers

Father and Son But I am prouder - infinitely prouder - to be a father. A soldier destroys in order to build; the father only builds, never destroys. The one has the potentiality of death; the other embodies creation and life. And while the hordes of death are mighty, the battalions of life are mightier still. It is my hope that my son, when I am gone, will remember me not from the battle field but in the home repeating with him our simple daily prayer, 'Our Father who art in Heaven.' (Douglas Macarthur) Even though the main father and son relationship in Arthur Miller’s All My Sons does not display the â€Å"perfect† relationship they still hold respect and love for one another, they are each other’s security. In this play the author displays a society in which the characters are selfish, and seem to care only about themselves and the things that may benefit them. The men in this play go through great lengths to get everything they want, even if their actions may bring harm to others. Mr. Joe Keller seems to be an exception in this play; He will go through a lot of trouble to benefit others, especially his family. Joe displays so much love for his family through his affection for his son Chris. Chris and Joe have an amazing bond that lies deep within them. The respect and love they hold for one another is unmatched by other characters, and seem to be hard to divide. Although Chris is Joes’ son, Joe also has many other â€Å"sons† the men that fough t in the war, these too are his children yet he deceives them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Joe Keller and his son Chris are the main father and son relationship in this play; they are extremely close and completely respect one another however, they have much to learn, for one has a secret. Being a father means more then anything to Joe, it means the personification of graciousness and infallibility. Every move Joe makes in his life is for Chris. His entire factory that he has built from the ground up has been for Chris; his plan was after he retired that Chris would have total control over the business. After Larry, Joe’s elder son passes away Chris becomes everything to him. His love and desire for Chris to be successful made Joe oblivious to all that surrounds him. fathers and sons :: essays research papers Father and Son But I am prouder - infinitely prouder - to be a father. A soldier destroys in order to build; the father only builds, never destroys. The one has the potentiality of death; the other embodies creation and life. And while the hordes of death are mighty, the battalions of life are mightier still. It is my hope that my son, when I am gone, will remember me not from the battle field but in the home repeating with him our simple daily prayer, 'Our Father who art in Heaven.' (Douglas Macarthur) Even though the main father and son relationship in Arthur Miller’s All My Sons does not display the â€Å"perfect† relationship they still hold respect and love for one another, they are each other’s security. In this play the author displays a society in which the characters are selfish, and seem to care only about themselves and the things that may benefit them. The men in this play go through great lengths to get everything they want, even if their actions may bring harm to others. Mr. Joe Keller seems to be an exception in this play; He will go through a lot of trouble to benefit others, especially his family. Joe displays so much love for his family through his affection for his son Chris. Chris and Joe have an amazing bond that lies deep within them. The respect and love they hold for one another is unmatched by other characters, and seem to be hard to divide. Although Chris is Joes’ son, Joe also has many other â€Å"sons† the men that fough t in the war, these too are his children yet he deceives them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Joe Keller and his son Chris are the main father and son relationship in this play; they are extremely close and completely respect one another however, they have much to learn, for one has a secret. Being a father means more then anything to Joe, it means the personification of graciousness and infallibility. Every move Joe makes in his life is for Chris. His entire factory that he has built from the ground up has been for Chris; his plan was after he retired that Chris would have total control over the business. After Larry, Joe’s elder son passes away Chris becomes everything to him. His love and desire for Chris to be successful made Joe oblivious to all that surrounds him.

Public Relations in Professional Sports Essay example -- Professional

Public Relations in Professional Sports "If industry is to be successful in dealing with public opinion . . . it must learn the language of the people, it must consider the study of public opinion as important as any phase of its operations. It must recognize that public opinion can be measured, and utilize the increasingly scientific methods developing today for gauging it"(Ross) PR today, has undergone a massive restructuring and organization and is now gaining recognition worldwide. An offshoot of this is PR in sports. The sports industry in the U.S. generates $213 - $350 billion a year as revenues and is growing by the day (ESPN). Everyone tries to cash in on their benefits. Sports PR have come a long way. Today it is far more dynamic and complex. Public Relations is a very broad industry, serving a wide variety of institutions in society such as businesses, trade unions, government agencies, voluntary associations, foundations, hospitals, schools, colleges, and sports teams. Sports in the last fifty years have changed an amazing amount. It used to be just two teams playing against each other strictly for the love of the sport and for the enjoyment of the few people in attendance. As time went on and attendance and interest in professional sports grew so did the cash flow. Teams began adding more coaches as well scouts. It became obvious that a font office staff was needed to take care of the day to day operations of sports teams. In the 1940s baseball owner Bill Veeck changed the games even more when he promised the game to be the least exciting part of the evening. He hosting Ladies’ Night, Fireworks Fridays, and a Disco Demolition Night in which he blew up a pile of old records, Veeck brought sports into a new era (Veeck & Linn, 1962). Bill Veeck was the first true PR man in sports. He sold out stadium after stadium, in several different cities. The sports PR which Bill Veeck started has now evolved and is a much different brand of PR then every other industry. In order for an Athletic team to have effective PR, they require very large in-house staffs which are very diverse in there job descriptions and responsibilities. The first and broadest group is the basic public relations staff. The basic public relations staff takes care of the basic day to day of the organization. They are the people who write and release the updates on the team to ... ...Bernie Parent spoke to the sell-out crowd of 17,000 while Pelle’s #31 hung in black above the ice. The spoke about the positives that Pelle gave Philadelphia and there was no mention of alcohol. The PR director at the time, Joe Kadlac made sure that Pelle’s death would not look bad on the team for allowing him to drink and drive but instead showed he was a team player. A fan in the upper level had a sign that simply read, â€Å"Get Pelle’s Name On The Cup, Its His Last Chance.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Public Relations are a critical part of sports. It is what puts people in the seats pays the athletes and builds the stadiums. Public Relations are what make sports what it is today. If it were not for today’s ever changing public relations industry sports would not be what they are today. Sources Bill Veeck with Ed Linn, â€Å"Veeck--As in Wreck†, G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1962 The Baseball Library T.J. Ross, The Public Relations Problem of Industry, American Management Series (New York, 1937), pp. 6--9. Crafting the national pastime's image: The history of major league baseball public relations William B Anderson. Journalism and Communication Monographs. Columbia: Spring 2003. Vol. 5, Iss. 1; pg. 5

Barack Obama: The Audacity of Hope

The words â€Å"The Audacity of Hope† comes from Obama’s 2004 Democratic Convention keynote address. Much of the book deal with Obama’s policy positions on a number of issues, from health care to the occupation of Iraq. In this book, Obama criticizes the existing policy positions of the Bush government, and tries to reconcile political differences based on the twin principles of respect and statesmanship. There are several issues that Obama discussed in the book. The first issue is about racial discrimination. Obama rejects the notion that the United States is divided into politically racial spheres.Obama argues that the so-called ‘racial divide’ is a social construction – hence, cannot be immersed in policy-making. The personal attributes of people, according to Obama, should not become a hindrance to their own development. The second issue is rather unusual for the common reader. Obama rejects the ‘either – or formulationsâ€⠄¢ as a matter of policy. Here, he is referring to George W. Bush absolutists’ foreign policy that does not take into consideration alternatives. Obama provides a general background of such policy in the 60’s.According to Obama, the admission of African-Americans, minorities, and women to full citizenship had greatly undermined the power of the racial majority. What had developed was a system of grudge that, even today, manifests itself in government, business, education, and defense. The unity of the American nation had been greatly undermined. Obama argues that the only means to restore that unity is towards reconciling political differences. Although this is difficult to achieve, the price of success far outweighs the short-run costs.Obama’s idea of national unity transcends race, creed, and political differences. His idea of unity resembles that of Martin Luther King. Much of Obama’s thoughts on foreign, military, and domestic policies are a general t riangulation of liberal and conservative ideas – probably a way to appease both liberals and conservatives in society as Tony Blair did. In any case, his ideas about national security are much more enlightened than that of Bush. Obama’s argues that war in Iraq was a misguided war on the basis that it increased the associated risks to the United States.It did not put an end to terrorism, rather magnified it threefold. Tolerance, according to Obama must be observed in domestic and foreign policies. This is the only way to achieve an everlasting peace. The thesis of the book is: Unity of the American nation transcends race, creed, and politics, and the way to achieve peace is tolerance. For an intelligent reader, this thesis is something more of a vague statement. It does not attempt to give specific solutions to specific problems. There is no evaluation of alternatives.It is even possible to argue that Obama’s thesis is a coagulation of his political motives †“ a desire for higher political office. In any case, unlike his predecessors, Obama’s attempts to give a general view of American policies are generally unbiased and to some extent open-ended. Much of his enthusiasm of a possible end of conflict in Iraq is generally based on the hopes of a policy-shift – whether a Republican or Democrat is elected to the White House. Here, one can see that Obama’s audacity in intellectual leadership in his party exceeded that of George W. Bush.One can therefore argue that even if Obama’s thesis is a motherhood statement, it is in fact a radical alternative of the conservative-either-or policies of the Bush administration. Here, one sees the views of both a rising politician and a ‘dreamer of the 1960s. ’ Again, the specification of Obama’s thesis is still problematic, even though it carries a very meaningful radical policy-shift. In any case, there is no end to the question, â€Å"Is unity a long-ru n possibility? † Reference Obama, Barack. 2006. The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream. New York: Crown.