Mill vs kant Essay

The writings of John Stuart Mill and Immanuel Kant present very different ideas concerning the Ethical Problem. Mill’s ideas are referred to as Utilitarianism. In this system of thought, the basic belief is that happiness is the greatest goal and actions should be judged by their ability to provide the greatest happiness to the greatest number of people. Kant, the Deontologist, believed that it is not the result of the action that is important, but the action itself. He advocated a moral rule based on reason. The basic ideas found in these philosophers’ writings lead me to see Mill’s argument as the more plausible solution to the ethical problem. He believed that morality is associated with happiness and his idea that greater happiness for the greatest number of people should be the ultimate goal appears to be a worthy ambition. This would contribute to social order and supports our accepted ideas that actions such as murder are wrong. There are two definitions included in his writing which explained his ideas more clearly to me. The first was â€Å"The Greatest Happiness Principle, which was defined as actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness† ( ) Happiness is defined as â€Å" pleasure and the absence of pain†( )Based on my own experience it is plausible to believe most of us are seeking pleasure and attempting to avoid pain; if these attempts are designed to provide the most happiness to the most people, it would appear we are attempting to be moral. This also seems to be common sense, pleasure is good and pain is bad; regardless of other beliefs most people do accept this. The effects on a society, where people are attempting to provide the most pleasure for the most people, cannot be overlooked. This type of society would be more fair and peaceful since everyone must consider the needs of others equal to their own. This idea that morality of an action is based on the amount of happiness it produces for the most people can be understood and possibly studied. It appears that if sociologists or psychologists could determine what makes people happy, we might be able to design social policies that would benefit society by increasing the happiness of a larger number of people. Mill recognizes that â€Å"some kinds of pleasure are more desirable and more valuable than others† ( 37 text) and feels it would be ridiculous to think that pleasure should only be measured by quantity and that his pleasure principal would turn humans into unhappy irrational animals only interested in less valuable pleasure. ( text ) The deontological moral theory of Kant is very different from the Utilitarian theory of Mill, and in my opinion much more difficult to read and understand. He believes that whether or not an action is right or wrong, moral or immoral â€Å"does not depend on the consequences but on whether they fulfill our duty. † (3) This was based on his belief that there was a supreme principle of morality that he referred to as the Categorical Imperative. (4) This philosophy also required that two questions be asked before any action is taken. They are:† Can I rationally will that everyone act as I purpose to act? â€Å"There is only one categorical imperative. It is: Act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law. † (Text) I believe he is arguing . if you don’t think everyone should take this action, you should not. â€Å"Does my action respect the goals of human beings rather than merely using them for my own purposes? (5) He also felt that the motivation for your actions determined if you were acting as a good and moral person. It is the motivation based on morality which is important not the consequences of the action. To Kant giving money to charity because it is deductable on your income tax is not a moral action; Mill would consider it moral because the happiness of some people is increased. Kant believed duty was more important than happiness and unhappiness should not affect your willingness to do your duty. The things he believed and the questions he asked were based on the idea that moral rules are based on reason. I also have difficulty accepting his idea that if two people reasoning logically they will arrive at the same conclusion, if we don’t arrive at the same conclusion who is moral? These ideas led him to create a very ridged view of morality. Things `that violate the categorical imperative are always wrong, no acceptations, and things that are good are always good. I cannot accept the idea that we become moral as the result of reasoning particularly when he indicates that at some point we stop any type of reasoning and accept absolutes. It is difficult not to realize that much of what we view as moral is the result of what we have been taught by our parents and institutions in our society. He gives no consideration to any differences in societies. When I compared the ideas of Kant and Mill, I find Mill’s work more plausible. I find Kant’s the idea that we become moral through reason very hard to accept particularly when you consider how differently societies define morality. Mill bases his ideas on the very simple idea human seek pleasure and attempt to avoid pain; therefore if your actions contribute to providing the most pleasure to the greatest number of people you are moral. Kant claimed not to be against happiness, but saw it as of much less importance than duty.

The Raven vs Lenore

Raven vs. Lenore when the writer talks about Lenore he makes her seem like a god like person. She is like untouchable almost. The writer seems to have had a bond with Lenore, almost as if she was his wife. Lenore in the poem is portrayed as a person who couldn’t do any wrong and was perfect. The writer never talks bad about Lenore. All he talks about when talking about her is her memory and how she was so perfect. The way the writer talks about the raven is a complete 180. The writer goes from talking about the raven as good luck in the beginning to being a bad omen and being the devil. What makes me think this is line â€Å"prophet! said I â€Å"thing of evil! Prophet still if bird or devil†. This makes me think that the writer doesn’t like the bird and wants him gone. The thing that makes the writer think that the bird is a bad omen is when the bird flies on the statue. The writer says that he can smell the smell of incense like if he’s at some ones funeral. Overall the raven and Lenore are talked about the same at the beginning of the poem. As the poem goes on the writer realizes that the bird is the devil and is bad. The writer talks about the raven he makes him seem like a bad spirit that is bringing bad spirits into his house. In my opinion Lenore is talked about the total opposite of the raven. Overall the Lenore is good and pure and the raven is bad and evil. Dominic Maldonado What is a Raven? In the Inuit (Eskimo) religion the raven made the world. The raven is considered a bird and god with a man inside of him. They believe that after the raven made the earth he wanted to stay on earth. They also thought that even though he made the world he didn’t know everything about it. They also believe that the raven liked to paddle his boat into the ocean. They believed that the raven would always stay on earth as long as we cared for one another, and understood that everything lives and dies, and has a sole. www. healingstory. org/raven page 1 story 1 an Inuit (Eskimo) story Retold by Laura Simms In Greek mythology the raven symbolizes death or evil. Coronis aka raven the daughter of the king of the lapiths was one of Apollo's lovers. Pregnant with Asclepius, Coronis fell in love with Ischys the son of Elatus. A raven informed Apollo of the affair and he sent his sister Artemis to kill Coronis. Her body was burned on a funeral pyre, staining the white feathers of the ravens permanently black. And making the raven stand for death and evil in Greek mythology. www. greekmythology. org/coronis In many native American tribes the raven is thought to be a trickster. Often stealing food from other animals or people without them even knowing. The raven’s element is believed to be the air. The raven is believed to be a messenger spirit. The raven is also believed to be the guardian of both ceremonial magic and healing magic. The black of the raven’s feathers is what makes the natives to think that the raven is magic. Because the color black represent magic in there tribe.

An Examination of Two Sides of a Controversy

One that might make your hair rise, scream with all your might or run very fast is the sight of a human skull and skeleton during a full moon in an old abandoned house. This is the usual scene in a horror movie. Indeed, people fear seeing human remains. But skeletal remains can also cause conflict between museum owners, scientists and tribal groups.Authorities are usually torn between legal wrangling of these groups each one claiming the remains’ ownership. Nations of the world are also locked in debates over cultural property rights and intellectual property rights. The dispute between two great nations over great artifacts also has some repercussion on the economy of these two countries.Almost all schools and universities in the world maintain a museum basically for their activities in arts and sciences. In here, actual samples or replicas of the past are stored and lessons are becoming interesting if students can readily see what they read in the books. The more interesting the contents of the museums, the more famous they become. This generates sense of pride for the institution and sometimes become a source of revenues too.This is the reason why museums are trying to acquire interesting objects and when they become part of the museum, the real owner of the object finds it difficult to claim it. This becomes the source of conflict between museum administrator and Native Americans in the case of ancient artifacts. Archaeologists too are hard bent on keeping them because they are prized possessions and scientists can discover various things from studying the object and contribute to the enhancement of science.One afternoon of a windy Sunday, more than ten years ago, while seeing hydroplane race, along the shores of the Columbia River, two students found human skull that was washed into the shore. An almost complete skeleton was also found in the place. Study conducted on the remains has yielded information that the skull is already 9,400 years old. A c onflict ensued immediately among scientists, Native Americans including local authorities (Ainsworth 2000).In Honolulu, Hawaii, artifacts were borrowed from a museum but apparently, the group who borrowed failed to return the remains and refused to reveal the whereabouts of the Native Hawaiian artifacts. This led to the filing of contempt of court by the federal judge against four heads of a Hawaiian gang.The four are members of the group called Group Caring for the Ancestors of Hawaii. Members of the group claimed that the artifacts were removed from its original place by an archaeologist and illegally offered for sale to the Museum. Group members assert that they just return the artifacts to where they rightly belong (New York Times 2005).An archaeology student recovered bones, beads and pieces of shells in Dry Lake Cave at the southern tip of Owens Valley in 1950. She wrote her findings in her record notebook. More than 50 years later, while her artifacts together with her record s are lying inside a stockroom in Hershey Hall, three elders of the tribal group Timbisha Shoshone of Death Valley carefully inspect artifacts trying to see objects with cultural value, which they feel are rightfully theirs. The land of their ancestors includes the Dry Lake Cave (Lee 2002).Pauline Estevez, a tribal leader, who had an invitation to visit UCLA from the Fowler Museum of Cultural History, remarked, â€Å"It is our obligation as Indian people to safeguard our land and its wealth, Some of the artifacts here are part of our treasures which we think should not be kept by the museum or its collector because the land is their rightful owner† (Lee 2002).That is the reason why Estevez took the opportunity to yield to the invitation of the Fowler Museum of Cultural History. As an elder of a tribal group, she feels that what belongs to her land should be returned because they are part of their culture. The artifacts can be their ancestors or the treasures they brought with them which witnessed the birth of their tribe. They take pride in those artifacts and should also be seen by the younger generations as part of their identity.The Kennewick man who was found in the shore of the Columbian river was supposed to be returned to the five American Indian Tribes who jointly filed a claim so that they can possess and rebury the remains that they believe are theirs. The claim was under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990. The natives might have the same motive as those inhabitants of Death Valley. What belongs to them should be returned so that the remains of their ancestors can reunite with their land and the community where they once belong.The natives feel that their ancestors will be more peaceful going back to where they belong rather than to remain in the cold museum (Ainsworth 2000). That could be the same motive that prompts leaders of the Hawaiian group not to return the artifacts that were borrowed from the Hawaiian museum. They asserted that since those artifacts were taken illegally from their original burial place, they should be returned there so that the souls of their ancestor will really lie in peace.Meanwhile, a group of angry archaeologists who are interested in the Kennewick man want to study the remains. The finding of a 9,400 year old artifact naturally will interest them. They protested the move that will give the natives the right to the ownership of the Kennewick man. That started the legal battle between the archaeologists and the ConfederatedTribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (Ainsworth 2000). While the natives are fighting for the return of the remains so that it can once again be a part of the original community and peacefully lie there, the scientists are hoping that they can contribute significantly to the world of science if they can study the remains. They believe that they can learn from the past as a way of improving the future.Thomas spoke in a crowded Kroeber H all and states that the significant issue about the Kennewick remains are neither about religion nor science. According to him the issue is with regards to politics and not philosophy, about leadership and power. The question of who calls the shot when it comes to ancient American history.Is it the federal, the science community or the American Indian? Thomas is a vocal advocate of cooperative partnership between the American Indians and the scientists. He maintained that in a case like the Kennewick man, it’s a long and bitter fight, which can reach the Supreme Court. He believes that this case can be settled away from the premises of the court (Ainsworth 2000).

A memo discussing an issue at work from the perspective of an employee Assignment

A memo discussing an issue at work from the perspective of an employee - Assignment Example The title of â€Å"Operations Manager† seemed to assure me that by joining this company, I would make a nice addition to my existing experience of management, that would be both beneficial for me in my professional career, as well as for the company I join. I thought that being a Senior Operations Manager, I assumed a responsibility to identify the loopholes in the current framework and culture of this company, and devise and implement ways through which they could be precluded. In order to materialize my plans, I first studied the culture of this company, and identified the stakeholders in addition to studying the contract, bill of quantities and all other documents. I also had discussions with employees from various departments in order to study issues that they had that had a significant role in hindering the progress of work. One thing that I particularly found out as a result of this survey and study was that this company lacks flow of communication between individual fun ctional departments. The lack of communication gives rise to lack of awareness. This in turn, causes disparity in the knowledge about status of work between different departments that are fundamentally involved in the operations. The disparity of knowledge results in lack of preparation for the on-going works in the departments. For example, last Monday, I expected the Administration Department to have set a car ready for me and the Consultant so that we could visit the site and I could get the approval of withheld payment against Non Conformance Reports (NCRs). I had indicated the Administration Department about the same one day in advance through a notification memo. However, when the time came, there was no car, and the Administration Manager said that he expected the NCR visit to be due on the following Monday. I had to face embarrassment in front of the Consultant and also, the payments that could have been released last Monday might take another month to be considered for rele ase now. Also, I often experience great difficulty in drawing cash from the Finance Department, as they tend to do a lot of paper work before considering the release of payment, and even after that, feel reluctant to give me the cash. This causes delay in the flow of operations and as a result, progress of the work lags behind schedule. This fundamentally happened so because no one in the company assumes the ultimate responsibility to keep the departments notified. Even if some one takes the charge, the departments would not listen because they would not acknowledge the superiority of any one department over others. In my view, the Senior Operations Manager should have extreme power and rights over other departments because he assumes a central role in the flow of work. But it seems like the functional organization structure is too strong in this company and the functional departments would not listen to my instructions or notifications unless you declare the superiority of Operatio ns Department. Therefore, I request you to arrange a meeting in which you openly declare that all departments are to abide by the instructions of the Senior Operations Manager. The way things are running presently does not let me exercise my abilities as a manager. As a result of which, both the company and I are suffering. Memo 2 To: The Employee From: The Manager Date: 26 January 2011 Subject: Re (Notification of a problem) I am

DETECTION OF ANTIVIRAL ANTIBODIES IN SERUM USING AN ELISA TECHNIQUE Essay

DETECTION OF ANTIVIRAL ANTIBODIES IN SERUM USING AN ELISA TECHNIQUE - Essay Example These immunoglobulins are of five types and they are different based on size, charge, amino acid composition and carbohydrate content. the class and the type of immunoglobulin molecule is determined by the heavy chain type. There are two light chains and two heavy chains. There are C and N- terminal in the heavy chains. (Crowther 1995). The N-terminals of the IgG constitute the antigen -binding site. Individuals can become resistant to many infectious diseases by active or passive immunization. The beneficial effects of the immunization are mediated by the antibodies and the effect of immunization is mediated by the immunoassays. (Crowther 2001). The measurement of the antigen and antibody by using sensitive assays are the useful indicators of the immune status. When an infectious agent enters the human body, the component is identified as the foreign particle and antibodies are produced against them. These antibodies interact with the antigens and reduce the load. (Edwards 1999). Th e immunoassay method identifies the antigens, antigen - particles present in the blood and provide the results. Each antibody is specific for an antigen. ELISA is basically of two types: competitive and non-competitive ELISA. ELISA involves two site recognition with two different antibodies (i.e.) an indirect estimation. Competitive ELISA is different from the sandwich ELISA and indirect ELISA. In the first step the unlabelled antibody is incubated on the presence of the antigen. This antigen-antibody bounded is added to the antigen- coated well. The plate is washed and the second antibody specific to the primary antibody is added and the second antibody is coupled to the enzyme. When the substrate is added, the signal is emitted by the remaining enzyme. In this ELISA, if the antigen concentration is very high, then the signal will be very weak. This method is mainly used to test the impure and crude samples. This method is very useful for the detection of HIV. For HIV diagnosis, th e patient's sample and the enzyme-labeled antibody (conjugate) is added simultaneously to the solid phase. HIV antibodies, if present in the sample will bind to the conjugate antibody and reduce the signal. Thus if the color reaction is produced, then it indicates that there are no HIV antibodies in the given sample. Applications of ELISA include screening of the donated blood for viral contaminations( HIV types, Hepatitis B and C, HTLV-1 and 2), measuring the hormone levels( pregnancy(HCG), ovulation( LH), thyroid function ( TSH, T3 and T4), anabolic steroids, hormones), detecting infections( HIV, syphilis, chlamydia, gondii), detecting allergens in foods and toxins in foods, measuring the concentration of the antibodies and detecting illicit drugs ( cocaine, opiates, marijuana, etc.), measuring auto antibodies in autoimmune diseases and measuring rheumatoid factors . (Sheehan 1997). (Wreghitt and Morgan-Capner 1990). Principle When an antibody is linked to the enzyme and allowed t o react with the immobilized antigen, antigen-antibody reaction occurs. This is identified by the production of colour by the substrate enzyme reaction. The antigen is immobilised in either a microtiter plate or on nitrocellulose membrane. An enzyme labelled antibody is added in excess to the system and these binds to the immobilised antigen. Excess antibody is removed by washing and the substrate specific for the

Music to express the various emotions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Music to express the various emotions - Essay Example My choice for this music reflects my happy childhood where there were no worries and everything was still a play. It reflects friendship, teachers home and family because this music is also shared by my friends, teachers and family which were all pleasant and happy memories to remember and rekindle. My friends and I use to sing this as part of our games and we always had fun singing this.During my adolescent years, the music of Beatles comes to mind. But I think I need to mention that there was a lot of music and musician that I had been listening to during my adolescent years because it was the time when I was experimenting and expanding my universe. But when it comes to music, Beatles sort of answered my teenaged questions why there is so much conflict in the world, why can we not just have peace?. I would like to brand this music more of my effort to try to fit in. The Beatles music called for peace, acceptance and other positive thoughts which in a way are my expression to accept and be accepted.I have to admit that as a teenager, I was exerting effort to be accepted and I believe I still am. This feeling and experience are shared by all teenagers albeit we may vary with the degree of how much effort we exert to be accepted. The music starts calmly then it slowly builds tension until there is an angry rapture in the chorus which in a way releases my anger harmlessly without hurting or offending anyone.It is a sort of a release for me to get rid of anger, stress and to become calm again.... I also retreat to it when I feel bad. Call me old school but when I am stressed and needs a breather from everything, I retreat to Beethoven’s music particularlyFur Elise. The music starts calmly then it slowly build tension until there is an angry rapture in the chorus which in a way releases my anger harmlessly without hurting or offending anyone. It is a sort of a release for me to get rid of anger, stress and to become calm again. After a while of playing back this music, I feel calm and my head clears again and then I am ready to face the world again. I also like Vanessa Mae’s Contradanza when I want to relax. Her medium is violin but she plays it fast and more contemporary and not in a way that makes me bored. It is like she made classical music more digestible to my generation which relaxes me. When I am happy, there areseveral music that I associate with this exalted emotion depending on the occasion that brought me happiness. In sports, I can name the music â⠂¬Å"We Are the Champion† by Queens which made me ecstatic when we won a championship game back in high school. Until now, I can still recall that glorious feeling of winning every time I hear that music. I can also recall Steven Cat’s â€Å"Morning has broken† as a reminder of a happy day for me. I cannot recall what triggered why I feel good about Steven Cat’s â€Å"Morning Has Broken† but the music just makes me feel good. I also associate romantic music with happiness because my first girl/boyfriend and I used to listen to romantic songs together. I can also recall childhood music from â€Å"The Sound of Music† â€Å"The Lonely Gathered† which I associate with happiness because we used to sing it while playing and it reminds me of the days when I did not have to worry

How does Interferon work Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

How does Interferon work - Essay Example This paper aims to present the function and mechanism of Interferon Interferon, based on common definition is a family of cytokines or cell-signaling protein that is produced in the immune system. It functions as a natural protection of the human body which regulate anti-tumor, antiviral, and immune responses. Its function also includes cell differentiation (Ogbru par.1, 2). As stated in the article, Interferon is a drug resulting from biotechnology that is based from the protein found in our body. It is used as a drug against HIV/AIDS because it helps fight the symptoms of the disease. The mechanism of this drug was not understood before, therefore leaving it untouched and overlapped by modern treatments for HIV/AIDS that are available today. However, it was continuously used with other drugs in the treatment of hepatitis C which paved way to a better understanding of how interferon works (Bardi par.2-6). The explanation of how the interferon functions goes back to how the immune sy stem battles viruses. One way of how the immune system fights is by directly attacking or devouring the pathogens that are invading our body. Another way is with the use of the so-called restriction factors. The actions of the restriction factors are focused inside the infected cell in which they inhibit the spread or reproduction of the infected cells (Bardi par.1-3). APOBEC3, which is one example of these restriction factors, is also a family of proteins that thwarts the production of infected cells. It is indicated that APOBEC3 have eight genes that are present in humans and other primates. APOBEC3 is another family of protein that is connected to the protein named Activation Induced Deaminase (AID). AID is required in somatic hypermutation and class switch recombination. These processes are required to perform its function in DNA mutations on bacteria. APOBEC3 uses the same concept in disabling HIV infected cells. They attach themselves to the infected producer cells mutating it . This mutation affects the infected cell by packaging APOBEC3 into virions of flawed virus. The budding virus that would be produced will make them unable to infect new cells (Bardi par. 4; Doehle 14 & 16). Although APOBEC3 disables the production of infected cells, the HIV has developed its own defenses that would retaliate against APOBEC3. These things are called viral infectivity factor or Vif. Vif destroys APOBEC3 by taking over parts of the cellular ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. After seizing the cellular degradation pathway, the Vif targets the APOBEC3. Dilapidation happens after the polyubiquitination of APOBEC3 molecules. This would then disable the job of the APOBEC3 to be packaged in budding viruses, making them target and infect new cells (Bardi par. 11; Spearman 1, 2 & 11). Tetherin, another member of the restriction factors also help in the prevention of infected cells and HIV. Tetherin is also identified as HM 1.24, CD317 and bone marrow stromal antigen or BST-2. It i s a type 2 transmembrane protein and consists of a cytoplasmic N-terminal region, a transmembrane domain, a flexible coiled-coil extracellular domain and a C-terminal glycophospatidyl-inositol anchor. The discoverers of tetherin also described it as a membrane spanning protein. Tetherin, which is derived from the word tether literally tethers, or secures the virions on the cell membrane of the infected c