Foundation for the Study of Religion Essay

a). Discuss some of the issues raised in Meta-Ethics. (17 marks) b). How convincing is the view that, when talking of morality, we are talking about facts? (33 marks) (Total 50 marks) Notes: –> Remember, in an exam, you have 30 minutes to choose, plan, and write any essay. –> At AS Level, exam questions are twofold [i.e., there will be an (a) section and a (b) section]. –> Do not forget to answer both sections of a question! –> Usually, the marks appear beside each section of a question. –> In each question, section (a) holds 17 marks, and section (b) holds 33 marks. A total of 50 marks per question. –> Write your responses to questions appropriately – its no good having a detailed (a) section and a brief (b)! –> This model essay is structured so that it is realistic in its time expectations. –> If you have revised thoroughly, and know your stuff, you should be writing this sort of exam essay. –> Remember, do not waffle. An examiner will not assess 65% waffle and 35% real content in an exam essay! –> Keep your essay responses thorough, yet concise – again, you have very little time to respond to questions! –> Finally, it remains for me to wish you very good luck, happy last minute revision, and a most successful first exam! a. Discuss some of the issues raised in Meta-Ethics. Ethics is the study of how people behave, and how they should behave. It is based on ideas of what is morally ‘good’. But, in order to understand ethics, a definition of ‘good’ needs to be determined. Here, one sees that such ideas will vary from person to person and from culture to culture. Likewise, such ideas explain why there is such a variety of moral systems in use today and a marked difference in the level of commitment to a personal moral code. Ethics and ethical language, the study of which ‘Meta-Ethics’ is part, can be split into three distinct branches: descriptive, normative and meta-ethical. On the one hand, descriptive ethics describes the way we live and the moral choices we happen to make. On the other, normative ethics employs the kind of language which is more openly moral and presents a clearer idea about what is held to be right or wrong; so, a statement such as â€Å"It is always wrong to tell a lie† is a normative statement. Contrastingly to both, meta-ethics is the study of the meaning of ethics itself, gauging the meaning of ethical language, and taking into consideration the authority of moral claims and the effects of personal preference. Bearing this in mind, it is possible to note that meta-ethical theory poses questions such as ‘Can we define which action is ‘good’, ‘bad’, ‘right’, or ‘wrong’?’ and again, ‘Is it possible to give a definition to ‘good’, ‘bad’, ‘right’, or ‘wrong’ in themselves?’ Admittedly, all four of these words are related from a moral point of view. But, if we could measure ‘good’ completely and accurately, then we would be able to measure everything else against it. Yet, philosophically, it is impossible to define ‘good’ so completely. For instance, if one were asked to define ‘yellow’, one is able to say what yellow is like (such as â€Å"Yellow is like a banana’s jacket†); but, one unable to say completely and accurately what ‘yellowness’ is. Thus, in the same way, one is able to say what ‘good ’ is like, yet one is unable to say what ‘good’ is. Naturally, it could be argued that ‘good’ actions add to the well-being of all concerned; but, again, ‘good’ actions depend very much on individual preference and one’s individual idea of ‘good’. The puzzle, then, of how to define ‘good’ has intrigued philosophers for thousands of years. Indeed, the ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle, defined ‘good’ as being how far something fulfilled its purpose in life: for example, a ‘good’ building is one which looks pleasing aesthetically, provides comfort and shelters from the elements. Similarly, a ‘good’ person is one who fulfils well the role into which he or she has been placed. To illustrate this point further, a ‘good’ slave works well as a slave; and, again, a ‘good’ ruler rules the community effectively, maximising everyone’s happiness. This approach has its origins in the Greek word ‘telos’ meaning ‘purpose’ and is therefore referred to as the ‘teleological’ approach to ethics, a purpose-based criterion for gauging what is ‘good’. A differing method is the ‘deontological’ approach to ethics, which has its origins in the Greek word ‘deon’ meaning ‘duty’. Unlike the teleological approach, this one is a duty-based criterion for gauging what is ‘good’: something is ‘good’ if it fulfils it duty. For instance, Immanuel Kant, bearing in mind the absolute rule of morality ‘Do not steal’, claimed that one should never steal under any circumstances because it is always wrong in itself. For example, if you came across something that had been abandoned by someone who could not possibly have any use for it, even if you needed it and it would hurt no one to take it, it is still stealing and, therefore, wrong in itself. Thus, to do ‘good’, one always must do one’s duty. Meta-ethics, then, attempts to go a long way in explaining the essence of ‘good’ and ‘good’ action, combining alike viewpoints yet, likewise, displaying very different perspectives of the real meaning of ‘good’. b. How convincing is the view that, when talking of morality, we are talking about facts? But, when attempting to define ‘good’, and certainly when considering ethics as a whole, is it actually possible to say that moral systems deal with ‘facts’? Some ethicists would claim not. GE Moore, for example, in his book Principia Ethica (1902) claimed that ‘good’ is impossible to define because it entirely depends on the moral codes a person brings to a particular situation. This would suggest that, owing to the wide range and variety of personal preference in ethical systems, it is impossible to talk of facts when dealing with morality. Moore, though, did suggest that ‘good’ was an entity in itself and that it was something which human beings intuitively sought. Indeed, human beings do a thing that is ‘good’ in order to achieve some long-term goal. However, he stated that in doing so, people commit what he coined the ‘Naturalistic Fallacy’. Namely, that in finding oneself in a particular moral dilemma people assume it is natural and logical to shift immediately from dilemma to solution, treating moral conclusions as if they were absolute. For instance, imagine a 15 year old girl having her drink spiked by a much older man who then makes her pregnant. Indeed, the girl did not want a sexual relationship with the man and was horrified when she realised what had happened, particularly because she was a devout Christian with high moral standards. Many people would say that the girl ought to be offered medical treatment such as the morning-after pill or an abortion. Here, using the principle known in moral philosophy as ‘Hume’s Law’, Moore would claim that people have committed the ‘Naturalistic Fallacy’ because they have moved from an ‘is’ statement to an ‘ought’ statement. In other words, they move from a description of how things actually are, to how they ought to be. Put in a simpler form, (A) A teenage girl is pregnant against her wishes; (B) She ought to be offered an abortion. ‘A’ is the ‘is’ statement, ‘B’ is the ‘ought’ statement; yet, to move from one to the other, Moore claimed that an intermediate (or, midway) proposition is needed. This could be as follows: ‘A woman should only carry a child to full term when she has chosen to be pregnant.’ This is known as a ‘value proposition’ and it is this element of the equation that gives the conclusion (B) its moral force. But exactly why does Moore refer to this straight shift from an ‘is’ to an ‘ought’ a misleading notion? It is because (B) is simply a blind, naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve opinion without any value whatsoever. The intermediate proposition gives it moral value and force because it establishes that the pregnant girl is neither a ‘woman’ nor one who has ‘chosen to be pregnant’. Thus, it states that she is a teenage girl who is pregnant against her wishes and, because of the intermediate proposition of women only carrying a child to full term when she has chosen to be pregnant, the girl’s situation goes against the moral code. Naturally, using a different moral value in the intermediate stage would produce a different outcome, which suggests that, when talking of morality and moral codes, we are not always talking about facts. Like Moore, whose claims reject the idea of morality being factually-based, RM Hare developed a theory for ethical language called ‘Prescriptivism’, in which he claimed that in prescribing a particular course of action for others, people ought to ask ‘Am I prepared to prescribe that somebody else should do it to me if the roles were reversed?’. (Interestingly, this idea is parallel with the golden rule of Christianity that appears in Matthew 7:12 – ‘Do unto others as you would have done unto you.†) Although this gives the impression that all people should be treated equally, it does not suggest that morality is factually-based because such moral rules can be accepted or rejected. Moral statements, then, according to Hare, are more than mere signs of the personal preference of the speaker; for him, they prescribe a course of action. But, just as he claimed moral rules are hugely important in influencing lives, he also added that one cannot say moral rules are true or false. Thus, it is untrue that – when talking of morality – we are talking about facts. In morality, then, there is a difference in how language is used. In everyday communication, language can be used in either ‘cognitive’ or ‘non-cognitive’ ways. Used cognitively, language states fact and reasoning and is non-moral; in other words, it has no moral values attached. However, used non-cognitively in a moral setting, language aims to express attitudes, exercising an influence over people. In morality, this influence is to persuade people of the moral rightness or wrongness of an action. Indeed, CL Stevenson, a philosopher closely associated with ‘Emotivism’ – a system of morality based on feeling – claimed that, when used non-cognitively, the word ‘good’ is very persuasive because it has a moral tag which tries to draw the listener into taking a moral stance. It pulls on the emotions. Certainly, Stevenson suggested one’s moral code is an emotional response – one simply ‘feels’ something is good or bad. Again, then, it is impossible to say that when we talk of morality, we talk of facts because, as ‘Emotivism’ shows, individual feelings differ and, therefore, individual moral codes influenced by ‘feelings’ similarly are going to differ. Thus, in conclusion, it is unconvincing to say that, when we are talking of morality, we are talking about facts: Moore, would agree because his ‘value propositions’ in moral dilemmas can easily be altered to produce a different outcome and, therefore, a different moral force; Hare claimed one cannot say moral rules are true or false, therefore failing to deliver morality to the territory of ‘fact’; and, finally, Stevenson claims that individual moral codes are influenced by individual ‘feelings’ about the rightness or wrongness of an action, thus rendering factually-based morality a nonsense owing to the rich diversity of individual emotion. Indeed, the highly influential philosopher, AJ Ayer would agree with such an avowal because he suggested all moral statements are ‘meaningless’ statements. For example, how could one prove that it is wrong to cheat? He insisted that such statements as ‘Is it wrong to cheat’ are totally without meaning or provable sense because, logically and empirically, they cannot be shown to be true. All one can do is show that lots of people believe it is wrong to cheat. All they can do is express a personal dislike of cheats, cheating, and its consequences; they can express how they consider it to be unfair. That is, they can express how it does not coincide with what they believe to be fair and right – but that is all. Moral statements, then, are reduced in this way to personal preferences and are not concerned with ‘fact’.

Native Americans Dbq Essay

Due: Social Studies; Native Americans Essay Thousands of years ago the Native Americans crossed the land-bridge. Then the Native Americans spit-up and settled and created the culture areas. Depending on the environments the Native Americans had different basic needs to survive such as clothing, food, and shelter. The Iroquois used their natural resources to get food. The men hunted animals such as deer, bears, ducks, turtles, turkey, and frogs. The women did the hunting and the gathering; they grew crops such as corn, beans, squash, and pumpkins and they gathered wild berries, bird eggs, nuts, and sunflowers (information shown in document #3). The type of food depends on the environments. The way the Native Americans dressed depended on the climate and their resources. The eastern woodlands made their clothing was made out of deerskin, the southwest made out of woven cotton, and the artic made their clothing out of seal and caribou skin (as shown in document 3). Animal provided food and clothing for Native American people. Different environments provide different materials for building and shelter. For example from documents 2 & 3 the southwest has very little rain and is hot so they make their shelter out of sun-dried bricks of mud. Other culture areas make their shelter out of materials depending on the climate and their surroundings. All people from each culture area adapted to their environments to survive. Native Americans grew crops corn, beans, and squash. Made their clothing out of skins and cloths, and made their shelter out of bark and blocks of ice and sun-dried mud. That’s how the Native Americans survived thousands of years ago.

Google Search

How does Google search engine works which search engine Is the best..? Yahoo Bing Yandex Fine.. Let's Google It! we know that Google tops the list without giving a second thought.. Let's see how It works. The web contains over 30 trillion pages and It keeps on increasing. To understand our query and to provide the most relevant solution is definitely not an easy task. So how do they pull it together? Google uses a automated program called Spiders or Crawlers.Spiders begin by fetching the data from a few web pages and then it follows the links on those pages and then follow the links on those pages and so on until a pretty big portion of the web Is linked. These pages are stored on millions of computers and have about million of ggabytes. The pages are sorted by their content and other factors and they are kept track of in the index. There are several algorithms and programs to understand and deliver the best posslbe result.Algorithms Ilke autocomplete, spelling, synonyms, query under standing etc are used to understand what the user actually want. Then using these Information the most relevant pages are sorted out based on over 200 factors. These factors Include site and page quality, freshness,This blends the relevant Images, videos, data and personal content Into a single unified search results page. After all these factors are evaluated and a fine list of search results are obtained they are Olspla to tne user. The next stage is to fight the spam off The site owners will be notified if their site is marked as spam. The siteowners could then fix the problem. And the best part is that all these things happen in Just 118th of a second and Google could support about 100 billion searches each month..!

The linguistic mecanism to produce an allegorical message in a play Essay

The linguistic mecanism to produce an allegorical message in a play narrative - Essay Example Confounded with trying to discern the difference between symbolism and allegory, it is important, as a starting point, to pose one guiding definition of each of these terms. For purposes of this discussion, the term ‘symbolism’ refers to elements within a piece that transforms appearance into an idea and the idea into an image in such a way that the idea remains always infinitely effective and unreachable in the image and remains ineffable even if uttered in all languages. In other words, symbolism presents an idea in such a way that it cannot be separated from the image selected to portray it as well as impossible to describe as well in words regardless of the language used. Allegory, on the other hand, transforms appearance into a concept, rather than an idea. This concept is also transformed further into an image, but this time it is done in such a way that the concept can be grasped and described as something different from the image even as it is being expressed in it (Goethe, 1991, p. 88). With these two concepts – allegory and symbolism – clearly defined and separated, it is also important to realize that allegory can be developed through the use of personification and/or through conceptual allegory, the â€Å"presentation of the concrete to suggest a long train of mental associations, conscious and subconscious [†¦] the one-to-one recognition process of allegory† (Haworth, 1980, p. 14). Through this paper, it will be discussed how the character can become an allegory through the process of personification as well as how conceptual allegory emerges as a result of the careful use of narrative. The principle way in which this is done is through the use of semiotics. The term ‘semiotics’ is today defined as â€Å"the theory and study of signs and symbols, especially as elements of language or other systems of communication, and comprising semantics, syntactics, and pragmatics† (â€Å"Semiotics†, 2002). However, the first person

Study for Insurance Covers(Australia) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Study for Insurance Covers(Australia) - Essay Example Accidental breakage of glass, mirrors etc. will get insurance cover under this policy. For fixed glass that forms part of the building including fixed shower bases, basins, sinks, baths and toilets the insurance cover is available. Mirrors, glassware, crystal, crockery, china (except when being used, cleaned or carried) or glass in furniture (except for glass which forms part of a television or a computer screen/monitor. Items covered for accidental breakage include fixed glass like window tinting or shatter- proofing material attached to the glass on the insured buildings. If we insured the contents, any mirrors, glassware, crystal, crockery or any glass in furniture .Mirrors, glassware, crystal, crockery or china are not covered while they are being used, cleaned or carried by hand. The most the CGS will pay for any one item, pair, set, collection or system is $20000.The contents worth more than $20000 will have to include each as a special content item .To do this the insured must advise the CGS and the items will be listed on the insured’s schedule. For each claim for the building and contents the CGS will reduce the amount they pay for claim by the excess. The amount of excess is shown on the insured’s schedule. The most the CGS will pay for any claim for building or contents is the sum insured shown on the insured’s schedule. In case of additional things this condition is not applied. The cost of rebuilding or repairing the damaged portion of the insured building will be paid by the CGS if the schedule shows â€Å"including replacement benefit.† (Accidental Damage. 2006, p. 53). From the analysis of the terms and conditions of the Essentials Plus home and content insurance policy we can see that Rob’s damaged vessel is included in the term contents in the CGS policy and it is sure that the damage is not caused during

Global marketing 'ensure' Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Global marketing 'ensure' - Essay Example It has concentrated in making the product available for those in the Saudi Arabian market that are lactose intolerant. The guiding principles towards ensure innovation are development of a wide range of formats and filter types that satisfy multiple requirements. Additionally, the innovative advancement in relation to ensure adopts the use of chromatography technologies and pall membrane technologies that offer micro filtered milk products that have longer shelf lives and fresher taste, functional ingredient so high value and milk concentrates. Due to the use of these technologies, the Saudi Arabian market will continue to maintain loyalty to the product and have trust in its quality. The relative advantage of ensure examines the degree to which it will be advantageous in the new Saudi Arabian market compared to the existing or competing brands. The rate to which Ensure milk product will be adopted in the Saudi Arabian market will depend on this relative advantage. The use of innovation as a product development priority is one of the things that will make the milk product gain relative advantage in the Saudi Arabian market. The Saudi Arabian market perception of the product as quality one due to application of latest technologies will help in shaking off competition. If the customers are able to see certain attributes in ensure milk that are seemingly better than in its competitors, they will embrace Ensure nutrition milk. The rate of adoption will be directly proportional to the increase in relative advantage. Additionally, the innovative aspect has a bearing on price (Latham, 2006). On one side, it helps Abbott in its competitive pricing. Increasing the prices or lengthy time taken in learning how deal with the product will affect the product’s adoption rate negatively. The Saudi Arabian market perception of the product as an innovative on is directly related to the level of compatibility

Chose Topic after reading Instruction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Chose Topic after reading Instruction - Essay Example They believed in predetermination; God already choosing people who would be saved. Winthrop hoped that the new society would serve as an example to other Christians to emulate. Winthrop’s gave a sermon in which he urged his group of Puritans to remain faithful to the Lord in order to enjoy worldwide praise and glory. This sermon was to help the Puritans uphold high moral standards that would inspire the rest of the world into adopting their pattern. In essence, what Winthrop was able to do was to set up a community that established foundations to the modern religious life of doing good for the Lord. Key to this foundation was their adoption of predetermination and their will to purify the church from corruption (PennState World Campus, 2015). From the demands of purity that were championed by the Winthrop led Puritans during the colonial era, another shift occurred during the revolution era. However, this new shift questioned the earlier foundation of predetermination that was fronted by the earlier Puritans. A key element of the new shift, which was known as The Second Great Awakening, was the belief that an individual could play a part in their salvation by believing in God and Jesus Christ. During the Second Awakening, spiritual techniques such as adult baptism, which are part of the modern religious beliefs, were fronted. Charles Finney was an outstanding proponent of the Second Great Awakening. He encouraged people to attend revival meeting and gave equal chance to both men and women to give accounts of their religious experience. It is evident that the Second Awakening is an origin of the modern religious life. People taking an active part in religious communities, praising, and praying to God in public, characteri zes modern religious life. Therefore, it is evident that the work performed by Finney and others with regard to the Second Awakening shaped religion during