Other Minds Essays (2363 words) - Philosophy,

Other Minds annon The problem of Other Minds is a truephilosophical enigma. It is apt to strike children with no philosophical education whatsoever, yet remains intractable to many academics. Broadly speaking, the problem can be divided into three questions. Firstly, how do I come to believe that there are minds in the world other than my own? Secondly, how can I justify my belief that there are minds in the world other than my own? Thirdly, what can I state about the mental states of minds other than my own?. The question we are dealing with here falls largely into the third category, although of course issues relating to the other two will also be involved. Firstly, it is imperative to assert that, in looking for knowledge, we are not aiming for logical certainties - we are not aiming to show that any propositions about other minds can be demonstrated with absolute certainty equivalent to that of mathematical truths. Philosophy ever since Descartes has tended to be defined by scepticism: either it aims to produce sceptical theories or it aims to refute them. And sceptics tend towards extremity in their doubts. It must be stated here and now that there are not, and never can be, any theories that prove demonstratively that other minds exist, or that I know others mental states. This is not what should be aimed at in attempting to solve the problem. As Austin puts it To suppose that the question How do I know that Tom is angry? is meant to mean How do I introspect Toms feelings? is simply barking up the wrong gum-tree. Most philosophers agree that their theories only bestow a greater or lesser amount of probability onto statements about other minds (although there are exceptions, e.g. Peter Strawsons attempt to argue transcendentally for the existence of other minds through our own self-consciousness). There have been a number of different attempts to do this. J.S. Mill, who produced the first known formulation of the Other Minds problem, used the so-called Argument from Analogy both to explain how we come to believe in other minds and to justify this belief. Briefly, the argument holds that I am directly aware of mental states in myself, and I am aware of the behaviour of mine that results from and is caused by these mental states. As I can observe similar physical behaviour in others, I draw the analogy that it is caused by the same (or at least similar) mental states to my own. As in all arguments from analogy, I assume that because x is similar to y in some respects, it will be similar in others. So as I know how I behave if I am feeling, say, angry, I assume in someone elses case that his behaviour is an indication of the mental state I call anger. My opinion in this respect is aided by the fact that most humans behaviour when they claim to be angry is broadly similar. The argument from analogy, also employed by Bertrand Russell in a slightly simplified form, is subject to a devastating criticism. Unlike most analogies, in the case of other minds, there is no conceivable way of verifying the conclusion we make. We have no way of discovering whether someone else is angry or not, and our position means that this is a necessary disadvantage. The only way to have someone elses experiences would to become that person, and in doing that, I would no longer be myself and I would no longer be having someone elses experiences. Thus it is impossible to conceive of any set of experimental circumstances under which I would be able to ascertain whether or not the human who is expressing anger-behaviour really is angry or not. And as Norman Malcolm has pointed out, as there are no conceivable criteria I could use to determine whether someone is angry or not, simply claiming that they are angry is a meaningless statement. Many philosophers, perceiving this fatal flaw in the argument from analogy, have attempted to produce theories on other minds that are not based on analogy. Malcolm himself held that the problem lies in the belief that in looking for evidence of other minds, we need to start off from our own case and then look for evidence that other cases resemble my own in other humans. He claimed, characteristically following Wittgenstein, that statements about mental states in others have no special status but rather that they are primitive, natural expressions of the state in question. In other words, 'my leg hurts' is equivalent

Anti Death Penelty essays

Anti Death Penelty essays Virtually every major program designed to address the underlying causes of violence and to support the poor, vulnerable, powerless victims of crime is being cut even further to the bone... In this context, the proposition that the death penalty is a needed addition to our arsenal of weapons lacks credibility... Scott Harshbarge, Attorney General of Massachusetts Across the United States, police officers are losing their jobs, prisoners are obtaining parole early, courts are clogging with cases, and crime is on the rise. Over two-thirds of the states use capital punishment, which is a grave mistake by any measure of cost effectiveness. The government spends hundreds of millions of dollars in order to punish a few individuals each year. Yet, these actions do nothing to slow the rise in violent crimes. Moreover, the death penalty has been used to portray toughness on crime, but it actually leaves communities worse off in their fight against crime. At the same time that states are pourin g money into the capital punishment black hole, lack of funds is also causing the criminal justice system to break down. Consequently, the public is left with fewer resources, which otherwise could benefit their entire community. Every working person in the United States pays taxes to fund the government. However, is the death penalty a cost-effective way to use the taxpayer's money? After evaluating the cost of the death penalty and the effects of paying that cost, one would agree that the death penalty is not a cost-effective way to fight crime and thus the government should abolish the death penalty. The death penalty is much more expensive than life imprisonment. In Texas, "the death penalty cost taxpayers an average of $2.3 million each year, about three times the cost of imprisoning someone in a single cell at the highest security level for 40 years." Death penalty trials are also longer and more expensive than ordinary murder trials. A North Carolina...

An Overview Of John Bergers Article Ways Of Seeing

An Overview Of John Berger's Article Ways Of Seeing John Berger wrote an article entitled Ways of Seeing . In this article of his, he imposes his opinion of works of art , what constitutes a work of art. He also talks about reproductions of art. His perception of reproductions is that they pervert the original piece, and that by reproduction the beauty and value of the piece is taken away, that the piece is not the same because it does not represent anymore what the artist originally intended. I do not agree with Berger. I do not see reproductions of art to be perversions of the original, and I also do not agree with his outline for a work of art . Reproduction allows people to see something they might never have, they allow the artist to gain more exposure, whereas if there had been no reproduction, only a handful of people might have seen it. As to what a work of art is, that is something I believe to be totally up to the observer. What one may perceive to be beautiful, an opinion perhaps brought on by personal experiences, another may not see the same way. A work of art I truly enjoy and respect is Salvador Dali s Table with Landscape . The joy of the painting for me comes from the intricacies that Dali weaves into the painting. The painting has many levels to it, a succession of realizations occur if the painting is studied long enough. When I first saw this painting, I saw a cup on a table, with a lot of scenery in the background. I do not consider myself someone who appreciates art in any particular form, so at first all I saw was a bland table with a cup on it. When I looked closer however, I began to see much more to the picture. The neck of the cup seemed to be part of a face, the mouth and nose of the face lying in the table. The scenery that I had previously disregarded as unimportant revealed itself to be much more. At the very top of the painting was a mountain landscape, and below it, mixed into the scenery, standing behind the cup on the table, was a dog! A dog? I said. Why on earth would Dali put a dog in his painting, and moreover, why would we make it such a concealed part of the painting. I did not understand at first Dali s reasoning for this strange painting, but as soon as I let go of my confusions, the painting started to make sense to me. I no longer cared what the painting had meant to Dali when he was painting it, but rather I was interested in what the painting meant to me. Perhaps this was wrong of me to totally disregard the painter s initial reason for creating the picture, but what concerned me most was the idea of the painting that was taking shape in my mind. I saw the painting as a part of my mind, seemingly one huge mass of thoughts and ideas thrown together making completely no sense. But when I looked closer, I could pick out individual parts of the painting. The parts might not have been related, but never the less they were separate. I found that my mind was the same way. It was a huge mass of ideas thrown together, but if I took the time to think, I could separate all the diff erent things I was thinking, and individually they all made sense. This is something I would do when I am confused, if there is too much going on in my head that it seems it is all one big mess, I take the time to separate the ideas and I slowly begin to understand my situation better. When I tell people about this painting and what it means to me, they often have no idea of what I could possibly mean, but the fact that they don t understand me is inconsequential, because the painting is special to me for my own reasons, and that is what is important to me. Before in this essay, I referred to Dali s painting as a work of art . What is a work of art ? Who determines what is or is not a work of art ? Berger talks about works of art , mainly when he refers to common paintings that most people recognize by name. Is this to imply that a piece of art has to be well known in order to be considered a work of art ? What about before these works of art were famous. They were merely canvases filled with paint, the same as they are today, yet at the time when they were produced, they were not immediately considered revolutionary and inspirational for their time. It took people to who had the means to view these paintings to give them such a distinction. Once again, I will repeat, people who had the means. The poor people of the time could not afford such luxuries to view pieces of art, so a painter obtained his praise from the high class solely, and only once the painting was famous enough to gain exposure could the lower class see it and make thei r own judgements, too late of course since the piece had already been dubbed a work of art and was revered. The fact that the piece was considered a work of art by one group may mean nothing to another person. This is because what one person may see to be an example of beauty in a painting, another person might have a different opinion. That is why I say a work of art is completely in the eye of the beholder, that is, art is a personal thing and we cannot expect a person to see exactly what we see, and appreciate it the same way as we may. Berger is strongly against reproduction of art. He says it perverts the original piece and takes away from its meaning. I cannot totally disagree with Berger that the idea of art may change with other people s perceptions, but I cannot agree with him that it is necessarily a bad thing. With the reproduction comes the void of what the painting means. The artist is no longer always there to tell you what he felt when painting that specific piece. That however, is to me the beautiful part of art. Being able to interpret the painting for your own reasons is a freedom that allows us to be creative. Berger argues that this sense of understanding the painting is called mystification (Berger, 108). It is nothing less than the painting working upon us (Berger, 109). He considers the artist to be a seducer, to make us think we understand the painting. Well then, which is it, do we understand the painting or don t we? It is true that we cannot understand the painter s perspective from looking a t the painting itself, but we can understand the painting for our own reasons, based on our own experiences. In the painting I described earlier, there are many possibilities as to what someone s first interpretation might be, or what would be the first thing they saw in the painting. I myself initially saw a cup on a table, but someone else might see the face in the cup first, or the dog in the background. All these reasons are because the painting means something different to each person. Also, would other people see all the aspects of the painting as I did, or would they merely see one thing surrounded by a massive amount of random items in the painting that seem to have no connection. The fact is, it does not matter. The way I interpret the painting will most probably be different from someone else s interpretation, that is because we look for different things in the painting. Our minds are stimulated in different ways. If we were not allowed to see the painting in our own light , if we were forced to see what the painter had originally intended, then our creative forces would be crippled, and our own ideas would mean nothing. In reality, our own ideas mean everything to us, they make us who we are, allow us to think freely, and draw our own conclusions. As I said, I do not believe a work of art can be decided upon by a small group of people, because then only their points of view are considered when making the decision. Berger was entitled to his own opinion on art reproduction. His own opinion is valid purely for the fact that it is his opinion and cannot be proven wrong by anyone because a person s opinion is his or her own idea, not a true or false statement.

Impending Extinction of Steelhead Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Impending Extinction of Steelhead - Essay Example This is attributed to human activities. Along with the scientific developments came the human population explosion. Hundreds of habitats are being destroyed to serve as agricultural or residential lands. Excessive harvesting of animal meat has led to the decline of reproducing population. Irresponsible disposal of garbage and chemicals has further narrowed life opportunities for organisms. This paper will explore on the reasons for impending extinction of the steelhead. It will also look at the measures taken by concerned entities in preventing this from happening. Our focus would be in the steelhead habitat in the Washington State. This paper is aimed at providing the reader knowledge of what is currently being done today to address the environmental problem. Steelheads are characterized by a dark-olive color, shading to silvery-white on the underside with a heavily speckled body and a pink to red stripe running along their sides. They can reach up to 55 pounds (25 kg) in weight and 45 inches (120 cm) in length. An adult female steelhead will prepare a redd (or nest) in a stream area with suitable gravel type composition, water depth, and velocity. It then deposits 4 to 5 eggs in "nesting pockets" within a single redd. The eggs hatch within 3 to 4 weeks. The juvenile steelhead ... It then deposits 4 to 5 eggs in "nesting pockets" within a single redd. The eggs hatch within 3 to 4 weeks. The juvenile steelhead rears in the freshwater for 1 to 4 years before migrating individually to the open ocean. It stays in the marine environment for 1 to 5 years after which it returns to the freshwater streams and rivers of their birth in order to mate. This process is called anadromy. Unlike other Pacific salmonids, steelheads can spawn more than once and will but will again migrate through estuaries to the ocean. Migrations can reach hundreds of miles as evidenced by a fish tagged in the Sea of Japan and caught six months thereafter in the Skagit River of northern Washington. Some streams host two runs of steelhead, a summer run (returning in summer and early fall and spawning in early to mid-winter) and a winter run (returning in early winter to late spring and spawning within this time frame). FOOD Young steelheads feed primarily on zooplankton. Adults feed on aquatic and terrestrial insects, mollusks, crustaceans, fish eggs, minnows and even other small fishes including other trout. PREDATORS: Fish, mammals, and birds are the primary natural predators of steelhead. Fish predators include the northern pike minnow, walleyes, and smallmouth bass, channel catfish, sculpins, white sturgeon and even some adult salmonids like adult bull trout, rainbow/steelhead trout, cutthroat trout, brook trout, and brown trout. Fish-eating birds present in the Upper Columbia Basin include great blue herons, gulls, osprey, common mergansers, American dippers, cormorants, Caspian terns, belted kingfishers, common loons, western grebes, black-crowned night herons and bald eagles. Mammalian

Learning Science, Mathematics and Technology with Children's Essay

Learning Science, Mathematics and Technology with Children's Engagement in Play - Essay Example It will be learned that Science, Math and Technology concepts and skills are acquired while children engage in play. Math and Science are all around. Children usually see numbers on television channels, telephones, their house numbers, on tag prices, etc. They may also witness their mothers in the kitchen as they cook following recipes that specify the measured ingredients. Science is likewise ever-present as they discover how things work, observe change in things, use their senses in learning about their world. Technology is likewise accessible to them. This is not limited to what most adults know about technology as electronic gadgets or computerized contraptions. Technology includes processes people use to solve a problem deliberately. Adults should respect how young children want to try their hand in working with technology (Mortlock, 2005). It is for the children to discover how technology will work for them and make tasks more convenient such as using cups or buckets in the san dbox to create more defined mounds of sand instead of just a hump they shape out of their hands. The following will discuss how science, math and technology interplay in the messy play of infants, sand play of toddlers and block play of pre-schoolers. These activities come naturally for children that they do not need any specific instructions from adults. Messy But Busy Babies† In the Stages of Cognitive Development of Piaget, children from 0 – 2 years of age belong to the Sensorimotor Stage. This period is characterized by interactions with the environment based on the child’s reception of sensory input and muscular reactions. The task of this period is to develop the concept of object permanence, the idea that objects exist even when they cannot be seen or heard. (Brewer, 2001). Infants are sensorial learners and they are awed by the possibilities of the objects around them. When they engage in messy play, they get to touch things and feel its textures, see the object up close so details may be inspected. They even get to smell or in most cases, taste objects because it is in their nature to learn about things by putting it in their mouths. Science is at work when they notice changes in things, such as when a drop of paint blots on the paper when an object passes on it. They also get to notice tracks or prints of objects such as car wheels or rollers when these make impressions with paint on paper. They learn math when they see the colors and shapes of the toys they play with and get to feel the dimensions of shapes when they touch these with their hands. They would know that circles have no angles and that squares have 4 sides. When they are handed things like sponges or small rubber stamps for printing, they realize that these may serve as technology to leave imprints when dipped in paint. Allowed to explore paints and things during messy play gives them several learning opportunities about how things work in the world and what they can do with these things to cause an effect such as rolling a plastic care over paint and seeing the tracks they can make from it. Curious Tykes in the Sandbox Toddlers continue to enjoy sensorial play and they love playing with open-ended materials such as sand and water. They learn many scientific concepts with sand. Pouring various amounts of water on sand creates different textures and this dictates how firm the sand will mold into the

Skills required by a project manager Essay Example for Free

Skills required by a project manager Essay The project manager is normally given the authority and the sole responsibility of ensuring that the direction with which a specific project is followed. He works absolutely under the guideline and the goal of the designated project or the whole organization. One of the major responsibilities is to ensure that the end items of the project are met i.e. when, by whom, what, costs, resources, discipline etc within the firm. (Cable and Adams, 1989) Although the project manager usually reports to the general manager of the company, he or she has the authority of defining the organizational structure and ensures that there is effective management of all the sectors in the production units. Since the project manager controls the effectiveness of the tasks being undertaken, in most cases, he or she is able to assign and monitor the budgets within their jurisdiction. The project manager also communicates all matters concerning the company to the general manager or the president for clarification on any matter that is pending. The project manager also communicates with the customers directly especially when dealing with formal projects. In order to therefore perform the above tasks, a project manager should be able to possess excellent skills and qualifications. One of the skills that is necessary is the ability to communicate effectively both with the management and the customers thus requiring good communication skills. The project manager should also be able to organize issues and monitor their implementation especially by junior officers. (Adams, 1990) In cases when the project manager is required to appoint an assistant project manager, the project manager must be able to be fair and treat other people equally regardless of their age, gender, race or disability. Since project manager is able to plan and execute a project successfully, he or she must be able to possess a wide combination of skills both gained in an academic standpoint and in an experimental view point. The character of the person should also be absolutely dynamic in that the project manager must be able to have problem solving abilities. The factor of being hardworking, honest and dedicated cannot also be overlooked. With such qualities, the project manager will therefore be able to ask penetrating questions, resolve interpersonal conflicts and identify unspecified assumptions. A project manager is expected to have high degree of interdependence geared towards accomplishment of tasks available. He or she is expected to stand apart from the junior employees by virtue of position held and help those under them in elucidation of matters relating to the jobs and also advocating for employees’ rights where there is prejudice. (Adams, 1990) The overall responsibilities for the project manager would be; risk analysis, time estimating, quality control, benefit realization, resource planning, and customer liaison. Managing risks and issues, planning and defining scope of the project, documentation, activity sequencing, team leadership, budget development, developing schedules, tactical influencing and creating charts and schedules (Cable and Adams, 1989) High level posting Since the company needs to have a project manager from the production department, the following are the requirements for this position. The person should have at least ten years experience in the position of project management in a busy manufacturing company. He or she must be a great team player who is ready to work with other people in the company. The person should also have a proven track record of hard work especially with the support of relevant academic background. Reference Adams, J. (1990):   Roles and Responsibilities of the Project Manager, Project Management Institute Cable, D., and Adams, J. (1989): Organizing for Project Management, Upper Darby, PA: Project Management Institute, Dinsmore Paul C., (1990):   Human Factors in Project Management.   New York: AMACOM,

Essay on the Dark Side of the Mind Exposed in Cask of Amontillado

The Dark Side of the Mind Exposed in Cask of Amontillado "A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong." With that statement, Montresor begins his tale of revenge deciding that the act must be slow and sweet and that in order to fully enjoy it, his adversary must be aware of his intentions. Hidden within those same few lines, lies not only this horrid plan, but also the true interest of its' true author. In his Cask of Amontillado, Edgar Allen Poe reveals his supreme interest in the dark side of the human mind and heart. Much of what a story means, much of its effect on the reader depends on the eyes through which it is seen and on the voice that tells it to us. In Cask of Amontillado, those eyes and voice belong to Montresor. The story is written in second-person perspective. In relaying the events of the day, Montresor refers to the reader as 'you' several times. This does not only act to pull the reader into the story, but it also provides a valuable insight into the mind of the author. By referring to the reader as 'you' a connection is established between Montresor and the reader. This connection suggests that the reader can sympathize with the actions of Montresor by relating them to some event in the readers' past or imagination. Poe suggests that we, as a body of readers, all want to commit acts such as that committed by Montresor and therefore can understand him and his dark actions. To fully understand the dark side of the human mind and heart, the mind of Montresor has to be examined. The question as to what fiendishly evil act Fortunato committed that was so seve... ...each step, Montresor pulls Fortunato in a little further by provoking him with threats of getting his archenemy Luchresi to test the wine. Without breaking from his calm shell, Montresor is able to lead Fortunato to his doom never once faltering or stumbling. In his Cask of Amontillado, Poe dives into a study of the darkness of the human mind and heart. He looks at the worst crime possibly committed by one human to another and ponders over the mind of the criminal. Montresor, calm, cool, and collected, is able to fulfill a plan that he had made long before. Fifty years later, he conveys the story to the world so that the dark side of all people may be matched against that of him. A man that truly lives by the motto of his family, "nemo me impune lacessit" [no one provokes me with impunity], Montresor becomes a study for Poe and a mirror to all mankind.