Moral Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Moral Development - Essay Example Kohlberg modified an earlier theory by psychologist Jean Piaget by expounding on it to form a theory that illustrates the development of moral reasoning. Gilligan on the other hand, advanced a theory that was an improvement in Kohlberg’s work, but her focus was on moral development in girls (Duska & Whelan 25). Kohlberg’s theory This theory was based on research and interviews that Kohlberg conducted with many groups of privileged young children. The children were presented with various dilemmas, and each child’s reasoning behind the judgment made in response to the dilemma was analyzed (Duska & Whelan 56). From responses that the children gave, Kohlberg managed to classify responses into 3 stages of reasoning. These stages are; pre-conventional morality, conventional morality and post conventional morality. The stages are further classified into sub-stages, two in each case. This forms the basis for the theory of Kohlberg on moral development. The stage of Pre-c onventional Morality is between birth and 9 years comprises of obedience and individualism. By young children being obedient to rules and ideas, it enables them to avoid punishment. The children also are individualistic by only caring about themselves. They make judgment basing their reasoning on factors that favor their individual needs (Duska & Whelan 58). The stage of Conventional Morality is between 9 and 20 years... Criticisms of Kohlberg’s Theory and the Defense Just like with other theories, Kohlberg’s theory of reasoning in moral development has been faced with criticisms from other psychologists. For one, there is the assertion that Kohlberg’s theory discusses about moral thinking ignoring the fact that moral reasoning does not necessarily lead to moral behavior. This assertion is misplaced because moral thinking always leads to moral deeds. We all perform deeds based on our thinking. It is, therefore, rare to find an individual who thinks wickedly doing well to others. Because of this, Kohlberg’s theory is accurate. Other critics have highlighted that Kohlberg’s theory overemphasizes on justice when making moral decisions and choices. They argue that this may be inaccurate because other factors like compassion and other interpersonal feelings may play a part in making moral decisions and reasoning. Therefore, this shows that justice is not the only aspect of moral reasoning that should be considered. However, this assertion is also not true. All individuals who know and understand dictates of the law make decisions based on justice. As much as other factors come into play, Justice is the greatest factor to consider when making decisions because an individual may be willing to do something but because it does not conform to justice, the individual may abandon the idea. Furthermore, many critics argue that Kohlberg’s theory overemphasizes on western philosophy. This makes the theory inaccurate because Eastern cultures may have different outlooks and perceptions on moral reasoning that Kohlberg’s theory does not discuss at all. Kohlberg is right in the use of western philosophy because, one always bases a theory on the surrounding conditions. Kohlberg studies the

Project Cost Control Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Project Cost Control - Essay Example Costs are defined as anything that does not add value to the system rather consumes resources, capital, time or other related functions and components of the project. Steve Odland, in his assessment of the methods by which the costs may be controlled defines the interaction with the customers as one of the reasons based on which the costs can be controlled. According to his views, the customers provide sufficient information and guidelines regarding the utility based projects and items and those that do not add value or are little needed and desired by the customers. The response of the customers enable knowing what to produce and what to avoid in the future trends and projects (Odland, 2012). Another area that is often termed as a serious point with regard to the handling of the costs is the inventory. Inventory often takes up large amount of resources and material. Many companies and projects fail only because of the bulk of the inventory in stock. The stocks lead to consuming space, budget and other associated items which result in the non production of the productive items and products that would otherwise be kept and reserved in limited quantity (KACHWALA, 2009, p. 92). Identifying the defective products, processes and all those activities and components that lead to the consumption of resources, energy and material are amounted to as costs. The time and resources spent would otherwise be spent in the production of the new items and material. Adhering to the terms and conditions that are set forth in the early phases of the project and overall organizational tasks are also important. Often the lag incurs on the account of the deviation from the initially set forth conditions based on which the project had been started. The failure to do so results in delay. It also results in the extra resources usage and many more associated functions and discrepancies within the system and project at hand. Transportation means and communication sources are

To what extent was the Irish famine responsible for the decline of the Essay

To what extent was the Irish famine responsible for the decline of the Irish language - Essay Example As seen below, this famine resulted in the decline of the language in several ways including the death of its speakers, emigration to other parts of the world and the introduction of British culture to Ireland. How famine accelerated it When the Irish famine hit Ireland, the main crop to be affected was the potato hence it’s sometimes referred to as the Irish potato famine. The famine had a huge death toll that resulted in the death of 1 to 1.5 million people which although not much when compared to death rates in places such as china (13 million) when they had their own famine, was a lot when compared to the ratio of the general population. The population of Ireland was only 8 million when the famine started and by the time it ended population census results showed that the population had declined to around 6.5 million people. This meant that the population had declined by 18 % signifying a huge loss of native speaking Irish people.1 Moreover, since the hardest hit areas were those that still maintained speaking the Irish language. The Irish famine also resulted in the mass immigration of many Irish people to other parts of Europe as they escaped the hunger and strict anti-Catholic policies the British government had put in place. The migration resulted in many of them moving to America where they searched for new opportunities for employment however they were not welcomed due to the contempt given to the Irish culture. It is estimated that at least a million people migrated from Ireland to USA Newfoundland and Britain, resulting a significant drop in the population. People from Ireland were often stereotyped as aggressive and violent and it was not uncommon for job advertisements to specifically state that they did not want people from Ireland. For a person from Ireland to therefore survive or succeed they would have to lose their Irish accent and be Americanised. This therefore resulted in a population which although sharing a common Irish heritage, d id not speak the Irish language and thus a decline in it.2 One of the factors that caused the famine and even made it worse was the marginalization of the Irish-catholic community by the British government. The British government that had been ruling Ireland since 1801 and had put in place discriminatory policies against the Irish Catholic that barred them from voting and the right to owning land.3 Many Irish viewed these policies as a form of colonization but it was clear that for an individual to climb up the social ladder they would have to adopt the British culture and religion and thus neglect their own heritage. The British policies have in fact been identified as one of the reasons the famine ravaged with such intensity as even though people were starving, food crops was still being exported from Ireland, the tenant system of farming had also meant that Irish workers could not practice large scale agriculture that had grown in popularity with the agrarian revolution. The only crop that was able to grow and support a family on the small farms were potatoes. While some might have being willing to make due with meagre earnings as a punishment for their cultural identity, when the famine reached its climax many faced with the option of death or assimilation into British culture chose to align themselves with the British way of life so as to have access to more social amenities, rights and employment opportunities as English was the language spoken by the landlords and merchants.4

Project Cost Control Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Project Cost Control - Essay Example Costs are defined as anything that does not add value to the system rather consumes resources, capital, time or other related functions and components of the project. Steve Odland, in his assessment of the methods by which the costs may be controlled defines the interaction with the customers as one of the reasons based on which the costs can be controlled. According to his views, the customers provide sufficient information and guidelines regarding the utility based projects and items and those that do not add value or are little needed and desired by the customers. The response of the customers enable knowing what to produce and what to avoid in the future trends and projects (Odland, 2012). Another area that is often termed as a serious point with regard to the handling of the costs is the inventory. Inventory often takes up large amount of resources and material. Many companies and projects fail only because of the bulk of the inventory in stock. The stocks lead to consuming space, budget and other associated items which result in the non production of the productive items and products that would otherwise be kept and reserved in limited quantity (KACHWALA, 2009, p. 92). Identifying the defective products, processes and all those activities and components that lead to the consumption of resources, energy and material are amounted to as costs. The time and resources spent would otherwise be spent in the production of the new items and material. Adhering to the terms and conditions that are set forth in the early phases of the project and overall organizational tasks are also important. Often the lag incurs on the account of the deviation from the initially set forth conditions based on which the project had been started. The failure to do so results in delay. It also results in the extra resources usage and many more associated functions and discrepancies within the system and project at hand. Transportation means and communication sources are

Global leadership and management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Global leadership and management - Essay Example They understand that the leadership tools help them in solving complicated problems and thus give them way to be success. Those leaders who are best are certainly keen on learning more to sharpen their qualities and skill to be constructive and efficient .A leader can turn out to be disorganized and unfocused, if he does not evaluate and analyze himself at the right time and in the right manner. A stressed and unfocused leader can be a disaster and failure and can also de-motivate the team which he is leading. The performance standards of the leader can be enhanced only if he makes use of an appropriate leadership assessment tool. These tools provide assessment in various areas of management like sales, customer service, team building, and time management and so on. The overview of the proposed leadership assessment tool The proposed leadership assessment tool is focused on determining the ability of the person to work with tasks and people. In this assessment, a person needs to resp ond on 18 questions which evaluate their skill on task and people. This assessment studies the leader’s skill and ability in leading a project by giving attention to all areas of working. It also evaluates the person’s ability in achieving a task or objective in the appropriate manner Also, the person’ s ability to coach the team regarding new tasks and procedures are also analyzed in this proposed leadership assessment tool. His ability to carry out different complicated task at one time is also kept in consideration during the assessment. Managing the time is an important aspect of a successful leadership and this tool give much value to it. A leader can perform a task efficiently only if he is expert in analyzing problems and managing team work. He should also honor the limits and restrictions of his employees and plan things accordingly. However, if a leader can counsel his employees well, he has done half of his job. Once the person has responded to the que stions listed, his scores are recorded on a form which has the two columns with a specification of task and people. The total marks for both areas are totaled and jotted on a chart. The graph has task has the horizontal axis, and people as the vertical axis. According to the intersection of lines on graph, the leadership will be categorized as team leader, country club type, authoritarian or impoverished. In the following pages we can see the results of 10 respondents who have used this tool. Leadership assessment results of 10respondents Respondent One : The first respondent is not very keen in involving the team in decision making process, coaching them , reading literature to training, leadership and psychology as the score is two .Although, he is averagely good with accomplishing tasks ,keeping accounts of minute details of projects, correcting mistakes, time management and encouraging employees, since his score is three. He has proved too competent with analyzing problems, mult i- tasking, explaining the task to employees and honoring their limits as he scored four. The person has gives least importance in breaking large projects to smaller task and monitoring the schedule of the project, since he has scored one .However, the score is five in areas like building a great team, on counseling skills and carrying out and implementing innovative procedures. Finally, by

Exploring How Selections from The Best American Essays Essay Example for Free

Exploring How Selections from The Best American Essays Essay The selection of essays contained in The Best American Essays which highlight painful truths and confront undesirable social realities do not only paint a clear picture of the imperfect world we live in, but also serve as catalysts for change that we may be sorely in need of. The relevant knowledge conveyed by the essayists provide more than catharsis or a cleansing or anxiety-relieving purging effect. They have huge potential to elicit concrete ethical responses, notably new attitudes and mindsets that will eventually shape future action. The latter depends greatly, though, on how closely the readers identify with the painful truths or social realities contained in the literary pieces. Nonetheless, the superbly written essays merit close scrutiny or perusal, which should be enough, ideally, to jolt people to action. Exploring How Selections from The Best American Essays Can be Catalysts for Change Where does learning end and action begin? Can knowledge spur action? Mulling over the hard facts, undesirable societal realities or painful truths expressed in beautiful fluid prose by literary talents in insightful essays contained in The Best American Essays edited by David Foster Wallace, one question comes to mind: are the masterfully written pieces capable of spurring people to action? Offhand, the answer points to a resounding yes. Literary masterpieces, particularly the essays under study, have an immense potential to serve as catalysts for change. Any standstill or hindrance, however, for works of literature to elevate humankind in terms of heightened awareness and positive behavioral changes, may depend a great on the values and predispositions that the current crop of readers may have. It is a known fact that we, as humans, cannot escape pain as we go about our day-to-day lives. Just about everyone can identify with pain, but the natural tendency of the average person is to crawl into his comfort zone and not to ponder on negative or painful realities, much less do something about what they may have read. The painful truths, usually in the form of trying individual circumstances or clear societal harms, expressed by the most gifted writer in the most riveting prose may not always warrant the desired ethical response. The sad reality is, complacent people who glean useful insights from reading about painful truths expressed in clear and incisive essays may not budge, even if the ideas may stick around in the recesses of their minds for some time. Each person will also be relying on his own perception of truth, and this perception will most likely guide his future action. On the other hand, there are also those individuals who are inclined to strive to make life generally better, both for themselves and society-at-large. This latter breed of people brings to mind ancient Confucian teaching on doing the right thing at the right time. By following the dictum of choosing to do what is right and moral over ones self-centered interests, people who adopt a new way of thinking or do something about a vexing social truth expressed, for instance, in an essay like â€Å"What Should a Billionaire Give – and What Should You? By Peter Singer (Wallace, 2007, p. 266), make the writer’s efforts worthwhile. The sense of enlightenment, followed by change in one’s mode of thinking created by a well-written essay makes every ounce of investigative effort poured into it well worth it. There are also certain essays in the collection that highlight idiosyncrasies, or peculiar habits and traits, such as the piece about people with stage fright, or another dealing with the apex of sex childhood, or even the youth-oriented essay about a cellular phone ring tone that drifts into a discourse about adults’ tendencies as they age. They not only amuse and inform but also lead readers to adopt new ways of thinking and behaving. There are other clear-cut examples of works included in the collection that forcefully makes the case for a controversial issue that may spur action, notably â€Å"Loaded† by Garret Keizer, who explosively says, â€Å"I hope that I shall never have to confront anyone with my gun, but owning a gun has forced me to confront myself† (Wallace, 2007, p. 137) and â€Å"Rules of Engagement† by Elaine Scarry, who opined that â€Å"every act that carries us into neo-absolutist territory burs our vision†¦ and puts us at ever-accelerating risk of carrying out moral harms (such as the use of nuclear weapons) from which we may not soon recover† (Scarry, 2006, para. 12). There are likewise lighter topics explored in essays in the collection, such as â€Å"What the Dog Saw† by Malcolm Gladwell that focuses on how an egocentric person may not be emulated, while prescribing better ways of dealing with those around us. The various other essays, whether they serve as an earnest appeal for action or as subtle vehicles for behavioral change, providing stern warnings of things to come, derive much of their strength on the fact that what is presented is a shared experience, most of them culled from real-life circumstances and developments, forming painful realities that people must contend with. They may reflect hard truths about society’s past intermingling with the present, or they may point to the future, but the single thread running through the selected essays in The Best American Essays that the writers may want to put across is that their readers can do something about the painful truths or hard-to-bear facts presented therein. In essence, the essays under study embody a form of literature that â€Å"represents much more than a pristine chronicle of a particular time and place†¦As a flexible medium, literature (like the essays) allows the author to manipulate modalities of past and future, real and unreal to alter patterns of perception†¦ Analysis of these models can shed light on the events which actually took place, and on the scope of possibility for alternative outcomes (Werbach, 1991, Introduction section, para. 1). Thus, when people learn painful truths about themselves or society-at-large, how they act depends, to a large extent, on where their beliefs and principles are anchored, not to mention the resources at their disposal, which still does not negate the fact that great works of literature can be catalysts for change. References Wallace, D. (Ed. ). (2007). The best American essays. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. Werbach, K. D. (1991). Literary models for alternative social development in Russia. Retrieved May 7, 2008, from http://werbach. com/stuff/thesis. html Scarry, E. (2006). Rules of engagement. Boston Review. Retrieved May 7, 2008, from http://bostonreview. net/BR31. 6/scarry. php

Volcanoes and Earth :: Geology

VOLCANOES AND THE EARTH SYSTEM EFFECTS OF VOLCANIC GASES Most of the gases in the atmosphere originally come from the Earth's interior. Gases within magma are dissolved because of high pressures beneath the earth's surface, but reduced pressure at the surface allows dissolved gases to expand and escape. When a volcano erupts, gases such as sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide, chlorine, argon, sulfur, carbon monoxide, fluorine, and water vapor escape into the atmosphere. Although many of the gases emitted during a volcanic eruption can be helpful to the earth, a lot of the gases can be disruptive to the earth system. Quite possibly the only gas that is generally better for the atmosphere than the rest of the gases is water vapor. Although it is a greenhouse gas, water vapor from volcanic eruptions adds to the earth's water supply. Sulfur dioxide emitted from volcanic eruptions is one of the main chemical compounds responsible for the earth's already dangerous acid rain problem. Carbon dioxide is universally considered one of the most dangerous greenhouse gases on the planet. Increases in this gas have been proven to cause an increase in the average temperature of the Earth. Global warming can result in the melting of polar ice caps. This melting causes the rising of ocean levels, which can flood coastal cities. Volcanoes contribute about 110 million tons of carbon dioxide per year. Although this can be viewed as a bad problem for the ever-increasing problem of global warming, volcanoes can actually cause the opposite effect. Volcanoes can help cool the earth's surface by forming sulfuric acid aerosols that reflect the sun's rays. This is contradicted though by the carbon dioxide that adds to the greenhouse effect. Weather patterns can be disrupted by sulfur dioxide. In a reaction involving the sun and water vapor, sulfur dioxide can turn into sulfuric acid. This sulfuric acid can combine with rain and cause acid rain to fall to earth. Sulfuric aerosol remains in the air long after the volcano has erupted. These aerosols can last for years and studies have shown a strong correlation between periods of long-term sulfuric aerosol layers in the atmosphere and a resulting temperature decrease during those same years. Without replenishment, the sulfuric acid aerosol layer around the earth is gradually depleted, but it is renewed by each eruption rich in sulfur dioxide. This was determined after the eruptions of such volcanoes as El Chichon in Mexico and Mt. Volcanoes and Earth :: Geology VOLCANOES AND THE EARTH SYSTEM EFFECTS OF VOLCANIC GASES Most of the gases in the atmosphere originally come from the Earth's interior. Gases within magma are dissolved because of high pressures beneath the earth's surface, but reduced pressure at the surface allows dissolved gases to expand and escape. When a volcano erupts, gases such as sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide, chlorine, argon, sulfur, carbon monoxide, fluorine, and water vapor escape into the atmosphere. Although many of the gases emitted during a volcanic eruption can be helpful to the earth, a lot of the gases can be disruptive to the earth system. Quite possibly the only gas that is generally better for the atmosphere than the rest of the gases is water vapor. Although it is a greenhouse gas, water vapor from volcanic eruptions adds to the earth's water supply. Sulfur dioxide emitted from volcanic eruptions is one of the main chemical compounds responsible for the earth's already dangerous acid rain problem. Carbon dioxide is universally considered one of the most dangerous greenhouse gases on the planet. Increases in this gas have been proven to cause an increase in the average temperature of the Earth. Global warming can result in the melting of polar ice caps. This melting causes the rising of ocean levels, which can flood coastal cities. Volcanoes contribute about 110 million tons of carbon dioxide per year. Although this can be viewed as a bad problem for the ever-increasing problem of global warming, volcanoes can actually cause the opposite effect. Volcanoes can help cool the earth's surface by forming sulfuric acid aerosols that reflect the sun's rays. This is contradicted though by the carbon dioxide that adds to the greenhouse effect. Weather patterns can be disrupted by sulfur dioxide. In a reaction involving the sun and water vapor, sulfur dioxide can turn into sulfuric acid. This sulfuric acid can combine with rain and cause acid rain to fall to earth. Sulfuric aerosol remains in the air long after the volcano has erupted. These aerosols can last for years and studies have shown a strong correlation between periods of long-term sulfuric aerosol layers in the atmosphere and a resulting temperature decrease during those same years. Without replenishment, the sulfuric acid aerosol layer around the earth is gradually depleted, but it is renewed by each eruption rich in sulfur dioxide. This was determined after the eruptions of such volcanoes as El Chichon in Mexico and Mt.