Realistic Pragmatism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 5

Realistic Pragmatism - Essay Example Pragmatists have instead developed their argument on the notion that a thought acts as an instrument that can predict, solve problems or even act. In addition, they argue that most of the topics in philosophy like concepts, knowledge, meaning, belief, and nature of knowledge as well as science can only be seen in terms of their practical uses and successes instead of how they have been employed to stand for accuracy. As a philosophical movement, pragmatism started in America in the 1870s. The direction of this philosophy was mainly determined by various members of The Metaphysical Club like William James, Chauncey Wright, George Herbert Mead, as well as. This term was first employed in the fiscal year 1898 by William James who credited Pierce for coming up with the term. James considered Peirce’s work of 1877–8 dubbed "Illustrations of the Logic of Science" series as his main basis for his thoughts on pragmatism. Consequently, this made Peirce, in turn, to write in the fiscal year 1906 that Nicholas St. John Green had been instrumental. He greatly emphasized the significance of applying the definition of belief that Alexander Bain looked into. Bain’s argued that belief meant something that a man stands on when he is prepared to act. Peirce stated that this definition makes pragmatism to become scarcer than a corollary. Pierce saw that this definition made Bain be regarded as the grandfather of pragmatism. William James’s book, dubbed Pragmatism (1907), was able to gather together various lecturers that he had been teaching on the philosophy since the fiscal year 1898. The book was able to launch an interest in pragmatism. Furthermore, a lot of controversies has arisen on what the meaning of pragmatism is. Many critics of the early times saw James as the father of the philosophy.  Ã‚  

Two Items on the Same Desk Essay Example for Free

Two Items on the Same Desk Essay The first six weeks of school are always a joy . They are the spring time of teaching. The last six weeks? Those weeks can be, in the immortal words of Thomas Paine, â€Å"The times that try mens souls.† Those are the days when teachers consider retirement regardless of whether theyve been teaching for three years or thirty. Mr. Hemphill was nearing the 30 year mark. Today Mr. Hemphill, as students always called him to his face, felt more like the â€Å"old Mr. Hemphill† he knew students often called him behind his back. Not quite 60, his friends, all of whom referred to him as just â€Å"Bob,† often commented on how young and fit he appeared for a man his age. To the high school students at Olympus High he was ancient. Ninety percent of the other teachers were youngsters under 40, most under thirty. â€Å"How old are you?† he was often asked. â€Å"Older than you can imagine,† hed reply. â€Å"I used to teach Shakespeare.† â€Å"You still teach it; we read Romeo and Juliet first semester.† â€Å"No, no,† he would grin. â€Å"I used to teach Shakespeare the MAN. Thats why he uses so many puns in his plays.† Mr. Hemphill never gave a quiz or test without including a bonus question, always a pun of some kind. He didnt feel very punny today. He just felt tired, weary to the bone. On his now cleared, moments earlier cluttered desk, were two items. The first was the true source of his fatigue. Seventh (the final) period of his day Mr. Hemphill had been doing his best to lead a literary discussion with a class of 38 students. Most of them hadn’t read the mere seven pages of the novel hed assigned for homework and upon which the discussion was about. Suddenly a piece of paper floated into the air from somewhere in the middle of the room, and past three or four desks. It lighted softly as a tiny bird at his feet. He picked it up. The paper, which had floated like a bird, was as welcome to Mr. Hemphill as bird poop. Indeed, the less euphemistic form of the word â€Å"poop† came to mind as he saw what was on the paper. In graphic, splendidly detailed tagger art color was a picture of a penis and scrotum on a skateboard. Mr. Hemphill commented on the quality of the art and expressed his wish that the author would channel his obvious talents in a more productive manner. What he almost said was that the artist must surely have spent hours and hours studying and handling his subject in order to depict it so 2. accurately. He didnt say it however because Mr. Hemphill in his core saw himself as a professional. His clothes, though not expensive, were ironed and neat, his shoes polished. The years hed spent in front of classrooms had taught him losing his temper was not professional. More importantly, it did you no good. He had taken a copy of the paper to the vice principal with the names of those he was certain were responsible. To the class as a whole he expressed his disappointment that some of them who had such grand potential for greatness were choosing to waste it on depravity. He meant it too and said it with great sincerity. A few looked as if they agreed with him. Several others, and probably the ones responsible, snickered albeit surreptitiously. â€Å"They think Im just an old, old guy from another planet,† he thought at the time. When he looked at the item now he felt disappointment once again, and anger, most definitely, and hurt. For some reason it definitely hurt. Of course it most likely had not been meant for him. It had a boys name on it, Nick ________, and it was likely a gang thing. When a gang member gives a guy a picture of a male private part it is a message. Hes calling the guy out, insulting him, asking him what hes going to do about it. Sometimes a gang guy draws a picture of the female equivalent. That is a worse insult, and implies the recipient wont or cant do anything about it because he’s just a P______. â€Å"Dont judge these guys† Mr. Hemphill told himself. â€Å"You dont know what the house or apartment they go home to is like. You dont know whats been done to them, what happens on their block, in their hood every day.† â€Å"Now why did they pose the penis on a skateboard?† he asked himself. The skateboard could be said to add an element of humor to the drawing. Humor to the deprived and ignorant who felt any fellow who farted was funny. But humor reflects that there is humanity somewhere in there. Maybe divinity too? Mr. Hemphill shrugged, and sighed, and turned the distasteful drawing over. Next to it was a letter from a former student, Sean. Hed found Mr. Hemphill earlier that day at break and came up to him to give him the letter. The letter wasnt to Mr. Hemphill. It was a letter to a college he was applying to. He was supposed to tell the college a little about himself and why he would be a great student to accept. Though the letter wasnt to Mr. Hemphill, the first half of it was all about him. â€Å"I owe my knowledge and ever-lasting developing love of the Literary Arts to Mr. Hemphill† the letter said. â€Å"He taught me the power stories have, and helped me learn the basic skills every writer needs. Because of him hopefully I will be able one day to consider myself a successful screen writer.† Mr. Hemphill re-read those lines three times savoring every word. He remembered Sean as he had looked as a freshmen. Short, pudgy, big glasses. It was a clichà © perhaps, but at first glance Mr. 3. Hemphill had thought that if he had a book of slang and looked up the word, â€Å"nerd† Seans photo would be beside the definition. He was smart and determined and wanted to learn. Sean wasnt as short or pudgy any more. He was starting to look like a handsome, confident young man. He would come into his own in college. â€Å"I didnt teach him anything, not really,† Mr. Hemphill reflected, â€Å"I just steered him a little.† What were the odds of receiving both these items on the same day? Mr. Hemphill remembered the year hed had Sean, his freshmen year. In the fall while he was absent and had a sub, some students who werent his students came to his fourth period pretending to be his students. Two of them distracted the substitute while the others stole some things off and in his desk. Somebody even snatched a big Muhammad Ali poster hed had on the wall for years. â€Å"Im so fast when I turn off the light switch on the wall, I can go jump into bed before its dark!† Ali said on the poster. Hemphill had used it for years to instruct students about hyperbole, and pride. The worst thing about the incident was that they took his pencil can. It wasnt worth anything, but it was something his oldest daughter had made for him when she was in kindergarten or first grade. Shed put paper around a small can and drawn hearts all over it, and it said, â€Å"I love you daddy† on it. Hemphill kept it on his desk with pencils in it for years. Every time he looked at it he remembered the way his Samantha, now a young mother, had looked the day she gave it to him. Why had they stolen that? Eventually the guilty students got ratted out and punished, but the stolen items were forever lost. Spring of that same year in his sixth period students got together and bought him a big brand new Muhammad Ali poster, nicer than the other one. They had gotten a card and all the students signed it and presented it to him during finals week. Those were the worst and the best things students had ever done to or for Mr. Hemphill throughout his whole career. They had happened during the same school year. These two items on the desk happened during the same school day. Looking at the two items, the gross picture and the letter were a dà ©jà  vu of that previous school year. The two items in a way represented of all the days and all the years he had been a public school teacher. How many of his students’ fathers had pencil can mementos on their desks? How many of his students, if asked to write an essay or a quick write about a hero, someone they admired, would turn in a blank sheet of paper? He remembered that he had asked to go to this school in this part of town. He’d started out at Capital High where students came from the town’s nicer neighborhoods and most of the parents had jobs. Innocent and idealistic, he’d wanted to go where he could combat ignorance and be a â€Å"light in the darkness.† After 30 years the idealism still smoldered in his heart. When that flame went out it would be time to quit. 4. Mr. Hemphill pushed himself away from his desk. Along the side wall uncorrected papers mounted up in little baskets. They would have to wait. He was too tired today to correct papers. Mr. Hemphill walked to the back window. There he looked out at the blue sky. He placed his hand over his heart, and then flung the hand outward like a fishermen who has just cleaned a fish and then flings the raw guts out into the open sea. It was a ritual started when his kids were small, a way to not carry the cares of the day home in the evening. Then he went home. He looked forward to kissing his wife and listening to his youngest daughter, a high school senior, tell him about her day. When he left the room one of the items on his desk was now in the waste basket beside the door. The other was inside his grade book tucked under his arm, gripped tightly beside his heart.

Explaining The Primary Purpose Of Taxation Economics Essay

Explaining The Primary Purpose Of Taxation Economics Essay Tax is an enforced  fee  that is charged on individuals and organizations  by government  or its agency on a  product,  income, or  service. Despite many people complaining of making tax contributions to government, these contributions are very important for the economy of a country. This is because these financial contributions are used by government for the implementation of various socio-economic development projects such as the construction of roads and bridges, schools, health facilities and provision of social services like national security, provision of salaries for civil servants including the police, the army, judges, doctors, nurses and teachers. However, to clearly understand the rationale behind government charging of taxes terms such as taxation, equity in relation to taxation, direct and indirect tax and sources of income, need to be clearly understood. Taxation mainly refers to the  actual act in which government or its taxing authority (Such as Malawi Revenue Authority) actually  collects tax from individuals and organizations. In Malawi, taxation is guided by several principles that are mostly highlighted in the Taxation Act and Amendments. The taxation principles emphasize that taxes collected should be just-enough to generate revenue  required  for  provision  of essential  public services, and that taxes must be  spread  over as wide as possible  section  of the  population, or  sectors  of  economy. Furthermore, taxes are enforced in a manner that facilitates  voluntary compliance  from individuals and organizations to the maximum extent possible, but also taxes must equally burden all  individuals  or  entities  in similar economic circumstances. Adding to this, taxes do not favor any one  group  or sector over another. Equity in relation to taxation is another important element that needs to be clear understood as far as taxation is concerned. The word equity centers on the fairness and justness of collecting taxes by government. Equity in relation to taxation implies giving as much  advantage and  consideration to one  individual or organization  as it is given to another in similar economic conditions. This is a principle that taxes should be fair and should be based on different peoples ability to pay, and is usually related to their income. Practically, it is expected that an individual that earns more income has to pay more than an individual earning a comparable lower income. Taxes are divided into two main groups of Direct taxes and indirect taxes. On one hand, the direct taxes can be said to be those paid directly to the government by the individuals or organizations on whom it is being imposed. Examples of direct taxes charged by the Malawi Revenue Authority include income taxes, such Pay As You Earn (PAYE), and as the name implies, is a tax on Income. Income, according to MRA includes the total amount in cash or kind received by or accrued to a person from sources within Malawi, or deemed to be within Malawi. Another form of direct tax is tax based on wealth and this is based on the wealth of an individual at the date of death and is sometimes called Estate Duty. On the other hand, Indirect tax, also referred to as goods and services tax, is a tax collected by an intermediary, such as a retail store from a person who bears the ultimate economic burden of the tax (such as the customer). Indirect taxes are computed in the cost of goods or services an in dividual or organization purchases. In Malawi an example of indirect tax is sales tax, which is a duty paid based on the value of goods or services that have been purchased. Sales tax in Malawi is known as Value Added Tax (VAT). Customs duty is another form of indirect duties and is tax levied on the value of goods that have been imported into the country. Excise duty is also a form of indirect tax and these are imposed on selected locally manufactured goods to discourage the consumption of such goods. There are a various number of income sources that are taxable from income an individual or organization earns, which is generally net income from employment, business and rentals. There are many sources of income but the most common are salary and wages, which is the kind of income that the majority of people have to deal with when filing their taxes and is what individuals earn from a job. Another source is self-employment income, which is any money that an individual makes outside a regular job from services rendered. For example, if an individual operates a home-based business, money from this endeavor would be counted as self-employment income. Another type of income that one may receive is interest income, and is the income one receives from putting money into a savings account. QUESTION TWO Explaining the Primary Purpose of Taxation Taxation is a means by which governments finance their expenditure by imposing charges on citizens and corporate entities. The main purpose of taxation is to accumulate funds for the functioning of the government machineries. All governments in the world cannot run its administrative office without funds and it has no such system incorporated in itself to generate profit from its functioning.  In other words, a government can run its administrative set up only through public funding which is collected in the form of tax. Therefore, it can be well understood that the purpose of taxation is very simple and obvious for proper functioning of a state. Taxes are charges levied against a citizens personal income or on property or for some specified activity. As such, one purpose of taxation is to increase in effectiveness and productivity of the nation as government is able to implement various socio-economic development projects such as the construction of roads and bridges, schools, hea lth facilities and provision of social services. Another reason is that taxation assists in reducing consumption of unwanted goods. Taxes as such can be used as an effective tool to reduce the consumption of unwanted goods like alcohol. Higher taxes on such goods reduce the consumption as the price of the product will be very high for the consumers. Government also uses taxes as a way to protect local industries and as such make them more profitable. Increasing tariffs on imports and charging lower taxes to local products may boost the demand for goods and services produced by domestic industry. Taxes on imports, which are called tariffs, can be used by government to correct an unfavorable balance of payment situation by increasing the tariffs. This will result in imports becoming expensive and will cause a fall in demand for the imported goods. Explaining Five Reasons that Contribute to Non Compliance with Tax Laws Non compliance of tax laws  can be said to be a failure, intentional or unintentional, of taxpayers to meet their tax obligations. This lack of compliance can be as a result of different factors as indicated below: A Rising or High Tax Burden: Individuals and organizations will tend to be non compliant to tax laws when the taxes are deemed to be high as compared with the cost of living. In such a case taxpayers will tend to avoid payment of taxes so as to have a sizeable amount of money to be used in the purchase of different commodities. Lack of Knowledge on Tax Laws: This point focuses on the unintentional failure of a taxpayer to comply to tax laws. An example would be a small or medium enterprise that does not know that it is required by law for their businesses to be registered and as such pay taxes. Further, taxpayers would like the actual location or requirements needed for them to comply. Complexity of Tax Laws: Unintentional non-compliance may also be caused by the complexity of tax laws, that is by the difficulty of keeping accurate records and the inability to obtain the information needed to comply. For example, low-income taxpayers who cannot afford to employ tax agents could face problems understanding basic laws and even routine mathematical operations and interpreting the tax tables may present problems. Tax Evasion: Tax evasion is the failure to declare taxable activity or income and this is a practice in the employment of the services such as consultancies, builders, plumbers and decorators. This intentional non-compliance requires the taxpayer to have some measure of understanding of the tax system. Weak Tax System: This can also lead to intentional non compliance of tax laws as taxpayers are able to utilize loopholes in the tax system. As such, this encourages taxpayers to be non compliant as they are assured of not facing prosecution.

The Witch Of Blackbied Pond :: essays research papers

The Witch of Blackbird Pond   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Kit Tyler, the main character of Elizabeth George Spear's book, The Witch of Blackbird Pond, must leave her carefree life in tropical Barbados, and go and live in Connecticut. She learns that playing is what is to life, but hard work. She learns that if people do not know you, that they pre judge you. She also learns that if you don't live up to the Puritan life style, that they will look down at you. Kit must learn to cope, and learn from all these changes in her life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  First of all her grandfather dies, which leaves her as an orphan. She byes a ticket to Connecticut, where the last of her relatives live. When she arrives she is hit with a new way of life. In Barbados, slaves did the work, so Kit never worked before. She comes dressed in a Silk dress, which at that time was unacceptable in Connecticut. When she arrives at her relative's house, she is amazed how small in was compared to the house she lived in on Barbados.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Secondly, she goes to church. In Barbados her grandfather never stressed church as being important, so this was a new experience. When they started to sit down, the family separated into two groups, the men would go to the left, while the women sat to the right of the aisles. Then the Priest would talk about that Sunday's lesson. Then they went home, and had Sunday's dinner. Then her uncle would read out of the Bible. Then they would go to bed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Thirdly, the people never like people that never followed the rules. One day when Kit was working in the field, see was told a story of an old Quaker woman that lived by Blackbird Pond. A Quaker was people that didn't come to Sunday services like the Puritans stated, and wouldn't follow the Puritans' way of life. They said that this old Quaker was a witch, and had cast spells on the city. Kit didn't believe the stories, and one time after she finished her work, went to visit the old woman. When see arrived, she saw a poor old women in a tiny little house, and then Kit started to help her. When the children of the town got sick, the town people went to get to old women, and make her stand trial for supposedly casting a spell.

Limitations of cvp analysis Essay

In any business it is very obvious for questions like, what effect on profit can it expect if it produces more products? What quantity of products and services must a business sell in order to break even for the year? What happens to the breakeven point of the business if it decides to add or increase the quantity of a product or services they currently offer? to arise. The analytical technique that helps the managerial accountants to address these questions is called Cost Volume profit analysis. (Tata McGraw-Hill, 2008 p.298). It provides with vital information about the effect of revenue raised and the cost incurred within a certain business. CVP analysis can also be used to analyse the effect on profit due to changes in prices, costs, tax, interests and the mix of product sold by the organisation. (Tata McGraw-Hill, 2008 p.298). CVP analysis is used by the managers in day to day basis in order to run the business smoothly. Correct use of this can lead to a detailed understanding of what actions should and can be taken in order to save the business from facing any loss, and make profit or at least break even. CVP analysis is a helpful tool for the management but it also suffers with some limitations. It provides the management with the insight of the current position of the business and also reflects any potential problems the company could face in a short run. CVP graph directs management’s attention to this situation but is not able to provide a solution to any potential problem within the business. (Tata McGraw-Hill, 2008 p.303). Many assumptions should be made in order to produce a CVP analysis such as, keeping the total revenue linear which means the price or product or service will not change as sales changes, keeping total expense linear which means the total fixed and the unit variable expense remains unchanged as activity varies, the efficiency and productivity remains constant and the sales mix in a multi products company remains constant. (Tata McGraw-Hill, 2008 p.314). All these assumptions are very much necessary in order to produce a CVP analysis but they are not necessarily constants in a day to day business. If by any reasons the sales mix changes in the business than a new CVP analysis should be made for this  new sales mix. CVP analysis provides the management of any organisation with vital information that it requires for day to day operation but also has some limitations. Reference Tata McGraw-Hill (2008) Managerial Accounting: Creating Value in a Dynamic Business Environment. New Delhi, Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Limited.

Free Essays on Lord Of The Rings And Mythology

The Lord of the Rings has been regarded as one of the greatest stories of modern times. It is a story filled with original ideas and creates an entire world unto itself with a history of it’s own along with it’s many races. This creation of a new world and the storytelling involved in it holds many parallels and similarities to ancient and classical myths that people have been telling for thousands of years. The Lord of the Rings has been classified as a modern extension of the family of myths by many critics and has a following to support this claim. The classification of The Lord of the Rings as a modern myth can be seen in several different ways. There are many characters in The Lord of the Rings, which have parallels with characters in classical mythology such as Tom Bombadil, Gandalf, Gollum and Frodo. Other examples of mythological concepts held in the novel are seen simply in the storyline, the quest in particular and the battle between good and evil. The status of myth for The Lord of the Rings can also be seen in the deep history that Tolkien gave to Middle Earth and it’s people. There are extensive histories given through thousands of years of Middle Earth and is thoroughly recorded in Tolkien’s works such as The Silmarillion, The Hobbit, The History of Middle Earth and The Book of Lost Tales. This element of storytelling is seen throughout almost all stories regarded as mythology, the story is given a deep background involving deities and the beginning of the Earth into the creation of man and in some of them has a deity interacting with the characters in the myth. This is true in Tolkien’s later work in The Silmarillion which is mostly a story somewhat similar to The Lord of the Rings except that The Silmarillion takes place much earlier in Middle Earth’s history and several allusions to it are made in The Lord of the Rings that could not be understood without doing proper historical research into Tolkien’s... Free Essays on Lord Of The Rings And Mythology Free Essays on Lord Of The Rings And Mythology The Lord of the Rings has been regarded as one of the greatest stories of modern times. It is a story filled with original ideas and creates an entire world unto itself with a history of it’s own along with it’s many races. This creation of a new world and the storytelling involved in it holds many parallels and similarities to ancient and classical myths that people have been telling for thousands of years. The Lord of the Rings has been classified as a modern extension of the family of myths by many critics and has a following to support this claim. The classification of The Lord of the Rings as a modern myth can be seen in several different ways. There are many characters in The Lord of the Rings, which have parallels with characters in classical mythology such as Tom Bombadil, Gandalf, Gollum and Frodo. Other examples of mythological concepts held in the novel are seen simply in the storyline, the quest in particular and the battle between good and evil. The status of myth for The Lord of the Rings can also be seen in the deep history that Tolkien gave to Middle Earth and it’s people. There are extensive histories given through thousands of years of Middle Earth and is thoroughly recorded in Tolkien’s works such as The Silmarillion, The Hobbit, The History of Middle Earth and The Book of Lost Tales. This element of storytelling is seen throughout almost all stories regarded as mythology, the story is given a deep background involving deities and the beginning of the Earth into the creation of man and in some of them has a deity interacting with the characters in the myth. This is true in Tolkien’s later work in The Silmarillion which is mostly a story somewhat similar to The Lord of the Rings except that The Silmarillion takes place much earlier in Middle Earth’s history and several allusions to it are made in The Lord of the Rings that could not be understood without doing proper historical research into Tolkien’s...